The Fourth Financial Crisis

Where is the Sea Cliff Fleet?

This soul torture deeply troubles the two armies that are facing each other far away on the west coast of the outlying island strait.

Not only were the outlying island coalition forces unable to figure out the specific location of the Haiya Fleet, the great lord Huang Xuan even beheaded the courier who rushed over to report the news on the charge of "false transmission of intelligence." Even Tian Beixi, who had always been resourceful, did I don’t know what kind of medicine Han Fulai sells in his gourd.

After all, there isn’t even a single monster in the waters off the island, so the Haiya Fleet can’t suddenly be sunk by a storm, right?

If the Haiya Chamber of Commerce's navigation skills were so inferior, it wouldn't be worthy of being called the leader of Eastern Ocean trade.

Without knowing the movements of the Haiya fleet, Tian Beixi, who had the upper hand, did not dare to easily attack the coalition forces on the outlying islands.

So she chose to fight steadily, occupying favorable terrain and consuming the coalition forces on the outlying islands. At the same time, she also took advantage of the opponent's mentality that they no longer dared to go to full-scale war, and constantly harassed the opponent's food routes. If she could defeat the enemy without fighting, that would undoubtedly be the best. result.

The demoralized outlying island coalition saw that Tian Beixi did not launch a full-scale attack. It was too late to rejoice, let alone take the initiative to provoke. Therefore, the outlying island battlefield fell into a strange state of silence due to the mysterious disappearance of the Haiya Fleet.

There is naturally a reason why the Haiya Fleet failed to arrive as scheduled.

Because Han Fulai did not immediately lead the Haiya fleet to support the front line, but held a grand armed parade.

Although ocean-going merchant ships often visit the outlying islands, there has almost never been such a large-scale fleet collective action as the Haiya Fleet. When the indigenous residents of the outlying islands see this fleet, they will be shocked by its spectacular power. These ships often number seven to eight thousand people. Even in the history of navigation on earth, a wooden sailboat with a ton level can be regarded as a miracle in the field of shipbuilding.

The main ship type of the Sea Cliff Fleet is very similar to the giant version of the Karak-style ocean-going sailing ship from the 16th century on Earth.

In the history of shipbuilding on earth, this type of ship is a transitional species from row-row inland sea sailing ships to modern ocean-going sailing ships. Compared with the later Galenic sailing ships, the Karak-type sailing ship was able to use simpler shipbuilding techniques to make the hull very large. However, because the center of gravity of this type of sailboat was too high, the maneuverability was very inflexible, and it was easy to roll over, so it was quickly eliminated by the later Galen sailboats.

In the world of Kyushu Cultivation, due to the existence of the magical self-balancing civilian immortal formation, there is little need to consider ship stability when building ships, and since there are almost no naval battles in the world of Cultivation, ship maneuverability does not need to be considered at all.

The major maritime trade chambers of commerce have only one requirement for shipyards:

Make the ship bigger and carry a higher capacity!

Therefore, this "cultivation version of the Karak" sailboat, which can mindlessly pile up tonnage, has never been improved since it was basically finalized thousands of years ago. This is also one of the important examples of cultivation magic hindering the development of science and technology in Kyushu.

With the dual blessing of the civilian immortal formation and the spirit wood keel, the length of the merchant ships of the Haiya Fleet generally reaches one hundred meters, and the displacement is close to 10,000 tons. Its size has even exceeded the largest wooden sail battleship on earth in the 19th century.

Through secret conversations with Han Fulai, Yang Lu already knew that this Haiya fleet was only glamorous on the surface, but its internal management was actually quite chaotic.

However, to the lords of the outlying islands, this huge fleet with forty giant ocean-going merchant ships, 10,000 "elite" mercenary soldiers, and more than 8,000 sailors can already be regarded as the first-class maritime armed force in Kyushu.

Xu Tong, the lord of Yanbo Island, took the initiative to introduce the Haiya Fleet to the outlying island area. At best, it could be called a strategy to drive away the tiger and devour the wolf, and at worst, it could be said to be luring the wolf into the house.

Under the command of Han Fulai, this huge fleet did not go straight to the front line of the war as expected by Tian Beixi and the outlying island coalition forces. Instead, it made a very large detour, deliberately passing through the territory of several small outlying island lords to show off its power.

Everywhere he went, Han Fulai sent people to inform the local lords, saying that the Haiya Fleet was here to defend the outlying islands at the invitation of Xu Tong, the lord of Yanbo Island. Please support the lords if you have money and cultivation materials. Our group of Zhongzhou volunteers came all the way from Haiya City.

But everyone knows that the military expenses for the outlying island war have long been paid by Xu Tong, the representative of the outlying island lords, and Du Zhitang of the Wuliangjian sect. Han Fulai's behavior is clearly extortion.

Although there are many internal factions on the outlying islands, they often show great unity when facing the intervention of external cultivation forces. Under normal circumstances, the lords of the outlying islands would definitely not pay attention to Han Fulai's forced donation behavior.

