Chapter 2017
Both Ran Tianlu and Fang Peng were troubled by this difficult task assigned by Sanya. Although the above authorities have given relatively large control over the operational funds and measures that can be taken, no personnel support has been sent to Manila.
Of course, this is also a helpless move. In fact, no one is more professional than the two of them in Spanish intelligence work. After all, they have both lurked in Manila for a period of time and are relatively familiar with the social conditions in the Spanish-controlled areas. And if people are temporarily transferred from other places, they will definitely not have such experience.
But they are both regional leaders now, and their identities have been exposed in the Battle of Manila, so they can no longer easily take risks, so it is also impossible to take action personally. The two of them thought about it for a long time, and it seemed that the only option left was to use Hispanic intelligence personnel.
But before that, the two decided to find someone else to discuss the feasibility of this plan together. When it comes to who knows the Spanish thoughts best, it is of course the Spaniards themselves. There happened to be a former Spanish military attaché in Manila who could provide them with reference advice in this regard.
When Francis received the notice, he was not in the exclusive office of the Western Management Bureau, but at his own home. Usually when there is no official business to deal with, he can decide to go home early to rest. In fact, he was in this laid-back state most of the time. Although he is the director in name only, due to his Hispanic status, most official duties are actually handled by his deputy, Ge Yong. Francis was helpless about this situation. He understood that the Haihan people only needed him to be a puppet in order to manage the local Hispanic people, and the real authority could only be in the hands of Haihan officials.
But in this way, he would be happy to be a boss. He would show up at the Western Management Bureau every day, drink tea, read newspapers, learn to write Chinese characters and speak Haihan dialect, and go home to rest around noon. . Although this is a bit less majestic than when he was a city defense commander before, the work pressure is indeed much less. Moreover, the treatment given to him by Haihan was quite acceptable. It was at least the same as the income of the former military leaders, which was basically enough to maintain his life.
Of course, Francis also understood that if his role to the Haihan people was nothing more than being a puppet, it would only be a matter of time before he was ruthlessly kicked out by the Haihan people. After about two or three years when the local society stabilizes, Ge Yong or an official from Sanya will take over his position, and then the good days will probably be over. So although he seems to be leisurely on weekdays, he is still trying to make Haihan notice that he actually has more potential to tap.
Providing information to the Haihan Intelligence Unit is one of the directions in which Francis now plays a role. As the city defense commander of Manila before, he had access to a lot of military secrets, but now that he has taken refuge in Haihan, this information has become a means for him to settle down. So when he received a notice from the Ministry of Security asking him to attend the meeting, he was not surprised.
Francis asked his servants to prepare the carriages and horses, and then immediately rushed to the security bureau. After arriving at the place, he found that in addition to the translator, Fang Peng in military uniform was also present, and he couldn't help but murmur to himself. He knew Fang Peng's identity, but Fang Peng did not usually appear at the Security Department's office. It seemed that the situation today was a bit special.
"Mr. Francis, we invite you here today because we have something we want to hear your opinion on." Ran Tianlu got straight to the point and explained his intention to Francis.
"Send someone to Cebu to collect intelligence?" Francis couldn't help but frowned after hearing Ran Tianlu's plan, and did not respond immediately.
Although he has taken refuge in Haihan now, this is actually a helpless move to protect himself and his family. If he had a choice, he would of course be more willing to stand with his compatriots instead of fighting for these shrewd and vicious Easterners. Potency. He also understood that the grievances between Haihan and Spain would probably be difficult to resolve in the foreseeable future, and battles on the battlefield would inevitably occur. However, he did not expect that it had not been a year since the Battle of Manila ended, and Haihan seemed Preparations for the next military operation against Spain are about to begin.
Seeing that he had not spoken for a long time, Fang Peng could roughly guess what he was thinking, so he advised: "Mr. Francis, the purpose of our plan is not to find out the military situation in Cebu and then launch a military attack on the local area, but to investigate and Several cases related to Spain. Simply put, we need to know who Spain is providing weapons and equipment and military training services. That is our goal.”
But Francis is not a mediocre person. He is very clear about the source of the conflicts between the two countries. As long as the two parties have plans to continue to expand their territory in the future, the fight between them will never stop. The Kingdom of Spain cannot bow to a small eastern country under any circumstances, so even if the Spaniards in the East Indies cannot defeat Haihan, the conflict between the two countries will continue for a long time.
Regarding this, the Haihan people, who are very familiar with Western affairs, must also be very aware of this, and with their style of conduct, how could they benevolent enough to leave Spain a chance to heal and make a comeback. It was said that they were investigating other targets, but when it was actually implemented, it was probably a different plan.
However, with Francis' current status, he cannot rashly raise objections to stop Haihan from collecting intelligence. After all, the purpose of the two Haihan intelligence officers coming to him was not to inquire whether this matter could be done, but this matter. What should be done to achieve the goal safely and efficiently.
Francis thought about the stakes and then responded: "Don't worry, you two. As an official of Haihan State, I am of course serving Haihan State and will not consider other issues. But I have to send people Going to Cebu, I have a question, do you have a suitable candidate? ”
Ran Tianlu did not answer his question directly, but first asked: "What kind of person do you think is suitable to carry out this kind of task?"
