Witch Wind

Chapter 214: Unstoppable Force (Part )

Three months after Xing Tianli, no, Earl Black Crow landed on Hillland Island.

Blue fields, blue sun, turquoise water, large flocks of skuas flapping their white wings, hovering in the wind over the seashore. Groups of wealthy and idle people from Port San Hill rushed to the port with their families.

It was three hundred feet long and extremely gorgeously decorated. It was painted all over with blue and white checkered patterns. On the mast was a white background with gold edges, and the pattern was a white long-tailed bird of paradise holding a bunch of blue irises in its beak. In its light blue claws were respectively holding a crown and a scepter, and the royal flag was fluttering in the wind.

Xing Tianli, wearing a full set of royal tuxedo and a golden crown on his head, stood at the bow of this luxury cruise ship, enthusiastically waving the scepter made of the towering bamboo in his hand towards the rich and idle people on the shore!

Just yesterday morning, at the City Hall of Port Saint Hill, Xing Tianli, in the name of Earl Black Crow, announced the birth of the 'First Empire of Farus'.

In the Western Land, there are extremely strict unspoken rules between the titles of empire and kingdom.

Since ancient times, the countries in the Western Continent have only recognized one unified empire - the Saint-Norman Empire!

After the Saint-Norman Empire, no matter whether it is England, Farus, Saint-Norman... even though England is now extremely powerful and its Royal Navy can almost defeat all other countries, it can only be called a "kingdom" instead of an "empire" to the outside world!
Even though, in the mouths of many officials of Yingjishi, such as the Consul General of Pinghai City, Joe Peter, they sometimes "slip up the tongue" and call themselves the "Engjishi Empire" and refer to their own queen as "Her Majesty"... But in fact, in formal official occasions, Yingjishi is just a "kingdom" and the queen is just a "Queen"!
This is the unspoken rule of the hundreds of countries in the Far West. Unless you destroy all the countries and unify the entire Western Continent, it is impossible for another empire to be born.

However, the notorious fellow 'Count Black Crow' announced the establishment of the 'First Empire of Farus' at the City Hall of Port Saint Hill, and appointed himself as the first founding emperor of the 'First Empire of Farus'.

He even said shamelessly in front of many nobles of Port Saint Hill who were attending the ceremony - he had the blood of the Farus royal family, and the Farus royal family was "said" to have a trace of the royal blood of the former Saint Norman Empire, so he naturally also had the royal blood of the Saint Norman Empire.

Therefore, he naturally became the emperor of the Farus Empire!
Even though he was standing on the land of the Kingdom of Yingjishi, he did not have an inch of real imperial territory under his name!
What is shocking is that with such a makeshift team and such a ridiculous drama, the officials of the Kingdom of Ingish actually announced through the mouth of Mayor Doug in a shy, evasive and pretentious manner - they, to some extent, recognized the First Empire of Farus established by "His Majesty the Black Crow"!

Mayor Doug said - if His Majesty the Black Crow can obtain enough territory to match his status and have enough subjects to match his imperial power, then the British government will naturally recognize him as an honorable and true Emperor!
No matter how outsiders see it, how many shameful things are hidden in this ridiculous and childish transaction, anyway, "His Majesty the Black Crow" did it, and the British officials shyly admitted it!

Then, just yesterday morning, after the honorable Emperor Black Crow announced the establishment of the First Empire of Farus, all major official and private media in Yingji were like passionate wild boars in spring, using all channels to frantically promote the establishment of the First Empire of Farus.

According to these media, the establishment of the First Empire of Farus was timely.

They said that in the face of the evil invasion of the Holy Ross Empire, the Hundred Countries in the Far West needed a strong leader to organize all the countries and fight against those stinky descendants of tribal serfs!

They said that the glory of the Holy Norman Empire had been eclipsed in the dust of history, and now someone must rise up and rebuild the unified Holy Empire so that the entire Western Continent can be completely united.

There was even a media outlet that was rumored to have a background in a certain Duke of England, and it openly compiled an extremely brilliant life resume for His Majesty the Black Crow.

His father was the last Count of Arlande, who was noble, generous, kind and highly respected.

His mother was the illegitimate daughter of the last King of Falus, who was noble, kind, wise, intelligent and powerful.

