Black Iron’s Glory

Chapter 520 Demolition and Distribution

“... this is the largest military manufacturing factory in the Kingdom of Nasseri, the Royal Military Industry of the Camben Valley. But after inspections, we found that the mechanical equipment here was not the most advanced in the Farea continent, much the same level of mechanical equipment we had at the Bareville County Military Manufacturing Workshop that we had landed in and robbed in White Deer City. As requested by the Royal Court, these military industries and workshops belonging to the Royal House of Nasserly in the Nasserly area are sealed off. I don't know, three years later, there are still a few pieces of machinery available here...”

Claude took General Bolognick to a valley, the Camben Valley, the largest and most famous mechanically equipped military industry in the former Kingdom of Nasserley, capable of producing light and medium-sized artillery. It is said that the Royal House of Nasri, the military manufacturing factory, accounts for 69 per cent of the shares and produces weapons and equipment that are used to arm the Standing Army of the Kingdom of Nasri. Compared to the size of this industry, the remaining two industries in the Kingdom of Nasri are in fact earthworks, which can only be used to repair firearms and spare parts for weapons production, or general daily armaments.

General Bolognick has been with Claude for a long time, and seeing Claude bring them here naturally understands what Claude is up to. He frowned at Claude: "What, are you going to tear this apart? ”

Claude laughed, “You know, if these machines were sealed up and left unattended, then three years from now, it would be a pile of scrap iron. Especially these hydraulic machines, we can imagine what rust will look like. In a month's time, King Ting will come to a special envoy whose purpose is to transport the gold and silver we seized from the treasury of the Kingdom of Nasri back to Wangdu and to seal the real estate of the Royal family of Nasri. What I mean is, you can take these apart and sell them before they're sealed up here and spoiled for nothing...”

Now that Frederie I and Wang Ting insist on leaving both the Legion of Thunder and the Legion of Rock to work in the newly occupied areas, Claude will not be polite enough to find some compensation for himself and the Legion, which is the biggest difference between him and General Bolognick. General Bolognick, an old-fashioned and traditional loyal soldier, would not question the orders given by his superiors, as he believed in what the Prime Minister of the Kingdom, the Marquis Blancat, had privately revealed to him, and the Kingdom was prepared to entrust the newly occupied territories to the townships of two regiments in the Overseas Autonomous Territories as compensation for their merits.

Claude will not believe these false promises, and there will be countless more good things to say privately, as long as the King's court does not officially issue a trusteeship order, it will all be an empty check. General Bolognick also argued with Claude about this, and he believed that the meaning of Frederie I and the Royal Court must be true. Because the kingdom now lacks money, the best strategy is to do nothing, collect taxes and contributions for several years in these newly occupied areas, accumulate some funds for the royal family and the treasury, and then plan for something else.

Nothing can be done without money, and so can a kingdom. After years of brutal war, the kingdom of Ovieras has become a wrecking ship of sores. It urgently needs a period of calm to restore its vitality. It would also be helpless to have two regimental towns in the overseas autonomous territories guard those newly occupied areas. Because the military expenses of the Legion of Thunder and the Legion of Rock do not need to be paid by the Kingdom, and these newly occupied areas are also earned by the struggle of these two Legions, the Kingdom can only reward the National Order of Extinction established by the two Legions with the commercial interests of these newly occupied areas for the next three years, which is actually a transaction...

However, Claude silenced General Bolognick by asking only one question, and the total size of the newly occupied area was twice that of the kingdom itself, with no less population than that of the kingdom itself. This is a huge sales market, and if the kingdom really lets the Legion of Thunder and the Legion of Rock collect taxes for the kingdom for three years in this town, then it will only have to transport goods and commodities produced by the overseas autonomous territories to these areas for sale, which will yield huge commercial returns.

The question is, would the kingdom's old-fashioned aristocratic power be willing to hand over such huge commercial gains to both regiments to watch the merchants of the overseas autonomous territories get rich? General Bolognick can't answer that. These old-fashioned aristocratic powers of the kingdom pushed Frederick I to power, and it is not to be ignored that they have suffered tremendous losses in the years of war. How can Frederick I and the King compensate them...

Whoever does not have a few small workshops in their possession to produce some commodities for daily use or something, the Kingdom has moved the cheese of their old aristocratic family forces in order to return two corps of overseas autonomous military regions to the kingdom to participate in the battle, and has lifted the commercial restrictions in the various counties of the kingdom itself, allowing the overseas autonomous territories to set up ten commercial firms to carry out all kinds of free commercial trade in the counties of the kingdom itself, thus renouncing the pricing and trading rights dominated by the old aristocratic family forces.

At that time, the kingdom was forced by the coalition forces to face a crisis of death, and the forces of the old noble family could not help but bow their heads. Now that the war is over, and the kingdom of Ovilas is one of the ultimate winners, it is only natural that the old-fashioned aristocratic forces of the kingdom will find ways to compensate for their losses elsewhere. Claude was convinced that the plan to entrust the newly occupied areas to the township guards of the Legion of Thunder and the Legion of Rock would inevitably create a huge ripple at the Royal Court.

