Chapter 85: The Expedition (Please Subscribe!)

"Steward Luo Lun, how is the situation with the foreign explorers I asked you to find? Are there any suitable candidates?" Carlo asked, watching Steward Luo Lun walk through the door.

"I was just about to report to you, Your Majesty," Steward Luo Lun replied. "I have discovered a very suitable candidate in Spain, and here is his relevant information."

Steward Luo Lun handed over a file and introduced him: "Antonio Ronaldo Prince Cruz, 38 years old this year. He owns an African expedition team in Guinea and frequently deals with African indigenous tribes, so he is quite experienced in this regard."

Carlo nodded, took the file, and flipped through a few pages, finding that it indeed met his requirements well.

Besides actually exploring the Congo region, this African expedition team also needed to build good relations with the local indigenous tribes and establish so-called trade treaties with them.

Of course, in addition to trade treaties, they also needed to use means to make them acknowledge that this land was Carlo's private property, creating opportunities for Carlo to obtain this land.

The fact that Antonio Ronaldo Prince Cruz had spent a long time in Guinea and frequently had contact with African indigenous tribes was the reason Steward Luo Lun recommended him, and this was exactly what Carlo valued.

As the deputy leader and actual person in charge of the expedition team, other abilities could be weaker, but life experience in Africa and experience in contacting indigenous tribes were very important.

Currently, the exploration of Africa by various European countries was limited to the outermost coast, and they had not penetrated deep into the African continent for colonization.

There were various reasons for this, and one of the most important reasons was the complexity and danger of the African terrain.

And Carlo's target was precisely the largest of the many primeval forests in Africa, where the complexity and danger were absolutely high.

The primeval forest of the Congo Basin was not only the largest primeval forest in Africa but also the oldest, known as the Lungs of Africa.

Wanting to cross the entire Congo Basin and leave the footprints of Spaniards was an extremely difficult operation, and it was absolutely very dangerous.

If there was no experience, perhaps the expedition team would have just set off in the first year, and by the second year, one would receive news that the entire expedition team had been wiped out.

"Has it been investigated? I hope the expedition team I am forming possesses rich experience, rather than being a group of amateurs cobbled together," Carlo looked at Steward Luo Lun and asked.

"It has been investigated, Your Majesty," Steward Luo Lun nodded and replied very respectfully: "I have already sent people to investigate the expedition team of Antonio Ronaldo Prince Cruz and confirmed that they have indeed conducted exploration activities in the Guinea region and have penetrated deep into the African continent.

However, because they did not receive support from the colonial government of Guinea, after they had conflicts with nearby indigenous tribes, they gave up on deep exploration of Guinea and returned to the Spanish mainland.

In the process of their exploration, they did indeed have deep contact with local African indigenous tribes; these things can be guaranteed."

Hearing that the experience of Antonio Ronaldo Prince Cruz was confirmed to be true and valid, Carlo then nodded with satisfaction and said: "Find a time to have him come see me. I hope this African explorer will not let me down."

Starting from identity and nationality, Antonio Ronaldo Prince Cruz was absolutely the most suitable candidate.

He himself was an orthodox Spaniard, and the places he led the expedition team through could better declare Spanish sovereignty.

Moreover, there was no need to worry about whether the exploration activities would be leaked by domestic explorers; by the time other countries discovered Spain's exploration of the Congo region, Spain's colonial exploration would already have certain results.

Even if other great powers followed up later, Carlo was not afraid at all, because the entry of one great power would attract the attention of all great powers; at that time, with the major powers checking and balancing each other, the Congo would ultimately only be able to fall into the hands of a non-great power country.

Moreover, there were still vast lands in Africa that had not been carved up by the great powers, and Carlo did not think other great powers would compete with him for the more dangerous Congo colony instead of occupying and carving up the land on the African coast.

After all, at this time, what mineral resources the Congo possessed was an unknown; if one spent a huge price to snatch a desolate piece of land with nothing on it, that would truly be a loss that outweighed the gain.

