Dozens of tables were set up in the government compound in the Port of Trieste, and the waiters who put down their bows and arrows went about their business. Barbecued meats and vegetables were constantly being transferred to the tables through the hands of the waiters.

It is not an easy task to prepare dinner for hundreds of people in two hours, especially since the city has just experienced a battle and no supplies, from heating fuel to common vegetables, are in normal supply.

For this banquet, Governor Gundogan can start making preparations as soon as the fighting eases slightly.

The chefs in Trieste tried their best to thank their saviors.

However, under the coordination of Governor Gundogan, the Austrian elite who followed Ladislaus were able to share a sumptuous dinner at dusk.

Although Governor Gundogan put a lot of effort into preparing the banquet, he was unable to attend the banquet. Ladislaus sent him out to arrange medicine and a place for rehabilitation for the wounded soldiers under Kesso-Vitting's command.

Already.

The smell of blood and fire has not yet dissipated, and fighting is still going on in some parts of the city. Ladislaus does not want his subordinates to mistakenly think that now is a good opportunity to flatter him.

If the governor only prepared some hot food for Ladislaus's bodyguard instead of such a feast of meat and wine, and tried his best to prepare supplies and treatment for the large army coming from Vienna, Ladislaus would be disappointed.

Dislaus was truly satisfied.

It's a pity that he was too eager to please the leader and went too far.

Of course, his overall performance was good, but today was originally an opportunity for him. His overeager dinner prevented him from seizing this opportunity.

Of course, Ladislaus will also organize his subordinates to enjoy this banquet. These subordinates who have been traveling with him for the longest time have seen the rich food and it is obviously too unkind to deny them food.

And there was a special guest at the banquet.

There was a banquet going on on the rooftop and in the courtyard. Relatively speaking, the rooftop could observe the fighting neighborhood, so Ladislaus met his special guest here.

"Captain Jack! Long time no see."

Ladislaus met Captain Jack Sparrow of the White Onyx again.

"It's such an honor that you remember me, little man." Captain Jack prayed countless times that Ladislaus had forgotten his little betrayal.

"Ah, Captain Jack, how could I forget you?" Is there really any betrayal in this world that is so small that it can be forgotten?

Although his joining the Barbary pirates was not of his own free will, Ladislaus would never forget any betrayal.

"Come on, don't be nervous, let's have a drink. Do you prefer a quiet harbor or a rough sea? The latter is a newly developed variety this year?" But Ladislaus did not intend to hang Captain Jack, because he was not captured today.

Yes, but there was an uprising in front of the battle!

The difference between this is life and death, especially for someone like Captain Jack who has a dark history with the monarch.

Captain Jack Sparrow did pretty well among the pirates.

Relying on his skilled professional skills, he quickly gained his position among the Barbary pirates. He also had several beauties in Tripoli, but he preferred the exotic customs of Asia Minor.

But today, after this heartless man discovered that there was an opportunity to get rid of his pirate career, he had no nostalgia for these beauties.

He relied on a few bilge slaves under his control to prevent Hayreddin's cronies from building a flagship, and made great contributions to Austria's reception.

For the sake of so many silver talers, Ladislaus naturally couldn't help but give them the treatment of a "pre-battle uprising".

But of course he couldn't get the slightest bit of trust. Boss Sirica's dangerous eyes kept wandering on Captain Jack's back. The coldness in them made Captain Jack nervous.

"Please don't call me you. When I was captured by Your Highness on the beach of Siena, I knew that you were not a creature of the pool. It was just that I was so unlucky that I can only serve you today."

Captain Jack did not dare to take the wine, but lowered his posture lower and lower.

"Haha. Then welcome back to the team. After all, you were also kidnapped by the Barbary pirates in the first place!" Ladislaus reinterpreted the past events.

Betrayal is never forgotten. But it can be reinterpreted.

"You are so magnanimous and magnanimous." After hearing Ladislaus's words, Captain Jack finally felt relieved.

"Okay, let me tell you more about my recent experience." Captain Jack's knowledge of the Barbary pirates is something Ladislaus is very concerned about. "Especially since I helped quell the turmoil in the Republic of Venice.

experience."

