Claude did not attend the dinner hosted by the Governor-General, Viscount Cruz. The two senior leaders, as colonels, were the top officers of the first batch of Ranger Division reinforcements to arrive. They had to attend because they needed to
The Direct Territory of Tiersim provides logistical supplies and reserve troops to the Ranger Legion. Refusing to attend the Lord Governor's dinner will easily offend these local snakes.
The current problem is that the highest military officer of Tiersim, Admiral Baron Strathern, excuses himself from illness and is bedridden and refuses guests behind closed doors. What he has learned is that the local defense situation is also in a mess. Under such circumstances, the Rangers need to fight with
The Governor-General, Viscount Cruz, discussed how to solve the armament problem in the demesne.
The two senior captains brought one-third of the senior officers to the dinner, while Claude sat in charge of the garrison camp, urging the soldiers to set up camp and set up a cordon. To be honest, people gathered around the garrison camp and peeked at the military camp from a distance.
The indigenous mixed-race residents made Claude feel very uncomfortable, because he found that the heavily guarded military camp seemed to be a big fat in the eyes of these indigenous mixed-race residents, and their eyes seemed to be very greedy...
Captain Hinks, the personal adjutant of Baron Strathern, the admiral, came to the military camp again in the evening. Claude talked about the indigenous mixed-race residents around the military camp, but Captain Hinkes didn't care and took it for granted. He replied:
These indigenous mixed-race residents are just looking for money-making jobs when they come to the military camp, such as running errands and moving things, introducing young women to sell meat in the military camp, etc. In fact, they don’t need to pay them much money. One or two slices of black bread are enough for them to work.
.
Of course, you have to be careful when letting these indigenous mixed-race residents run errands, because they are all thieves and liars, and they will lose the gadgets and money they carry with them if they are not careful. Captain Hinks said that in the past, the local garrison of Copicius Port was stationed
While here, almost every soldier is accompanied by one or two Nikanchas to serve them. After all, it is more enjoyable to have someone serve you than to do it yourself...
The word Nikancha in the ancient Hertzian language means hybrid, mixed-blood, and also carries the insulting name of hybrid. Captain Hinks said that in the Nubisian continent, these indigenous mixed-race residents are called Nikancha.
The Cha people are a nation that is not officially recognized. However, the real indigenous people of the Nubisian continent are called Etat, which means dark red people.
It is easy to distinguish the Nikancha people, that is, the mixed-race indigenous people, from the original aboriginal people like Etat. Because of the mixed blood, the skin color of the Nikancha people is lighter, not brown, and it will turn into red when exposed to the sun.
Dark. However, the pure Etat people of the Nubisian continent cannot tan at all. They are always brown. In the sun, it seems as if their bodies are covered with a thin layer of red light.
After chatting nonsense with Claude for a long time, Captain Hinks revealed his intention. The purpose was very simple. He wanted Claude to sell him some spare muskets and weapons from the 131st Ranger Battalion to re-arm the Port of Corpicius.
Garrison Regiment. Claude politely refused, but Captain Hinks was willing to pay double the price, and hinted that Claude could report more losses during the battle, so that the money from the sale of muskets and weapons could go into his personal pocket...
Claude couldn't help but feel strange that as the local military governor of the Tiersim territory, Admiral Baron Strathern should not lack weapons and equipment such as muskets. Although the kingdom did not set up gun workshops in the overseas territories,
Each overseas territory has an allocation of 20,000 muskets to equip local garrison troops, and damaged muskets can be replaced every three years.
But this Captain Hinks made a request to the two senior captains to purchase muskets and weapons when they first met in the afternoon. After being rejected, he came to the barracks again in the evening and asked what the purpose of his purchase must be. Claude was wondering
Suspicious, he tried to figure out the real purpose of Captain Hinks' purchase of muskets and weapons.
However, although Captain Hinks does not look like a soldier, he is a qualified businessman. He is very tight-lipped. He only talks about Jiumu's accurate aiming and shooting muskets and wants to replace the Admiral's guard with new Obas III standard matchlocks.
Instead of using the Obas II standard matchlock gun distributed by the kingdom to the direct-administered territory. Of course, Claude would not really sell the muskets and other military supplies in the camp to him because of the high price he paid. In the end, Captain Hinks also
I can only return in vain without success.
