Realm of Power

Putau coastal area, Huacheng Island

The fat man was standing on a cliff by the sea, looking at the sea from the top of the inner bend five miles north of the coast. In the spring, the blue waves rolled into the Putao Sea, and the clusters of islands in the blue water were densely packed like gems. The sunshine above is particularly beautiful, like slender lines falling on the tranquil sea, embroidered with a faint golden light as the waves rise and fall.

Three months ago, the empire began a large-scale reconstruction of Huacheng Port. After the expansion, Huacheng Island was twice the size of the original. The docking points in four directions were expanded close to the concave edge, and the regular piers were berthed along the coastline. A beautiful arc is drawn out, and the number of stopping points expands from eight to eighteen.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the Imperial Navy is turning the entire Huacheng Island into a huge dock.

This move not only shocked Puntau, but also deeply shocked the inland sea area. The imperial merchant fleet swarmed into major ports like locusts. In just a few months, it exceeded 4,000 ships, which almost accounted for 4,000 ships in the inland sea area. One-third of the total merchant fleet, the domineering power of the Northern Falcon Empire shocked the entire inland sea. The empire's influence on the inland sea increased sharply, finally forcing the Strand people to turn against them in advance.

"Your Majesty, the Duke of Putao wants to see you!" A guard came from behind and reported,

"Putau Duke? What is he here for?" The fat man turned around unexpectedly, and saw the radiant Duke Putau getting off a gorgeous golden carriage and walking hurriedly towards this side. Today's Duke Putau Things are no longer what they used to be. The little Duke who was always being criticized , and now he is also a real duke worthy of his name. If this is facilitated by the empire's smuggling, the Duke of Putao now has a small territory, but his status is extraordinary. The value of goods transported from this area every day is more than one million gold coins. , along with the influence of the Putao area has increased.

The Putao area has been called the land of gold by other areas in Central Europe. Businessmen believe that the place is full of gold, and they can make a fortune as long as they transport goods. Especially the goods here are mostly smuggled.

Various controlled materials such as Falcon in the north, Feize in the south, and Central Asia in the east are not restricted here. As long as they are willing to pay and do not violate the imperial army's contraband, the smugglers will not ask about the identity of the other party. The powerful and sophisticated weapons of the Northern Falcon Empire, Feize's uniquely beautiful and handsome servants, the luxurious and confusing gold silk and jade silk from Central Asia, the extremely sharp Istan curved swords of the Istan people, and some others whose names I don't even know. Treasures, this place is a paradise for royal families and nobles from all over the world.

Although the Falcon Empire has extremely bad diplomatic relations with the Barrow countries in Central Europe, it has always upheld fairness in business relations. As long as you do not violate imperial laws here, the imperial army will turn a blind eye to you, but no matter Whoever wants to safely pass goods through here, Putao Duke's Palace is an important link that cannot be avoided. In such an environment, although the Duke of Putau has not yet become a regional king, among the nobles of various countries, he already appears to be on par with the monarchs of other Barrow regions in Central Europe.

"His Majesty!"

Duke Putao knelt down on one knee in front of the fat man with a respectful expression, lowered his head and saluted.

Although they had met him many times, the Duke of Putao, who was famous outside, was like a mouse meeting a cat when he saw Fatty. He knew very well that Putao's prosperity was due to the trade lines of a huge empire standing behind it. Without the empire's merchant ships and huge influence, the Putao area was just an unknown small area.

"I heard that you are currently busy marrying a young lady from the Lu family. Why are you in the mood to come here?" The fat man glanced over and said with a teasing smile, "If I remember correctly, this should be your fifth wife. In just a short time, You are definitely the first among all the Dukes of Putao to marry five wives in less than a year!”

"This is a need of the alliance, there is really no other way!"

The Duke of Putao smiled slightly. Now that he has gained status, it turns out that more and more wealthy families come to curry favor. In order to stabilize his position as Duke and strive to move towards the throne as early as possible, it is necessary to digest the combined forces through marriage. means,

"Get up, what's the matter with you?" The fat man felt deeply about this and raised his hand to him.

