What Olan said shocked the hearts of everyone present. The information she brought was huge. Istar can develop to the present, thanks to the sponsors behind it. Franklin also said that he saw the rebels planning a general attack from the Tower of Harvest. It's a pity that Sauron was killed in the cradle before it was fashionable, but it is not difficult to see that it is not easy to be able to support Istar's sponsors.
Now the power behind the rebel army has greatly transferred investment, and there is also the idea of merging. Of course, the battle of Roaring Bay gave him hope. It's just that this is not enough, the sponsor also hopes to see that the pirates led by Zero have the ability to attack on land, so that he can spend more investment on them. This is human nature, and it will do the same thing if you change the zero.
As for the merger or something, it sounds tempting, but Zero didn't even think about it. He didn't intend to hand over the command of the pirates that he finally won, so it would be ideal to maintain the standard of allies between the two.
"Don't worry, I will give your lord a strong answer." Zero nodded.
Olan stretched out his hand and said, "I look forward to having the opportunity to fight side by side with Mr. Zero."
"There will be."
Oran came and she went away. But she brought with her an important batch of supplies, and at the same time gave Zero the chance to win her first backer. When the watchman left, he promised that all the equipment and supplies ordered by Zero would be delivered within a week at most. The batch of electromagnetics will be delivered as soon as possible, so that the soldiers on Zero's side can familiarize themselves with and operate them. Zero also promised to partly pay Oran when they arrived.
Oran didn't seem to care too much about this. Leave a sentence "There are still many opportunities for cooperation in the future", and the female leader of the rebel army should not leave.
Then there is zero busy time.
Now that the equipment is ready and the opportunity has come, it is very urgent to lay down the first stronghold on the Western Continent. Mr. X's bar was temporarily used as a war room, and Zero and several captains, as well as Mr. X and Mamelo discussed the choice of stronghold. There are two final goals. One is the port city of Fasero, which is the closest to the Roaring Bay and only three days away from the Whisperer Strait by water; the other is relatively far away, and it takes about a week to walk. Landing in the Broken Bay, a fortress city Canon can only be reached through the Emerald Forest.
These two cities were chosen mainly for two reasons. One is that they have abundant resources nearby, and the second is that their journeys are all within a week.
Abundant resources are the basis for the pirates to gain a foothold, and the journey must be controlled within a week, otherwise too long a journey will leave too much room for preparation in the Pope's Hall.
The problem now is that Zero must choose one of these two cities as the target of attack.
The port city of Fasero was only established in the past ten years, and it belongs to a middle-level town. The permanent population is between 20,000 and 30,000, and there are abundant iron ore and copper resources nearby, as well as a small and medium-sized uranium mine. The residents of the city mainly make a living from mining, and there is a 300-man army stationed in the city. Pacero has built a complete fortification, but after all, it faces the sea, and there is no danger to rely on, so the fortifications appear weaker.
Every year, a large amount of ore and uranium will depart from the pier of Fasero, enter the inland through a specially opened channel, and then go to the city of New Rome. Because of the particularity of its location, only three hundred kilometers away from Fasero is the headquarters of the fourth branch of the Holy Seal Knights. In the history of Fasero, there have been many experiences of being attacked by pirates, but all of them were repelled by the 4th Division's Legion Commander Signe and his soldiers repeatedly.
Therefore, the pirates are very familiar with Fasero and Signe. To attack Fasero, they must consider how to resist the counterattack from the 4th branch. Of course, with Zero's current combat power, it is completely possible to destroy this knight order. Fasero is completely worthwhile and worth doing. In addition to the short distance and rich mineral resources, the more important thing is that the special waterway "Road of Destiny" leads directly to the hinterland of the Western Continent.
After defeating Pacero and controlling the waterway, Zero will have the capital to march at a very fast speed to the city of New Rome.
Another city, Kanon, is a military fortress. At first, the Pope's Hall was set up at a checkpoint near the Emerald Forest, bordering the Eternal Mountains. The western line bordering the Eternal Mountains and the Emerald Forest is flat, but afterward, the more you extend to the eastern line, the higher the mountains will become. In the middle part, the mountain range is nearly 2,000 meters above sea level.
The Eternal Mountains run all the way east, and then extend north near Kaiser Bay, thus forming a broad arc on the edge of the interior. This arc is a natural barrier for the inland area and even the city of New Rome. In this era when it is impossible to support large flying units to achieve air combat, the Eternal Mountains are like a natural city wall, guarding the only way to the inland—the blood-stained road. road!
This road is also a very strong stroke in the history of New Rome, representing the expansion of the Pope's Hall. In that age of blood and fire, the Knights of New Rome paved this road inch by inch with life and blood. And when the Bloodstained Road completely appeared on the map of the Pope's Hall, it represented that the only alien races and high-level mutant beasts in the Western Continent at that time had become the past, thus forming a glorious era in which the Western Continent was dominated by humans.
