Instigation is one of the oldest tasks of intelligence personnel. As the name suggests, instigation is to transform enemy personnel from ideological perspective into our personnel through various psychological warfare means, thereby weakening the enemy's strength and enhancing our strength. The enemy personnel who are instigated can often continue to develop into our spies, or provide us with special technical capabilities to maximize the effectiveness of intelligence work. This is also the core of "peace-evolution", and it is a masterpiece of "no bloodshed".

When the actual rulers of Catalonia showed their ambitions for the Aragon region, in addition to political, military and economic preparations, the MIIS was also actively participating in cooperation. Major Passel, the head of the Intelligence Department of the MIIS, expressed his own opinions to the Duke of Hruna: he believed that in order to complete the absolute occupation of Aragon, completely recover the morale of the army and the people, and eliminate all threats or potential dangers from the resistance factions, it is also necessary to instigate the main person in charge of the armed forces in the region, General Fernando.

This kind of rebellion is different from the simple and ridiculous approach of the Madrid Palace (King Joseph). It only requires Fernando and others to put down their weapons and accept house arrest, but it is to destroy the resistance faction's belief in restoring the country and cut off their possibility of making a comeback.

To this end, the Intelligence Department invited experts to analyze the personality traits of General Fernando in detail: he believed in God devoutly, cared for his family and subordinates, and was an upright soldier with liberal thoughts. Major Passel believed that by making a big fuss from the above points, he could achieve the ultimate goal of instigating General Fernando.

Making former subordinate Major Mardan influenced other comrades who were still resisting the French army and convinced the old boss General Fernando was only an important part of it. In fact, since the beginning of the "Humanitarian Shield" operation, Fernando's every move, including his whereabouts, was under the strict surveillance of the Military Intelligence Bureau. Major Passel installed several intelligence agents next to the old soldier.

When the Cádiz parliament refused to aid the Aragon victims, which disappointed the upright liberal aristocracy, Zaragoza, who was able to receive food aid from Catalonia, became a paradise for Aragon refugees to recite each other. But soon, the military police used the excuse of Fernando's participation in the political plot to assassinate the Duke of Desay and proclaimed that they would cut off the supply passage of the Ebro River, the angry refugees pointed the finger at the innocent leader of the resistance, which made Fernando completely desperate because he lost the support of the people and could not bear the responsibility of protecting his compatriots.

But it is far from enough to make General Fernando convinced and surrender to Duke Hruna.

After the Desay division arrived in Zaragoza, the former Italian bankrupt businessman, Casapa, who was sent by Professor Say to the Zaragoza City Hall to oversee the establishment of the city management committee and coordinated various affairs of the garrison.

Anthony, on behalf of the Duke of Hruna and the Government of Manresa, handed over some of the church property that had been looted by the French army to Bishop Zaragoza, and paid funds to renovate the statue of the Virgin.

Desai's series of friendly actions towards the Catholic Church, coupled with the opportunity he now provides for the Aragon victims, naturally won the favor of most Zaragoza citizens. According to the later "Stockholm Syndrome", people can be domesticated, especially when they are prepared to despair and are given some kind of favor.

At the same time, the MIIS agents also discovered that when Fernando led his troops to the southern mountainous areas of Aragon and ambushed the French army, his only living relative, his 5-year-old granddaughter, had been living in Zaragoza and was protected by the interim mayor, Countess Breta. Month ago, Fernando's granddaughter unfortunately suffered from scarlet fever, which caused many serious complications. When his life was in critical condition, Major Passel applied to use the special drug QMS-001 (the official code of penicillin), which eventually saved the little girl's life. When Countess Breta visited Fernando in the monastery, he told the Marquis without hiding the matter.

When God, his compatriots, granddaughters and subordinates accept the favor that they cannot or cannot refuse, and are "kidnapped" to Desai's side, the only choice left to Fernando is no longer to continue to resist, but to have to have Desai's chariot and finally become one of them.

On May 14, 1810, after the end of his secret meeting with Desai, General Fernando accepted the appointment of the Duke of Khruna and the Government of Manresa, becoming the Commissioner of the Special Administrative Office in the Southern Aragon region. He was also responsible for the establishment of a local appeasement force among many guerrilla surrenders - the Southern Aragon Security Corps, and the base camp is located in Zaragoza.

On May 15, General Fernando, who received a written pardon, made a "church oath" in public in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Zaragoza and surrendered to the Duke of Hruna. Ten days later, the last guerrillas in the Aragon area announced that they would give up armed resistance. The biggest hidden danger before the Desay Division went to the Portuguese battlefield was perfectly eliminated.

On the afternoon of the 15th, Anthony, on behalf of the Duke of Hruna and the Manresa Government, announced the revised "Aragorn package of revival plans" at the Zaragoza City Hall, and for the first time, the Southern Aragon area, including Zaragoza, will be included in the plan. Among them, as an important base for the future machinery and arms industry, the reconstruction work of the city of Zaragoza will attract nearly 100,000 laborers.

...

