Black Iron’s Glory

Chapter 469: At Sea

The lights in the cabin are dark and dark, and only a few white-morned lights are revealed from the crevices of the boards above, allowing people to barely identify the surrounding sights. Nearly 300 people sat in this cabin, making the cabin, which would have felt very large and spacious, look particularly crowded. Fortunately, a few more vents were opened on the cabin wall before departure, otherwise cloudy air would be even more painful and dull...

Lieutenant Colonel Derivique stood right next to the ventilation window in front of the cabin, with fresh air coming out the window with cold water vapor and a sea smell. Visually, it's also the monotonous reddish-brown sea water and dark red sky that combine in the distance into an endless black line.

Today's wind waves are a little big, and the carriers are shaking a little hard. But it's no big deal for Lieutenant Colonel Derivique, who's been through bigger wind waves. At the end of the five-year war in the eastern part of the Farea continent, he was forcibly discharged from service in the Royal Army and returned to Amphiston territory because of his descent from the Overseas Territories.

He spent the next three years working at a mineral trading house run by his father, Mr. Viberon, learning to manage several mineral development bases in preparation for his future takeover of the family property as a small mineral owner. At that time, he frequently escorted convoys loaded with ingots to the seaport of Cobichous under the direct administration of Tyrsim, where he had encountered greater wind waves.

Then the colonial wars broke out between the Hicks and Ovillas kingdoms. Derivique also wanted to sign up to join the local guards and become a fighter against the Hicks invasion, only to be stopped by his father, Mr. Viberon.

Mr. Viberon said that local guard arming was a mess who didn't know that fighting enemies was not something that could be done with courage alone, and joining such a team would only end with death. As a result of the family's counselling, Derivique finally dispelled the idea of re-enlistment and took refuge as a family following those of mining and business associations.

Then, halfway across the road, their team met the leader of the Rangers on the front line, when Claude was only the commander of the Lieutenant Colonel's battalion of the Independent Reinforcement Battalion. Curiously, after his father, Mr. Viberon, met the young battalion commander, he resolved not to flee under the administration of Amphiston. Derivique was impressed by the foresight of his father, Mr. Viberon, and the Rangers soon won the first and second colonial wars.

Derevyck's idea of joining the army again became stronger, and this time his father, Mr. Viberon, had no objection, but instead asked Claude, who had just been promoted to Major General of the Kingdom, to join Derevyck in the newly formed Thunder Division. As a lieutenant officer who joined the army again after five or six years of retirement, Derivique had just begun his new career in the military. But he persisted and officially became a grassroots officer in the Thunder Corps.

From the Third Colonial War to the Great Mixed Battle at the Hicks Camp in the Northern Mountains, Derivique was lucky not to have died. At the same time, because of the courageous command of the battle, the party was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, and currently holds the position of battalion commander of the main field battalion of the 1303 regiment of Thunder First Division.

As a senior officer of the first division, Derivique was aware of the full scope of the raid. He had to worry about Claude's bold plan, as they needed to spend seven days and seven nights in the cabin. If a Hicks cruiser finds a glimmer, it's like burying an entire first division at sea. In this cold weather, they can't run even if they want to, there's no place for you to escape. The only thing to do is bury yourself under the sea...

Derevyck was eager to take out the tobacco wire and shove it in the pipe to relieve his anxiety. This is something he learned from several veterans, which effectively relaxes post-war tensions, relaxes nerves, and refreshes him. But just when he reached into the bag, he remembered the announcement that fireworks were strictly forbidden in the cabin, and he could only smother a few of them into his mouth and chew them, filling his entire mouth with spicy and bitter flavors...

I don't know how long it's been since I fell asleep, and the sound of a bamboo pole knocking on my deck. The guards around him pushed Twidrivique and woke him up. Again, above the cabin. Derevík rubbed his face with his hands and made his mind clearer: “Is it night? It's time to go up and get some air. ”

For a seven-day, seven-night trip, soldiers can only stay in the cabin during the day, and ventilate on the deck only at night when the fleet is parked overnight. As a result, less than two days later, the word "airborne" became popular on all transport vessels, and soldiers compared themselves to prisoners in prisons, the only difference being that prisoners were in cells, and they were in cabins.

Lieutenant Colonel Derivique clapped his hands and said to the soldiers in the cabin: "The old rules are to move your hands and feet first, lest you get numb for a long time, get on the deck and lose control of your body, and plant your head in the sea. No one will save you in this weather, because they will soon be frozen, and we will not lose another warrior's life to save your life. Everybody move, come on, be conscious, move your hands and feet..."

Nearly 300 people were stuffed in the cabin, and of course there was no place for people to fuck in the cabin. But what Lieutenant Colonel Derivique said about the movement did not require much ground, and the soldiers sat there, holding their heads back with their hands, and then studying the rabbit's legs in the middle of the sky, that is, pretending to be riding a virtual bicycle...

