Sakazuki: What? You Have 280,000 Elite Marines!?
As soon as Ortolan finished speaking, the entire conference room went dark.
Then, looking directly in front of the conference table, a screen was placed on which some pictures and text were projected.
It contains many photos of pirates who look like monsters, along with their biographies.
Hina stood beside the curtain, holding an explanatory stick, and began to introduce the crew, "Currently, according to various intelligence investigations, the Whitebeard Pirates have sixteen division commanders. They are: Division 1, Marco the Phoenix; 2nd Division, Kozuki Oden, the Kozuki Oden of Peach Origin Warrior; 3rd Division,..."
Hina introduced the members of the Whitebeard Pirates one by one. Although everyone was already familiar with this information, they listened and watched attentively.
"The sixteen captains collectively command 12,600 combatants. This intelligence figure is current as of two months ago." Hina paused here.
Inside the meeting room, several Marines officers whispered among themselves, discussing something amongst themselves.
"The troop strength is unexpectedly small..."
"This is just the second division commander. I remember Whitebeard had quite a few independent captains under his command, many of whom were originally the division commanders who followed him..."
"That's true, but even with those people included, the force wouldn't exceed 50,000, right?"
"So, by that calculation, the advantage lies with us?"
After a few minutes, Hina continued, "What I just said was about basic information regarding the Whitebeard Pirates. Aside from the Pirates, according to the latest intelligence, Whitebeard has thirty-two independent captains under his command: Ice Witch White Bay, Giant Vortex Spider Squard, Wandering Knight Doma..."
After introducing the thirty-two independent captains under the Whitebeard Pirates, Hina summarized. "The total strength of these people cannot be as thoroughly investigated as that of the Whitebeard Pirates. Roughly estimated, there are about 30,000 to 35,000 combatants... Therefore, the total strength of the entire Whitebeard Pirates is between 40,000 and 50,000."
Sitting in the head seat, Ortolan stroked his chin, raising an eyebrow slightly. This was the first time he had ever learned about the Whitebeard Pirates' situation in such detail through data.
As far as I can remember, during the Summit War in the Whitebeard Pirates, the total number of troops they deployed was around 50,000.
It's not much different from the current situation? It seems that the Whitebeard Pirates have undergone quite a few changes due to their own influence.
"A force of around 50,000 troops, equivalent to the size of two Marine Base..."
"Base Commander, don't we have a huge numerical advantage? Ten of us could easily take on one..."
"Ten against one is an exaggeration. Do you really think the Admiral has 500,000 elite troops under his command? There are about 170,000 at G-5. Combined with the other Marine Base, and excluding the so-called Sea Police Force, we can probably gather about 230,000 to 240,000..." Stainless said to a Rear Admiral next to him.
"Then we can have four or five against one, a winning hand..." Rear Admiral Stainless said excitedly.
"That's not how you calculate it. Just wait and hear what I have to say. There should be an explanation later..." Stainless shook his head.
After the generals in the conference room had been whispering and discussing for a while, Hina changed the projected image again. This time, the image on the projection screen was an aerial view of the G-5 Marine Base.
Although Sakazuki had often heard about G-5, he had never actually been there. When he saw this picture, he was shocked.
Good heavens, if it weren't for the G-5 flag hanging above, he would have thought he saw that the Marines had changed to a new division!
It is as huge as the magnificent fortress on the other side of the border, and the military fortress on the coastline is even larger than that on the border. There are also three small islands surrounding G-5 in a triangular formation, as well as a terrifyingly large group of shipyards, and tons of Marines warships in the harbor.
Is this the Marines Base?
Sakazuki had been in charge of G-1 for many years, and G-1 was touted as a product of the "Neo Marines Division Project" that could replace the 2nd Division at any time. All its standards and features were designed and built according to the 2nd Division's specifications.
Just by looking at this bird's-eye view, he could intuitively feel that the G-5 base was much more powerful than the G-1!
In particular, the number of warships shown on the map is beyond what can be simply described as 'unconventional' or 'exceeding the standard'.
Sakazuki glanced at it briefly and thought, "Good heavens, there are at least a hundred Type 051 warships on this aerial view... Is that reasonable?"
Although Sakazuki knew before he came that Ortolan had caused a lot of trouble in the New World, doing things behind the backs of the World Government, he ultimately did not conduct a detailed investigation. He only got a general idea and knew that Ortolan was beyond his capabilities.
Now it seems that what he's doing isn't just beyond the curriculum, he's practically flying to the heavens!
A normal Marine Base has a strength of 20,000 to 30,000 troops, so the number of warships it is equipped with is usually around 15. A fully loaded warship can carry 2,000 Marines. Therefore, the Marines allocation is usually based on the base's strength, giving you full allocation, plus an additional 50% for daily replacement and wear and tear.
