Iron Birch's Fleet

"My lord, you need not worry about this. It's just that it won't be ready for this operation. The seawall is expected to be completed by next summer."

Saruman comforted Victor.

"Yes, it certainly won't affect our operations. We already have new icebreakers. At most, it will slow down our sailing efficiency a bit, but this bit of sea ice won't stop our fleet."

Saruman, I will now leave Wood Fort Town and personally go to Sea Song Town to organize the troops to board the ship. After the boarding is completed...

I will travel with the army then. The Two Rivers Territory is entrusted to you; don't let me down!

"Yes, Viscount, even if I, Saruman, and all the warriors of my garrison are to die in battle, we will never allow the enemy to set foot in the Two Rivers Territory!"

Saruman answered decisively.

"There's no need to exaggerate. Besides your garrison regiment, we also have 14 militia battalions, totaling nearly 10,000 troops. Add to that our small border fortresses, and that's enough to deal with ordinary enemies."

If they can't hold them off like this, even if I bring my troops back, I might not be able to handle it.

Victor stood up, smiled, and patted Saruman on the shoulder.

Saruman had been in charge of the entire General Staff and was also a veteran of the Golden Sunflower Territory. He had been a captain of a hundred-man squad when Sir Paul was in charge of the territory's military.

In fact, given his qualifications, he should have been sent out by Victor to serve as the commander of a battalion long ago. However, Victor valued his maturity, prudence, and meticulous thinking, and put him in charge of establishing the General Staff.

Now, in order to fully engage in the Civil War, Victor has withdrawn all of the territory's regular military forces, considering that the territory still needs a core force to be responsible for defense.

Therefore, a new garrison regiment was formed, with more than 2,000 soldiers in 4 detachments, which Saruman was put in charge of.

"Remember to keep in touch with outposts Number One through Supply Station Number Three. They will respond promptly if anything happens."

"I understand, sir!"

I plan to personally visit the three military outposts in a while to confirm the border patrol methods.

Victor nodded. "You can arrange it yourself. The rest is up to you!"

After finishing his speech, Victor stood up and left the General Staff. Victor's personal guards were already prepared, and Victor's beloved horse, Grape, was waiting at the door.

Victor patted Grape on the neck. "Grape, it's been a long time since you went on a campaign. Are you happy?"

Grape raised its front leg and made a hissing sound.

Victor could sense that Grape was very happy. Victor immediately mounted his horse, straightened up, and stroked Grape's mane. "Let's go, we should set off!"

Grape happily broke away from the group and galloped off. Victor's guards quickly tightened the reins and bent down, knowing all too well how fast Victor's beloved horse Grape could go.

In the research room in Wood Fort Town, Veronica was discussing the project with Octavia: "If you do the experiments this way, it's too slow. We don't lack money, we just lack time."

Regarding the new transformer and wiring, you can directly compare several sets to determine the best solution at once.

"I understand, Mr. Ronnie. I'll make the arrangements shortly."

"But teacher, isn't today the day the Viscount departs for Sea Song Town? Shouldn't you see him off?"

Veronica shook her head. "We've all agreed that we'll each be busy with our own things today. It'll be a few more days before he leaves, and it'll take a long time just for the troops to get on the ship. I'll go see him off then."

Octavia found it strange; the two of them had been inseparable for the past few days, so how could they let go so easily now?

Veronica noticed Octavia's confusion and simply patted her student's head, saying, "You'll understand when you have a lover. You'll know what it feels like for two people to be in sync. It's never something that distance can change."

On the road from Wood Fort Town to Sea Song Town, teams dressed in dark black cotton-padded coats or leather jackets were advancing, like a giant serpent splitting the white earth in two.

"I heard that this time, unlike before, our Cavalry's horses and soldiers are no longer transported separately, but are instead transported together."

"Yes, according to the plan, this loading method can improve the landing efficiency of the troops and greatly help the troops restore their combat capabilities."

James and Ron rode their horses, chatting as they went.

The main Cavalry force that marched south this time consisted of regiments of two men, while the other regiments of organized Cavalry were much smaller.

