Black Iron’s Glory

Chapter 474 Black Sail Pirates and Eriksson

"You are in the kingdom, have you heard the news of Verricko?" Crowder asked.

Verricko was also a young friend of Claude and Bocker, and later their family went to the kingdom, and Verricko entered the Guards. In the five years of the Eastern Conference Wars, Claude met Vericello once, and at the commendation meeting he won the Knights Medal, Vericlo was like him, because the shooting method was outstanding on the battlefield, killing more than 200 people. The enemy is awarded the Knight's Medal.

Bokal nodded and shook his head again: "I didn't see Verricko, but I heard his news. At the party hosted by Mrs. Maria, I met a Guards Corps logistics called Nixon. Major of the ministry. After half a day of conversation, he discovered that he was actually the brother-in-law of Verikoro. He told me that because of his meritorious service in the civil war, he has now been promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel, but not in the kingdom, but Stationed in Limassols County.

Five years ago, Verikoro became a family. His wife was the second daughter of a hereditary count. The dowry was a large manor in Limassolya. It was for this reason that Verizro applied to go to Limasosos County. There is already a son and a daughter, and life is very happy. It was his father, Uncle Cobrick, who was older, liked to drink, and had a bad health. He now lives in the manor. ”

"Time flies so fast. When we were born in Bailucheng or the middle school, we only know how to play and play every day without worry. In the twinkling of an eye, every day, every child has it." Claude exclaimed, got up and went to the wine cabinet. I chose a bottle of wine and prepared to pour a cup for everyone. Only Uncle Rubyville stopped. He said that he is older, and it is better to continue drinking black tea.

Bokal also sighed, and should also remember the happy time spent in White Lucheng. After a boring moment, he watched Claude pour himself a fruit wine and took a sip of the glass of wine. He was a little embarrassed and said to Claude: "Actually, on the way back I saw Eriksson, he brought The black sail pirates robbed our refugee fleet..."

Claude looked up at Bok Al, took a sip of the wine glass, continued to pour himself a second cup, and then asked indifferently: "What does he say to you?"

"This, this..." Bocker thought about answering: "He wants to do some trading with our direct jurisdiction."

Claude didn't ask for any trades, but frowned and turned around in the room: "You talk about all the things you have seen and talked about."

"I didn't recognize him at first. He looks different from the younger ones, giving him a feeling of wild tyranny. I have a long hair and I have a long hair. Knife, my eyes are bright. Although I have grown up a lot, I am still the shortest of the four of us.

When we found the fleet of black sail pirates at sea, their dozens of pirate ships saw our refugee fleet without **** warships, and they sailed to our fleet without any scruples. I was only able to order the guards of my guard squadrons to spread around the ship, and prepare to take a dagger tactic against these pirate leaders in the light of their precise shots.

So my ship greeted the black sail pirate ships that rushed over and hung the banner of the negotiations. Those black sail pirate ships are very disciplined. They surrounded our refugee fleet and did not board the ship. Instead, they used artillery on the pirate ship, and the pirates waved various weapons with sinister expressions and words. Frightened the refugees on board, scared a lot of people on the spot.

Eriksson stood on the pirate's bow and directed his ship to sail towards me. The closer I got, the more familiar I felt. Later, he tentatively called his name, and he recognized me because He didn't dare to recognize my body. After discovering that it was me, he ordered his pirate fleet to gather in parallel with our refugee fleet.

But he was very cautious. He didn't come to my boat, but invited me and my father to go to his boat for a while. We got on his boat. This is a three-pole oceanic warship of the Kingdom Storm Fleet. It is now his flagship. It was only after a lot of modification, which reduced the artillery on the deck and increased the vertical sail on both sides. The speed and stability have increased a lot...

There are still a few pirates on board who know our father and son. We are very happy to meet us and call our name to say hello to us. I didn't know them very much. My father later told me that these few people who greeted us were once residents of Bailu Town. They were the sailors on the Red Sea shark of Captain Otson, the father of Eriksson. Later, Eriksson followed Eriksson and left his family in White Hart during the storm fleet rebellion.

Eriksson entertained us in his captain's room. He asked me what I wanted. I said to give us fresh meat. Drifting for half a month at sea, we are all those bread dumplings every day. I dream of dreaming about eating meat. Eriksson laughed and asked us what happened to the fleet. I told him the story, he heard that White Lucheng became a ruin, and then told the chef on the boat to give us a sumptuous meal.

After we had enough, Eriksson proposed that our family follow him to the place where his parents lived. This time he wanted to go home to see his parents. According to his remarks, I suspect that he first joined the Storm Fleet in search of his father. Later he found his father and rebelled the fleet back to Bailu City to take the mother, and the family of the sailors officially became the black sail pirates.

