Chapter 704: Golden Galleon Harbor Welcomes the Royal Division
Chapter 704: Jinjialun Port Welcomes the Royal Division
. In the north of Jinjialun Port.
On a barren red land, a large army is carrying rolling dust and marching towards Jinjialun Port.
Among them are trucks, motorcycles, and three-wheeled vehicles, all painted in the same desert style, clustered in the center of rows of soldiers.
In addition, there are several open-top off-road vehicles with a wasteland style, and towed artillery towed behind trucks.
Objectively speaking, their firepower and mobility are much stronger than the city defense army with only a few 100mm guns, and the soldiers also look more well-trained.
But compared with the “Ya” clan of the bone-chewing tribe that was once beaten up by the alliance, they are probably on par with the latter, and even have fewer tanks than the latter.
However, tanks are not actually needed here.
Although the province of Borneo is mostly plains, there are no decent roads, especially near Jinjialun Port, which is an alluvial plain with frequent floods.
These light vehicles alone were already struggling to move forward. If the tanks were driven here, they would probably break down before they could go far.
The survivors around them, who were carrying backpacks and earth baskets on their arms, saw this and moved away, casting awe-inspiring glances at the fluttering double-sword flags and the gray wolf flags.
”It’s the Gray Wolf Army!”
”Your Majesty has finally taken action.”
”I don’t know which one is stronger, them or the Iron Man.”
Some poor wolf tribe members prostrated themselves on the ground and prayed, looking up at the pride of the tribe, chanting in a strong and hoarse voice.
”…The invincible gray wolves in the wasteland, they come in packs, like the wind and sand that sweeps past, bringing death to the enemy.”
Some people also had greedy green light in their eyes.
As long as there is a war, people will die.
When the time comes, I can take off two pairs of pants and go back, so that more people can go out to scavenge, or go to the Governor’s plantation to pick sugarcane.
At this moment, General Alayyang, who was a master of military tactics, was sitting in an open SUV, squinting his eyes and looking in the direction of Jinjialun Port.
As early as the beginning of General Abinan’s defeat, he noticed the situation in Jinjialun Port, but he did not dare to act rashly without the order of His Majesty.
What if it was His Majesty’s instruction to put the alliance on the shore?
Or what if His Majesty planned to solve the problem through other means?
These are hard to say, let alone guess.
Alayyang has never been to the alliance, but he has lived in the land of Borneo Province for more than 30 years, and he knows the character of Master Wutuo very well. What that master hates most is not that his subordinates mess up things or are not smart enough, but that people who should not have brains have brains, and people who should not have eyes have eyes.
It is for this reason that he chose to wait, and while keeping his troops still, he sent several scouts disguised as civilians into the city to collect information about those “iron men” and inquire about the whereabouts of Governor Nihak, while waiting for orders from Tiandu.
Now that the telegram from Tiandu had finally arrived, Alayan immediately gave orders without saying anything, ordering the Gray Wolf Army, which had already completed its marching preparations, to advance in the direction of the front line.
Although he and his men were still nearly 70 or 80 kilometers away from Golden Gallon Port, he had basically known the situation there.
Sitting next to him, Staff Officer Gopal spread out the map on his knees, pointed at the two marked lines, and said in a relaxed tone.
”…At present, the Alliance’s defense line in Golden Gallon Port is based on the Governor’s Mansion and the Lowell Camp. As long as we can find a way to remove one of them, it will be much more beneficial to us.”
After a pause, he pointed his index finger at the map.
”I personally think that the Lowell Camp is a good breakthrough point. The people stationed there are just a group of rioters who have just touched guns, and at most there are dozens of Alliance instructors. As long as we take this place, we can in turn mobilize those slaves who have been instigated by the Alliance to work for us.”
The adjutant sitting in the co-pilot seat turned around and asked.
”Why would they be used by us? I think it’s good enough that they don’t cause trouble.”
Gopal smiled lightly and said casually.
”It’s very simple. We give them what the Alliance can’t give. In addition to restoring their status as free people, we can also allow them to burn, kill and loot in certain districts as a reward for them.” Except for
Tulip Street, which was circled by the knights, they really couldn’t touch the big figures there, but in other districts or streets controlled by the Alliance, they could always pick out a few people with some money.
