Realm of Power

Song Lu was wearing a green robe, facing the warm sea breeze in April, standing on the coast, staring intently at the Imperial Dragon Tooth Battleship dragging a long white water line into the port in the distance, an inexplicable flash in his eyes. The look on his face, the small body of the Dragon Tooth Battleship made the number three figure of the Song clan very disappointed.

In the conventional thinking of the Central Africans, the size of a warship is directly proportional to its combat effectiveness. The more powerful a warship is, the more people look up to it. A fleet that can sail the sea should be like a huge fortress. That's right, what is the imperial warship in front of me, which can be considered a medium-sized warship? Fortunately, the Imperial people also blew their warships into the sky, saying that they were invincible in the inland sea area. In fact, just listen to the word "inland sea" and you will know that the sea that can be decorated with the name "inner" is probably a little bigger than the lake. Why? It can be compared with the rough sea in southern China and Bibia.

It is a joke that the warships of the Imperial Navy are placed in the southern sea of ​​​​Cebbia. I have seen the warships of the Aden people. They are really tall. The largest ones are like a city moving on the sea. Such Aden Navy , how could the weak Imperial Navy be able to compete? It’s no wonder that during this period , the Aden people plundered all kinds of supplies and food on the southern coast, but the Imperial Navy hid without even reacting. The family was at a loss this time, and agreed to jointly build a fleet with the Empire, and even released some areas on the southern coast. I thought What was introduced was a ferocious lion, who knew it was a local dog at best!

However, the speed of the Empire's construction project is astonishing. The coastline, which was originally a rocky beach and curved sand, took just over a month of rest. Under the Empire's magical crane, a A huge natural excellent port has appeared in front of us, although Song Lu's concept of naval ports was quite vague, but it did not affect the experienced No. 3 figure of the Song clan's judgment of the terrain in front of him. In the report sent back to the Song clan, Song Lu managed to hide his admiration for the speed of empire construction. In particular, a tool called a pulley was mentioned.

It also bluntly stated that the so-called forts being built by the imperial people on the towering cliffs on both sides of the bay are like two huge pliers, commanding down and looking at the entire bay area. They are real defense centers. Although the three temporary docks are still does not have the ability to independently build ships, But it is enough for temporary repairs. Although we still don’t know what the Imperial people are planning, the number of Imperial warships coming from the upper reaches of the waterway has exceeded twenty-five. In addition to the hulls coming down the river, there are also a large number of supplies were also transported by merchant ships.

The advantages of water transportation are being demonstrated. The mountains in southern China and Bibia make the 6th road rugged and difficult to navigate, but the waterway is smooth. As the general coordinator responsible for coordinating the imperial ships from the inland river to the southern coast, Song Lu watched these almost the entire process. How does the imperial war flow from the upper reaches to the lower reaches, and how does it turn from the southwest river? Entering the southern river channel, and finally reaching the mouth of the sea, although some river channels have been widened, rapids and shoals abound, and the unique centipede-like turning oars on the hull of the imperial warship are shocking in the surging southern river channel. Its mobility allows it to pass quickly even against the current.

This was an eye-opener for Song Lu. Although the small size of the imperial dragon tooth battleship made him look down upon, the novel design of the imperial battleship was an eye-opener. If the Song nationality's ships were equipped with similar oars, Then you can just go upstream and go straight to the southwest! Or even drive further along the river, for example, to China and Biya Xingjing!

Thinking of this, Song Lu's eyes were so bright and frightening, even hot. The mountain people in the south relied on the mountains to survive, and they were also imprisoned by the mountains. Although there were rivers crisscrossing the mountains, the water flow was all towards the south. Leaving the coast, there is no way to become If the transportation line is really equipped with upstream oars like the imperial warships, the situation that has been trapped due to mountain obstacles for thousands of years may be broken. Song Lu can be excited by such an idea. , it’s not completely unreasonable,

The southern mountainous area is originally a zone with crisscrossed rivers, but it is located in the downstream zone of the entire Central-Bias water system, so it is naturally in a threatened position in the upper reaches.

