The coat of arms of crossed swords and roses rose from the ground, and chariots decorated with golden lilies rolled over the land of the Root Empire.
Queen Roland and Emperor Root responded to the provocation from King John VI of Jager with their respective public statements. The three crowns will meet on the choppy waters of the sea of heaven, drive an unprecedentedly large fleet, and break out the largest frontal battle at sea since the eighth century AD.
Even the dullest person can feel the strong smell of gunpowder in the sea breeze, and soon they will bring more bloody smell.
"Are you really going to fight?"
In the half-moon-shaped harbor of Senglai Island, a young sailor followed an old sailor to clean the deck.
"Otherwise?" The old sailor shrugged and rolled up his trousers to tidy up the cables.
This is a herald hurriedly boarding the warship, yelling, telling the sailors to quickly remove the bow horn.
The old sailor and the young sailor stepped forward together, carrying out the order with great effort—the horn on the bow was made of metal, and it was heavy. Earlier, before the invention of artillery, these angles of attack were the fangs of warships in naval battles. When galleys met on the sea, they smashed each other's hull or bow with their angles of attack.
Time passed and the invention of bow guns made them increasingly cumbersome.
But out of tradition, they still exist, and this is the first time these sailors have performed such a mission.
"Probably to lower the muzzle lower." The experienced sailor pointed to the bow gun, and drew an arc in mid-air, "The angle of attack was stuck before, so the muzzle had to go further up. Height up, and if it does fire, the shells will often fly overhead like this—whoosh.”
As he said that, he shrugged his shoulders: "It's usually pirates who like to lower the muzzle of their guns..."
The old sailor stopped talking, and the rest of them knew without saying anything. Isn't their current admiral a pirate
The young sailor said frankly: "If it is better to fight lower, I would rather do some pirate business. The truth is to survive."
The old sailor took a sip: "When the fight starts, you will know what kind of shit the truth is."
The young sailor knew that he was one of the few surviving oarsmen on his warship who had participated in the naval battle with the Kingdom of Yager, so he dared not say anything more.
The angle of attack was dismantled together, the young sailor straightened up, looked around the harbor, roughly counted, there were nearly 80 warships parked here, the sail flags stood like a forest, and the reflections of the ships overlapped in the waves of the sea Stacked, looking shocked. And only a part of Roland's navy is parked here, and another part of warships is docked in Iris Bay where the queen is.
The fleet of the Root Empire will not be smaller than that of Roland, and the fleets of the Yager Empire and the Free Commercial City are equally large, with at least hundreds of soldiers on each ship... The young sailor calculated in his heart and was horrified: "Oh my God, this How many people must there be?"
"Probably one hundred thousand people." The old sailor replied based on his own experience.
The young sailor gasped.
A sea battle involving nearly 100,000 people and nearly 500 warships... A battle of this scale has already exceeded his cognition. He can't imagine what a terrible scene this battle will be.
However, in fact, the number has exceeded one hundred thousand.
…………………………
The warships of the Alliance of Free Commercial Cities and the Kingdom of Yager are moored in a port named "Bender".
It wasn't just Roland's sailors who were busy, the Free Commercial City and the Yager people were also preparing nervously. The sky was not clear, and the dark clouds were pressing down on the water. Out of distrust of the governance of the free commercial city, John VI did not agree to their proposal to moor the fleet at another nearby port, and strongly demanded that all the fleets gather together.
In the history of Bender Harbor, there has never been a more crowded time than this day. Nearly 300 warships are stuffed in the pocket-shaped harbor. Although the generals have tried their best to make adjustments, it is still extremely noisy.
The terrible thing is that the warships in the free commercial city are almost all private ships, and some of the ship owners, many of their relatives and friends are Neotheists. Not long ago, John VI had just severely plundered the Neotheists in the Free Commercial City. Although the two parties came together because of their common interests, the atmosphere was far from harmonious.
Around evening, a warship from the Free Commercial City almost came into battle with the warship of the Yagers. The two sides even put gunpowder into the barrel on impulse.