Captain Jack also knew that this was his own value, so he braced himself to tell Ladislaus his information.

"Since you helped the Republic of Venice restore stability, well, since stability, pirates have been rampant." Captain Jack recalled Ladislaus's diplomatic rhetoric with an envious tone. Now Venice and the entire Adriatic

The "stable situation" of the sea is the result of Ladislaus's efforts.

"Although the Republic of Venice has restored stability, because there are still some separatists and careerists on Crete, the Venetian navy is temporarily unable to fight against the Barbary pirates." Captain Jack continued. "In the past year,

The Barbary pirates seized a large amount of supplies and wealth from those Italian city-states, and the eastern part of Naples and the eastern part of Rome near the Adriatic Sea, which belonged to the Kingdom of Spain, were also ravaged."

"Oh? Didn't the Spanish Navy even care about the attack on eastern Naples?" Ladislaus was a little surprised by this. He thought Spain would protect its eastern territory no matter what.

A block where nearly a hundred pirates gathered was undergoing a fierce attack and defense. Ladislaus seemed to see Old John personally directing the battle there. The Austrian infantry, supported by archers composed of several officers, was demolishing a two-story building occupied by pirates.

Small building.

"Now Hayredin uses the port of the Republic of Ragusa, and the Spanish navy's nearest assembly point is the port of Taranto. The pirates are too close."

"Are you saying that Ragusa is no longer just used as an emergency maintenance base, but that it is permanently stationed there?"

The state of the Republic of Ragusa is very strange. As the last stronghold of the Cyric faith in the Balkans, it actually survived entirely because of the secretive policies of the Ottoman Empire.

Of course, it served the interests of the Ottoman Empire, but the Ottoman Empire had also been careful not to let this small port republic directly participate in its military operations and maintain its apparent independence.

Ladislaus, like most others, including perhaps the commanders of the Spanish squadrons stationed at Taranto and Syracuse, were unaware that Barbary pirates were now openly operating from Ragusa.

"Yes, but most of the time Hayreddin is still in Tripoli or Alexandria. He has always tried his best to handle the sale of the spoils by himself." European specialties can sell for the highest prices in the Black Continent. Those semi-nomadic country dignitaries on the southern coast of the Mediterranean

Their harems were often filled with white women, so much so that within a few generations the sultans of Morocco and Tunisia and their ministers became Europas with traces of Berber in appearance.

In the palaces of Marrakech and Tunis, only the guards were Berbers.

"The Republic of Liguria is also trading with Hayreddin. Barbary pirates rarely attack Ligurian merchant ships, and they can also get supplies and maintenance services from some Ligurian commercial strongholds on the northern coast of the Black Continent." I had to.

It is said that Ladislas's uncle spared no effort to fight against the Republic of Venice.

It's just that doing this is a blessing and a disaster. Although the Ligurian city itself has two early warning devices, Corsica and Sardinia, it is unlikely to be directly attacked by Barbary pirates. But the trade routes it relies on for survival

The same goes for the open Mediterranean.

Barbary pirates also threaten its prosperity in the long run, but Liguria is now enjoying for free the "Naples-Sicily-Malta-Algiers" defense line that the Kingdom of Spain has worked hard to build. The natural choice for Generalissimo Doria is

Makes sense.

"Your Highness, there is one more thing that I must report to you alone." Captain Jack suddenly lowered his voice.

"If you want to say it, say it here." Ladislaus was not afraid of Captain Jack because of his strength, but he had no intention of giving a subordinate who had just defected a chance to meet alone.

Ladislaus leaned out to see the situation in a neighborhood where there was suddenly a fierce battle. Several magical lights flashed, and there seemed to be a pirate mage there.

However, the Austrian soldiers methodically approached little by little according to the established tactics, and promoted that if you surrendered, you would not die, and the caster would receive preferential treatment, and finally captured the mage.

Spell casters are always given certain preferential treatment. Even pirate mages will generally not be executed as long as their crimes are not extremely heinous.

After all, a mage is worth at least a thousand thalers as a ransom, and no one will have trouble with silver coins.

"Don't worry, Captain Jack. If you tell me what you say here, only I can hear it."

