Chapter 144: Southern

Alan stood at the end of the queue, his expression was very nervous, looking at the shipyard gate for a while, and then looking down to check if his collar was tidied.

Captain Quick patted his head, "Hey, kid, what are you doing? Stop moving around, stand still."

"Well... yes!" The boy's slightly red face was stern, and he looked forward and stopped moving.

Last night, the Navy Headquarters notified that a big shot was coming to inspect the shipyard, and asked the crew of the Hara Hope and another ship stationed at the shipyard to do new equipment acceptance work to prepare for the reception.

It was not until after dinner this morning that the shipyard learned that the person who was coming to inspect was Paul Graman, the Lord of Alda.

When the scheduled time arrived, the officers and soldiers in the factory were gathered to line up to welcome him. Rubin, the head of the shipyard,

The young Alan had just joined the navy for a few days, and he was not familiar with many people and things. He was cautious in everything he did. When he heard that the Lord of Alda was coming to inspect them, he couldn't help but panic.

He had grown up, and the highest official he had ever seen was the mayor of a nearby town. The closest person to the lord was the tax collector who came to the village to collect taxes. He had never seen a real noble, let alone the actual ruler of a territory.

According to the adults, that person's words and deeds could determine the fate of civilians like them.

What did the lord of Arda look like? Did he have a nose and two eyes like an ordinary person?

Just as he was thinking about it, a notice came from the door: "Earl Graman is here!"

"Everyone - stand at attention!"

With a command from Queke, all the officers and soldiers immediately changed from at ease to stand at attention.

Then a group of people walked in from outside the gate.

"Salute!"

With the second command, the officers and soldiers saluted together.

Among the group of people who came in, Allen recognized one of them as the naval commander Austin. At this moment, he and another person also raised their hands to salute the officers and soldiers.

As for the other person, seeing that the people around him were respectful to him, it was not difficult to guess that he was Earl Graman, the lord of Arda.

Allen was a little surprised. The earl seemed to be about 16 years old, with dark brown and almost black hair and eyes, and a plain appearance. Because he grew up in a noble family, he looked stronger than his peers in the village. Is such a young man the supreme ruler of the Earldom of Arda?

Behind the earl was a woman with green hair. Twelve-year-old boys have begun to pay attention to the appearance of the opposite sex. Allen has never seen such a charming big sister. The girl he met in the pirate base was also very beautiful, but compared with the one in front of him, she was only a green apple.

"Is this our naval cadet?" Count Graman saw a row of teenagers standing neatly.

"Navy cadet?" Austin was a little surprised when he heard it.

"Aren't you going to use children to train reserve officers? I have decided to name them 'officer cadets'."

"This is a good name, sir. From now on, they will be the 'officer cadets' of our navy."

The young earl came to several equally young cadets and said, "I learned about your experiences in Austin's report. I hope you can treat the navy as your second home."

He looked at Allen, who was obviously the youngest, and patted his shoulder: "What's your name?"

"Allen... My name is Allen, sir."

The boy blushed and answered nervously.

Paul laughed. This is the seed for the future development of his navy.

He patted the boy on the shoulder: "Don't be nervous. Can you adapt to life on the warship?"

Allen replied: "Adapt. I feel good on it."

Paul nodded with relief, but Allen recalled his previous home, the home where his mother was always busy.

No matter how good life on a warship is, how can it be compared with your own home?

There are a lot of miscellaneous rules. If you make a mistake, even forgetting to salute the officer counts. You have to take off your pants and expose your bare buttocks to be beaten by the patrol. It is not just one or two slaps like his mother used to punish him. Instead, he is beaten with a thick board. His buttocks will be swollen for a long time after the beating.

I heard from the seniors on the ship that this is a leniency given to them because they are underage.

There is another tool to deal with adult sailors, which makes people shudder. The right to use this terrible torture device can only be controlled by the captain of the ship. The reason and amount of punishment are also decided by the captain. In the specific implementation process, all the personnel on the ship are required to gather on the deck to watch the punishment process, which plays a role of killing chickens to scare monkeys. The whole punishment process is full of ritual sense through steps such as beating drums, showing whips, and drinking water.

In short, living on a warship is a tense and orderly life, not as comfortable and comfortable as at home before.

But Allen never regretted joining the Alda Navy. After he and his companions who were captured by pirates returned to the village, the villagers had already buried their mother who was killed by pirates. He swore in front of his mother's tombstone that he must destroy all the pirates in the world. Only the Alda Navy could help him realize this wish.

At this time, Paul said: "Take us to the new ship to have a look."

Austin led in front: "Please come this way, Lord Graman."

Everyone walked to the dock, and several candidates followed them as temporary attendants.

Two sloops were quietly moored at the dock. From the outside, they were larger than the Hope, with six gun ports on each side.

"Have they got names?"

"The one that is about to go south is named 'South', and the other one has not been named yet."

Everyone boarded the South, and Paul carefully touched every part of the ship he passed by.

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"Have you confirmed the crew to open up a new route south?"

"Considering that this is an unfamiliar voyage, we asked the crew of the original Hope to drive this ship to the south. After all, they have the most experience in operating this type of ship."

Paul looked at Quick: "You and your crew have a great responsibility."

Quick saluted him: "Yes, we will definitely live up to everyone's expectations!"

Paul suddenly thought of something and asked: "What do you carry on the ship? Like food?"

Austin replied: "We have to test the endurance of this ship to the limit and try not to dock for supplies on the way, so we prepared a lot of pickled meat. Meat, biscuits, canned food, all of which are easy to preserve. Of course, there is also fresh water, but fresh water is easy to spoil, so alcohol is also indispensable. "

"The ship also plans to raise two hens to provide fresh eggs for possible patients, and a cat to catch mice that sneak onto the ship. "

"In order to deal with possible dangers at sea, the Southern will be equipped with 12 cannons and 4 spare gun barrels placed in the ballast tank below. "

After destroying Garden's group, the pressure on the navy almost disappeared. The remaining scattered pirates surrendered or fled one after another, so Austin boldly equipped most of the artillery on the Southern.

Paul pulled the commander of the navy by the sleeve and pulled him to a corner. After confirming that there was no one around, he whispered, "Do you know about scurvy?"

Austin didn't understand why the lord was so mysterious, and said, "I haven't had it, but it is said that this is a terrible infectious disease that will break out after sailing at sea for a long time."

Paul shook his head and denied, "Infectious disease? No, it is not contagious."

"According to my research, if you don't eat vegetables for a long time, you will get this disease. So you must bring more vegetables. If you want to keep them for a long time, dry them. Anyway, it's better than nothing. Once you eat them or they rot, don't worry about the endurance test. Hurry up and go ashore to replenish them. I don't want to kill anyone."

Austin was surprised. The count also studied this?

However, seeing that the lord looked serious and didn't look like he was joking, he nodded vigorously: "Yes, I will keep your instructions in mind."

Paul added: "By the way, southern citrus fruits such as oranges can also prevent scurvy, so let them bring more when they return."

Then he changed the subject: "Note that this should be listed as one of the confidential matters of the navy, and only senior officers should know about it. It must not be spread outside. I don't want future opponents at sea to know about this measure that can greatly avoid casualties. Keep it secret as long as possible."

"Please rest assured, I will be careful."

It seems that the material preparations on the South must be adjusted.