The leader of the Yongye Army was still very wary of Xiyamore and had made many preparations.
Not only did Lord Sean personally take action to make the final lobbying for him, but he also took the opportunity to let Captain Gordon, the envoy of Steubin, escape back to Steubin with the news that Captain Shiamore led the team to join the Yongye Army.
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The release of squadron landing personnel is also selective.
Most of those who were released were relatively independent pirates who were not direct descendants of Stubin. They had the lowest sense of belonging to the East China Sea Kingdom, so they would have relatively little psychological burden if they betrayed them.
There are also some pirate groups that have been captured by the leader of the Yongye army and have taken refuge first. The composition of the pirate groups that have returned to the squadron is no longer pure, and a large number of Yongye soldiers have been incorporated into them.
This is of course done to supervise and guide Shea Moore.
Shia Moore was fully aware of this situation and adopted a default attitude.
If the leader of the Yongye Army doesn't do this, he will instead suspect that there is something evil among them and prepare to use them as abandoned sons!
The two sides are now in the first stage of contact, and they are both cautious and looking for ways to coexist.
Captain Xiamoor Fleet is busy preparing for a sneak attack on the ports of the East China Sea Kingdom.
Prince Leiden, who is staying in the Great Bay Islands, has also received a letter asking for help from Stubin.
"My two uncles have read my father's autographed letter with their own eyes. How do you think you should make a decision?" Prince Leiden looked inquiring.
The subjects of his inquiry were Captain Bray and Chief Financial Officer Keynes.
Although Prince Leiden was only twenty-one years old, he showed extraordinary stability and did not make a rash decision because of Stubin's letter asking for help.
"Have you been able to tell whether this letter asking for help is genuine or not?" Keynes's brows had knitted into a knot.
"I have identified it. It is indeed from my father's hand. It contains the secret of the agreement between us. The person who sent the letter back is Captain Cornell." Prince Leiden replied.
"Has the situation really reversed like this?" Keynes still had a strong doubt on his face, "It is obviously our fleet that has the absolute advantage. Is there a mistake?"
"Didn't His Majesty make it very clear in the letter? We were still careless this time and suffered the same losses as last time. The leader of Yongye Army has a brand-new naval warfare weapon in his hands, and the range of our crossbow is the same.
More than twice as powerful as the black powder barrel thrown by the ballista.
If such a weapon really existed, the number of battleships would not be an advantage.
Before the war, I had worries about this. After all, it was the leader of the Yongye Army who developed black powder. His development has been rapid in recent years. He might be able to develop weapons more advanced than black powder. Without precautions,
It's easy to suffer big losses.
I have privately advised His Majesty to carefully consider sending troops to the Donau Plain.
Not only did your Majesty not listen to my advice, but he also excluded me from the expedition. But he didn’t expect that my original worries would come true.” Captain Bray’s words revealed this complex emotion, because he said in the East China Sea
There are very few people in the country who firmly oppose the military action taken by Donghai Kingdom against the Yongye military leader.
Bray believes that their understanding of the Yongye Army is limited. Many aspects of this emerging force cannot be described by common sense. Who knows if they have developed any new weapons over the years, just waiting for them to knock on the door.
There was no market for this argument before, and Stubin couldn't listen to it at all. He thought that Bray was frightened by the Yongye Army leader on the Donau River, which planted the root of his disease.
Unexpectedly, unfortunately, he was right, and the leader of the Yongye Army did come up with a new weapon to restrain them.
It's just that this matter is related to the security of the East China Sea, so there is really no way to gloat over it.
"We ignored our uncle's foresight. Here I apologize to my uncle on behalf of my father." Prince Leiden bowed to Captain Bray sincerely.
"Your Highness does not need to be like this." Bray hurriedly evaded, "Your Highness is like this, but it makes me feel ashamed. I only understand after the fact that at the beginning, I was just a guess without evidence, and I did not dare to guarantee how many
The score is real, otherwise, I will definitely stick to it to the end."
"Let us get over this matter. The most important thing now is, how do we face it? I have little experience and need to rely more on the advice of my two elders." Prince Leiden said sincerely, "My father's
The situation on the side must be extremely bad, otherwise they would not ask us for help!"
