The Marine Army, confird to have dispatched a fleet of three thousand ships, has entered the waters around Ijima Island.
The main purpose of this army being dispatched is to cleanse the pirates around Ijima Island, freeing the island from its blockade and inability to mine Living Copper Ore.
At this mont, scattered pirates have already encountered this army and were imdiately exterminated by them.
Now... this temporarily assembled army is cruising around the waters of Ijima Island, starting to search for traces of the pirates.
The pirates, in turn, are very cautious and vigilant, realizing that such a powerful army has entered Ijima waters, and they began to leverage the abilities they’re very skilled at:
Hide and seek.
A bunch of pirates disbanded, transforming from the original Pirate Alliance army into small groups of pirate bands, engaging in a ga of cat and mouse with the three thousand ships.
The entire Ijima Island waters are vast.
In the endless ocean, not to ntion hide and seek among more than ten thousand boats.
Even playing hide and seek with a hundred thousand boats wouldn’t be crowded.
As long as the pirates want to hide, relying on three thousand ships to cleanse every pirate out of these waters will likely take a long ti.
This is what the Marine Army does not wish to see.
Hence, Fang Yu speculates that perhaps the next move of the Marine Army is also to disband their forces.
Fight fire with fire.
Break up the entire army directly, forming several small teams, each patrolling separately.
With this approach, the speed of cleansing the pirates would be greatly increased, soon able to clear out the pirates.
However...
Fang Yu’s gaze flashed with a hint of brilliance.
This strategy is very effective against ordinary pirates of weak combat strength, but what if there are so hidden wolves among the pirates?
...
"Captain Ma Rui!"
Outside the captain’s quarters of one of the Marine Army’s command ships, a man’s voice rang out.
Hearing the voice, Ma Rui put down the file he was holding and casually said, "Co in!"
The next mont, a young officer pushed the door open and walked inside.
"What’s the matter?"
Looking at the young officer who entered, Ma Rui couldn’t help but ask.
As the temporary Commander of the army, Ma Rui is very concerned about the recent battle results of the "Purification Army."
Because the hierarchical system within the Marine Army actually follows the Duorong Federation’s military hierarchy.
The rank of Lieutenant can lead a fleet ranging from dozens to hundreds of ships.
But to lead a fleet exceeding a thousand ships, the Commander’s rank needs to be at least a Major.
A fleet of three thousand ships, according to regulations, must be led by a Major or even a Lieutenant Colonel.
But Ma Rui is only a Captain.
Under normal circumstances, according to his rank, he would not be eligible to lead a fleet of three thousand ships.
Yet in a previous battle, Ma Rui made a significant military contribution, and thus the high-levels of the Marine Army appointed Ma Rui as the temporary Commander.
With a keen political sense, Ma Rui understands the implication behind this temporary appointnt by the high-levels.
This is essentially a test from above, also laying the groundwork for Ma Rui’s promotion to Major.
If Ma Rui can successfully complete this cleansing mission, the promotion to Major becos a logical step, and he can discard the "temporary" from Commander.
Beco the official Commander of this Purification Army.
Thus, Ma Rui is extrely attentive to this cleansing operation.
This is virtually a "qualifying examination" prepared for him.
At this mont, Ma Rui’s gaze landed on his subordinate, and he asked with bright eyes.
"Report! Captain Ma Rui, today’s cleansing operation has been quite effective; we have sunk a total of 1,270 pirate ships and captured over eight thousand pirates."
The young officer reported loudly.
Upon hearing the report from his subordinate, a hint of a smile appeared on Ma Rui’s face: "Excellent, organize this result and continually report to the higher-ups."
The young officer nodded but did not leave the captain’s quarters imdiately; instead, he continued speaking: "But Captain, after this encounter, many pirates have already seen the movents and strength of our army, and during this period, the pirates seem to have divided into dozens of small fleets and hidden."
"Currently, the Purification Army has been patrolling for nearly three hours without encountering a pirate ship."
"I suspect that the pirates have their own intelligence system, utilizing it to determine our location and thus hide in advance."
After hearing his subordinate’s words, Ma Rui furrowed his brows, stood up, took the file handed over by his subordinate, glanced at it, then said: "We don’t have ti to play with these pirates."
"This mission, since the higher-ups entrusted it to us, naturally they hope we can complete the cleansing neatly and beautifully. If it drags on too long, perhaps the higher-ups will gradually lose patience."
Ma Rui shook his head, then his eyes focused, and he spoke in a low voice: "Divide the Purification Army into ten teams with three hundred ships per team, conducting cycles. This will be much more effective than staying together and aimlessly searching on the sea."
"With only one cat, mice have a good place to hide."
"But with ten cats, the mice will likely have nowhere to hide!"
Ma Rui spoke confidently.
After hearing Ma Rui’s words, the expression on the young officer’s face revealed hesitation.
"What? You think this thod is not reliable?"
Ma Rui cast a glance at his officer, and asked patiently.
"Captain, this thod is certainly very effective for cleansing pirates."
"But what I’m worried about is..."
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