Steward Luo Lun nodded and went to prepare the things Carlo had ordered.

And after Steward Luo Lun left, Carlo also pondered the things that needed to be prepared for the African expedition team.

If Antonio Ronaldo Prince Cruz met the requirements, that would be the best thing, but the expedition team currently still lacked a person in charge of military aspects; the candidate Carlo was currently considering was Menotti, the eldest son of Garibaldi.

Since there was already a lead on the expedition team, it was natural to speed up the construction of armed forces.

Carlo decided to call for Menotti to ask him about his willingness to go to the African expedition team to serve as the leader.

Menotti was arranged in the Madrid city area not far from the Royal Palace, and it only took less than half an hour to come to the Royal Palace.

Not long after ordering the guards to call for Menotti, Carlo saw him in his reception room.

"Menotti, how does it feel to come to Spain? Can it compare to your time in Italy before?" Carlo asked with a smile.

"Everything is good, thank you for your concern, Your Majesty," Menotti replied very respectfully.

He had followed his father Garibaldi around Europe and the Americas since he was young, so naturally, he would not care about the small issue of moving from Italy to Spain.

What's more, he was on Caprera Island before, and the current living environment was much better than Caprera Island.

"That's good," Carlo nodded with a smile and stated his purpose: "Regarding your appointment, I have two considerations.

First, you can serve as the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard and look for opportunities for advancement after the Imperial Guard expands. During this period, you can also go to the Spanish Military Academy to study and supplement your military knowledge.

The second idea, I have a relatively dangerous job here, and I think you are capable of it. Of course, if you complete this job, you will be a hero of all Spain, and I will absolutely not be stingy with rewards.

The choice of which job to take is up to you; I hope you can consider it carefully."

After hearing Carlo's words, Menotti did not hesitate much and blurted out: "Your Majesty, I choose the second job. Compared to staying in the Imperial Guard, I prefer challenging work."

Staying in the Imperial Guard was indeed relatively comfortable, and there was even time to go to the military academy for further studies.

But the disadvantage was that there would not be much change in position in the short term, and there was a high probability that he would not participate in war.

Moreover, the expansion of the Imperial Guard had already been carried out once, and wanting to expand again would be a matter for a few years later.

This also meant that if Menotti chose to serve as the deputy commander of the Royal Imperial Guard, he could only stay around the Royal Palace with nothing to do, which did not fit his personality.

In the many wars he followed his father Garibaldi in, Menotti had shown an extremely warlike side, so naturally, he was unwilling to stay in the Imperial Guard, which was far from the army.

"Haha, you must think it over. Although the second job has the opportunity to establish great merit, the danger is also extremely high. If you choose the first job, I will not blame you, but if you choose the second job, I hope you are prepared for the possibility of dying in the mission," Carlo smiled; he was still very happy with Menotti's choice.

But happy as he was, Carlo was also unwilling to have Menotti die on the road to opening up Africa because he had no preparation.

Exploring the Congo Basin was destined to be full of dangers; if one was not prepared to die halfway, it was best not to embark on this journey.

"It doesn't matter, Your Majesty," Menotti shook his head, a fearless smile on his face: "Which war doesn't have people dying? Danger is actually the motivation for action for me. I have the confidence to complete your mission, Your Majesty, no matter how dangerous it is."

Carlo smiled, and it was a smile from the heart. Menotti and Giotti were two completely different styles.

Giotti was more inclined to be conservative and would be more cautious in action. And as the elder brother, Menotti was the exact opposite, showing a completely fearless, bold, and aggressive attitude.

These two styles each had their own advantages, but if one had to choose which one was more suitable for African exploration, Carlo was of course willing to choose Menotti's style.

Anyway, Menotti serving as the leader of the expedition team was only responsible for military affairs; the overall goals of the expedition team and other actions were the responsibility of the deputy leader, that is, the person with actual African exploration experience.

