Poor Captain Jack Sparrow stood outside the castle, with several cavalrymen on horseback beside him, with spears pointed at him.
Not for anything else, just because of the way this guy dressed...it was simply too blatant and arrogant. It just had the words engraved on his face: I am a pirate!
It has to be said that this is also due to Duwei. The outfit he designed for Captain Jack Sparrow was completely based on the charming pirate captain in the famous movie in his previous life, especially the red on his head.
The turban, the mustache on the chin, and the dark circles under the eyes...
When such a strangely dressed man came to the area around Luo Lin Castle, he was immediately stared at by the patrolling Luo Lin family's cavalry guards. Since Du Wei was kidnapped twice, the Luo Lin family's guard force has increased several times.
If Jack Sparrow hadn't been holding the token Ruolin gave him, he would have been tied up by these cavalrymen.
"Aha! My captain, you're here!" Du Wei hurriedly ran out of the castle with a big laugh. Looking at the pirate captain who was being pointed at with a spear by a group of cavalry, Du Wei couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.
There was a guard knight below who immediately jumped off his horse and bowed: "Master, this guy is dressed strangely and doesn't look like a good person, but he is holding the token of Knight Ruolin in his hand. We suspect him..."
"No doubt, this is my man, let him go." Duwei waved his hand. The knights retreated. Duwei looked at the nervous Jack Sparrow, walked up to him and patted him hard.
Looking over his shoulder, he smiled and said, "You're finally here. Have you finished what you were told to do?"
The pirate captain had already experienced Du Wei's power. He quickly bent down and said with a smile: "Master, things were done very successfully. Although there were some mistakes in the middle, Miss Joanna took action and they were solved. And the results were better than
It was much better than I expected.”
Du Wei glanced around: "This is not the place to talk."
Then someone took Captain Sparrow to his study.
Entering the study room, has this vulgar pirate ever seen the rich scene of the Imperial Wuxun family? Those sterling silver candlesticks alone made him almost blinded by the sight, and then the people below brought him the best black tea produced in the south.
, the sterling silver tea set also made Sparrow nervous.
After driving away the servants and closing the door, Du Wei calmly cast a sound-silencing magic so that the conversation in the room did not have to be spread out. Then he sat on the chair and straightened his face: "Let's talk.
.”
"Yes!" Captain Sparrow quickly stood up, put down the teacup in his hand, and whispered: "This trip to sea lasted for three months. We swept nineteen islands in the eastern sea. Miss Joanna took action.
, those who resisted were thrown into the sea to feed the sharks. There were 421 people gathered from the rest. There were a total of 32 large and small ships, including a Sea King-class battleship!"
"Neptune level?" Du Wei was slightly surprised.
In the Roland Empire, ships at sea are divided into four classes according to their displacement. The order from largest to smallest is: Poseidon class, Neptune class, Sea Owl class, and Sea Soul class.
Among them, the Poseidon-class ship is the largest and can be regarded as the first-class main ship in the Imperial Navy. For example, Du Wei's father, Count Raymond, led the navy to the south on the expedition and returned to the imperial capital in triumph, the flagship "Dandong".
A giant ship of the Poseidon class. The captain is more than 300 steps long and about 150 meters long. The maximum carrying capacity can carry a total of 800 crew members and combatants. In this world, it can be called a giant on the sea.
The slightly smaller one is the Sea King class. The length of the ship can reach up to 100 meters, usually around 80 meters, and can carry 500 combatants. It is also equipped with a certain number of long-range attack weapons such as ballistae.
.
In this era, because there is no gunpowder and thermal weapons, there is no such artillery. The so-called ground ballistae are actually just some giant crossbows. They are fired with a noose, and the range can reach about one thousand meters. It has strong penetrating power and can
The projectile iron plate is often fired during sea battles. If it hits the target, it can pierce the opponent's hull and directly cause hull damage to the opponent.
In this era, there are no long-range attack weapons such as artillery. Only Poseidon-level giant ships can be equipped with a small number of magic cannons. It is a long-range weapon similar to artillery made using magic principles, but it is extremely expensive to build. Although it is powerful,
It is huge, comparable to the artillery that Du Wei knew in his previous life, but it is low in cost performance and requires expensive magic materials and profound magic principles. It is even said that some of the manufacturing techniques have been lost.
And because of these reasons, in this world, so-called naval warfare is basically still at a low-level stage. Combatants relying on the captain from a long distance use throwing or crossbows and other weapons to kill and injure the opponent's personnel, and then rely on the collision angle of the hull to ram them.
The opponent's ship will lose its mobility, and then engage in a "boarding battle", relying on the combatants on the ship to land on the opponent's ship and then engage in hand-to-hand combat.
Under such circumstances, the ship has a large capacity and can carry more combatants, so it has become the main force in naval battles.
Although there are many pirates in the eastern waters of Roland Continent, most of them are medium-sized or smaller ships, which are often unable to compete with the regular fleet. Even some large armed merchant ships have the ability to protect themselves in the face of pirates.
A large Neptune-class ship is extremely rare for pirates!
Seeing Du Wei's doubts, Captain Sparrow quickly explained: "That big ship seems to be quite old, and the hull is also a little worn out. It needs a lot of effort to repair. The pirates we captured are
It is a relatively large ship on the East China Sea. It is said that this ship was originally a warship in the navy. Then after it reached the retirement age, it was bought by a wealthy businessman and used as a merchant ship. As a result, it was robbed by pirates at sea."
Du Wei then nodded. If even pirates can easily get a Sea King-class ship, then what else can the Imperial Navy do?!
"Now among the thirty-two ships, there is one Poseidon-class ship and six Poseidon-class ships. Including my Black Pearl, which is also Poseidon-class. The rest are all Sea Spirit-class boats, which can only carry a hundred people.
