"Perhaps by the time we read the news, the war in the kingdom will have already ended and we won't know which of the two princes will be crowned," said Skri.
"It's impossible for the war to be decided in one fell swoop," Claude sneered, "First Prince Hansbach is a veteran and crafty old fox.
Prince Wedrick is a sharp-witted man and will flee at the first sign of trouble.
As long as nothing happens to the two of them, the civil war can still be fought. "
The Nasrian captain said that he had left Northbay in the second half of May and shipped a ship of goods to the duchy of Leioro in the south of Freia. There, he received another order to ship a ship of firearms to the west coast of Nubissia.
He stayed on the west coast for more than a month and collected a ship full of Nubissia's specialties to return to Nasri.
Unfortunately, he was unlucky this time. He was on a long distance merchant ship and was attacked by pirates on the Nubali Islands. Relying on the grenades on the ship, he managed to repel two pirate warships that tried to board the ship. He fought his way out of the encirclement and ran to Port Vebator in a panic.
In other words, the only news the captain knew about Aueras was only in May. That was because he was used to reading the news in the newspapers.
As for his crew, they didn't care about the affairs of the kingdom as much as he did. Most of their information came from hearsay, taverns, and gossip.
The door to the office opened and Bolonik walked in. He was delighted to see Claude. "I heard from HQ that you're here, so I came to see you.
You've seen the captain's confession, right? Now I finally know why none of the smuggling boats I sent out returned. "
Bolonik walked to the wall and pointed at a large map of Nubissia. "Our kingdom is still in a civil war. Whitestag is under the control of First Prince Hansbach. The two ships we sent over were probably captured by him.
After all, to First Prince Hansbach, our war theatre is a traitor. That's why he cut off all shipping between the two continents. All ships from the colonies, be they merchant or smugglers, are strictly guarded against. "
Claude nodded. Bolonik's words made sense.
First Prince Hansbach used the sea route to transport Bluefeather and a standing corps around Odin Mountain Range to invade the kingdom's heartland and take over the royal capital.
With that precedent, the first prince would naturally be wary of any threats from the sea. As such, it was only natural for him to capture any ships he deemed to be from the rebellious regions.
Whitestag was a strategic location in the southwest and the sea route was under Storm's control.
If things went south for the prince, he could still retreat to the three southwestern prefectures. As long as he held Whitestag, he would be able to attack or retreat at will. It was just like how Stellin IX recovered his strength with the help of the three southwestern prefectures and ascended to the throne in the end.
Perhaps Prince Hansbach's plan was to emulate his ancestor. If the eldest prince really could not keep it up, he could use Storm to move to his new territory by sea.
The war theatre on Nubissia had fallen out with the first prince, so Hansbach had to be on guard against the two corps of the war theatre getting ships to ambush Whitestag. That way, he wouldn't be able to close the gates and beat the dogs.
Once Whitestag was taken over, the first prince would have nowhere to run.
Compared to Wedrick, who didn't care much about the war theatre, Hansbach clearly understood the power of Thundercrash and Monolith.
"We're afraid that Storm under Prince Hansbach's command will attack the colonies, and the first prince is also wary of us," Bolonik said with a bitter smile.
General Bolonik said with a bitter smile. Generals who were highly regarded by Marshal Michelic were no simple characters. From the confession of the Nasrian captain and the two ships that went to Whitestag that never returned, the truth was quickly deduced.
Bolonik picked up a pen and drew a cross on the blue sea route from Whitestag to Tyrrsim. "As long as Hansbach is still in control of Whitestag, this sea route will be useless.
Without Fearless, only Storm will be in control of the kingdom's seas. No matter how many ships we send back, they'll all fall into their hands.
Even if we don't go to Whitestag, it'll be the same at any other port. The coastal towns there are all under Storm's control. "
"What about the eastern front?" Skri asked.
