Black Iron’s Glory

Chapter 580: Bock-All and Alexander

Claude woke up very angry, especially last night and Sheila, who tortured the middle of the night, arguably falling asleep at dawn. Combined with a recent return to the Overseas Autonomous Territories, followed by a half-day military conference, the late evening return to the estate was enthralled by excited Sheila to discuss matters related to the promotion of the Mage. I lay down so easily that Sheila, in a delightful mood, climbed up again. Claude did his best to satisfy Sheila's desire, and then felt like her whole body had been emptied out and she couldn't move a finger...

If possible, Claude would like to sleep in bed for two days and three nights to restore his energy. Anyway, he has three days off and doesn't need to go to the military headquarters. He only slept four or five hours unexpectedly, and General Boquer broke into the estate without inviting him. Sheila naturally knew about their relationship, so she didn't stop him and let him go straight to the bedroom and pull Claude out of bed.

Claude stared at General Bockard with a murderous look, hateful, and if possible, Claude wanted to unload the damned fat man in front of him, as he had imagined. There's nothing more irritating than waking up in your sleep. It's just that this fat guy in front of himself doesn't know anything about it. He doesn't know that his arrival bothered the master's good dreams. He still cares about his own butt and looks for the fruit wine he likes in the wine cabinet...

With anger, Claude washed his face and finally woke up a little in the dark: “What's the big deal when you come here early in the morning? ”

General Bockard did not notice the repressed anger in Claude's tone, relying on his relationship with Claude as a juvenile friend. He had gotten used to Claude casually, not to mention in private occasions like his home. He finally picked out a bottle of fruit wine from the liquor cabinet to his satisfaction. He opened the lid very skillfully and poured himself a glass. After a sip, he replied in a toned tone: “Am I right, Claude, it's after 10 o'clock and you still say it in the morning? You can have lunch in over an hour..."

Claude rubbed his temple with two thumbs to keep himself awake and calm: "I'm not you, go home and sleep, I have a lot to deal with. I slept late last night and it was almost dawn when I went to bed. So if you don't tell me why you came so early to interrupt my dream, I don't mind working out with you as a sandbag. ”

Bok Al glanced at Claude's face and realized that he had lost his temper. Claude was not joking like this. He immediately said, “Boss, you're still asleep. I didn't sleep last night. I've been thinking about it all night. Why do I have so many objections to the approach I put forward yesterday at the military conference?

It seems to me that the use of piracy to suppress the United Kingdom's maritime fleet in the Fox Islands is clearly a cost-effective thing for our autonomous military region, which pays only a small fortune. We've captured so much in the Kingdom of Hicks this time, and it's both beautiful to pay off something as a pirate force... "

Claude sighed deeply, and yesterday at a military conference, Boquer's proposal to use or buy pirate power to suppress the United Kingdom Navy fleet in the Fox Islands was rejected by most of the senior officers present as a bad idea. This struck Bok Al, who had just been promoted to Major General of the Kingdom, in the face, with a grumpy, tangled night, which came early in the morning to talk to Claude.

“What can I tell you? My general...” Claude waved tirelessly: “Boa, you have the brilliant and precise vision of a businessman to develop an implementable strategic plan with a long-term vision, which is your strength. But you are not an Orthodox soldier, you do not understand the code of conduct and stubbornness of the soldier. In our view, pirates are untrustworthy, let alone united in fighting alongside pirate forces.

As a businessman, you believe in the spirit of a contract, such as an agreement between you and a pirate force asking them to protect your merchant ship from attacks by other pirate groups when it arrives safely. Generally, your merchant ship will be safe after you pay for it, and even if something happens, some reputable pirate forces will even pay for the merchant's losses themselves. So for some businessmen, pirates are also trustworthy, at least paying for security and insurance.

But as soldiers, they see pirates differently from businessmen, and pirates are enemies, they are bandits at sea, they do nothing to buy or sell, and not to touch pirates is the most basic code of conduct for a soldier. As General Beechlin said at the meeting yesterday, pirate forces are basically soft and hard, making it easy for them to attack the merchant fleet, but it is difficult for them to provoke or attack a regular Royal Navy fleet.

Even if we could reach out to powerful pirate groups that could compete with the United Kingdom naval fleet in the Fox Islands and make them promise to attack, the results would be unsatisfactory. No pirate force is willing to go hard on a powerful Royal Navy fleet to hurt their strength. At best, they can fight a naval battle and sink two or three battleships to finish the job and explain to us.