Even if there is no money to be squeezed out, it doesn’t matter. People themselves can also be used as spoils of war.
When the war is over, just put a hat on them, label the survivors who helped the Alliance as criminals, and then hand them over to the wild dogs for processing.
They don’t have to spend a penny for this. They
can even take a cut from the legally robbed spoils.
Alayyang narrowed his eyes slightly, thought for a moment, and pointed out the problems in the plan.
”But most of them are from the Moon Tribe, and other ethnic groups probably account for less than 30%.”
The racial segregation of the Moon Tribe was decided by His Majesty, and they have no right to restore the free citizen status of those people.
This is a matter of principle.
As if he guessed that the general would ask this, Gopal smiled faintly and said,
”It’s just to stabilize them with this statement. I didn’t say we must fulfill it, or we can apply to His Majesty for a special pardon for them, re-register them as rat people or snake people, or even give them a new surname and new faith. This is not a difficult thing.”
If His Majesty disagrees, it doesn’t matter. Just get rid of those guys who have been used up.
While the car was talking and laughing, the large army had already arrived at the northern suburbs of Jingalon Port, and the various combat formations quickly moved to the pre-determined combat positions to station.
A full five 10,000-man team was deployed on a battle line less than 20 kilometers wide, surrounding the settlement, with a dark cloud pressing down on the city and ready to destroy it.
Five 10,000-man troops are indeed not a small number. If they were pulled to the eastern provinces, they would even be considered a large settlement.
However, Alayyang was still very cautious.
Even though the intelligence showed that the enemy had less than a thousand people and had just been consumed by the city defense army, he still did not let his soldiers advance rashly. Instead, he ordered his adjutant to take some coolies nearby and dig anti-artillery holes, trenches and foxholes on the outskirts of the city.
At the same time, on the roof of a three-story civilian house in the suburbs of Jingalon Port, four players wearing exoskeletons were holding binoculars and looking at the position one kilometer away.
”Okay, these people are quite knowledgeable.” Looking at the well-dug anti-artillery holes, Yinchuo couldn’t help but show a touch of surprise on his face.
Not only fortifications, they even made some camouflage nets to block the view of drones, which looked like they were imported from the legion.
Ban Suicuo looked slightly solemn, while Wu Jiawu, who was standing next to him, looked eager to try and kept talking excitedly.
”Finally, we can have a tough battle!”
The private soldiers in the Governor’s Mansion were too weak to fight. They looked like a group of people, but they didn’t even scrape off the paint on his exoskeleton breastplate.
According to local people, this Gray Wolf Army is the elite of the Imperial Army, and it is the land warfare ace directly under the Emperor of Xilan Empire!
For a fun person like him, the stronger the enemy, the more excited he is.
After all, if you encounter a rookie who collapses at the touch of a button, there is no sense of accomplishment even if you win, and no one will support you if you go to the forum to show off.
So far, the performance of this unit is quite satisfactory. Whether it is the speed of deployment or the steady posture, it is difficult to pick out obvious flaws.
The survivors who were caught on the battlefield faced the loess and waved their shovels with their backs to the sky, digging pits from morning until dark.
As if they were dissatisfied with the slow digging of these hungry guys, dozens of supervisors with whips soon appeared on the battlefield. After a few whips, the survivors worked much faster. Some skinny guys even fell to the ground due to exhaustion. The
officer who led the supervisors was very satisfied with the situation.
The physical strength of these survivors is like toothpaste. As long as you squeeze it hard, you can still squeeze out something.
The players hiding in the distance ate the dry food in their backpacks and watched the survivors work. They stayed on the roof until dark.
Seeing that the sun was setting, the group of soldiers did not keep the survivors for dinner. They took back the tools they were given and drove them out of the battlefield.
A group of ragged survivors limped towards the settlement. Everyone had a resentment on their face, but they dared not speak out.
Seeing that one of the survivors was walking towards the area near them, the four players thought about it, immediately threw down a hundred-dollar bill and evacuated the house, and found an opportunity to block one of the groups.
