Iron Powder and Spellcasters

   Chapter 78 Sea Spring

"Please provide things as written on this paper." Bud pressed the material list on the table, his voice came from his helmet, and it sounded a little buzzing: "All will be delivered before noon tomorrow. At the dock, someone will be in charge of receiving it."

   Winters and Andre stood majestically behind Bud, in full officer armor. Especially Andre, who was holding the hilt of the sword with his left hand and looking dangerously at the middle-aged man behind the table.

  Although Bud's tone has been as polite as possible, their posture obviously does not allow the other party to refuse.

   The thin and dry Mayor of Haiquangang lowered his head, not daring to look at the three tall and majestic officers in front of him, and hurriedly picked up the list on the table with both hands and looked at it carefully.

   After reading this list carefully, the mayor of Haiquangang, who was originally sad, slightly eased his brows.

   The quartermaster of Lieutenant General Nareshaw knew the details of Ocean Spring Harbor. Their list would make the mayor aches, but they could definitely come up with it through gritted teeth.

   And the Vengeance Fleet is only asking for supplies such as grain, flour, and chai cloth, so that this small commercial port will not be hurt.

However, due to the nature of the businessman, the mayor of Haiquan Town still wanted to negotiate a price. He said with an embarrassed expression: "Lord Officer, there are less than a thousand families in this town, how can you get so many things in such a hurry? For example, this... a 10,000 kilograms of twice-baked wheat cakes? I…I…Where am I going to get so many wheat cakes? And…”

   "Huh?" Winters, with a bad face, made a threatening long note from the depths of his nose.

   The skinny mayor immediately fell silent.

   "This is what you said - you can't get these things together." Andrei also sneered and said, "Since you don't want to pay, then we'll take it ourselves, haha, it's better."

   As soon as he finished speaking, he pushed open the door to leave.

  The mayor of Haiquan Town jumped three feet high in a hurry, and hurriedly ran over to stop Andre. His intuition told him that the other two officers were hard to tell, but this tallest and burly officer was really capable of looting and looting, and he would not be condemned by his conscience at all.

"Sit and sit, don't worry." Seeing that the fire was almost over, Bud helped the gray-haired mayor back to the chair and said softly: "Although my colleague has a quick temper, he is telling the truth. . We have to collect these materials no matter what, or you donate them, or we take them ourselves. In fact, we come to you, it is already a kind of preferential treatment... If I were you, I would have gone to find someone now Scones."

   Sweat dripped from the forehead of the mayor of Haiquan Town. The old businessman who had traveled from south to north knew very well what tricks these hairy boys were playing in front of him.

   But the dozens of warships moored outside the port are not fake, nor are the dark cannons on the ships, and the **** smell emanating from these young people who are about the same age as their grandsons is not fake.

   Under the enormous psychological pressure, the expression and tone of the honest and gentle officer beside him made him feel very cordial and credible.

  The mayor of Haiquan Town swallowed his saliva and nodded with difficulty, the whole person seemed to be ten years older in an instant: "I will pay, I will pay."

"Don't worry, it'll be delivered to the dock before noon tomorrow." Bud bent over to pick up the list that had just dropped on the ground, and put it back on the mayor's desk: "By the way, where is the water source in the town? Fresh water? We take it ourselves, you don't need to provide it, and save some strength for the townspeople."

   "Freshwater... Danshui..." The old mayor was in a trance, as if he hadn't recovered from the conversation just now, he suddenly shouted: "Cannon! How many cannons do you have?"

  Andre strode to the old mayor's side, grabbed the old mayor's collar and lifted him up, and asked fiercely: "Spying on the military situation, do you want to die? I think you are a spy of the Federation!"

   "Don't do this to the old man! He's almost the same age as your grandfather." Bud immediately stopped Andre, and Winters hurried to help.

   The frightened old mayor hurriedly explained: "I didn't want to inquire about the military situation, didn't I... Can your fleet fire a round of artillery on the edge of the dock?"

   Winters and Andre looked at each other, not knowing what the old man had in mind, but Bud understood.

The more the old town mayor said, the more excited he became: "That's right! Fire one round of cannons! The entire fleet fires one round of cannons! Empty cannons are fine. If you are willing to help me fire one round of cannons, I can help you prepare the things you want overnight tonight. together!"

  Bud and Andre looked at Winters.

   "Mr. Mayor, gunpowder is a valuable military material. It is impossible for the fleet to scare the townspeople with precious gunpowder." Winters frowned and said to the mayor of Haiquan Town. He also understood the old man's thoughts.

The old town mayor could see clearly that this middle-height officer was the leader of the three. He grabbed Winters' arm and said, "The gunpowder is easy to handle. I will supply you from the arsenal in the town. All the gunpowder in the arsenal of Haiquan Town will be given to you. If you don’t show your force, not only will I, the mayor of the town, not be able to do it, but the people in the town will not be willing to hand over the supplies. If they are determined to delay, they will also delay the supply. Ready to eat!"

   Winters was thinking, Bud and Andre didn't speak.

   "I can also take a sum of money to console the officers." The old town mayor pleaded again.

