Hearing the guards hurriedly come to report that Urcondo had personally visited, Austin Carlos, the lord of Willandra, stood up from the long seat of the military council in some surprise and walked back and forth with a strange expression, "Why is he here?

"My lord, what is it that makes you so uneasy?" saw Austin Carlos's uncharacteristic expression, and a bearded middle-aged man sitting below him stood up and asked

"Do you still remember the few merchant ships that transported iron ore some time ago, they were the ships that were used as troop carriers!"

Austin Carlos stopped with a solemn expression, turned around and asked, these few people who are qualified to attend the military meeting are all personal followers who have followed him for many years, and there is no problem in loyalty

"Kang's merchant ships, my lord means that the other party has come to the door!" Several generals below stood up in unison, and the bearded man among them shouted with an arrogant expression, "With our current strength, do we need to think about this? Since we are here, we will fight, I don't believe it, we have trained the northern warriors for several months, and we still can't defeat a group of tired sailors who have been drifting at sea for more than ten days!"

"Fight, it's easy to say!" Austin Carlos frowned, a fierce light flashed in his eyes, waved his hand at him, and said sharply, "Dozaved, how many times have I said it, impulsiveness will only make things troublesome, we are the merchant ships of the Falcon Empire, and behind them, there is still a huge empire with hundreds of thousands of warriors, can you win this time, and every time in the future?"

Austin Carlos's voice stopped, and said in a condensed voice, "I have considered the reaction of the Falcon Empire, this place is too far away from their homeland, at most it is to send someone to negotiate, but who knows that they directly sent a fleet, out of prudence, I asked the port side to strengthen the defense, but the port guards reported that the other side had as many as 8 warships. According to visual observations, the number of soldiers carried by such inland warships is at least about 200, that is, the fleet outside our harbor has about 1,600 troops. It's not good!"

"1,600 people!" Hearing the numbers in Austin Carlos's mouth, the faces of the generals below changed a little, and they took a deep breath of cold air

"This ...... How could there be so many people!" the bearded Dozaved, who was still shouting just now

They finally knew what Austin Carlos was worried about, and that Willandra was now a strong man, with a total strength of 4,500 men, but that was only relative to the other nearby lords, excluding the armies that were still stationed on the border. Now there are only 2 squadrons of soldiers remaining in the city of Willandra, less than 500 people,

If there is really a fierce conflict, the 1,600 people of the other side are completely crushing advantages for the little Willandra, although the defenders in the city are not afraid of them relying on the strong castle, but the residential and commercial areas and ports in the outer area of the castle will inevitably suffer heavy losses, which is about to take heavy action for Willandra. It's not a favorite situation, and it would be too much to lose if it caused alarm on the side of Austin's main city

"Anyway. You can't go wrong with being prepared!"

After a moment of silence, Austin Carlos decisively waved to one of his henchmen and said, "Morris, you immediately transfer all the patrols outside the castle back, and if there is a conflict, close the castle gate and wait for help!"

As for the area outside the castle, no matter what happens, we will definitely not be able to send people out, as long as we do not reveal our true military strength, even if the main city of Austin sends people to investigate. At most, it is just a dispute on the border, and they have no interest in delving into it, so they will not notice our abnormal deployment of troops!"...,

"Yes, my subordinates know what to do!" the henchman stood up and saluted Austin Carlos, turned and hurried away, after a few words of advice. Austin Carlos received Urcondo in the main hall of the castle

"My best friend of life and death, what is it, I need you, a big man who makes me look up to me, to come in person, it really makes me feel terrified" Austin Carlos wore a silver half-face mask on half of his face, covering the hideous scars on his face, his hair was tied in a ponytail, and he looked particularly energetic, and when he saw Urcondo walking in, he walked up with an eager face,

"Come, tell me that cook from the main city of Austin, there is a distinguished guest today, and I am going to hold a banquet that is in no way inferior to the high society of the main city!" Austin Carlos said in a loud voice to the servant next to him as he walked affectionately towards Urcondo, and his impassioned voice showed no sign of concern just now

"You're welcome, I'm here to inquire about an urgent matter on behalf of the Falcon Empire!" Urcondo waved his hand calmly and sat down across from Austin Carlos,

"Urgent, what's the need for you, the head of the Northlands?" Austin Carlos looked blank

Ulcondo took a sip of water and was silent for a while before he said with a solemn expression, "I received a complaint from the merchants of the Empire, they said that they brought you iron ore as agreed, but you not only did not pay them because the iron ore was defective, but also overburdened them and requisitioned their merchant ships into your fleet, what is going on?"

