One thing that Ortolan and Spandine always did whenever they met was to sit down and chat, exchanging information and gossip.
This time was no exception. As soon as they entered Spandine's reception room, he immediately asked Ortolan to sit down, made him a cup of tea, and the two began to chat.
"Speaking of the things the Commander-in-Chief is going to make this time, I think it won't be more than two or three years before you really get to the position of Admiral ..." Spandine said with a smile.
"Haha, you're making me proud, aren't you? It's not decided yet, it's not decided yet. Before things are really settled, no one can be sure about the situation..." Ortolan laughed and said modestly.
"I think there's basically no chance of any surprises. In the Marine Headquarters, there are only four new-generation Marine Admiral are qualified to succeed as Admiral: you, Sakazuki, Borsalino, and Kuzan. The other three may still have to fight for it. You should be safe," Spandine a smile.
However, what he said is the current common understanding of the situation, and there is nothing to elaborate on.
After a few modest exchanges with Ortolan, the topic quickly shifted again.
"In the past two years, your CP Agency has also been working hard to combat the Revolutionary Army. I see that you have made great progress so far?" Ortolan asked casually.
"The gains were indeed considerable, but the Revolutionary Army is not easy to deal with. Our losses were also significant, especially last year. They split the entire Revolutionary Army into four major divisions: east, west, south, and north, with a skilled and valiant senior Revolutionary Army in each division as the commander-in-chief. What was originally a favorable situation for us suddenly became a stalemate again..." Spandine said, shaking his head.
The Revolutionary Army now consists of four armies, each responsible for a sea area in the east, west, south, and north, but they are not absolutely responsible for only that sea area.
Further down the line, Dragon's trusted partner, Ambrosio Ivankov, will venture into the Grand Line and become the head of the entire Grand Line, which is the Grand Line Army that has emerged after the four major armies of the East, West, North, and South.
At this point, the basic structure of the Revolutionary Army was fully formed. Dragon, as the head of the five armies, was essentially Fleet Admiral, and the Army Commander under his command were equivalent to Admiral.
"I've heard that the Revolutionary Army's current development trend seems to be spreading from the South Blue to the East Blue?" Ortolan asked again.
If the Revolutionary Army insisted on having a 'headquarters' before this, then that headquarters should be in the South Blue.
From the moment Ortolan began receiving news of the Revolutionary Army, he kept hearing about the Revolutionary Army antics in the South Blue, and how they would often overthrow some country in the South Blue.
Upon hearing this, Spandine immediately nodded seriously and said, "When I attended an internal meeting at headquarters in Mary Geoise at the end of last year, the commanders of various agencies all believed the same thing. Based on the current intelligence analysis of the Revolutionary Army's movements, it seems that around 1502, after the World Conference began, they started to 'split up' their operations from the South Blue. Then, their attacks began to appear in various kingdoms in the East Blue. This frequency has now surpassed that of the South Blue. Therefore, when we held our meeting at the end of the year, we had already begun to shift our focus of attacks against the Revolutionary Army from the South Blue to the East Blue..."
At this point, Spandine paused and said, "As you know, the East Blue has always been a symbolic and benchmark sea area for our World Government. Mary Geoise also regards the East Blue as a cornerstone of its rule. All matters, big and small, in the East Blue have always received close attention. I think the Revolutionary Army is also very clear about the importance of the East Blue to our World Government, which is why they are so active East Blue. Once the situation in the East Blue is disrupted or shaken, it will be a huge blow to the prestige of our World Government. This is something we don't have in the South Blue..."
"That makes sense. The East Blue is indeed a landmark sea area for our World Government. As a result, our Marines attaches great importance to the environment and stability of the East Blue. Before, when that Oykot Kingdom in the East Blue was invaded by a large group of pirates, our headquarters directly dispatched a Vice Admiral to the East Blue to carry out a large-scale cleanup. I don't know the specific details, but it is said that within half a year, almost all the pirate crews in the East Blue were wiped out..." Ortolan nodded with emotion.
In other seas, if pirates attack a country and cause great damage, the headquarters will not intervene at all. But in the East Blue, if such a thing happens, it will be dealt with severely! There will be no leniency!