Therefore, His Majesty Black Crow has the royal blood of the last king of Courtyard Farus flowing in his body. Naturally, he inherited the extraordinary blood from the royal family of the Saint Norman Empire.

Thirty years ago, the rebels in Farus took advantage of the war between various countries. At the critical moment when the King of Farus was personally leading the troops to fight the enemy, they stabbed the King of Farus in the back and subverted the Kingdom of Farus with the most shameless means. They beheaded the King of Farus and all his royal relatives and replaced the monarchy with a republican federal system.

During the past thirty years, His Majesty Black Crow has worked hard and traveled to various countries, studied in many fields, and used the treasures left by the last king of Farus to carefully make a profit, earning an astronomical fortune.

He was simple and self-disciplined, and his lifestyle was no different from that of ordinary civilians. His three meals a day were just water and dry bread, and he was even reluctant to put a little butter on the bread... He used all the money he saved as the restoration fund for Farus!

Now, such an outstanding, low-key, yet extraordinary courage and incredible ambition young man has risen - so, the people of England, the people of the hundred countries in the Far West, cheer for the great Emperor Black Crow I!

The establishment of the First Empire of Farus will inevitably reshape the order of the Western Continent and lead the Western Continent to a new peak in civilization development.

The above is the propaganda of the British media against His Majesty the Black Crow.

Xing Tianli didn't know how those guys who were paid to do the job could write such despicable articles. Anyway, when he saw those newspapers that were being distributed for free everywhere, he felt creepy. Those words made him inexplicably embarrassed!

So, today, the newly-crowned first founding emperor of the First Empire of Farus, His Majesty Black Crow, boarded this newly purchased yacht and prepared to go out to sea to relax.

This was a yacht ordered by a big shot in the Kingdom of Yingjishi, and was bought by Xing Tianli at ten times the price. Because it had not yet been tested at sea, no one knew whether this brand new yacht, which was leaving the port for the first time, would leak, hit a reef, or sink at sea.

Therefore, Xing Tianli traveled alone with dozens of sailors who were responsible for operating the yacht. On the huge yacht, there was not even a maid, nor were any guests invited.

Four "old-fashioned" frigates, which had just been manufactured and whose rivets were all new, slowly sailed out of the port and followed closely behind Xing Tianli's yacht. Sailors in blue and white uniforms stood on the frigates, smiling and waving to the crowd on the shore who were seeing them off.

In the crowd, the owner and shareholders of a large shipyard waved their handkerchiefs at the four frigates with tears in their eyes.

These four money-losing goods have finally been sold.

These four frigates, with a displacement of about 5,000 tons, were the latest generation of cutting-edge battleships designed by the Kingdom of Ingish three years ago. The wealthy Kingdom of Ingish placed an order for 300 new frigates at one time with major shipyards.

As a result, over the past year or so, as several super-giant new shipyards were completed at an incredible speed, and ahead-of-the-time new warships were built like dumplings, the Navy Department simply tore up the orders for these warships.

They don’t want the deposit.

They won't pay the balance.

Three hundred new frigates, as well as an even greater number of destroyers, fast battlecruisers, main battlecruisers, high-speed battleships, main battleships, etc., are all lying in the dock, becoming unsalable iron lumps!

Luckily, a sucker came to my door!

These warships were all bought at their original price by the honorable, wise, wealthy and powerful Majesty Black Crow.

A shareholder of the shipyard waved his handkerchief and said with deep emotion: "Look, dear His Majesty Black Crow, there is light on him... a light as dazzling as gold. I am about to become his believer!"

Many people on the dock were saying this.

In the crowd, Marquis Williams, Mayor Doug, and several high-ranking officials of the empire who had rushed over from the royal capital these days, looked furtively at several Falusians in the crowd with gloomy faces.

Haha, the Consul General of the Farus Consulate in Port Saint Hill was shot to death by Xing Tianli three months ago.

According to the news from the Yingji intelligence department, in the past few days, more than 10,000 Farus people have sneaked into the Yingji Kingdom through various illegal means. In order to enter Yingji, these guys even used many unknown secret channels. In just three months, the Yingji intelligence department has reaped great rewards. At least more than 200 deeply lurking moles were easily discovered and arrested by them because of this incident.