The reason why the Zhongbia Court can use the southwest to intimidate the southern mountains is because the southwest river occupies the upper reaches of the southern mountain road. As long as there is any change in the southern mountainous area, the army flowing down from the southwest river will turn the south into a bloody mess. Sea, for decades, the suppressed southern mountain people did not dare to go north The expansion of the Luzhou Army and Fengwu Army was also because the Lu River in Luzhou flowed into the southern mountains from north to south. As long as you go south along these rivers, the mountains that the southern mountain people rely on as a barrier are just decorations, and the wooden wooden structures built by the hard work of the mountain people The village was completely unable to withstand the heavily armed Central and African troops.

In order to avoid these dangers, the mountain people in the south have gradually abandoned hundreds of miles of river land in the past few decades. It is unknown how many mountain villages they have lived in for generations have been abandoned, and how many people have died on the way south. The Song people The reason why we value shipbuilding technology is besides He wanted to expand a new way of making money, and more importantly, he hoped to go to the south to find more land to settle the mountain people. Now, Song Lu felt that he had seen through the secret of the imperial warship. It’s not that difficult to paddle! As for the style of the warship, it is more reliable to follow the warship pattern obtained from the people of Aden. The old man from Aden said that the warship built for the family has a huge runner design on the side, which is enough to make the warship It moves like flying on the sea, and can even be equipped with a giant sling. With just one move, it can completely crush ships like Imperial battleships.

"This is the case with the Imperial Navy. The owner's expectations are a bit too high!"

Song Lu couldn't hide his deep disappointment in his tone. What could twenty-five warships do? This time the family spent a lot of money to get news from Aden merchants. In order to make up for the disadvantages of the Kingdom of Aden in the war in the Obaro area, the Aden navy mobilized hundreds of ships and more than 5,000 Aden warriors this time. The task was to attack the entire Central China. Looting along Biya's southern coastline

The 30,000 Song allied troops of various ethnic groups have moved to the coastal areas for defense, but facing a coastline of thousands of miles, what use can a mere 30,000 people do?

The southern coastline is full of flames. The Aden people who come in the fleet are very cunning. They usually come in the evening when the tide is high. After the big ship stops, they put down the small boat and only send a thousand people ashore each time. Because the number is small, they are extremely dangerous. Fast and well equipped It is outrageous that tens of thousands of Aden people did not attack the rock forts with troops stationed there, but just looted villages and towns, and then quickly left while the tide was low. When the Song army arrived, all they could see was blazing fire. villages and corpses all over the ground,

In just ten days, 11 fishermen's villages have been slaughtered, and more than 3,000 mountain people have been massacred. The mountain people in the coastal areas are panic-stricken. For this reason, Song Que, the head of the Song family, has been without food for four or five days. Have a good rest and take the Song family with you The only two thousand mobile cavalry were sleeping in the wilderness, running back and forth like crazy. All they wanted was to capture the Aden people's landing, but they couldn't catch it every time. The most recent time, Song Que was just a few steps away. ship leaves The Aden people were only a thousand meters away. The cavalry had even charged, but they could only watch helplessly as the Aden people returned to the boat unhurriedly, swaggered back to the fleet at sea, and then quickly disappeared on the coast. Above, Song clan Now I can see clearly, the Aden people come and go quickly just because there are Aden people's warships on the sea to meet them. If someone can hold back the Aden people's sea warships, the Song people are confident that they will board the raging Aden people. Kill them all!

At this time, Song Que, the leader of the Song clan, thought of the existence of a so-called naval fleet on the southern coast. Although this so-called naval fleet only had a total number of two or three thousand people and only a dozen or twenty warships, and they were all It is a battleship shell that has not yet been equipped. Whether it can be fought on the sea is a question, but it is not a fleet at least. Even if it cannot defeat the Aden people, it can at least drag the Aden fleet for a while, so Song Lu came to receive him. The Imperial Navy's Twelfth Squadron Gradient Cartis

Under the warm sunshine in southern Central Asia, the Imperial Navy Admiral was clearly in good spirits.

He stood in an open space and glanced at the naval port that was being built in full swing. For this empire's first military port in Central Asia, the Imperial Navy did not hesitate to transport the craftsmen team here on a transport ship. This was enough. There are three hundred people, which basically recognizes that the squadron level of the Twelfth Fleet belongs to the empire's main fleet, because only the main fleet is qualified to equip a craftsman group.

The craftsmen brought a large number of imperial equipment and recruited more than 3,000 local mountain people. If all goes well, it is expected to be completed within two months.