"This ...... How is it possible, absolutely not!" Austin Carlos pretended to be surprised and shook his head affirmatively

"When has this been, shouldn't you treat each other with sincerity?" Ulcondo's eyes widened angrily, and he stood up excitedly, walked back and forth a few steps, turned his head and said, "Do you know the severity of this matter?" Because of this matter, the Empire is already considering whether it should continue to fulfill the secret agreement between you and me, which has a great impact on me, and even directly affects His Majesty's trust in me, and the Admiralty has already written that it is because of my dereliction of duty that I caused such a bad incident to damage the reputation of the Empire, and if there is no reasonable answer, the anger of the Imperial fleet will pour out on the head of Willandra, which is what you don't want to see, and it's not what I want to see!" I can guarantee with my royal family name that such an unjust thing must never happen in my territory, whether there is a mistake somewhere, or some misunderstanding and rumors!" Austin Carlos's face changed slightly, but he still did not have this matter, and secretly calculated in his heart that the merchants had been secretly executed. The merchant ships have also undergone exterior modifications in the dockyard, and in the absence of proof, no matter what you say, I don't admit it!

"Really, really?" Ulcondo looked at Austin Carlos with fiery eyes. It seemed that Austin Carlos had long known that he would shirk the matter, and waved his hand to the guard next to him,

The guard respectfully handed over several drawings with depictions in Chinese jiàn, saw the drawings that Urcondo had received, and the face of Austin Carlos, who had just beaten and did not admit it, suddenly looked extremely ugly, it was several ship drawings drawn with stick figures. It's the merchant ships that have been repurposed

"Can you explain what's going on!Why are Imperial merchant ships in the dockyard of your fleet?" said Ulcondo, spreading out the drawings on the table in front of Austin Carlos, and clicking on one of them with his fingers

"This is not an imperial merchant ship, but a merchant ship that I bought from the inland for 100,000 gold coins!" Austin Carlos blinked, the embarrassment on his face flashed, and he said resolutely without admitting it, "Don't forget. According to the agreement, I can send merchant ships to the inland coast of the empire to do business, so I deliberately spent a lot of money to buy these ships"...,

Austin Carlos pointed to a raised fitting pattern on the left side of the ship's drawing. He said, "Look here, this is a fixed sail wing that only our North Sea ships have, in order to be able to get the right wind speed in the case of headwinds, which is not available on your inland ships, which we have already asked for when we customize the interior!"

"What nonsense!" Looking at the position of Austin Carlos's finger, Urcondo was indignant and silent, the ships were all in the dock, and it was not a matter of words to change it, using this as an excuse to shirk, the other party's behavior was too despicable.

"Well, I hope what you said is right, but those few disappeared merchants must be found, life to see people, death to see corpses, this is the bottom line of the empire. Otherwise, I won't be able to explain to the main fleet docked outside the port" Ulcondo's face softened, and he sat down with a decadent face, he knew that with Austin Carlos's viciousness, it was absolutely impossible for these merchants to be alive,

The reason why he said such a thing was to give the other party an excuse to go down, so that the other party would naturally use the logistics fleet that was currently appearing in the port in front of the main fleet of the empire.

Sure enough, Austin Carlos's nervous face showed a relieved smile, "Of course, as long as it's in my territory, even if it's an ant, I can help you find it" Austin Carlos's voice suddenly stopped, and asked tentatively, "I've long heard that the fleet of the Falcon Empire is the real overlord of the sea, and even we Austins have to bow down, I don't know if I have the honor to board the battleship to have a look?"

"I can't do anything about this! I'm just the head of the North Sea region of the business alliance, not the head of the military, and the affairs of the army are not in my hands" Urcondo shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands helplessly

"As an Austin, it's a pity that you can't board the battleship of the first navy on the mainland to have a look" Austin Carlos sighed with some disappointment, his eyes rolled wildly, obviously calculating something, the main naval warship of the Falcon Empire actually ran to the North Sea, this is a golden opportunity, if you can drag this strong force into your side, you will have a greater grasp of the main city of Austin!

Seeing the look of gain and loss on Austin Carlos's face, Ulcondo laughed secretly in his heart, this cunning Northland fox finally took the bait,

According to the latest intelligence, Austin Carlos has frequently mobilized troops in the past month, launched several battles in a row, plundered a lot of areas and populations from the hands of nearby lords, and the military power is also rapidly expanding, under the condition of ensuring sufficient weapons, the number of soldiers has rapidly expanded from the original 1,000 city guards to an army of more than 4,000 people.

In terms of the army alone, Austin Carlos is already the great lord of Austin's many lords second only to Austin's main city in terms of strength, but Austin Carlos's weakness is also obvious.

That is, there is an extreme shortage of warships, and Willandra is the most vulnerable city to sea attacks with his back to the coast, which is why the main city of Austin gave him this area, as long as he makes a slight move, the fleet of the main city of Austin can go down the river and level the weak Willandra in one fell swoop

The Navy was a pain in Austin Carlos's heart, and it was the reason why he had been wavering in the build-up. Soldiers can be called up temporarily, but warships cannot be built in a short period of time, not to mention the lack of supplies in the Northland, even if it is already fully guaranteed. The 3 dockyards in Austin Carlos are also only 2 ships built in a month.

