Volume 2: Empire Chapter 116 Robbery
November 4, 2648 in the Century Calendar, morning, sunny.
After a night of fierce fighting, the Marines of the Raging Tide Fleet captured the government building of Samuel City, and the mayor and most of the city officials fled. The defeated Rio army gathered in the eastern city area, preparing to fight a city street battle with the invaders.
If the Marines continued their attack with the intent of capturing the entire city, they would likely suffer heavy losses due to their unfamiliarity with the terrain.
So Luke decisively stopped the attack of the Marines entering the city. The troops attacking Samuel Port were limited, and it was impossible to fight a full-scale war with Leo with the strength of the city of Fury.
Order: Destroy as much of Samuel City's public infrastructure and factories as possible, take away all valuables that can be taken away, and retreat after four days.
The Marines who received the order switched from offense to defense and focused on demolishing the building. The six-story Samuel Government Office Building, which had been built less than a year ago, was reduced to ruins within half an hour.
Then all the city’s administrative departments, stations, theaters, and large shopping malls were devastated.
Other professionals broke into the Samuel City Bank and looted all the banknotes and precious metals inside. Major material storage warehouses were also patronized.
As the marines of the Raging Waves City Fleet followed the defeated soldiers into the city, the security department of Samuel City had no time to transfer or destroy the supplies and was rushed all the way east.
You know, the Rio Navy was preparing to fight a protracted offensive and defensive battle with the Raging Waves Fleet in Samuel Harbor. In order to supply the war, Samuel City stored a large amount of military supplies. As a result, the battle ended too quickly, and all these supplies fell into the hands of the Raging Waves Fleet intact.
When Luke, who was patrolling the battlefield, walked into a discovered warehouse, he was stunned by the mountains of supplies inside.
Brand new military trucks and war machines were neatly arranged, and unused tin men and metal soldiers were packed in boxes without even the anti-oxidation grease on the surface being wiped off.
Countless food and medicines.
Various alchemical raw materials, alchemical products, repair parts...
When Luke saw these and knew that many such warehouses had been found, he kept repeating this sentence in his mind.
I'm rich! I'm rich!
The blood that was shed last night because of his subordinates' reckless alchemical magic was replenished instantly this time, and it overflowed violently.
No wonder so many people like war, as long as they can win, it is a profitable business. Look at the full warehouses and the wealth contained in this port city. Even if the speed of money absorption in the city of raging waves is fast, it will take several years to earn so much.
move!
Luke ordered all the captured prisoners to be sent to move the supplies, and asked the Marines to search for Samuel citizens and conscript men to do hard labor. He had to move all the supplies during the four days he stayed behind.
The Marines set up defenses in the occupied areas and requisitioned all the vehicles they could find. The soldiers, like wolves and tigers, broke down the doors of the citizens and dragged out the young and strong men.
The fleet of Nutao City cleaned up the docks, and the ships came ashore to load supplies one by one. Every time a ship was fully loaded, it immediately set sail to Brilliant Island, unloaded the cargo there, and then returned to load, and notified all the captains in Brilliant Island to come to Samuel Port to load cargo.
After calculation, all the ships can make two trips back and forth, but the carrying capacity is still too small compared to the total amount of materials found.
Even if the captured ships were repaired and used to transport supplies, it was still impossible to transport all the supplies.
The best solution would be to extend the occupation for another week.
Luke immediately rejected the suggestion given by his subordinates.
The marines with less than 10,000 men could not defend the huge city of Samuel, not to mention that they had to allocate a considerable number of men to guard the prisoners. The Leo army stationed in the eastern city did not launch a counterattack because they were already frightened and did not know the true strength of the Nutao City fleet attacking Samuel.
In a week, the defeated troops in the eastern city will be able to repair and reorganize, and the support troops sent from other places will arrive one after another. At that time, as long as they launch a large-scale attack, they will be able to find the disadvantage of the Marine Corps of the Raging Waves Fleet.
There should be no unnecessary greed in war.
Luke insisted that the evacuation order after four days remain unchanged, and requested that only high-value materials be transported away, especially the documents and research materials in the various research institutions, which must be kept and transported with priority.
During evacuation, all supplies that cannot be transported will be burned!
