(Today's Chapter 1)
Sorry, today's update is a bit late. Because today's chapter is a briefing before returning to the Imperial Capital, it had to be carefully laid out. There are many things that need to be explained clearly, so the speed is a bit slower and the number of words is also a bit higher.)
GOR Chapter 113: Difficult to Be a Head
The pitiful Captain Jack Sparrow stood outside the castle with several mounted soldiers beside him on horseback. The spears in their hands were already pointed at him.
Not because of anything else, but because of this fellow's attire … … it was simply too brazen, too arrogant. The only thing missing was a line of words carved on his face: I am a pirate!
It has to be said that this was also Duwei's work. The outfit he designed for this Captain Jack Sparrow was completely based on the charming pirate captain in the famous movie from his previous life. Especially the red bandana on the head, the little mustache on the chin, and the dark circles under the eyes … …
When such a strangely dressed person came to the vicinity of Rollin's castle, he was immediately targeted by the patrolling cavalry of the Rollin Family. Ever since Du Wei was kidnapped twice, the strength of the Rollin Family's guards increased by several times. If Jack Sparrow did not have the keepsake given to him by Ruo Lin, he would have been tied up by the cavalry long ago.
"Aha! My captain, you're finally here! " Du Wei laughed and hurriedly ran out from the castle. Seeing the pirate captain being pointed at by the cavalry with their spears, he could not help but be stunned. The Knight below immediately jumped down from his horse and bowed: "Young Master, this fellow's attire is strange. He does not look like a good person, but he has the keepsake given to him by Ruo Lin. We suspect that he … …"
"No need to suspect, this is my man. Hurry up and let him go." Du Wei waved his hand and the Knight retreated. Du Wei looked at the somewhat nervous Jack Sparrow and walked up to him. He patted his shoulder and said with a smile: "You finally came. Have you finished what I told you to do? "
The pirate captain had already experienced Du Wei's prowess, so he quickly bowed and said with a smile, "Young Master, the matter was handled very successfully. Although there were some hiccups in the middle, with Miss Joanna's help, everything was resolved. And the results are much better than expected. "
Du Wei looked around. "This is not the place to talk."
Afterwards, he ordered someone to bring Captain Sparrow to his study room.
Entering the study room, this vulgar pirate had never seen the rich and powerful scene of the Empire's military family. Just the pure silver candlesticks were enough to dazzle him. Following that, his subordinates brought up the black tea produced in the south. The pure silver tea set made Sparrow extremely nervous.
Driving away the servant and closing the door, Du-Wei leisurely cast a silencing spell so that the conversation in the room wouldn't be heard by others. Only then did he sit down on the chair with a straight face, "Speak."
"Yes!" Captain Sparrow hurriedly stood up, put down the teacup in his hand and said in a low voice: "This time, we went out to sea for a total of three months. We swept through 19 islands in the eastern sea. With Miss Joanna's help, those stubborn guys were all thrown into the sea to feed the sharks. The remaining people we gathered numbered a total of 421. There were a total of 32 ships of all sizes, among which there was a Sea King class battleship! "
"Sea King class?" Du Wei was slightly surprised.
In the Roland Empire, the ships on the sea were divided into four classes according to their displacement. From large to small, they were: Sea God class, Sea King class, Sea Owl class, and Sea Spirit class.
Among them, the Sea God class was the largest, and could be called the first class battleship of the Empire's navy. For example, Du Wei's father, Earl Raymond, had led the navy south on an expedition. When he triumphantly returned to the Empire, his flagship, the "Dandon", was a Sea God class battleship. The ship's length was more than 300 steps, about 150 meters. It could carry a total of 800 crew members and combatants. In this world, it could be called the giant of the sea.
And the slightly smaller ones were the Sea King class. The ship's length could reach up to 100 meters, and was generally around 80 meters. It could carry 500 combatants. Moreover, it was also equipped with a certain number of ballistas and other long-range weapons.