"What His Highness said is true." Captain Bray nodded and said, "Although we have established a nation, the fleet led by Your Majesty is the foundation for our foothold in the East China Sea. If the main force of the fleet is severely damaged, our situation will become worse.
It is extremely difficult. Not only will we have to face the threat of the Yongye military leader, but the islanders and natives who were suppressed by us will also take the opportunity to rise up, leaving us without a foothold here. Your Majesty, we cannot sit idly by and ignore it.
.”
"The question is how to save it?" Chief Financial Officer Keynes frowned and said, "In this expedition to the Donau Plain, His Majesty took away two-thirds of the warships and most of the sailors. The remaining manpower and warships were stationed at various ports, and they were already stretched thin.
, the islanders and natives in the south have received the news that our port is empty, and are now ready to take action.
If we use all our warships to rescue them, they will rush into our villages and towns, kill and plunder our ports, and then all our ten years of hard work will be in vain!"
"I don't know this truth. The problem is that we can't take care of both sides now. We have to make a certain choice. Should we stick to the port or go to rescue His Majesty, save the main force of the fleet, and plan for the future?" Bray asked.
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"Our ports in the Great Bay Islands are important, and the main force of the fleet led by my father is also important." Prince Leiden pondered for a moment and said, "We might as well make a compromise. Anyway, the rescue of the warship sailors needs to be mobilized from major port cities, why not
By the way, important personnel such as craftsmen and officials from those ports are brought to Longhou Port. If they concentrate their efforts on defending a port, the power required will naturally be much less. In this way, forces can be mobilized for rescue and rescue operations.
Able to minimize losses!”
Keynes thought for a few seconds, and finally had to nod his head and said: "Since the loss is inevitable, then control the loss within an acceptable range. This is indeed a no-brainer."
"I also agree with this approach." Captain Bray nodded.
"Since both uncles have no other opinions, let us take action." Prince Leiden said impatiently, "Rescuing people is like putting out fires. If we delay for one more minute, my father will suffer more irreparable losses.
One point gives the two uncles three days to assemble the fleet, I don’t know if that’s enough.”
"Including the evacuated craftsmen and officials, the three days have been a little tense." Captain Bray replied conservatively, "We will do our best, and we will recruit as many as we can at that time. The rest will be left as defenders at Longhou Port.
Yes."
"That's all it can do!" Prince Leiden nodded.
After the Donghai Kingdom's second warship call-up order was issued, the scene was completely different from the first time.
For the first time, everyone from the captain to the sailors and crew members were gearing up and driving their battleships almost without hesitation, hoping to get a piece of the pie from the Donau Plain.
Less than a month later, the second warship call-up order was issued, and important talents from major ports were moved to important large ports like Longhou Port.
Anyone with a slightly sensitive sense of war can smell something amiss.
There are only two possibilities for issuing a second battleship call-up order.
The first possibility is that the war on the Donau River is going very smoothly, and there are a large number of plunder targets. They can't plunder them anymore, so they call up follow-up troops to go for reinforcements.
This possibility is not high, because if this situation occurs, it will not be hidden at all, and the fleet will definitely be summoned by beating gongs and drums.
The second possibility is that there is a problem in the battle ahead, and it is necessary to summon the second echelon of warships to go for reinforcements, and it is also very urgent and dangerous. Otherwise, there is no need to take away all the craftsmen and officials, right?
If they go rashly, they may become cannon fodder.
No one is stupid!
Many captains and captains, even after receiving orders, would drag and push whenever they could. Some even gathered the crew overnight and sailed out to sea, planning to find some small island to nest in for ten days.
After half a month, we will look at the direction of the entire war situation before making a decision.
Those small ports and small cities are also blowing up one by one.
They took away important personnel. Didn't this make it clear that they were abandoning this place?
Those who have objections to the rule of Donghai Kingdom are ready to take action.
Those who were loyal to the East China Sea Kingdom crowded onto the battleships and crowded into large ports such as Longhou Port.
The final result was that before the enemy could attack, Donghai Kingdom itself had become a mess.
This was something Prince Leiden and the other instigators never expected. After all, their grasp of human nature was far behind.
There is no turning back when the bow is drawn.
The Donghai Kingdom is already in this situation. They cannot give up halfway, they can only bite the bullet and persevere.