An hour later, all the officers who attended the Governor's dinner came back. Compared with the officers who were drunk and happy, the two senior captains looked a little sad and angry. After entering the Chinese army's tent,
, Claude asked, and from the words told by the two senior captains, he understood why Captain Hinks was so impatient to pay a high price to buy spare muskets and weapons for the Ranger Regiment's reinforcements.
Unbelievable! Appalling! It turns out that Baron Strathern, as the admiral and the highest military officer of the Tiersim demesne, has been selling off 20,000 muskets and weapons equipped by the kingdom in the past few years, embezzling military expenses. So-called
The strength of the local garrison in Port Corbichus is less than two battalions. The garrison strength of the remaining four towns in the directly administered territory was originally one battalion each, but was reduced to about two squadrons by the admiral. On paper, they were all
The full strength of the troops, in fact, the extra soldiers were all taken up by this admiral...
"How is this possible?" Claude was a little unconvinced: "Don't the Kingdom's Ministry of War send people to the overseas territories to conduct censuses every two years? If such a thing really happened, it would have been discovered long ago. It is only possible to allow this to happen.
Baron Strathern is doing all sorts of things? Also, even if he wants to resell muskets and weapons, he still needs a buyer. Who did he sell them to?"
Colonel Bolognik only said one sentence: "Baron Strathern is Her Majesty the Queen's nephew..."
"Uh..." Claude was speechless for a moment.
Colonel Severit, commander of the 034th Ranger Regiment, added: "Baron Strathearn is Her Majesty the Queen's most beloved nephew. He came to serve as the admiral of the Tiersim Territory and was favored by Her Majesty the Queen.
It has been eight years now. During the five years of the Eastern War, the Ministry of War sent people to investigate local garrison matters. Because they were concerned about Her Majesty the Queen, they were fooled by him. In the three years since the war ended, the kingdom has been in ruins.
Waiting for the news, the Ministry of War did not have the energy to pay too much attention to the local defense of the seven overseas territories directly...
Baron Strathern wanted to usurp the governorship of Viscount Cruz, and the two had always been at odds with each other. Therefore, the governor, Viscount Cruz, conducted a private investigation to protect himself. It was found that Baron Strathern had swallowed up military pay and used weapons.
The ordnance reserves in the library were all sold out. As for the buyers, they are all over the place. The civilians who have opened up manors and farms outside the city basically have muskets bought from the local garrison at home, and some even bought several..."
"How dare he sell muskets to civilians?" Claude has never thought of this possibility. The Kingdom of Ovelas has very strict management of muskets. Non-citizens are not allowed to buy guns. Without a citizen's guarantee, civilians can take to the streets with guns.
He will be arrested and sentenced to hard labor.
"This is an overseas territory." Colonel Bolognik reminded Claude of the reality: "Civilians who come to develop overseas territories can indeed obtain the right to hold guns to protect themselves and their families from indigenous riots. But
All civilians who purchase muskets must be incorporated into the reserve security patrol team of the directly-governed territory as a reserve force for local defense forces.
Baron Strathern used this reason to sell off the reserve muskets and ordnance in the armory, and at the same time reduce the number of troops in the local garrison to make more money for himself. Because most civilians in the direct territory have muskets at home, so
He doesn't have to worry about indigenous riots, because if an indigenous riot occurs, the first people to suffer will be these civilians.
The fat commander of the local garrison, Lieutenant Colonel Everard, was his confidant. He resold all the muskets and weapons in the name of strengthening the reserve force. He also made false reports every year to suppress the indigenous people.
The riot fought two or three times, taking the opportunity to report the loss of thousands of muskets and the casualties of nearly a hundred garrison soldiers. However, the muskets that were replenished every year were still resold by them, and the pensions issued went into their pockets...
"
"Then why does Captain Hinx come to us now to buy spare muskets and weapons?" Claude still didn't understand.
"It's very simple, they need to supplement the strength of the local garrison. The Kingdom's Ministry of War requires that each local garrison in the overseas territories must have no less than 3,500 troops, but now the local garrison in Copicius Port only has 1,500 troops.
There are 600 people, a shortage of nearly 2,000 people. The requirement for local garrison camps in the remaining four towns is 800 people. Now the total is only a dozen squadrons, and there is a shortage of more than 2,000 troops...