The soldiers of the Nutao City Fleet turned into bandits, driving coolies to transport supplies to the dock day and night. If there were not enough vehicles and machinery, they would tie ropes and use manpower to pull directly.
Some people died suddenly due to overwork; some pirates ignored orders and burned, killed and looted in the city...
The war showed Luke its crueler side . The victor had the right to do anything to the loser. Conscience and morality were worthless at this time.
Inside the cabin of the "Listening Waves" airship, Agatha drank afternoon tea and looked out the window at the busy dock outside. The soldiers of the City of Raging Waves used whips to supervise Leo's laborers in carrying supplies. They only had six hours of rest time a day, and some people fell to the ground while walking and could not get up again.
The bodies were lifted up by the soldiers and thrown into the car to be taken away. Agatha did not feel anything when she saw this scene. As the head of the Imperial Secret Service, this kind of scene was just child's play for her.
Men in war are expendable.
Agatha looked at Meteorite who was sitting opposite her and found him very charming while working seriously.
At this time, Luke was looking at various reports sent by his subordinates, understanding the transportation of materials and the movements of Leo's army in the eastern city.
After a while, Agatha couldn't help but say, "The Rio Republic has used all its national strength to defend Samuel Port, but most of the supplies were not used and were given to you. This battle can be said to have shaken the foundation of the Rio Republic. The current government is bound to fall. I wonder if the successor can stop the offensive of the Lookout."
Luke didn't look up and continued to look at the document in his hand. He said, "The more chaos there is in Rio, the better it is for the Empire... By the way, if the Rio Republic sends envoys to seek peace talks, please talk to them on my behalf, Your Highness."
Agatha, who wanted to chat, was stunned for a moment: "Shouldn't you be the one talking to them? Are you going to Winter Capital soon?"
Luke signed his name on a document, then looked up at Agatha and said, "The attack on Samuel Port went unexpectedly smoothly. The main force of the Leo Navy was destroyed here. We can achieve our goals by attacking other ports at will.
This is how naval warfare is...if you win, you win everything, but if you lose, you lose your country's destiny.
Leave the rest of the battle to Madam Tashia. I have my own things to do."
"Can't you really tell me what you did last winter?"
Luke smiled and said, "This is a private matter, Your Highness, please do not ask any more questions. The victory in the war against Leo can greatly ease the pressure that the empire is facing. I believe that after this winter, many things will turn around."
Agatha remembered that Meteorite had told her last time that he would stay in the Winter Capital this winter, but she didn't expect him to leave so soon. A feeling of reluctance made Agatha's mood suddenly worse: "Do you know that I... The Empire needs you very much now. And Dai'er, she asked me many times when you would return to the Imperial Capital.
Something important is going on that requires you to go on an adventure to Winter City!
Now that my father is staying indoors, and you are leaving again, what should I do if something happens?"
"You are the only princess canonized by Emperor Augustine, how can you be so unconfident in yourself?
Tell Princess Dale that I will be back when winter is over and spring comes."
Agatha knew that Meteorite's persistence was hard to change, so she took out a wooden sculpture and placed it on the table, saying, "This is the statue I carved for Dale, but it has some flaws, so I'll give it to you.
I hope you can come back from Dongdu soon."
Meteorite picked up the wooden sculpture from the table.
This is a wood carving that Agatha made in the West. Every cut was done with great care. The sculpture is of a girl praying with her hands clasped together and eyes closed, and it is as lifelike as a miniature human being.
Luke took the wood carving in his hands and looked at it, but he couldn't see any flaws. If you were to be very specific... the appearance of the wood carving was a little different from Dale, and seemed to be somewhat similar to Agatha when she was a girl.
Agatha and Dale are quite similar.
Luke didn't dare to give a professional interpretation of the wood carving, so he said, "Since it's a wood carving made for Princess Dale, it's not a good idea to give it to me."
Agatha changed the subject and said, “I will carve another one for her and give this one to you. She won’t object.
Let’s not talk about this anymore…
If Leo sends envoys to negotiate, how should I talk to them? "
"Thank you, Princess Royal, and Princess Dale, I'll take it..." Luke put the wood carving on the table and prepared to go back and find a wooden box to store it. Facing Agatha's question, he replied: "The principle is to use the greatest possible force to limit the development of Rio's maritime military power, recognize the absolute jurisdiction of the Imperial Navy over this sea area, and promise not to introduce a third party to intervene in any maritime disputes between the two countries."
