Black Iron’s Glory

Chapter 588: The Wades Hill Harbor Attack

It wasn't until mid-May that Claude got a little idle and had no trivial business, so he turned his mind to the West Coast colonies. The colonies of the countries of the West Coast had now become deadlocked, and the colonial Powers of the West Coast had understood that they had no justification for intervening in the Pamigal territory after the announcement that the autonomous military region had allied itself with the Pamigal National Republic and had sent a Legion of Thunder.

The attack on the Pamigal National Republic at that time was a declaration of war against the autonomous territories, and no one would do such a stupid thing. So the colonial Powers on the West Coast put away their claw teeth and stopped ignoring the colonies of other countries. Instead, they began to build defensive fronts and positions in their colonies, making them look harmless and self-defensive, as if they were transporting two or three standing legions to the colonies to defend themselves.

In February, Mr. Viberon organized an economic and trade mission to the colonies of the West Coast countries to prepare for discussions on tariffs and prohibitions on the entry of goods from autonomous territories into those colonies. However, after spending three months circling the colonies of the West Coast countries, which were warmly received by the colonial authorities, the issue of the ban had not been lifted, and the goods and goods produced by the overseas autonomous territories still had no official and open access to the colonial markets of the West Coast...

One of the governors of the colonial province made it clear to Mr. Viberon that hospitality was personal and that we were friends. But the restraining order is the principle of the kingdom, and once the restraining order is lifted against you, our kingdom's handicrafts and those monopolized by the kingdom's nobles will be wiped out. The commodities produced by the Kingdom will not be able to reap the rich profits from the colonies, and no one can afford the consequences, so we would rather risk offending your autonomous sovereigns and enforcing a restraining order to refuse your commodities outside the colonial market...

Well, Mr. Viberon's economic and trade corps went on a tour of the colonies of the West Coast countries and only harvested the private friendship of the commanding officers of those colonial authorities, who tried to lift the ban on merchandise shipments from the overseas self-governing territories and ended up touching nails. Upon his return, Mr. Viberon addressed Parliament, arguing that unless the colonial Powers of the West Coast were completely defeated militarily, they would never lift the restraining order and open their colonial markets to the Overseas Autonomous Territories.

Claude hopes to do the same for the military defeat of these West Coast colonial powers. The problem, however, was that the autonomous military regions had to find the right excuse to wage war. There is no justification for autonomous military regions to send troops on the sole basis of a restraining order, since the restraining order protects goods produced by their own kingdoms and is issued in order to avoid competition with goods produced by overseas autonomous territories, which is reasonable. The Autonomous Territory can't just open its doors because it can't sell its own things in other people's homes. This will make the Autonomous Territory less overbearing...

No one is a fool, as are the colonial Powers on the West Coast. When the Autonomous Territorial Regions allied with the Pamigals, rented their military ports and stationed the Legion of Thunder at their borders, the Mafia Autonomous Territorial Regions came forward behind the scenes in support of the indigenous peoples' uprising and in support of their independent statehood. Everyone knew, but no one shouted to accuse the Autonomous Territory. The so-called king loses, that's all.

It was bad luck to lose the colonial kingdoms of Morosik, Riznia and Vasiliko. Other West Coast colonial Powers have learned the lessons of the three countries, strengthening the regulation and control of indigenous peoples in their own colonies and, of course, distributing some benefits to appease indigenous peoples, while also keeping the colonial garrisons on the border, setting up complete defensive fronts and defensive positions in case of sneak attacks by the enemy...

The senior staff of Claude and the Autonomous Leadership Region took a look around and found that the colonies of the countries of the West Coast really had little opportunity to take advantage of them. All of them were tightly guarded against the Autonomous Leadership Region, so they took a break. Anyway, the most important thing this year in the Autonomous Territory is resettlement, with eight Hicks Return Regiments returning for downsizing, and hundreds of thousands of Hicks military immigrants remaining to be resettled. So the Autonomous Territory can wait until next year to compete slowly with the West Coast colonial powers...

Sometimes, however, unexpectedly and very suddenly, one evening at the end of May, the Port of Wades colony in the United Kingdom of the Fox Islands was suddenly attacked and looted by numerous pirate groups, and a wind sail fleet from the United Kingdom of the Fox Islands, which had just arrived and remained in the seaport, was subjected to premeditated robbery and division by the pirates. At a time when most seafarers and sailors have had a happy night ashore, these large sailboats, with few guards, soon fall into the hands of these crowded pirate gangs...

About fifty or sixty sailboats in better condition fell into the hands of these pirate groups, and the remaining forty carriers were all set ablaze by these pirate groups that came to attack them. In other words, the four most prestigious naval fleets of the United Kingdom of the Fox Islands were somehow wiped out by the pirates, along with the colony of Mount Wades seaport, which they were preparing to build a base for their ships, and plundered by the pirates...

The United Kingdom of the Fox Islands is very annoyed, as if they had been slapped several times in the face by pirates. The United Kingdom of the Fox Islands, traditionally known as the maritime power, has four powerful sailing fleets and no pirate dares easily offend their strength and dignity at sea. Generally, distant-water merchant ships that normally fly the flag of the United Kingdom Navy fleet in the Fox Islands are seldom intercepted and attacked by pirate groups.

