Chapter 497: The Invincible Armada

North Sea Fleet, Hidden Gold Bay, Armada, City of Morent......

Everyone present was taken aback by Malek's proposal, and the conference room was silent, everyone was either frowning and thinking, or you look at me, I look at you, and no one made a sound. Pen Fun Pavilion www.biquge.info Lorist also frowned, and began to think carefully.

Malek's proposal was so unexpected that even Lorist didn't think of using the North Sea Fleet to destroy the Invincible Armada in the Hidden Gold Bay and then land on the city of Moriente. This is not because of Lorlist's vision and thinking, but mainly because the armada of the commercial alliance has been too famous since its establishment for a hundred years, and it has never been defeated.

Originally, the Commercial Alliance established this fleet and named it the Alliance Fleet, mainly to prevent pirates from attacking the city of Morent and to protect the safety of the Golden Bay. Then it gradually evolved into protecting the security of the sea trade routes along the golden coastline of the sunny sea in the southern part of the Gelinthia continent, eliminating pirates along the way, and cracking down on and suppressing the development of sea fleets by coastal countries to seize trade routes. Thirty years later, the fleet was known as the Invincible Armada because of its undefeated naval battles.

After the civil war in the Krisson Empire, the merchants of the Council of the Commercial Alliance thought that there was no enemy and demanded that the armed forces of the Commercial Alliance be reduced. Because the Seven Giants knew very well that it would be enough to temporarily recruit them in the event of a war without the city defense army, but reducing the size of the Armada would mean that the commercial alliance would lose a lot of influence on the coastal countries along the golden coastline of the mainland's sunny sea.

Is it possible for the North Sea Fleet to destroy the Invincible Fleet? A question mark ran in Lorist's mind. Sambarwood declared the North Sea Fleet invincible, and Lorist thought so, but the main purpose of saying this was to enhance the honor and self-confidence of the fleet's personnel. The premise of so-called invincibility is that the size of the enemy fleet against the North Sea Fleet is no more than two or three times, so that the power of the bronze artillery equipped with the North Sea Fleet can be maximized.

However, the invincible fleet of the commercial alliance is different, and more than 100 years of development have made this fleet have a large enough scale and rich experience in maritime operations, as well as countless elite soldiers. Lorist studied in the city of Moriente for ten years and heard a lot of stories about the victory of the Armada over the enemy and the destruction of the pirates. In his heart, he never thought of taking the initiative to attack the Invincible Armada.

The purpose of Lorlist's establishment of the North Sea Fleet was to ensure the safety of the shipping lanes of the cursed coastline of the Northern Seas, to become the overlord of the Northern Seas, to protect the security of the islands of Hilowas, the Haneyabada Islands, and the surrounding waters of the Shayslan Kingdom, and to safeguard the family's commercial interests in these islands. I didn't think of competing with the commercial alliance for the golden coastline of the southern sunny sea and the enemy of the Invincible Armada.

This is not because Lorist is not ambitious or short-sighted, but because Gelinthia is a huge continent, and it is only a matter of time spent that can be reached by sea on land. Even if Lorlist's investment in the sea fleet was truly invincible, dominating the entire continent, the commercial alliance would still be able to use its huge commercial influence to make the coastal countries ban the Norton family's sea caravanserais.

This is not the earth of Lorist's previous life, there are countless islands in the seven continents. The continent of Guelintia is a large block, with a few islands scattered around it. You can't use sea power to deal with a coastal country at all, because you can't block the country's foreign communications, and when the coastal country cuts off the supply of the fleet, unless the pirates go to raid, you can only change the supply of the coastal country. And after being a pirate, all coastal nations will treat you as a pirate. The fleet will no longer be able to find a supply point, but will be attacked wherever it appears.

Vigorously developing the family's sea power without sufficient income is equivalent to throwing a golden gold coin in the water. At that time, Lorist was clearly aware of this and decided to reorganize the huge maritime legion, reorganize the North Sea Fleet, and only safeguard the maritime interests of the family.

