Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 77 Haiquan
“Please provide the items listed on this paper.” Bard placed the supply list on the table, his voice coming from inside his helmet, sounding somewhat muffled: “Everything must be delivered to the dock before noon tomorrow, and someone will be in charge of receiving it.”

Winters and Andrei stood imposingly behind Bader, clad in full officer's armor. Andrei, in particular, gripped his sword hilt with his left hand, scrutinizing the middle-aged man behind the table with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

Although Bard had been as polite as possible, their demeanor clearly did not allow the other party to refuse.

The thin, scrawny mayor of Haiquan Port lowered his head, not daring to meet the gaze of the three tall and imposing military officers in front of him. He quickly picked up the list on the table and began to examine it carefully.

After carefully reading the list, the previously worried mayor of Haiquan Port's brows relaxed slightly.

Admiral Naresha's quartermaster knew Seaspring Harbor inside and out. Their list would be painful for the mayor, but they could definitely produce it if they gritted their teeth.

Moreover, the revenge fleet only demanded supplies such as grain, flour, firewood, and cloth, which would not cripple this small trading port.

But his merchant nature made the mayor of Haiquan Town want to haggle a bit. He said with a troubled expression, "Sir, this town has less than a thousand households. Where would we find so much stuff in such a hurry? For example, this... ten thousand kilograms of wheat cakes that have been baked twice? I... I... where am I supposed to get so many wheat cakes? And..."

"Hmm?" Winters, his face unfriendly, let out a long, threatening sound from deep within his nose.

The gaunt town mayor immediately fell silent.

“You said it yourself—you can’t get all these things together.” Andrei sneered, “Since you’re unwilling to pay, then we’ll take them ourselves, haha, even better.”

He had barely finished speaking when he pushed the door open to leave.

The mayor of Haiquan Town jumped for joy and rushed over to stop Andrei. His intuition told him that while the other two officers were questionable, this tallest and most burly officer was truly capable of indulging in plunder and looting without any remorse.

"Sit down, sit down, don't rush." ​​Seeing that the time was right, Bud helped the gray-haired mayor back to his chair and said gently, "Although my colleague here is a bit impatient, he's telling the truth. We must collect these supplies no matter what, either you donate them voluntarily, or we take them ourselves. In fact, the fact that we're asking you for them is already a favor... If I were you, I would have already gone to find someone to bake bread."

Sweat beaded on the forehead of the mayor of Haiquan Town. This seasoned businessman, who had traveled all over the country, knew very well what tricks these young men were up to.

However, the dozens of warships anchored outside the harbor were not fake, the dark cannons on the ships were not fake, and the bloody smell emanating from these young men who were about the same age as his grandson was not fake either.

Under immense psychological pressure, the kind and gentle officer beside him made him feel exceptionally warm and trustworthy with his expression and tone.

The mayor of Haiquan Town swallowed hard, nodded with difficulty, and looked as if he had aged ten years in an instant: "I'll hand it over, I'll hand it over."

“No rush, just deliver it to the dock before noon tomorrow.” Bud bent down to pick up the list that had just fallen on the ground and put it back on the mayor’s desk. “By the way, where is the town’s water source? We’ll get the fresh water ourselves, you don’t need to provide it, so we can save the townspeople some trouble.”

"Danshui... Danshui..." The old mayor seemed dazed, as if he hadn't yet recovered from the conversation. He suddenly shouted, "Cannons! How many cannons do you have?"

Andrei strode over to the old mayor, grabbed him by the collar, lifted him up, and asked fiercely, "Spying on military intelligence? Want to die? I think you're a spy for the Federation!"

"Don't treat the old man like that! He's almost as old as your grandfather." Bud immediately stopped Andre, and Winters quickly helped as well.

The shaken old mayor hurriedly explained, "I didn't mean to inquire about military affairs, no... Can your fleet fire a round of cannons at the dock?"

