Above the turbulent deep blue, a giant ship with a displacement of 4,300 tons rides on the waves and heads towards the ancient continent.
Although this was not his first time riding Dai Lin's flagship, Li De still looked around with great envy, wondering when they could build such a big thing themselves.
"You really don't need to be by Lothar's side to give him advice?"
Dai Lin, who was observing on the deck, finally asked this question, and now he finally understood it. Just like Dalaran, the first city-state in history, became independent from the Kingdom of Arathor, a new human government
About to rise.
The only difference from the past is that in addition to the human race, this new regime also has citizens from other races.
Shortly after Lothar and the others returned, under the witness of Lothar, Fao and Terenas, Varian promised to ennoble Li De as the Grand Duke of Hanhai, giving him the power to establish a country in his name.
The reason why he hasn't been officially canonized yet is because Varian is still just a prince and has not succeeded to the throne as king.
Grand Duke is the highest honor that the king can give. Of course, Li De's canonization is just a formality, and it is nothing more than ratifying the legitimacy of Li De's independence. In fact, this Grand Duke cannot be administered within the Kingdom of Stormwind.
Because it was only the internal affairs of the Kingdom of Stormwind, this incident did not alarm the leaders of other countries. After Dai Lin found out about it afterwards, he finally realized it. He was keenly aware that Li De and Lothar had formed a close relationship behind their backs.
Political allies.
Therefore, Dai Lin had a question on the boat at this moment.
"Don't worry, do you believe that we won't be able to discuss how to deal with the orc captives and come up with a result when we come back?"
Dai Lin laughed out loud when he was told this. As the leader of the alliance, he naturally knew how time-consuming such talks would be.
Then Li De asked again.
"As the leader of a member state, is it really okay for you to leave privately at this time and return to Tanaris with me?"
Originally, Li De planned to take the Dinghai back, but after hearing about it, Dai Lin proposed to take his ship. Li De was a little moved, so he simply left the Dinghai at the Port of Lordaeron, but Li Dezhen did not expect that Dai Lin would actually go there in person.
Command navigation.
"It doesn't matter, I have nothing to talk about in the first place. We are a maritime country, and no matter how outrageous it is, it is impossible to set up a prisoner of war camp in Kul Tiras.
To put it bluntly, the result of the final discussion is nothing more than how much money I will pay. Before leaving, I already hinted at Terenas’s bottom line. If it is higher than that number, we will not discuss it.”
Li De nodded knowingly. Regarding the issue of arranging prisoners, Terenas had far more profound thoughts than Greymane and Trollbane.
The two kings advocated the execution of all the captives, but Terenas and Antonidas unanimously opposed it.
There were too many orc prisoners, nearly 20,000! If there were only one or two hundred people, they would have been executed after trial.
However, it is necessary to go through trials to carry out reasonable and legal mass killings. Terenas is worried that once people get used to killing in a calm manner, they will inevitably become cruel and indifferent.
Of course, in Li De's view, Terenas is more profound than the other two leaders, but only a little far-reaching.
From the perspective of the human race, Terenas's consideration was reasonable, but he neglected to consider whether it was appropriate to use the moral standards of the human race to deal with the orcs.
There are huge differences between different races, let alone orcs from another world. This level of outrageousness can no longer be described by using the sword of the previous dynasty to kill this dynasty.
Li De tried to guess the logic behind Terenas's idea: Perhaps the biggest problem lies in the fact that orcs are intelligent beings that look like humans. Everyone has two eyes, one nose and one mouth, so they will indeed fall into a logical trap.
If the orcs were to be indescribable, then Terenas would probably order them all to be executed without hesitation, no matter how many there were.
"Before departure, Marshal Lothar and I had communicated that the disposal of the orc prisoners of war would be a long process. We do not kill them out of consideration for civilization, but it does not mean that the orcs are allowed to escape punishment. They must be allowed to
The kind that gets judged and goes deep into the soul level.”
Dai Lin nodded as if he understood.
"You always have a way. I'm really looking forward to it now. Whatever business you want to discuss with me, I can actually let you say big words that can change the world."
"Don't be impatient. Please allow me to keep a sense of mystery for the last time."
What Li De is thinking now is whether to reveal the Alterac plan to Daelin in the future. As long as Daelin's support is obtained in advance, the plan will be half successful.
His mysterious look suddenly raised the threshold of Daelin's curiosity. Fortunately, the speed of Titan's route was fast enough, and they successfully arrived at Tanaris a week later.
But before he could resolve his curiosity, Dai Lin encountered a naval battle.
A fleet is attacking Hope Port! The enemy's main ships are two third-class battleships, which are even larger than Li De's flagship Dinghai. In addition, there are more than a dozen light frigates, going back and forth.
Sea shuttle.
Han Haijun was desperately fighting back outside the port at this time, but the two sixth-class battleships Fenwei and Fenyuan were too weak compared to the enemy. Thanks to the blessing of Deep Sea Loagrol, they were able to narrow the gap in strength.
.
