Not long after Ella's fleet began to return, two ships sent to Calabria for reconnaissance hurried back.
"You're actually back?" Ella was surprised and happy. "How's it going? Are there any enemy troops stationed in the direction of Calabria?"
"Yes, and there are many of them! They saw us from a distance and chased us without saying a word!"
The pirates on the ship were gasping for air. They paddled so hard that the clothes on their bodies could squeeze out water. In addition to sweat, their clothes were covered with blood stains.
"Caught up directly? No hesitation at all?"
"Yes, there was no hesitation at all! He came right over and killed me!"
The pirates' words once again verified Ella's speculation. If this fleet had not made contact with the capital of the Island Republic, then the Pirate Kingdom would still be an ally of the Island Republic in their perception, and would never be able to pursue it as decisively as the pirates described.
"But their ship's speed shouldn't be as fast as yours, so they can get away easily, right?" Bokarios asked, "Why is it like this? And why did it come back so late?"
However, the pirates did not respond to Pocaarios' questions at all. Pocaarios had no choice but to ask Ella for help with his eyes.
"Were you ambushed?" Ella asked.
"Yes, an ambush! They sent two ships to chase us, and not long after we turned around, another ship rushed out from both sides." The pirates nodded repeatedly, "They are too cunning, they would have discovered it long ago. He deliberately hid us, put us in, and then surrounded us like a pocket!”
"This is not cunning, it's called tactics. War is about tactics. You have to think more about it in the future, and don't just think about fighting and killing."
The pirates' words made Pocaarios smile. He was frightened by Ella several times, and this time he finally regained some ground.
"The two ships in front are blocking the road, and there are two ships chasing behind? I remember that the ships of the Island Republic carry between 80 and 140 people. These four ships have at least 300 people!" Amy He quickly handed a few kettles filled with water to the pirates, "How did you get back?"
When the pirates on the ship saw the kettle, their eyes lit up and they started to drink. After they finished drinking the water in the kettle, they wiped their mouths, and after Amy thanked them, they said: "We couldn't think of any way, so we had to fight hard and hack for a long time, and then we hacked all the enemies to death. Already."
"Are you kidding?" Pocaarios shouted, "You two ships only have less than sixty people, and the enemy is five times as many as you! You are lucky to have escaped. Have you all been hacked to death? You are like this Reporting for military exploits will be punished by military law!"
"Five times, that's four enemy ships combined. Just one ship has about the same number of people as our two ships combined."
The pirates gestured with their hands in the air.
"When we saw something was wrong, we had no choice but to rush forward. Enemies were coming from the left and right, so we all went to the left. We stared at a ship and jumped on it to chop. Kill the helmsman first, and control their ship to prevent the other three. One ship approached, and then cut down the soldiers on the ship one by one into the water. After cutting off, jumped on another ship and continued to cut. After cutting down two ships, the remaining two enemy ships came closer, and we couldn't avoid it. However, because there were only two ships left, the number of enemies that jumped on was only slightly more than twice as many as ours, and the space on the ship was small. After cutting for a long time, we finally killed them all! There were still some enemies who didn't have time to kill them and jumped directly. They got off the boat and ran away. We also tried to chase and chop them into the water, but it was not easy to chop people in the water, so we had no choice but to let them escape!"
"What do you mean by letting them escape?" Bokarios felt that his world view was collapsing, "You are the one being pursued, right?"
"We were being chased! As soon as we cut down the people in four boats, the entire enemy force caught up with us! There seemed to be tens of thousands of people! We didn't have time to collect the loot, so we jumped back into our boat and ran back! It's so annoying Oh, I spent a long time chopping in vain!"
Ella listened carefully to the pirates' reports. From these words, it sounds like the Navy of the Island Republic is far less terrifying than the fleet commanded by Andrea. Moreover, mobilizing a fleet of tens of thousands of people to chase down more than 60 pirates was also a loss for the enemy on the other side.
This order comes from the commander.
"Apart from these? Do you have any other information?" Ella continued to ask.
One of the pirates slapped his head: "Ah, by the way, there is another one alive. He was lying on the boat pretending to be dead. We found him and bundled him back as a trophy! Let's bring him here right now!"
Soon, the pirates pushed a panicked Island Republic soldier in front of Ella. Pocaarios happily rushed forward and gave the soldier a few slaps: "Why are you stationed in Calabria? What are you preparing for? What are your intentions? Tell me honestly! It's agreed. There’s a reward, but if you don’t tell me, I’ll take off your hand first and see if your mouth is still tough!”
"I said, I said, I said!" the soldier replied fearfully, "We were all panicked when we learned that the capital was under siege, but the general told us not to worry. He said that he had received a notice from the governor, asking us to stay at Kara Garrison Bria and wait for the opportunity."
Pocaarios waved his hand and slapped the soldier again: "To be clear, what time are you waiting for?"
"I, I don't know. The general is also afraid that information will be leaked, so every time the messenger comes, he receives it secretly!"
"You really don't know?" Pocaarios waved to the pirates, "Hold him down and take off his arm!"
"I really don't know!" The soldier whose body was suppressed by the pirates shouted hoarsely, "Ah... yes, yes, before you came over, the general had already asked us to prepare to set off. It seems that he received a message from the governor. Battle order!"
"So that's it." A pirate suddenly realized, "No wonder they saw that they couldn't catch up with us, so they turned around and went all the way over there!"
The pirate pointed his hand to the northwest. Pocaarios almost fell off the boat: "This is the direction of General Aulus's garrison! Did they set off ahead of us? Judging from this, the enemy has already set out for a day! If we can't catch up!"
"It may not be impossible to catch up. The enemy has been stationed in Calabria for a long time, probably waiting for an opportunity. Setting off now may not necessarily mean that the time has arrived, but it may just be that the time is approaching. If so, before that time really comes, they need to fight with Aulus's fleet is keeping its distance to avoid an engagement, so it won't sail at full speed. We still have a chance."
After Ella analyzed the current situation, she raised her head solemnly and ordered:
"Command the entire army to advance at full speed! We must convey the information to the Seven Hills Empire before the Island Republic does!"