In this era, because there was no gunpowder or firearms, there were no such things as cannons. The so-called ballistas were actually just some large crossbows that were shot out with a noose. The range was about a kilometer, and its penetrating power was strong enough to penetrate iron plates. Often in a battle on the sea, if it hit the target, it could pierce through the opponent's hull, directly causing damage to the opponent's hull.
In this era, there were no long-range weapons like cannons. Only the Sea God class battleships could be equipped with a small number of magic cannons. It was a type of long-range weapon that used magic principles to create something similar to a cannon. However, the cost of production was extremely expensive. Although its power was great, comparable to the cannons Du Wei knew from his previous world, it was not cost-effective. It required expensive magic materials and profound magic principles. It was even said that some of the manufacturing processes had been lost.
Because of these reasons, in this world, the so-called naval warfare was still at a low level. From a long distance, the captain's combatants would use weapons such as throwing or crossbows to injure the opponent. Then, the ship's ram would ram the opponent's ship, causing the opponent to lose their mobility. Then, they would engage in a "boarding battle" where the combatants on the ship would board the opponent's ship and engage in hand-to-hand combat.
Under such circumstances, the ship's capacity was large, and it could carry more combatants. Thus, it became the main force in naval warfare.
Although there were a lot of pirates in the eastern seas of the Roland Continent, most of them were medium-sized ships and below. They were often unable to compete with a regular fleet. Even some large armed merchant ships had the ability to defend themselves against pirates.
A Sea King Grade ship was extremely rare for a pirate to have!
Seeing Du Wei's doubts, Captain Sparrow quickly explained: "That ship seems to be quite old. The hull is also somewhat shabby, and it would take a lot of effort to repair. The pirates that were captured by us were a relatively large group in the eastern seas. It is said that this ship was originally a warship of the navy. After it reached its retirement age, it was bought by a rich merchant and became a merchant ship. In the end, it was robbed by pirates at sea. "
Du Wei nodded. If even pirates could easily get their hands on a Sea King class ship, then what was the point of the Empire's navy?!
"Right now, among these 32 ships, there is one Sea King class ship and six Sea Owl class ships. Including my Black Pearl, it is also Sea Owl class. The rest are all Sea Spirit class ships, which can only carry less than a hundred people. However, according to the calculation of the displacement of these ships, and their configuration, they can barely be compared to some of the Empire's second-rate fleets. Although we have fewer large ships and more small ships, the number of ships we have is much more than theirs. "
After listening to Sparrow's words, Du Wei only smiled and did not say anything.
After all, this guy was born as a pirate, so his knowledge is still lacking.
Compared to the Empire's navy? That's just wishful thinking.
Du-Wei's father was born in the Navy, and he was promoted all the way by leading the expeditionary fleet to the South. For example, during the last triumphant return, Earl Raymond led the expeditionary fleet, although there were only 35 ships. Among them, there were five Sea God class ships, and the rest were all Sea King class ships.
Although Du Wei obtained a lot of ships, most of them were small ships. If compared to the Empire's official navy, they were far from enough.
However, Du Wei did not want to start a rebellion. With such a fleet, as long as it was used for trade and did not provoke the Empire's navy, it could almost sweep the eastern seas.
After saying this, Sparrow's face revealed a difficult expression, and he said in a low voice: "It's just that things have developed beyond our expectations, so now there are some problems. We can't solve it, and now the fleet is docked at Port York in the southern part of the Lille province. Miss Ruo Lin is there to preside over the situation, so she quickly sent me back to find you … … "
"Just say it, what's the problem?" Du Wei frowned.
"Money." Sparrow sighed: "Our original plan was to take in those pirates, and then take out the wealth they have accumulated over the years to maintain the fleet's consumption. But the problem is … … "
Speaking up to here, Sparrow could not help but sigh: "The problem is, these pirates are too poor."