Arrived. However, based on the displacement and configuration of these ships, they are barely comparable to some of the second-line fleets in the Eastern Navy of the Empire. Although we have fewer large ships and more small ships, the number of ships is much greater than theirs.
"
After listening to Sparrow's words, Duwei just smiled and said nothing.
After all, this guy is a pirate, but he still lacks experience.
Compared to the Imperial Navy? That's just whimsical.
Du Wei's father was born in the navy, and he was promoted all the way up through his achievements in leading the expedition fleet to the south. For example, after the last triumphant return, the expedition fleet led by Count Raymond only had thirty-five ships.
But there are five Poseidon-class ships among them, and the rest are all Poseidon-class!
Although there are many ships obtained by Du Wei's men, most of them are small boats. If compared with the regular navy of the empire, they are still far from enough.
However, Du Wei did not want to engage in any great cause such as starting a rebellion. As long as such a fleet is used for maritime trade honestly and does not offend the navy, it can almost sweep across the eastern seas.
After Sparrow said this, a look of embarrassment appeared on his face, and he whispered: "It's just that the development of things has exceeded our expectations, so now there are some problems that we can't solve. Now the fleet is docked at
Miss Ruolin is in charge of the situation at Port Walker in the southern part of the province of Lille. Send me back to you quickly..."
"Just tell me, what went wrong?" Du Wei frowned.
"Money." Sparrow sighed: "Our original plan was to recruit those pirates, then take out the wealth they collected from years of robbery at sea, and then use the money to maintain the consumption of the fleet. But the problem is..."
Having said this, Sparrow couldn't help but sigh: "The problem is. These pirates are too poor."
Seeing Du Wei's frown, Sparrow quickly explained: "The empire's maritime military power is already strong, and in the past few decades, several expeditions have been carried out in the southern seas, expanding the empire's maritime territory by tens of millions of miles.
Although this kind of show of force that wastes people and money has not brought any obvious benefits to the empire's finances, the expansion of the southern sea route has stimulated the empire's maritime trade. The number of merchant ships traveling on the sea is higher than that of decades ago.
It has increased by more than ten times. Such frequent trade stimulated the emergence of pirates and gave pirates a space to survive. But after all, it has always been just a small fight because the empire has a huge navy. Once things get into trouble
If it is too large, it will trigger a naval crackdown, which will cause the small pirates to suffer disaster. More importantly, in recent years, the ocean trade in the eastern seas has decreased, and most of the fleets have concentrated in the Nanyang.
It is difficult for these pirates to survive, so naturally there is not much money to be made."
Seeing Captain Sparrow saying such a big truth seriously, as if he was endorsing it, Du Wei couldn't help but laugh: "Did you come up with all these things by yourself?"
Sparrow shook his head and answered honestly: "No, I haven't read any books. Where can I think of these things? These things were all told to me by Miss Ruolin."
Du Wei's eyes lit up.
Ruolin? This long-legged girl does have a pretty good mind.
Sparrow continued: "This three-month campaign to clear out pirates at sea, most of the materials cleared out were worthless food and iron tools. Even if they were sold, they wouldn't be worth much. But some
Miss Ruolin has already taken the initiative to sell some of the valuable things on the spot in Walker Port. The navy and military in Walker Port also need some connections to take care of them. After all, many pirates are named on wanted orders.
We rashly took these guys under our command, which naturally inevitably aroused criticism from others. Miss Ruolin took the initiative and spent a sum of money to establish official relations. For the last remaining things, we ransacked all the pirate dens.
However, I only got less than 10,000 gold coins. After sailing for several months at sea, the ships needed to be repaired and repaired. There were also some damaged ships that needed to be repaired. There was also the Neptune-class ship. Although it was big, it was damaged and aged.
The extent is even more serious. In addition, more than 400 people have been taken in, and people have to eat, drink, and support them...The money recovered from such extermination is almost beyond our means."
Du Wei's scalp went numb when he heard this, and he waved his hand: "Just tell me how much the total expenses will be!"
When Sparrow heard this, he immediately took out a small book that Ruolin had given him when he came out, opened it, and then read to Du Wei: "Thirty-two ships, almost every one of them has a
It requires varying degrees of damage. In view of the current financial problems, Miss Ruolin selected nine of the ships as having serious problems, and the repair cost is expected to cost three thousand gold coins. This is still using your name, and Walker Port's
Cheap wood purchased at the supply store at Navy Pier. Although other ships also need repairs, they can still be used for the time being. I will make plans later when I have enough money. More than 400 people will eat and drink for three months.
It also cost more than 600 gold coins, which is already very economical. Miss Ruolin did not dare to reduce personnel expenses, otherwise, these newly recruited subordinates would defect. Miss Ruolin also said that since the pirates
After becoming your subordinates, naturally I can no longer dress up as a pirate. If I wear tattered clothes, it will inevitably embarrass you. I also made two new sets of clothes for each person, among which the leader's clothes are slightly better... This is another
Two hundred gold coins have been removed. The most important thing is that the weapons in everyone's hands are too poor. When they were pirates in the past, it was too shameful to swarm up and fight. Now that it is the Luo Lin family's fleet, the ballistas and bows on the ship
The crossbows and swords have to be replaced. I have seen that among the pirates in the past, some were so poor that they didn't even have weapons. When they encountered an enemy, they would just grab a blacksmith's hammer or a plowing rake and go up.
All of these can no longer be used... In addition, there are also funds for the Navy to establish relationships. Almost half of the people we have recruited are wanted criminals (when speaking of this, Sparrow paused,
Sorry (I added "including me"), it cost nearly a thousand gold coins to eliminate the wanted order."