"Don't you need to ask for compensation?"
"That's your freedom, Your Highness..."
Luke and Agatha chat about how to deal with the post-war situation.
The raid on Samuel Port launched by the Raging City Fleet also spread to all parts of the world through various means.
The course of the war shocked everyone.
Because of the Unit-01-class battleship, almost everyone agrees that Raging Waves City has more advantages in this battle. If a regular naval battle were fought, the Leo Navy would definitely be the losing side.
The Rio Navy also thought so, so they decided to hold the port and use the terrain to deal with the Raging Waves City fleet.
Faced with the turtle formation set up by the Leo Navy in Samuel Harbor, the naval commanders of various countries felt that even if they attacked, they would have nowhere to attack. Even if they relied on the armor advantage of Unit-01, it would take more than ten days or half a month to bite it off.
How the international situation will change by then remains an unknown.
The last time the Rio Republic faced the invasion of the Golden Shield Empire, it received widespread support from the international community.
But no one could have imagined that the Nutao City fleet would actually use the Unit-01-class battleship as a war fortress, concentrating all its strength in a desperate attempt to ram the Leo Navy's turtle formation. As a result, the Leo Navy was scattered and suffered a major defeat.
Marine Leo wanted to be a reef to meet the waves, but when the time came, he found out that he was just a sand sculpture.
This First World War had a profound impact on the world's maritime relations.
The gap between the old wooden battleships and the new all-metal battleships is not just a generation gap, it's like a wooden stick against a sharp blade, it's a dead end.
The only thing that can fight against the full metal battleship is the full metal battleship.
The major maritime powers immediately increased their investment in the development and construction of all-metal warships. They did not want the war in Samuel Port to happen in their own ports. An ocean arms race was quietly taking place between the countries because the Raging Waves City Fleet had shown its fangs.
The Battle of Samuel Port was of even greater significance to the Golden Shield Empire.
After receiving the news from Samuel Port, the Art County Alliance even directly called off the siege of Snow City.
If the Rio Navy is defeated, the Golden Shield Empire will be able to threaten the coast of the At County Union from the sea. The powerful combat capability displayed by the Unit-01-class battleships made the At County Union realize the gap between itself and the Golden Shield Empire's naval power. At present, the At County Union's all-metal battleships are still being built in the dock. If the Raging Waves City fleet goes north at this time, the entire coastline of the County Union will be their target of attack.
The follow-up troops prepared by the Art County Alliance to attack the Golden Shield Empire had to be transferred to important coastal cities. Many materials transferred to the front line also had to be sent to coastal cities to strengthen the defense of the homeland.
The pressure on the Golden Shield Empire in the north was suddenly reduced, and it could even organize a counterattack on the second-line defense zone, hoping to establish contact with Snow City.
The imperial army on the southern front at Tedega Hill also avoided a crisis.
When the Duke of Celtic learned that the Art County Alliance attacked the northern border of the Empire, he prepared to launch a large-scale counterattack to retake the occupied cities and strongholds. At the same time, he also contacted the fence-sitters in the Blade Brotherhood, saying that the Empire was about to end, and let us join hands like our ancestors to save the country.
Some members of the Blade Brotherhood had already agreed to send troops to support the Tedega Hills. As a result, at this time, the news that the Fury City fleet had wiped out the main force of the Rio Navy was transmitted back to the Empire.
The members of the Blade Brotherhood who were preparing to launch an uprising immediately withdrew their troops, and the barbarian legion that had just launched the offensive had to switch to defense.
The news of victory swept across the empire, and people realized that…Raging Waves City was not only very strong in terms of economic strength, but also in terms of military strength. A city’s fleet destroyed a country’s navy. If Raging Waves City sent troops to support the North, why not just counterattack the Winter Capital?
The hearts of ordinary people are so simple. The victory in the eastern ocean swept away the haze of defeat in the north. The strength of the fleet of Fury City became the mainstay of their prediction of the war situation.
As long as Governor Meteorite leads his army north, victory will be achieved!
At this time, Luke had already set foot on the land of Winter Capital.