The southern seas are calm and sunny. The northern seas are cloudy and angry, and the waves are turbulent. From a military point of view, the Norton family's North Sea Fleet and the Invincible Armada of the Commercial Alliance represent two extremes of the development of the Sea Fleet. The North Sea Fleet focuses on mobility and powerful long-range attack capabilities. The Invincible Armada, on the other hand, relied on close combat to achieve victory at sea with superior numbers and superior forces.

The Armada will not enter the northern seas, this is because the ships they have are not suitable for sailing in strong sea conditions. And the North Sea Fleet will not easily enter the southern seas, first, the sea conditions are unknown, and second, it has no intention of offending the Chikde Chamber of Commerce, which dominates the southern seas. The only meeting point between the two sides is the annual convoy sent by the Cheeked Chamber of Commerce and the Petersen Chamber of Commerce of the business alliance to the island of Hilois to buy large quantities of spices and household goods.

In a sense, the two chambers of commerce are just using the Norton family as a source of purchase. But since the Kingdom of Andinac began its offensive and reconquest of several provinces occupied by the Merchant League three years ago, the two chambers of commerce have not sent fleets to trade. After all, this time the Norton family is still the main force of the attack, and has destroyed the Vicia Chamber of Commerce, one of the seven giants of the business alliance, and the business alliance has officially become enemies without declaring war.

The North Sea Fleet, with its sixteen main mine-strike warships, was equipped with bronze guns, then twenty-eight large armed warships and fifty-six medium-sized armed fast schooners, and twenty-six small armed patrol ships, divided into two sub-fleets and one archipelago patrol fleet. Each of the two sub-fleets also has a merchant fleet of more than 20 ocean-going merchant vessels. This is because the North Sea Fleet is also tasked with transporting supplies of life to the Hanea Bada Islands and the Shayslan Kingdom, trading goods and spices. Every year, two detachments escorted merchant ships to the two archipelagos.

Seriously calculated, the North Sea Fleet really has only 16 lightning warships, and the rest of the large and medium-sized armed warships are nothing more than transport ships. Just as Lorist returned to the Northlands by sea from the Isle of Hilovas with the Rock Legion this time. In the event of a naval battle, these ships would be tasked with transporting supplies, saving the wounded, and guarding prisoners, rather than being at the forefront of the sixteen mine-striking warships.

However, compared to the Invincible Fleet of the Commercial Alliance, the number of warships of the North Sea Fleet is too thin. The Invincible Flotilla does not enter the northern seas, and the North Sea Fleet can still show off its might. But now that the North Sea Fleet is going to Zangjin Bay to take the initiative to attack the Invincible Fleet, and cooperate with the family forces to attack the city of Moldent, which is their home field, and then think about the huge scale and overwhelming number of warships that the Invincible Fleet has, the more Lorist thinks about it, the more he feels uncertain.

"Targer, you can tell you about the situation of the Invincible Armada of the Commercial Alliance. Genorio, go to the archives and check the records of the Messenger Eagle's summons, when will your father arrive in Raging Bear City for the New Year's celebration?" Lorist began.

"Yes, Your Highness. Genorio pushed the door open and left.

Tagar found the information about the Invincible Armada of the Commercial Alliance from a large stack of data files, and began to read it to everyone: "The Invincible Armada, which has been established for one hundred and thirty-six years, has developed from more than 20 merchant ships to the current four sub-fleets, with more than 1,000 armed warships of all kinds and merchant ships of all sizes, and its sphere of influence extends from the Zangjin Bay to the southernmost tip of the mainland, and it is the main transportation and armed force of the commercial alliance at sea.

The full strength of the Armada was forty-three thousand, and the rest belonged to hired sailors and crews. The Business Alliance allocates two million Kingford every year to maintain the operation of the Armada, and at the same time, the Arma undertakes the transportation of goods from the Commercial Alliance to the coastal countries along the Golden Coastline of the Sunshine Sea, and in the process, another fifth of the profits of the Arma go to the fleet, and the Arma is also responsible for fighting pirates in the Southern Seas and suppressing the maritime fleet formed by the coastal countries along the Golden Coastline of the Sunshine Sea. Once a merchant fleet formed by the nobles of two coastal states encountered pirates at sea, and the arma was not suspected of being responsible, but no evidence could be found.

