Alberta felt several people carrying his body...... Then he felt someone move his body, he felt pain in various parts of his body, and then, as if a scalpel was slashing across his body...... He didn't know how long it had been, but he had woken up anyway.

He looked around, and he saw that he was in a tent, surrounded by dim colors, and he could tell by the light of the tent that it was daytime, and it should be noon.

When Alberta woke up, he found that he was covered in bandages, white bandages around his body, and he even felt pain and death......

Immediately afterward, he saw a man dressed in a major's uniform come to his tent. Alberta tried to stand up, but the major said to him, "Are you Alberta Alfrea?" ”

Alberta nodded, he wasn't quite sure how the major knew his name.

The major said, "I am the commander of the second battalion, Major Oaklet. ”

Alberta nodded again and said nothing......

The Major sat next to Alberta: "Life...... Sometimes it's fragile, but sometimes life is strong! Like you......"

Alberta looked at the Major with some wariness, and the Major said, "You are alive, you are safe now...... Your leg was almost amputated, but your life was too tenacious! I see a different character in your eyes...... You completed your mission, crossed half the town, and delivered the letter to me......"

Alberta gritted his teeth, he tried to say something, but he found that his mouth was thirsty, and he opened his mouth and didn't say a word. At this point, Alberta looked at the Major again, and he coughed vigorously twice, and finally said in a hoarse voice: "Where am I?" ”

The young principal sighed: "North of the port of Epalai...... It's about 4 kilometers away......"

Alberta was stunned: "The port of Epale is lost?" ”

The major laughed miserably: "It's not that the port is lost...... But...... We are defeated! The port of Epalai has been assigned to the Opperon Empire...... And the Capetian Merchant Free State is no longer a vassal of the Duchy of Castilipa......"

Alberta was stunned, he listened to the news with some shock, and he was a little confused...... "What...... What is Capetian Merchant Free State? What is the Principality of Casdilipa again? ”

Major Oaklett informed Alberta: "There are nine kingdoms to the southwest of the continent of Strepa, of which the Capetian Merchant Free State has only three seaport towns, the capital of which is Port Epalai. However, the Capetian Merchant Free State had excellent relations with the Duchy of Casdilipa, and was a perennial vassal of the Duchy of Casdilipa. You, me. We are all Capetian merchant freestates. And both the Capetian Free State and the Principality of Casdilipa are Epacleas, and we are all people of the same race. Therefore, the Capetian Merchant Free State and the Duchy of Castilipa have always been countries with excellent relations......"

"But this time......" the young principal sighed and said, "The Opperon Empire, by the way, the Opperon Empire is a super empire located in the east of the Strypa Continent. They secretly developed weapons technology for ten years...... Of course, none of us know that the Opperon Empire is secretly developing this weapon...... When we knew, it was the battle for the port of Epalai in the first half of the month......"

Alberta jerked off the major: "What? Half a month ago? ”

The Major nodded, "Yes...... Half a month ago...... You were unconscious for half a month, during which the Duchy of Casdilipa supported two cavalry battalions, a rifle regiment, an artillery battalion to the port of Eppalai...... There were more than 6,000 people, but they could not turn the tide of the war...... In addition, the Opperon Empire has also landed in other ports of the Principality of Casdilipa, and in just this fifteen days, one of Opperon's combat brigades has already made a surprise attack on the outskirts of the city of Nuevo Leloria, the capital of the Principality of Casdilipa...... If you continue to fight, there will be no suspense...... So the timid politicians of the Duchy of Casdilipa, who forced the Grand Duke of the Duchy of Casdilipa, signed an alliance with the Opperon Empire. The Duchy of Casdilipa ceded the city of Epalai to the Operon Empire, and dissolved all master-client relations with the Capetian Merchant Free State...... Indemnity Operon Empire War Military Expenses: 66 million gold coins. Oh, my God...... The total tax revenue of the Principality of Casdilipa is only more than six million gold coins a year......"

Alberta was silent...... He asked slowly, "What about ...... How am I here? ”

The major told Alberta: "Because we resisted for fifteen days in a row...... The Operon Empire occupied almost all of the port cities of the Duchy of Casdilipa, and also occupied almost all of the roads from the coast to the capital city of Nuevo Leloria, and the next step was to attack the city of Nuevo Leloria...... But only the port of Epalai ...... We're always on guard! So, when there were 500 men left in our battalion, we lost almost 1,200 men, but we were the only ones who had the last 500 left...... By the time the order came down, we were defeated...... We were ordered to withdraw from the city of Epalai...... But at this time, we have not forgotten you...... We've got you out at the same time. ”

Alberta was silent for a long time, and after a long time, he asked slowly: "That...... What happened to Colonel Comandy? He gave me the task, and I completed it...... But...... Colonel, is he okay? ”

Major Oaklett shook his head, and he told Alberta: "He's not good...... To be precise, he's dead...... His position was in the very center of the port city of Epalai, where it was the first to be conquered...... Therefore...... The headquarters where he was located, was the first to be hit by enemy artillery......"

