After the successful trial of the Hope, the Navy quickly took over the warship. It was eventually equipped with 8 side doors Artillery, 4 doors on each side, and 4 doors Swivel Gun, and was equipped with 50 sailors.
Since Quirk is relatively the person who knows the most about maritime affairs in the navy, and after this period of investigation, no objection was found in this person, so with Paul's consent, he was appointed as the captain of the Hope, and Military Rank jumped several levels to become a temporary captain.
Quirk shed tears of gratitude. After staying in the navy for a few months, he gradually discovered that Earl Greiman was not the kind of cruel and cruel lord who eats people without spitting out their bones. He gradually began to want to serve. Now that a great opportunity was right in front of him, he must seize it.
He led a ship of sailors to train desperately every day, even sleeping on the ship, and soon became familiar with every inch of the new ship.
After Paul stayed in Franklin Harbor for a few days, he planned to return to Lakeheart Town. Before leaving, Austin introduced his long-planned plan to encircle and suppress pirates to Paul and Schroeder.
In a conference room of Navy Base, a huge sand table was placed in front of everyone, which showed the entire coastal terrain of Northwest Bay, including large and small islands on the sea.
Of course, due to current technical limitations, this sandbox is not very accurate, but it is enough for the current navy.
"To sum up, our plan is..."
Austin pointed at the sand table with a thin stick.
"... With the help of the power of the coastal town Militia, and so on... the first target to be eliminated is 'Loach' Gaden. Since the destruction of Shark Gang, he has become the largest pirate force on Northwest Bay."
"Wait a minute!" Paul interrupted Austin, touched his chin and asked, "Loach? Why does this nickname sound so familiar?"
Quirk, who was standing behind Austin, coughed awkwardly and said, "Lord Greiman, when I was a pirate, I wanted Gaden to cooperate with me in attacking Lakeheart Town. Later, he saw the situation was bad and ran away, and then I was captured by you."
Paul then remembered. "It turned out to be the man with the oily soles of his feet. No wonder he was nicknamed 'Loach'."
Quirk said, "Yes, this person is very cunning and good at changing the situation."
Austin continued, "They are very good at picking out areas where our defenses are weak to attack. It is also my fault that I was too incompetent and allowed them to land several times."
Paul reminded him, "There is probably a mole arranged by him in our army. You have to be careful. Quirk, don't think blindly, I am not targeting you."
"Your Excellency, I have already suspected this, and I will investigate it carefully."
"According to the information we currently have, Loach Gang does not have a fixed base, and all members of the Pirate Crew group are good at boating. It is not easy to track their whereabouts."
Paul asked, "Can't our ship catch up with them? The other party also uses a galley, right?"
Austin admitted. "Yes, but they may also have some unknown modification technology that can greatly speed up the speed of the ship. Even if they are hit by our patrol team when committing crimes, they can still leave us far behind."
Quirk added, "I've never heard of Loach Gang having this ability before."
Paul said a little dissatisfied, "I didn't come here to listen to you complain about how difficult it is."
Austin immediately changed the topic. "Of course, Lord Earl, what I just said is already in the past tense, because we have the 'Hope'!"
"No matter how fast the opponent's boat is, it relies on human power to row, and our Hope can continue to sail as long as there is wind. So we don't expect to catch them immediately. As long as we can catch them far and low, we will definitely consume the opponent's rowers' strength and eventually catch up with them."
"Is it really okay to use a new type of ship that has just been tested for a few days to fight against pirates? And if the other party has many ships, wouldn't it be difficult to defeat four with just one fist?"
Although he knew that Sailing Warship was the right way, Paul was a little unsure about the Nozomi, which was still a test model.
Quirk immediately stood up and patted his chest and assured, "Please rest assured, Lord Count, my sailors and I have absolute confidence in the Hope and we will be able to hold on until other captains come to support."
Thinking of the 8 cannons and 4 Swivel Gun equipped on the Hope, Quirk felt that he had the courage to fight against Sea Bandit Edward.
He recalled the shock in his heart when he first came into contact with Artillery. This weapon was simply made for naval battles. As long as he had Artillery in sufficient quantity, he could blow the opponent to pieces from a distance and avoid gang fights.
Everyone continued to discuss for a while, and finally Paul looked at Austin and said, "I'll leave matters at sea to you."
"In addition to eradicating pirates, we must also hurry up on the development of Southern Route. Once the second ship is launched, we will send it south,"
Austin and all the captains saluted in unison. "Yes, please rest assured, Lord Count."
Paul suddenly remembered something and said, "I will leave the language consultant Diaz Miss to help you enrich your maritime communication methods. She has already helped the Army develop a set of Flag Language, which is very easy to use after testing."
Austin nodded. "That's the best. Thank you, Lord Earl."
Fires broke out in houses one after another, and men's pleas for mercy and the cries of women and children were intertwined.
This is a village on the coast, located in the territory next to Arda, which is now being looted by pirates.
A large number of pirates searched around the village, packed the found belongings into wooden boxes, and then carried them to the ship.
The remaining pirates gathered the villagers in one place and began to select slaves.
A pirate took a fancy to a teenage boy, entered the crowd and lifted the boy up.
The boy was in a state of confusion and was trembling all over, but the woman next to him suddenly hugged the boy's legs tightly.
"Please don't take my son away. He is the only relative I have left."
With teary eyes and a frightened look on her face, she kept begging the pirate.
"Let go!" The pirate who caught the boy glared at the woman and yelled at her.
The woman just kept begging the pirate, still holding on to her son's leg, but had no intention of letting go.
The pirate became impatient, raised his left hand holding the knife forward, and the woman fell into a pool of blood.
"Mom!!!" The boy captured by the pirates shouted angrily, "You devils!"
He bit the pirate's arm hard. With his size, this level of resistance was already the limit.
The pirate cursed the little brat after feeling the pain, then knocked the boy unconscious with the handle of his knife, dragged him and threw him at the feet of another companion.
These little boys who have not yet grown up and lack the ability to resist are the best candidates for slaves. After boarding the pirate ship, if they can quickly adapt to this big sauce vat, they will become the pirates' backup personnel and eventually grow into a real pirate. If they cannot adapt, then they will be slaves for the rest of their lives.
The other villagers sat on the ground and watched all this tremblingly. No one dared to stand up to resist, but they just prayed that bad luck would not befall them.
The pirate selecting slaves once again came to the crowd, looking for the next slave...