Realm of Power

His cold pupils still reflected the dazzling brilliance of the banquet. With a smile on his face, Tillnarant sent the last wealthy businessman from the Lisbonto region who attended the banquet to the door of the government office. He watched the other party get on the carriage and wanted to He glanced at himself without saying anything, closed the car door, and the wheels rumbled, gradually turning into a small black dot in the night.

Behind Tiernarante, the Lisbonto Government Affairs Hall was brightly lit, in stark contrast to the dead silence outside. The reception banquet for the new government officer of Lisbonto, the imperial maritime trade base camp, was naturally grand and luxurious, with an invitation from the Lisbonto Government Affairs Office. No matter how the heart Reluctantly, the wealthy families of Lisbonto did not dare to openly offend a regional political officer with an unknown background, but he was definitely not an ordinary person. However, at the banquet, no one mentioned the current predicament of Lisbonto, even if someone wanted to If I want to say it, I will be stopped by the eyes of my companions.

"What do you want to do? The Administrative Officer has just arrived in Lisbon. What will happen even if he knows the situation? On the contrary, no regional Administrative Officer has realized that he has actually inherited a huge mess!" Until the end of the banquet, I didn’t even think about Tiernalante telling Lisbonto about Lisbonto’s situation. This was a sign that I had completely lost confidence.

"It seems that the situation is worse than expected!"

Turning around and looking at the brightly lit government hall, the smile on Tiernarant's face turned into a cold frown in an instant. The emperor's guess was correct. The temptation of twelve million gold tickets, the south The secret alliance of the top ten business groups is not the most terrifying thing for Lisbonto. The most terrifying thing is the black hands who colluded with the southern business groups and secretly fueled this fluctuation.

You must know that Lisbonto is the base camp of the empire's maritime trade. It has an excellent geographical location and connects the north and south seas. It has beautiful and charming scenery and is also the most prestigious resort in the entire continent. Thirty percent of the wealthy families in the continent of Oparo are gathered here, and 75% of the merchant groups in the entire empire have set up branches here. The number of ships coming and going is counted in thousands every day, and the number of merchants has exceeded 50,000, and ten There are 1,730 maritime trade fleets with ships or above.

In other words, there are more than 17,000 ships in Lisbon, so many merchants, and so many fleets. How could everyone be dazzled by the golden ticket at once? Even if they lose their judgment of danger because of the temptation in front of them, the scope can only be limited to a small number of people. How could the entire Lisbonto business group be trapped in it at once?

To say that no one is secretly guiding this undercurrent, Tiernarant himself doesn’t believe it. The situation at tonight’s banquet indeed shows this.

"Can you give me the list of chambers of commerce attending the banquet tonight?" Tillnarant turned around, stopped at the door of the government affairs hall, and stretched out his hand to the government personnel responsible for registration at the door. It's time to close the net,

"Of course, sir." The government officer stood up quickly, not knowing what the list he handed over respectfully with both hands meant. The entire government is cautious about this new boss whose background is not yet clear.

I heard that I once had the experience of being a political affairs officer in the Salander region, but when I mentioned the position of political affairs officer in Lisbon, the maritime trade base, I was still a little reluctant. Even though they may have a certain background, once they encounter such a situation, there is nothing anyone can do. Who doesn’t know the importance of Lisbonto to the entire empire. It is the area that the emperor values ​​the most. It’s really unlucky to encounter such a thing. Who says it’s not? It’s not easy to get such a fat job. My butt is still warm. I immediately Just get out because of this financial fluctuation!

Ignoring the strange looks from the entire Government Affairs Office, Tiernalant pretended to flip through a few pages. There were more than a dozen densely written pages, at least two or three hundred, and then he handed them over to the three deputies. One in the hand, waved to everyone "Thank you very much for your efforts! I will take this list first. After all, I have just arrived. The other party has given me face. I should also visit them one by one." Tiernarant walked out of the hall very gracefully. The carriage was arranged, and the three deputies also got on it.

The car door closed, and after a slight shock, it started to move forward.