”Hey, hey! Don’t leave, fellow villagers in front! We have something to ask you!” He accidentally untied the eyepiece of the helmet and waved forward with a smile.
Seeing these four iron men wearing exoskeletons, the dozen or so ragged survivors had obvious expressions of fear on their faces.
They had just been whipped by the empire, and they didn’t want to be whipped by these iron men again.
But no one ran away.
Looking at the rifle hanging on their chests, their legs felt like they were filled with lead, even though the gun was neither unloaded nor loaded.
Just when everyone was panicking, a man wearing an exoskeleton walked up to them and suddenly took out a cigarette box.
”Calm down with a cigarette, I don’t need to teach you how to smoke.” He said in a non-standard human language, and gave everyone a cigarette with a joking smile.
Cigarettes are considered hard currency in the wasteland, second only to bullets and alcohol, and even a little higher than bread. The most important thing is that they are easy to carry.
Although he doesn’t smoke much, he always brings a few packs every time he goes on a mission. It is more useful than money to eliminate the vigilance of local people.
Although these locals are so poor that they have to eat dirt every now and then, tobacco leaves and pepper are not rare here. Some people will also make some tobacco leaves and crush them to smoke, or sell them to make money to supplement their family income.
Several people clamped the cigarette under their noses and took a puff, and immediately understood what this thing was, and then they showed surprised expressions on their faces.
They have never seen such a precious cigarette in their lives, so they are reluctant to smoke it.
No Family took out a lighter and lit it for them, so that they don’t have to hesitate whether to smoke or not.
He walked into the alley with a dozen people and puffed for a while, and No Family asked with a smile.
”Look at how hard you work, how much money did those wolf exterminators give you?”
Hearing this, the dozen survivors all looked unhappy. One of them was more straightforward and started to curse.
”Money? Those stingy guys don’t give money!”
Soon several people echoed.
”That’s right!”
”Don’t even mention giving money, it’s good enough that they don’t steal our things!”
”Damn, they took away the basket I used to pick up soil…”
While speaking, several people kept staring at the lighter in the hand of the iron man in front of them, their eyes full of envy and greed.
No family member made a surprised expression.
”No money? Then why are you helping them dig?”
The straightforward man said angrily.
”Not only no money! We have to bring our own dry food!”
No family member continued to add fuel to the fire.
”Wouldn’t it be fine if you didn’t go?”
Everyone shook their heads when they heard this.
”No, they have occupied the red soil. If we don’t go, we will have nothing to eat.”
”They don’t have enough people. They will come to catch people nearby. We all live here, so we have to go when the time comes.”
”It’s hard to say what will happen when they come to our house.”
”My three daughters are all adults.”
”These damned bastards!”
”I hope they are buried in the red soil!”
Several survivors complained in unison, getting more and more angry.
No one’s family heard it, but his eyes turned and he suddenly smiled and said.
”How about this, if they don’t give you money, I will give it to you!”
Everyone in the alley was stunned and looked at him in confusion.
”You… give it to us?”
”That’s right,” No one’s family nodded and said with a smile, “But you have to remember, we have increased the money, you have to work harder! Starting tomorrow, you have to dig hard for me. If they ask you to dig a pit of 1.5 meters, you have to dig 2 meters. If they ask you to dig a pit of 2 meters, you have to dig 2.5 meters! Give them an extra 50 centimeters!”
Several survivors were stunned.
The straightforward guy looked at the iron man in front of him suspiciously and asked in disbelief.
”Are you really going to give us money?”
No Family Member said with a smile.
”Of course we have to! Not only will we give, but we will pay on a daily basis! Each person… we will give twenty Xilan coins!”
Twenty Xilan coins!
Everyone’s eyes widened when they heard this.
They instinctively didn’t believe such a good thing, but the cigarette butts in their mouths made them subconsciously believe it a little.
Maybe these iron men really don’t lack money?
A young man from the Rat Tribe swallowed his saliva.
”Yes… everyone gets a share?”
No one said with a smile.
”Of course! We treat everyone equally!”
Then someone asked.
”Can we bring a few more family members?”
No one said readily.