Recruitment may be easier, but the problem is that they cannot produce so many muskets and weapons to equip the new soldiers. The governor, Viscount Cruz, secretly sent someone to check the armory. It is said that there are less than a hundred muskets in good condition. If
In peacetime, Baron Strathern could temporarily hire civilians with muskets to pretend to be soldiers from the local garrison and fool the census personnel sent by the War Department. With Her Majesty the Queen backing him, no one would offend him.
But now is the time of war, and temporary employment tactics are not easy to use. Moreover, census personnel and special envoys sent by the Kingdom’s Ministry of War will follow the follow-up troops of our Ranger Division to the Overseas Territory of Tilsim, and they will be responsible for coordination
And establish a wartime logistics headquarters, rectify and train the reserve forces of overseas territories directly under the jurisdiction, and support our Ranger Corps in operations.
So the Admiral, Baron Strathern, decided to target our group of reinforcements who had arrived. As long as he purchased enough spare weapons from us and recruited a group of new soldiers, he would be able to fight with our Ranger Division in the future.
They can hide all this until most of the War Department census personnel who came with them arrive..." Colonel Sevict's answer finally made Claude understand the main purpose of Captain Hinks' purchase of muskets and weapons.
"Did the Governor, Viscount Cruz, tell you all this?" Claude asked.
The two senior group leaders nodded solemnly.
"His personal secretary also showed us the evidence they found. According to their statistics, as the admiral of the Tiersim Direct Territory, Baron Strathern can spend every year on military expenses, free wages, reselling muskets and weapons, and
He obtained more than 12,000 to 15,000 gold crowns from the pension for falsely reporting soldiers' casualties..." Colonel Sevicit said.
This is really a huge amount of money...
"Since the Governor-General, Viscount Cruz, has found the evidence, why didn't he report it to the Royal Court and the Ministry of War?" As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Claude felt that something was wrong, and then he understood the key as soon as his mind changed.
"Wo Cao, this old bastard wants us to take the blame for him!" Claude yelled.
The two senior leaders smiled bitterly at each other. How could they not be clear about something that even Claude could figure out? This was the main reason why they were a little sad and even a little angry when they came back.
Well, the old bastard Viscount Cruz mentioned by Claude is indeed a treacherous person. His idea was very clever. He separated the military and political affairs under the overseas direct jurisdiction. As the governor, he was only responsible for civil affairs and not the military. He found the admiral.
Baron Strathern's criminal evidence can be used to blackmail Baron Strathern into obediently and not to cause trouble in normal times. But during the war, Baron Strathern is blamed for his own misfortune. He can provide these evidence to prove Baron Strathern's crime.
He was charged with crimes, so that he could clear himself of the suspicion of complicity, and stood aside to watch the fun...
As for what Claude said about asking him to report to the Royal Court and the Ministry of War, the Governor would not do it even if he was killed. After all, Baron Strathern has Her Majesty the Queen backing him, who knows that Strathern
Did Baron Strathern give Her Majesty a share of the embezzled military expenses? It was easy for him to sue Baron Strathern, but that meant that he became a loyal minister of the kingdom and at the same time offended Her Majesty the Queen.
After staying in an overseas territory for so many years, as a governor, you have more opportunities to make some extra money for yourself in civil affairs. If Her Majesty the Queen really wants to pursue him, someone will definitely come forward to deal with him. It is very easy to cause trouble for him.
A careful inspection of the account books of the demesne will always reveal the traces he, the governor, accidentally left when he was in charge of his affairs. By then, the personal wealth he has accumulated over the years may be gone.
Therefore, no matter how bad or discordant he is with the Admiral Baron Strathearn, Viscount Cruz will not bring it out if evidence of his crime is found. Now the Rangers are here to defend against the colonies of the Kingdom of Hicks as an overseas territory.
The reinforcements that invaded the garrison were also responsible for organizing and rectifying the local garrison forces. As the admiral, Baron Strathern should be responsible for cooperating with their work, but now he could not protect himself, so he could only pretend to be sick to delay time.
It is very simple for Governor Viscount Cruz to present this evidence now, and that is to ask the officers of the Ranger Regiment to find trouble with Baron Strathern. In the future, if Her Majesty the Queen wants to pursue the case, she can only blame her nephew for not living up to expectations.
The Jockey Club would not give face to him, so they would not blame him as the governor. After all, during the war, Baron Strathearn's actions must not be concealed. He might as well hand over the evidence in his hand early to avoid being exposed.
Accused of being incompetent, unable to notice what is happening around him, being held jointly and severally responsible...