In other words, ten warships can carry 20,000 people. If 20,000 people are stationed at a base, then a maximum of fifteen warships are usually sufficient.
This is in theory, but in reality, warships are a scarce commodity. All bases are lining up to get new ships, so a typical base with 20,000 people might only have seven or eight warships.
The picture of Ortolan shows G-5, which has at least a hundred warships, no less than the number of ships in the Second Division. How could Sakazuki not be surprised?
Could it be that Commander Yu has been secretly suppressing the warship allocations of other Marine Base and sending them all to Ortolan?
After the thought flashed through his mind, Sakazuki immediately dismissed it. Impossible. A fleet of warships of that size, if transferred from the headquarters, could not possibly be kept secret!
Therefore, Sakazuki immediately thought of something even more 'out of bounds and against the rules'!
Damn it, that guy Ortolan is definitely building his own warships in the New World!
That's right. Because Sakazuki hadn't really investigated, although he knew something was wrong with Ortolan, he genuinely didn't expect Ortolan to be able to build warships in this New World!
Moreover, it seems he built quite a few, at least one last week, and that's just from the pictures. If you said he had another week's worth, Sakazuki would find that acceptable now!
The key question is... where did this guy get so much money?!
This base, these warships, this firepower configuration, and as far as I remember, G-5 also has over 100,000 troops... all of this seems fine, but the key point is... as Marine Admiral, Sakazuki knows very well that G-5 has never received a single penny from the military; it's all developed on its own!
How did Ortolan develop such a monster-level base without spending a single penny of military funds?
That's outrageous!
Because he had served as the commander of the G-1 multi-base and had extensive grassroots experience, Sakazuki was even less able to understand!
Where did all this money come from?!
But amidst the shock, you know what? Sakazuki's heart rate had also increased considerably without him realizing it. Only when he felt his body change did he realize... he was actually excited!
He had overestimated Ortolan's power in the New World as much as possible, but now he truly realized that he still did not understand Ortolan's abilities.
The Marines of the New World has actually become this powerful!?
While Sakazuki was thinking about these things, Hina was already introducing the situation of the New World Marines itself.
"Including G-5 and the troops stationed in various countries, as well as the total strength of the major bases, we have an absolute advantage in the number of combatants. Our New World Marines has a total strength of 276,726 people!" Hina said in a deep voice.
Upon hearing this, Stainless raised an eyebrow and said, "It seems we haven't been in the New World long enough. There are many more details we haven't learned. I thought the Admiral's quantifiable Dimensional forces were only 230,000 to 240,000, but it turns out they're nearly 280,000..."
Don't be fooled by the fact that they're all over 200,000; the gap between those numbers is big enough to fit the entire Whitebeard Pirates!
Hearing this, Kaisa smiled and turned to Stainless in a low voice, "Have you ever considered that this is only what the Admiral wants people to see? Even if we don't count the little over 200 Sea Police Force, perhaps the Admiral has even more hidden military forces at his disposal?"
"Huh?" Stainless looked somewhat surprised... There's more?
The Momonga sitting opposite seemed to have overheard the two's discussion and couldn't help but chuckle... Kaisa was right!
But Hina wasn't lying; she emphasized the New World Marines,' which, within the scope of the New World, is indeed all the forces that her Admiral Tina, can field.
But these... don't include the Calm Belt!
From the moment G-5 was taken over by Ortolan, they began developing the Calm Belt. Now, tens of thousands of laborers, slaves, and zombies are working in the Calm Belt.
The number of troops responsible for guarding that area was indeed less than that of laborers, but it was still nearly 100,000.
That's not the key point. The key point is that if the situation deteriorates to the extreme, those slaves who are currently digging pits can be converted into Marines auxiliary forces at any time, which would also constitute a huge force.
But this is just wishful thinking. If the situation really comes to this, there's not much chance of winning; it's just a death throes.
Stainless and Kaisa were whispering to each other there.
At this moment, Sakazuki sat in his seat without saying a word; yes... he was completely bewildered.
How many troops? Two hundred and eighty thousand? How dare he? How can he afford to support them?!
Leaving aside the forces of Momonga, Stainless, Kaisa, Stolobey, and Hoshigaki... their various bases are not yet at full strength. After all, they haven't been established for very long, and G-5 doesn't have the authority to develop independently, but rather receives funding and supplies from the Ministry.
So, all of their bases combined now have about 80,000 troops.
In other words, Ortolan single-handedly raised 200,000 elite troops!
Moreover... as Kaisa said, this is only what Ortolan is willing to show to everyone present, so they can understand it. Who knows if he has anything he hasn't shown yet!?
Sakazuki, for one, doesn't believe that Ortolan has revealed anything here!