"It's impossible for the entire fleet to fire a round of artillery, and it's really outrageous for the dignified Veneta Navy to intimidate the civilians in the small town." Winters thought about it and said, "But I can think of a way to find a main warship to come over. Fire a round of guns. You don't need the money, you hand over all the gunpowder in the town arsenal."

"Okay! Okay!" The old mayor nodded vigorously, and he thought of something else: "Then can I ask the three officers to leave me a note? If Haiquan Town does not hand over the supplies, it will Blast Haiquan Town to pieces with cannons."

   "I can't write this kind of thing for you, you donate it, not us grab it, understand?" Winters laughed and said, "But I can write you an equivalent document with similar meaning."

  —cut—

The mayor of Haiquan Town hurriedly rang the bell to call the townspeople for a meeting, holding a letter of threat that "If Haiquan Town does not pledge allegiance to the Republic of Veneta, the Veneta Navy will smash Haiquan Town to pieces". .

   After completing the task, Winters, Bud, and Andre walked slowly to the pier.

   "I can't figure out why this town is called Haiquan Town, and I didn't see any wells in the town square?" Andre asked casually.

  Bud replied unhurriedly: "The waters near this island often see whales floating on the surface and spraying water. The ancients saw the wonders of the sea fountains from a distance, so the town was named Haiquan Town."

   "You know again?" Andre was a little dissatisfied.

   "Because I read." Bud said with a smile.

   Winters unbuttoned his jaw and took off the helmet with the feather tassels inserted. The heavy helmet was suffocating and sweating, and his hair was wet.

   "Well, after so many years in military school, I ended up working as a robber." Winters sighed and said apologetically, "Thank you both for helping me with this disgusting errand."

   "Hey, what are you talking about."

   In order to restrain the military and prevent the military from becoming too big in the republic, the logistics of the Veneta Republic army are all in charge of the civilian department in the government.

  The plate is in the hands of others, and it is inevitable that it will not be as the military intends.

   What's more, for this hasty cross-sea expedition, the Vengeance Fleet has emptied Veneta's combat readiness warehouse. Nareshaw and Antonio had no idea whether the follow-up supplies could be supplied, so the United Command agreed that no supply opportunity should be missed. It is better to throw supplies into the sea in the future than to fill the cabin now.

   Hence the “forced donation” just now.

   The dirty work of raising military funds is not difficult in theory, but it is rare to do it beautifully. You can't make it too ugly, and you have to get the supplies. So Winters had no choice but to ask Bud and Andre to help.

   Logically speaking, although any honorable officer would not be willing to do this kind of dirty work, it would never be his turn to let a small warrant officer go to work.

   But who made Winters make a contribution in the process of capturing the Vengeance, then died as a leader, and became a centurion as a warrant officer?

   And he is not the centurion of an ordinary centurion, but the centurion of the chief brigade.

   An ordinary centurion has only 80 people, while the centurion of the chief brigade has 150 people, which is enough to have the strength of two ordinary centurions.

They all came from the Army Military Academy. The seniors have not yet reached the centurion of the chief brigade. You are a small trainee officer who has only left the military academy and took this position within a few days - although it is a temporary generation - how can you not be accepted by others What about jealousy?

   Even Andre felt a little bit uncomfortable in his heart, let alone others.

   Only Bud worriedly admonished Winters in private: "You were not put in a good place, but in a snake pit!"

   Therefore, Winters is now more low-key and more humble in his attitude. When he sees his senior, he salutes all the way away, for fear of being said by others that "this kid has become arrogant as the centurion of the chief brigade."

  Fortunately, few people knew that the Serbian army commander was the uncle of Warrant Officer Montagne. Someone pointed at him behind his back, and Winters gritted his teeth and endured it. But if anyone dared to throw dirty water on Antonio, Winters would definitely fight him.

   Having said that, since leaving the sea blue city, Winters and Antonio have not met alone. There are no blood relatives in the military camp, only superiors and subordinates. That's fine, at least Winters feels comfortable. If you deliberately take care of him, he will feel uncomfortable.

   Therefore, during the days of rest after the Battle of Lighthouse Harbor, what Warrant Officer Montagne hoped most was for the Army Headquarters to quickly send someone to replace his temporary centurion.

   He couldn't figure out why he wanted a small warrant officer to temporarily act as the centurion of the chief brigade. Logically speaking, it was more reasonable to transfer a senior lieutenant from another brigade.

But when Winters went to Contell, the lieutenant colonel said this: "The legion has no personnel authority. Destroying the combat effectiveness of two centurions. Letting you temporarily serve as a centurion will only destroy the combat effectiveness of one centurion."

Lieutenant Colonel Contell patted Winters on the shoulder and comforted him: "This is an excellent opportunity to experience, you should cherish it, but others can't ask for it. Besides, you won't be allowed to act for too long, stick to it. Don't be afraid of gossip from others, only mediocre people will not be envied."

   The superiors of the superiors said so, and Winters could not refuse any more.

  However, Warrant Officer Montagne waited day and night, and did not look forward to replacing his official officer, but received an order to start again.

   Bury the dead, repair the warship, salvage the weapons and supplies in the sunken ship, and ship the prisoners back to the sea blue city, after completing this series of post-war finishing work.