"My subordinates want to ask how your Majesty plans to deal with the traitor of the Papley family?" Duke Putao stood up and said cautiously.

"The crimes of the Papley family?" The fat man smiled when he heard this. "To be honest, I haven't thought about it. I just thought it would be a pity to kill him." The Papley family has influence in Putao and even in the entire Central European Barrow. , and he is still a vassal of the Burrows family. I sent him back to Gangfei, but who knew that the other party actually refused to accept it! What a distress! "

The fat man tilted his head, "A pretty good young man with ambition and ideals. If we weren't fighting Gang Fei, I might choose to let him go!"

"Your Majesty wants to let him go?"

When the Duke of Putao heard the fat man's thoughts, he was immediately startled and said quickly, "Your Majesty, this person must not be released. Once he is released, the whole Putao will be in chaos! With the support of the Burrows family, this person has many This is the first time he has criticized the empire in public. Such a crime should be directly executed."

"Direct execution?" The fat man narrowed his eyes slightly. "I heard that the Burrows family has a close relationship with your Duke's Palace. Your current attitude is very puzzling."

"The relationship is not shallow?" When Duke Putao heard this word, he couldn't laugh or cry. He responded, "The relationship your Majesty mentioned should be a hostile relationship! One is the top wealthy family in the mainland. In its most powerful era, it once controlled the government of several kingdoms. The other He is a young duke in the region, ranking last among the monarchs. Comparing the two, these nobles clearly identify more with the Burrows family, a wealthy family on the mainland, than I do. The little Duke of District, initially wanted to annex Pu Tao. As one of the special envoys of the Burrows family, Paplisoda quickly won the hearts of those noble elites just by using the banner of the Burrows family. The Duke, however, does not even have a follower who can look past him. Comparing the two sides, it is not difficult to see that the Duke's Palace is extremely wary of the Papley family."

The fat man waved his hand and said, "Haha, forget it, let me tell you, the criminal was kidnapped halfway and fled into Gangfei. As a result, Gangfei sent him back again. In two days, the escorting convoy will Return to Lisbonto, and then I will hand him over to you. After all, he is still a noble in your Putao area. The decision of his life and death rests with you!"

"That's it, I understand!"

Duke Putao's eyes gleamed when he heard this, and he raised his head excitedly. He was a very smart person. How could he not see that the empire was obviously trying to frame the Gangfei Empire, but the Papley family member fled into Gangfei? The territory was also forcibly sent back by the Gangfei people, which showed that the Gangfei Empire was determined not to accept this frame-up.

His Majesty gave himself the decision-making power of this man's life and death. The meaning here is too precious. He has a very bad relationship with the Burrows family. You can imagine the consequences of this man falling into his hands. He can also take advantage of executing this man. The influence of people can deter those who still think that the Burrows family is more worthy of investment than themselves. Those nobles are as smart as monkeys. Behind them is His Majesty the Falcon, and the Burrows family has become a rootless duckweed in the declining mountains. Under such a trend, whether to choose to be loyal to the Burrows family or to be loyal to yourself is already a question. Something unmistakable.

With some joy, the Duke of Putau got on the carriage. Go straight to Lisbonto,

Watching the shadow of Duke Putau's carriage disappear into the distance, the fat man turned back and asked, "Is there any news about the frontline fleet?"

"The fleet sent back a message a day ago that it had captured Cullo. Judging from the time, the fleet should also have arrived at Valenya Port at this time!" A naval officer standing behind replied cautiously,

"Port Valenya. So fast!"

The fat man looked slightly stunned. The imperial fleet swept across the southern coast of Congo. As expected, the strong enemy Strand Navy did not appear. The battle went smoothly beyond imagination.