”No problem! We will count the money per person… Ah, forget about the children, we won’t count those under twelve years old. We will count the heads here at dawn tomorrow, and you can get the money as long as you do what we say!”
With a turn of his eyes, he added another sentence.
”You can help me recruit people, and we will give you an extra five dollars for every extra person you recruit! But this must be kept secret, don’t let those people outside know, otherwise, not only will you lose the money, you may even lose your life.”
Everyone showed surprise on their faces when they heard this, and no one was afraid of his last words.
No one agreed with them on the map on the time and place to divide the money, and then sent these people away.
The next day, when it was still dawn, more than a thousand people gathered in the northern suburbs of Jingalon Port and walked towards the position of the Gray Wolf Army.
Seeing the dark figures, the soldiers standing guard at the front line were startled. They thought it was the Alliance who came to attack. It was not until they walked in that they realized it was a group of residents in the settlement.
”What are you doing here!” The soldier shouted.
Several survivors who were leading the group shouted back confidently.
”We are here to work!”
”Your superior called us!”
”He told us to come again tomorrow, saying that if we dare not come, he will go to the settlement to catch us.”
”Hurry up and let us work!”
Listening to the shouting one after another, several soldiers on duty were stunned, looking at the group of guys with a confused face. For a moment, they didn’t know what to do, so they quickly sent someone back to ask for instructions from their superiors.
At this moment, their superior was snoring in the anti-artillery hole that had just been dug yesterday. When he was woken up, he was confused and hurriedly put on the hat hanging on the head of the bed.
”The Alliance is coming?!”
”No,” the soldier said quickly, looking at the officer who was quickly putting on his military boots, “A group of residents from Golden Gallon Port came to the position. They said you asked them to come and dig the earth here…”
The officer who was putting on his shoes was stunned for two seconds, stopped tying his shoelaces, and nodded.
”Is this true? What’s the matter?”
The soldier was also stunned, and didn’t know what to do for a while.
”Then…”
”Give them shovels and spades, tell them where to dig and how to dig, do you need me to teach you? Damn it, you are making a fuss about such a small thing, the Alliance is calling me!”
The officer threw away the shoes that had just been poked into his feet, threw his hat on the head of the bed, turned over and lay back down.
He didn’t go to bed until after three o’clock last night, and he was sleeping on his head. He was called up for such a small matter, which was really ignorant!
After being scolded, the soldier looked aggrieved. However, he saw that his superior had already started snoring. He could only trot to find the person in charge of logistics at the front line and distribute the digging tools to the survivors. The
survivors who received the tools immediately went to the battlefield and started working hard. They looked completely different from yesterday.
When the sun was high in the sky, the supervisor with a whip came to the battlefield and was surprised to find that the whip in his hand was not useful.
”Strange.”
”When did these animals become so diligent?”
Several supervisors gathered together and looked at the guys who were sweating in the trenches with their heads buried. One of them couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity.
”It’s really strange. Why are you so diligent today?”
The survivor who was working hard didn’t even raise his head and shouted to the supervisor with a whip on his back.
”Master, if you are lazy you will be whipped, but you still have to work in the end.”
”Yes, Master, we are afraid of
pain.” “Finish the work early, and when the war is over, you won’t have to suffer.”
These words were taught to them by the people who led them to make money.
Of course, they didn’t dare to look up, especially the face of the supervisor, for fear that they would be exposed.
The supervisor nodded, and didn’t doubt what they said, but still couldn’t help but sneered coldly.
”You have already realized this, and you should be more diligent on weekdays. How can you not be so poor
and look like a ghost?” Not to mention going to the army like him, even if you do a small business, or learn a skill, how can you live worse than an animal, tied here to dig the soil.
In the end, it’s just too lazy.
The supervisor looked down at them for a while, and seeing that they worked hard without whipping, he was too lazy to use the whip, and turned around to cool off under the camouflage net.
On the other side, Alaiyang, who had completed the combat deployment, was inspecting the position.
He first inspected the most important artillery positions, anti-aircraft artillery positions and various machine gun fire points, and then turned to the front line to take a look.
Then he was surprised to find that the group of coolies who had been slacking off before were working hard.
