Struggle in the Steam Age

The arrival of these reinforcements is indeed very favorable news for Lawrence. After all, the troops under his command are well-equipped and well-trained. But a big problem is that the number of transcendents is really small.

In the reinforcements that Lawrence called, all the extraordinary were not as many as the Hammers and their squad called, and they were basically low-level officers, so it was impossible to top the front line in non-emergency situations.

The arrival of reinforcements just made up for this problem, although they are not very good at that kind of group combat. But as an elite force, maneuvering in the second line to maintain the line happens to be what they are best at.

More importantly, Lawrence saw several rogues and a half-elf ranger carrying a bow and arrow in the reinforcements. These transcendents can just make up for the huge investigative ability gap left by Nora after returning to the island to upgrade.

Soon, Lawrence brought this group of reinforcements to join his army, and then began to discuss the next action plan.

But what Lawrence did not expect was that after everyone had discussed it, they proposed a plan that was very different from the previous one and hoped that it could be implemented in accordance with this plan.

"You mean we go by the waterway?" Lawrence looked at the staff officer in the group of officers sent this time and asked, "Can you tell me why?"

"That's it. We just looked at the map carefully and found that the original plan to rush down the woodland was inappropriate from various angles." said the staff lieutenant who was elected as a representative. .

"Because when we were investigating just now, we found that some of the nobles who were walking towards the treasure were on the road and some sneaky guys were following them."

"More importantly, those stalkers will run to the woods to follow after a while on the road, so we are all worried that some guys may hide directly in the woods. In that case, we are likely to march in the forest. It was discovered by some guys."

"So you decided to go to the front by water transport?" Lawrence asked. "What is the feasibility of this plan? Will there be too many detours?"

"It's a little detour, but overall it's easier during the march." Lieutenant of the staff said. "If we advance in the woods, we have to advance more than 30 kilometers, and the road among them is not very easy. It may take more than a day."

"But if we take the waterway by boat, we only need a few hours. We can follow the lake shore line to the east, and then follow an inland river upstream."

"More importantly, in this way, everyone can take a boat all the way except for the last five or six kilometers, and everyone won't need to be extremely exhausted like traveling in the jungle to face possible enemies. "

At this time, everyone realized that Lawrence and their previous guesses were more than just guesses. Otherwise, there will not be some sneaky guys behind those rich people.

Therefore, when this group of officers and supernatural beings were considering their next actions, they naturally also considered the possibility of fighting once they entered the position.

"Do you think so?" Lawrence looked at the people around him after hearing what the lieutenant said. After confirming that everyone had reached a consensus on this, he nodded and said.

"If this is the case, let's use water transportation, but who of you knows how to solve the ship problem?"

"We may need your authorization on this." The lieutenant said to Lawrence with a serious face. "If I remember correctly, the ships that sent us should not leave the port here in three hours. So if you send a telegram to that ship at this time, I think we--"

"Understood, report to them now." Before the lieutenant had finished speaking, Lawrence nodded and said. After they finished sending the telegram, they led the whole army and started walking toward the lakeshore to the south.

They only waited about twenty minutes when they came to the shore of the lake, and Lawrence and the others saw two flat-bottomed moored boats dragging black smoke coming towards this side.

"Come on now." Soon the two boats berthed less than 10 meters away from the shoreline of the lake, and then a captain with a gray beard stood on the side of the ship and shouted. At the same time, a springboard on the side of the ship was also lowered.

Upon seeing this, Lawrence and the others immediately waded to the side of the ship with their weapons in both hands, and then boarded the ship along the lowered springboard. After everyone got on the boat, the two boats quickly retracted the springboard and started to move away from the lake shore.

"Next we are going to this place." Lawrence said to the map in the captain's room just as the ship left the shore.

"There may be an enemy investigating our situation along the way, so you see how we can avoid the sight of the other scouts?"

"From the map, it should be easier to avoid the opponent for most of the routes." The captain who seemed quite experienced looked at the map and said.

"Because the first part of the journey was basically driven on the lake, we can pretend to be an ordinary cargo ship as long as we are a little farther away from the lake shore.

"But the upstream part is difficult to hide from each other, because there is no settlement of intelligent creatures in the upper reaches of this river. If the two boats go upstream from here, it is obviously a little abnormal." , The captain knocked on the location of the river mouth on the map and said.

"Before I retired, I was the captain of the customs anti-smuggling team for a long time, so I have had many experiences of fighting smugglers and even wild races on the sea. If I were that group of attackers, I would definitely not let them go. Pass this river that is visible to the naked eye within the ambush range."

"In this case, I think the cheapest and most convenient way is to set up an observation post at the mouth of the river. Just a flare or even a piece of smoke can bankrupt a sneak attack."

"Then what should we do?" After hearing the news, Lawrence also looked a little bit awkward. After all, he didn't know anything about sailing, but he still knew that the two boats he took now were all standard. Steam sailing ships, and there is no decontamination equipment in those factories.

In this way, the whole ship will inevitably be filled with smoke. As long as the other person is not blind, he can see their journey from far away.

"Then we can only slightly change the plan and make a big circle." The staff lieutenant pointed to the map and said.

"I asked Captain Nemo just now~www.ltnovel.com~ It’s about two kilometers east of that estuary. The entire lake seems to protrude to the north, and there is a small difference in the northernmost part of the lake. Small port."

"So at that time, we can pretend to be a small merchant ship heading to that port and go directly north, and when the lake bank blocks the river mouth observation post, we will turn off the boiler and lean on the sails to send all the commandos ashore."

"After getting ashore, we can use the cover of woods and a series of mounds to go all the way north, then reach the target site southeast and then go northwest through a series of hills and woods to reach the destination."

"That is to say, if all goes well, we will appear directly behind the target location." After listening to the lieutenant, Lawrence immediately drew it on the map, and soon he realized the characteristics of the new route.

After looking at the route he had drawn with a blue pencil on the map, Lawrence sat quietly in his seat for a few seconds, then gently tossed the pencil on the map. "—Very good, just do it."

After making the final decision, the two ships immediately drove at full speed along the traditional cargo route, heading towards the eastern destination.