Leading the Armada is the Chikde Chamber of Commerce, one of the Seven Giants of the Business Alliance, who accounts for forty percent of the Armada's revenue, and the remaining six giants each have a share of ten percent. The Chikde Chamber of Commerce claims to be the dominant force in the southern seas, and in addition to dominating the Invincible Armada, this Chamber of Commerce also has the Chamber's armed fleet and several merchant fleets. It is said that one of the four ships sailing in the southern seas belonged to the Chikde Chamber of Commerce, and it can be said that they dominated almost the entire shipping and trade routes of the southern seas.

The Armada is divided into four fleets, each with two castle-type ships, which are named Sepnim, which means Castle of the Sea God. In fact, a Sepnim is indeed a mobile castle on the sea, as it can support up to 3,000 sea stormtroopers. Once entangled in a sepnim meant the end of the battle and the capture of the ship. However, despite its size, the ship's speed was not fast, which was the main reason why opponents had turned around and fled at the sight of Septnim in countless naval battles.

In addition to the two Sepnim, each detachment also has more than 50 large ocean-going armed warships and medium-sized armed fast warships, as well as nearly 100 small fast-ramming warships. These small quick ramming battleships are the main tactics of the Armada, and their bow has sharp spear-like metal ramming angles, which can be used in naval battles to ram into enemy ships, slow down enemy ships, and wait until Sepnim approaches, and the enemy ships can only surrender or resist until they are finally occupied.

Sometimes, these small ramming battleships will also become fireships, using sails and water currents full of fire-burning objects to launch fire attacks on enemy ships, as long as these small ramming battleships hit the enemy ship, there is no escape, and the Armada can use large and medium-sized armed warships to encircle and attack the enemy. This is also the bait tactic that the Armada is good at, and those small ramming battleships are the bait they use.

Each detachment of the Arma had 10,000 regular armed men of the fleet, which was within the establishment, and if the crews of the hired sailors and merchant fleets were added, the number of men in each detachment could be more than 20,000 to 30,000. Every three months, a detachment of the Armada sails for the southern seas, and at the same time a detachment returns. However, there will always be a garrison detachment left in the Zangjin Bay, and this detachment will send more than 10 large, medium, and small armed warships to patrol the surrounding sea area......"

Lorist was stunned: "Tagger, do you mean that in fact, the Invincible Fleet is not all left in the Zangjin Bay, but only two detachments at most, and the other two detachments will be in the southern seas?"

Tugger shook his head: "Your Highness, what I just said is just the normal situation of the Invincible Armada in peacetime. Now that the Commercial Alliance and our Kingdom of Antinac are at war, the Commercial Alliance is constantly mobilizing reinforcements from the southern provinces to quickly transport those reinforcements to the city of Morente by sea, and now that the city of Morent and our side of the communication are cut off, we cannot get detailed information about the Armada from the city of Morente at present. However, it is assumed that sending so many southern reinforcements to the city of Moriente will definitely involve the armada. ”

Loris nodded, and was about to speak, but saw Jenorio push the door and come in and report: "Your Highness, I have checked the communication records of the Messenger Eagle, Lord Sambarwood, the Admiral of the North Sea Fleet, sailed from Hilois Island five days ago, and it is estimated that he will arrive in Beihai City tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, and he will arrive in Angry Bear City in three days. ”

Lorist smiled and stroked Genolio's hair: "Silly boy, that's your father, why are you saying it so formally." ”

Genolio said unconvinced: "Your Highness, you are discussing official affairs now, and what you said cannot be abolished for personal reasons." ”

"Hehe......" Lorist laughed, grabbed his hair again, and then said to the people in the conference room: "Let's get here today, everyone, keep your mouths tight, and consider the decision on whether or not to send troops to reinforce His Majesty in a few days." There is also Marek's proposed strategy of attacking Moldant City by sea, and I will discuss it when Sambarwood arrives, and see if the North Sea Fleet has the ability to make a decision. And so be it. ”

Three days later, Sambarwood, who braved the heavy snowstorm and rushed to Angry Bear City, appeared in Lorist's study for the first time before he had time to clean up the snow marks under his outer cloak and winter hat, and after listening to Lorist's proposal from Malek, Sambarwood shouted excitedly: "Your Highness, I promise to destroy the entire Invincible Armada!"

......