Claude did not attend the dinner hosted by the Governor, Viscount Cruz. The two senior leaders, as colonels, were the top officers of the first arriving Ranger Division reinforcements, so they had to attend. Because they need the direct jurisdiction of Tilsim to provide logistical supplies and reserve forces for the Rangers, refusing to attend the Lord Governor's dinner will easily offend these local snakes.
The current problem is that the highest military officer in the Tiersim territory, Admiral Baron Strathern, excuses himself from illness and is bedridden to refuse guests behind closed doors. What he learned about the local defense situation is also in a mess. Under such circumstances, the Rangers need to discuss with the Governor, Viscount Cruz, how to solve the armament problem of the direct territory.
The two senior captains brought one-third of the senior officers to the dinner, while Claude was stationed at the camp, urging the soldiers to set up camp and set up a cordon. To be honest, the indigenous mixed-race residents who gathered around the camp and peeked at the military camp from a distance made Claude feel very uncomfortable, because he found that the heavily guarded military camp seemed to be a big fat in the eyes of these indigenous mixed-race residents. , the look in their eyes seemed to be very greedy...
Captain Hinks, the personal aide-de-camp of the Admiral, Baron Strathern, came over to the military camp again in the evening. Claude talked about the indigenous mixed-race residents around the military camp, but Captain Hinks didn't care and took it for granted. He replied that these indigenous mixed-race residents were just looking for money-making jobs around the military camp, such as running errands, moving things, and introducing young women. Come to the military camp to sell meat and so on. In fact, there is no need to give them much money. One or two slices of black bread are enough to keep them busy.
Of course, you have to be careful when letting these indigenous mixed-race residents run errands, because they are all thieves and swindlers, and they will lose the gadgets and money they carry with them if they are not careful. Captain Hinks said that when the local garrison of Port Copicius was stationed here, almost every soldier was accompanied by one or two Nikanchas to serve them. After all, it was more enjoyable to be served than to do it yourself. many…
The word Nikancha in the ancient Hertzian language means hybrid, mixed-blood, and also carries the insulting title of hybrid. Captain Hinks said that in the Nubisian continent, these indigenous mixed-race residents are called Nikancha. The Cha people are an ethnic group not officially recognized. The real indigenous people of the Nubisian continent are called Etat, which means dark red people.
It is easy to distinguish the Nikancha people, those mixed-race natives, from the original natives such as Etat. Because of their mixed blood, the skin color of Nikancha people is lighter, not brownish red, and they will turn dark when exposed to the sun. However, the pure Etat people of the Nubisian continent can never tan, and they are always brown. In the sun it looks as if the body is covered with a thin layer of red light.
After talking nonsense with Claude for a long time, Captain Hinks revealed his intention. The purpose was very simple. He wanted Claude to sell him some of the spare muskets and weapons of the 131st Ranger Battalion to re-arm the Port of Corpicius. garrison. Claude politely refused, but Captain Hinks was willing to pay double the price, and hinted that Claude could report more losses during the battle, so that the money from the sale of muskets and weapons could go into his personal pocket...
Claude couldn't help but feel strange that as the local military governor of the Tiersim territory, Admiral Baron Strathern should not lack weapons and equipment such as muskets and ordnance. Although the Kingdom does not have gun-making workshops in its overseas territories, each overseas territory has an allocation of 20,000 muskets to equip local garrison troops, and damaged muskets can be replaced every three years.
But this Captain Hinks made a request to the two senior leaders to purchase muskets and weapons when they met for the first time in the afternoon. After being rejected, he came to the barracks again in the evening and asked himself what the purpose of the purchase must be. Claude was suspicious and tried to figure out the real purpose of Captain Hinx's purchase of muskets and weapons.
However, although Captain Hinks does not look like a soldier, he is a qualified businessman. He is very tight-lipped. He only said that Jiumu's muskets have accurate aiming and shooting performance and want to replace the new Obas III standard matchlock muskets for the Admiral's guard. Instead of using the Obas II standard matchlock gun distributed by the kingdom to the direct territory. Of course, Claude would not really sell him the muskets and other military supplies stored in the camp because of the high price he paid. In the end, Captain Hinks could only return with no success in frustration.
