Black Iron’s Glory

Chapter 426: West Coast

“Perhaps by the time we read the news, the war on the mainland of the kingdom was over, and neither of the princes knew who was truly wearing the crown.” General Scully said with emotion.

“There is no way to win this battle.” Claude grinned, “Prince Hansburg has been in battle for a long time, and the old rapist slipped. If anything goes wrong, Prince Widreck will pull his legs off. As long as the two of them are not surprised, the civil war in this kingdom will have to be fought. ”

The captain of the smuggling vessel from the Kingdom of Nasseri said that he had left the northern Gulf in late May of this year, transporting a shipment to the Principality of Rigliolo in the southern part of the Farea continent, where he received a further operation to transport a shipment of arms to the western coast of Nubian. Then, after spending more than a month on the west coast, a boat of specialties from the Nubian mainland was gathered to return to the Kingdom of Nasseri. Only this time he was unlucky to follow a distant merchant ship in the Nubari Islands against pirates, defeated two pirate battleships who wanted to mount a boarding battle by dropping a bomb equipped on the ship, and killed a panicked way to the port of Vibato...

In other words, the owner of the smuggling ship was accustomed to buying newspapers and watching the news until May. As for the crew below him, he did not care as much about the country as he did, and the information he gave was more hearsay and trail news circulating in folk taverns, as well as gossip rumours.

When the office door opened, General Bolognick walked in and was very pleased to see Claude: "I heard from the command that you were here, so I came to see you. Now that you've seen the captain's confession, I finally know why none of the smugglers I sent back. ”

General Bolognick walked to the wall, pointing to a map of the vast Nubian continent hanging from the wall: “There is still a civil war on the mainland of our kingdom, and White Deer City is under the control of Grand Prince Hansburg, where the two smugglers he sent are most likely caught. After all, for the Grand Prince Hansburg, our Overseas Territories war zone has become a treason, so he has broken the maritime traffic links between the two continents, and ocean ships from overseas territories, whether merchant or smuggler, are the object of strict protection. ”

Claude nodded, and General Bolognick made a good point. Grand Prince Hansburg used the sea to transport the Blue Feathers Regiment and a standing regiment across the defensive lines of the Odin Mountains, penetrating directly into the heart of the kingdom and raiding and seizing the King's Capital. With such precedents, the Grand Prince naturally takes care of his own backtracks and guards against threats from the sea, then it makes sense to detain all the ships he takes for granted from the rebel areas.

In particular, White Deer City is strategically located in the south-west and the sea is in the hands of the storm fleet. In the unlikely event that Grand Prince Hansburg's war situation is unfavourable, he can retreat to the three counties in the southwest. If he guards White Deer City, he will attack the defensible situation. As Sterling IX did in that year, with the help of the three counties in the southwest, he regained his strength and eventually swept the entire kingdom to the throne. Perhaps Grand Prince Hansburg's idea was to emulate his grandfather, and if the Grand Prince could not sustain himself, he could use the storm fleet to move by sea to the newly occupied territories.

And the Overseas Direct Warring Zone on the mainland of Nubicia has turned its face over with the Grand Prince, who must also guard against where the two regiments in the Warring Zone get their boats and transport them back to attack White Deer City, give him a closed-door dog fight or something. Once White Deer City is occupied, it means the Grand Prince has nowhere to run. Prince Hansburg clearly knows more about the power of the Thunder Corps and the Rock Corps than he cares less about Prince Widreck in the Overseas Territories.

“Obviously, we feared that the storm fleet under Grand Prince Hansburg would attack the Overseas Territories, and the Grand Prince was obviously watching out for us.” General Bolognick laughed bitterly, saying that none of the generals who could be looked upon by Marshal Michel were simple, and the truth was quickly speculated from the statements of the captain of the smuggling ship in the Kingdom of Nasserley combined with the two long-distance smugglers who had gone to White Deer City for news.

General Bolognick picked up a pen and drew a fork on the map on the blue route from White Deer City to Port Cobichous under Tyrsim: “As long as Grand Prince Hansburg still controls White Deer City, the route will be nullified. Without a fearless fleet, only a storm fleet controls the waters of the kingdom, and no matter how many smugglers or ocean ships we send back, we fall into their hands. Even if you don't go to White Deer City, you go to other seaports, where the waters and coastal towns are storm fleets. ”

“Which east line?” General Skerry asked. He meant whether it was possible to escort the merchant fleet from the former Dauntless Fleet to the eastern maritime corridor of the Overseas Territories, to send ships to the Farea mainland for news or to reconnect with the King.

