Nine, unexpected tactics

  Nine, unexpected tactics

  Due to the lack of wind, the first fog of DR1991 persisted until nearly noon before gradually dispersing. However, the sun remained hidden behind thick clouds, refusing to show its face, casting a gloomy gray hue over the sky and earth that didn't seem very auspicious.

  After the thick fog dispersed, the results of a morning's bombardment finally became visible to all. The farthest-falling shell from the fairy fleet was still nearly 20 yards away from the coast, and as for the few small cannons of the defending army, it was even more so. Although not a single shell hit its mark, the Giant Bear Army still suffered some degree of damage. This could be seen from several empty shelters and copper and iron pots scattered all over the ground.

  Fili reluctantly picked up a smaller copper kettle and put it on his head, then took stock of the number of men in his independent battalion. He was pleased to find that at least three-quarters of the soldiers had not silently disappeared into the morning fog. He said a few words of encouragement, then ordered the hungry soldiers to have breakfast. He himself pulled up Bam, the only dwarf with some sailing experience among his subordinates, and found a small mound to observe the enemy situation, which was quite surprising.

  "Two four-masted giants, nine three-masters, and the rest are all two-masters and single-masters!" Phili stared at the enemy in front of him with wide eyes. "How can so few ships hold an army of 10,000? When did the treatment of elven soldiers sink to the level of a slave ship?"

  "Sir, what I find even more astonishing is how they managed to cross the 3,000-mile trackless ocean in a single-masted boat?" Bam muttered, having spent several years as a sailor. "A small boat like this can only sail on inland rivers or coastal waters; venturing into the open sea would be tantamount to playing with one's life... not to mention crossing an entire ocean!" He shook his head, looking perplexed. "Even if they were blessed by the goddess of fortune, the food and water on board wouldn't have been enough!"

  Fili shrugged, meaning he didn't know either. But there were too many inexplicable things in this world, and thinking about the specific reasons would only drive oneself crazy. What he was most concerned about now was how this fleet would pass through the two-mile-wide sea ice with cracks everywhere to launch an attack on the port, and how long his side could hold out.

  The fairy fleet probably also found that the range of the guns was insufficient, and after the fog dispersed, they stopped firing. Under the gloomy and dull sky, both sides stared at each other without any action.

  One watch and then another passed, until the garrison at the harbor had grown somewhat impatient and began to arrange for the soldiers to take turns resting, when suddenly there was a stir on the warships in the distance. A portion of the sailors took small boats onto several relatively intact ice floes, running back and forth doing who-knew-what. From the shore it looked like little ants crawling around in a pile of white sugar.

  "They seem to be going ashore." Everyone on the shore made this judgment, and ordered the soldiers back to their posts, and Fili was no exception. However, what happened next left him and other officers stunned, almost brain-dead for a moment.

  "Hiss... Hiss..."

  As several signal flares rose from the largest warship, the side planks of several large sailing ships burst into fragments and fell into the water, revealing their dark internal structure. Large wooden rafts were then pushed out through the newly blasted openings. However, surprisingly, these rafts did not fall onto the sea surface but floated in mid-air about 1-2 meters above the sea surface. Next, batches of fully armed soldiers came from the ships to the rafts via narrow gangways, followed by people using pulleys and ropes to transport large packages of supplies, preparing for a tense landing battle.

  Those double-masted and single-masted small boats were transformed into wooden Transformers, twisting and disintegrating in a burst of extremely unpleasant creaking sounds. In the scattered wood chips, pieces of floating wooden boards were exposed one after another, which could be inferred to have been directly converted from various deck layers. The crew had already moved all supplies and weapons onto these simple floating rafts, like a group of kindergarten children preparing for morning exercises, trying hard to form neat rows. This part of the raft seemed to carry fewer personnel, with cargo occupying most of the space, apparently used for subsequent transportation rather than the first wave of landing.

  Is this still an amphibious landing in the age of sail? It's basically the US military's "Wasp" class amphibious assault ship and LCAC air-cushion landing craft! Feili couldn't help but roll his eyes, while praying in his heart that the enemy wouldn't be all SEAL Team Six-like tough guys, nor would they have Apache attack helicopters as their ace in the hole, or else today would really be game over.

  In front of this type of large wooden board that can fly, it is very simple to make and the price is not too expensive. However, its flight height is low, speed is limited, service life is short, generally only able to maintain floating for five or six hours, and is widely considered to lack practical value. And its huge volume is also inconvenient to carry, plus poor balance, a slight wind will capsize. Therefore, in this world, no one has ever thought of using it to land, really not easy to use and not easy to bring.

  I didn't expect Sophia Liria to have such audacity, dismantling her own ship to build a landing craft! If this landing doesn't go smoothly, there's no need for the enemy's firepower to destroy our side. As long as time drags on slightly, the makeshift floating raft will be put into use, and the entire army of spirits will probably have no choice but to jump into the sea and commit suicide. She truly lives up to her reputation as "Ghost Rose", with a combat style that is indeed crazy enough, and also heartless towards her subordinates. At the same time, it's hard not to admit that she's really good at choosing the right moment. This old butcher who has been slaughtering millions of lives across the land is indeed not an ordinary person, but still quite capable.

  "Damn the wind!" Every officer who had any knowledge of the strange raft in front of them cursed under their breath and anxiously prayed to their respective gods, even sweating bullets in the cold wind. But apparently due to their usual lack of piety, none of the heavenly spirits responded, and the sea remained as calm as ever. Under these most favorable conditions, the spirit army calmly unfolded its transportation work, sorting and organizing with ease. Thousands of pairs of malicious eyes on the shore stared longingly at the peaceful sea, hoping that these clumsy and fragile creatures would be capsized by the waves in the next moment, but reality repeatedly disappointed them.