Although Ladislaus dined with his subordinates on the rooftop, there was actually a cordon around him and the conversation was confidential.

Captain Jack's request was rejected and he had no choice but to tell his information under the mocking eyes of Sirica: "Two months ago, I was given a special mission."

Having said this, Captain Jack couldn't help but nervously observe the surrounding situation.

"I took a pirate ship composed almost entirely of Europeans, disguised as a merchant ship, entered the Port of Marseille, and picked up a mysterious passenger to Istanbul!" Captain Jack was talking nonsense. He was just the deputy of a pirate captain at the time. In order to make that person

A distinguished French guest felt at ease and provided translation services.

However, crossing the Spanish Navy's blockade in the Western Mediterranean was indeed an adventure, and he did gain a bit of status because of this dangerous job, allowing him to use Hayreddin's wealth to buy his own life today.

"Your Highness Habsburg, if I am not mistaken, Paris has colluded with Istanbul. Judging from the recent intensity of piracy operations on the Adriatic Sea, I think they have formed a blasphemous alliance.

The atmosphere of war in the Ottoman Empire is getting stronger and stronger, and they are preparing for a large-scale

"To prepare for Mo's attack." Captain Jack decided to make the situation as serious as possible. "In order to assist King Francois, who was captured by the Warlock Royal Family, the Ottomans may be planning to land in the Adriatic Sea and want to do it again."

Attack the Naples area and even attack your prosperous and peaceful Grand Duchy of Austria!"

After Captain Jack finished speaking, he stared at Ladislaus's face nervously. The Ottomans had conducted an amphibious offensive before, and last time they directly threatened the city of Rome.

He was disappointed to see that the other party's handsome and indifferent face showed no emotional changes and seemed not to be stimulated by the news at all.

Queen Louise's alliance with the Ottoman Empire indeed greatly exceeded the expectations of observers of this era. However, for Ladislaus, this geographical rebalancing was natural. Although the internal conflicts within the Habsburg family were fierce,

The Kingdom of France is indeed no longer able to cope with even the smallest joint action of the Habsburg Alliance.

The shrewd and bold Queen Louise will definitely look for new allies. Isn’t the distant and powerful Ottoman Empire a natural choice?

This so-called important information had almost no value in front of Ladislaus.

It is not that Ladislaus has not considered the Ottomans' amphibious operations through the Adriatic Sea. After all, after he destroyed the reaction capacity of the Republic of Venice, this option was not impossible for the Ottoman monarchs and ministers.

.

But since the Ottoman Empire's last amphibious attack on Naples ended in failure, they have been expanding honestly in traditional ways and achieved good results. Ladislaus does not think they will change their always successful strategy.

"The Ottomans are gradually encroaching on the Venetian castles in Dalmatia, but neither the city of Venice nor the civil war parties in Crete made any response. Once the entire Dalmatian coast fell completely under the control of the Ottomans, they

We have a starting point for the attack very close to Austria." Captain Jack was still promoting.

His theory and energy during this period allowed him to see the threat that pirates pose to land. "Although you severely damaged the Barbary pirates this time, Hayreddin still controls at least three thousand pirates and twenty to thirty ships.

, and the Maghreb coastline is full of young people who want to join pirates, he will soon regain his strength."

However, organizing hundreds of people to rob a small city is completely different from organizing tens of thousands of people to attack a country.

"The information you provided is very good. I will arrange a good position for you in the Austrian River Fleet. Believe me, it will be a more promising field." The Austrian River Army really needs an experienced captain like Jack.

Although Ladislaus did not attach great importance to his intelligence, Jack was very satisfied with the result. He really did not want to stay in the Adriatic Sea anymore.

While he continued to express his gratitude, Sirica whispered a few words to Ladislaus after getting a note from one of his subordinates.

Captain Jack resigned after seeing this scene. He was indeed a wise man.

Ladislaus took another look at the block. Most of the fighting had stopped.

"After arriving in Vienna, Machiavelli will arrange your life for you. Now I have to cook." After finishing speaking, Ladislaus left the dinner party, which was still immersed in joy. (To be continued.
Chapter completed!