Seeing Du Wei's frown, Sparrow hurriedly explained: "The Empire's naval forces have always been strong, and in the past few decades, the Empire has carried out several expeditions in the southern seas, expanding the Empire's maritime territory thousands of miles away. This kind of wasteful display of military might, although it did not bring any obvious benefits to the Empire's finances, but the expansion of the southern sea route has stimulated the Empire's maritime trade. The number of merchant ships on the sea has increased by ten times compared to a few decades ago. This kind of frequent trade has stimulated the emergence of pirates, giving them space to survive. But after all, it has always been a small matter, because the Empire has a huge navy. Once the matter becomes too big, it will cause the Empire's navy to wipe out the small pirates, and they will be annihilated. More importantly, in recent years, the maritime trade in the eastern seas has decreased, and most of the fleets have been concentrated in the southern seas. These pirates in the eastern seas have always had a hard time surviving, so naturally there is not much profit to be made. "
Seeing Captain Sparrow speak so seriously, as if he was reciting from a book, Du Wei could not help but laugh: "Did you think of all these by yourself?"
Sparrow shook his head and answered honestly: "No, I didn't read any books. How could I think of all these? These things were all told to me by Miss Ruo Lin. "
Du Wei's eyes lit up.
Ruo Lin? This long-legged girl had a good brain.
Sparrow continued: "This time, during the three months of clearing out the pirates at sea, the total amount of supplies we obtained was mostly some worthless food and ironware. Even if we sold them, they wouldn't be worth much. However, for some valuable items, Miss Ruo Lin had already decided to sell some of them in Port York. Also, we needed some connections to the Navy and the military in Port York. After all, many of the pirates were wanted, and if we rashly took them in, it would be hard to avoid criticism. Miss Ruo Lin decided to spend some money to bribe the officials. "As for the rest of the items, we've ransacked every single one of those pirate nests, but we only managed to get less than ten thousand gold coins. After a few months at sea, the ships only need to be maintained and repaired, and there are some damaged ships that need to be repaired. Also, the Sea King class ship, although big, is seriously damaged and aged. In addition, we took in more than four hundred people, and they need to eat, drink, and take care of them … The money we collected from clearing out the pirates is almost not enough to make ends meet. "
Du Wei's scalp went numb as he listened. He waved his hand: "Just tell me, how much does it cost?"
Upon hearing this, Sparrow immediately took out a small book that Ruo Lin had given him. He flipped it open and read it to Du Wei: "32 ships, almost all of them have different degrees of damage. Due to the current financial problems, Miss Ruo Lin picked out nine of the ships that have serious problems, and the repair cost is estimated to be three thousand gold coins. This is using your name and the cheap wood that was bought from the Navy's supplies department at Port York. Although the other ships also need to be repaired, they can still be used for the time being. When we have enough money in the future, we will make other plans. For more than four hundred people, they spent more than six hundred gold coins on food and drink in three months. This is already very frugal. Miss Ruo Lin did not dare to reduce the cost of personnel, otherwise, these newly recruited subordinates would defect. Miss Ruo Lin also said that since they have changed from pirates to your subordinates, they naturally can't dress like pirates anymore. If they dress like rags, it will inevitably embarrass you. She also made two sets of new clothes for each of them, and the leader's clothes are slightly better … This cost another two hundred gold coins. The most important thing is that the weapons in their hands are too poor. When they were pirates in the past, they swarmed up and fought randomly. It was too outrageous. Since they are Rollin's fleet, the cannons, bows, and swords on the ships have to be changed. I have seen that among the pirates in the past, there were some who were so poor that they didn't even have weapons. When they met an enemy, they even picked up a blacksmith's hammer or a plow to fight. These can't be used anymore … In addition, there is also the cost of establishing relationships with the Navy. Almost half of the people we recruited are wanted criminals (At this point, Sparrow paused for a moment, and embarrassedly added "including me"). To remove the wanted orders, we spent another thousand gold coins. "
----- (To be continued, if you want to know the future, please go to www. CMFU. com. Support the author, support the original reading!)
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