After patching things together, they spent four days and four nights, and managed to piece together a fleet of more than 800 warships, large and small. Under the personal leadership of Prince Leiden, they launched a mighty battle.
Donau River.
The Great Bay Islands are not far from the mouth of the Donau River, with a straight-line distance of only 350 nautical miles.
Even if the wind direction is not good, two days and two nights are enough to run.
Prince Leiden and the others went to the rescue, and their natural speed was maximized, day and night.
As it approached the estuary of the Donau River, the formation of the East China Sea rescue fleet gradually expanded, reaching a length of more than ten nautical miles.
Those who rushed to the front were not the fastest, but direct descendants of the East China Sea Kingdom, who were most concerned about the situation of the East China Sea Fleet led by Steubin.
Those who followed slowly and slowly were those who were recruited unwillingly.
"Your Highness, in another thirty nautical miles, we will reach the mouth of the Donau River. Order the fleet to correct its formation! Your Majesty has been waiting for a week. It will take less than half a day. We are here to rescue, not to kill people.
If you rush forward in such a chaotic manner, it will easily give the opponent every chance to defeat you." Captain Bray admonished Prince Leiden.
"Uncle is the real expert in this area. How do you think this battle should be fought? I will listen to your command." Prince Leiden said humbly.
"No, this war should not be under my command. It should be under the command of Captain Cornell. After all, he has personally seen the new long-range weapons led by the Yongye Army and knows the situation of their warships better." Bray Fleet.
Chang shook his head and said.
"Captain Cornell, how do you think we should fight this battle?" Prince Leiden turned his attention to the other captain calmly.
Captain Connell was a little surprised and a little excited and said: "Captain Bray is more cautious than rumored. I am not qualified for the command position. I can only make a few suggestions to His Highness based on what I know about the situation.
"
"Please speak." Prince Leiden looked like he was listening attentively.
"The range, power, and rate of fire of the Yongye Army's artillery are all higher than our ballistae, and the speed of the warship model is also higher than ours. We don't have any advantage in the combat effectiveness of a single ship. The only thing we have is
The advantage is quantity, and only quantity.”
Captain Cornell had obviously thought about this problem for a long time, and he spoke up, "Even if you have a numerical advantage, you cannot swarm them. The distance between battleships must be widened to form a huge encirclement. Compressed
Their detour space, in this process, a lot of battle losses are inevitable, but we must grit our teeth and persevere. As long as we can get our fleet to approach them and launch a full-scale attack, I believe victory will belong to us. After all, it will always be ours.
The night army led only a few dozen warships, and one less was sunk."
"According to Captain Cornell, the key point of the tactics this time is to work together. Even if we sink, we cannot retreat. We must rush forward with all our strength!" Captain Bray frowned and said, "This point
For us, the difficulty is too great, and those captains and captains will not work so hard for us."
"They are unwilling to risk their lives because the temptation is not big enough. If the temptation is big enough, you will see if they will risk their lives." A confident smile appeared on Prince Leiden's face.
During the battle, any damage to their warships will be considered as our Commons family's, and we will compensate them according to the larger standard. They will not lose a wave-breaking schooner, and will later compensate them with a wave-breaking schooner.
We will give them a hurricane schooner as compensation for a wave-breaking schooner, and you will see if they work hard."
"There must be brave men under heavy rewards." Captain Bray's eyes flashed with admiration, "Just doing this will not guarantee that someone will take advantage of the loopholes, and the financial resources will be consumed too much."
"We don't have to worry about so much now. As long as we can preserve the main force of the fleet, we have a chance to start over." Prince Leiden said very grandly, "What's more, the warships will only be handed over to different people for use by then.
It is still considered a part of our Donghai Kingdom."
"Alert, alert, alert, a large number of unknown warships have been spotted ahead and are approaching us at high speed."
"The number of unknown warships has been confirmed, a total of twenty-three. The distance between the two sides is eight nautical miles and the speed is eighteen knots. It is expected that the two sides will meet in fifteen minutes."
"Warning, warning, warning, the unknown battleship is speeding up. It has already exceeded twenty knots. The time for the two sides to meet will be advanced."
A series of commotion sounds came from the battleship.