If the kingdom had no money, it would not have represented the old aristocratic power or money, otherwise the Red Dragon Legion and the Lizard Legion would not have been able to sustain themselves without cutting off their supplies of armaments and payroll and welfare subsidies due for most of the year. Soldiers in the hands of the world are the greatest dependants. They also belong to the old-fashioned aristocratic power of the kingdom, and they are willing to pay to sustain the two regiments because they believe that their present contribution will yield greater rewards and gains in the future.

So Claude thinks very clearly, and it's useless bullshit not to make any better promises. The land, the mines, he had no right to move, so he took the opportunity to sell everything he could as a reward for the two regiments defending these newly occupied areas for the Kingdom free of charge. Don't look at the mechanical equipment of the largest military industry in the Kingdom of Nasseri, but it's all dismantled and shipped to the Overseas Autonomous Territories, at least two or three million gold kroner, enough for two regiments to spend a year or two on military spending.

What the overseas self-governments need most today are these large forges to refine machinery and equipment. Military manufacturing in the Autonomous Territories has met production needs, but the demand for these large mechanical equipment for forging and refining is very high among the Autonomous Territories, not to mention railway railway production alone, as well as shipbuilding workshops set up by private investment, which have also begun to prepare for the construction of pelagic transport vessels with all-iron shells. In his letter to Claude, General Scully indicated that there would be no shortage of supplies to return from the Farea continent with some large forged refining machinery.

Now that the Royal Court is ready to seal the military industry here, Claude naturally doesn't mind dismantling all the machinery and equipment here and shipping them back to the Overseas Autonomous Territories. Even if the royal envoy came to see him, what would he do? There is no way to stop Claude's order, big deal. Claude's compensation at the scrap price after three years is enough. It's nothing more than tens of thousands of gold kroner. There's no need to be surprised.

“Skilled workers who were originally working in the military industry here, most of whom agreed to emigrate with their families to the overseas autonomous territories, totalled more than 3,000 people, together with more than 10,000 members of their families.

These are technical-migrants, and I have written to General Scully and Mr. Vibran, who will arrange for the personal industries and jobs of these technical-migrants to join our military industry with the highest priority, and the rest to be redistributed to railway companies and shipyards... "

Both General Claude and General Bolonik strolled along the road of this military manufacturing factory, and the guards scattered more than 10 metres away in order not to disturb the private conversations between the two generals.

“Yes," General Bolonik nodded. "The next time prisoners are transported to the Overseas Autonomous Territories, priority will be given to them on board. By the way, Claude, a few of my staff have suggested that the next ocean convoy take the eastern route, saving four or five days at sea and avoiding the trouble of sailing off the coast of the kingdom. What do you think..."

The convoy escorted by the Overseas Autonomous Overseas Cruise Fleet now departs similarly from the autonomous state of Tyrsim, the port of Cobichous, across the silent ocean and stormy waters, to White Deer City, and east along the Kingdom's coastline to the Florida seaport in the Rimodra region, with a somewhat longer route. Meanwhile, materials disembarking from the Florida seaport will arrive in the Royal City of Polyvisia and will have to be transported by road for up to one month.

Simply put, it takes a month's sea voyage and a month's land trip to ship supplies from overseas autonomy to the Royal City of Polyvisia, where the Legion of Thunder is located, and two months is spent on the road. Nearly 100,000 prisoners of war in the Nasri kingdom are now searching for their families in order to force them all to migrate to the Autonomous Overseas Territory of Arturas to grow tobacco. If it is still an old transport route, it may take more than two months.

Claude shook his head: "No, sea routes are better off on the western line, which is too dangerous for us. At least we can't guarantee safe passage through the waters of the Nubari Islands, which is pirate paradise. Before the opening of the route from Bai Lu City to Tilsim, the Kingdom's fearless fleet escorted the convoy to the east, each time it was attacked by pirates, causing heavy casualties and the eastern front was described as a bloodshed.

Although our Overseas Autonomous Territories already possess an Ironclad fleet, they are invincible at sea. But last year's battle between the Ironclad fleet and the King of the Hicks fleet was equally devastating. The majority of Ironclad warships returned to the autonomous port of Patres for major repairs, which took at least seven or eight months to regroup.

Now that we have four better state-of-the-art Ironclad Destroyers on patrol in the coastal waters, do you think these four Ironclad Destroyers and Ocean Cruisers can escort such a large convoy of over 300 ocean ships safely and safely across the eastern pirate paradise?

If it is all about delivering goods or something, I have no objection to taking the eastern line, so that even if it is pirate attacks that have cost us goods, it is not human lives. But we are transporting close to 100,000 prisoners and their families, so do not take that risk. The so-called trouble in the coastal waters of the Kingdom is nothing more than the difficulty encountered by local officials in supplying it, which is only a small matter.

Don't forget that we still have guns in our hands. No one dares to really offend us right now. It's a big deal that we go ahead and send the families of local officials who are struggling with us to dig for tobacco in overseas autonomous territories. It is not that our fleet is not unpaid in coastal towns, but that every time the fleet is supplied along the way, it is actually generating local economic income.

