book of old days

Chapter 105 Food
A few boards were laid on the ground, a little kerosene and a lot of whale oil were poured on it, and soon a fire was lit on the ice.

Everyone gathered around, whether they were Bretons or Nords, they just wanted to be warmer at this moment. Although they were not that close to each other, they were compatriots of the same country anyway, and there was no big trouble. , but each of them stood in their own team with clear distinctions, still maintaining their vigilance.

Ragnar, Lieutenant Colonel Edward, a captain, and Sean got together to discuss this unexpected encounter.

Sean looked at Captain Edward. Captain Edward was quite old, at least 50 years old, maybe even older. He looked very tired. His snow-white mustache was messed up due to neglect, and his hair was also messy. There are obvious stains on the guns, which is very rare in the Brighton Navy, which pays great attention to appearance. From this, it can be seen that they must have encountered a very dangerous thing, so that they didn't even have time to take care of the appearance.

Several people reported their names first, and when it was Sean's turn, Captain Edward was a little surprised to hear his accent.

"Are you from Brighton?"

The accent of the Breton people is very different from that of the Nords, especially Swordsburg, where Sean is from. identify.

"John Smith, from Fort Sword." Sean said, "So, can you tell me in detail what happened to you? Why are you here, what about the other crew members?"

Perhaps it was Sean Brighton's identity that made him let go of his guard, Captain Edward sighed, and said wearily, "Dead, all dead, they were all buried in that icy hell, only us These people are gone."

Sean was taken aback. The expedition ship of the Brighton Navy is called the Explorer class, with a displacement of 500 tons, 10-20 artillery pieces, and a standard crew configuration of 150 people.

Expedition ships need particularly good commanders, so the captain's military rank is usually higher than that of ordinary warships, and is usually commanded by a lieutenant colonel or lieutenant colonel. There is not only a standard nautical crew configuration on board, but also a platoon of armed sailors. military.

How could such an armed force be almost wiped out?
He asked his own question. Originally, it took a bit of tongue-in-cheek to get the truth, but Captain Edward seemed to have long wanted to find someone to confide in, so he told his experience almost without reservation.

"It all started three months ago, when I led three expedition ships of the Royal Navy, Fortune, Courage, and King's Sword, to try to cross the North Sea and find a northern passage to the Western Continent.

We have made full preparations for this expedition. We originally planned to set off in autumn, cross the ice floes in the North Sea before the sea freezes, survey the freezing conditions of the winter sea along the way, and do a preliminary survey for the future operation of the route.

But this operation was not smooth from the very beginning. The King's Sword encountered a collision shortly after leaving the port, and the bottom of the ship leaked sideways, so I had to return to the port for repairs. I wanted to wait for the ship to return to the team before continuing the plan, but the king The repair time of the Sword was longer than expected, half a month later I had to lead the other two ships to set off alone.

When we arrived in the West Brighton Sea, we encountered a typhoon and had to stop in a nearby port for a week. Then we encountered headwinds. When we arrived in the waters near the North Sea, it was already later than planned. nearly a month.

The captain of the Spirit decided to give up this exploration, but I am not the kind of person who gives up lightly. I decided to lead my ship to carry out the mission alone. Now it seems that this is a wrong decision.

Don't get me wrong, I am well aware of the dangers of crossing the North Sea in winter, and I have made full preparations for this. Our ship is extremely strong and capable of breaking ice. Small pieces of ice floes cannot pose a threat to my ship. Our weapons It is well-equipped and carries a lot of supplies. The food on board is enough to feed the next spring, even if it is trapped, it can survive.

We sailed north for three days, and sailed east for five days. However, despite our quick actions, the weather this year seems to be extremely cold, and the speed of the sea freezing is much faster than I expected. Can't go any further.

My crew and I were stranded a few hundred miles from the nearest land, but that was no problem, as I said before, we had plenty of food for that.

But the problem lies in these foods. The cans purchased by the quartermaster, which claim to be able to store food for several years and keep the food quality intact, began to deteriorate gradually after less than half a month after being trapped. "

"Deterioration?" Sean was a little unbelievable, "In this weather?"

In such a cold weather, even fresh meat will not spoil, let alone canned food, but then again, the traditional food of the Brighton Navy should be dried bacon and baked biscuits. Why did it suddenly change like this? 'Advanced', even the cans are finished.

Regarding Sean's question, Captain Edward was also very helpless.