General Bolodeck shook his head: “No use. I sent three pelagic smugglers on that eastern line, just like this one, with no return. The main reason is here, in the waters of the Nubari Islands, that's pirate paradise. There are nearly a thousand large and small islands, countless groups of pirates, intricate waters. And the route from the Farea mainland to the west coast of the Nubian mainland necessarily passes through the Nubari Islands, and bad luck can be the target of countless pirate gangs.

When the Dauntless fleet escorted the merchant fleet to overseas direct jurisdiction, the most dangerous area was in the waters of the Nubari Islands. Almost every time they are attacked by pirates. One of the greatest losses was the loss of 52 ships, including 14 warships and 38 ocean merchant ships. However, that was also a major blow to the Nubari pirates, who were said to have been sunk by more than a hundred pirate ships, so that they could only make a scene for the next four to five years that they could no longer launch dozens of pirate ships at once to attack a large merchant fleet. ”

Claudette raised her eyebrows: "Are the pirates in the Nubari Islands' waters part of the crew or are they dispersed? ”

“I don't know either.” General Bolognick said, "I used to have a classmate in the Royal Navy who told me all about the waters of the Nubari Islands and the pirate gangs. In fact, that bloody battle in the Nubari Islands was the cause of five years of war in the eastern part of the country, and the Kingdom later sent people into the Nubari Islands to spy on the news from the pirates.

The ambush of the merchant fleet escorted by the Dauntless Fleet was said to have been a result of the then anti-Olympic coalition paying to hire pirates from the Nubari Islands, who assembled almost all of the pirate groups operating in that area for a joint operation. It was just that they had no idea that the loss would be so great that several well-known pirate gangs had suffered major health injuries and casualties. When they returned, the pirates fed the sharks to the liaison envoys sent by the anti-Olympic S-5 coalition.

Upon the return of the agents who had heard the news, the Kingdom sent envoys to the anti-Olympic S-5 coalition to protest and claim compensation, but all five countries rejected the request of the Kingdom's envoy, insisting that they were not aware of it, and since then the Kingdom's relations with them have begun to turn to confrontation. Immediately thereafter, the Kingdom opened a new route from White Deer City to the direct territory of Tyrsim, no longer travelling from the eastern line, while the anti-Olympic S-5 alliance, unable to use the eastern line to coerce the Kingdom, dispatched a joint fleet to invade the Kingdom's waters, which eventually led to the Kingdom's intolerability and began to attack the anti-Olympic S-5 alliance... "

Claude stood up and looked closely at the topographical map of the Nubian continent before coming to the map by the wall. The Kingdom's eight overseas jurisdictions should be in the south-western direction of the continent of Nubian. The southernmost part of the direct administration of Arturas is the pristine jungle known as the Endless Forest, and further south of the pristine jungle is the vast area of muddy marsh, the misty marsh. It can be said that there is no threat to the south of the Overseas Territories.

But the northern part of the port of Vibato, the northern part of which is the coastal mountainous area, is now an independent Nikantha country. This coastal mountainous area is much larger than Bering Ghana's direct jurisdiction, and deep into the sea lies the famous Cape of Morox. And to the far north of this coastal mountainous zone is the western coast of the Nubian continent, a wider plain than the Overseas Territories war zone, a colony of seven coastal and island States in the southern part of the Farea continent.

The West Coast was out of reach when Sterling X decided to vigorously explore the colonies of the Nubian continent. At that time, however, the Kingdom had established the port of Patres at the entrance to the Dolinibara River and had discovered significant mineral resources in the Mosiraga Mountains, immediately adjacent to Amphiston. That is why we resolved to expand the colony, after nearly two decades of establishing seven overseas territories, except that the port of Vibato would have already been buried in the income bag of the Kingdom of Nasri, and the Kingdom was one step late, otherwise there would have been no colonial war.

Claude reached out to the west coast and asked General Bolognick, “How did the colonies of these countries connect to the Farea continent? ”

General Bolognick replied: "They organize a large merchant fleet in the first and second half of each year, and then assemble battleships from several countries to escort them through the Nubari Islands. Because of the lesson of heavy damage caused by the death of the fearless fleet of our kingdom, pirate groups basically don't think of such a massive merchant fleet..."