Alberta choked up, and said in a hoarse voice, "The Colonel is a good man...... I wouldn't be where I am today without him...... If he hadn't asked me to carry out this mission, I wouldn't have been able to cross what the Colonel called 'that line'...... The line between death and life ......"

Major Oaklett laughed miserably: "Actually, I really don't know...... You were shot twice, one of which pierced the abdomen, and although it didn't hurt any organs, the wound was scary to look at. There was also a shot that hit you in the right rear shoulder...... You've got almost all the burns on your left calf, I really don't know...... How did you survive......"

Alberta also laughed miserably: "Maybe...... I've crossed the line of life and death in the Colonel's mouth......"

Instead of continuing the discussion, Major Oaklett turned to Alberta and said, "One more thing...... Someone is looking for you......"

Alberta was stunned: "Who?" ”

By this time Major Oaklett had already left. A man with the rank of lieutenant colonel in a crisp yellow military uniform and a military cap entered the tent.

Alberta tried to get up, but the lieutenant colonel came to Alberta's side and said to him, "You just have to lie down and listen to me......

The lieutenant colonel coughed lightly twice, and then said to Alberta, "I'm Lieutenant Colonel Elta...... Lieutenant Colonel Van Ertha. Of course, my war is not a charge, my battlefield is not inflammatory, and my task is not to charge with a gun...... But my mission is just as dangerous! Ever ......"

Lieutenant Colonel Erta's nasal bone with a high bridge of his nose mimicked: "I once advised the High Command to pay attention to some kind of advanced warship and advanced rifle and machine-gun weapons of the Opperon Empire...... Of course," Erta said, looking at Alberta with a confused expression, "you don't care what a machine gun is, you've seen it, on the battlefield...... It's the kind of weapon that shoots out a barrage of bullets as soon as it is fired......"

Alberta was silent and continued to listen to Lieutenant Colonel Erta: "So in a sense, the war I am fighting is more shocking and ...... than the war of gunpowder Dangerous! ”

Erta handed Alberta a piece of paper, and he said, "This is all the information I have gathered about the advanced warships of the Opperon Empire, and the possibility of the Opperon Empire attacking the Capetian Merchant Free State...... But...... No one in the High Command will follow my advice......"

Alberta took the document and looked at the words written on it...... He shook his head: "I don't know how to read......"

Lieutenant Colonel Elta, Ichiraku, took the paper with the information again, and he said, "I'll read it to you." ”

"The Opperon Empire's 'Monarchy-class (information is unknown, according to the information at hand, temporarily called the Monarch-class) ironclad battleship'."

Alberta continued to listen: "Standard displacement 16060 tons (approximately), full load displacement 17800 tons (approximately). Armament: 4 305 mm 40x rapid-fire heavy guns, 4 230 mm 45x rapid-fire heavy guns. 12 150x rapid-fire guns of 45 mm caliber. 16 rapid-fire guns of 55 mm caliber, 14 rapid-fire guns of 37 mm caliber. ”

Alberta pondered over the data and swallowed a mouthful of saliva, he had personally felt the power of this kind of warship when it fired...... At this point, he continued: "Power plant: twin-shaft propulsion, vertical three-expansion steam engine, 18 (unknown model) water-tube boilers. Total power supplied: 14,000 kW......"

When Alberta heard this, he exclaimed, he knew that even the Capetian Merchant Free State, the largest steam cruiser in the port of Epalai, only provided about 515 kilowatts of WALL-E, and the most powerful cruiser in Epalai, the cruiser Trysther, was only 1,300 tons...... It is also a wooden deck with iron plates attached. Alberta is a fisherman who has been working with steam clippers for many years, so he can appreciate the meaning of the data above......

Lieutenant Colonel Elta heard Alberta exclaim, then he looked at Alberta with his eyelids raised, then smiled and continued: "Armor thickness, waterline armor thickness: 220 mm (approximate data), bulkheads, gun mounts, and conning tower armor thickness 310 mm (approximate data), main turret armor thickness 280 mm (approximate data), deck armor thickness 80 mm (approximate data)." The length, width and draft of the hull are: 140.02 m * 25.11 m * 8.1 m. Of course, the ship is not slow, and the speed is about 35 knots! ”

When Alberta heard this, he looked at Lieutenant Colonel Erta almost dumbfounded...... He hardly believed his ears, what kind of battleship, capable of reaching a speed of 35 knots?

……