Black Corporation: Joseon

Chapter 907

Episode 907: Alliance (1)

At Lee Si-ae’s words, the Italians, including Lorenzo and Giovanni, looked stunned and were speechless.

However, the first to come to their senses were those in charge of finances, including Giovanni.

“Gunpowder is an expensive product…”

“They say artillery shells can be made from iron castings, or if that doesn’t work, they can be carved from stones…”

This time, Lee Si-ae, who heard the Italians’ muttering, looked puzzled.

“You still make cannonballs by carving stones?”

From the imperial army’s point of view, sandstone artillery was an object that only existed in records.

“Does Italy still carve stones to make cannonballs?”

Lorenzo hastily answered Lee Si-ae’s question.

“Of course not. “I only use it in the worst case scenario.”

“For those who command the military, it is a basic knowledge to avoid such situations… Tsk!”

At Lee Si-ae’s tongue-clicking, the Florence military executives blushed lightly and glared at the finance managers.

‘Why should I say such nonsense…’

“For any commander who commands an army, it is a basic quality to always prepare reserves and extra ammunition…”

Afterwards, as Lee Si-ae continued to preach, the Florentine army The commanders glared at the finance managers with increasingly fierce faces.

‘Why are you making me listen to the sermons I was so sick of hearing at the military academy here again!’

As an aside, the imperial army rotated commanders with extensive combat experience to military academies. The purpose was to learn not only theory but also practical experience. Although I only heard about it rather than experienced it directly, this alone was of great help.

And Lee Si-ae was one of the strictest instructors.

‘Why are you making me listen to that picky guy’s sermon again?’

In the end, Giovanni stepped in and took care of the situation.

“ha ha ha! All of the Florentine military commanders here have learned and trained at the Imperial Military Academy. “There will be nothing to worry about.”

“greatness. “Keuhum!”

Lee Si-ae ended the sermon by clearing her throat at Giovanni’s words.

But Giovanni also had a backstory.

“What the finance officials are really worried about is gunpowder, not artillery shells. A lot of cannons means a lot of gunpowder is needed. “The need for a lot of expensive gunpowder means that a lot of war effort is needed.”

The finance officials of Florence all nodded at Giovanni’s words. Even now, the people who suffer the most while preparing for war are financial officers.

At Giovanni’s point, the imperial soldiers all looked at the Italians with strange expressions.

“Are you worried that the empire will ask you for war support?”

“Is that possible? But isn’t there a saying that we should keep the worst-case scenario in mind when doing everything?”

At Giovanni’s words, Lee Si-ae turned to Son Il-won who was sitting next to her. Son Il-won, who accepted Lee Si-ae’s silent words, opened his mouth on Lee Si-ae’s behalf.

“Unless the Mediterranean Sea is blocked, the worst will not come. And as long as our Imperial Navy fleet is here, the Mediterranean will not be blocked.”

“ah. okay!”

At Son Il-won’s answer, Giovanni’s face brightened and he nodded. This was because he had been traveling between Italy and the empire and was well aware of the power of the imperial navy.

‘The other ships are great, but even with those two monster ships, you won’t lose control of the sea! ‘There’s nothing to worry about!’

Thanks to the assurances of both the army and navy’s top commanders, the Italians returned to Florence with bright faces.

After seeing the Italians off, Son Il-won let out a small sigh.

“Whoa~. “The bravado worked.”

Hearing Son Il-won’s words, Lee Si-ae also let out a small sigh of relief and nodded.

“Whoa~. I agree. “Now I understand why there is so much bravado in the art of war.”

“It is said that if you want to deceive the enemy, you must first deceive your allies…”

The first operation carried out by the imperial army in Italy was a ‘foolish show’.

* * *

The imperial army’s operation in Livorno was a mixture of half truth and half fiction.

The large number of artillery pieces placed on the moorings of Livorno military port were real. However, the ammunition and gunpowder used by those cannons and the ammunition and artillery loaded on the fleet’s front lines were fictitious. Most of the army ammunition and artillery boxes placed on the moorings were loaded with food and water. And by the time we arrived in Livorno, the camouflage boxes were almost empty.

Therefore, the imperial army that had now arrived in Livorno had only enough strength for one battle if a full-scale battle was fought.

Only after the arrival of the second force, which was to arrive through Suez, would the imperial army be equipped with its proper fighting force.

If a full-scale war broke out before the second camp arrived, the empire would be in a situation where it would have to desperately focus on defense.

This happened because it had to cross the Atlantic and Mediterranean Seas from New Zealand to Italy. Not only was the distance a problem, but the return of the two ships was also a problem.

“The problem is that there is no supply base in the process of passing through the East Sea….”

“We have to load enough coal and fresh water.”

The Imperial Navy did not forget its previous experience when it deployed assault return ships on the North Sea route from its home base to New Earth.

Therefore, on the assault return ship from Shinji to Italy, various efforts were made, starting with refining the shape of the hull – mainly extending the range.

Nevertheless, it was calculated that a considerable amount of coal and fresh water were needed.

They say you can load as much fresh water as you can, and if it’s still not enough, you can make up for it by using a still and a purification machine, but that wasn’t possible with coal.