Francis knew that this was Ran Tianlu trying to trick him, but he knew that the other party was very shrewd and did not dare to answer perfunctorily. He responded honestly: "Han people or Haihan people are probably not allowed to do it. They will definitely be subject to strict interrogation and inspection after arriving there. For surveillance, it is better to use Hispanics or indigenous people in the area. They can pretend to be refugees who escaped from Luzon, so that they can be fooled more easily after arriving in Cebu. ”
The idea that Francis came up with actually coincided with the ideas of Ran Tianlu and Fang Peng, and that was exactly what they planned. Since Haihan occupied Manila, Hispanic immigrants on Luzon Island have been fleeing continuously, especially those far away from Manila. After hearing the news of the fall of Manila, the first reaction was to escape from Luzon as soon as possible. Song Dao, otherwise it would be slowly cleared by the enemy, and it would probably end with a family being ruined. But most of the Spaniards who were able to escape Luzon actually lived in the Manila Bay Area. Those who could run almost did so during the war. Therefore, it often takes a long time for Spanish immigrants who subsequently flee to find an opportunity to take a boat to sea, and they even need to seek help from local indigenous people to do so. Even nearly a year after the war, there are still sporadic Hispanic immigrants fleeing Luzon by sea, and most of these immigrants who escape will choose to go to Cebu in the south. After all, Spain is in this area. The second largest colony, just going there means safety.
Traveling to Cebu as a refugee is probably the cheapest and least exposed means of cover. However, the unanimous opinion did not let Ran Tianlu let Francis go, but continued to ask: "Then if this method is adopted, what negative effects will it have on the goal we want to achieve?"
Ran Tianlu kept asking questions, which meant that he was going to take the Francis exam. Francis did not dare to neglect and continued to respond cautiously: "If you go to Cebu as a refugee, then the biggest problem is probably that it is difficult to contact the upper-class people, and the channels for obtaining information will be subject to certain restrictions."
The problem Francis mentioned does indeed exist objectively. If you go to a local area as a refugee, according to the usual practice, you will most likely be resettled by the authorities to the outskirts of the city, where the refugees will be allowed to open up wasteland and work in exchange for relief. If you have skills, you may still have the opportunity to stay in the city and work, but most of them can only engage in lower-level occupations - after all, most of the really talented people have already escaped from Manila, and they just escaped to the city at this time. Most of the people in Cebu are farmers scattered throughout Luzon.
Going to Cebu with such an identity, it is naturally difficult to have the opportunity to contact high-level people. It is even more difficult to find out secret military information. At least in the short term, it is unlikely to achieve the goal.
Francis continued: "I suggest that the two people you are looking for have a better family background, so that they can create a better false identity. After going to Cebu, they can find opportunities to blend into the upper class. Only by contacting Only high-level officials have the opportunity to obtain the information you want.”
So this goes back to the question Francis raised at the beginning, whether there is a suitable candidate who can take on a more senior role in order to get a good start in Cebu.
But this is precisely one of the shortcomings of the intelligence department currently exposed. Fang Peng and Ran Tianlu exchanged glances with each other, and both of them saw the helpless emotions on each other's faces.
The Hispanics and indigenous people they are currently recruiting from the local area are all from civilian backgrounds. If they want to forcefully pretend to be upper-class figures, they will soon be exposed in front of insiders. And having said that, most of the upper class of society on Luzon Island originally lived in Manila, and these upper class people have inextricably linked social relationships. If they just make up a false identity, even if they successfully sneak into the upper class after going there, , can also be exposed due to a lack of understanding of these social relationships.
Therefore, although Francis's proposal is good, it is quite difficult to implement, even more difficult than the task itself of sending people to Cebu to collect intelligence. If they had such a person under their command, perhaps there would be no need to call Francis here.
"I'm afraid this can't be done. To be honest, no one under our command can meet the conditions you mentioned." Ran Tianlu finally told the situation frankly.
After hearing this, Francis felt relieved. Of course, he did not hope that Haihan could succeed so easily. After all, thousands of Spaniards in Cebu were his compatriots. And if Haihan quickly defeated Spain in the East Indies, or even completely drove Spanish power out of the area, then his role in Manila would become even more negligible. At that time, his official position and his current living conditions may also be affected by this. Therefore, regardless of whether it is public or private, it is beneficial to Haihan to deal with this matter more slowly.
As for sending some people to Cebu disguised as refugees, Francis really doesn't think this method will have much effect. The Manila authorities sent spies like this to Hainan Island at first. However, in the end, the effect of these Han spies was extremely limited, and they failed to play any role in the two key battles with Hainan. These people were of too low status and could only collect some insignificant social and economic intelligence in Haihan Kingdom, but almost no valuable intelligence was collected in the most critical military field.
Francis also knew that the two men in front of him were recruited locally. It would be good if these people could lurk safely in Cebu. Higher expectations were a bit unrealistic. However, he would definitely not say such inappropriate words directly, and let the Haihan people slowly experience it on their own.
Of course, what should be done still had to be done, and Francis still enthusiastically gave many suggestions on how to lurk in the local area. This is not just a matter of earning trust in front of Haihan officials. He knows that the more detailed his opinions are, the more likely Haihan officials will adopt this approach, and this is already a negative impact on the Spanish-controlled area. The smallest approach.
"This is the only thing I can do. Let God decide the rest!" Francis secretly justified his behavior in his heart. He knew that his behavior was actually betrayal to his compatriots, but he had to find a way to make himself feel better.
The three people discussed behind closed doors for half a day, and finally came to the conclusion that they could only send people to Cebu to lurk first. As for the task of gathering intelligence, it would depend on the situation of the lurkers in the local area. After all, this kind of thing cannot be done too hastily, not to mention that there is no suitable person in Manila to carry out the task. Try to complete the action plan as much as possible, and then seize the time to give the candidates a short training before traveling. That is all they can do at the moment.
(End of chapter)