Claude nodded: "In that case, we do not need to send smugglers directly to the Farea continent, but we should send them to the West Coast port city for information about the kingdom itself. I am convinced that the outbreak of civil war in the Kingdom itself should be of concern to many countries and that it is likely that the results of the Kingdom's civil war will be heard on the West Coast.

Of course, all this information about the kingdom itself may have happened a few months ago, but further delays are stronger than what we have been carrying for a year and a half, and at least give us a reference to speculate on the outcome we are going to face. Moreover, even if agents were to be sent back to the Farea continent, security would be ensured through the shipping merchant fleet in the colonies of those countries on the West Coast. ”

General Bolognick was somewhat upset: “Claude, you were right, but the problem is that our overseas jurisdictions are no longer in a position to find suitable and reliable candidates. The Kingdom itself has traditionally monopolized the maritime trade between the two continents, severely combating pelagic smugglers, and since the outbreak of the colonial war there have been fewer smugglers to and from the two regions. The last five smugglers I dispatched were already the five skippers who were familiar with the two continental routes that the war zone could contact, and after they didn't return, I was afraid that no one would accept our commission and dispatch now. ”

Claude shook his head: "We can select the right people from among the captains transporting offshore, offer them ocean merchant ships, and even organize our battleship squads to cruise the west coast. There are no countries hostile to our kingdom of Ovieras, we can use the name of supply to get information from the port, and perhaps we can open a business route for overseas jurisdictions. As big as the West Coast, there are colonies of seven countries, and I think they should have what we need there, and we have the specialties that they need here, and sometimes trade, doesn't just mean ocean trade between two continents..."

General Scully concurred that the opening of commercial corridors to the colonies of those countries on the West Coast was a good idea, given that there was trade between counties throughout the Kingdom and between overseas jurisdictions.

“Do you have the right people to carry out this plan?” General Bolognick asked.

“Uh..." Claude thought, helplessly giving the only candidate: “Let Colonel Boquer of the War Zone Intelligence Department go, he can handle even the Nikanchas, believing that to the West Coast is more like fish. However, he must be provided with several deputies and escorts to ensure his personal safety. After all, he is the only link between our war zone and the Nikans. ”

After returning from theatre headquarters, Claude returned to Viberon Manor to rest for a few days with his wife and children, as well as his mother. Another meeting with General Skerry. This time, General Skerry presided over the upgrading and expansion of Lan Lake Town into a city. According to the new urban plan, the new Lan Lake Town will be three times larger than the current Lan Lake Town, and almost half of the entire Lan Lake will be included in the scope of the new Town, which is much larger than the current Old Lan Lake Town, which occupies only a small area on the shore of Lan Lake.

As one of the five giants of the war zone, Claude is planned to build his own estate villa in the New Town Villa area and no longer have to rent Mr. Viberon's estate until the New Town is built. This was the first public construction project sponsored by the Overseas Minsheng Bank since its inception, using Langhu City's expansion to hire Amphiston immigrants, giving them the opportunity to earn money and pull economic development within the war zone.

Claude returned to Wickham Castle in early September after another meeting at theatre headquarters, and General Bolognick believed that the news from the Nasserli Kingdom's smuggling captain that the civil war on the Kingdom's soil would not be over in the short term gave the Overseas Territories a good opportunity to adjust their forces to develop their internal economy.

The only thing to look out for now is the actions of the Kingdom of Hicks, which has not been heard from for so long, and the King's and United Fleets, which have not come to sneak up on coastal ports under overseas jurisdiction. This keeps the battlefield feeling a little overwhelmed, like being blindfolded. General Bolognick therefore hopes that the Legion of Thunder will complete all preparatory training as soon as possible in order to prevent a sudden attack by the Kingdom of Hicks.

Colonel Boquer, who was sent to the west coast for information, boarded a boat directly in late August at the port of Vibato, and dispatched three light ocean cruisers to the theatre, forming a cruise unit to the west coast, estimated to return around mid-October...

Less than two days after Claude's arrival at Wickham Castle, he received a letter from Master Byrd informing Claude of the good news that the firearms manufacturing workshop under the direct authority of Port Wibateau had been constructed and that Claude would be allowed to inspect it. At the same time, there was a handwritten letter from Mrs. Sonia asking Claude what the first product of this firearm factory should be manufactured and whether her Sonia V could be manufactured as a new type of rifle...