Winters and Andre exchanged a glance, unsure of what the old man was planning, but Bard seemed to understand.

The old mayor became more and more excited as he spoke: "That's right! Fire a salvo! Fire a salvo from the entire fleet! Just empty shots will do. If you're willing to help me fire a salvo, I can prepare everything you need tonight!"

Bard and Andrei looked at Winters.

“Mayor, gunpowder is a valuable military resource. The fleet can’t possibly use precious gunpowder to scare the townspeople,” Winters said to the mayor of Seaspring Town, frowning. He understood the old man’s thinking.

The old mayor finally saw clearly that the officer of medium height was the leader of the three. He grabbed Winters' arm and said, "Gunpowder is easy to obtain. I'll supply you with it from the town's armory. I can give you all the gunpowder in Haiquan Town's armory. If you don't show force, not only will I lose my position as mayor, but the townspeople won't willingly hand over their supplies. If they try to delay, it will also hinder the preparation of supplies!"

Winters was deep in thought, while Bard and Andrei remained silent.

"I can also give some money to reward the officers," the old mayor pleaded again.

“It’s impossible for the entire fleet to fire a salvo, and it’s really outrageous for the mighty Venetta Navy to intimidate the civilians of a small town,” Winters pondered. “However, I can think of a way to get a capital warship to come and fire a salvo. No need for money, just hand over all the gunpowder in the town’s armory.”

“Good! Good!” The old mayor nodded vigorously, then remembered something else: “Could you three officers leave me a statement? Just say that if Haiquan Town does not hand over its supplies, we will bombard Haiquan Town with cannons.”

“I can’t write something like that for you. You’re the ones donating, not us stealing it, understand?” Winters laughed and said, “But I can write you an equivalent document with a similar meaning.”

——Cut——

The mayor of Haiquan Town, clutching a threatening letter that read, "If Haiquan Town does not pledge allegiance to the Venetta Republic, the Venetta Navy will bomb Haiquan Town to smithereens," hurriedly went to ring the bell to convene a meeting of the townspeople.

Having completed their mission, Winters, Bud, and Andre strolled leisurely toward the dock.

"I don't understand why this town is called Haiquan Town. I didn't see any wells in the town square either," Andrei asked casually.

Bard replied unhurriedly, "Whales can often be seen surfacing and spouting water in the waters near this island. The ancients, seeing this from afar, thought it was a spectacular sight of a sea fountain, hence the town was named Sea Spring Town."

"You found out again?" Andrei was quite unconvinced.

“Because I read books,” Bud said with a smile.

Winters unbuttoned his chin and took off his helmet, which was adorned with feathers. The heavy helmet made him sweat profusely, and his hair was soaked.

“Sigh, after all these years in military school, I’ve ended up doing the work of a robber.” Winters sighed and said apologetically, “Thank you both for helping me with this disgusting job.”

"Hey, why are you saying all this?"

In order to keep the military in check and prevent its power from growing too strong in the Republic, the logistics of the army of the Venetta Republic are handled by the civil service departments of the Governorate.

When the dishes are in someone else's hands, it's inevitable that they won't meet the military's expectations.

Moreover, the Vengeance Fleet had already emptied Veneta's war depots for this hasty transoceanic expedition. Nereichau and Antonio were uncertain about the availability of subsequent supplies, so the Joint Command unanimously agreed that no resupply opportunity could be missed. They were willing to throw supplies into the sea later, but they needed to fill the holds now, even if it meant doing so later.

That's why the "forced donation" happened just now.

Raising military funds is theoretically not difficult; the challenge lies in doing it well. It can't be too disgraceful, yet you still need to secure the supplies. That's why Winters, in desperation, sought help from Bard and Andrei.

Logically speaking, while no officer with a sense of honor would willingly do such dirty work, it shouldn't be the turn of a mere warrant officer. But who could blame him when Winters distinguished himself in the capture of the Vengeance, lost his leader, and rose from warrant officer to centurion?