Upon hearing Ortolan mention the Marines's activities in the East Blue, Spandine pondered for a moment and then whispered, "At the end of last year, after our meeting, the Chief of Staff privately arranged for our CP-9, CP-6, and CP-7 agencies to cooperate in a plan to deliver a heavy blow to the Revolutionary Army in the East Blue. Now, they have begun to deploy truly high-ranking agents to infiltrate the Revolutionary Army's East China East Army. The ultimate goal of the plan is to wipe out all the Revolutionary Army's East Army cadres and eliminate Ginny within the East Army!"
"Huh?" Ortolan was initially surprised, then said, "Is this something you can tell me?"
"You're not an outsider, it's nothing," Spandine a smile, waving his hand.
If it is early 1504 in the Marine Era, according to Spandine's words, they are now beginning to lay out plans in the East Blue Sea, preparing to launch a major event against the Revolutionary Army and the East Army.
Such planning is usually carried out in units of 1, so if you really want the plan to come to fruition, it will take about 20-30 minutes to be completed.
With this in mind, Ortolan was already certain that the CP Agency's operation to eliminate the Revolutionary Army had succeeded.
In the original story, in the left of 1506 of the Marine Era, Ginny, the current Army Commander of the Revolutionary Army's East Army, was captured and arrested by the World Government. This dealt a huge blow to the entire East Army. It can be said that this operation brought the East Blue back into the strong control of the World Government. For many years afterward, there were no major upheavals involving the Revolutionary Army in the East Blue.
After Ginny was captured, she would normally be sent to Enies Lobby for trial, and then imprisoned in Impel Down for severe torture to see if any intelligence could be extracted.
However, some twists and turns occurred during this process. It is estimated that the CP Agency first took Ginny to Mary Geoise, intending to invite someone, but in Mary Geoise, Ginny was noticed by a Celestial Dragons and directly became part of the Celestial Dragons's harem.
On Mary Geoise, after becoming the wife of two Celestial Dragons, Ginny was diagnosed with the incurable Jade Scale disease, which disfigured her, leading to her abandonment by the Celestial Dragons. During this time, she gave birth to Jewelry Bonney and, with her last breath, traveled to the Sorbeth Kingdom in the South Blue, where she eventually died. Afterwards, Bartholomew Kuma adopted Bonney and cared for her as her sworn sister.
While Ortolan was thinking these things, he showed no outward signs of anything amiss, continuing to exchange other intelligence with Spandine.
"Around mid-to-late 20th century, I plan to launch a purge targeting the New World's Hachinosu Island. Is there anywhere you can profit from there? If so, let me know in advance, and I'll arrange it for you." After taking a sip of tea, Ortolan suddenly brought up this matter.
"Hachinosu Island?" Spandine paused for a moment, then said, "That's Ochoku's territory..."
"Of course I know," Ortolan said, rolling his eyes.
"If you want me to list the benefits in a short time, I really can't think of any. I'll think about it carefully later..." Spandine said after a moment's thought.
"No rush. You can contact me anytime before I take action," Ortolan said magnanimously, waving his hand.
Of course, Spandine also knew that since Ortolan had told him about this, he could at least get a merit in intelligence, even if he hadn't actually provided any information. But that's how straightforward and unpretentious the deals between the big shots are.
Once Hachinosu Island is captured, the report will casually mention that CP-9 provided intelligence assistance, and in short, that's all.
"Is your sudden move against Hachinosu Island because you're preparing for a large-scale invasion of the New World? So you're setting up an outpost?" Spandine asked after thinking for a moment.
Before Ortolan could speak, Spandine seemed to have thought of something, raised an eyebrow, and said with a smile, "Or do you want to take down Ochoku as a stepping stone to become an Admiral?"
"Hahahaha..." Ortolan laughed. He originally wanted to say that he didn't need Ochoku as a stepping stone, but then he thought that it would be a good thing for Spandine to misunderstand, and it would also help to cover up his current plans.
Therefore, after laughing twice, Ortolan nodded and said, "That's one thing. We'll take down Ochoku first. Whether I become an Admiral or Admiral another matter. But once I'm promoted to Admiral, I plan to launch a campaign in the New World... You guessed right."
Normally, after being promoted to Admiral, it would be unlikely that Ortolan would continue to serve as the commander of G-5 base, as it would be against the rules.
However, Ortolan had long been prepared for this. He planned to take over the role of the Marines's overall head in the New World after becoming Admiral. According to convention, this should be the responsibility of an Admiral.
However, the Admiral of the Sengoku period did not have all the Sengoku skills, which is why they seem to be somewhat lacking.