A Certain Marine Admiral: If the Fleet Admiral Dies, Then Wouldn't That Make the Admirals...?
After Ortolan sat down, he glanced around the conference room, then smiled and said, "Why are you all so serious? It's been a long time since we've all seen each other. It's been so long since we've all gathered together like this since we defeated the Whitebeard Pirates last year. Seeing all of you here makes me happy..."
His words immediately put the generals in the conference room at ease, and bursts of laughter filled the air, easing the tension.
"Hoshigaki, you've been recuperating for almost a year now. How are your injuries? Can you still lift a knife?" Ortolan teased Hoshigaki.
Hoshigaki patted his belly and said, "My intestines have been cut out, but it's not a big problem. I'm full of energy now. As long as you give the order, Admiral, I can climb Mary Geoise with my bare hands without any problem."
"Are you saying that you don't take our Vice Admiral Yixiao seriously?" Kaisa laughed heartily from the side.
Upon hearing this, Yixiao smiled broadly and said, "Mary Geoise may be tall, but rest assured, as long as I, Yixiao, have a breath left, I won't let the Admiral take the elevator..."
"I can still take the elevator, just don't make me climb up with my bare hands..." Stainless joked.
Soon, someone started talking about Ortolan's child, and everyone offered their congratulations.
Ortolan was in a very good mood. Gion had given birth to a son safely, Rouge would be here soon, in the next few days. He was in high spirits as everyone was celebrating.
"Admiral, there were rumors that those who achieve military merit could be granted a noble title. Is that true?" a Marine Rear Admiral asked with some anticipation.
As soon as he spoke, many people looked at Ortolan with great interest.
Ortolan chuckled and said, "You're so well-informed, kid. I've only been thinking about this for a short time, and you all already know?"
In fact, if Ortolan hadn't deliberately spread the word, how could this affair have gotten out?
With a major battle imminent, such enthusiasm is indeed needed to further boost morale!
After a slight pause, Ortolan continued, "That is indeed the intention. Places have already been prepared for everyone within the Totto Land Totto Land waters. The rest is up to who has the ability to claim them..."
"Does cutting off two Celestial Dragons' heads count as my reward!?"
"What's so great about those bastards? I'd like to bring Old Star's head to the Admiral to curry favor, and then I'll make you a Grand Duke!"
"To be honest, even with the geographical advantage of attacking Mary Geoise, we still have the upper hand in terms of troop strength and top-tier combat power. The real difficulty lies in how to pacify the world after we take Mary Geoise; that's where the credit goes..."
As the conversation progressed, it gradually turned to the theme of the meeting: the pacification of the capital and the mobilization of troops to defend the emperor.
In fact, just as these generals had considered and discussed, Mary Geoise was not afraid Ortolan Mary Geoise at all.
In terms of troop strength, Ortolan has more troops than Mary Geoise. In terms of combat power, Mary Geoise's top combat force is only so-so. Don't be fooled by the fact that Old Star and his few companions are Mythical Zoan or Awakening beings.
But they haven't fought in decades. No matter how skilled they are, they'd be terrible in real combat.
Not to mention the likes of Xiao and his men under Ortolan's command, once Ortolan enters his Sulong state, he feels he could easily crush them.
Moreover, he acted too early. It is only the end of 1507 in the Marine Era, and many of the major powers of the World Government have not yet made their move.
They haven't even come up with any of those weird, high-tech gadgets like PX-pacifism, Seraphim, or Holy Flame.
The overall strength of Mary Geoise is not particularly formidable!
However, after the war in Mary Geoise, the real challenge will be how to pacify the world. At that time, he will inevitably have to eliminate those opportunists, Mary Geoise Loyalist Faction, nobles, local forces, Marines, and so on in various parts of the world.
Although these people are not strong enough, they are more troublesome than Mary Geoise. After the battle, we will have to rebuild order and so on... Just thinking about it gives me a headache.
Seeing that the Marines officers' conversation was drifting off-topic, Ortolan tapped the table to refocus everyone's attention on him. Ortolan then spoke, "Alright, let's focus on the present. Regarding the Mary Geoise campaign, we're not rushing into it. Everyone here is on our side, so there's no need for pretense. Just speak frankly..."