Menotti's mission was more like a captain of the muscle; being a bit aggressive was of course the best. After all, what this African expedition had to face were African tribes never encountered before and unknown geographical environments; sometimes, overly conservative choices often led to problems.

"Excellent," Carlo nodded with satisfaction and stated the specific content of the second mission.

"Do you know the Congo Basin?" Carlo asked with a smile.

"The primeval forest in Central Africa? Your Majesty, your mission wouldn't be to explore this region, would it?" Menotti asked with some surprise.

"Of course," Carlo nodded and stated his plan: "You know how important colonies are to a country.

And in Spain's colonial plan, occupying the Congo River basin is one of the main goals. Your mission is to serve as the leader of the expedition team, explore the Congo River basin, and establish trade relations with local indigenous tribes.

Once the Spanish flag is planted in most areas of this land, we will naturally possess the sovereignty of this land.

For this operation, I hope it only succeeds and does not fail, because this concerns whether Spain can obtain this land and whether it can possess such a vast colony."

"But, Your Majesty, I do not have any experience in African exploration. I suggest finding a suitable candidate to serve as the leader of the expedition team, rather than me," Menotti said with some hesitation, but still spoke:

"I can lead an armed squad to follow the expedition team, but if you let me lead the entire expedition team, the probability of the entire army being wiped out would probably be higher."

"Hahaha, don't worry, Menotti, I have already made preparations. Although you are the leader of the expedition team, there is someone else responsible for the expedition team; you only need to be responsible for the armed forces under your command.

If the African indigenous tribes encountered can cooperate, that is naturally the best thing. If those damn African indigenous people are unwilling to cooperate with us, your mission is to send them to see God and let those African indigenous people understand who is the master of this land," Carlo said with a smile.

Menotti then nodded with relief and said firmly to Carlo: "Then there is no problem, Your Majesty. I will do my best to complete the mission of the expedition team and turn the entire Congo River basin into Spanish territory.

Your Majesty, when can the expedition team set off? I can't wait for the African interior."

Looking at Menotti, who seemed a bit impatient after asking all the questions, Carlo said with a wry smile: "It will have to wait for a while, at least we have to determine the specific person in charge of the expedition team.

Of course, you can also meet with the person in charge of the expedition team in advance; you will be working together for the next few years.

I allow you to select personnel from the Imperial Guard and the Spanish army to form a small-scale armed force. The strength of the armed force concerns whether this exploration can be successful; you will have to put in some effort for the selection of team members."

Compared to the ready-made African expedition team possessed by Antonio Ronaldo Prince Cruz, the armed squad that Menotti was to lead was currently the most problematic.

Because at this time, except for the leader Menotti, the candidates for the armed squad had not been determined, so how could one talk about going to explore Africa?

Antonio Ronaldo Prince Cruz did have a small-scale armed force in his hands, but most of them had not been trained much, and Carlo was not too reassured.

Carlo only 100% trusted the armed squad formed by soldiers selected from the Imperial Guard and the Spanish army.

Although the combat effectiveness of the Spanish army was not that strong, it was not bad in the overall environment of Europe. Facing those indigenous tribes in the African interior, the armed squad drawn from the regular army could naturally handle it easily.

"At your command, Your Majesty," Menotti nodded.

The members of the armed squad were also very important; Menotti naturally understood this point. If the combat effectiveness of the entire armed squad was not strong, it would naturally be impossible to suppress those indigenous tribes.

Moreover, the journey to explore Africa was full of difficulties, and it was hard to ensure that some of the team members would not have problems with their mentality.

Therefore, when selecting team members, one had to prioritize those soldiers who were bolder and more loyal to the country.

Only in this way would they not choose to defect on the road to exploring Africa; a well-trained and quite loyal armed force could effectively face any accidents and dangers that occurred during the process of exploring Africa.

10, 00 words per day, day 2/7, 10, 00/10, 00 updated today, two-in-one chapter, please support!





(End of this chapter)