"You three, please help yourself, I want to take a rest!" Tiernarant said to the three inspectors sitting opposite, then turned his gaze to the lifeless dim street lights outside, and the three inspectors began to discuss their respective affairs in a low voice. They found that they could have a panoramic view of the entire banquet from where they stood. The emperor allowed himself to hold the reception banquet without any scruples at such a precarious moment, and the effect was surprisingly good.

Maybe because tomorrow is the deadline, these people's disguises have been reduced a lot, or maybe they are afraid that this new administrative officer who does not know the details will intervene regardless of the situation at a critical moment, or even use military force to stop it. At the banquet, There are always some people who try their best to stop businessmen who want to complain to them.

Tillnarant didn't know those people, but the three deputies assigned to him by the emperor had been watching all this with cold eyes in the corner of the banquet.

Because the entire business group in Lisbonto cannot be trusted, and the business alliance system cannot guarantee that there will be no internal problems, the true identities of the three deputies turned out to be officers of the Imperial Supervision Department directly under the emperor, and they were also temporarily recruited from the Northern Legion of Congo and Africa by the emperor. Transferred,

In this matter, Lisbon and the Supervisory Department all became objects that needed to be isolated. One can imagine the anger in the emperor's heart. No one here knew them. The businessmen who attended the banquet only regarded the three deputies as accompanying him. Those who get up will not take them seriously,

These three people also don't know the businessmen in Lisbonto, but they have a very good ability, which is to remember each other's appearance, look at the target with suspicion, and see the individual's true mood from the different expressions on their faces. This is the torture technique of the Supervision Department, and one of them is a master of drawing and painting. Then the light outside the car window, and after a brief exchange between the three, several simple drawings were placed on the table of the carriage.

The light of the street lamp kept passing by the window, and there was a coldness on his solemn face. Regarding the situation in front of him, Tiernalant was more cautious before arriving, but when he arrived in Lisbonto, he realized that he was That caution is so inadequate in the face of the huge dilemma we are about to face.

The very sad Administrative Officer, a tragic figure who will soon be crushed into pieces by the rolling wheels of this torrent. Is this what everyone thinks? A wry smile appeared on Tiernarant's lips. The carriage was passing through a commercial street in the city as it sparkled in the darkness.

Tillnarant opened the curtain with his hand and saw what the report said. There were large amounts of fine iron piled up in the direction of the port. Fine iron was also on the carriages transporting goods next to the street. The originally bustling commercial street. It was also suddenly occupied by countless fine irons. More than half of the shops in the city were closed. Transfer marks were hung on the copper facades of the shops, making a bleak sound throughout the city in the May wind that should have been very pleasant. Closed shops, listless pedestrians, sighing businessmen, and the loud shouting of drunkards on the roadside can be heard on the commercial street known as the city that never sleeps. In the past, there were only two or three carriages that flowed like water, and they were still the kind that flew past without any attachment.

The rumored golden port. Lisbonto, the headquarters of the empire's maritime trade, with tens of thousands of registered merchant ships, was destroyed by invisible forces in just one month. It was simply a war-level destructive power. The situation in Lisbonto is even worse than expected. The so-called invincible empire on land is in this city. Tragedy spread across the land, with countless casualties

"I hope you understand that the reason why you were transferred to be Lisbon's administrative officer is not only because of your relationship with me, but also because you have nothing to do with all the forces in the empire, so you can truly deal with this mess from the perspective of an administrative officer. This This is the place you are about to enter. It is not the most prosperous part of the empire. The city is a bloody battlefield, now and in the future!" The emperor's words before getting out of the car seemed to still be echoing in his ears. Tirnarant took a deep breath. That majesty was right. , I stepped into a battlefield, and it was a battlefield where our side was about to collapse completely! The storm is coming, who can help turn the tide?

In the war between the Falcon Empire and the six southern countries, who started the war first has always been an undecidable matter in the history of Obaro. Because of the Lisbonto incident, the Imperial Navy had a military conflict with the Southern Feize Kingdom. The Imperial Navy The brutal bombardment of Luansock, the largest seaport city in Fezer, resulted in the destruction of the entire port and more than 3,000 casualties. Therefore, it was regarded as a symbolic incident of declaration of war.

