Chapter 1534: Marine Catastrophe
The armored ship painted with the Soaring Dragon pattern was not a sailboat in the ordinary sense. There were also many masts on its ship, but only half of the sails were raised on the masts. Clearly, it did not use pure wind power. Besides, the wind was calm at sea tonight, and even if the full sail was raised, it would not be as fast as it was now. It was powered by six giant water wheels on both sides of the ship, each as big as a round table. As the wheels rotated, they moved the waves and pushed the armored ship forward. Through the blades, one could see a thick axle leading straight into the hull. Inside the hull, there was actually a complicated chain-axle machine connected to the axle. The shouts could be heard from above through the upper deck of the ship.
"Step on it, you skinny monkeys!"
The smell of sweat mixed with seawater floated in the sealed cabin above. The cabin was brightly lit, and three rows of slaves were constantly stepping on the pedals on each side. These pedals drove the chain-axle machines below, causing the water on both sides of the hull to rotate rapidly. There were seven or eight supervisors in the cabin, all holding long and thorny whips in their hands. Whoever stepped on a slave slower would be whipped over with a whip.
One of the supervisors snorted, "All of you, do your best. Otherwise, there won't be any food for tomorrow." He was the supervisor of this power room, and whether it was the supervisor or the slave, they were all blondes and black-haired Orientals. The supervisor shouted a few words, then walked to the passageway and stepped on a creaking wooden staircase. He opened the upper door. Behind the door was another cabin. Armored soldiers were shouting loudly and running back and forth. They pushed the long wooden boats to the front. The bow of each wooden boat was wrapped in iron. The bow was carved into a dragon's head. From the dragon's mouth, black iron barrels protruded like pocket cannons.
Each boat had six seats, and there were two paddles on it. It seemed that this boat was light and quick.
The Chief Supervisor continued to walk upwards, passing through a total of three levels of cabins, each of which had different functions and personnel. Finally he came to the deck and was stopped by a man as strong as a bear, "Tell your slaves to hurry up, West Conqueror is tired of waiting."
The supervisor hurriedly said, "I know, Lord Luo."
The officer surnamed Luo snorted and left. Both sides of the deck were torched. A soldier was pushing a red-painted dragon-headed cannon in front of the ship. Boxes of artillery shells were carried out of the warehouse and sent to the bow by the martial artist. The officer walked to the bow of the ship. On the bow of the ship was a wooden building. On the wooden building was a man standing on a platform protruding from the building. The man had his back to the officer and was wearing an iron fur coat. He wore a high crown and a red silk ribbon floated on his left and right. The officer knelt down behind him and said, "Report to Your Highness that our army is ready for battle. We can attack the city only after Your Highness gives the order."
The man finally turned around.
Under the light of the fire was a handsome face. Even though he was already middle-aged, he did not look old. There was no trace of wrinkles on the jade-like face. It was obvious that it was well maintained. Its sword-like eyebrows, phoenix eyes, and tightly pursed lips emitted an extraordinary temperament.
His armor was the same color as the fur cloak, but it was extremely oriental. It was decorated with bright red patterns, and it could be vaguely seen as a soaring dragon pattern. There was a long sword hanging on his waist. Just the armguard and hilt of the sword were embedded with a lot of precious gemstones. It could be seen how precious the sword was.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's teach these western barbarians a lesson. If they are willing to submit to our Coiling Dragon Empire, then it's fine. Otherwise, we'll eradicate them and properly train these alien people." The man called Wang Ye smiled and said, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's teach these western barbarians a good lesson."
The officer surnamed Luo shouted, "I accept your orders."
A moment later, a heavy knock sounded on the ship. The knock sounded, and the same knock sounded on both sides. The sound of knocking continued to spread around the armored ship. A moment later, the sea was filled with dense fog, and the sound of drums resounded like thunder. The intense rhythm was precisely the signal of the attack.
Along with the sound of the drums, the sea around the armored ship also started to stir up huge waves. As the waves splashed in all directions, a little bit of fluorescence lit up on the surface of the sea. Suddenly, something broke through the water. Under the flames of the ship, it was actually a sea snake as big as a sail ship. The sea snake's body was covered in dark purple scales. Its two snake pupils were golden and shiny. At the center of its eyebrows, there was a snake bone protruding like a short and thick horn. It opened its mouth and screamed, and the dense fog surrounding the fleet gradually dissipated. After the dense fog dissipated, a huge fleet of ships appeared on the surface of the Ark Harbor. Nearly a hundred armored ships faced the harbor. The red dragon cannons that had been pushed to the bow of the ships began to rumble one after another. One shot was fired, and another shot was fired. The cannons rumbled like thunder, resounding through the night sky of the city, tearing apart the tranquil night.
