Chapter 56 - Chapter 56 Battle Plan

Since Liu Qian's iron fist captured the Split Palate Island, more than ten days and nights have quietly passed. The salty sea breeze still blew on this rugged island. The air was no longer filled with the noise and blood of pirates, but the fragrance of wood, the pungent smell of tung oil, and the sonorous rhythm of hammers hitting the ship's planks. Rollo and Sir Jorah Mormont had returned from the village of Spearhandle with fruitful results. A dozen fully loaded flat-bottomed barges had a deep draft and slowly sailed into the rudimentary dock on the west side of Split Palate Island, which had been slightly modified from a natural bay. Unloaded materials piled up like mountains. Thick oak and pine beams, barrels of tung oil with a strong smell, tough linen cables, thick linen canvas rolls, and dozens of Telosi shipbuilders. Liu Qian stood on a towering reef on the edge of the dock, overlooking the busy scene below. The sunlight pierced the thin clouds, reflecting sparkling spots on the sea, reflecting his calm face as calm as water. He mixed these heavily hired Telosi craftsmen with the original pirate shipwrights on the island of the palate, and under the coordination of Rollo, he worked day and night to repair the warships damaged in the naval battle. In the dock, the craftsmen were like busy workers, stripping away broken planks, replacing rotten keel ribs, and filling the gaps with red-hot iron nails and hemp thread soaked in tung oil. Liu Qian knew that Salado Thorn could come to the top at any time. Every repaired ship was his bargaining chip in this stormy sea. As for the pirate lair that was completely hollowed out, Crying Reef Island, Liu Qian did not take it lightly. He ordered Hal to select an elite team of 100 people, led by several experienced pirate leaders of the original Split Palate Island, with enough supplies and crossbow machines, to station the relatively strong watchtower on Crying Reef Island. Their mission was simple. Monitor the nearby waters and become an outpost eye for the Grey Gallows Island chain and the east side of Bloodstone Island, while preventing any small groups of pirates from taking advantage of the opportunity to become Sarado's nails. In fact, just a few days ago, through the well-informed Tailosi merchants in Spearhandle Village, Liu Qian learned that Salado Thorn was frantically gathering the remnants of the Stonestep Islands. The "Prince of the Narrow Sea" was obviously completely enraged by the rapid rise of Liu Qian, the "Wizard of the East", and also felt an unprecedented threat, determined to give everything he had to fight for the battle. To this end, Liu Qian had already ordered Rollo and Hal to send brisk longships and paddle speedboats to roam like ghosts day and night in the sea east of the Grey Gallows Island Chain and Bloodstone Island, which was divided into fragmented reefs and shoals. However, it was puzzling that the expected pirate fleet did not appear as scheduled. There were only ordinary merchant ships and sporadic pirate ships on the sea, and Sarado's huge main force seemed to have disappeared out of thin air. This abnormal silence, like the suffocating low pressure before the storm, made the string in Liu Qian's heart tighten more and more, and a trace of suspicion quietly rose. He didn't believe that Salado would give up the attack, and this silence was more like a charge before a storm. He sent his henchmen several times in a row, disguised as merchants, and went deep into the Spearhandle Village to listen to the news. Finally, a key piece of information with an aura of conspiracy was brought back. "Reese?" Liu Qian's brows instantly twisted into a Sichuan character, and he stared at Rollo who came to report, his voice low and sharp: "You mean, the Reese people went directly and sponsored the Salado warship?" How many? " Rollo shook his head, his eyes solemn: "My lord, the Talosi people of Spearhandle Village are very tight-mouthed, when it comes to the specific number and type of ships of Reese, they are secretive, only revealing the wind, the Reese people have paid a lot of money this time, their purpose is very clear, with the knife of Salado, completely eliminate you as an 'unstable factor', and then complete the absolute control of the entire western and central trade routes of the Stone Steps Islands." " Liu Qian paced silently, and the humid sea breeze poured into his eyes, blowing the black hair on his forehead. He silently recited the names of the two free trade city-states, "Reese" and "Telosi", and a sneer of insight curled up on the corner of his mouth. "It's interesting, the open and secret struggle between these two 'daughters' actually treated me as a pawn." His mind turned and he instantly understood that the source of this information was the Telosi. They deliberately released this news, not out of good intentions, but a naked strategy to drive away tigers