However, in order to raise an army to fight against Tian Beixi, Huang Xuan, the chief executive of the outlying islands, not only directly recruited a dozen of the largest lords on the outlying islands to go with the army, but also recruited young men and food from other small lords' territories, calling on everyone to fight the invaders together.

Except for a few large lords with remote geographical locations such as Xu Tong, the territory of most outlying island lords has been completely hollowed out by this outlying island war.

Although the manpower and food in the territories of the major lords have been severely searched by the outlying island coalition forces, their valuables and spiritual stone coins have not been lost.

The coalition forces on the outlying islands searched for manpower and food, and it could be said that they were trying to resist Tian Beixi. Even if the lords were dissatisfied, they had nothing to say. After all, Tian Beixi was coming to raid their homes, so providing support to the coalition forces on the outlying islands could save them money and avoid disaster.

But if you talk about looting property, don't say that these lords will not agree. Even the cultivation forces standing behind these mortal lords will not agree. Even Huang Xuan, the chief executive of the outlying island, does not dare to risk the disapproval of the world.

However, what the outlying island lords never expected was that the outlying island coalition forces did not raid their homes, nor did Tian Beixi come to raid their homes. Instead, the Haiya Fleet, under the pretext of supporting the outlying islands, came to raid their homes first!

Nowadays, the territory of the outlying island lords is extremely empty, and it is difficult to even maintain their rule. Apart from scolding Han Fulai for his shamelessness, everyone has no power to refuse the request of the Haiya Fleet.

Although in Yang Lu's view, the mortal mercenaries organized by Haiya City are at best a well-trained rabble and cannot stand on the stage at all, the advantages are all compared with each other.

These Haiya City mercenaries, whose average worth is as high as 3,000 yuan of spiritual stone coins, are truly elite armed forces on the outlying islands.

For modern and modern armies, fighting a war means fighting logistics. Although the mercenaries of the Haiya Fleet are severely underpaid and their salaries are significantly inflated, under the powerful logistical support system of the Haiya Chamber of Commerce, they already have the prototype of a modern army;

On the other hand, the private armies of the lords of outlying islands are more like the armies of the medieval times. As long as a notice is posted, a conscript army can be quickly organized. They can't even provide uniform weapons and equipment. It's completely bandit style. The difference in combat effectiveness between the two sides is indeed obvious to the naked eye.

Han Fulai only had to order the Haiya soldiers to line up on the spot, show off their sophisticated weapons and equipment, and hold an armed parade. Many outlying island lords obediently paid the protection fees without having to speak in person.

A few outlying island lords also tried to resist Han Fulai's blackmail behavior, and even directly rejected Han Fulai's request for the fleet to dock. However, Han Fulai ordered the crossbow gunners of the Haiya Fleet on the spot to aim at the island palaces of the lords and fire two salvos, destroying these The gorgeous palace was smashed to pieces, so these die-hards were forced to "he who knows the current affairs is a wise man."

According to Yang Lu's observation, the ballistae of the Haiya Fleet are all made of the sinews and bones of monster beasts, and are far more powerful than the ancient ballistae on Earth. They should also be the secret weapon specially designed by the Haiya Fleet to deal with Tian Beixi, and they have never even been sent to Outlying island lords exported.

Unexpectedly, the first victims of these ballistae were not Tian Beixi's troops, but the outlying island lords who were allied forces.

The voyage from Yanbo Island to the outlying island strait was only a few hundred miles, but the Haiya Fleet actually wasted seven days and stopped at eight ports along the way. The various "wind reception banquets" held by the major lords for Han Fulai were even more... It has been held nearly twenty times in a row.

At the end of the meal, Yang Lu even had to use his precious spiritual energy to dissolve part of the food in his abdomen to avoid indigestion.

I don’t know how Han Fulai’s mortal body could cope with so many dinner parties in a row. He was simply born with the physique of a civil servant!

Of course, time has not been completely wasted these days.

After blackmailing eight lords in a row and destroying the port palaces of two lords with crossbows, the Haiya Fleet collected a total of more than 200,000 yuan in spiritual stone coins in protection fees.

Although the number was not large, the smile on Han Fulai's face could not be hidden.

Even if Yang Lu thought about it with his toes, he knew that blackmailing the lords of the outlying islands was definitely not under the instruction of the Wuliang Sword Sect. After all, the Wuliang Sword Sect spent 30 million spirit stone coins to save the island. Hundreds of thousands of spirit stone coins?

For the Wuliang Sword Sect, defending the outlying islands is the first priority task. In order to affect the overall combat deployment of the fleet for more than 200,000 spirit stone coins, this must be Han Fulai's way of repaying his personal gain.

Even if these two hundred thousand spiritual stone coins are used to make up for the operating expenses of the Haiya Fleet and the loss of ballista ammunition during this period, it may not be enough!

