Chapter 235
Before His Majesty the King’s opinion came, the two major factions in the Northwest Gulf couldn’t wait to take action.
Bedo Castle, one of the vassal territories of the Kent family, is nestled between the territories of Earl Malcon and Viscount Johnston. It has undoubtedly become a thorn in the side of the anti-Kent alliance. Therefore, after the two sides formally broke up, The Malkans and Johnstons immediately sent troops to surround Bideau Castle.
However, the defense of Fort Bido was very strong, and the two families were unable to attack it for a while. According to the news, the Kent family had quickly gathered reinforcements and rushed towards it.
Earl Parker immediately wrote to other lords in the alliance, summoning them to rush to Bido Castle to support the Malkan family and the Johnston family.
...
“The lord of Bidoburg is an in-law of the Kent family. Maltz Kent will definitely invest heavy troops to relieve the siege of Bidoburg, and the intelligence we have obtained shows that this is indeed the case. We must take advantage of this opportunity. Fight a decisive battle with them at Fort Bido...annihilate a large number of the opponent's troops at once...This will help our side control the future situation..."
Chief Secretary Bernard Wood stood holding a letter in both hands The letter was read in a very clear voice. Opposite him sat Paul Grayman.
“The location of this area is very important. If it is still in the hands of the Kent family, then the other party can use it as a springboard to invade the land between Fort Bideau and the coast of the bay, intercepting us. Part.”
Hearing this, Paul’s brows suddenly wrinkled.
The chief secretary continued: "Based on the size of the enemy's force that is now known, I request that the Gleyman family and the Gardner family can immediately send at least 1,000 soldiers to Bido Castle to combine the forces of other families to defeat the other party in one fell swoop."
"May God bless us!...That's it, my lord, it's signed Earl Price Parker. This should be a letter written by him himself. Do you need to read it yourself?"
Paul rubbed his temples and said with a slight headache: "No need, Bernard, just put the letter away first."
He didn't like this feeling very much. There was always a feeling of being led by others. The feeling of walking on the nose. But Earl Parker was the organizer of the entire alliance, and his demands must be treated with caution.
Sigh... It's better to rush back to Huxin Town as soon as possible to discuss with the military leaders.
Paul is now sitting in a room in the Fulan Port Office Building. The purpose of his visit to Fulan Port this time is to visit the fleet of new all-sail merchant ships.
After establishing a solid cooperative relationship with the Foster family of Cape Bay, the Foster family successively sent several batches of shipwrights, which greatly increased the production capacity of the shipyard. It is no longer what it was before. It can only be compared with a small shipyard that can only repair and build a few small galleys.
With the overtime efforts of the craftsmen and the concession of the Navy, the shipyard has successively built four larger merchant ships in the past few months. Compared with the several warships built before, this kind of merchant ship Many improvements have been made to the cargo transportation function, with a larger volume and a higher cargo capacity. There are two masts standing on the deck. The canvas above is not the previous full-length sail. A scale is hung on the main mast. sail.
Of these four transport merchant ships, two were retained by Paul for his own use and two were sold to the ship merchant Mr. Bennett Todd.
Today is the day when four merchant ships are about to sail away. Paul’s two ships will carry a large amount of porcelain and printed books to Cape Bay, while Mr. Todd’s two ships will carry a large amount of canned food and salt. Heading to the southern port closest to the royal capital Jingyao, they chose the same date for their first voyage.
Bernard took out his pocket watch to look at it and reminded Paul: "Your Majesty, the merchant ship is about to leave. Do you think it is...?" "Really? Let's rush there immediately."
From the window of the port office building, he had already seen the dark crowd on the dock seeing off the passengers.
......
Seeing the arrival of the lord, the crowd quickly made way. Paul came to the merchant ships still staying in the berth with a little excitement. With these merchant ships, the long-awaited ocean trade could finally be launched.
Navy Commander Austin and ship dealer Bennett Todd were already standing at the edge of the dock, waiting for his arrival.
Mr. Todd bowed to him first, "Dear Lord, these merchant ships you built are really fascinating! Thank you, this is exactly what ship merchants like me want. Needed. "
After the arrival of the new year, the Government Council sent a business delegation to the royal capital. This delegation was composed of businessmen from Alda and Bailding - of course, all with the lord. People who have had cooperative relations with the government.
In this trip to the royal capital, the businessmen tried their best to sell the products of their factories to the powerful people in Jingyao. After a lot of hard work, canned food and salt received the most orders. After all, the royal army would soon go south to suppress the rebellion. Canned food, which was convenient, easy to store for a long time, and tasted decent, was naturally the first choice of military supplies for the generals.
Bennett Todd's two merchant ships accepted the entrustment of other merchants to transport goods to the south by sea.
Paul waved his hand: "No, no, I just provided some ideas. The ships in front of me are all made by the craftsmen of the shipyard. If you want to thank them, just thank them."
Todd The gentleman nodded in agreement repeatedly. He knew that the count in front of him had an unusual concern for those low-level workers.
A simple ceremony was held at the dock to bid farewell to the four merchant ships. Paul took the stage and repeated the same old tune about the importance of ocean trade and the Government Council's strong support for private commercial and industrial activities.
After the ceremony, the four merchant ships set sail amidst people's farewells, leaving Fulan Port and sailing slowly into the distance.
When leaving the dock, Austin and Paul walked together. The two discussed for a while the seamen's school that had just started teaching. Finally, Austin quietly asked: "Master Graiman, what will our navy do in the next war?" Are there any performance opportunities?”
Paul thought about it. Although the territory controlled by the Kent family was basically inland, the navy still had its place, such as allowing sailors to go ashore to serve as infantry like Maozi did.
"Austin, we may face the problem of insufficient troops in a short period of time. You can organize a fleet to continuously cruise on the Ves River. Once you receive a request for help from nearby land, immediately send sailors ashore to provide support. . So, let your people strengthen their firearms training.”
The current army cannot control the border very tightly. If troops are sent to cooperate with Earl Parker, the situation he will face will be more severe. A relatively "mobile" force faces emergencies.
(End of this chapter)