This was also an option, with three soldiers getting numb on their feet and urinating on the deck the first night when offshore carriers were berthed, and not standing steadily in the sea. Even immediate rescue would have caught only two half-dead frozen, and a bad luck man disappeared. From that day onwards, soldiers had to move their hands and feet on the deck at night when the boat was parked in order not to repeat the mistake.

A total of one hundred and sixty-five offshore ocean carriers, the largest shallow maritime convoy in the Overseas Territories. The night berth is a dark reef area with depths of less than five or six meters. On the other hand, offshore carriers eat up to three metres of water, some seventy-eight metres long bamboo can be inserted directly onto the reef to secure the ship, and then the rest of the ship is surrounded by planks and iron buttons, which are then separately anchored.

The units of the first division are assigned offshore transport vessels on a structured basis, with the coastal transport vessels of the 1301 to 304 regiments divided into pieces, with the immediate units of the division in the middle, connected to each other by boards, as if they were links.

The main reason for this is that offshore carriers are flat bottoms, do not eat water deeply, and most of the cargo is on deck and feels a little light-headed. There are sail pockets when driving during the day, even if the wind waves are bigger, it's just a boat shaking. But overnight parking is easy to turn over in case of a big wind wave, so connecting the boat to the boat is not afraid of the wind wave, but it is also stable. The only thing to be aware of is fire protection and pirate attacks.

Out of the cabin, a cold sea breeze swept in, causing people to consciously fight a cold war. The sailors on the deck are nervously chaining the iron buckles on the side of the boat and the transport boat next to it, placing them on the boat board, connecting the two boats on both sides with their own, while at the same time providing more room for movement.

Major Marylands drilled a beard in the cabin of the transport boat next to him and saw Lieutenant Colonel Derivique lift up the big pipe and sway. The two men walked towards the rear deck of the offshore transport boat, which was the default smoking area, where many smoke-addicted sailors and crews would come to smoke a few cigarettes while travelling.

Not only did Colonel Derivique and Major Maryland smoke in this area, but the rear deck area of more offshore carriers lit up a little pipe fire, and then in the dark of the night, it was like a firefly swarm of light, blinking brightly...

Dinner is simple, with black bread and meat steak, a glass of hot wine, a bowl of potato mud mixed with beef spoon, and a carrot. Compared to two meals in the morning and noon, dinner can be hot at least, and breakfast and lunch can only be eaten dry in the cabin by all officers and soldiers without going out. Sometimes the sailors on the deck send two barrels of hot water down to give you two sips of warmth and lower body, and the cabin is cold, and even with lots of hay on it, you still feel shaky when you lean on the wall.

The fleet has gone for another two days and has reached the Cape of Morox, just a day and a half away from the colony of Rodex Bay. If you don't stay overnight, it may only take one day. However, the fleet of one hundred and sixty-five offshore carriers, whose night sailing is very dangerous, can also cause chaos if rescue is not forthcoming.

There was a crisp iron strike in the cabin, which meant encountering an enemy cruise fleet, all of whom had to remain on alert, silent and in first-degree combat. Close all ventilation windows and close the wooden window doors.

“Everybody, the towel is bitten in your mouth, even if you sneeze and cough.” Colonel Derivique gave a quick order: “Close the hatch windows, lock all the plank windows, and close the vent windows..."

Soon, the cabin was dark and even the air began to get a little dull, with only four ventilated long seams on the front and rear walls still smelling of silky sea air.

After more than half an hour, Lieutenant Colonel Derivique felt that he had slowed down on this convoy and seemed to have fallen off the sail. He knew that the offshore transport boat he was travelling on was outside the fleet, thanks to a small hole in the closed wooden window door, through which he could rarely see two light cruisers and a secondary cruise sail liner parked more than a hundred metres from the sea through the blurred cabin window.

It goes without saying that all the artillery on the three cruise ships of this combined fleet should now be aimed at this convoy on its own side. If exposed, the first division of the Thunder Corps will bury the entire army in the waves of the sea...

Seven lifeboats dropped from battleships were carrying the Hicks Marines to the convoy on a surface not seen by Lieutenant Colonel Derivique. A dozen minutes later, the lifeboat had approached the convoy and a major officer from the bearded Kingdom of Hicks climbed up from the rope ladder thrown down by the convoy.

“Ha ha, how you, my brother.” Old Sick, the nominal director of the convoy, greeted him with enthusiasm and embrace.

This Marine Major officer of the Hicks United fleet was also very surprised: "Ha ha, old Sick, this is your fleet. ”

Old Sick shook his head: "It's not my fleet, it's our buffalo store fleet. If it were my fleet, I would be nestled next to the fireplace at home enjoying a warm stove fire, baking some good food and tasting some delicious fruit wine. Who else wants to go out on a boat in cold weather? ”

Major Officer Haha laughed: “What are you doing here? ”

Old Sick's bitter face: "The wealthy goddess is reluctant to shelter her most devout followers. How dare I go home after losing three months of salary a night in a tavern? You should have heard me talk about my vicious bitch, and if she knew I lost three months of salary, she'd tear my old bone apart. Fortunately, when I picked up another job at the mall, I volunteered to run this business before going home and getting beaten up..."