But if you move the time forward five days, you will see that in the Istan Empire in the eastern part of the Inland Sea, the armies of the six southern countries have already started fighting against the imperial army. In this battle, which was later called the first financial war, During the confrontation between the North and South Continent, few historians would focus on a small twin group that was completely destroyed due to the impact.

Double-Headed Eagle Business Group

This name is just a fleeting embellishment in history, but at this moment, it is the direction of the entire empire's naval operations.

The emperor's order, at the first moment of the war, was to find the Double-Headed Eagle Merchant Group's fleet and carry out a fatal attack so that the opponent would not have a chance to appear in Lisbon. The news of the start of the war at Luan Suo Ke had already reached the Admiralty. At the same time, An ongoing assessment at the Imperial Navy Department has also come to an end.

"Based on the results of two reconnaissances disguised as merchant ships, and judging the direction of the sea flow, I believe that the target team's position in the sea off Lisbon is at an angle of 75 degrees southeast of Lisbon, a hundred meters away. Within the area of ​​10 nautical miles to 150 nautical miles, this distance is also suitable. The opponent will arrive in Lisbon within one day!" Stink, who was wearing an Imperial Navy staff uniform without a title on his shoulders, drew a diagonal line on the chart on the table with his hand and wrote his opinion with a proud expression. Then he signed his name and handed it to an Imperial Navy officer who was already waiting next to him.

"I heard that all the fleets in the port have gone out. Is it true?"

Stinkson stretched his body and asked nonchalantly. This is the last additional question in the three-item exam, and it is also the most difficult one. It requires finding the target lurking in the sea off the coast of Lisbon. The basis for the judgment was just sent yesterday, that is, a monster like Stink. If you dare to take this extra point question, others will There was nowhere to start. Fortunately, the previous test items were basically completed. Even if there were no extra points, the overall impact was not big. Many former admirals of the Strand Navy in the Imperial Navy uniforms in the room were finishing the exam. Review the test paper once and hand it over to the person responsible for collecting the test paper

"Indeed," the officer who collected the examination papers answered without hesitation, and the whole hall suddenly became quiet.

"Is it really that plan?"

Stink seemed to have thought of something, his expression was shocked, he took a breath, and asked slightly changed

The so-called plan was that when they were ordered to arrive at the Navy Department for reorganization and training half a month ago, the Navy Department proposed to give the Strant Navy admirals a large-scale assessment of all cooperation in order to test everyone's ability. The assessment content is to make an empire's suppression plan for the entire southern coastal area within five days.

Of course, this is just an assessment. Even the officers of the Strant Sea Kingdom don't think there will be a day to implement it. The suppression of the entire southern coastal area seems a bit arrogant even for the Imperial Navy. The suppression of the sea area is different from land warfare. The inland sea environment is complex. The distribution of the sea environment, the undercurrents caused by the current, and the tides under the change of seasons must be clearly understood. Moreover, the number of warships deployed is not possible in this era. Although they were defeated by the Imperial Navy, these naval elites who have been trained by the Strant Sea Kingdom for decades and have been committed to dominating the inland sea also recognized Because this plan is impossible to achieve,

"If it cannot be achieved in reality, then it can be achieved in the plan. Your performance will determine which fleet you will be assigned to and what position you will hold!"

The reply from the Imperial Navy Department made the Strant Navy officers, who were originally somewhat repulsive, excited.

As it concerns the future prospects, everyone is very energetic and each chooses the southern coastal area of ​​the Inland Sea that they are most familiar with as the setting content.

Five days later, this super combat plan that gathers the wisdom and efforts of the entire Strant Navy was placed on the table of the Imperial Navy Minister Dusterenkai.

With this plan as the foundation, the marine environment and climate change along the southern coast of the Inland Sea are clear at a glance, and even the supply points and reef areas in the southern coastal area are marked one by one.

After three days and nights of sleepless work by the 37 front-line fleet staff of the Imperial Navy Operations Staff, the modification was made based on the combat characteristics of the various fleets of the Imperial Navy. The final combat plan is "The Emperor's Sword!" (To be continued...)