HCB Chapter 381 Cyprius
Chapter 381 Cyprius
In the meeting room of Acre City, John sat at the table and read the navy's recent report on the capture of pirates. The report was densely packed with information about various smuggling ships. Although he had made a lot of gains, John was not in a relaxed mood.
Because most of the captured smugglers were driving small triangular sailboats that could only carry a few people, and the carrying capacity of these boats was very low. John thought that if he only relied on these small boats to transport food to Slave Bay, it would be a drop in the bucket.
He told General Reynard of his concerns, and the general agreed, but knew little about navigation, so he had no choice but to order the fleet to expand its patrol area and go deeper into the ocean.
In response to this decision, they found the captain of the fleet in charge of commanding the port fleet of Acre.
"Good day, my Lords."
The captain saluted respectfully and asked:
"Excuse me, what is the matter with calling me here?"
General Renard went straight to the point and asked for an expansion of the patrol area:
"Captain, we need to expand the patrol area, preferably farther from the coast."
The captain pondered for a moment, then asked:
"If that's the case, how do we solve the supply problem? Small ships are fine, but large ships consume too much every day. Currently, our patrol area is enough for ships to barely make a round trip per day. Once the patrol area is expanded, I'm afraid many ships will not be able to return to the port in a day."
"unless……"
The fleet captain changed the subject and continued:
"Unless we find some islands within the patrol area and turn them into places for ships to anchor and resupply, we can greatly reduce the number of times ships travel to and from the port and relieve the pressure on the port."
When John heard the captain mention the supply issue, an idea suddenly flashed through his mind: Yes, if the large ships of the smugglers want to avoid the sight of the patrol boats, they can only choose to take a long detour. In this way, they will undoubtedly take longer to complete the journey, and because of the large daily consumption, they will definitely need to find a reliable supply point outside the patrol range of the patrol boats.
This thought made John's eyes light up. He thought, if such a supply point really existed, then it must be the secret base of the smugglers. Once this place was found, their supply source could be cut off. Not only could the sea supply route of Slaver Bay be cut off, hitting the smugglers, but it could also provide a ready-made supply port for the patrol fleet.
John told General Reynard his idea, and the general fell into deep thought. After a while, he asked a question:
"If we assume that such an island does exist, how can we determine its exact location? After all, the map of Acre only shows the land, and there is no information about the ocean."
John was also stumped by this question, but he did not give up. He thought for a while and then said:
“Perhaps we can infer the location of the island by analyzing the smugglers’ movements. Although the map of Acre City does not have ocean information, we can determine whether the smugglers have bypassed certain specific sea areas based on the changes in their routes.”
General Renard nodded in agreement:
"You make sense. We can first investigate the smugglers' past routes to see if there is any pattern. If we can find the sea area they often visit, then it may be the area where the island we are looking for is located."
At this moment, the captain interrupted:
"My Lord, I think we can try to interrogate the captured smugglers. Although they are all from small smuggling organizations, they may know some clues about this island. After all, in order to avoid being chased by patrol boats, they are likely to be very familiar with the surrounding waters."
The interrogators in Acre showed extraordinary execution ability. They carried out multiple rounds of high-intensity brain memory recovery operations on the smugglers. After a series of severe tortures, the smugglers finally said everything they could.
"Although the confessions of these people vary, they all have one thing in common - they all mention a place called Cyprus."
In the hall, the interrogator reported to those present:
"It is said that the island is so large that it can accommodate nearly a hundred ships of different types."
"In addition, there are a considerable number of garrisons stationed on the island. Not only is there a naval fleet, but a strong fortress has been built on the island, and it is even equipped with artillery."
The torturer continued:
"What's worse is that the owner of this island is a pirate leader from Kushan, and his men are all Kushans, which means we may not be able to communicate with them effectively."
After the interrogator's report, everyone started to discuss. Some were worried about the strength of the island's garrison, while others speculated about the strength and intentions of the Kushan pirate. However, no matter what the discussion was about, everyone present knew that they had to formulate a response strategy as soon as possible to deal with them. The Kushans on land were already troublesome enough, and now there were Kushan pirates on the sea.
At this moment, an experienced general stood up and said to everyone including John:
"We must send out a reconnaissance team as soon as possible. After finding the location of the island, we will conduct a detailed survey of the island's terrain and troop deployment. At the same time, the fleet of Acre City and your teams must prepare supplies as soon as possible. Once everything is ready, the army will immediately board the ship and set off to eliminate all these pirates in the shortest possible time."
Everyone agreed with the generals' suggestions, but there were differences of opinion on whether to send troops. Suddenly, a general stood up and said:
"My troops were ambushed by the pagans in Slaver Bay not long ago. The army suffered heavy damage and is currently resting. Therefore, we cannot participate in this operation."
As soon as he finished speaking, a heated debate broke out at the scene. Everyone was arguing over whether to send troops, and the situation was out of control.
At this moment, John stood up and broke the silence.
"Okay, I will lead the army to complete this mission. The other generals can take a break for now, and then go to resist the invasion of Slaver Bay after you are done."
As soon as John spoke, the entire meeting place fell into silence. Although some generals were confused by his decision, they had to admit that John showed extraordinary courage and fulfilled his responsibility as the leader of the holy war.