In particular, our initiative to reach out to pirate forces and ask them to attack the United Kingdom naval fleet in the Fox Islands would automatically put the grip of the autonomous military region in the hands of pirate forces. This is a scandal for our overseas autonomous territories, and once it is exposed, no one can afford it. So your statement at the military conference yesterday was a bad proposition, and it's only natural that it should be rejected by everyone...

However, it is not surprising that you are mainly responsible for hostile exploration, linking up local indigenous forces. No one will blame you for your proposal. At the meeting, we were just wrong about the discussion plan and did not have any personal feelings about you. Besides, you have just been promoted to Major General of the Kingdom, you should show up in front of your father and relatives for a few more days, anyway, you and I, have three days off, don't worry about these specific military implementation... "

Claude Baird had to leave early so that he could go back to bed and get some more sleep. Just Bok Al still refused to give up. He poured out another glass of fruit wine and ran out: "Other pirate forces are unbelievable, but what about Blacksail pirates? Ericsson is our teenager friend, and I'm sure he will if he agrees to help us. As long as we are willing to grant him financial support, such as the transfer of several Ironclad warships..."

Claude suddenly realized why Bock Al had made the suggestion at yesterday's military conference to use piracy to attack the United Kingdom Navy fleet in the Fox Islands. He shook his head with a bitter smile: "No, Ericsson is still a pirate, even though he is our teenage friend. He is also the leader of a black sail pirate group. For us soldiers, pirates can't be trusted...”

Bok Al was a little anxious: "Claude, don't forget we grew up together, I believe Eriksson, who is a pirate, but a good friend of ours. To give the simplest example, his black sail pirates have maintained friendly relations with our autonomous military region. Just as our Overseas Autonomous Territories did not build a navy and own an Ironclad fleet for a few years, he did not allow Blacksail pirates to loot our coastal zones or even drive other groups of pirates into our Autonomous Territories' waters to keep our Autonomous Territories' offshore shipping routes safe..."

Claude stood up and walked up to the window and looked away. It was a while before he asked in a shadow: "Boa, has Ericsson been communicating with you..."

Bok Al poured another glass of wine, “So what? I have not betrayed any military secrets from the Autonomous Territory. It was only a few months before he and I sent a letter to greet each other, to talk about piecemeal things, to recall our adolescence and friendship with each other, and those adventures. Nor did he ask me to do anything for him, and this time I went with you to invade the Kingdom of Hicks and came back to find out that he had written four letters to me. Because I didn't reply, he was worried about what happened to me and asked if I could help..."

Claude smiled, “Why didn't I ever get one when Alexon only wrote to you? ”

“That's your personal business, Alexander. Don't bother. Besides, how dare you climb into a relationship with Ericsson, the first man in the Autonomous Territory, the Marshal of the Kingdom, the Heritage Count? Besides, he has to be ashamed if he writes to you and you don't give a shit...” Bok Al spits on Claude like a leak.

Claude shook his head with a smile: "No, Boa, Alexon is a smart man, and you know very well that writing to me is bound to go unanswered. Because even if I did, I would persuade him to surrender to the Kingdom, or ask him to give up his piracy career and spend the rest of his quiet life in the overseas autonomous territories. With my refuge, no one will hold him accountable for his past. It's just that he's ambitious and hopes to be king of pirates and build a pirate kingdom, so he won't write to me to be boring..."

Bok Al was angry: "Claude, how do you know that Alexander was ambitious enough to be king of pirates to build a pirate state or something? You can't speculate on what's inside of Eriksson, who's told me in several letters that he wants to find a quiet place to be a normal person and no longer be a pirate. I have persuaded him to come from the ruling life, he is now just dragged down by so many men, all partners fighting and dying together at sea, he just can't let go..."

Claude looked at Bock Al calmly until he stopped talking and asked, “Do you remember the first time you saw Eriksson at sea? Did you forget what he told you? ”

Bok Al was silent, and he remembered the moment he first met a Black Sail pirate at sea and recognized Eriksson. Back then, his father sold his family property, took his employees and family members with him, and the displaced people who followed him along the way, bought a wrecked sea boat, formed a fleet, risked a little rough grain to head out to the Overseas Autonomous Territories, and then ran into a ship of black sail pirates led by Alexon at sea...

At that time, Ericsson was so temperamental, he even wanted to take this flotilla of immigrants to his old nest, a small island deep in the silent ocean. He also asked Bok Al to follow him and promised to give Bok Al a duke as soon as he had established a pirate kingdom. Fortunately, at the time, Bork Arthur was intelligent, and using the size of the immigration fleet would put a heavy food burden on Eriksson, convincing him to let go of the immigration fleet...