Valenya Port is less than 200 nautical miles away from the last port, under normal circumstances. Within three days, the main force of the imperial fleet will arrive at Vasily Port where the Strand people have set up an ambush. The fleet of the Strand Sea Kingdom should feel that victory is in their grasp! . Unfortunately, who is the fish and who is the bait? I'm afraid that by the time the other party reacts, everything will be a foregone conclusion. If the Imperial Navy launched a powerful bow and arrow on the southern coast of Africa, then what really determines everything is the most unexpected hidden arrow. The fat man's eyes were filled with lightning. Exposed, like a thunderbolt before the coming storm, passing through the sky, looking at the sea in the distance, seemingly searching for something, the sea breeze from high above blew his black hair.

He sternly said to the admiralty officer behind him, "Send the message to Dustronkai. After arriving in Valenya, the decoy plan can be implemented!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" the Navy officer responded excitedly.

Congo's southern coast

The battle in Valenya Port entered a fierce stage. The hashing advance of the imperial crossbowmen squeezed the line of the Gangfei infantry. Fortunately, the temporary extension wooden wall blocked many incoming arrow clusters for the Gangfei people. Longbow Division under the command of Fabgares, commander of the 11th Infantry Regiment of the South The team also played a big role. The number of these longbow archers recruited by Fabgares from his hometown was less than a thousand. They were not brave and good at it, but they had good archery skills trained in hunting in the mountains for many years. The crossbowmen of the Falcon Empire began to pay casualties,

"Order the fleet to stop bombarding and the front troops to withdraw to the safe area of ​​​​the port! Dostelenko looked up at the sky and saw that it was already afternoon. He issued an order for the troops to evacuate. After detecting the combat intentions of the Strand people, he continued It would be unwise to order Thor to pave the way;

"Sir, why did you stop?" Pirate leader Yamu came over from the deck eagerly. "We have defeated the enemy's first line of defense. According to the layer-by-layer strategy, we can keep fighting under the opponent's fortress!"

"Don't you see? The other party is stalling for time. They are waiting for dark!" Dostelenko picked a reason at random and said with a gloomy face. "The number of soldiers in our landing force is only three thousand, and they need to face The 10,000-strong Congolese Army was based on mountain defense. , Even if we can really push all the way to the enemy's fortress, what will happen at night? If the opponent takes advantage of the night to launch a counterattack, with 3,000 landing troops, and dragging the heavy Thor, few of them will be able to come back by then? ? I can’t fight today, let’s wait until tomorrow!”

"Oh, what a pity!"

Pirate leader Yamu shook his head with a gloomy look. People who didn't know thought he was regretting that the fleet's attack was unfavorable. Those who knew knew that he was regretting that he didn't consume more thunder bullets. He had already observed it. , the total number of Thors in the Falcon Empire fleet is around 2,000.

This is a terrifying destructive force. A single salvo is estimated to be able to destroy half a city. If the battle is at sea, the long-range strike force of the Falcon Empire Navy is enough to destroy most enemy ships 400 meters away. This is also The most terrifying thing about the Falcon Empire Navy is that the consumption caused by two thousand Thors is equally astonishing. As the fleet continues to move north, the supply line stretches rapidly. The transport fleet returns from here to Putau, and then returns to the fleet from Putau. It takes at least 7 days to go back and forth.

In other words, within these seven days. The Thor ammunition on the Falcon Empire warship is in a state of no supply. Once it is empty, it will completely lose its long-range suppression capability. In the evening, Yamu saw the transport fleet behind the main fleet begin to turn towards the direction of the Gibraltar Sea Road. disappear.

"The opportunity has finally come!"

Yamu held his hand on the side of the ship, his eyes flickering. Now the Falcon Empire's fleet is in the situation of losing one point every time it fires, and what he has to do is to let the Falcon Empire's fleet fight within the seven days after the transport ship leaves. Consume as many Thunderbolts as possible.

"What should we do? It would be great if Gang Feiren could launch a large-scale charge. Although people would die, at least a lot of thunder bullets would be consumed!" Yamu couldn't help but think with evil intentions in his heart. The Strand people have no sympathy for how many Gangfei people will die. In fact, as the pirate king of the Gibraltar Channel, he has killed many Gangfei people's wronged souls.