Moreover, he wasn't just a centurion of an ordinary hundred-man squad; he was a centurion of the chief battalion.

A regular 100-man squad has only 80 men, while the chief battalion's 100-man squad has 150 men, which is equivalent to the strength of two regular 100-man squads.

They all came from the Army Officer School. The senior officers hadn't even made it to the position of centurion of the chief battalion, and you, a mere cadet officer, had only been out of the military academy for a few days and had already taken this position—albeit temporarily—how could you not be envied?

Even Andrei felt a little uneasy, let alone others.

Only Budd privately and worriedly advised Winters: "You haven't been put in a good place, you've been put into a snake pit!"

Therefore, Winters is now acting more and more discreetly and being more and more humble. He salutes his seniors from a distance, afraid that others will say, "This kid has become arrogant since becoming the centurion of the chief battalion."

Fortunately, few people knew that Serbian legion commander was Warrant Officer Montagne's uncle. Winters gritted his teeth and tolerated the gossip behind his back. But if anyone dared to smear Antonio, Winters would definitely challenge them to a duel.

That said, since leaving Aquamarine City, Winters hadn't met with Antonio alone. Once in the military, there were no blood relatives, only superiors and subordinates. This was for the best; at least Winters felt comfortable. If he were to deliberately take care of him, he would feel uncomfortable.

So during the few days of rest after the Battle of Lighthouse Harbor, Warrant Officer Montagne's greatest hope was that Army Headquarters would send someone to replace him as the acting centurion.

He couldn't understand why he, a mere warrant officer, was being temporarily appointed as the centurion of the chief battalion. Logically, it would have been more reasonable to transfer a senior junior officer from another battalion.

But when Winters went to Contaire, the lieutenant colonel said: "The corps has no personnel authority; officers' positions are appointed by Army Headquarters. Temporarily transferring lieutenants from other centurions to the 100th is equivalent to destroying the combat effectiveness of two centurions. Having you temporarily act as centurion will at most destroy the combat effectiveness of one centurion."

Lieutenant Colonel Contel patted Winters on the shoulder, comforting him, "This is an excellent opportunity for experience; you should cherish it. Others would be eager to take it. Besides, you won't be in this position for too long, so hang in there. Don't worry about what others say; only mediocre people are not envied."

Since his superiors had said so, Winters couldn't refuse any longer.

However, Warrant Officer Montagne waited and waited, but instead of receiving a formal officer to replace him, he received orders to set off again.

After burying the dead, repairing the warships, salvaging weapons and supplies from the sunken ships, and loading prisoners onto ships to send them back to Ocean City, this series of post-war cleanup tasks were completed.

Three days after the Battle of Lighthouse Harbor, Veneta's revenge fleet set sail again.

The outcome of this decisive naval battle outside Lighthouse Harbor has spread throughout the Gulf of Cenas and even further afield via passing merchant ships.

This is why Admiral Naresha went to great lengths, even at the cost of putting the Venetta fleet in danger and creating opportunities for the enemy, to wage a decisive fleet battle.

Because Admiral Naresha firmly believed that a large-scale naval battle could determine the course of the war, and even its outcome, and that the victor of the fleet decisive battle would be able to take everything.

In the Battle of Lighthouse Harbor, the Venetian Navy not only crushed the Tanilians' fleet but also shattered their morale.

Along the shipping route from Aquamarine City to Golden Harbor, apart from a few near-shore ports directly controlled by Veneta, the offshore ports only nominally belong to Veneta and are usually in close ties with the Tanilia Federation. Ports closer to the archipelago, like Seaspring Harbor, are effectively within the Federation's sphere of influence.

After news of Venetia's resounding victory over Tanilla spread throughout the Gulf of Cenas, the Venetia Autonomous Port, which had been restless due to the crushing defeat at East Harbor, became completely subdued overnight wherever the revenge fleet went. As for the Federation territories like Seaspring Harbor, they didn't even have the courage to resist, surrendering one after another without a fight.