It was as if there was a gold mine buried underground.
It was amazing.
When did these lazy guys become so diligent? !
Putting down the telescope in his hand, Alaiyang looked at the adjutant beside him.
”How much money did you give them?”
The adjutant said proudly.
”Report to the commander! No money!”
”No money?!” Alaiyang looked at him dumbly, suspecting that he had heard it wrong.
The adjutant smiled and said boastfully.
”I heard from the people below that the local residents are looking forward to our early victory and their lives returning to normal as soon as possible, so they came here with their families early in the morning to help.”
At this point, he paused and continued.
”In the final analysis, your Majesty is supported by the people, the general is famous, and we have the right time, right place, and right people on our side. It will be difficult for us to lose this battle.” Although
he was suspicious, Alayyang did not refute the first half of his sentence. He just nodded and let go of this insignificant matter.
He did not need the coolies to dig the trenches to a standard, as long as they could provide his soldiers with a shelter to resist the line.
The real battlefield is in the city, and these trenches and fortifications are only needed to deploy troops and transport ammunition to the front line.
”It is better to give the local residents a little benefit. After the work is done, each person will be given a piece of bread, as compensation for delaying their other work.”
The bread he was talking about was of course not the soft, white, buttered and jam-smeared kind he had in the morning, but rather the dark bread mixed with a lot of bran, even stones and sawdust.
This kind of bread is the staple food of most of the lower-class citizens and lower-middle-class farmers in the empire. A few Xilan coins can weigh half a pound of it, and the exact price depends on the quality of the bread.
This kind of bread is not fermented, and it is harder to chew than biscuits. It can even be used as a weapon to beat people. Generally, it is broken into pieces and thrown into water to soak and drink.
But no matter what, this is much better than eating dirt and those beans that will cause bloating.
The adjutant nodded respectfully.
”Your Excellency is right. I’ll arrange it later.”
Alayyan nodded and then asked.
”By the way, is there any new news from Rajesh?”
Rajesh is his capable general. He is not only an awakened person, but also has excellent marksmanship, and is especially good at camouflage and intelligence gathering.
Long before the army set out, he sent him and two other scouts to Jingallon Port to collect intelligence on the Alliance’s activities in the local area.
It had been two days since the last contact.
Before making the next battle plan, he needed the latest intelligence.
The adjutant hesitated slightly and shook his head.
”No new intelligence has been sent yet… The alliance’s troop deployment must have changed a lot recently. I guess Sergeant Rajesh wants to wait until it stabilizes before reporting.”
Alayan frowned slightly.
”…It seems we have to give him some more time.”
He always had a bad premonition, but it seemed too early to make a judgment now.
Not daring to go too close to the front line, Alayan was sure that the alliance soldiers hiding in the settlement must also be staring at this position, so he just took a look from a distance and retreated behind the bunkers and shelters.
The sun gradually set below the mountain.
The officer in charge of the construction of the front-line position walked to the position, took a look, nodded with satisfaction, and then went back into the anti-artillery cave.
This depth is definitely enough!
According to this trend, they can complete the construction of the outer position of Jingalon Port in three days at most. The group of alliance soldiers would never dream that their construction speed would be so fast.
At the same time, at the edge of the Golden Gallon Port settlement, a group of sweaty survivors were queuing in front of the alley with a nervous look on their faces.
This street was their own, and there were people watching at several entrances to the block, so they didn’t have to worry about being seen by outsiders.
However, after all, they were receiving money from the iron men, so most people were a little worried, afraid that the iron men would go back on their word, and afraid that they would be discovered by the imperial soldiers after receiving the money.
But when a brand new 20-dollar bill was stuffed into their hands, almost all the nervous expressions turned into attentive smiles.
”Thank you, sir!” A man with a bed sheet tied around his waist clasped his hands together to express his gratitude, and his moved expression almost made him want to kneel down on the spot. Yibu Dengtian,
who was in charge of distributing the money, was very happy in his heart, but he still put on a civilized attitude and criticized them.
”Don’t call me sir, I can’t bear it. We pay the money, you work hard, this is called a transaction, do you understand? It’s not a reward from us.”