Three days before the division went to the expedition, Professor Say rushed to the military camp in the northern suburbs of Zaragoza and reported to Desai in person the work affairs of the Manresa cabinet since December 1809. During this period, the de facto cabinet prime minister of the Catalonian-Aragorn Kingdom outspokenly warned the superiors.

"His Excellency Duke, your overly inflated and unlimited ambitions and irrational behavior have successfully merged southern Aragon into your territory, and it has also led to the Manresa Government taking on a huge fiscal deficit of up to 250 million riyals starting in the second half of this year.

Although I don't know what methods you and your army are going to make up for this huge gap, I need to make it clear to you that if the Pan-Mediterranean Commercial Investment Bank cannot receive a minimum of 100 million Riyal guarantee funds before Christmas this year, the economy of the entire Catalonian-Aragorn region will be in a final bankruptcy.

Please remember, Your Excellency the Duke, these words are by no means alarmist!"

Desai was mentally prepared to hear Sai's unpleasant advice. However, the military and economics ultimately had to serve politics, rather than let politics be subject to the first two. According to the timetable that Desai had re-planned in Paris after meeting with Count Kosicuschko: Once the noble parliament in Warsaw recognized his identity as the crown prince of Poland and issued a request for the crown prince of the king, after June 1811, Desai had to leave Catalonia and go to Warsaw to shoulder the burden of saving and reviving Poland.

So, Desai told Professor Say bluntly, "Once I hold a coronation ceremony at St. John's Cathedral in Warsaw, it will be difficult to return to Catalonia within at least three years. In the next year, I will gradually delegate various authority to the Manresa Cabinet you are leading, including diplomacy and policing. In addition, I have authorized Descha Sanluge and Rash Holt to build a two-level parliament in the future Catalonia-Aragorn Kingdom starting this month.

But in order to ensure the stable development and long-term stability of the new Catalonian-Aragorn Kingdom, in addition to early annexation of the southern Aragon and dismantling all resistance armed forces, I must also cooperate with Marshal Massena to drive the damn British expeditionary force back to the Atlantic Ocean from Portugal. Within two to three years, the land connection between the Kingdom of Britain and the Iberis Peninsula will be completely cut off.

Of course, out of the necessity of legal rule, perhaps I also leave a heir to the throne for this emerging kingdom. As for the funding issues you mentioned, I can hereby guarantee that the Portuguese and the British will pay for us.”

...

On May 20, the sky was clear and there was a slight breeze.

The troops of the Desai Division included the First Infantry Brigade, the Third Infantry Brigade (an Irish regiment included in the division combat sequence and the term "guard" was abolished, a Catalan regiment, and a Northern Aragon regiment), a cavalry brigade, a gendarmerie, an engineer regiment, an artillery regiment, and a total of 16,000 soldiers from the division's baggage regiment.

All the soldiers who went to the expedition were dressed in various parade dresses, in the regiment battalion, with their majestic military power and neat lineup, waiting for the inspection of their supreme commander, Duke Hruna in the northern suburbs of Zaragoza. These young men were all strong and enthusiastic. After a series of rigorous training by the instructors of the military, at least in terms of military appearance and momentum, this lion about to go to the expedition was completely comparable to the emperor's guards.

At around 8 a.m., when Andrew Desai, wearing the uniform of a major general, appeared in front of the soldiers on a pure white Andalusian horse, everyone immediately expressed a sincere and warm welcome. Countless people shouted in unison, waved their military caps, shook their military flags and guns, and paid tribute to the invincible General Desai and the future Prince of Catalonia.

Thirty minutes later, General Desai, who was cheering by the officers and soldiers present, sat high on the horse's back and signed the order to go to the army in public. Then, he rode his horse back and faced 16,000 soldiers, Gao raised his horse's whip and delivered a speech before the battle.

"Soldiers, the third Portuguese War is about to begin. The first two Portuguese wars seem to have nothing to do with us and can be ignored. Because the British Cabinet and the Lisbon Parliament once swear to me that they are willing to conclude a permanent peace between the three parties.

However, the shameless British people were betrayal and destroyed their former oath. Together with the despicable Portuguese, they took the lead in provoking hostility to the Catalan-Aragorn people.

In March this year, just as we were working hard to save two million Aragon victims who were displaced due to famine and faced death threats at any time and anywhere, the British actually sent a large number of Portuguese spies to secretly attack border checkpoints, kill dozens of our brave soldiers, and kill thousands of innocent refugees who were eager to make a living.

When diplomatic envoys wearing violet badges questioned the bureaucrats of Lisbon and London, they did not explain their strange behavior, and the barbarians even deliberately humiliated diplomats who were loyal to our cause of peace. They thought that the Desai Division had degenerated and became weak and unable to fight back against their shameful actions.

No, they were wrong! They were very wrong! When the British and the Portuguese asked us to choose, shame or war, our choice would not arouse doubts, that is war.

So, go ahead, cross the Ebro River, and lead the coming war to Portugal's territory. For our army, the Third Portuguese War will be a great victory for washing away shame, winning glory, and seizing wealth.
Chapter completed!