After another hour, the officers who attended the Lord Governor's dinner came back. Compared to the officers who were flushed and happy after drinking, the two senior captains looked a bit sad and angry. After entering the Chinese army's tent, Claude asked, and from what the two senior captains told him, he understood why Captain Hinks was so impatient to pay a high price to purchase the Ranger Division reinforcements. Spare musket ordnance.
Unbelievable! Appalling! It turns out that Baron Strathearn, as the admiral and the highest military officer of the Tiersim demesne, had been selling off 20,000 muskets and weapons equipped by the kingdom in the past few years and embezzling military expenses. The so-called local garrison of Copicius Port has a strength of less than two battalions. The garrison strength of the other four towns under the direct jurisdiction was originally one battalion each, but was reduced to about two squadrons by the admiral. On paper, the troops are at full strength, but in fact, the admiral has taken up all the extra soldiers...
"How is this possible?" Claude didn't believe it: "Don't the Kingdom's Ministry of War send people to the overseas territories to conduct censuses every two years? If such a thing really happened, it would have been discovered long ago. It is only possible to allow this Is Baron Strathern doing all kinds of things? Also, even if he wants to resell muskets and weapons, he still needs a buyer. Who did he sell them to?"
Colonel Bolognik only said one sentence: "Baron Strathern is the nephew of Her Majesty the Queen..."
"Uh..." Claude was speechless for a moment.
Colonel Severit, commander of the 034th Ranger Regiment, added: "Baron Strathern is Her Majesty the Queen's most beloved nephew. He came to serve as the admiral of the Tiersim Territory and was favored by Her Majesty the Queen. It has been eight years now. During the five-year Eastern War, the Ministry of War sent people to investigate local garrison matters. Because they were concerned about Her Majesty the Queen, they were fooled by him. In the three years after the war, the kingdom was in ruins. Waiting for the news, the Ministry of War did not have the energy to pay too much attention to the local defense of the seven overseas territories...
Baron Strathern wanted to usurp the governorship of Viscount Cruz, and the two had always been at odds. Therefore, the Governor-General, Viscount Cruz, conducted a private investigation to protect himself. It was found that Baron Strathearn had swallowed up the military pay and sold off all the reserved ordnance in the armory. As for buyers, they are everywhere. The civilians who have opened up manors and farms outside the city basically have muskets bought from the local garrison at home, and some even bought several... "
"How dare he sell muskets to civilians?" Claude really never thought of this possibility. The Kingdom of Ovelas has very strict management of muskets. Non-citizens are not allowed to buy guns. Without the guarantee of a citizen, civilians can take to the streets with guns. Will be arrested and sentenced to hard labor.
"This is an overseas territory." Colonel Bolognik reminded Claude of the reality: "Civilians who come to develop overseas territories can indeed obtain the right to hold guns to protect themselves and their families from indigenous riots. But. All civilians who purchase muskets must be incorporated into the reserve security patrol team of the directly-governed territory as a reserve force for local defense forces.
Baron Strathern used this reason to sell off the reserve muskets and ordnance in the armory, and at the same time reduced the number of troops in the local garrison to make more money for himself. Because most of the civilians in the direct territory had muskets at home, he didn't have to worry about any indigenous riots. Because if an indigenous riot occurs, the first people to suffer will be these civilians.
The fat commander of the local garrison, Lieutenant Colonel Everard, was his confidant. All the muskets and weapons were resold by him in the name of strengthening the reserve force. They also falsely report the battles to suppress the indigenous rebellions two to three times a year, taking the opportunity to report the loss of thousands of muskets and the casualties of nearly a hundred garrison soldiers. The muskets they replenish each year will still be resold by them, and as for the pensions issued, Get into their pockets..."
"Then why does Captain Hinx come to us now to buy spare muskets and weapons?" Claude still didn't understand.
"It's very simple. They need to supplement the strength of the local garrison. The Ministry of War of the Kingdom requires that each local garrison in the overseas territories must have no less than 3,500 troops, but now the local garrison in Corbichus Port only has 1,500 troops. Six hundred people, a shortage of nearly 2,000 people. The requirement for local garrison battalions in the other four towns is 800 people. Now the total is only a dozen squadrons, and there is a shortage of more than 2,000 troops...
