On the 29th of April, a piece of news blew up the entire Mediterranean Sea.
Queen Kalia of Atlantis issued an announcement that Atlantis would officially withdraw from the [Mediterranean Alliance] as of today. Atlantis was willing to work with the Mediterranean countries to develop the lost technology of the Atlantis civilization for the benefit of the entire Mediterranean.
As soon as the news came out, the Mediterranean Lords cheered. The Greek Lords could not wait to put the crown of "Mediterranean Queen" on Kalia's head as a sign of respect.
The crisis of Atlantis seemed to have disappeared without a trace.
With the withdrawal of Atlantis from the [Mediterranean Alliance] and the withdrawal of Vic City, the iron triangle of the alliance fell by two corners. The Base City could not do anything alone.
Under Ouyang Shuo's instructions, the Base City's mayor also issued an announcement, "regrettably" announcing the official dissolution of the [Mediterranean Alliance]. As a result, the powerful alliance that had been established for less than a year came to an end.
The sudden dissolution of the [Mediterranean Alliance] made the Mediterranean Sea chaotic.
When the alliance existed, it was the well-deserved hegemon of the Mediterranean Sea. It was the maker and defender of the Mediterranean Sea's maritime order. Now that the alliance had dissolved, who would rule the Mediterranean Sea?
Would it be Vic City's Gallic fleet, the Spanish Invincible Fleet, or even Caesar's Roman fleet?
If the three did not deal with each other, there would probably be a good show.
The only thing that was forgotten was probably the Great Xia Dynasty's Mediterranean Fleet. The withdrawal of Vic City and Atlantis showed that the Base City had been deserted in the Mediterranean Sea.
"No matter how powerful the Great Xia Dynasty is, we still have the final say in the Mediterranean Sea," the Mediterranean Lords said.
Of course, due to the huge profits brought by the ocean trade, the Mediterranean countries would not do anything "inappropriate" to the Great Xia Dynasty's caravans that passed through the Mediterranean Sea. After all, no one would say no to money.
Even if they did take action, it would have to wait until the new "hegemon" of the Mediterranean Sea was born.
…
France, Vic City.
Henry sat alone in the study with his brows furrowed. The sudden withdrawal of Atlantis puzzled Henry. Based on his understanding of Kalia and Ouyang Shuo, they should not have "separated" so hastily.
"What kind of scheme is the Great Xia Dynasty hiding in this?" Thinking of Ouyang Shuo's clear eyes that seemed to see through everything, Henry could not help but shiver.
Half a year ago, Vic City seized the opportunity of the fall of the Spanish Invincible Fleet and decisively boarded the fast ship of the [Mediterranean Alliance]. They used this opportunity to successfully break through the blockade of Spain and galloped freely in the Mediterranean Sea.
After the disintegration of the alliance, how would the Gallic fleet deal with the chaos?
Henry suddenly felt a headache. He had no way to judge whether the decision made by his family was correct. Henry always felt uneasy. The Great Xia Dynasty behind the scenes seemed to be even more terrifying.
…
Spain, Tortosa.
Unlike Henry's frustration, Casillas clenched his fists excitedly and said, "The Silver Hand's promise has been fulfilled. We should also take action!"
Sitting opposite Casillas was the Lord of Malaga City, Juan.
The two most powerful lords of Spain looked at each other and saw the passion in each other's eyes. The Spanish Invincible Fleet had endured for more than half a year and suffered all kinds of humiliation. It was time to bare its fangs again.
"Should we take down the base cities first?" Juan asked.
Casillas did not get carried away by the excitement. He shook his head and said, "The base cities have been built like iron by the Great Xia Dynasty. It's not so easy to take them down. We'd better not go and try our luck. The most important thing now is to fight for the dominance of the Mediterranean Sea. As long as we take control of the sea, won't the base cities be under our control?! "
Juan nodded in admiration. "You're right."
"We want to let the Gallic fleet know that it's not so easy to be the overlord of the sea." Casillas' hatred for Henry was no less than his hatred for Ouyang Shuo.
The two fleets were destined to be enemies. A battle was inevitable.
…
Italy, City of Caesar.
In the luxurious palace, Caesar was enjoying the gentle service of the beautiful maids while listening to the reports of his ministers. A cold glint flashed across his handsome and charming face.
"So, we've lost the chance to attack the Atlantis City?" Caesar gulped down the red wine in his glass, and his voice became cold all of a sudden.
"For now, it looks like this. The feudal lords who agreed to send troops together have chosen to wait and see after the Atlantis City made the announcement."
"A bunch of short-sighted fellows." Caesar shook his head regretfully and said rudely, "That b * tch Caria threw out a bone, and they went to lick it like dogs. How embarrassing."
"…"
The minister was speechless.
"Tell Anthony that the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea is the territory of our Roman fleet. Don't let the Spanish and French fleets come over and snatch the territory," Caesar ordered.