The reason for changing the way the Cavalry units were transported was also because of this; Victor brought together the two most important Cavalry units.

Once the landing site is reached, the Cavalry will certainly be the first to set off, expanding the landing area for the entire army.

At sea, Sodoma sat on the mast, looking at the enormous object on the deck.

It is emitting thick black smoke and making a hissing sound.

He couldn't help but recall the sight of the new ship when he first saw it yesterday.

Sodoma and Knight Jack entered the shipyard, led by the shipyard manager Ambrose.

Shipyard manager Ambrose pointed to a ship moored on the side of a dock.

"My lord, this is the ship. We have already modified it according to the Viscount's requirements!"

Sodoma carefully examined the ship before him. It was not large, much smaller than the several 300-ton ships in the fleet.

However, based on Sodoma's many years of experience, the ship appeared to be around 150 tons. Strangely, it had a very deep draft, with half of the iron ram below the bow submerged.

However, after Sodoma and his companions boarded the ship, Sodoma suddenly froze. He pointed to the bags piled up on the deck and shouted loudly.

"What is this thing? When you handed over the ship, didn't you know to clean up the garbage on board?"

"Uh, Lord Sodoma, that's not how it is."

Ambrose hurriedly led Sodoma and the others to the sacks. He immediately turned over an open sack and showed it to Sodoma and the others.

"This is all charcoal made from black pine, used to fuel this ship!"

Sodoma and Captain Jack exchanged a glance; they were curious that the ship still needed fuel.

Ambrose led them directly to the doorway of a cabin on the rear half of the deck. Sodoma also noticed that the cabin on this ship had two separate parts, which was indeed quite unusual.

Ambrose pushed open the door, Sodoma was shocked by what he saw inside the cabin.

What are these?

What came into their view was a huge black object, the metal reflecting the sunlight streaming through the porthole.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please allow us to introduce you to the first marine Power Machine produced by the Territory Research Institute. We call it the Mighty Strength."

As long as charcoal is continuously added to its combustion chamber for burning, it can provide power to the ship, allowing it to reach speeds of 15 kilometers per hour even without wind.

Next, Ambrose gave Sodoma and Captain Jack a detailed introduction to the machine and the icebreaker with its entirely new propulsion system.

Sodoma and Captain Jack discussed and decided that Sodoma would lead the ship to break through the ice and see if they could successfully encounter the Iron Birch Territory's fleet.

With the help of the icebreaker and the Power Machine, Sodoma carved a path through the sea ice, which he found incredible and an experience he had never had before.

However, he later discovered the ship's drawback: the fuel burned too quickly. Just three hours after leaving the dock in Sea Song Town, a distance of at most 40 kilometers according to Sodoma's estimate, the ship had already consumed one-fifth of its charcoal.

If this level of energy consumption continues, the ship won't be able to sail for even a day.

At this moment, Ambrose was conducting tests on the ship, said to Sodoma, "This ship is still not perfect. We previously planned to install huge waterwheels on both sides of the ship to propel it forward, but that would affect the ship's ability to break ice."

Later, the territory's research institute provided a new solution: installing a propeller at the back of the ship to propel it forward.

However, the propeller's power conversion efficiency is very low. Once the Power Machine is running at full power, the ship's fuel consumption increases significantly, making it insufficient to keep the ship sailing for long.

Therefore, in order to ensure that the ship does not lose power and become lost, we have preserved the mast and sails.

However, our shipyard is collaborating with the territory's research institute to make further modifications and improvements. We believe that the new ships will consume less fuel and travel farther.

Ambrose looked pleased with himself; it was clear that although he felt the work had some shortcomings, he still liked it very much.

Sodoma didn't care about any of this, even though he was a veteran naval officer who had spent more time at sea than on land.

But he didn't value the boat as much as his father, Sonanda, who regarded it as his companion at sea.

To Sodoma, a boat was merely a means of transportation; as long as it could get him from one place to the other, that was enough. Everything else was trivial and unimportant.