Fortunately, Andret arrived in time.
The Yager soldiers have respect for this prestigious general, and the Alliance of Free Commercial Cities is more practical-compared to having John VI, a pig, command the fleet, of course they will choose Andret.
"With all due respect," said Consul Mahler of the Free Merchant City to General Andret, "you remain on board the Yager like a precious stone. You and I both know that if he can give you enough supplies as soon as possible , Senglai Island will not have such an ending."
General Andret pressed his hat with his uninjured hand. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't refute it.
After the castle of Saint-Cyr on Sengley Island fell, Andret made a decisive decision and led the warship to break out of the siege of the Rolands before the fleet on Sengley Island was irreparably damaged. He thought that he had retained important sea power for Yager and recovered the loss as much as possible.
He thought about how to tell John VI as tactfully and sincerely as possible that after the fall of Senglei Island, they should immediately show their favor to Root and strive for peace talks instead of continuing to fight. As a result, as soon as he saw John VI, before he had time to say a word, John VI angrily accused him of giving up Senglai Island.
To say that you are not cold-hearted can only be deceiving yourself.
The Mahler Consul saw Andrete's bleak look in his eyes, and could only envy John VI's piggy luck.
In all fairness, considering the situation on Senglei Island at that time, it was already quite remarkable that Andret was able to withdraw with most of the fleet. At least, Mahler Consul thought that neither he nor other commanders he knew had this ability. Thinking of this, Consul Mahler couldn't help but feel jealous of Roland...
Such once-in-a-century military geniuses like Dalton and Abigail, it would be great if they could also have free commercial cities.
Consul Mahler hesitated for a moment, and patted him on the shoulder: "You are always welcome to join the Consul."
"I'm a Jager."
Andret replied without hesitation.
Consul Mahler sighed and said nothing more.
He could only say sorry from the bottom of his heart, then leaned over and left in a hurry.
When Consul Mahler was talking with Andret, none of them noticed that an ordinary galley was as light and agile as a fish swimming, shuttling between the gaps in Bender Harbor.
When "Blood John" persecuted the New Gods of the Free Commercial City, the Corsican pirate captain who took the risk of sailing to save batches of New Gods workers from various ports disguised himself as an ordinary crew member of the Free Commercial City. His face was buried in a thick beard, and his thin eyes flicked from side to side.
As a pirate captain, Corsica is inferior to Abigail in military talent, and inferior to Captain Saran in political sense. His ability to gain a foothold among pirates comes from his proficiency in various small skills. People dubbed him "The Catfish," describing the pirate captain's knack for oiling the soles of his feet.
Every time the navy encircled and suppressed him, he could always escape early, and a few times he slipped away directly under the nose of the army.
This skill, which is quite shameful to say, is now playing an extraordinary role.
Unknowingly, he finished counting the warships in Bender Harbor, and quietly went away after the dark clouds connected to the sea and the heavy rain fell.
A few days later, a piece of information appeared on the Queen's desktop.
…………………
"Two hundred and forty-six warships."
The queen held a thin whip made of gold and silver threads in her hand, and she pointed to the places marked on it.
"Yag and the Free Merchant City have two hundred and forty-six ships, ours one hundred and twelve, and Root's one hundred and thirty. Sailors, oarsmen, gunners, and soldiers Add up, there are at least 140,000 people on both sides."
The queen raised her eyes and looked at everyone in the conference room.
The people sitting in this room are the officers of the Royal Navy—they are the elite of the Roland Fleet that the Queen has poured her heart and soul into.
A large part of these imperial elites seemed particularly embarrassed. They were soldiers who had made contributions in the battle of Senglei Island some time ago and had just been promoted. Many, like Dalton, were born civilians. The officers sat on either side, looking at each other.