The people of Falus spare no expense and no cost.

So, today Xing Tianli took a new yacht and four brand new frigates that had never fired a single shot, and went out to sea to relax.

"There will be a hurricane today." Little Doug, who participated in the planning of this event throughout, sighed in a low voice.

"The empire will rise with the wind." Marquis Williams stood with his hands behind his back, calmly watching the small fleet slowly leaving the port: "The Queen... no, Her Majesty, and the Empire both need an excuse that can be recognized by all parties. Her Majesty, and the glory of the Empire cannot have any stains."

The weather was very good. Old sailboats and new steamships were dotted on the sea, near and far. Xing Tianli stood on the bow, enjoying with interest the desolate and distant fishing songs of the English fishermen on the fishing boats with white sails.

Behind him, Old Dai Gao was gazing into the distance nervously. Xing Tianli could even hear the 'cracking' sound of Old Dai Gao's tense joints. He turned around and said to Old Dai Gao, "Old Dai Gao, relax a little. We are absolutely safe this time."

Old Dai lowered his voice: "But, Your Majesty..."

He opened his mouth, but for a moment he didn't know what to say.

What could he say? The master he once served was just an earl of the old Kingdom of Farus. That earl was just an ordinary, powerless dandy who lived a muddle-headed life of eating and waiting for death, relying on his family's fiefdom.

The Kingdom of Farus was destroyed and a new regime came to power. He thought that this was how his life would end.

He never dreamed that there would be a sucker who would spend a huge sum of money to buy the notorious title of the Alrand family.

He never dared to imagine in his dreams that this sucker actually showed such terrifying financial resources, easily organized an incredible army, and even received the full support of the Kingdom of Yingjishi in secret.

'The First Empire of Farus'?
Holy Mother of God, what an incredible and ambitious title!

Old Dai Gao stared straight at Xing Tianli's broad back. His eyes were blurred, and he seemed to see a god standing in front of him - infinite power and sense of responsibility surged in his heart.

"You shouldn't take risks." Old Dai Gao said seriously, "You have a greater responsibility!"

Xing Tianli smiled and shook his head slightly.

After a moment of silence, he slowly said, "There has to be an excuse... Although I don't care about this excuse at all, but since some people want it, I will cooperate."

"It's actually nothing."

The small fleet was heading east at full speed. The yachts and frigates, using new steam engines, could travel nearly a hundred miles at full speed every half hour.

So, two hours later, several columns of smoke rose into the sky on the sea ahead, and six main battleships and more than twenty high-speed battlecruisers sounded their whistles and rushed towards Xing Tianli's small fleet in a mighty manner.

Xing Tianli whistled: "Sure enough, the members of the House of Representatives did not disappoint me."

He raised his cane and spun it gently, and Xing Tianli's yacht and four frigates turned at the same time, drawing a huge arc on the sea. But from the other two directions, from the south and the north, there was also a fleet of high-speed ships surrounding this side.

When they were still more than ten miles away, the large and small Falus warships roared together.

'boom'!
"Boom boom!"
The ships of both sides were running at high speed, and shells were whistling all over the sky, but the closest shell was nearly a mile away from Xing Tianli's yacht. A huge column of water rose, and Old Dai Gao shouted at the top of his voice: "Damn rebels, they won't touch a hair on your head!"

Xing Tianli laughed out loud.

The three-inch caliber naval guns on the front and rear turrets of the four frigates also roared in unison.

Old Dai Gao's eyes almost jumped out of his sockets - four frigates, eight gun batteries in front and back, each battery was a twin-mounted naval gun, a total of sixteen three-inch naval guns, and their firing frequency was comparable to the sum of hundreds of large and small naval guns on the enemy's hundreds of warships.

"Boom, boom, boom, boom." With every blink of an eye, each gun of the four frigates can fire three to five shells!

The dense rain of bullets almost formed a line of fire in the air, accompanied by faint explosions. The Farus battleship in the front was hit directly by more than thirty shells.

Flames were everywhere. The battleship's thick armor was impossible to penetrate with just a three-inch gun.

Even so, the flames flooded the battleship's bridge, forcing it to slow down. A large amount of equipment on the deck was smashed to pieces, and various metal fragments could be seen burning and falling into the sea.