He wanted to know if he could send a ship to Freia through the eastern sea passage that Dreadnaught used to escort the merchant fleet to the colonies to gather information, or perhaps contact the royal capital again.
Bolonik shook his head. "It's no use. I've sent three ships to the eastern front, but just like this one, they never returned.
The main reason is that the Nubali Islands are a pirate's paradise.
There were nearly a thousand islands of various sizes, countless pirate gangs, and a complicated sea region.
"The route from Freia to the west coast of Nubissia has to pass through the Nubali Islands. If you're unlucky, you'll become the target of countless pirate gangs.
"Back when Fearless escorted merchant fleets to the colonies, the most dangerous area was the Nubali Islands.
They were attacked by pirates almost every time.
The biggest loss they suffered was the loss of 52 ships, including 14 warships and 38 merchant ships.
"However, it was a huge blow to the Nubali pirates as well. It's said that more than a hundred of their ships were sunk and they could only engage in small skirmishes for the next four to five years. They could no longer send out dozens of ships to attack large merchant fleets."
Claude raised an eyebrow. "Are the pirates in the Nubali Islands a group or do they act separately?"
"I'm not sure.
General Bolonik said, "I had a military school classmate who was assigned to the kingdom's navy. He told me everything about the Nubali Islands and the pirates.
In fact, the bloody battle in the Nubali Islands was the cause of the war in the east five years ago. The kingdom sent people to the islands after the war and learned about it from the pirates.
"It's said that the attack on the merchant fleet was due to the five anti-Aueran nations hiring the pirates of the Nubali Islands. They gathered almost all the pirate gangs in the area to carry out a joint operation.
However, they didn't expect to suffer such heavy losses. Quite a few famous pirate gangs suffered heavy losses and when they returned, they fed the envoys sent by the five anti-Aueran nations to the sharks.
"After the spy returned, the kingdom sent an envoy to the five anti-Aueran nations to protest and demand compensation. However, the five nations rejected the envoy's request and insisted that they didn't know anything about it. From then on, the relationship between the kingdom and them took a turn for the worse."
"Right after that, the kingdom opened a new route from Whitestag to Tyrrsim and stopped using the eastern route. When the five anti-Aueran nations realized that they couldn't use the eastern route to threaten the kingdom, they sent a joint fleet to invade the kingdom's waters. In the end, the kingdom couldn't take it anymore and attacked the five anti-Aueran nations."
Claude stood up and walked to the map on the wall. He looked at the map of Nubissia carefully.
The eight colonies of the kingdom were located to the southwest of Nubissia.
The southernmost colony of Aduras was a primordial forest known as the Endless Forest. Further south of the primordial forest was a large swamp known as the Misty Swamp.
It could be said that the southern part of the colonies wasn't much of a threat.
However, the northern part of Port Vebator was a mountainous region that was now the independent nikancha nation.
The mountainous coastal area was larger than the Balingana Colony. Deep into the sea was the famous Cape Morox.
Further north of the mountainous region was the western coast of Nubissia. It was a flatland even wider than the war zone and was the colony of seven coastal and island nations in the southern part of Freia.
When Stellin X decided to expand the colonies on Nubissia, the western coast was already out of reach.
However, the kingdom had already established Port Patres at the entrance of the Dorinibla River and discovered a large amount of mineral resources in the Mosraga Mountains in Anfiston.
That was why they decided to expand the colonies and established seven colonies in the next two decades. However, Port Vebator had already been taken over by Nasri by then. The kingdom was a step too late and the war wouldn't have happened otherwise.
Claude pointed at the western coast and asked Bolonik, "How do the colonies communicate with Freia?"
Bolonik replied, "They form a large merchant fleet in the first and second half of every year and gather warships from a few nations to escort them through the Nubali Archipelago's waters.
Because they learned their lesson from fighting to the death with our kingdom's Fearless Fleet, the pirates basically won't have any ideas on such a large-scale merchant fleet … "
Claude nodded. "In that case, we don't have to send a smuggler ship to Freia. We should send them to the western ports to gather information about the kingdom.