Therefore, the Navy decided to load less bombs and gunpowder on assault return ships.

-Only loaded with ammunition and gunpowder for one full-scale battle.

-The remaining space is used to carry coal and fresh water food.

-Execute the same measures on all other fronts, not just the assault return line.

The engineers who built the assault return ships and front lines unanimously opposed the naval command’s decision.

“The newly built assault return ship was redesigned with that in mind! The range is sufficient!”

“The same goes for the challenger-level front! This is a ship built from the beginning with long-distance voyages in mind! “It’s too much to worry about!”

Although the technical staff protested, the naval command also had something to say.

“We have to cross the wide East Sea. “You haven’t forgotten the shipwreck of the Jinpo, have you?”

“….”

When the naval command mentioned the Jinpo ship, the technical staff fell silent. The ship that fearlessly attempted to cross the Middle Sea and the Pacific Ocean and barely returned was the Jinpo.

The naval command learned that the East Sea was also a very large ocean through navigation logs and chart survey records obtained from captured European exploration ships, and planned its strategy as conservatively as possible.

And the background that made this operation possible was the fact that Europeans knew very well the power of the challenger-level front.

“They already know what the challenger-level front lines are like. “If you move at a fleet size, you can’t even think about attacking them properly.”

“There are assault return ships there too. Are you running into a power line you’ve never seen before? “No one is that crazy.”

“There were Myungguk kids, right?”

“They believe that it is a two-headed dragon or a two-headed dragon. “We don’t have that in Europe either.”

The prediction that there would be no chance of attacking the Challenger-class front lines moving in fleet size was correct, and the Imperial Fleet arrived safely in Livorno.

* * *

“It would have been easier if the gunpowder and coals had been piled up in advance in the warehouse built in Livorno…”

Son Il-won nodded at Lee Si-ae’s complaint.

“I agree. But that gunpowder guy is a really picky guy…”

“That’s the problem. They say they are constantly tinkering with gunpowder, but I wonder when good results will come out…”

Thanks to Hyang’s efforts, he was able to acquire smokeless gunpowder early on, but this gunpowder also had a lot of room for improvement in terms of safety and lifespan.

I was sure that war would break out in Italy, but I couldn’t stockpile gunpowder in Italy when I didn’t know when it would break out.

Because of this, a large amount of gunpowder could not be stored in Livorno.

“But the second group will arrive in about 15 to a month, so let’s be patient.”

“The bed will be more comfortable only when the second team arrives…”

Son Won-il grinned in response to Lee Si-ae’s words.

“Surely you can’t sleep as well as the Europeans who saw our army and fleet?”

Lee Si-ae grinned and accepted Son Il-won’s words.

“Heh! “Can they sleep?”

* * *

As Son Il-won and Lee Si-ae predicted, navy and army officials of European powers were suffering from insomnia.

“Spies! “Are there still no reports from the spies?”

“Not yet!”

“What do the Florentines who captured say?”

“Still still!”

“Damn it!”

The generals and admirals who received the reports from their subordinates swore.

“They say that ‘The Land of Flowers’ uses a luminous communication network or something to communicate in an instant! “We are still so slow!”

Even as they cursed at the backwardness of their country’s means of communication, the generals and admirals were busy moving about.

“Gather up some rumors!”

“yes!”

“ASAP! I must report to His Majesty the King! “You keep picking up the pieces!”

While the generals and admirals were recruiting – to be exact, the king’s recruiting – the subordinates were busy going out and collecting rumors and returning to analyze them.

“what? It has a lot of thorns on its back and spits fire and smoke from its mouth? Is this a boat? It’s a monster! Take this out!”

“A giant ship the size of 10 Karak ships combined? 40 sails? Hey… this seems like an exaggeration. “It would be better to cut it in half.”

Surprisingly, the rumor that was filtered out with keen eyes was soon made into a report and submitted.

“Hmm…”

The monarchs of the great powers who received the report looked at the contents with serious faces.

Although the countries were different, the contents of the reports received by the monarchs of the great powers were largely the same.

-Rumors say the fleet is at least 50 ships, but it is unreliable. Considering the size of the Livorno naval port and the size of the challenger-class battle line, a maximum of 30 ships is the limit.

-Three large ships were confirmed.

-One ship is estimated to be a large transport ship and two ships are battleships equipped with steam engines.

The combat power of battleships equipped with steam engines has not yet been confirmed. However, considering the characteristics of the Korean Federal Imperial Army, it is assumed that it had at least firepower equivalent to that of a challenger.

“Challenger level or higher? At least that too?”

To the kings’ question, the naval admirals all nodded.

“That’s right.”

“There is a high possibility that it is an ironclad ship.”

“Whoa~.”

The kings of the great powers let out a long sigh at the naval admirals’ explanation.

The kings, who checked the reports again and again, asked similar questions to the naval admirals.

“If you were to challenge the imperial fleet that arrived in Italy, would you be able to defeat it?”

“….”

“To put it objectively, it is a fight between David and Goliath.”

“I understand that David won that fight?”

“….”

“The problem is that ‘Kingdom of Flowers’ is not David’s Goliath. “The problem is that Goliath is crazy about cannons.”