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Chapter 429: Rental
Claude rushed back to Lanhu City in late October, because the Overseas Minsheng Bank, which had been planned for nearly ten months, was finally established and would be open for business on October 25th. As one of the five giants in the war zone, Claude must attend this opening ceremony to show his support for Overseas Minsheng Bank. At the same time, he also needed to sign a loan agreement with Overseas Minsheng Bank. As Overseas Minsheng Bank's first loan, Claude received interest-free preferential treatment...
Of course, all this had been agreed upon long ago. Overseas Minsheng Bank loaned Claude one million gold crowns, but it was the theater command that repaid the debt. The war zone will squeeze out 200,000 gold crowns in military expenses every year to repay the Overseas Minsheng Bank, and Claude needs to provide 10,000 new rifles and 10 million copper-cased rifle bullets to the war zone every year. It will take five years to repay this sum. loan.
This is a fight or a fight. Claude can maintain the firearms manufacturing workshop and have enough money for the testing and development of new weapons. In the war zone, new rifles can be obtained to gradually improve the combat effectiveness of the troops. As for Overseas Minsheng Bank, although it provides interest-free loans, the amount is huge enough to let doubtful people see its strength and close relationship with war zone cooperation. With the war zone endorsing it, the smug Viscount Goodich believed that Overseas Minsheng Bank would soon become the number one bank in the territories directly under the war zone.
But what Claude didn't expect was that less than half an hour after he returned to Veblen Manor, he saw the communications soldiers urgently sent by the theater command and asked Claude to rush to the theater command immediately. Bolonik The general is calling a military meeting. The other generals have already rushed to the theater headquarters, and Claude is the only one waiting...
There seems to be nothing major happening during this period. Apart from the Overseas Minsheng Bank opening the day after tomorrow, the War Zone Territory has not received any alerts. Claude was preparing to take a hot bath. He took off his clothes and had to start again. Put it back on. When I got on the carriage and rushed to the theater headquarters, I thought about it for a long time, but couldn't come up with any clues.
What greeted Claude was the gloomy face of General Bolognik. Claude felt a thump in his heart, but he felt bad. It seemed that something important had really happened, otherwise General Bolognik wouldn't have this expression. He hurriedly asked: "What's wrong? What happened?"
General Bolognik did not answer Claude's question. Instead, he asked Claude: "If I ask the Overseas Minsheng Bank to provide you with a loan of three million gold crowns, how many new rifles can your firearms manufacturing workshop produce in a year?"
Claude smiled bitterly, some things cannot be accomplished with more money. However, he had heard Master Bird talk about this question, and he could answer: "If we continue to hire workers for training, and use the overtime mode of gun manufacturing workshops working day and night, we can only produce up to 30,000 new rifles per year. This is mainly a limitation. Due to the scale of that set of production machinery and equipment, half a year of production adjustment is also required. However, in this way, the overtime mode of working day and night will inevitably increase production costs, whether it is a waste of resources or labor costs... . ”
"What about bullet production?" General Bolognik asked.
"It's still 10 million rounds. This copper-cased rifle bullet production line is designed and assembled by ourselves. According to the standard of a new rifle equipped with 100 rounds of bullets, even if the annual output of 10 million rounds of bullets is enough for soldiers to complete training and combat readiness The task. After two years when there are more new rifles and equipment, we can assemble another production line..." Claude explained.
"Okay, your loan this time is three million gold crowns. After you return, you will immediately let the firearms manufacturing workshop produce new rifles and equip your Thunder Legion." General Bolognik made the decision without hesitation.
"What happened?" Claude was very surprised. At this moment, General Bolognik's attitude was that he was ready to arm the troops in the theater at all costs to improve their combat effectiveness. He even had the guts to sell all his belongings to others. The feeling of not giving up.
General Bolognik smiled bitterly: "The Kingdom of Hicks is here again, and this time it really prepared ten standing legions..."
"This is impossible." Claude didn't believe it at all: "This should be a rumor. Even if the Kingdom of Hicks prepares ten standing legions, where can it land? Our war zone direct jurisdiction only has three seaports suitable for large-scale landings. But we have made adequate defense preparations for these three seaports. It is simply impossible for the Hicks Kingdom to capture our seaport cities with its Sea King Fleet and Combined Fleet. Without capturing the seaports first, their ten If a standing army wants to land directly, that is delusional. It is better to jump into the sea and feed the fish...
Also, if the Kingdom of Hicks wants to learn how Prince Hansback landed offshore, I will be very happy to welcome these captives on the beach. Prince Hansback successfully attacked the royal capital by taking advantage of the lack of attention in the hinterland of the kingdom. There are many reef areas in our coastal areas, and strict warning lines have been deployed along the coast. Their ocean-going warships cannot approach the beach. How can they let the soldiers wade ashore in the shallow sea area of more than 1,000 to 2,000 meters? Transporting artillery to land, there is no logistical equipment, they eat whatever they need, how can they rest at night, if they don’t treat them as prisoners if they just bring a matchlock gun ashore, then who does?”