But even so, Fenwei and Fenyuan suffered a certain degree of damage, and three of the eight frigates were sunk.
A Zandalari warship stationed at Port of Hope also joined the battle, but the Zandalari ships could only exert their combat effectiveness when they formed a large scale. The close combat made the opponent's four frigates extremely embarrassed.
Noggenfogg has already gone to the battlefield in person. If they are forced into the port by the opponent, the fleet that has completely lost room to maneuver will be completely annihilated!
"How is this going?!"
I didn't expect to encounter a naval battle when I first arrived. Is Kalimdor's custom of welcoming people so unique?
"My fleet is under attack! Please help me!"
Li De desperately asked Dai Lin for help. He had only been away for three months, but someone powerful had knocked on the door! He wanted to see who was so hateful that he would take the initiative to provoke him!
"Of course! It is our duty to help friends when they are in trouble!"
Daelin has not forgotten Li De's kindness in saving Derek. As for the little unhappiness at the beginning, it has long passed. The Proudmoore family must repay any kindness.
Following the order, the top-notch sailing battleships quickly entered the battlefield to join the battle.
With such a huge creature squeezing into the battlefield, both warring parties seemed a little flustered. However, soon the Han Navy side discovered that the ship had a semaphore, and at the same time, Nogfogg also saw Li De's figure on the deck through the telescope.
"The Protector is back! Here are the gold coins! It's the Protector! Boys! Fight back with all your strength!"
Noggenfogg shouted excitedly. No one knows the power of top battleships better than him. With such strong support, it is not a problem to completely destroy the enemy!
The wood used by top battleships is all the thickest century-old oak. After processing, it is not only strong but also extremely tough. The small-caliber cannons of sixth-class ships will not even cause damage on the ship, but will be bounced back by the opponent.
Realizing that this top battleship was an enemy, the fleet that invaded Port of Hope suddenly seemed at a loss. They hesitated at sea for a while before deciding to turn around and evacuate.
However, under the huge main gun of the flying Proudmoore, the third-class battleships could only surrender. Just one shot broke the main mast of a battleship. The ship lost power on the spot and was thrown at sea. anchor.
It is a pity that the Han Navy has only been established for a short period of time. The navy seriously lacks combat experience and did not complete the encirclement quickly, allowing another third-class battleship to escape. As for the dozen or so frigates, several of them also escaped.
The remaining few ships in front of the top battleships were just small sampans. Knowing that they had no qualifications to resist, they all raised white flags and surrendered.
Although the battle was won and many enemy ships were captured, Li De's expression was frightening. If he had not come back in time, the consequences would have been disastrous!
After boarding the deck of the Fenwei, Reed immediately found Nogfogg, but before he could ask any questions, the goblin minister started cursing incessantly.
"Damn goblin! Dirty villain!"
I was scolding myself this time, which really made Li De lose half of his anger on the spot, but seeing Nogfogg's face twisted with anger, he really didn't have the nerve to laugh.
"Those guys are dissatisfied with the impact of our textiles on their market, so they want to maliciously raise the price of raw materials! But who allows us to still hold the card of ore raw materials in our hands.
A few frustrated bastards joined forces privately and sent a fleet to attack our port!
Damn! Even in order to confuse me, they pretended that nothing happened half a month ago and came to participate in the car race on the Shining Plains! Bah! Despicable and shameless!"
Only then did Li De realize. It turned out that the emerging technology had already touched the interests of the traditional plutocrats. No wonder a rich goblin organized a fleet to come to the door.
It's just that Li De was a little curious. In just two or three months, how did Nogfogger manage to force the traditional industry to be like this.
While thinking this, Li De noticed from the corner of his eye that there were seven or eight troll priests, both male and female, being helped aside to rest as if they were drunk.
"What happened to them?"
Hearing Li De ask this, Nogfogg immediately praised him.
"These are the heroes of this naval battle! The other party actually sent three third-class battleships. Thanks to their joint efforts, they summoned Grolloa's projection and destroyed a capital ship preemptively. Otherwise, we would all I may not be able to wait for you to come back!"
If the other party can send a fleet worth hundreds of thousands of gold coins, the interests that will be damaged will definitely not be a small amount. Li De himself is looking forward to what they will develop.
"Do you know who the exact enemies are?"
Noggenfogger answered knowingly.
"It's very clear that it's those guys from the Bilgewater Cartel. They have been refusing to deal with us for a long time."
Suddenly Li De realized that something was wrong. Noggenfogg, the finance minister, was already on the battlefield. Why didn't he see Haggard until now?
"What is Haggard doing?"
Nogfogg twitched his long ears and said something that almost made Li De's jaw drop.
"Minister Haggard is dealing with enemies invading from the ground. This operation against us was jointly planned by the Venture Capital Company and the Bilgewater Cartel."
Li De smiled. If an enemy comes to attack you, it may be because you are weak. But if someone wants to join forces to deal with you, it just means that you are very strong.
It seems that Noggenfogg and the others have done great things in the past three months.