North-northeast of North Bay, about 400 nautical miles off the coast of Baiou Harbour, there is an atoll area that is ideal for ship anchorages, and is known locally as "Pearl Island" because of the abundance of pearl oysters in the nearby waters. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Originally, there was only one old man on duty at the lighthouse, but today there was a sudden change of people -- Sir Dodge, commander of the coast guard of the city of Rowa, was personally stationed in the lighthouse.

Sir Dodge was accompanied by representatives of the cities of Roy, Tana, and Cold Spring to the Confederate Parliament of Bend. Before dawn, the four bigwigs took a ferry without any flag to Pearl Island, hiding in the lighthouse and smoking cigars silently, all the thoughts of gain and loss on their faces.

As the morning light stained the red horizon and the fog gradually dissipated, Sir Dodge finally saw the long-awaited shadow of the ship through his telescope.

"It's coming!"

When the three councillors heard Sir Dodge's words, they jumped up like an electric shock and huddled into the small window, each holding up the monoculars they had with them.

At the junction of sea and sky, a fleet was advancing towards the sea where Pearl Island was located, fluttering flags hunting in the wind, and the tridents painted on the flags were dazzlingly black. The waves crashed against the hull, the mast was like a forest reaching to the sky, and the battleship led by it was particularly large, covered with thick iron armor from head to tail, like a steel dragon running rampant on the angry sea, the triangular sail hanging from the bow mast had been rolled up, and the top of the front and rear buildings was equipped with anti-aircraft turrets, which turned slowly and vigilantly.

"That's the Sea Palace, the flagship of Admiral Maximian of the Giant Demon Island." Mr. Nikolai, the councillor of the city of Rois, could not help but admire, "All the warships of our city of Roa combined, are no match for this palace on the sea. ”

The corners of Sir Dodge's mouth twitched slightly when he heard this. These words came out of the mouth of his own parliamentarian and were particularly harsh, but he could not refute them.

The "Sea Palace" is indeed recognized as the strongest warship in the North Bay, this heavy cruiser with thick steel armor on the side symbolizes the concept of sea power in the new era, it is said to have a displacement of more than 4,000 tons, and the double gun deck carries 40 32-pounder guns!

If we look at the "Sea Palace" according to the old concept of the wooden sailing ship era, let alone cruisers, even battleships rarely have such a large tonnage, and the only new warship in the entire North Bay area that can compete with the "Sea Palace" is another ironclad ship that also uses a magic steam engine as its main power -- the "Yanbo", the flagship of the Baiou Harbor Coast Guard. Even the "Yangbo" has a displacement of only more than 3,000 tons, which is inferior to the Sea Palace.

With the exception of the "Yanbo", the entire Bend League could not find a second ironclad. It's pitiful to say, the navy of Rowa City is still using sail warships with a displacement of less than 1,000 tons, and they can't beat a sea palace together, not to mention that they are followed by a large group of menacing little brothers, putting on a posture of "boss, who do we cut today", the Baiou Port Coast Guard does not come out, who can compete with it?

Immediately after Maximian's flagship "Sea Palace", three light cruisers with a displacement of 2,000 tons, "Bore", "South Wind" and "Ichthyosaurus", appeared in the field of view of Sir Dodge and others, carrying 30 24-pounder guns on a single-deck gun deck.

Escorting the four main ships were six high-speed destroyers with a displacement of 1,000 tons, the Flying Shark, the Seawolf, the Siren, the Sawa, the Blackwater, and the Angry Waves, each carrying 20 18-pounder guns.

The 10 warships are about two nautical miles apart from each other, followed by non-combat auxiliary ships responsible for engineering maintenance, logistics supply, and emergency care, and the total number is as many as ten.

It is evident that Maximian put a great deal of effort into preparing for this sea expedition, bringing together all the political, economic, and military forces of the entire Monster Island, showing an astonishing ability to mobilize for war.

Sir Dodge looked at this large and orderly fleet from afar, and a trace of sadness welled up in his heart.

Is this really a pirate fleet?

If this is a pirate fleet, what are the old galleons moored at the military port of Rowa?

In terms of the domineering style of the Giant Demon Island authorities, there is no doubt that they are pirates. But it is undeniable that even pirates are divided into regular and miscellaneous armies, and there is no clear boundary between pirates and navies.

The Maximian fleet was clearly a regular army. In contrast, the Bend League, with the exception of Port Whitegull, could not compete with this "pirate fleet" by the combined military forces of all the other city-states.

Sir Dodge couldn't help but wonder if it was a wrong decision for him to be here today:

Is it really a good idea to unite with the Giant Demon Island against White Gull Harbor? Will it end up being a wolf in the end?

In fact, he was opposed to betraying the Covenant and colluding with pirates from the beginning, but unfortunately his opinion was not taken into account by the city-state authorities, and the old sail warships under his command were not qualified to make their voices heard in this imminent war, so he could only endure the grumbling and come to Pearl Island to play a less glorious role.

Sir Dodge controls the lighthouse to make the agreed signal. Not long after, the opposite pirate flagship responded with a flag - Admiral Maximian invited them to board the "Sea Palace" to meet in detail.

"Welcome gentlemen to the Sea Palace!" Maximian stepped onto the deck to greet Sir Dodge and his party, smiling and shaking hands with the guests one by one, "Allow me to introduce these colleagues: Parsacis, head of the Navigator Order; Renard, my chief staff officer; Ducat, boatswain and sword instructor. ”

"Good morning, Honorable Admiral, distinguished Madamies," said Sir Dodge, taking off his hat and saluting, "I have come with you to visit Mr. Nicholas, the representative of Rois, Mr. André, the representative of Cold Spring, and Mr. Wrangel, the representative of Tana. ”

Maximian raised his walnut gold-inlaid cane, patted it lightly in his white-gloved palm, and said with a smile: "Helena suggested to me that before the fleet set out on the expedition, we should first get in touch with the city-states within the Bend League that had long been oppressed by the authorities of Harbor Gulls, hoping to mobilize more people of insight to join us in our common sacred cause and to participate in the great cause of overthrowing the tyranny of Harbor Gulls. Maybe after the end of this war, the Bend League will be enough to leave only three city-states, what do you think? ”