At the same time, Eriksson stopped asking himself to follow him as a pirate, citing his father's desire to settle in overseas autonomous territories. However, Eriksson then asked Bok Al to connect his Black Sail Pirates and Overseas Autonomous Leaders so that ships of Black Sail Pirates could obtain supplies of logistics such as grass and the purchase of arms and ammunition from Overseas Autonomous Territories, while Black Sail Pirates could take the looted goods to Overseas Autonomous Territories for sale, for which he was willing to allow Black Sail Pirates to maintain security in their own territorial waters and guarantee protection from other groups of pirates...

However, the captured enemy warships were later used by the autonomous military regions to form their own naval fleets, thus providing more reliable security in the territorial waters. Years later, after the launch of the Ironclad Battleship in the Autonomous Territory, all the bright eyed knew that the way of naval warfare had changed and that the Windsurf Battleship had fallen behind. It is inevitable that coastal States with Ironclad warships will cross the ocean in the future.

That is also why the coastal countries of the continent of Farea have invested so much energy and investment in the development of Ironclad warships, as well as a number of intelligent men in the pirate forces, who are well aware that this is the end of the last wave of wind sail warships at sea. In more than a decade, their group of pirates with sailboats will come to an end, because with sailboats, they will no longer be able to rob sailboats at sea, but will only be the target of artillery fire from Ironclad ships, one of which sinks to the bottom of the sea...

Bok Al finally had some sobering recollections, that is, when Eriksson and himself were communicating more and more frequently, and the words spoken in the letter were becoming more and more cowardly. Instead of the exhilarating breath of a tiger, I was forced to become a pirate. He joined the Stormfleet to obtain a naval battleship in search of his father, and the rebel kingdom became a pirate captain using his father's connections to succeed at sea.

As a child, Ericsson was brilliant, finding his father in the open sea and reuniting his mother with him. As a pirate, Eriksson was also very successful, not only in his rebellion against the Kingdom, but also in leading the Black Sail pirates to plunder the coastal areas of the Kingdom, creating countless human tragedies. On the Kingdom's home-grown wanted list, Ericsson has always been at the top of the list, and there must be a place for him among the top ten wanted in the Kingdom...

In addition to overseas autonomous territories, the Kingdom mainland now has an Ironclad fleet. While not sufficient to pose a threat to Black Sail pirates, it is more than enough to preserve the coastal zone from attack. Bok Al remembered that in his reply to Eriksson, he had mentioned the principle of Ironclad's power, he only knew that he was probably not an expert, and then the man Eriksson sent to procure supplies bought several steam machines back from the Autonomous Territories.

Six months later, Eriksson complained to Bok Al in a letter that he had rebuilt three sailboats in order to test that naval power, and all failed. Because the result of the experiment was that he discovered that a steamer sailboat was operating at sea, like a snail, with no original ingenuity or speed...

In his reply, Bok Al laughed and told Eriksson that the ship's power was not so simple as acquiring a few steam engines to complete the retrofit. It took more than two years for Master Byrd of the Autonomous Territory to try out a power steam engine suitable for use on board, which led to the emergence of Ironclad warships. And the development of a single Ironclad battleship, even with Claude flying the plug, took the Autonomous Territory more than two years to finally produce the first practical Ironclad battleship.

A pirate force like Ericsson doesn't have to try to imitate an Ironclad. To quote Claude, this is a system of engineering that involves not only the shipbuilding industry, but also the closest relationship with metal manufacturing, forging and welding, which involves technical cooperation and infrastructure improvements in several industries. Normal coastal Powers want to develop Ironclad warships, and without five or six years of sustained investment and technological research, it is difficult to make progress.

Instead of discussing the words of the Ironclad in a letter to Bok Al, Eriksson wanted to ask Tobok Al if the Autonomous Territory meant selling the Ironclad. It seems clear to him that only Ironclad warships can handle Ironclad warships and that to continue his piracy career he must own Ironclad warships. Without the possibility of development, a costly acquisition becomes the only option…

At the military conference, however, Bok Al proposed to contact pirate forces to attack the United Kingdom's naval fleet in the Fox Islands, with the kind of thought and intention that would make Eriksson feel comfortable. Only if Ericsson's Black Sail Pirates serve the Autonomous Territory will the Autonomous Territory fund the Black Sail Pirates and provide several Ironclad Battleships for their use...

Claude sat down, tapped his finger on the desktop, and watched Bok Al faint there. Finally, he said, "Boa, I give you a chance to contact Eriksson and ask him if he wants to serve in the Autonomous Territory. Forget it, let's just call it cooperation, Alexon. I know very well that he won't bow his head easily. You just said to him that if he could destroy a United Kingdom naval fleet in the Fox Islands, the Autonomous Territory would offer him six Ironclad ships..."