"Considering that you may be trapped for a long time, there is not enough fuel to heat the food on board, so this time, in order to ensure the effectiveness of the food, the navy's quartermaster bought a large amount of canned food at a high price. This kind of food It is the latest to become popular. It is said that if the seal is good, it can last for several years, but this is obviously not the case. In the harsh climate of the North Sea, the seals of these cans have failed.

We are also installing it for the first time, and we did not expect such a problem. "

He said and asked the crew to take the cans from the boat twice.

Sean took one. The can was made of tin and had a metal pull ring. It seemed to be very close to the cans of later generations. It turned out to be soldering. In extremely cold weather, the solder joints were extremely fragile, and the sealing effect was close to nothing.

He looked at the reddish-brown suspicious liquid in the can, it should be some kind of gravy, but why are there some metal particles in it, did they fall from the weld?Dogs don't even eat this stuff.

He handed the can back, and Captain Edward was not willing to throw it away, and asked someone to put it back on the boat.

He was still talking, and the rambling tone sounded a little nervous, "What's worse is that the disease began to spread among the crew, some people had hallucinations, some people's skin began to fester, and some people's eyeballs were congested. Doctors may treat the crew members in the near future, but the effect is minimal.

The mood of the crew was getting worse and worse, and there was even a riot. It took me a lot of effort to suppress it, and I lost a lot of manpower for this. After staying on the cold ship for more than a month, I had to order to abandon the ship. Leading the rest of the crew in an attempt to cross the ice of the North Sea and return overland, I knew it would be a brutal journey, but we had no choice.

But unlucky things always appear one after another, and we encountered horrible monsters in the process of marching.

A beast that can't be described in words, I've been through storms, I've faced ferocious beasts in wild jungles, but I've never encountered anything like that, we shot it with muskets, we blasted it with dynamite, we took swords Hacking it didn't help, it seemed unkillable.

But it doesn't seem to be in a hurry to kill us, it's more like playing with its prey and enjoying the feeling of killing.

My crew members fell one by one, some died of hypothermia, some were buried in the belly of the beast, and some fell into madness due to insanity, and I had to help them out. Today, we only have Down with these people. "

Captain Edward stopped here, and he took a long breath, tears running down his cheeks, but Ragnar didn't laugh at him this time.

Sean looked at the distraught Captain Edward, this unlucky guy really happened to all the bad things.

Sean looked at the group of desperate crew members and thought about it.

He didn't intend to let this group of people just go away.

Dealing with Uruk is not an easy task. According to the pictures he saw in his memory, even if the cannon wanted to kill a god, it was not an easy task. From the experience of Captain Edward, we can also see that Second.

They don't have cannons in their hands, and if they really meet, they may not be able to win. If this group of people joins, it will increase their chances of winning.

Even if they don't have much will to fight, at least they can be used to attract hatred.

Thinking of this, he suddenly showed a kind smile.

"Captain Edward, right? I have to say that you are finally lucky today. Your suffering is coming to an end. Don't worry. As a Brightonian, it is incumbent on us to help you.

Our team came from the south. Fifty miles to the south there is a small town called Ace Town. You can go there to rest and wait for the ice to melt next spring. Let you stay. "

Hearing Xiao En's words, Captain Edward immediately showed excitement, his face was unbelievable, and the crew members became angry one by one, as if they finally saw a glimmer of hope.

"However... things may not be that simple. You just said that the beast has been chasing you? When was the last time you encountered that monster?"

"Yesterday, he took Sam and Randy away. It was gone for a while before, I thought it was gone, but last night he suddenly appeared..."

"So it has been following you and treating you as food reserves?"

"Almost, but sometimes it doesn't finish eating. Occasionally, we find half a body on the ice the next day. It seems to be enjoying the kill."

Sean nodded, "That's what I'm worried about. You don't have dogs and sleds. It will take at least two or three days to get to Ace Town. To be honest, I don't think that monster will let you arrive safely. When you get there, who can guarantee that the monster won't catch up with you."

Captain Edward's excited expression froze on his face. He stroked his beard and pondered with a gloomy expression. After a while, he suddenly looked at Sean, "Then what suggestion do you have—Mr. Smith?"

"Hunting that monster with us, you can only survive if you kill it, and it will also help you regain your honor. Think about it, you lost most of the crew, even if you can go back alive, you will not be able to survive." No punishment for failure and misdirection, but if you could bring back its head or a few fangs, it would mean something."

Almost at once Captain Edward's heart fluttered.

On the contrary, his crew members were devastated, as if they only wanted to escape from this icy hell.

"Do you have any good ideas?"

"Since that beast treats you as food, let's set a trap for it with food."

(End of this chapter)