   On the third day after the Battle of Lighthouse Harbor, the Veneta revenge fleet set off again.

  The result of this great battle at sea outside the port of the lighthouse has been transmitted to the whole of the Gulf of Cenas, and even beyond, through the passing merchant ships.

   This is why Admiral Nareshaw tried every means possible, even at the risk of putting the Veneta fleet at risk and creating opportunities for the enemy, to have a fleet battle.

   Because Admiral Nareshaw firmly believes that a large-scale naval battle will be able to determine the direction of the war, and even the outcome, the winner of the fleet battle will be able to take everything.

  The Veneta Navy not only crushed the fleet of the Tanirians in the Battle of Lighthouse Harbor, but also crushed the confidence of the Tanirians to fight.

  On the route from Ocean Blue City to Golden Port, except for several ports in the near sea which are directly ruled by Veneta, the ports on the far sea are only nominally owned by Veneta, and they usually flirt with the Taniria Federation. And the seaports that are closer to the archipelago like Haiquangang actually already belong to the sphere of influence of the Federation.

  After the news of Veneta's victory over Taniria spread throughout the Gulf of Cenas, where the Vengeance Fleet went, the Veneta Autonomous Port, which was about to move because of the fiasco of Haidong Port, became orderly overnight. And the federation territory like Haiquangang didn't even have the courage to resist, and one by one looked down at the wind.

  Nareshaw commanded the Vengeance Fleet to quickly clear every nail on the route and approached the main island of Taniria Archipelago step by step.

"So, look what you've done? You've just killed the bravest and best captains and sailors of Taniria. Vessels flying the Veneta flag are now roaming the Inner Seas, The harbours that were loyal to us surrendered one by one." Edward Kenway said sullenly in the Firebird's cabin.

"You really can't blame me for that!" With a cynical smile on his face, Drake lay in the swinging hammock, the wounds on his head and shoulders were treated: "Whether I win or lose, as long as The Veneta fleet will fire two cannons to scare them off. Those islanders will definitely want to hang their underpants on the poles as white flags. Don't tell me how loyal those islanders are. Do you believe what you say? "

"Even if they had the courage to rebel against the Veneta people, this fiasco has dissipated because of you." Captain Kenway suppressed his anger: "For your personal grievances, I took twenty Tanillas on board. The best boat, do you think it's worth it?"

Captain Drake - no, he's out of the boat now - sighed, smacking his lips, and said nonchalantly, "There's nothing wrong with having a fleet battle, and if I win, the Veneta war plan will be Will go bankrupt on the spot, what will you say then? So, it's only my fault that I lost."

"I think you have forgotten why the Veneta people want to fight with us?" Captain Kenway asked with a sneer, "If you hadn't copied the home port of the Veneta Navy, this war would never have started. "

"You are wrong again, whether I burn Haidong Harbor or not, the Veneta will go to war with us. Debella advocates force again and again, and the Veneta council's call for war is louder every time. As long as Veneta People's territorial ambitions are still there, and war is the inevitable result. I just let the war come earlier, and I also grabbed the first opportunity for the archipelago." Drake yawned, closed his eyes and said slowly: "Don't say these things. Nonsense, you came to save me, doesn't it already show which side you are on? If you don't express your emotions and don't feel happy, then you will cut me with a knife?"

   Kenway said nothing and drew his machete.

   "Hey! What are you doing? Are you really going to cut me?" Drake broke out in a cold sweat, struggling to get up from the hammock.

  The cold light flashed, the lanyards on both sides of the hammock were cut off cleanly, and Drake fell heavily on the deck, holding his back and moaning: "Well...my old waist..."

"You don't understand now, or don't want to understand. As long as your fleet exists, the Veneta will be a sword hanging over your head. As long as your fleet is not destroyed, the Veneta will not Dare to sail freely in the inner sea."

   "What use are you talking about now?" Drake clutched his waist and struggled to stand up: "Since you refused to attack the Glory at the time, then you should leave me on the Vengeance to die!"

"You're still alive," said Captain Kenway grimly. "Although your fleet is gone, as long as you're alive, you are still a sword hanging over your head for the Veneta people. Your plan has been Failed, so I want you to fully support my plan in the federation!"

  Kenway wrinkled his nose and said, "And I won't leave my friend on the boat to die."

  —cut—

  The sun slanted westward, and a Veneta flag was slowly raised on the pocket gun fortress of Haiquan Harbor in the chorus of the salute of one of the main Veneta warships.

   Not far from the town square, the old mayor was talking to the townspeople who gathered together.

  Andre stood on the cannon base, looked at the town square, snorted disdainfully, and spat on the ground.

   "Actually, I think it's a good thing for you to come out and do a little dirty work." Bud said to Winters while raising the flag: "This is actually a kind of love for you, a very clever arrangement."

   Winters did not speak.

   Thanks to the book friends who voted for the recommendation before, thank you. Thanks to book friends Writersblock, justice and purity is koala, book friends 20181013204343295, Ami, Yuan Hongjian for their recommendation tickets, thank you all. thanks.

   (end of this chapter)