That's it, they are still the kind of sampan warships that are extremely small, and they can't compete with the sail warship group in the main city of Austin, so they have no choice but to hit the head of the Falcon Empire merchant ships that come and go, and these merchant ships are much larger than ordinary sail warships. If it is fully loaded with soldiers, it can reach about 200 people, which is an ideal weapon for fighting at sea...,

"Let me give you one last push!"

A sharp cold light flashed in Ulcondo's eyes, and he deliberately pretended to have a mysterious look, and said hesitantly, "Actually, if you want to board the warship, it's not that there is no way at all! You only need the fleet commander to agree to you, you don't know the establishment of our imperial fleet." Like the detachment in front of me, which only belongs to the main fleet,

According to the regulations of the Imperial Navy, as long as it is the Imperial Navy fleet that leaves the mainland to carry out tasks. In the face of different situations, its commander has the greatest command of the fleet, and even has the power to declare war independently, compared to these, you just want to go up and take a look, what is it!"

"What! What! The commander of your Falcon Empire's fleet can decide whether or not to declare war on the outside world!" Austin Carlos's eyes lit up, and he couldn't wait to ask for this extremely important information

"This ......"

Ulcondo looked hesitant and stopped, looking left and right, obviously scruples. Austin Carlos said knowingly, "Everyone go down first, no one is allowed to enter without my order"

"Go down too!" Ulcondo raised his hand and let all the guards leave,

Only two whispering people remained in the hall, and Urcondo whispered in the ear of Austin Carlos, who was earnest opposite, "It's a shame to say." In our Falcon Empire, the power of the fleet commander is beyond your imagination! Even I, the head of the North Sea Business Alliance, can not sell it!

The right to self-determination war, this article was formulated when the Imperial fleet was called a privateer fleet, I heard that it was to facilitate the fleet's operations in the far seas, in the vast sea, once it encounters an attack, it can immediately counterattack, no longer need to report, and it is approved by His Majesty Falcon himself. Until now, the Empire has not canceled this rule, which allows almost all fleet commanders to do whatever they want with any fleet on the sea!

"You say this, I can understand that if you encounter an attack on the vast sea, you have no chance to report it, but it is the most correct decision to immediately take a decisive counterattack!" A trace of shame flashed on Austin Carlos's face, he just thought that Ulcondo was deliberately perfunctory, but with the information revealed by Ulcondo, Austin Carlos became boiling,

If the Austin main city fleet launches an attack on the Falcon fleet without knowing it, does it mean that the entire Falcon Imperial fleet will declare war on the main city of Austin, and when the main force of the Falcon fleet will advance north, even if the Austin main city fleet wants to attack from the sea, it will be too busy to take care of itself!

"Well, that's it, if you have the opportunity to approach the commander of the fleet, I believe that the request to get on board and have a look can be granted!" Urcondo looked at Austin Carlos, who was about to move, and knew that the fish had bitten the hook, got up from his seat, and patted the dust on his sleeve,

He said, "That's it, I hope you can speed up the merchant's business, and I'll tell you the rest, I'm going back immediately, the fleet is still in the harbor waiting for me to reply!

Looking at Ulcondo, who was full of dissatisfaction and muttering, Austin Carlos smiled secretly in his heart, a few merchant ships are indeed not worth such a big fight, but if these merchant ships are not only loaded with iron ore, but also loaded with more than 1,500 sets of infantry weapons and armor, it is another matter,

Because of this windfall, Austin Carlos's troop equipment was upgraded by a whole level, and the infantry was redressed a few months ahead of schedule, of course, he didn't know that these merchants were actually some smuggling ships under the banner of trade, and the owners of the ships on them were not merchants from the business alliance, but black market merchants sent by the Ministry of Supervision to disguise themselves as smugglers.

"How many days will the fleet stay in the harbor?" At the gate of the castle, Austin Carlos rarely personally held the head of Ulcondo's war horse, and let Ulcondo turn over and ride on the war horse.

"The flagship will stay in the harbor to replenish, and the other ships will go to our harbor to rest because they have a record of damage!" According to estimates, it will take at least 5 days, and I don't know after that, I am only a merchant, not a navy, and I have no right to interfere with the actions of the navy," Ulcondo replied with some absent-mindedness

"Five days!" Austin Carlos waited until Urcondo disappeared around the corner of the road leading to the bottom of the mountain, then raised his head, looked at the boundless white earth of the Northland, and subconsciously smacked his lips, preparing a little hastily, but not completely without opportunities, (to be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to (.) to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support is my biggest motivation. )