In such circumstances, it is difficult for our local administrators to be enemies of our overseas autonomous military regions, so we do not have to be polite or take into account anything. Just do it, we will not lose this lawsuit until His Majesty has been fought. What really happened is that there are two legions of us around, and I am sure that His Majesty and the King will also give us face... "

After listening to Claude, General Bolognick laughed. He said with some emotion: “Claude, the five of us in the autonomous military region, Allen was brave enough to fight, but not good enough. Bick was honest enough, but he was a good man. Skrish was thoughtful enough and worried too much, and I was old enough to start thinking a lot, and I became weak and reluctant to offend. You're the only one who keeps that sharp, risk-free. Our autonomous military region can have today, truly speaking, thanks to you, without you there is no view of us now.

No wonder Marshal Michel said to me when he left back then that you were the only one who could really count on us at this critical moment in the five of us. He told me not to think too much when I was in a difficult situation that I had never experienced in the war zone of the direct administration, just to support any decision you made. Because you will find a way for us when there is no way, just like the tactics and tactics that you did when you were doing the sand tray drill that gave us all a headache... "

Claude didn't make a sound, just patted General Bolognick's left shoulder. These friendships do not have to be spoken, and the storms of so many years have united the five generals of the Autonomous Leadership Zone with honour and communion. Only General Bolognick's reference to Marshal Michel made Claude a little dark, and without Marshal Michel's weight and promotion, Claude would not have reached such a high position in just over a decade.

“Have we not found the whereabouts of Marshal Michel in the kingdom?” Claude asked.

General Bolonik shook his head: "No, the news we heard was that Marshal Michel had returned home with his family after the assassination of Wang Du. His hometown is a small mountain village in the hills of Park Regasson County in the northeast direction of the kingdom, where we dispatched personnel to discover that small mountain village had been burned to white long before the civil war in the kingdom. We couldn't find a mountaineer nearby, so we didn't know General Michel's life or death, and we couldn't find his whereabouts. I began to wonder if someone had murdered the Marshals..."

Claude said, “Forget it, there will always be a day when the Marshals are really murdered, then we will avenge him. ”

“That's nature," General Bolognick nodded. “He's our teacher. It's only natural for students to avenge his teacher. I'll never let go of the murderer who murdered his family! ”

They walked a few more steps, and Claude asked, "Is the kingdom really in such a difficult financial position? So even a million gold and silver reserves are in a hurry to send envoys? It was ridiculous to recall that no one had been chosen to be in charge and had been boycotted by officials. But sending envoys to transport gold and silver was a big rush. By the way, did we split all our trophies? Don't let that envoy come here and see how much we've got...”

General Bolognick was responsible for this, and he replied with a smile: "Rest assured, gold and silver reserves worth 20 million have been shipped to the overseas autonomous territories and will be deposited in the Overseas Minsheng Bank. The rest, in addition to the repayment of previous loans, will serve as military reserves for our military regions. There are also jewellery and jewellery valued at tens of millions of gold kroner, art treasures have been shipped together, and the rest will be distributed to five of us, in addition to some of them at the autonomous collar auction.

And those golden and silver tableware and so on, also freely chosen according to the wishes of our two legions of officers and soldiers, whether these items or direct cash rewards. In addition to the cost of pensions for casualties, each soldier in our two regiments will receive a reward of between eighty and one hundred gold kroner or a similar souvenir, doubling the number of officers. No wonder you used to say that. War makes money.

Most of the gold and silver-plated copper and glassware left in the Royal City warehouse is now filled with three or four warehouses valued at around 120,000 gold crowns. I left these items in the warehouse in the hope that the envoy would come and see that these are our trophies, not gold and silver. When we get past that envoy and resell it to the merchants, we can also make it more expensive... "

The loot seized by the Legion of Thunder in the enclaves of the kingdoms of Nasseri and the three principalities and the Kingdom of Hicks was worth almost 56 million gold kroner. Of this amount, national gold and silver reserves valued at 20 million crowns were shipped back to the overseas autonomous territories and deposited directly into the overseas Minsheng Bank as a reserve for the repayment of prior loans and military expenditures of the military region.

In addition, there are 10 million gold crowns worth of prestigious jewellery. Art treasures belong to the five generals of the military region, some of which will be auctioned in the overseas autonomous territories, resulting in auctions and remaining jewellery, and art treasures will be divided among the five generals of the military region. Claude estimated that his return was at least over two million gold kroner this time, and, of course, he put more emphasis on those treasures, jewellery and art treasures that could be the backbone of a family heirloom.

The remaining property of more than 20 million gold kroner, in addition to the generous pensions of the casualty soldiers and the rewards allocated to the Ironclad fleet and the naval officers of the Ocean cruise fleet, became the rewards of the two regimental generals. Like Berklin, this time it was possible to distribute more than a hundred thousand gold kroner's worth, while the most common soldier also had a reward of between eighty and one million gold kroner.