Cartis was already very satisfied with this. Although the military port in front of him could not be compared with a real large naval port, the Sparrow was small but well-equipped with all the essentials, including a repair dock, guard forts along the mouth of the gorge, and a large number of sailor barracks. , and even a blank space was planned as the headquarters building of the naval squadron.

On this coast thousands of miles away from the empire, Katis is full of hope, especially with the arrival of all twenty-five Dragon Teeth warships, which finally makes the twelfth fleet full. All that is missing now is waiting for the transport warships. The arrival of the weapons transport fleet,

"Your Excellency Song Lu, what are you doing?"

Seeing the dusty No. 3 figure of the Song clan, Katis looked up from the return map with a stunned expression. Under his influence, this senior figure of the Song clan in Central Asia has always been in high spirits. When will there be one? Such a defeated look,

"You're welcome, Song Lu is actually here to ask for help from the commander." Song

Lu waved his hands seriously. He was not optimistic about the Falcon Empire Navy. If such a fleet encountered the Aden Navy Fleet, it would probably sink in one round. However, thinking of the haggard eyes of the family master, Song Lu reluctantly said, " I believe Commander Katis has heard about the Aden people raging on the coast and the mountain people being tortured. We, the Song people, have mobilized this time. Thirty thousand troops marched into the coast, but the enemy's fleet was erratic on the sea, and it was impossible to catch the opponent's specific whereabouts. This time we spent a lot of money to buy an informant, and we were able to determine the opponent's next landing location. The army has set up an ambush circle, but as long as the opponent retreats to the sea, we can only stare blankly, so this time we ask your navy to provide assistance. "

"You mean to let us entangle the Aden navy?" Katis's eyes sparkled, and he hesitated and said, "I have also heard about the Aden navy's frequent landings in southern Central Asia recently. It's just that the empire The Admiralty issued no combat orders, and two The armament of the fifteen Dragon Tooth warships is only less than half completed. The biggest difficulty is that this is an unfamiliar sea area. As a navy, if you don’t understand the characteristics of the sea area, you are looking for death. In the vast sea, it is impossible to let a fleet There are too many factors that lead to group destruction. Wind, rain, ocean currents and reefs, because the previous records of this sea area are blank, so we can only figure out the sea area step by step. Since arriving at the southern coast, the Imperial Navy has extended its tentacles to the surrounding areas, which is just barely Will be nearby Yu Li's sea area is clear. Without knowing the opponent's specific location, it is very dangerous to leave the port area to find the enemy for a decisive battle. However, if the Song clan can provide the opponent's specific location, our navy can assist! A fight!”

"That's great!" Song Lu looked excited. He took out a report from his arms and handed it to Katis. "This is the place where the Aden Navy will board 6 next time. It's not very far from here. I also know how to let your fleet Going into battle without preparation puts you in a difficult position, so this time the thirty-three warships of the Song clan will also cooperate with the commander."

"The Song fleet. [\u003c\u003c\u003c...Okay, I understand!" Katis took the report and narrowed his eyes slightly. It was really a surprising thing, although twenty-five battleships Only half of the armament is completed, but it is also a Dragon Tooth battleship, and what is the Aden Navy opposite? In order to carry troops and plunder Of the supplies plundered, at least half of the more than 100 warships were transport ships. This was simply fat meat delivered to one's own mouth. Although the Navy Ministry had not yet issued an order, a military order declaring war between the Empire and the Kingdom of Aden had been issued. As It is within the scope of the squadron admiral's authority to assess the situation thousands of miles away from home.

The union between the Song people and the empire is already a fact. The emperor even personally presented the empire's most advanced dragon-class battleship blueprints as a token of sincerity. So Katis didn't mind letting Song Lu know his situation. In fact, even if he looked at it So what can be done,

I heard that there are major differences within the Song tribe over whether the warships to be built are based on the Imperial Dragon-class battleships or the Aden sail warships. The Song tribe is too naive about building warships. The construction of a warship is not only about resources and With the investment of financial resources, excellent craftsmen and construction technology, these Song people are simply in vain. Bai, the so-called warships of the Song people are at most the level of transport ships in the eyes of Katis. The round hull can carry 300 soldiers at a time. There is also a three-story palace-like building on the hull. Fighting on inland rivers is still It's okay, but if it goes to sea, Katis doesn't think such a warship can withstand a salvo from the Dragon Tooth warship! (To be continued.) 8