Indeed, to the outside world, Ortolan appeared to be poised to launch an attack.
In fact, within the information circle of the New World Marines's high command, preparations for attacking Mary Geoise had already begun long ago, starting in secret in September of that year after defeating Whitebeard.
For example, the logistical supplies needed for the second plan besides the direct assault, namely the siege of Mary Geoise, such as food and military equipment, had already begun to be continuously sent to the G-1 Marine Base as early as the end of 1960.
To cope with this, Stolobey specifically found two deserted islands near G-1, stationed two fleets there, and built a large number of warehouses to ensure that the supplies could be managed.
For this campaign to quell the rebellion in Fengtian, Ortolan did not need to conscript too many troops. The plan was for 50,000, and now almost all of them are in place, in a fleet formation, scattered throughout the New World Gateway Sea.
The current logistics and storage preparations of G-1 are sufficient to meet the needs of 50,000 Marines for the next two years.
In other words, Ortolan doesn't even need to attack Mary Geoise. He only needs to take down the two ports in the New World and the First Half of Grand Line to directly enclose the area and besiege Mary Geoise. For two years, Mary Geoise will be unable to do anything but starve to death.
According to Spandine's intelligence, Mary Geoise simply doesn't have that many supplies, and it won't last more than six months.
Of course, while delaying the battle like this would increase the chances of victory and make it more secure, it would also have a huge impact on the collapse of the global situation. If he were to concentrate his forces here to fight Mary Geoise for two years, not to mention anything else, the Marines in various places would definitely run into big problems. The longer he delays, the more opportunities there will be for various ambitious people, and then things will become even more troublesome.
Therefore, to defeat Mary Geoise, we need to act quickly and decisively, and try to crush Mary Geoise in one fell swoop!
After Ortolan finalized the tactical plan, the various Marines commanders began to present their prepared plans.
These detailed and comprehensive plans also reveal that these guys wearing general-level epaulets have long wanted to rebel!
"That Sakazuki guy is guarding the New World ports; we need to deal with his problem first..."
"Why bother dealing with him? If you ask me, we should just let Mr. Sakazuki take up our G-1 and, like Shiki did back then, bomb Mary Geoise. Why waste time fighting with Sakazuki?"
"Then why not just have Lieutenant Vice Admiral summon a meteor, and have the Admiral send a Heavenly Bull to burn Mary Geoise to the ground? Why bother with a fight?"
"Are you kidding me? The Commander-in-Chief and the Second Commander are trapped in Mary Geoise, how can you fight like this?"
"Ahem... to be very disrespectful, if the Commander-in-Chief and the Junior Commander... wouldn't that be more in line with our Admiral's... well, you know?"
Seeing that these guys were getting more and more out of control, Ortolan quickly slammed his hand on the table and said, "Watch your words. You're not allowed to say things like this in the future. Commander-in-Chief Steel Bone promoted me from humble beginnings, Sengoku treated me like his own son. His kindness is as heavy as a mountain!"
The Marines just mentioned this "disrespectful" statement was a Marine Admiral. In fact, he said those words at the behest of some Vice Admiral, to see what our Admiral Benn really meant.
There are some things that Admiral definitely cannot mention; subordinates must step forward and test the waters first.
Regardless of whether the Admiral actually meant these things, everyone should be aware of them to avoid making mistakes later.
However, it seems that the Admiral has no intention of using this opportunity to do anything unorthodox.
This left some of the younger generals feeling a little regretful, but it also put many veteran Vice Admiral, such as Momonga and Hoshigaki, at ease.
The young officers, who came from the New World Marines, had little connection with headquarters and had never even met the great Sengoku. Naturally, they had no ties or concerns.
The flying Momonga and the others all came from the main headquarters back then, so how could they be so ruthless and vicious?
"Always remember that our mission to Mary Geoise is to quell the rebellion and defend the emperor. We must be loyal!" Ortolan slammed his fist on the table and said.
"Yes, loyalty!!!" At the mention of the word "loyalty," the Marines officers reacted instinctively, shouting "Loyalty!"