"Can you let me finish my words first?" General Bolognik was spat on by Claude, and he shook his head helplessly: "I know these truths better than you do. The problem is the ten standing legions of the Kingdom of Hicks. They are not planning to storm our seaports, nor are they planning to land in our territories directly under the theater of war. They are planning to gather all their forces on the west coast and then go all the way south... "
"What did you say?" Claude was stunned: "Where did this news come from?"
"Colonel Bockal sent an adjutant back and brought many newspapers from the colonies on the west coast. Although many of them were news two or three months ago, the Kingdom of Hicks is preparing to lease the colony of the United Kingdom of Fox Islands on the Nubisian continent. , news of gathering troops to prepare to go south has been flying all over the colonies of various countries on the west coast. The latest news is that the Kingdom of Hicks is likely to have reached a lease agreement with the United Kingdom of the Fox Islands, and two standing armies will be transported to the Fox Islands in the first half of next year at the latest. Colonies of the United Kingdom of Islands..."
The United Kingdom of the Fox Islands is a kingdom composed of six large islands and dozens of small islands located in the southwest of the Farea continent. The closest point between it and the Farea continent is only the Gillis Strait. Claude remembered that the history book in junior high school mentioned the United Kingdom of Fox Islands. Thousands of years ago, it was the birthplace of the Kramer pirates. They often paddled small wooden boats to the coastal areas of the Falea continent to rob and plunder. . ...
After the Holy Light Calendar was implemented on the Falea continent, the six archdukes on the Fox Islands held a joint meeting, elected one of them as king, and established the United Kingdom. The only difference between them and other kingdoms is that the king's term of office is limited to twenty years. After the term is up, he will step down and one of the six archipelagos will re-elect one of them to serve as the king.
The United Kingdom of the Fox Islands has always been known for its navy. It can be said to be the most powerful navy on the Farea continent. There are four fleets in total, named after the gods worshiped by the ancient Kramer people. They were also the first country to explore and colonize the continent of Nubisia. They occupied four colonies on the west coast, but they were not connected together. It is said that on the east coast of the Nubisia continent, the United Kingdom of Fox Islands also occupies six colonies. It can be said that it is the country with the largest number and area of colonies in the entire Nubisia continent.
General Bolognik pointed to the conference room: "Let's talk after we go in. Anyway, so many newspapers cannot all be spreading rumors. Many of them are newspapers from colonies of other countries, and they also contain a lot of news about the kingdom itself. Alas. .. ... "
It seems that the news about the kingdom's mainland is not good news, so General Bolognik sighed. Claude opened the door and saw General Beachlin and General Albert standing arguing in front of the map on the wall. General Skerry was classifying the newspapers on the table and summarizing the important news reports. One is marked well. Seeing Claude come in, he nodded and pointed to a folder on the table, indicating to Claude to look at this first.
In the folder is Colonel Bock'al's trip summary report. He took three staff officers from the intelligence office of the theater command, as well as his adjutant and guards, a total of eleven people, to board the light ship Triumph on August 27. The fast cruising battleship, escorted by two battleships of the same level, the Flying Fish and the Gale, set out from Vibato Port to form a cruise team and headed north.
After seven days of sailing, the cruise team circumnavigated Cape Morox and arrived at the west coast. It was considered to have left the waters of the Nikancha people's country in the coastal mountainous area in the northern part of the territory. The colony adjacent to the Nikancha people's country is Fox. The country's fourth colony on the west coast of the Nubisian continent is also the smallest colony in area, only one-third of the area of the direct jurisdiction of Tiersim.
To be precise, the southern and eastern borders of this colony, known as Rodeks Bay, are surrounded by mountains and are now the territory of the independent Nikancha state. To the west is the sea, and to the north is the colony of the Kingdom of Resnia, another country in the southern part of Farea. The fourth colony of the United Kingdom of Fox Islands was thus restricted to the small valley plain in the bay, with no way to expand.
It is said that this is a very famous location mistake made by Rodriguez, the most famous explorer of the United Kingdom of Fox Islands. Since the United Kingdom is mainly composed of six large islands, people in the United Kingdom are not united by belonging to the same kingdom like people in other kingdoms. They are more used to competing and bickering and insulting each other. Just like their ancestors, the Kramer Pirates, the fighting between islands lasted for nearly two hundred years.
Generally speaking, the colonies of the coastal countries of Farea Continent in Nubisia Continent first occupy a piece of land, and then expand around until they occupy all the unclaimed land and are adjacent to the colonies of other countries. The United Kingdom of Fox Islands is a weird thing. For example, if the people on the first largest island occupy a piece of land, then the people on the second largest island will look for another unclaimed land, but the people on the third largest island will never Staying in these two colonies, but looking for another colony, not willing to be adjacent to those two colonies.