The Hicks Marines on the boat are listening to the music. Is the old man too scared of his wife? The major officer laughed more closely and slapped himself in the thigh. I just stopped laughing and said, "Okay, old Sick, stop making jokes. Where's your fleet and what's on the boat? ”

“Where else can I go, you guys?” Old Sick mumbled and drank: “The little Booker, give me the books from the captain's office. ”

Little Booker was Claude, and now he's pretending to be a buffalo clerk, rushing to send a big ledger to Old Sick. It was a pleasant surprise to see the Major's officer, and he said to Old Sick, "Are they picking up? Then what are you waiting for? Go check it out. I can go home sooner. ”

Old Sick grabbed the ledger: “You want to be beautiful, come with us to the place and finish the order and you have to settle the bill so you can go home. Don't worry, the baby in your wife's tummy won't fall off any time soon. Didn't the pharmacist say it was three months away? ”

Turn around and give the books to the major officer: “This is the financial accountant at our commercial firm. His wife is getting pregnant and about to give birth. The boy didn't want to go out. We tied him to a boat this time. Mainly because you want too much goods this time, the business amount is huge, without taking this kid with us, you know my arithmetic is not very good, it's easy to get confused over the three digits, our boss decided to let this kid go and calculate the bill clearly..."

The major officer glanced at Claude and saw him shrugging his head, holding his arm cold enough, and wearing a big black frame glasses, which was really the impression of the financial accountants, and he was not surprised. When I opened the ledger, I was surprised: "Old Sick, your boss can't resist getting so many good things this time, all the blueberry fruit wines from '76. ”

Old Sick hey laughed: “Speaking of which, thanks to your army hitting Lan Lake City, you're making a mess inside the war zone. That battlefield command has been unable to manage our commercial firms, and our boss took advantage of this chaos to get some warehouse supplies ready to trade them all to you. Exactly what those officers in your Logistics Department meant, so simply organize such a large fleet to transport all the cargo to the past. Afraid that the battlefield command will issue a restraining order in the future, there will be no such opportunity..."

“Your boss is brilliant, and no wonder he made the Bison Shop so big that he became famous in those colonies on the West Coast.” The major officer nodded and turned the ledger: “Old Sikh, what does this red blue and black tri-color mean? ”

“This is to distinguish between what you Hicks Logistics Department and what we ordered in red, and what we ordered in blue was what those officials in Rodex Bay City ordered from our merchants, and what we were going to sell in black.” Old Sick replied with a big grin.

“It turns out you guys are making a lot of money on this trip.” The Major officer said with envy that he nodded to a soldier next to him: "No problem, flag the captain, informing him that the convoy was transporting supplies to our general logistics base. ”

The soldier took out a small red flag and a small green flag, dancing towards the cruise liner not far away. "Major, the captain asked us to inspect every transport vessel to see if the cargo carried down was identical to the one registered on the bill. ”

The major officer cursed at the distant battleship in anger, meaning he was in such bad luck that he got caught up in such a mentally ill captain who loved to trouble them. Just at the top of the ranks, he had to take orders.

Old Sick said, "It's okay, we have a fleet of convoys, how many to how many carriers are carrying everything in the books. You don't need a boat to inspect, you just stand on my boat, I ask them to take the boat to the side, you go up and see if the cargo matches the ledger..."

Lieutenant Colonel Derivique heard the sailors' numbers on the deck, feeling the boat moving slowly and then smashing slightly with the other boats.

A voice came down: "Mr. Major, we carry all the wheat liquor on this ship, and it's also in the cabin below. I ask people to remove the wheat barrels from the deck and then open the cap. See if it's the same as it says in the ledger...”

The sound of liquor stabbing came up on the deck and the lid was lifted. However, the inspected Hicks soldiers were not interested in coming down for inspection, and they reported back only at a glance at the hatch: "Major, the hatch was full of wheat and wine stabs. ”

The cap was re-capped and Lieutenant Colonel Derivique relieved himself. If those Hicks soldiers come down and check it out, they'll find that the barley stabbing to the roof is empty, and if they stab the barley away, they'll find nearly 300 nervous Thunder Legion soldiers in the back cabin...

The further back, the more so-so this Major Hicks and those Hicks Marine soldiers will be checking. After all, one hundred and sixty-five offshore carriers, each hopping up for inspection, is also a life-threatening activity. This time of year, if you accidentally fall into the sea, it's over. So at the end of the day, they just looked across the boat and checked it out.

It took two and a half hours to complete the inspection, and finally the major left with a case of kale, and the soldiers with a large bag of small gifts from Old Sikh in a lifeboat. Less than four hours later, three cruisers returned. But this time, instead of checking, I bought some high-end ingredients from Old Sick. The captain only signed a name and stamped it. Old Sick had to go to the Logistics Supervisor at the UNLB camp to settle the bill...