The bombardment lasted for half a quarter of an hour. Xing Tianli's yacht and four frigates were not hit at all. They turned smoothly and fled directly to Hillland Island.

A low 'humming' sound was heard in the air.

More than 300 twin-engine metal-wing attack aircraft flew over from Hillland Island like a dark cloud at a very fast speed. They began to dive at high speed when they were still 20 to 30 miles away from the battlefield. They approached the sea surface, hooked heavy torpedoes and fell, then ignited their engines, and white water lines began to sail across the sea at high speed.

In just a cup of tea time, heavy torpedoes hit the attacking Falus warships.

The terrible explosion blew warships of all sizes out of the sea, and some small warships were hit by several heavy torpedoes in succession. The keels of the warships were broken, and the warships broke into several sections with terrible shattering sounds.

The high-pitched sound of the whistle continued.

One after another, ironclad ships were sailing at high speed from the direction of Hillland Island. There were more than 500 main battleships such as ironclad battleships and ironclad cruisers, and nearly a thousand other large and small combat ships.

In addition to these warships, a large number of troop transports were mixed in with the warships, flying at high speed with the blue and white iris bird of paradise flag. Xing Tianli laughed loudly. He looked at these ships that belonged to him completely, and said to Old Dai Gao in high spirits: "Old Dai Gao, help me put on the military uniform of the Grand Marshal for the expedition. I will personally lead my army and conquer the entire Farus."

The huge fleet was overwhelming.

The battleships at the front opened fire crazily.

The hulls of these battleships are all "old-fashioned" ships manufactured by major shipyards, but the naval guns are all new and high-end goods provided by the Kingdom of England. In particular, these ships have undergone basic electrification modifications - at the very least, the battleships are equipped with gun-aiming radars.

Even when traveling at high speeds, these warships still have a good hit rate.

The Farus fleet, which had been battered by heavy torpedoes and had more than half of its ships sunk, was hammered head-on by battleships that were ten times larger than its own. Attack planes were constantly diving, strafing, and throwing torpedoes in the sky...

In just over a quarter of an hour, the entire Farus fleet was wiped out.

A radio wave was transmitted directly back to the capital of Yingjishi.

The Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of England immediately summoned the Ambassador of Farus to England. The two sides had a complete disagreement and began to greet each other's maternal relatives... The excited Ambassador of Farus to England, in accordance with the tradition of Farus gentlemen, brazenly challenged the Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of England to a duel.

Then, in the presence of many nobles, the Foreign Minister of England with golden eyes easily beheaded Master Farus with a single sword, and then the official government of England lodged the most serious protest and warning to Farus.

Subsequently, the news that the new emperor of the First Empire of Farus was assassinated by the Farus fleet near an island of the Kingdom of Ingis spread wildly throughout the Western Continent with the full support of the Ingis officials.

Before the people of Farus knew the news, the Farus Kingdom Army under Xing Tianli... ahem, the Farus Empire Army, had already returned to the city of Maro that Xing Tianli had left by boat three months ago.

The huge fleet was overwhelming, covering the entire sea surface.

The garrison fleet of Maro City had been wiped out in the previous attack. Faced with dozens of battleships of the Farus Empire Army that drove straight into the port, the coastal defense artillery of Maro City, after careful consideration, raised the white flag without firing a single shot.

Troop transport ships quickly docked.

For three months, the imperial soldiers, who had been fed with fine wine, barbecue and white bread by Xing Tianli, were like a group of crazy wild beasts. They rushed to the docks and howled, and quickly spread to the entire city of Maro along the streets and alleys.

During the entire process, almost no shots were fired.

Three days later, one-third of the territory of the Etania province, to which the city of Maro belonged, was occupied by the imperial army that marched straight in.

The imperial army under Xing Tianli opened up new landing sites in twelve other port cities. The attacks in these twelve directions were like a sharp knife cutting tofu and encountered almost no resistance.

When the news came back, the Yingji people formed the general staff headquarters of Xing Tianli's organization and immediately stopped the offensive momentum of all troops.

"There is a conspiracy, there must be a conspiracy!" said an old man named Old Ruby, a former British Army general and now the Chief of Staff of the First Empire of Farus.

(End of this chapter)