readx;

Of course, the mercenaries staying in Sabana are not only Zhou Laoer, in fact, the residents of Sabana are from the empire, in addition to the merchants, these mercenaries and expeditions are these mercenaries and expeditions, among which the number of mercenaries and expeditions far exceeds the merchants, and most of the indigenous people living in Sabana have gradually recognized the existence of the Tang Empire here. Characters such as porters, along with their families, make up the majority of the permanent population of the entire Sabana region. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

There are more than a dozen expedition teams operating in the area around Sabana, most of them are non-governmental exploration organizations funded by the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Commerce of the Empire. Expedition mapping and the search for business opportunities, the first two are more important, and a few semi-official expedition teams, usually led by the Naval Surveying and Mapping Bureau and the Naval Intelligence Bureau, recruit civilian exploration enthusiasts, and now it seems that the army has also begun to take an interest in this land, and it is said that it has sent an expedition team led by the Military Intelligence Bureau, but it seems that it is still on the sea route and has not yet arrived here. The main purpose of these expeditions controlled by the army was to map the military, find the best locations and routes to establish supply points and colonies, and penetrate the empire's power into the New World as soon as possible.

Although the Sabana colony has been established for a year, the level of knowledge of the surrounding area is not very detailed, and the empire has focused more on developing and infiltrating along the coastline to the south, one hundred and twenty kilometers south of Sabana, Mountbatten, Two hundred and fifty kilometers away from Vitudu has already established a supply point, the southernmost point of Asab, three hundred and fifty kilometers away from here, is the farthest supply point established by the empire's current expedition, further south, there are only some maps brought back by the expedition, many of which are limited to the line mapping along the coastal coast, the empire's influence in these areas is still quite weak, especially the situation in the inland areas is even more unfamiliar, and the recruitment of local indigenous tribes has not really been formalized, after all, more than a year is too short, to open the situation only with some expeditions and this marines, it is far from enough。

This Zhou Lao Er is more familiar with the inland situation west of Sabana, and his mind is flexible and ruthless, if he can be used by the navy, he is a good pioneer officer who advances to the west inland, although he has nearly a thousand marines in his hands, but this is the armed force that ensures the control of the entire Sabana and the area south of Sabana, in addition to one squadron stationed in each of the three supply points, there are only two squadrons of armed forces in Sabana, and the duty neither allows nor it is possible for him to send this force in his hands for armed exploration, and Zhou Lao Er's mercenaries are much more formal than those mercenaries, This guy who once served in the original Tang River Imperial City Guard was expected to be reorganized by the Emperor [***] team when his colleagues were expecting to be reorganized, but he took the initiative to ask to quit, gathered a large number of his original colleagues and subordinates, and soon became famous among the expeditions and mercenaries in the New World, and the subordinates who were originally eliminated were not far away to serve him and became Sabana's premier mercenary force.

Seeing that Huo Congrong didn't open his mouth on the board, Zhou Yuanfa was not in a hurry, he had time, he could afford to wait, there were more and more brothers under his hands, and they all came to this new world with the hope of a family to pan for gold, if he couldn't make a lot of money here for a few years, how could he be worthy of the family who was waiting hard at home, so it was helpless to ask for a ruthless price, and the money was also from the imperial official's family, and it was nothing.

"Zhou Laoer, 5,000 gold coins, a little more expensive, but it doesn't matter, I agree to pay on behalf of the navy, I can also trust your map, I heard that some of your subordinates have been engaged in surveying and mapping, but it is the army's operational surveying and mapping, and there are some differences with our requirements, I hope you can let your few people in charge of surveying and mapping come to me for short-term training, so that the cooperation can be more complete in the future." Huo Congrong's words have a deep meaning.

"Oh?" Zhou Yuanfa's eyes lit up and then turned twice, the number of brothers in his hands gradually increased, Sabana alone now has more than 200 brothers here, staying here all day, the consumption alone is not small, the cost of maintenance here is high, if you don't want to find more ways to increase income, it is not cost-effective, "Lord Huo, but there is a better job to hand over to us? Or Lord Huo will accept us like this? Let us also act as supernumeraries of the navy." ”

"Second Zhou, you also know that my side is short of manpower, and the empire's main energy is still focused on exploring the south, but as far as I know, there are broad prospects for development in the western inland region, and the empire will definitely want to expand westward in the future, so I think if you can lead your people to help our imperial navy fight this first battle, the imperial navy will not hesitate to contribute, or as a supernumerary member of our navy. "Since Huo Congrong has an idea, he no longer hides it.