The cannonballs fired from the red dragon cannonballs rotated rapidly, drawing a parabola on the surface of the sea and landing on the dock or the mountain wall. The instant the cannonballs collided, the cannonballs shattered, and a series of small cannonballs shot out from within, followed by a series of explosions. Under the simultaneous bombardment of more than a hundred cannons, the cliff facing the seaside of the Ark Harbor fell off with a thunderous rumble. As the angle of the cannons began to rise, the cannonballs landed on the edge of the city, gradually spreading the flames into the city.
As the gunfire rumbled, the bow of the armored ships opened, revealing the cabins inside. Decks extended down from the cabins and connected to the surface of the sea. Then the long and flat dragon-headed boats slid down from the deck and landed on the surface of the sea. The soldiers in charge of paddling paddled the boats hard and the dragon-headed boats quickly sailed into the harbor in the mountains.
At this time, an army stationed at the port rushed over. The captain's expression changed when he saw the dragon-headed boats. He shouted, "Shoot them! Sink them! Don't let these things land."
The soldiers crouched on the ground and raised their guns to shoot at the enemy ships that were sailing into the harbor. The gunshots echoed in the abdomen of the harbor. A few dragon-headed boats in front of them had a hole in their bullets, and the soldiers on top of them were shot to death before they could land. However, there were a large number of dragon-headed boats behind them, and the soldiers on board also began to retaliate. They put up iron shields and shields to block the bullets from the guns. After that, he poked out guns from behind his shield and fired at Guan An. After a few rounds of shooting, all the guards of Ark Harbor were killed and wounded.
The warriors from the east began to land. They quickly got off the ship, jumped onto the dock, and after a simple gathering, they began to advance towards the Tide-shocking Corridor. They intended to charge into the city through the corridor. Very quickly, the Deep Sea Scaled Concubine, who was in charge of the safety of the city, appeared in front of the intruders, so the two armies began to fight in the Tidal Corridor.
In White Castle's bedroom, Rola woke up from her sleep after hearing the gunfire. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw the flames coming through the window. Her husband, Orlando, was standing at the door, as if talking to housekeeper Mace. The butler hurriedly left, and Orlando returned to his room, took out a suit of armor, and put it on himself.
"What happened?" Ruo La looked at the flames outside the window, her heart beating fast. The war in the Imperial Capital was over, and Shadow Duchy had already withdrawn its troops. Moreover, the flames were clearly lit up at the harbor. What kind of enemy would they be attacking from the sea?
Orlando said while wearing armor, "We're under attack. The enemies are from the sea. Their ships and equipment are unprecedented. They shouldn't be enemies within the empire. I think these intruders should be from the other side of the sea."
Ruo La lived here for a long time, and there were many overseas merchants in Fang Zhou Harbor. She knew that there was a continent on the other side of the sea, in the far east. There was a powerful human empire on that continent, just like her brother's aide, Mr. Long, who was from the east. Oriental people are generally yellow skin and black hair, their mind is exquisite, elegant behavior, full of mystery. Merchants traveling to and from the sea would usually bring spices and tea from the east. Those were tributes paid to the royal family and would not enter the market.
But Ruo La did not expect that not only did the Oriental people have spices and tea leaves, they also had cannons and transoceanic warships!
Orlando was dressed in battle armor and picked up his father's iron spear. "I have sent Mace to inform the cathedral that Father Miro and the others have returned just in time to have a Crusader stationed here. I hope Father Miro and the others can lend this Crusader out," he said. But we are the masters of this city, so we need to protect Ark Harbor ourselves. I'll go to the dock and take a look now. You stay here and command the city guards to evacuate the residents. By the way, we must inform Count Edward that we may need his power. "
Ruo La shook her head and said, "I'll go with you. I'm also a warrior."
Orlando squatted down and gently stroked Rola's bulging abdomen. "Perhaps you were a brave warrior, but darling, you are our precious mother now. So, do what a mother should do."
Orlando kissed Ruola on the forehead and left the bedroom with his gun. Ruo La sighed and walked to the window. The fire outside the window was dazzling. Although the harbor could not be seen from here, Ruola knew that it had become a battlefield.
"Be careful, Orlando." She said softly.
In the small building behind the cathedral, when Miro opened his eyes, the door downstairs cracked. Miro put on his clothes and went downstairs to open the door. Outside the door was a Crusader Knight. The knight crossed his chest and said, "God bless you, Father Miro. It's great that you're fine."
"What happened?"
'We've been attacked. We've just received an urgent report from White Castle. There's already a fight at the harbor. White Castle hopes to use our strength to get Captain Wilick and his men to rush over. But he asks us to take you and Miss Vera away. The carriage is ready. Please follow me, Father.'
Miro nodded and left with his dog and knight. The nun priests in the church were also evacuating. Only he and Vera got into a carriage. Including the knight, a total of ten knights and twenty soldiers escorted the carriage away. In the carriage, the priest opened the curtains and looked at the people running in the street. He sighed and said, "Really, we can't let people sleep well."
Vera rolled her eyes.