He is using this ship now only because he can use it to break through the sea ice at the dock and help him leave the land to find the fleet of Iron Birch Territory.

If this ship can't do it, he will naturally switch to another ship.

Suddenly, a sea breeze blew by, Ambrose quickly pulled his collar tighter to prevent the cold sea breeze from seeping into his clothes.

But Sodoma didn't care about the temperature of the sea breeze; he seemed to smell something in it.

He ran straight to the base of the mast and quickly climbed to the top. He gripped the mast tightly with his legs and left hand, securing his body firmly.

He extended his right index finger, licked it with his tongue, and then stretched it out in the direction of the sea breeze.

Ambrose was somewhat puzzled by Sodoma's behavior; he simply continued to pull his collar down and lower his body to block the sea breeze.

After about a minute, the sea breeze finally stopped.

Suddenly, Sodoma shouted, "Turn the ship around and sail at full speed to the southeast at a 15-degree angle!"

This time, the sailors on the ship were basically Sodoma's old subordinates. They knew Sodoma's orders very well, and they all reacted very quickly, taking over the ship according to their assigned tasks.

Sodoma slid off the mast and ran to the helm, where he began to steer the ship.

Ambrose and his workers who operated the Power Machine looked at each other, completely bewildered.

At this moment, Sodoma shouted at them, "I said full speed ahead, you all hurry up and set that Power Machine to its maximum speed."

Upon hearing this, Ambrose dared not delay. He pushed several workers to the machine and began frantically adding charcoal to drive the Power Machine at high speed.

This continued for over an hour, and Ambrose was also sweating profusely from the heat. Finally, they made a new discovery.

It was already five o'clock in the afternoon. The Sun had moved to the west and was getting closer and closer to the horizon, turning the entire sky orange-yellow, and the sea reflected an orange-yellow light.

Amidst this scenery, the sailor who had already climbed the mast to make lookout suddenly shouted.

"There's a fleet of ships to the southwest!"

Sodoma quickly pulled on the rudder again, adjusted the angle so that the bow was facing the Sun, and began to move forward.

Soon, even those who hadn't climbed the mast could see a large number of wooden poles appearing on the horizon directly in front of them.

Upon closer inspection, you'll find that these are all ship masts.

Ambrose stood at the bow and began counting the masts; he had been helping to add charcoal, which had exhausted him.

"One, two, three,... thirty-five, thirty-six!"

My God, a full thirty-six ships!

As the two sides drew closer, Ambrose could clearly see the outlines of the ships in the massive fleet. Based on his experience, he judged that even the smallest ship in the fleet was over 150 tons, larger than the ship they were on.

Sodoma also left the helm, handing it over to the First Mate. He walked to the bow and looked at the fleet in the distance with Ambrose.

"The largest one should be the Iron Tower Ship. This is the first time I've seen it. I've heard that the Iron Birch Family's ocean fleet has a flagship that is the largest. Today I finally see it."

Sodoma showed Ambrose the way.

Ambrose had naturally spotted the ship long ago, as it was quite conspicuous in the fleet, being taller and larger than the other ships.

"It's at least 120 meters long and has a displacement of 800 tons. So this is the Iron Tower Ship. Seeing is believing. I really want to go up and take a look."

The shipbuilding level of the Two Rivers Territory Shipyard is now quite high, ranking among the top in the entire Duchy, but the largest ship it can build is only 300 tons.

This made Ambrose very curious about how the Iron Birch Family managed to build an 800-ton behemoth.

"There will be opportunities, after all, we will be together for a long time."

Sodoma suddenly said something that surprised Ambrose.

"Mr. Sodoma, what do you mean?"

Sodoma extended his right index finger and waved it in front of Ambrose's eyes. "Feel it, the wind direction has changed, it's a southerly wind now!"

Ambrose then noticed that the original northerly wind had turned into a westerly southerly wind.

Now that the wind direction has changed, the Iron Birch Territory's fleet, which relies entirely on sails for propulsion, can no longer continue north. The fleet in front of us has begun to lower its sails and slow down.