Naresha commanded the Vengeance Fleet to swiftly clear every obstacle in the route, approaching step by step the main island of the Taniri Islands.

“So look what you’ve done! You’ve directly ruined the bravest and best captains and sailors of the Tannaria. Ships flying the Venetia flag now roam the inland seas with impunity, and harbors that were once loyal to us are surrendering one after another.” Edward Kenway said grimly in the cabin of the Firebird.

“You really can’t blame me for this!” Drake said with a nonchalant smile, lying in a swaying hammock, his head and shoulder wounds having been treated. “Whether I win or lose, as long as the Venetians’ fleet fires a couple of shots to scare them, those islanders will be ready to hang their underwear on poles as a white flag. Don’t tell me how loyal those islanders are; do you even believe what you’re saying?”

“Even if they originally had the courage to resist the Venetians, it has all vanished because of your crushing defeat.” Captain Kenway suppressed his anger: “For your personal grudge, you’ve sacrificed twenty of Taneria’s best ships. Do you think it was worth it?”

Captain Drake—no, he no longer had a ship—sighed, clicked his tongue, and said nonchalantly, “There was nothing wrong with having a fleet battle. If I had won, the Venetians’ war plans would have collapsed on the spot. What would you have said then? So, the only mistake was that I lost.”

"Do you think you've forgotten why the Venetians started this war with us?" Captain Kenway asked with a sneer. "If you hadn't raided the Venetians' home port, this war wouldn't have even started."

“You’re wrong again. Whether I burned East Harbor or not, the Venetians would still go to war with us. Debera has repeatedly called for force, and the Venetian council’s calls for war have grown louder each time. As long as the Venetians’ territorial ambitions remain, war is inevitable. I’m just bringing the war forward, and I’ve also gained the upper hand for the archipelago.” Drake yawned, closed his eyes, and slowly said, “Stop with the nonsense. You came to save me, doesn’t that already show which side you’re on? If you’re not satisfied with not venting your emotions, then why don’t you stab me?”

Kenway said nothing and drew his scimitar.

"Hey! What are you doing? Are you really going to cut me?" Drake broke out in a cold sweat and struggled to get up from the hammock.

A flash of cold light, and the ropes on both sides of the hammock were cleanly and decisively severed. Drake crashed heavily onto the deck, groaning as he clutched his back, "Ugh... my old back..."

“You don’t understand now, or you don’t want to understand. As long as your fleet exists, it will be a sword hanging over the heads of the Venetians. As long as your fleet is not destroyed, the Venetians will not dare to sail freely in the inland seas.”

"What's the point of saying all this now?" Drake clutched his back and struggled to his feet. "Since you refused to attack the Glorious back then, you should have left me on the Vengeance to die!"

“You’re still useful as long as you’re alive,” Captain Kenway said coldly. “Even though your fleet is gone, as long as you’re alive, you’re still a sword of Damocles hanging over the Venetians’ heads. Your plan has failed, so I want you to fully support my plan within the Federation!”

Kenway wrinkled his nose and said, "And I'm not going to leave my friend on the ship to die."

——Cut——

As the sun began to set, a Veneta flag slowly rose from the miniature fortress of Seaspring Harbor amidst the salute of a Veneta flagship's main battleship.

In the town square not far away, the old mayor was talking to the townspeople who had gathered together.

Andrei stood on the artillery battery, looked at the town square, snorted disdainfully, and spat on the ground.

“Actually, I think it’s a good thing that you’re doing this kind of dirty work,” Bud said to Winters while raising the flag. “It’s actually a way of taking care of you, a very clever arrangement.”

Winters didn't say anything.

Thank you to all the readers who voted for the book. Special thanks to Writersblock, 正义纯洁是考拉, 20181013204343295, Ami, and Yuan Hongjian for their votes. Thank you everyone.

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(End of this chapter)