Many pirates in the inland sea are Strands. This is a high-level secret of the Strand Navy. The territory of the sea country is the sea, but the Strand Navy cannot truly control the entire sea area, so it is a good idea to let some of the navy's elites dress up as pirates to control the sea area. Choice, and Yamu is obviously the best among these elites,

At the age of twenty-one, he resigned from his position as captain of the sea country. Taking the place of Haiguo to control the Gibraltar Channel, after more than ten years of hard work, with the explicit or covert help of Haiguo, he gathered thousands of gangsters and dozens of warships under his command. He can also rank among the top three among inland sea pirates, but this time, for the sake of Haiguo, he chose to give up everything he had worked hard for more than ten years without hesitation, because this was a life and death battle for Haiguo. A soldier of the Sea Kingdom, he knew very well that if the Sea Kingdom was defeated, without the support of the Sea Kingdom fleet, he, the Pirate King of Gibraltar, would be easily destroyed by the navies of other countries.

Live up to Yamu's expectations, the next day, the Falcon Empire's naval fleet once again launched an artillery bombardment against the 11th Infantry Regiment of Gangfei in the early morning. However, because the distance was too far, the effect was not great. Dostelenko asked the fleet again Stop the attack, land the troops and build fortifications,

On the opposite side, the number of Congolese Army troops showed an increasing trend.

"Bastard, these are inhuman reinforcements!"

Through the lookout glass in his hand, Dostelenko saw the distant Ganfei infantry forming a thicker array. Yesterday he saw only infantry, but today he actually saw cavalry, equipped with spears and close shields. Wearing red light armor and red cloaks, even their spires The streamer on the top of the helmet is also cherry red, fluttering in the wind, like a red cloud floating on the mountain. And above this red cloud are densely packed spears, and the bright luster is flowing and emerging in the deep fog, as if it were blurred. If a luminous river is added to the earth.

"It's the Fourth Cavalry Regiment of the Confederate Army. Their station is less than 70 miles away from here. They must have arrived overnight!"

The pirate leader's voice was a bit unnoticeably excited. It was really God's wish. He was still thinking about how to use up the Falcon Navy's ammunition. He just sent reinforcements. The Fourth Cavalry Regiment of the Confederate Army had 7 soldiers. A thousand-man cavalry unit, this is a unit with brilliant records and meritorious deeds. It has always been the ace unit of the Confederate Empire guarding the southern region.

"The other side is preparing to take the initiative to attack?'

Dostelenko frowned slightly as he looked through the lookout glass. The opponent's cavalry troops were gathering. A cavalry general wearing red armor ran past the cavalry array as if on a military parade. In the area where he ran , the Gang Fei cavalry began to pour down like a mountain torrent, attacking the landing troops at the port from three directions.

"Attack!" Gangfei's cavalry shouted loudly, the overwhelming momentum was astonishing

"madness!"

Dostelenko's lips trembled. Facing the two thousand thunder gods of the entire imperial fleet, he launched a charge. The opponent's cavalry commander was no longer brave, but extremely stupid.

"shooting!"

Almost without waiting for the order from the flagship, the Thors of the Imperial Fleet launched a salvo against the extremely arrogant Gang Fei Cavalry.

Boom! The continuous sound showed the power that made the world boil in an instant. A whole sheet of white smoke spurted out from the muzzle of the battleship's side, which opened the baffle, and gathered into a high-pitched and exciting symphony.

Countless white lines streaked across the sea, flying towards the cavalry group like hailstones with a harsh whistling sound.

"Rumble" The continuous explosions showed a scene like the sky collapsing and the sea boiling.

The commander of the cavalry, Gang Fei, who was leading the charge, was directly covered by thunder bullets falling like a torrential rain from above his head before he even understood the situation he was encountering. He was instantly shattered to pieces.

When Thor's cannon fire stopped, at least three thousand Ganfei cavalry were turned into minced meat.

The blood in Datan is like a huge red carpet being spread, like a huge fan spread out less than a hundred meters from the port.