But no one expected this group of pirates to unite against a United Kingdom wind sail fleet in the Fox Islands, successfully dividing the wind sail warships in their fleet and plundering the shipbuilding bases in their kingdom. The United Kingdom of the Fox Islands lost an extraordinary amount of money by sending two powerful sailing fleets to the waters of the Nubari Islands to look for trouble from the pirate gang and to try to find out who was responsible for the robbery...

Claude didn't think he was going to face such a problem, and he was just saying it, thinking he couldn't take it. I didn't expect to look down on each other. After severing contact with each other, they planned such an astonishing attack that they destroyed a United Kingdom naval fleet in the Fox Islands, completing the conditions they had set themselves. Now they demand that they fulfill their promise to hand over six Ironclad ships to them...

“Is this really an attack planned by Eriksson?” Claude grinned and asked General Bockard standing before himself.

General Bockard nodded |: "This is the third time you've asked that question, Claude. For the third time, I am certain that it was Ericsson's Black Sail Pirates who brought together the remaining thirteen pirate groups to carry out an attack on the Wades Hill seaport colony. For those pirate groups, obtaining a regular Windsurf is what they want. And this Windsurf fleet of the United Kingdom of the Fox Islands gives these pirates a gifted opportunity…

Erickson said he had been following the Fox Islands United Kingdom's Wades Hill seaport colony since the colony was a relatively rare mineral resource-rich harvest on the west coast, and if a ship loaded with gold and silver and precious minerals could be hijacked here, it would mean that all pirates involved in the operation would pay a fortune.

It was only a matter of time before Eriksson discovered that the minerals mined by the colony were no longer being transported to the United Kingdom of the Fox Islands, but were stored in warehouses. At the same time, the colonial authorities recruited personnel to carry out planning for seaport construction, urban construction, etc. With Alexon's ability, he quickly learned that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was ready to vigorously develop this Wades Hill seaport colony as their Ironclad warship production base...

Since then, Ericsson has invested a lot of energy in this Wades Hill Harbor colony and has ambushed many of his men. Even this colonial authority in the United Kingdom of the Fox Islands did not know that the famous smuggling ship captain in the harbour town was actually the head of the famous Black Sail Pirate, Erickson, who had been successfully hidden from the past.

Then Erickson noticed that the biggest defensive weakness of the Wades Hill Harbor colony was the tightening of the inner loose, especially the night that a British sailing fleet from the Fox Islands arrived to anchor the colony in the harbor, almost half the seafarers and sailors went ashore to party and admire their loneliness on the warship with women and spirits.

If, at this time, the twelve coastal artillery positions on the hills around the harbour can be controlled, the lighthouse will not be alerted to pirate attacks and the ships outside will be placed inside. Then there is no need to speculate, the sailing fleet moored in the harbor is over, and it is unclear whether the sailors they have left on board to gather a ship are not at all opponents of pirates like wolves.

Seaport towns and shipbuilding bases, on the other hand, are like torn apart turkeys, and no resistance can last long in front of battleships with large numbers of artillery. Eriksson was confident that the attack he had planned would bring him extraordinary benefits. He saw with his own eyes that the people of the United Kingdom of the Fox Islands had taken two Ironclad warships into the shipbuilding base and had begun to imitate four Ironclad warships. That means there are six Ironclad warships in this shipbuilding base... ”

“And then what? Did Ericsson get these six Ironclad warships?” Claude asked.

General Bockard nodded: "Gotta get it, but Eriksson found out that all he got was the hull of six Ironclad warships that hadn't been loaded with steam-powered machinery. Specialists from the shipbuilding base in the United Kingdom of the Fox Islands and several scribes admitted that they were also stuck in the material of this ship's steam-powered machinery and were experimenting with imitations that had not yet borne fruit. Ericsson had to tow these experts and the hull of six Ironclad ships...

Now, Ericsson sent someone to see me, asking me to tell you to keep your promise to him. You once said that if Ericsson's Black Sail Pirates took the initiative to attack and destroy a UK Windsurfer fleet in the Fox Islands, you would transfer six generations of Ironclad warships stationed in military ports to the Black Sail Pirates. Now that Eriksson's Black Sail Pirates have joined other pirate gangs to destroy a UK Windsurfer fleet in the Fox Islands, when will your Ironclad Battleship be handed over to them? ”

Claude hesitated: "Boa, do you really think it would be appropriate to hand over the Ironclad to Ericsson? I fear that our Autonomous Territory will suffer losses due to pirate counterfeiting..."

General Bockard nodded: “I am not speaking for Eriksson, but I believe that the current situation, with the participation of Eriksson's Black Sail Pirates, could have led to significant unexpected changes on the West Coast, which is welcome for our autonomous military region and is better than such a standstill. Ironclad warships can be transferred to Ericsson, but we need to find a way for Blacksail pirates to get these six Ironclad warships cleverly. It cannot be mistaken that our Autonomous Territory voluntarily handed them over to Heffan pirates..."