Recruiting may be easier, but the problem is that they cannot produce so many muskets and weapons to equip new soldiers. The Governor-General, Viscount Cruz, secretly sent someone to check the armory. It was said that there were less than a hundred intact muskets in it. If it were peacetime, Baron Strathern could temporarily hire civilians with muskets to pretend to be soldiers from the local garrison and fool the census personnel sent by the War Department. With Her Majesty the Queen backing him, no one would want to offend him.
But this was war time, and temporary hiring was not easy to do. Moreover, the census personnel and special envoys dispatched by the Kingdom's Ministry of War will come to the overseas territories of Tiersim with the follow-up troops of our Ranger Division. They will be responsible for coordinating and establishing a wartime logistics headquarters, rectifying and organizing the overseas territories. Reserve troops to support our Ranger Corps in operations.
So the Admiral, Baron Strathern, decided to target our group of reinforcements who had arrived. As long as he purchased enough spare weapons from us and recruited a group of new soldiers, he would be able to deal with our Ranger Division in the future. They can hide all this until most of the War Department census workers who came with them arrive..." Colonel Sevict's answer finally made Claude understand the main purpose of Captain Hinks' purchase of muskets and weapons.
"Did the Governor, Viscount Cruz, tell you all this?" Claude asked.
The two senior group leaders nodded solemnly.
"His personal secretary also showed us the evidence they found. According to their statistics, as the admiral of the Tiersim demesne, Baron Strathern spends every year on military expenses, free wages, reselling muskets and weapons, and The benefits of falsely reporting soldiers' casualties were between 12,000 and 15,000 gold crowns..." said Colonel Sevicit.
This is really a huge amount of money…
"Since the Governor, Viscount Cruz, has found the evidence, why didn't he report it to the Royal Court and the Ministry of War?" As soon as he said the words, Claude felt that something was wrong, and then he understood the key as soon as his mind turned around.
"Wo Cao, this old bastard wants us to take the blame for him!" Claude yelled.
The two senior leaders smiled bitterly at each other. How could they not be clear about something that even Claude could figure out? This was the main reason why they were a little sad and even a little angry when they came back.
Well, the old bastard Viscount Cruz mentioned by Claude is indeed treacherous and cunning. His idea was very clever. He separated the military and political affairs under the direct jurisdiction of overseas affairs. As the governor, he was only responsible for civil affairs and not the military. Evidence of the crime of Admiral Baron Strathern was found, which could be used to blackmail him into obedience and not causing trouble for him. During the war, he blamed Baron Strathern for his own misfortune. He could provide these evidences to confirm Baron Strathern's charges, thereby clearing himself of the suspicion of being complicit and watching the fun from the sidelines...
As for what Claude said about asking him to report it to the Royal Court and the Ministry of War, the Governor would not do it even if he was killed. After all, Baron Strathern has Her Majesty the Queen backing him. Who knows if Her Majesty the Queen received a share of the military expenditures embezzled by Baron Strathern? It was easy for him to sue Baron Strathern, but that meant that he became a loyal minister of the kingdom and also offended Her Majesty the Queen.
After staying in an overseas territory for so many years, as a governor, he has more opportunities to make some extra money for himself in civil affairs. If Her Majesty is really going to hold him accountable, someone will definitely come forward to deal with him. It's very easy to find trouble with him. If you carefully check the account books of the demesne, you will always find the traces he accidentally left when he was the governor. By then, all the personal wealth he has accumulated over the years may be gone.
Therefore, no matter how bad the relationship with Admiral Baron Strathern is, Viscount Cruz will not come up with evidence of his crime. Now the Ranger Corps is here. As reinforcements for overseas territories to resist the invasion of Hicks Kingdom's colonial garrison, it is also responsible for organizing and rectifying local garrison forces. As the admiral, Baron Strathearn should be responsible for cooperating with their work, but he can't protect himself now, so he can only pretend to be sick to delay time.
It is very simple for Governor Viscount Cruz to present this evidence now, and that is to ask the officers of the Ranger Regiment to find trouble with Baron Strathern. In the future, if Her Majesty the Queen wants to pursue the case, she can only blame her nephew for not living up to expectations and the Rangers not giving him face, instead of blaming him as the governor. After all, during the war, what Baron Strathearn did must not be concealed. He might as well hand over the evidence in his hand early to avoid being accused of being incompetent and unable to notice what happened around him. He would be held accountable responsibility…