"Yes!"
Base City.
The Mediterranean Sea was temporarily in chaos because of the announcement. The Great Xia Dynasty began to take action quietly.
Since the main cities in Morocco were located on the Atlantic coast, which was far from the Base City, even with the Mediterranean Fleet's superb carrying capacity, it was impossible to transport the four legions in one go.
Needless to say, there were still a lot of war supplies waiting to be transported.
Moreover, if the Mediterranean Fleet were to be deployed frequently, it would easily alert Morocco.
Because of this, it was an inevitable choice to find a few deserted islands in the waters around Morocco as temporary outposts to store war supplies and temporarily station troops.
Thanks to the expansion of the game map by ten times, a small reef on the sea could be expanded into a deserted island. The Mediterranean Fleet had often been fighting pirates in the Atlantic Ocean for the past six months, so it was no stranger to this area.
Under Alvaro's arrangements, two material reserve bases and three military bases were quickly selected. The next step was to carry out the shipment of war supplies.
Over the past six months since the Grand Line was opened, thousands of Great Xia merchant ships had traveled the Grand Line. This time, Ouyang Shuo spared no expense and ordered these merchant ships to purchase a large amount of food along the way with the excuse of replenishing supplies and secretly transport them to the material reserve bases. The weapons and equipment prepared by the combat readiness department were directly transported over through the teleportation array.
Just this expense alone amounted to more than two hundred thousand gold coins.
The transportation of supplies could not be completed overnight. The four legions temporarily did not move and remained in their respective defensive areas. Only Huo Qubing and Bai Qi, the two commanders, quietly teleported to the Base City.
As the saying went, know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.
Even Divine Generals like Bai Qi and Huo Qubing would probably be defeated if they were not familiar with the enemy and did not survey the terrain in advance.
Moreover, this was a cross-ocean expedition, and the army was likely to be unaccustomed to the climate.
The two Divine Generals stayed in the Base City for three days. After gaining a preliminary understanding of the Mediterranean Sea and Morocco, they took the initiative to apply to Ouyang Shuo to personally go to Morocco to investigate.
Bai Qi said, "Your Majesty, the attack on Morocco this time will be a blitzkrieg. We have to survey the terrain in advance and be prepared. Otherwise, it is very likely that a wrong judgment of the terrain will lead to variables in the war."
Since Bai Qi had already said so, what else could Ouyang Shuo do? He could only give Black Snake a death order to ensure the safety of Bai Qi and Huo Qubing. Otherwise, he would bring his head to see him.
Black Snake's face darkened when he heard this. He turned around and went to make arrangements.
On the 5th of May, Bai Qi and Huo Qubing took different merchant ships and quietly arrived in Morocco. Next, they would carry out a week-long field survey.
During this period, all the war supplies were being prepared in full swing.
…
The Great Xia Dynasty was sharpening their swords for Morocco, but the outside world was unaware of it.
Morocco itself was not even aware of the impending disaster. They were still doing what they were supposed to do. Thanks to the opening of the Grand Line, the feudal lords of Morocco also benefited from the ocean trade.
Morocco had three treasures: argan, date palm, and cactus.
The argan tree was a tree species unique to Morocco. It was resistant to drought and high temperatures. It mostly grew in the south of Morocco and had a lifespan of more than 150 years. The argan oil produced from the argan fruit was a very precious oil.
The Berbers of Morocco had mastered the secret of using argan fruit and argan oil to make cosmetics. The argan oil could be used to massage the face, nails, hair, and body. Its anti-wrinkle effect was very obvious.
In the game, Gaia had enhanced this and refined it into a technology.
It was obvious that this magical "cosmetics" would be very popular among Western ladies and Eastern boudoirs. Naturally, it attracted merchants from all over the world.
Other than argan oil, Morocco had another specialty that was very popular among merchants. It was phosphate.
In reality, phosphate was one of the important pillars of Morocco's economy. It had 110 billion tons of reserves, about 75% of the world's reserves.
As an important food ingredient and functional additive, phosphate was widely used in food processing. Although the game did not have as advanced industrial refining technology as in reality, the demand for phosphate was the same.
In addition, because Morocco was close to the Atlantic coast, it was rich in fishing resources. Its sardines export was the world's largest, and it was the largest producer of sardines in Africa.
Sardines made from sardines was not only a delicious delicacy, but it was also nutritious and easy to store. It was a very good military item.
Ironically, the list of food purchased by the Great Xia's merchant ships for the expeditionary army included canned sardines. If the Moroccans were to know the inside story, they would probably vomit blood.
It was precisely because of these specialties that Morocco was doing well in the ocean trade.
Usually, there was an endless stream of eastern merchant ships coming and going from the major ports of Morocco. It was not rare to see eastern merchant groups in Morocco, and the players were already used to it.
Therefore, the arrival of Bai Qi and Huo Qubing did not cause any waves.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