Claude tapped his finger on the table and sighed for a moment: "Well, I'll think about it first. You kept Alexander waiting for three days, and by the way, did you need to modify the hull of the six Ironclad ships he got from the United Kingdom of the Fox Islands? If possible, we can help him convert into a functional Ironclad..."

President Eriksson's Black Sail Pirates, who brought together other pirate groups to successfully attack and plunder the Wades Hill Harbor colony of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and to destroy the United Kingdom's full-blown Windsurf fleet in the Fox Islands, did make Eriksson and Black Sail Pirates famous in an instant. Two of the United Kingdom's wind sail fleets in the Fox Islands travelled to the waters of the Nubari Islands in search of pirates' troubles in an attempt to locate the traces and whereabouts of the Black Sail pirates.

Whether to transfer the six eliminated generation Ironclad warships to the Black Sail Pirates, the officers eligible to participate in the discussion of the incident at the headquarters of the Autonomous Territory were all disputed, and finally General Beechlin persuaded the senior officers present to make the final decision.

General Bitchklin believes that Erickson and Blacksail pirates are now the enemy of the United Kingdom of the Fox Islands, that two wind sail fleets are searching for their whereabouts, and that the rest of the pirate gangs that have suffered from their own insecurity hate Erickson and Blacksail pirates and will not hesitate to hand them over to the United Kingdom Navy of the Fox Islands if they hear from them.

Under these circumstances, the Black Sail Pirates of President Alexon will be strengthened to enable them to compete against the Windsurf fleet of the United Kingdom of the Fox Islands or, once again, to inflict severe damage on the Windsurf fleet. The United Kingdom of the Fox Islands would then not be able to continue to claim masculinity at sea, and once their two fleets retreated from battle, their three colonies on the West Coast would be in danger and could easily become fat in the eyes of other colonial powers...

As to whether the possession of Ironclad ships by Black Sail pirates would pose a threat to the shipping of autonomous ships, General Bitchklin felt that there was no need to worry about it. The first is that the naval equipment of the Autonomous Territory is an updated Ironclad warship that can crush them in quantity and quality. Second, Black Sail pirates can only rely on autonomous military districts to modify and repair Ironclad warships. As long as their minds are clear, they will not go to the autonomous military districts for no reason.

Claude decided to give Ericsson an opportunity to promise to hand over six generations of Ironclad warships to Blacksail Pirates and said that the hulls of six Ironclad warships obtained by Blacksail Pirates from the Wades Hill Harbor Shipbuilding Base could be remodeled and repaired only at a high price of 100,000 gold kroons. What didn't occur to Claude was that Ericsson agreed to his request and sent over 600,000 gold kroner worth of jewellery, along with those six hull-like battleships.

The deal with Ericsson has been closed for a while, after all, six generation Ironclad warships have been converted and six hull-like warships will take some time to repair. At that time, the ocean convoy of autonomous military districts returned with more than 300,000 Hicks military immigrants and four Hicks Return Regiments, and the rest of the journey would be complete. Eight Hicks Return Regiments are scheduled to be downsized.

“What do you mean?” Claude looked at the blood book in his hand, and it should be a blood book. At least the name was black and red, with a blood signature on it.

Standing before Claude is one of the two Commander-in-Chief of the eight Hicks Return Regiments, General Derivique. At this moment he was blushing with a somewhat embarrassing explanation: "Marshal, these blood books are all signed by Hicks Returning Division officers and soldiers with their own blood. Instead of retiring, they expressed their willingness to lead the battlefield for overseas autonomy, even at the expense of their own lives. So they wrote the blood book signature hoping not to cut back on their Hicks Return Regiment..."

Well, don't explain it, Claude realized all at once that the cash prize that came out a few months ago made these Hicks Hill's eyes burn and found that being in the army was also a very monetary prospect. We are now faced with downsizing and returning to civilian status, which we cannot afford to treat favourably as soldiers of the autonomous territories.

Imagine a soldier from a regular Hicks Return Division who went back to the Kingdom of Hicks to find his own family and relatives and emigrated to the Overseas Autonomous Territories, all reimbursed by the Autonomous Territories, while soldiers were paid monthly salary and welfare allowances. How can it be unsettling that even this soldier has not fired a single shot in the Kingdom of Hicks, that is to say, performs a normal outpost duty, and when he returns there will be ten gold kroner cash rewards?

If you look for a job in a private workshop, in a farm, it's two to three silver tall salaries at the end of the month. That is too different from the officers and soldiers of the Hicks Return Corps, who had captured armed resistance elements in Wang Jing. Each officer and soldier is awarded more than 30 or 40 gold kroner, and the more battles they experience, the higher the reward. So now these Hicks soldiers are also writing blood books to serve overseas self-governments.

Claude thought about it and thought about what he was telling General Derivique: "There is still a volunteer corps in the Autonomous Territory, and all eight Hicks Return Regiments are going to be downsized, and you pick them out to serve in the Autonomous Territory, and you select the best of them, and you form this Hicks Volunteer Corps. Prepared like Thunder, Rock Corps, four divisions, 90,000 men, you temporarily assume the position of Legion Leader..."