A cross-shaped occupation post stood on the beach of San Juan Bay in Puerto Rico. The scenery of this tropical island was so beautiful. And its wealth, visible to the naked eye, along with the Natives' utter weakness, constantly provoked everyone in the Castilian Expeditionary Force, stirring the swollen beastly desires in their hearts.
"Split the forces? Divide the fleet in two?"
Fleet Vice Commander Antonio frowned, neither approving nor rejecting the Columbus brothers' proposal. What he wanted was to hollow out Columbus, the commander-in-chief, within the complete framework of the entire fleet and turn him into a decorative portrait on the surface. In other words, as fleet vice commander, he wanted to actually exercise the powers of fleet commander and claim all the achievements of pioneering!
And right now, the two outsiders, the Columbus brothers, were at a disadvantage in their power struggle with him, and they were clearly getting desperate. They had actually come up with the proposal to split the fleet in two, which meant dividing the expeditionary force's strength into two halves and taking them to different places. But once the force was divided, he could not turn into two people, while Columbus, as long as he separated from him, could control the other half of the fleet perfectly legitimately. That way, after the division, the expeditionary force's situation would change from his current de facto full control to each man holding half!
What was more, both by sentiment and by reason, he ought to be responsible for establishing Fort Isabella, while Columbus should be responsible for exploration and communication farther west. But which side would the fleet's captains actually prefer to join? Would they rather stay in the harbor, watching the island's fortress slowly be built, or follow Columbus to trick, to rob, to kill,