Standing guard on the Bloody Road was originally a checkpoint set up by the Pope's Hall. Later, as more soldiers were stationed, the checkpoint became a military base, and then the base gradually evolved into the current fortress city of Canon.
There are mainly two kinds of people living in Kanon, one is soldiers and the other is slaves. There are no so-called citizens in Kanon, the two classes are clearly separated, and there is no gray area at all. The resident population of Kanon is maintained at around 20,000, of which 80% are slaves. A large number of slaves are used to develop wood mines in the Emerald Forest and a kind of cloud iron produced in the Eternal Mountains. More, but working for the three oil platforms in the waters behind Canon.
The Holy Seal Knights stationed two branches here, namely the 5th and 6th branches, with a total of more than 4,000 soldiers.
Zero's next target is one of these two cities. In comparison, Canon is better than Fasero in terms of strategic location and resources. But the people in Manshan thought that it would be more practical to attack Fasero. After all, Kanon is a fortress city, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack. The number of soldiers stationed in the city far exceeds that of Facero, and to attack Canon, a land battle is required. Because Canon is built on a cliff, although it is close to the sea, it cannot attack from the sea.
This problem does not exist in Pacero. Over the years, pirates have frequently visited this port city, and they are very familiar with Pacero. As long as the army overwhelms, even if the 4th sub-regiment is stationed in Alceroli, it can basically be crushed and won.
Seeing that Man Shan and the others insisted on attacking Facelo, Mamelo seemed to be disdainful. Zero smiled slightly, motioned for everyone to be quiet, and then asked, "Mr. Mamelo, you were once the head of the Knights. Regarding these two cities, what do you think of them from your point of view?"
Mamelo was slightly surprised. He was here purely because of Mr. X. The reverence for this old boss, and more dissatisfaction with Sauron and the Pope's Hall, made him choose Zero. But Mamelo was very repelled here. Originally, he had no part to intervene in such a battle meeting, but now Zero asked for his own opinion and gave him enough respect.
Mamelo didn't know much about Zero. But just because he could be used by pirates and planned a miraculous battle, Mamelo naturally wouldn't treat him as an ordinary young man. He nodded and said, "If it were me, I would not choose Phacero. There is no doubt that Phacero is much easier to fight than Kanon. But because of this, it is not worth attacking."
Captains such as Manshan and Cinderella are stronger if they are stronger, but when it comes to leading troops to fight, they naturally cannot compare with Mamelo, who was born in the Knights. When they were all disapproving, Zero unexpectedly said: "I agree with Mr. Mamelo's opinion." He pointed heavily at the waterway leading directly to the inland hinterland, and said: "Of course, we can quickly Go inland. But don’t forget that this waterway does not directly reach the city of New Rome. Its end point is not a short distance from the city of Rome, and it has to cross several colonial cities. Here, it can be said that the Pope’s Hall home field."
"If we really do this, then as long as the Knights cut off our retreat, we will basically have nowhere to go. At that time, there are only two options, one is to continue to go deep alone, and the other is needless to say. If we don’t get any supplies and cover, I doubt whether we can support it near the city of Rome.” Zero smiled lightly, and then tapped his hand on Facero: “Since we can quickly reach the inland by water, the Pope’s Hall can also Quickly use troops against Pacero. What's more, after slapping the Pope's hall on the Roaring Gulf, as long as Sauron is not a fool, he will understand that Pacero, who is too close to the Roaring Gulf, is likely to become our second direct target .Maybe when we kill them, what we are facing is not just 300 soldiers, but one or several knights."
The finger moved again, came to the top of Canon and clicked, and Zero said indifferently: "So our goal is it!"
The faces of Manshan and the others immediately turned strange. When they were about to say something, Ling made a gesture and said, "I know what you want to say. Kanon is a fortress, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and there are a lot of troops stationed there. advantage. However, under this advantage, it hides many deadly countermeasures."
Zero looked at Mamelo again, and asked, "I wonder how long it has been since there was no war in Kanon?"
Mamelo's eyes lit up. Although there were quite a few people present, besides him, probably only Mr. X knew the meaning behind the question of zero. Of course, Mr. X couldn't answer, after all, he had been away from the Knights for too long. So Ling would ask him, but Mamelo did not give in, and said, "It's been a long time, at least twenty years since there has been no war."
"It's been long enough, so long that I'm a little curious, do the soldiers in the fortress still know how to hold guns?" Ling smiled lightly.
Only Man Shan and Cinderella began to grasp the true meaning of Zero Chapter, if there had been no war for twenty years, and the soldiers who happened to be stationed in Kanon had not been rotated. Such soldiers, even if they practice every day, can't compare with those soldiers who have to go to the battlefield every day in terms of consciousness or quality. Even strictly speaking, both are veterans.
"I don't know how often Canon will update the defense system, or does it mean that its facilities still use things from 20 years ago?"