It is said that his parents lived in a large island in the depths of the quiet, where there are a total of three large islands and an island of more than a dozen islands. The big island where his parents are living can live 20,000 to 30,000. Currently, all members of his black sail pirate family live on that island, with more than 6,000 people. Eriksson took his black sail pirate fleet and shot several islands in the Nubari Islands, becoming a member of the pirate gang in the Thousand Islands.

Every three months, Eriksson would take the rotation of the fleet back to the island where his family lived in seclusion, and also to deliver some robbery supplies and daily necessities for his pirate family. He wants to bring our refugee fleet to the past. I refused and told him that things are not that simple. Our refugee fleet has more than 60,000 people, and it will only be a big bully in the past, and Eriksson can't guarantee the food and daily needs that so many people need.

Then I gave him a suggestion. If he needs immigration, then he can go directly to the kingdom to recruit unemployed sailors and crew, as well as various craftsmen, and then arrange their families on the island. This will increase the population of the island and guarantee their loyalty, which is much stronger than the idea of ​​playing this refugee fleet. And you can control the number and progress of recruiting yourself, without worrying about too many people making the island disorderly.

Eriksson laughed and said that I changed a lot and people were much smarter. He said that he could not fight the idea of ​​this refugee fleet, but he hoped that our family would follow him back. One day he would also establish a kingdom of the islands like the Fox Islands, and then I could seal me as the Grand Duke. I became a hereditary aristocrat. I immediately rejected his request and told him where his duties were. If he was in the old situation, he would not stop me from returning to the territorial battlefield.

Eriksson just sighed and stopped saying anything to attract me. He was well informed in the waters of the Nubari Islands and told me that the territorial war zone had completely defeated the Hicks Kingdom and won the news of the colonial war. Let me tell you that he was sorry for you in Bailucheng, because he did not know that his father was the partner of your father. He only thought that his father was hired by your father to be attacked by pirates.... ..

He knows that there are many things in overseas direct jurisdiction. I suspect that his black sail pirates have also deployed secret agents in our direct jurisdiction. He said that he knows that you are one of the five giants in the territorial war zone, so he constrained his subordinates, did not attack and plunder the coastal zone under the direct control, and did not want to trouble you. But he finally asked me a request, let me tell you.

If our direct-guild war zone can carry out some transactions with his black sail island, he guarantees that his black sail pirates will not commit crimes against the border area of ​​the direct jurisdiction, and may even accept the employment of our direct-led war zone to deal with harassment attacks. The fleet of the Hicks Kingdom in the coastal zone and other pirate gangs. As for the content of the transaction, it is nothing more than military supplies such as artillery and ammunition, as well as daily necessities such as grain and grass...

I felt very strange at the time. Did you ask him to be a reliable pirate and procurement channel for so many years? Eriksson screamed. He said that the slaves in the Nubari Islands had smuggled merchants and salesmen from the colonies of the West Coast countries. However, the purchase price they set out was too low, often one-third to four of the market price of the goods. One of the points.

The majority of the black sail pirates are people of the Kingdom of Ovilas, which is even more disadvantageous. In the transactions with those of other countries, the purchase price is the lowest and the purchase price is the highest. But if you don't trade with these black-hearted businessmen, you can't get supplies. They can only swallow the sound of eating this loss. So Eriksson asked me to ask you, can you make this deal with their black sail pirates? ”

"And then Eriksson put your fleet and added some food and water to you?" Claude said, and Bokal nodded.

Crowder looked at the father of Bocker, who was silent in tea on the sofa next to him. He suddenly asked: "Uncle Rubyville, how do you see Eriksson?"

Mr. Rubyville raised his head: "My opinion is that your friends in these teenage years have changed a lot. You are now in a high position. The reputation is spread in the direct jurisdiction and the West Coast colonies. It is also spoken in the theater. With that, a lot of things can be decided in one go. And Eriksson is almost as big as your change, but he has become a pirate leader and you have become a kingdom general.

Although you have become one of the top five in the theater, there are rules on your head. You have to think about what you want to do, and you can't give people the power to attack you. I didn't see this in Eriksson's body. He didn't care about doing things. Just as we told him that it was a refugee fleet, his first thought was to bring this refugee fleet. Going back to his old nest, I didn't even think about whether I could arrange so many people.

When he said that he would soon establish an archipelago state like the United Kingdom of the Fox Islands and said that he would give him the Grand Duke, I would understand that his ambition was great and he did not take the kingship of this world into his eyes. This may be because he has never been able to accept the rules of the pirates. Everything is free and self-centered and will not be disturbed by anyone.

As for the transaction proposed by Eriksson and the territorial jurisdiction, my suggestion is not to agree to his request. Because trading with him is actually increasing his strength and expanding the scale of the black sail pirates. I now regret Bok Al's idea for him to recruit people from the kingdom, but it was only at that time that Bokal was also able to get the team out of the house. ”

Claude bowed his head and slowly scented the wine in the glass. Mr. Rubyville’s opinion was very simple. He didn’t care if Eriksson was a young friend of Claude and Bocker, just said that he was against Ali. Kesen’s perception. Of course, as a businessman, he naturally hates the mountains, and the pirates are gangs who get rid of the robbing and get rich. They are born to die.