I believe that the two kings' struggle for the throne has attracted the attention of many nations. There's a high chance that they'll find out about the outcome of the civil war on the western coast.
Of course, this information regarding the kingdom's mainland might have only happened a few months ago, but no matter how delayed the news was, it was still better than a year and a half of not knowing anything. At the very least, it could give us a reference and help us predict what kind of ending we were about to face.
Also, even if we want to send spies back to Freia, we should do it through the merchant fleets of the western colonies. That's the only way to ensure our safety. "
Bolonik seemed a little frustrated. "Claude, you're right. But the problem is that we don't have any reliable candidates.
The kingdom has always monopolized the trade between the two continents and cracked down on smugglers. Ever since the war broke out, there have been fewer and fewer smugglers coming between the two continents.
The five smugglers I sent last time are the only captains we can contact who are familiar with the trade routes between the two continents. If they don't come back, I'm afraid no one will accept our request anymore. "
Claude shook his head. "We can choose suitable captains from the coastal transport fleet and provide them to their merchant ships. We can even form a fleet of warships to patrol the western coast.
There aren't any hostile nations there. We can use the excuse of replenishing supplies to gather information. Perhaps we can even open a trade route for the colonies.
The western coast is huge and has seven colonies. I'm sure they have what we need and we have what they need here. Sometimes, trade doesn't just refer to the trade between the two continents. "
Skri nodded in agreement. There was trade between the various prefectures of the kingdom and the colonies. So, Claude's suggestion of opening up a trade route to the western colonies was indeed a good one.
"Do you have a suitable candidate in mind?" Bolonik asked.
"Umm …" Claude gave it some thought and helplessly said, "Let Colonel Borkal go. He can even handle the nikancha, so I'm sure he'll be in his element on the western coast.
However, he had to be assigned a few deputies and guards to ensure his personal safety.
After all, he's the only link between us and the nikancha. "
After returning from HQ, Claude returned to Weyblon Manor to spend a few days with his wife and mother.
He had another meeting with Skri.
This time, General Skri was in charge of the expansion of Lanu Town into a city. According to the new city plan, the new Lanu City would be three times larger than the current Lanu Town. Almost half of the Lanu Lake would be included in the new city. This was much larger than the old Lanu Town, which only occupied a small part of the Lanu Lake.
According to the plans, as one of the five heads of the war theatre, Claude would be given a piece of land to build his own villa in. Once the new city was completed, he wouldn't have to rent Weyblon's manor anymore.
This was the first public construction project organized by the Overseas Minsheng Bank. Using the expansion of Lanu City to hire the immigrants of Anfiston colony, they would have a chance to earn money and boost the economy of the colony.
Claude returned to Wickhamsburg in the first half of September. Before he left, he held another meeting at HQ. Bolonik believed that the news he got from the Nasrian smuggler captain was that the civil war wouldn't end anytime soon. That would be a good opportunity for the war theatre to adjust their forces and develop their economy.
The only thing they had to be careful of was Shiks' actions. They hadn't received any news from Shiks for a long time. Seaking and the Alliance didn't attack the ports either.
This caused the warzone to be on tenterhooks, as if they were blindfolded.
That was why Bolonik hoped that Thundercrash could complete their training as soon as possible to prevent a sudden attack from Shiks.
Colonel Borkal, who was sent to the west coast to gather information, boarded a ship at Port Vebator in the second half of August. The theatre sent three light patrol ships to form a patrol unit to the west coast. They would probably return in the middle of October.
Less than two days after Claude arrived at Wickhamsburg, he received a letter from Boyd informing him of good news. The gunsmithing workshop in Port Vebator had been completed and he was invited to inspect it.
There was also a letter from Madam Sonia asking Claude what the workshop's first product should be and whether it would be able to produce her Sonia 5 model 1 rifle.