The queen did not wear a complicated palace dress today, but, like all the generals, she wore a royal red short coat with a gold rose and crossed sword badge on her shoulders, and the golden tassels swayed as she walked. The palm-wide belt neatly bound her slender waist, and the tight trousers, which were designed like a riding suit, were tightly tucked into the boots from below the knees.
The queen's browbones are more slender than that of ordinary ladies, and her ruling an entire empire has brought her a majesty that ordinary people cannot directly see, making such a costume that symbolizes force and conquest seem to be worn on her by nature.
When she raised her eyes, it was like a pale sharp sword slowly turning in the dark, with a cold light flashing on the blade.
"Gentlemen, I would like you to do one small thing first - please switch seats and sit with the person you are separated from."
All the generals looked at the opposite person who was of a completely different class from their own in astonishment.
After hesitating for a moment, everyone got up and sat down one after another. No matter whether they are officers from noble background or civilians, their expressions are particularly unnatural. Sitting next to the guy who was rejected in the past, all of them tense their shoulders, for fear of having the slightest contact with the other party.
"Very well," said the queen, "I know that many of you are prejudiced against each other. This is all reasonable, and I have no intention of condemning you. You are all swords of the empire, and you will bear the burden of this war that has never been seen before." The most arduous task of the largest war, please face the enemies of the empire with your swords, and leave the safe backs to each other. Please use your own achievements on the battlefield to prove that you are better than the other side, and no matter who you are, Winning victories will be rewarded by the empire."
"Everyone, please don't waste your precious talents."
The queen got up and walked around the war meeting room with a low voice, like a slow and heavy river flowing through the rocky beach.
"What we are about to meet is a sea war involving 140,000 people. I can assure you that there has never been a larger sea war in history. I cannot promise you that every single one of you will survive."
She walked up to the first officer, and lightly placed the thin whip in her hand on his shoulder.
"Mr. Andut, they say, after you shot the first time, you spat all the way back to the barracks. Are you scared now?"
Officer Andut, this was the first time he had come into contact with the most honorable woman in the empire. He was flattered, and his childish face turned red from forehead to neck.
The poor boy was both embarrassed and excited, stumbled and almost couldn't even speak clearly—forgive him, at such a close distance, looking up at that god-given face, listening to her voice, and sitting upright without kneeling down for a kiss Her boots, then, are quite a performance.
He almost exhausted all his strength before shouting loudly: "No!"
What's there to be afraid of? Together with the monarch of the empire, they will set foot on the battlefield.
The Queen gave him an encouraging nod.
By the time she went to the next officer, the poor man was finally able to breathe.
"Mr. Roma, I still remember that your father captured the enemy's battle flag the first time he went to the battlefield. He will be proud of you."
"Mr. Virnia, you were the first person to step on the flybridge in the Battle of Sengley Island."
...
…
Compared with just now, the queen's voice is much softer.
She, like any monarch who has been with his soldiers all year round, knows the names, origins, characteristics and experiences of each of them like the back of his hand. When she suddenly revealed this familiarity that the parties had never expected, almost everyone was moved by this precious honor, and the distance between each other suddenly shrunk. She was no longer a high-ranking monarch, but they could A trustworthy and approachable commander.
As soldiers, what they want is not a condescending and accusing king, but a brave and fearless monarch who can entrust them with trust.
The thin whips on their shoulders became a different kind of award.
Finally, when the queen returned to her seat, the atmosphere in the meeting room was completely different from the beginning.
"Gentlemen," she pressed her hands on the table, "tell me, are you ready?"
All the officers stood up at the same time, and their boots hit the ground, making a uniform sound:
"Fight for the Empire!"
…………………
Dalton leaned against the corridor.
He lowered his eyes slightly, the thin sunlight plated his cheekbones, casting a small shadow. He buttoned the top button of his neckline, and the joints of his fingers and wrists were clearly visible in the sunlight.
— Fight for the Empire.
The voices of those passionate guys came faintly.
Dalton paused for a moment.
He listened for a while, and when they shouted "Fight for the Empire", he whispered in a voice that only he could hear:
"Fight for you."