Chapter 490： Security issues of overseas assets

,!

In the meeting room of the lord's mansion in Huxin Town, senior officials from the Government Council and the army gathered here.

The atmosphere in the conference room was quite dull, everyone was thinking about the battle in Jiaowan.

Old Ford closed his eyes, tapped lightly on the table with his right hand, Cecil and Hansel stared at the teacup in front of them in a daze.

Schroeder was clicking on his pipe, staring at the rising smoke rings one after another thoughtfully, Bryce frowned, trying to say something but couldn't open his mouth.

Ratti looked worried, presumably worried about the future of his hometown.

Paul glanced to his left, then to his right,

"Everyone, it's not okay to sit like this. Do you have any good countermeasures to avoid risks?"

There is no doubt that the outbreak of war will pose a threat to the commerce and trade in the Northwest Gulf.

Countermeasures? Hearing Paul's words, Hansel was a little speechless.

In fact, because Jiaowan is an important trade transfer station between the East and the West, the Ministry of Intelligence has always paid close attention to it.

Every official in Huxin Town is very aware of the tense situation in Jiaowan. The number of weapons purchased from the Jiaowan Alliance can give a glimpse of it.

Whether the river is cold or warm, the ducks that swim on it every day must be the first to know.

As early as half a year ago, merchants from the Northwest Gulf who had important business dealings in Jiaowan jointly wrote to the Lord's Mansion, requesting the Lord to buy or lease a small piece of land in Jiaowan. Once war broke out, it could be used as a residence for Northwest Gulf merchants. continue to maintain the function of the supply point on the route to the east.

But the Earl at the time refused on the grounds that it would cost too much.

Three months ago, the Government Affairs Council once again brought out the joint letter of the businessmen for discussion. Everyone agreed that it is not the time to worry about money. The chemical plant should be stopped first, and the reservoir and school should not be repaired. First, buy a block in Jiaowan. Land, preferably an island.

Earl Graham was very unhappy, and said that no one should try to embezzle funds from several established projects.

Now, the fight was finally going to start at Jiaowan, and the count began to ask everyone for their opinions.

But everyone stopped talking about buying land.

"Ahem!"

Ford felt that the continued silence would embarrass Paul, so he broke the silence by saying:

"Our commercial activities are mainly concentrated in the coastal area, and the power of the Jiaowan Church has not reached the coast so quickly, so there is still a buffer period. But now there is a point, coins and people can be easily withdrawn, but in Some of the real estate there—including private enterprises and those owned by the Government Administration Council—would be difficult to take away, and after the outbreak of war, it is inevitable that some lawbreakers will take advantage of the chaotic situation to fish in troubled waters, so..."

He frowned slightly, as if he glanced at Chief of Staff Schroeder inadvertently.

"We'd better have an armed force in Horn Bay that can deter those with evil intentions."

"Ah?" Schroeder, who was spouting mist, was stunned when he heard the head of the Government Affairs Council mention the armed forces.

To be honest, Schroeder thought that as the chief of staff, he came here today just to listen in, because Jiaowan, thousands of miles away, can have a little relationship with the Arda army that can only dominate the Northwest Gulf today. What about the relationship?

The only military power that Arda can project to Jiaowan now is the navy, but those landlocked countries don't even have a sampan, so what did the warships do in the past? Stare?

"That's a real problem, Schroeder!"

Paul looked at him. "Can we send an army to the Horn? Like...a battalion?"

"Cough! Lord Graham."

Schroeder put his beloved pipe on the table, stood up and said.

"Sorry, our troops don't have such capability yet."

He poured cold water on Paul first, and then listed the reasons one by one at the beginning.

"First of all, although it is easy to send one or two battalions there, our army relies heavily on our unique equipment such as gunpowder, guns, and cannons, and these things can only be produced in the Northwest Gulf at present, and they are consumables , Resupplying in the Jiaowan, which is thousands of miles away, is very problematic."

"Secondly, assuming that our army has enough capacity to transport these things to the corner of the bay in time, but we still lack a...should be said to be a series of stable bases in the corner of the bay, and there is no way to store, transfer, and distribute our supplies."

"Finally, we are not familiar with the climate and environment there. Our soldiers are all from the Northwest Gulf. Most of them have never been out of their hometown so far. If they go to the hot and humid Jiaowan, it is very likely that there will be water and soil problems. Dissatisfied question."

"Everyone!"

Schroeder emphasized his tone, looked around the crowd and said solemnly: "Don't underestimate the last reason, acclimatization may be fatal, and there may be terrible contagion, some diseases may have very mild symptoms to the locals , but to outsiders it is a deadly scythe, which is more terrifying than a tangible enemy."

There was a look of memory in his eyes.

"Thirty years ago, I just went to serve in the Watchmen Legion. The Nerodan Corridor and the Northwest Bay where the Watchmen Legion was stationed belonged to the north of the kingdom, but when I first arrived there, I had diarrhea for a whole week. At that time, I Still a strong boy."

"To sum up..."

Schroeder looked at Paul and concluded: "I am firmly opposed to sending troops to the Northwest Gulf now. This is to let the soldiers die."

"However..." He changed the topic, "If the lord is interested, we can start preparations now, send intelligence personnel there to map the terrain, collect various vegetation and animal information, and send doctors to learn about diseases and various diseases there. Herbal information, and…”

"Send envoys to negotiate with the ruler there to see if we can get a piece of land as a place to stay If we do these things now, then I estimate that we will be able to initially deliver to Jiaowan in half a year. ability to power."

Paul didn't speak, and the conference room fell into silence.

"Uh…"

At this moment, Hansel stood up weakly, and said cautiously: "Master Graeman, if an Aldo army appears in a war that the kingdom has not participated in, His Majesty the King will feel embarrassed."

"All right!"

Paul had a troubled look on his face.

"You are all right. You can't let the boys die, and you can't embarrass His Majesty the King."

"Master Graham!"

Schroeder spoke again.

As the chief of staff, the most important person who advises Paul in the military, he still actively uses his brains to come up with solutions as much as possible.

"If it's just to deter lawbreakers, why don't you try mercenaries?"