However, Yang Lu was not qualified to criticize Han Fulai's "private use of public weapons." After all, he himself had received 20,000 yuan in hush money from Han Fulai. They were all collaborating criminal accomplices, and there was really no need to laugh at the same time.

As for Lin Dong, the supervisor of the Wuliang Sword Sect, this guy with his nostrils turned upward didn't understand Han Fulai's tactics at all.

After all, the lords of the outlying islands are not fools. They all know that this blackmail is most likely the result of Han Fu's own initiative. Not to mention that he cannot represent the Wuliang Sword Sect, and he may not represent the Haiya Chamber of Commerce. Therefore, everyone had the same idea. They secretly put some money to send this plague god away, and asked him to quickly bring down Tian Beixi Huo.

Although Han Fulai was not capable of wiping out all the lords of the outlying islands, he could still eliminate one or two lords of the outlying islands when he was angry. No one wanted to be the chicken who killed the chicken to scare the monkeys.

It is precisely because these protection fees are paid in private and will not be brought to the table at all. When the lords hold banquets in public, everyone assumes a very high political stance of "taking the overall interests of the island into account." Lin Dong thought until the end that Han Fulai was really raising supplies for the Haiya Fleet!

Lin Dong didn't even bother to ask about such mortal matters, but he saved Han Fulai a lot of hush money.

According to Han Fulai, he deserved not to be able to earn this money!

With such stops and starts, the voyage that could have been completed in two days was unexpectedly delayed by Han Fulai for more than seven days. It was not until noon on the eighth day that the Haiya Fleet finally entered the outskirts of the outlying island strait.

On the west bank of the outlying island strait, the Guhong Island army commanded by Tian Beixi was ready.

As the battle was approaching, Yang Lu, Han Fulai, and the impatient Lin Dong all came to the observation deck of the Haiya Fleet flagship, watching the enemy positions from a distance through the thin sea fog.

Because few cultivators intervene on the outlying islands, wars between mortal lords are quite frequent.

The Guhong Island army obviously has very rich experience in ordinary combat, and has established simple civil defenses along the coast. Even if Yang Lu is not an expert in cold weapon warfare, he can see that the Guhong Island army is quite prepared for combat. full.

The coast where they camped was surrounded by endless cliffs. Near the cliffs, there were hidden reefs that appeared and disappeared in the waves. There was only a relatively open beach for the army to land.

Since the ocean-going ships of the Haiya Fleet are seven or eight stories high, in order to avoid being attacked by the Haiya Fleet from above, the Guhong Island army did not deploy defenses on the tidal flats. Instead, they built fortifications deep behind the tidal flats. Pretending to engage in a land battle with the Haiya Fleet.

As for Tian Beixi, who was said to be able to activate the "Heavenly Thunder Demon Technique", no one had ever seen a trace.

After knowing the enemy's arrangement, Han Fulai, the commander-in-chief of Haiya Fleet, couldn't help but sigh deeply: "Master Lin Xian, it seems that we are still a step late. The army led by Tian Beixi is already ready to attack us. !”

Regarding Han Fulai's pretentious emotion, Yang Lu really didn't know what to complain about.

Because the culprit behind the slow movement of the Haiya Fleet is clearly you, a corrupt person who took advantage of the opportunity to enrich your own pockets!

As the saying goes, don't tell the truth when you see through it. Naturally, Yang Lu would not open any pot and take the initiative to expose Han Fulai's nonsense. Instead, he brought up another matter: "Manager Han, since the army of Guhong Island is already here. Now that we have established our position, should we try to bypass this area and find another place to land?"

Han Fulai shook his head and said: "This is already the best landing place nearby! I have just sent a sampan to reconnoiter the terrain inside the Outlying Island Strait, only to find that several large ships have been scuttled in the main channel of the Outlying Island Strait, including some with fire. There are Yunzhou merchant ships and local merchant ships on outlying islands. Our fleet cannot be deployed at all. It may take a long time to clear the channel again."

Yang Luqi said: "Tian Beixi's blocking of the waterway should be to force us to fight at the opponent's preset positions, but the offshore coalition forces also sent people to block the waterway. What does this mean?"

Han Fulai couldn't answer this question.

They didn't know that the outlying island coalition blocked the channel because Ke Laibo was clever and wanted to make it look like he was trying to use a pontoon to transport food to attract Tian Beixi's attention, thus covering the real supply fleet transporting food and grass.

And Tian Beixi is not a Zhuge Liang who can do things very well. She did not "predict Ke Laibo's prediction" casually. She just didn't pay attention to the outlying island coalition forces at all!

Seeing that the outlying island coalition forces blocked the southern channel, she took advantage of the situation and asked her merchant ships to block the northern channel, forcing the Haiya Fleet to choose a preset location to land at the minimum cost.

The senior officials of the Outlying Islands Alliance were simply frightened by Tian Beixi, and even started to scare themselves. If they had not learned that the Haiya Fleet was about to arrive, the Outlying Islands Alliance would probably have been frightened by Tian Beixi and collapsed without a fight!