The Empire's power in the New World was far from sufficient, mainly due to supply difficulties and to avoid arousing the vigilance of the Western Continent countries. Most of the Imperial soldiers ate pasta and rice as their staple food, but in the New World, they mainly relied on a kind of corn and potatoes that had not been seen in the Raya continent, which was large in production, but the material was coarse, and it was acceptable to satisfy hunger, but it was difficult to adapt to it as a long-term food. In order to avoid causing the oversensitivity of the countries of the Western Continent, the Empire also consciously restricted the entry of military forces, and the Army had always hoped to be able to show its strength in the New World, but it was vetoed, and the Central Committee of the Empire only agreed to station a limited number of marines in the colony to protect the interests of the Empire in this region and avoid provoking the countries of the Western Continent.

Although the empire has maintained a restrained attitude in the intervention of the armed forces, it has also instructed that it should increase the exploration of supporting civilian forces, so as to fully prepare for the entry of imperial forces once the time is ripe in the next step, so Huo Congrong hopes to use non-governmental organizations such as expeditions and mercenaries to serve as a front station for the imperial government. The expedition team is quite capable of exploring along the coastline, but it does not have so much energy to go inland, and secondly, it is very vulnerable to being attacked by indigenous hostile forces living in the interior, which can only be done by a mercenary organization with considerable force like Zhou Yuanfa.

"Hmm, Lord Huo means that he is willing to hire us to help the Imperial Navy survey and map west? Hehe, Lord Huo, the price of hiring us is not low, you should know that the danger in the western inland is much greater than that in the coastal areas, my brothers may encounter accidents at any time, thirty or fifty people would not dare to undertake this kind of task, and the inland survey expedition should have at least a hundred or so people to barely keep themselves safe. Zhou Yuanfa let out a strange laugh in his throat, like a night owl chirping, but the excitement in his words could not be concealed.

"Well, you can also say that, you don't have to be sloppy about the price, don't you know that your second Zhou has something to do with the western inland area? I didn't let you go to the people to loot the population and loot the property, how much risk will it be? You can also bring some Imperial specialties into the interior for trading, which is very profitable, of course, the Empire will not forget the people who have contributed to the Empire, you should know that the Imperial Navy can also provide corresponding material support, of course, the final bonus price will be paid according to your results, as long as you follow the requirements of our Imperial Navy, the Imperial Navy will not spare this money. Huo Congrong said carefully.

"Well, very good, as long as Lord Huo's words, the surname Zhou can be trusted, some of my brothers have been engaged in surveying and mapping, I arranged for them to come to receive training immediately, and the adults also came up with a plan for us to consider, as long as Zhou and the brothers can eat, everything is easy to say, I will bring the brothers and the map over in the afternoon, I hope we will cooperate happily." Suddenly retracted his legs, Zhou Yuanfa stood up with satisfaction and casually lifted the mountain chopper, "Lord Huo, the inland area in the west is quite extensive, and the eyes of the empire should not be limited to the coast, it is also necessary to enter the west, those guys in the Western Continent are also stepping up their actions, I heard that they are also starting to infiltrate the south from the north, this is not good news, don't let those guys in the West Continent take the lead, then it will be much more difficult for us to regain the first hand in the future, I don't know if what I said is reasonable?"

Sending Zhou Yuanfa away, Huo Congrong was still immersed in thought, Zhou Yuanfa still seems to have some knowledge, and the countries of the Western Continent have also realized the aggressive situation of the empire in the eastern part of the New World, and have begun to increase the pace of infiltration into the interior of the New World, if it weren't for the fact that the empire had already controlled the long coastline in the eastern part of the New World from Qalyub to Assab, plus the sea climate in this area is frequent, I am afraid that the expeditions of those guys in the Western Continent would also appear on the coast of the New World south of Sabana.

Huo Congrong is also a little worried, those ambitious explorers in the Western Continent will not stop there, as long as the monsoon period passes, they will definitely continue their pace of exploration, just as the expedition team of the empire has bypassed their control area on the coast of the southern storm ocean in the west of the New World and began to look for a suitable place to establish a colony, they will not give up this effort, if the empire wants to ensure absolute superiority in the eastern part of the New World, it must increase its expansion efforts to the south and west, I hope that the expedition of the imperial army can bring some help to themselves, now is not the time to consider the competition between the navy and the army, the interests of the empire are above all else。

(To be continued)