Next, Zero asked a series of questions. If it weren't for Mamelo who is here now, even Cinderella, a native of the Western Continent, probably wouldn't be able to answer. Minor information is already considered a military secret, and naturally it will not be known to outsiders. Mamelo was also straightforward, listing everything he knew. For example, Canon's defense system was last updated ten years ago. It can be said that it is an update, but in fact it just replaces some old facilities. Generally speaking, Canon still uses things from 20 years ago.
There is also a power mecha troop stationed in the city, but this troop only has paladin mechas, but no low-flying units like Griffin Knights. Of course, there are still knights of the round table, and there are two more.
But all of this can't avoid the key problem, that is, Kanon has been a fortress city for too long, so long that even the outer city wall cannot withstand a few heavy artillery bombardments.
In the end, Mamelo concluded: "Because of the strength of Canon's army, at least on the surface, no one is willing to provoke it. Even you four pirates are the same, so the two knight orders stationed in that city are used to it. And because of this ease, he even used many excuses to reject the order of the Pope's Hall to send other knight orders to change defense."
"Very good, then our goal can be basically finalized. That's it!" Ling Zhongzhong patted on the fortress city, and said: "However, Facero can't just let it go."
Mr. X moved, "We can't swallow so many things."
"No, I didn't intend to really attack it. It's just that we can't let our Lord Sauron be too idle, let alone cover our real target and put some smoke." Zero smiled.
Everyone knows that Zero means a feint attack to conceal that their real target is the fortress Canon. Such falsehood and falsehood are true, but it is also in line with the way of deceitful soldiers. But when the Canon War broke out, it was too late for the Pope's Hall to react.
In addition to the suspicion that the fortress Kanon is a bit strong, Zero also takes a fancy to its geographical location. The fortress is located at the throat of the Bloody Road, and it will not be easy for the Pope to take it back. And in this process, as long as Zero operates properly, it will soon be able to gain a firm foothold here. Next, you can gradually enter the inland areas through interests and force.
In terms of benefits, if Canon is captured, the three affiliated oil well platforms will be able to create endless wealth. In the new era, although there are new energy sources, oil is still the largest energy source. Just these three oil well platforms represent more interests than Faceiro Port. As for force, it is naturally not enough to continue to work with the pirates in hand, but this is not difficult to solve. Zero believes that there are many people who are dissatisfied with Sauron, especially the people living in hardships on the outer islands. As long as there is a suitable opportunity, Zero can turn them into his own soldiers.
The battle of Roaring Bay is very important, it is a battle related to the fate of countless people in the entire western continent. The impact it brought didn't stop at the pirates and the Pope's Hall, and with this battle, Zero really felt that the situation on this continent was quietly changing in his hands.
Another busy time ensued.
Oran's equipment began to arrive one after another four days later, along with several officers who would be responsible for teaching the pirates how to use this batch of electromagnetic equipment. Mr. X probably has never been so busy in the past few decades. Not only is he responsible for counting supplies, he also has to count the pirates' own property. After several days and nights of hard work, a stack of forms was handed over to Zero.
After a cursory look, Zero couldn't help showing a wry smile.
The pirates really weren't that rich. After counting the resources of Sea House, if all the assets were converted into gold coins, it would only be about half a million. At present, there are only 70,000 to 80,000 gold coins in cash. Gold coins are the hard currency promoted by the Pope's Hall. Precious metals are the currency to preserve value no matter what age. However, this amount of money was not enough to pay Oran's first payment, but fortunately Oran did not pursue it.
Zero also really felt a problem, he was still very poor. If you are too poor to fight another battle, if you don't get resources, those people below will not be able to get rid of it.
Then there is the issue of justifying the names of pirates.
If you continue to use the banner of pirates, in the eyes of most people, it is just a game between officials and bandits. However, in order for Zero to continue to advance, it is on the one hand to get more support from funders, and on the other hand, it needs more people's aspirations. If you want to win the hearts of the people, you can no longer use the banner of pirates, at least you must erect an image of righteousness in the eyes of the common people.
After deliberating for several days and discussing with the captain below, Zero decided to call himself the Revolutionary Army. As for the origin of pirates, their armed force was renamed the Sea God Corps. The Sea God Regiment was divided into three armies, led by three captains, Manshan, Cinderella, and Hook. Each army, including officers, has a regular establishment of 1,000 people, which is basically the establishment of a squadron of knights.
Zero is naturally the leader of the Revolutionary Army, and the ability users under his command are an independent fighting group, not included in the Sea God Group.
The next thing that stands in front of Zero is the issue of military training. Marching into the Western Continent, the pirates naturally could no longer be in the state of loose sand before, and the combat effectiveness they displayed was really limited. Therefore, it is imperative to classify the members of the Sea God Corps according to their abilities and specialties, and then add systematic training to make them into several special arms.
Of course, there is not so much time for Ling to train soldiers now. But at least, teach these guys how to obey orders and how to fight like a soldier!