Beginning the Landing
While Victor was training the eagle with Little Paru, Sodoma sailed south along the coastline, gradually approaching Sunset City in Great Oak Territory.
Along the way, he encountered several merchant ships and fishing boats, but this time he did not pursue them because he had hidden all the flags on board.
He brought with him three ships that were basically given to Victor by Sonanda at the end of last year on behalf of Count Black.
These boats were not much different from the regular boats on the eastern coast, except that they had a few more sails. The local fishermen and merchants did not notice any difference.
Sodoma swaggered southwards, directing his fleet with an air of nonchalance, until they encountered a patrol fleet from the Great Oak Territory not far from Sunset City.
The patrol fleet consisted of six ships, and the officer in charge immediately recognized that the three ships sailed by Sodoma had once belonged to the Great Oak Territory.
He led his fleet directly to meet them, and once the ships were within a certain distance, he immediately spotted Sodoma standing at the bow.
The naval officer of the Great Oak Territory, who had received orders from Viscount Sonanda earlier, immediately ordered the ship to stop and communicated with Sodoma using flag signals, following the signals agreed upon by Viscount Sonanda and Victor at the end of last year.
Sodoma received the reply and responded accordingly, after which the two ships docked together.
Sodoma did not waste any time and handed the prepared letter to the officer, entrusting him to deliver it to Viscount Sonanda. Sodoma then led his entourage back.
The natural lagoon formed in the middle of the Rotten Tree Beach has excellent hydrological conditions and few waves, so the construction team's progress is faster than expected.
Just after noon, the construction of a pier was completed, and two ships loaded with a large amount of supplies then docked directly on it, greatly speeding up the construction work that previously required small boats to transport components.
The sailors and construction workers only needed to unload the prefabricated components from the ship and then continue the installation along the already constructed sections.
When Sodoma returned to Rotten Tree Beach, the entire makeshift wooden dock had been completed, and the fleet docked in the pre-arranged order to begin loading and unloading supplies and personnel.
Countless torches were stuck on the dock railings, illuminating the entire Rotten Tree Beach dock brightly, and the Auxiliary Troops constantly moving supplies made the dock very busy.
Victor Sodoma as soon as he saw him return.
"How is it? Have you made contact with the fleet in Great Oak Territory yet?"
Sodoma nodded. "It went smoothly. I ran into a former colleague, and I have given him your letter so that he can pass it on to my father and Count Black."
Victor was relieved. "In this way, our southward operation can be considered to have completed the first phase. In the next few days, we will do our best to complete the landing operation."
All troops and supplies must be delivered ashore before the agreed-upon Great Oak Territory naval fleet arrives.
We must tell Lodan and his men to speed up the transport of supplies, and ideally, divide the Logistics Department Auxiliary Troops into multiple shifts.
What followed was that, under Victor's arrangement, the fleet sped up the loading and unloading speed. However, because it was night and visibility was poor, they had to take precautions to avoid damaging the wooden dock.
Therefore, ships dock very slowly, and it takes a long time for new ships to arrive at the empty pier.
In addition, many of the warhorses needed time to recover after taking medication, making loading and unloading these warhorses extremely difficult.
By the next morning, the Cavalry had still not completed landing all their horses.
This angered Victor, as the loading and unloading work, which was being carried out in two shifts day and night, was not achieving the efficiency it should have.
He summoned several leaders once again, including Sodoma and Blox of the naval fleet, as well as Luoza, the head of the Logistics Department.
This time, Victor readjusted the plan. The Cavalry ships continued to be loaded and unloaded at the dock, while the infantry ships could begin landing in small boats.
As long as it's not the central area of Rotten Tree Beach, the water on the outer edges is shallow and calm, so even infantrymen who can't swim can land by boat.
This arrangement did indeed double the login speed, and the login process that originally took two days may now be completed a day earlier.
However, this was also the last time Victor would get involved in the specific work, since the entire landing operation had gone very smoothly.
The infantry began to land on the shore in small boats. Many of them experienced seasickness after sitting on the boat for several days, and some were even seriously ill and had to be given appropriate medication.
Victor also took a small boat ashore. He was fine as soon as he got ashore, but one of his guards felt unwell and staggered as he walked on the beach.
Everyone knew that he had also fainted, so the other two guards immediately supported him on either side, and Victor led everyone toward the Temporary Camp.
The campsite is some distance from the beach, and the sandy beach is too soft to be suitable for camping, so the Logistics Department set up the camp between two small hills.
Victor went over and saw that the Temporary Camp was indeed very rudimentary, with no walls, just some tents set up after a section of the ground had been leveled.
Not far from the camp entrance, a line of soldiers was queuing up. In front of the line were several large pots, and some cooks and Medical Department were busy at work.
Victor immediately recognized this as the place where the potions were distributed. He immediately ordered his bodyguards, who had fainted, to line up. He didn't want his personal guards to develop bad habits.
He walked directly to the front of the line and found that besides some herbs being boiled in the pots, there were also two pots of wheat porridge being cooked.
The medical team, who were working at the time, quickly spotted their viscount and bowed to Victor.
Victor told them to keep working and not to worry about him, but he found the person in charge and asked him a few questions.
"Is this porridge also prepared for the soldiers who are seasick?"
"Yes, sir, our medicine is very effective, but it will induce vomiting after drinking it. To save the soldiers' energy, we have prepared some porridge for them to fill their stomachs."
Victor nodded in agreement.
Victor then left, knowing that if he stayed, he might be discovered by other soldiers and cause a disturbance.
He went directly to the foreman of the construction team who was directing the building of the camp. "Piero, are there any difficulties in constructing the camp?"
"Sir, you've arrived. Most of our engineering team is still building the dock, so we're a bit short-handed right now. However, I've borrowed some Logistics Department Auxiliary Troops from Commander Lodan, and some preliminary work has already begun."
After saying that, Piero explained part of the camp's plan to Victor.
"Your Excellency, look here. The slopes of the mounds on both sides of the camp are not steep. I plan to build two watchtowers on the top of the mounds to make it easier to observe."
About 400 meters to the west of the mound, there is a small river. The campsite will extend to that point, encompassing this section of the river to serve as the camp's water source.
"It would be best to dig a few more wells to prevent the enemy from blocking this stream from upstream."
Victor added.
Piero nodded quickly, praising Victor for his thoughtful consideration.
However, before Piero could finish speaking, Victor interrupted him, "But this place is close to the sea, and I saw that most of the land is severely salinized, so the water from the wells might be bitter and not suitable for drinking."
"Look in this direction. This place is very close to the mountains. We can build a few wells here. Rainwater seeping down from the mountain should be drinkable."
After discussing the camp layout with Piero, Victor left, only to find that James's Cavalry had already begun landing.