and wolves. What Tellosi wanted to see was Liu Qian and Salado Thorn, who was supported by Reese. Reese at least took out real money to support Sarado, but what about the rich Tellosi? They had a powerful fleet and countless gold coins, but they were only willing to sell some wood tung oil in the village of Spearhandle, sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, waiting for him and Salado to fight lose, and then come out to clean up the mess and easily pick the fruits of the entire sea. "Hehe," Liu Qian let out a low laugh that didn't mean anything, and tapped his fingers lightly on the cold stone windowsill: "It seems that I underestimated the Tai Luo Xi people, and the water in this stone steps archipelago is deeper than I thought. " His tone could not be heard of anger or admiration, only deep vigilance. Rollo spoke worriedly, interrupting his thoughts: "My lord, the problem now is that no matter how many warships Reese provides, the strength of the Salado fleet will inevitably expand significantly, and if we choose to fight it head-on in the open sea..." He paused, and his words became extremely tactful, even with a hint of imperceptible difficulty: "The odds of victory may not be optimistic." " Behind the four words "not optimistic" is an almost desperate gap in strength. The pirates were already familiar with this complex sea area, and now they were blessed by Reese's powerful maritime power, and Liu Qian's newly repaired, limited number of galleys and temporarily requisitioned merchant ships were tantamount to hitting a stone with an egg in front of a well-equipped and numerically superior enemy fleet. Liu Qian turned around, and his deep eyes did not panic at all, but flashed with a calm light: "Who said you have to go head-to-head on the open sea?" Luo Luo, you and I both know that our core strength is the Dragon Spirit Guard, who are clad in heavy armor and armed with sharp blades, and they are the iron walls of thousands of troops on land, but what about the bumpy and shaky ships with limited space? " Through several actual battles, especially the tragic tidal reef night battles, Liu Qian had a thorough understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of the Dragon Spirit Guards. These silent warriors defended amazingly and were far stronger than ordinary people, and in a close-quarters melee after docking, one Dragon Spirit Guard was enough to suppress ten ordinary pirates. However, the cruel rules of naval warfare greatly limited their performance. The narrow paddle deck limited their movements, and the fragile springboard when docking only allowed a small number of soldiers to pass at the same time, making it impossible for them to form an absolute advantage in group attacks. If only that was enough. What's even more fatal is that cunning pirates have already learned to behave after suffering several losses. Once they spot these heavy warriors, they will not be foolish to rush up to fight hand-to-hand. Kagon's tactics that night are proof of this. In the battle of the tidal reef, the pirates of Split Palate Island drove the clippers to use their speed and agility to ram the weak flanks of Liu Qian's fleet, cracking the keel, throwing the soldiers on the deck into the icy water, and then using heavy crossbow arrows and even trebuchets to carry out long-range cover strikes from a distance. The proud defense of the Dragon Spirit Guard became a heavy burden in the face of dense long-range heavy weapons, and after falling into the water, it lost all combat effectiveness and could only become a floating target. If it weren't for the shallow water on the battlefield that night, if it could be salvaged in time, the losses would be immeasurable. Liu Qian's gaze swept over Rollo and Hal, who were listening silently: "Unless we can move the battlefield from the sea where they have an absolute advantage to a place where we can maximize the power of the dragon spirit guard, such as an island, a beachhead, or a trap where they cannot use long-range firepower and have to engage with us." " Rollo thought about it, his rough fingers rubbed the stubble on his chin, and suddenly his eyes flashed: "My lord, do you remember those ships of Kago? Their ships are equipped with strong bronze collision horns, if we can ...." "Collision angles?" Liu Qian's thoughts were instantly lit up, and he quickly deduced following Luo Luo's words. "Installed on a merchant ship, using the larger volume and inertia of the merchant ship to hit? But the merchant ship is too slow, the steering is clumsy, the tailwind is okay, once the headwind or crosswind, it becomes a living target, even if it hits, at most it can only destroy the side and superstructure of the enemy ship, and it is difficult to fatally break the keel with one blow..." He paced back and forth, speaking faster and faster, as if brainstorming with himself. Suddenly, a word struck his mind like lightning - fire!