The same was true for the explorer Rodriguez. They went south from the west coast. When they came here, they saw Cape Morox and thought they had reached the end of Nubicia continent, so they landed here. After discovering that the bay here was calm and calm, the fishery was abundant, and the shore was a plain area with dense vegetation, so they decided to occupy this land as a colony. It was only when they explored south and east that they discovered that these two directions were surrounded by mountains, and to the north were the remote Gobi Desert and desert. Therefore, the colony was restricted to the valley plains semi-surrounded by bays and mountains, and could not explore the surrounding areas. Extension.
Bok Al and his patrol team docked in search of supplies in the name of chasing pirates who had lost their way, and the officials of the Fox Kingdom Colony did not give them any trouble. When I heard that they were the cruise fleet of the Overseas Direct Territory of the Kingdom of Overas, my expression was a little strange, but I still allowed the officers and soldiers on board to go ashore to rest.
Just when they arrived at the tavern in the dock area, Bockal and the others were surrounded by onlookers, and even two reporters from local newspapers came to interview them and ask them about the Hicks Kingdom's preparations for the future. The views of the United Kingdom of the Fox Islands on leasing the Rodex Bay Colony, and the predictions of who will win in the colonial war between the Kingdom of Overas and the Kingdom of Hicks...
Bockal and the others were confused at the time, and finally understood the truth through the explanations from the enthusiastic onlookers. In mid-November of last year, the Kingdom of Hicks sent a special envoy to the United Kingdom of the Fox Islands, requesting the lease of the Rodex Bay Colony on the grounds that it was preparing to use this colony to gather troops and prepare to use ten standing legions to defeat independence in one fell swoop. The country of the Nikancha people, and a showdown with the Overseas Territory War Zone of the Kingdom of Overas...
This news reached the west coast in the first half of the year. Colonies in various countries were discussing it, and some were firmly opposed to it, such as the colony of the Kingdom of Resnia adjacent to Rodex Bay Colony. They were worried that the Kingdom of Hicks would gather ten standing legions in the Rodex Bay Colony and move north instead of south. Then the colony of the Kingdom of Resnia would be the first to be unlucky.
There are also people watching the excitement, and newspapers in distant colonies are discussing whether it is necessary to formulate a colonial mutual assistance ordinance. When a colony of a certain country breaks out in riots or is invaded, the colonies of other nearby countries have the obligation to send troops to help... ... But it is obvious that this order cannot be signed, because sometimes two neighboring colonies have wars over water, minerals and other resources... ...
The United Kingdom of the Fox Islands is very interesting. They do not want to rent, but want to sell the Rodex Bay colony to the Kingdom of Hicks. Anyway, they have many colonies. Apart from its beautiful scenery, Rodex Bay Colony does not create much economic value for the United Kingdom. So they offered a sky-high price for it. And this sky-high price is something that the Hicks Kingdom cannot afford.
The current development is that the Kingdom of Hicks has raised the loan funds and requested a five-year lease, while the United Kingdom of the Fox Islands is considering it. Some newspapers predict that in the first half of this year, the Kingdom of Hicks sent an inspection team to inspect the situation of Rodex Bay Colony. They believe that the lease agreement is likely to be completed in the second half of this year, so in the first half of next year, Hicks The Kingdom of Sri Lanka will continuously transport its ten standing legions over...
"The Rodex Bay Colony is adjacent to the northern coastal mountainous area, which is rich in mineral resources. Why don't the people of the Fox Islands United Kingdom expand their colonies to the mountainous areas?" Claude felt very strange and asked General Skerry.
General Skerry knew this question very well. He replied: "The Kramer people of the United Kingdom of Fox Islands claim to be a sea people. What they hate most is climbing mountains. If it is hills, maybe they are still interested in exploring, but like the northern The continuous high mountain cliffs in the coastal mountainous areas will be intimidating to the Kramer people. They will automatically stop at the boundaries of the mountainous areas and are unwilling to go deeper into the mountains... "
Perhaps this is also a national characteristic, although it is a bit weird. Claude continued to read the report on the folder. Colonel Bockal said that after learning the news, he immediately collected newspapers from various countries' ships anchored in the bay, whether they were from a few days ago or a few months ago, bought them all at a high price, and sent his adjutant to carry these newspapers. Rush back to the overseas territories directly.
And he was going to take the three intelligence staff and escorts disguised as agents of the Bison Trading Company on the west coast to inspect the economic conditions of the jurisdictions of various countries, and contact the large trading houses between the Nubisian continent and the Farea continent, etc. In the first half of next year, two more intelligence staff will be appointed to join the large merchant fleet and return to the kingdom's mainland...