However, there are a few points that are worthy of Crowder's thoughts. First, Mr. Rubyville said that Eriksson is an ambitious guy who is not subject to any grievances and rules. This is a concealed expression that is not optimistic that Eriksson will accept the Zhaoan of the territorial war zone, so that Claude does not need to play such an idea, specifically mentioning the status of Claude, and that Eriksson wants to build an archipelago. The madness of the kingdom is to show that Eriksson will not settle down, especially accepting Claude’s command...

Second, since Bokal proposed to Eriksson to recruit people from the kingdom, Eriksson gave up the idea of ​​playing this refugee fleet. Obviously he has already listened to this suggestion. Next, he will implement it and expand the scale and power of the black sail pirates. The kingdom native has no fleet at present to protect the coastal zone. For the black sail pirates, it is an undefended area, allowing them to plunder wealth and talent.

Third, with human and financial resources, the forces of the Black Sail pirates will certainly be expanded, but they need a lot of weapons and equipment and various arms. These military supplies are not available for looting. At the same time, it is necessary to give people who have settled in their nests enough living materials, which are not purchased by Eriksson from the colonies of the West Coast countries. Even if they can purchase a part, it will be very uneconomical because of the long distance of transportation.

Therefore, the best trading object can only be the territory directly under the jurisdiction. This is why Mr. Rubyville does not want Claude to agree to trade with Eriksson’s Black Sail pirates. His son Bokal wants to get away from Eric. Sen had an idea to recruit talents from the kingdom, and did not agree to the arms trade between Eriksson and the territorial war zone. It would curb the rapid expansion of the black sail pirate forces and would not become an accomplice to the black sail pirates.

What Mr. Rubyville does not understand is that the territorial war zone needs time to digest the dividends of war, calm the wounds of war, and revitalize the economic development of the territorial war zone. This point Claude thinks more comprehensively. It is very simple to not trade with Erikson's black sail pirates, but this will offend the black sail pirates and bring pirate attacks to the coastal areas directly under the jurisdiction.

During the colonial war, few pirates came to the territorial waters of the territorial wars. This was mainly because they feared that they would encounter the two major fleets of the Hicks Kingdom and let themselves suffer from the shackles of the fish. Now that the war is over, the offshore transportation of the territorial waters of the territorial jurisdiction will inevitably become more busy and prosperous, and the sea transportation trade line that is not threatened by war will attract the attention of pirate gangs of all sizes. The ocean cruise fleet reorganized in the theater is not. Before the formation of combat power, the offshore transport seaway will be at great risk of being attacked by pirates.

This is also the confidence of Eriksson to reach a deal with the territorial war zone. He should also see this, so he proposed to accept the employment of the territorial war zone to deal with other pirate groups that harassed the coastal zone directly under the jurisdiction. This is also a way of painting the site, and it is also a condition for the coercion of the territorial war zone to accept his trade...

It seems that Mr. Rubyville’s statement is correct. Eriksson’s ambition is really big, and he does not have to resort to the idea of ​​becoming a naval general in the theater. It’s a pity that this young friend of his own has no long-term strategic vision. Does he think that when a pirate can survive for a lifetime or even become a family business that is passed down to future generations?

Claude never put pirates in his eyes, but what he needs now is time. After the successful development of the train and railway in the direct control zone, the next task is to move the steam engine to the ship and establish a steam-powered ocean-going fleet of iron armor or iron shell. Until then, let alone the pirate sail fleet, the national fleets of the Faurea that claim to be invincible, are the same role as tofu.

Erikson's black sail pirates can indeed dominate one side in the era of sail warships, but after the advent of the armored warship era, he only has the fate of hiding in Tibet. Many manpowers and craftsmen can make sail ships, but no pirate force can be made into a warship, which is precisely the foundation of a maritime power.

Only before the armored warship became a reality, the territorial war zone needed to rely on the warships of the combined fleet that were seized and assembled, to build an ocean cruise fleet, to train its naval officers and naval generals, to lay the foundation for the later armored warships, and to protect the direct jurisdiction. Security in the theater waters.

Claude tapped his finger on the table with his fingers. Many things, before considering whether to trade with the black sail pirates, the direct commanding area must deal with the special envoy and censure from Wangdu. It has been nearly four months since the victory over the Hicks Kingdom, and the king should have heard the news long ago. Without the threat of war, those emerging business aristocrats should be elated to embark on a warship that came to the overseas territory. Perhaps in their eyes, the territory directly under the jurisdiction is like a big fat, waiting for them to come and take a big bite...