"The Republic of Liguria has surrendered?"
Ella's jaw really dropped this time. If this was true, then she really couldn't imagine why the island republic's navy hadn't appeared for so long. She couldn't have been so frightened when she heard that the capital was besieged that she directly moved to Ireland to establish a new island republic, right?
"I said before that I haven't discovered the movement of the enemy fleet yet, which is not accurate." Bokarios added, "In fact, several batches of the ships we sent out for reconnaissance failed to return! Do you know what this means? ?”
Even Amy realized the huge danger hidden behind this sentence: "It means that the enemy is watching us from the dark, looking for opportunities to attack us?"
Ella frowned: "Pokarios, let me confirm again - the enemy intercepted the reconnaissance ships sent by Aulus, not just one, but several. Not just one batch, but several batches, yes Is that so?"
"Yes, that's it."
"This shows that the enemy is on extreme alert. It should be considered that they are very close to Aulus' fleet. Pokarios, do you have the chart with you?"
Ella's reaction made Pocaarios stunned: "No... I didn't bring it. That thing is only on General Aulus's ship."
"I still don't believe it. A naval fleet as big as the Island Republic can fly into the sky! Amy, bring us our map!"
Amy was also stunned: "Map? Your Majesty, do we have a map?"
There is a map of the Mediterranean Sea on Najirfa, but they are now on an ordinary long boat that has just returned from an unknown "Insfahan". If there had been a map on the ship, these pirates would never have sailed the ship to the Red Sea.
"Forget it, I'll draw it myself!"
In front of the surprised Pocaarios, Ella mobilized her memory and drew a detailed map of the nearby area with just a few strokes, including several cities, several seaports, and even a few fragmented islands. Everything is clearly marked on the map.
"This, this is...?"
Pocaarios took the map and looked at it carefully for a long time. Based on the sea charts he had seen and his combat experience in the Mediterranean, the picture Aila drew was rough, but it was generally correct. But he didn't want to show surprise in front of a few pirates, so he immediately put away the map and said with a sullen face: "Your skills are not bad. If you want to become a cartographer in the navy, I can't tell the general Introduce you."
"The enemy is nearby, and now is not the time to talk about such things." Ella interrupted Bokarios ruthlessly, "The map is already here, General, what should we do next?"
"How to act...this..."
Pocaarios had no choice but to open the map again, pretend to look at it for a while, and then analyze it as rationally as possible:
"The military advance consumes a huge amount of supplies every day. The enemy's fleet is unlikely to be anchored in the open sea. So we only need to find it along the coastline..."
Ayla interrupted Bokarios again: "If you do this, you will be discovered by the enemy at any time. For the reconnaissance team, our fleet is too large. And if there is a head-on confrontation, our naval combat capabilities will definitely be inferior." Of the Shanghai Island Republic.”
"In this case, let's divide into small teams to investigate..."
"Well, it does have to be like this. However, we have to conduct separate investigations in a planned way."
Ella began to divide boxes one after another on the map and quickly deployed them.
"This is the coastline where the enemy may park their ships. We now have twenty-five small boats. I divided the coastline within a day's sail from us into twelve sections, and sent two ships to each area to conduct reconnaissance. Because the voyage is only one day. , so the time the day after tomorrow will be postponed for half a day at most, and all ships must return. When all crew members return successfully, we will continue to investigate the sea area within two days. "
"Even if the enemy is on alert again," Ella added, "as long as we find that any team has not returned on time, we have already determined the general location of the enemy fleet."
Pocaarios looked at Ella in a daze - this girl looked no more like a pirate leader than he, Pocaarios, looked more like a general.
"General?" Ella raised her head and asked Bokarios, "What's the plan?"
Pocaarios finally came to his senses and said in a deep voice: "Your plan is not bad, so let's do it."
At the rendezvous time two days later, one fleet did not return.
"It's the direction of Calabria." Ella clicked a red dot on the map, and then asked Pocaarios, "How far is it from here to the station of Aulus?"
Pokarios was a little unhappy. He was supposed to be the one to ask Ella questions, but now, he seems to be Ella's adjutant. But now he is more shocked than unhappy: "I didn't expect the fleet of the Island Republic to be so close to us. It takes three days by boat from here to General Aulus's station. If the weather is good, we can sail at full speed. If so, two days is enough. Are the local lords of Calabria on the side of the island republic? Otherwise, why are they allowed to anchor in the port without us noticing? "
The capital of the island republic is located at the bottom of a U-shaped bay called the Adriatic Sea. One side of the Adriatic Sea is the mainland, which is the coastline of the Seven Hills Empire. Delphi, which Ella just left not long ago, is located near the entrance of the bay; and the other side of the Adriatic Sea is a peninsula named For Apennines. The Apennine Peninsula was the place where the Seven Hills Empire arose, but now, the north side of the Apennine Peninsula belongs to the Alemannic Federation, the south side belongs to the Holy Kingdom of Efilika, and the middle section is dotted with many independent small countries. Calabria is one of these small countries, located just like Delphi near the entrance to the Adriatic Sea.
"I'm afraid it's not just Calabria." Ella said, "The fact that they are hiding in the port of Calabria shows that they are well aware of the movements of the Aulus fleet. If not, how could they travel freely if the capital was besieged? Waiting there? But the way out of the bay is blocked by Aulus, there is no doubt about it. So where did their intelligence come from?"
"Overland!" Pocaarios suddenly realized, "General Aulus' current location is close to Benevento. The lords there can easily detect General Aulus' movements, and then they only need to take the overland route through Apli Asia, you can reach Calabria and pass the information to the navy of the island republic! The lords of Benevento, Apulia, and Calabria may all be biased towards the island republic. One party!"
"Benevento, Apulia, Calabria."
Ella repeated the names. These three are small independent countries in the central Apennine Peninsula, located in the trading zone of the Island Republic. The island republic has considerable influence among them. It is entirely possible that they will fall to the island republic.
"In this way, we are at an extreme disadvantage in terms of intelligence." Ella frowned, "No matter how Aulus deploys its troops, they will know immediately, but it is difficult for us to know their movements. The key is In terms of naval combat effectiveness, Aulus is still at a disadvantage! This is a precursor to a major defeat!"
Pocaarios was frightened by Ella's words: "Quick, return, we have to go back and report this matter to the general immediately!"