The man obviously didn’t understand, and nodded and smiled.
”Okay, sir!”
”… Damn, you think I said that for nothing, hurry up and leave.” Yibu Dengtian was too lazy to talk nonsense, and waved his hand to drive the man away.
Not far from the alley, two players wearing exoskeletons gathered together.
Looking at the guys queuing up to get the money, Shanhe Rumeng couldn’t help but sigh.
”You guys are too damn cowardly.”
Today he received a task to deliver several boxes of Xilan currency from the bank on Tulip Street to his teammates on the front line.
At first he was curious about what so much money was used for, until he saw the scene in front of him.
Looking at the shocked friendly army, he smiled and said by accident.
”The guy in our team is really a talent, his brain is smarter than mine, he should be the captain.”
Shanhe Rumeng looked at him with envy, that was really envy.
Other teams are full of talents, while in their team, there are four people and two are new, and they can get into trouble even if they hide from the rain.
He is really tired of leading this team.
”By the way, have you found any clues these two days? What exactly are those guys planning?” Shanhe Rumeng asked casually. Yinchayangcuo said
with a smile.
”I don’t know, but judging from their posture, they should be planning to advance steadily. You should be careful at Camp Lowell.”
Shanhe Rumeng looked at him in surprise.
”Do you think they will use Camp Lowell as the main direction of attack?”
Yinchayangcuo tried to analyze.
”Eighty percent, but it’s hard to say. I just feel that Camp Lowell’s strategic significance is slightly greater than the Governor’s Mansion, and the location of the Governor’s Mansion is relatively higher than the northern city. They will have to spend a lot of effort to bite it hard, and it’s not easy to defend it. But if we take Camp Lowell, we can force us to retreat to Tulip Street and let our battle line return to the state at the beginning of the second phase of the offensive.”
Once the alliance’s battle line shrinks to the vicinity of the port, it will be impossible to buy local survivors and slaves as temporary sources of troops.
But on the contrary, retaking the Governor’s Mansion has no meaning for them except to move the battlefield of street fighting from the slums to Tulip Street near the port in advance.
Moreover, the supply line may be cut off by the Alliance or the local militia trained by the Alliance.
Shanhe Rumeng thought about it and felt that it made sense.
At this time, a shirtless local came over and looked at Yinchaiyangcuo and said,
”Sir, there is someone outside looking for you. It is a young man from the Rat Tribe. He said his name is Axin and he is your servant.”
Shanhe Rumeng heard it and looked at Yinchaiyangcuo in surprise.
”Servant?”
”Well, it’s not the case. It’s a misunderstanding,” Yinchaiyangcuo said in Mandarin with a chuckle, then looked at the NPC and continued in human language, “Let him in.”
The shirtless local nodded.
”Okay.”
After all, they were doing something shady, and any unfamiliar face appearing here would arouse their vigilance.
But if it was the servants of these iron men, it would be okay.
They were their own people.
Accompanied by two locals, the child named Axin was brought here.
He looked a little flustered, with his hands in his pockets, his clothes stained with mud, and there were scratches and bruises on his face and arms, as if they had been left not long ago.
Seeing the familiar face, the panic on his face disappeared immediately, and he immediately took two steps forward in surprise.
”Tuning Fork!”
Yinchayangcuo looked at him in surprise.
”Hey, Xin…what’s wrong with you?”
”It’s just a minor injury, don’t worry about it…” After swallowing his saliva, Xin continued nervously, “I’ll take you to see one…no, three people.”
Guessing that this kid wanted to ask him for help to scare someone, Yinchayangcuo glanced at the late sky, then looked at the young man and said with a smile.
”Wait a moment, we will go back to the Governor’s Mansion after we finish dealing with things here. We will go back with you then. If anyone is blind enough to cause trouble to you, we will go to their door to greet them-”
”No, you misunderstood,” Xin took a deep breath, calmed down and said, “No one is causing trouble to me. I won’t bother you for such a small matter. I just want to…give you a gift.”
Without waiting for the iron man to ask, he continued quickly.
”They are General Alayyang’s men!”
(End of this chapter)
