Chapter 494 Security of overseas assets

Chapter 494 – Security of Overseas Assets

Inside the conference room of the Lakeheart Town Lord’s Mansion, senior officials from the Council of State and the military were gathered here.

The atmosphere in the conference room was rather dull, everyone was thinking about the war in Horned Bay.

Old Ford had his eyes closed, his right hand piggybacking on the table and gently tapping the tabletop, Cecil and Hansel’s eyes were staring straight at the teacups in front of them.

Schroeder puffed on his pipe, staring thoughtfully at the rising rings of smoke, and Bryce’s brow was knitted in a frown, and he wanted to say something but couldn’t open his mouth.

Lardy, on the other hand, had a worried look on her face, presumably worried about the future of her home town.

Paul glanced to his left, then to his right, and

“Guys, it’s not a good idea to sit around like this, does everyone have any good risk-averse countermeasures?”

Undoubtedly, the outbreak of war would pose a threat to commerce in the Northwest Gulf.

Countermeasures? Hearing Paul’s words, Hansel was a bit speechless in his heart.

In fact, because of the important position of Horn Bay as a transit point for East-West trade, the Ministry of Intelligence had been paying great attention to this place.

The tense situation in Horned Bay was very clear to every official in Lakeheart, and the number of weapons purchased by the Horned Bay Alliance alone could be glimpsed.

Whether the river was cold or warm, it must be the ducks that swam on it every day that knew it the earliest.

As early as half a year ago, the Northwest Bay merchants who had important business dealings in Horned Bay had jointly petitioned the Lord’s House, requesting that His Lordship be able to purchase or lease a small piece of land in Horned Bay, so that once the war broke out, it could be used as a place for the Northwest Bay merchants to settle down, and to continue to maintain the function of a supply point on the route to the East.

But the then Lord Earl refused on the grounds that it would cost too much.

Three months ago, the Council of State once again brought out the joint letter of the merchants for discussion, and the people agreed that now is not the time to be heartbroken about money, the chemical plant should be stopped first, and the reservoirs and schools and whatnot should not be repaired, and a piece of land should be purchased in the Horn Bay first, and it would be best if it was a sea island.

Count Greiman was very upset and let it slip that no one could divert funds from several established projects.

Now that the fight is finally going on over at Horn Bay, the Count is starting to ask for the opinions of the people.

But no one was talking about buying land.

“Ahem!”

Ford felt that everyone continuing to be really silent would make Paul feel embarrassed, so he broke the silence and said:

“Our trading activities are mainly centered along the coast, and the power of the Horned Bay Church can’t hit the coast that quickly, so there’s still a period of buffer time. But now there’s a point, money and people can be easily withdrawn, but some of the real estate there – including civic enterprises as well as the Council of State’s – will be difficult to take away, and after the war breaks out, it’s inevitable that some unscrupulous elements will take advantage of the chaotic situation to fish in troubled waters , so ……”

He raised his eyebrows slightly and glanced at Chief of Staff Schroeder as if offhandedly.

“It’s best that we have an armed force in Horn Bay that can deter those with ill intentions.”

“Huh?” Hearing the Chief of Staff mention an armed force, Schroeder, who was puffing on a cloud, was stunned.

To be honest, Schroeder had thought that as the Chief of Staff, he had come over today just to listen in, because the Horned Bay, which was thousands of miles away, could have a few relations with Alda’s army, which was still only able to reign supreme in the Northwest Bay?
The only military force that Alda can send to the Gulf of Jokhang is the navy, but those landlocked countries don’t even have a sampan, so what is the point of warships going there? What are they going to do?

“That is indeed a problem, Schroeder!”

Paul looked to him, “Can we send an army to the Gulf of Horns? Like …… a battalion?”

“Ahem! Lord Graiman.” Schroeder said as he placed his beloved pipe on the tabletop and stood up.

“I’m sorry to say that our troops are not yet capable of such a thing.”

He doused Paul with a shower of cold water before beginning a list of reasons one by one.

“First of all, while it would be easy to send a battalion or two over there, our troops are very dependent on gunpowder, firearms, and artillery, equipment that is unique to us, and which can only be produced in the Northwest Gulf at this time, and they are expendable, making resupply in Horn Bay, thousands of miles away, problematic.”

“Secondly, assuming our army has a strong enough capacity to transport these things to Horn Bay in a timely manner, we also lack a …… shall we say series of solid bases in Horn Bay, with no way to store, transit, and distribute our supplies.”

“Finally, we are unfamiliar with the climate and environment there, our soldiers are all from the Northwest Gulf, most of them have never been out of their home towns so far, and all of a sudden going to Horn Bay, with its hot climate and humid air, is likely to cause problems with water and soil. “

“Column!”

Schroeder aggravated his tone and looked around the crowd once more before saying solemnly, “Don’t underestimate this last reason, the lack of water and soil can be fatal, and there can be terrible infections, certain diseases may have very mild symptoms for the locals, but for the outsiders it’s the scythe of death that claims their lives, it’s a much more frightening thing than a tangible enemy. ”

A look of remembrance came to his eyes.

“Thirty years ago, I had just gone to serve in the Watcher’s Legion, and the Nerodan Corridor, where the Watcher’s Legion is stationed, is in the northern part of the kingdom, along with the Northwest Bay, but I had diarrhea for a whole week when I first got there, and I was still a physically strong young man at the time.”

“To summarize ……”

Schroeder looked to Paul and summarized, “I am strongly against sending troops to Horn Bay now, it’s sending soldiers to their deaths.”

“But ……” he turned his words around, “If His Lordship is interested, we can start making preparations now, send intelligence officers there to map the terrain and collect information on various vegetation and animals, send doctors to learn about the disease information and information on various herbs, as well as ……”

“Send emissaries to negotiate with the rulers there to see if we can get a piece of land as a place to settle.”

“If we go ahead and do all these things now, then I estimate that in half a year’s time we will be able to initially have the ability to throw our forces into the Horned Bay.”

Paul didn’t say anything, and a silence fell over the conference room.

“Uh ……”

At that moment, Hansel weakly stood up and carefully said, “Lord Gleeman, if an Aldo army appears in a war that the kingdom is not involved in, His Majesty the King will find it difficult.”

“Fine!”

Paul had a difficult expression on his face.

“You all have a point. We can’t let the lower lads go to their deaths, and we can’t make it difficult for His Majesty.”

“Lord Gleeman!”

Schroeder spoke again.

As chief of staff, the most important person advising Paul on military matters, he was still actively open to giving solutions wherever possible.

“Why don’t you try mercenaries, if only to deter outlaws?”

(End of chapter)