  The gunners, unwilling to wait any longer, risked bursting their guns by loading double charges into the few small-calibre pieces they had, in an attempt to disrupt the enemy's operations. The result was nothing more than a series of holes punched in the ice. Under Rick's strong urging, General Nomm reluctantly agreed to cease firing and pin his hopes on the explosives pre-set on the ice.

  Due to the lack of effective interference, the preparations for the Spirit Army proceeded extremely quickly. As a red signal flare reappeared in the sky, a black dragon flapped its wings and took off from the largest warship, flying towards the harbor at an extremely slow speed, as if waiting for the floating airships behind it. The hastily formed dense formation of the floating airships seemed like a group of quacking ducks, rushing towards the harbor and the shallow shoals on both sides under the guidance of the black dragon. More than 5,000 Imperial soldiers who were poorly trained and equipped were trembling with fear in their simple shelters by the sea, watching them approach with bated breath.

  The first wave of hovercraft attempting to land had over two hundred, although they were crudely made, oddly shaped and not particularly fast. However, when so many flying objects approached the harbor, it still gave the timid garrison soldiers a sense of foreboding, a spiritual shock, and a heavy, suffocating pressure. It was as if they were peasants wielding wooden sticks and pitchforks facing the shining armor and long spears of noble knights. The intangible intimidation alone was enough to make one feel powerless and insignificant.

  However, the defenders of Emon Harbour were not without a counterattack.

  "Fire!"

  Rick would command the knife to slash down, and the transmission mage immediately sent out a signal. Hundreds of red fireballs burst forth on the vast ice surface, accompanied by sharp shards of ice, slashing into the chaotic formation of the landing troops. The wooden rafts, arranged too tightly, trembled, fell, and finally crushed the ice layer, taking the people and goods above with them as they disappeared into the icy sea. However, such misfortune befell only a minority; the majority of the rafts still charged through the explosion zone, continuing to rush towards the beach. Nevertheless, these brave assault troops soon became disoriented.

  The moment the explosion sounded, the black dragon, which had been slowly advancing at the forefront, immediately made a sharp turn with extremely agile movements and fled back at a speed much faster than when it was attacking. No matter how loudly the dragon knight on its back cursed and whipped it, it was to no avail. The abandoned floating rafts were suddenly left in disarray, some continuing to advance, others hesitating and stopping, while others wanted to retreat with the black dragon. The scene instantly became chaotic, with the rafts colliding and capsizing without direction, causing more damage than the explosion of the zha medicine earlier.

  The port's artillery also sounded in time, and the shells and chain bullets went one after another towards the tangled airships, playing a discordant but murderous war symphony. Although the accuracy of these artillery was not very good, such a large stationary target would never be missed no matter what, as long as they were not closing their eyes and shooting randomly. The airship, unable to withstand the recoil of the artillery, did not have any long-range weapons on board and could only lie down and take the beating.

  A few rafts that persisted in charging towards the shore were lucky enough to break through the range of artillery fire and plunged deep into the snow. However, due to the lack of follow-up support, these brave men were immediately surrounded by more than 20 times their own number of defenders. When the defenders on the shore discovered with surprise that the enemy was just human beings like themselves, the sound of gunfire grew even more intense.

  Due to the disarray of the command, the initial landing of the Elf Army suffered heavy losses. After the flagship issued a retreat signal, the remaining hundred or so rafts retreated like cats scalded by hot coals, withdrawing to the edge of the floating ice that was out of range of the cannons. The defending troops, after sending off the retreating enemy with a barrage of largely ineffective cannon fire, also erupted in joyful cheers, although they were somewhat overjoyed.

  Soldiers lacking a sense of discipline excitedly rushed out of their shelters, shaking their firearms and long spears at the fleeing enemy while shouting and jumping around, venting their previous fear and repression. A small number of clear-headed officers were anxiously sweating but couldn't hold back, while most of the new recruits wearing copper pots simply joined in with their subordinates to cheer and celebrate, covering up the same tension and panic in their hearts.

  In the midst of the commotion, Fili gazed at his subordinates who were shouting and running about in all directions, unable to do anything but smile wryly. As his main job was at headquarters, strictly speaking he spent the whole day doing private work for money, so he didn't care much about this independent battalion that nominally belonged to him, let alone having any prestige, making it even more impossible to control them. Fortunately, several high-ranking officers were nearby boasting to each other, and Fili pulled them over one by one, ordering them to drive the soldiers back into their trenches.

  "Sir, haven't we already won?" The most senior Bam opened his mouth with a puzzled expression and said, "It's normal for everyone to be happy, no need to take it so seriously."

  "This time's success was just a coincidence, if so many rafts came up together, we would absolutely not be able to hold on." Fili rubbed his already frozen bald head and splashed cold water on Bam, who had an excited face. "The ice-buried zha medicine has been used up, the enemy's vanguard won't escape again next time, and it's hard for us to hold on with just this many people, how can we let the soldiers slack off?"

  "How much longer are we going to hold on?" Another officer chimed in, "Has the top notified us when to retreat?"

  Just now, he was still boasting and excited, as if he were invincible, but now he is eager to escape. It's really going from one extreme to another. Feili couldn't help but roll her eyes, but she still put on a serious face and said perfunctorily, "It won't be too long, everyone just hold on for a bit longer, and get ready with the things we need to bring, as soon as headquarters gives the order, we'll leave."

  It was unclear whether the command could still be transmitted at that time, he turned back to look at the enemy who was regrouping at the edge of the floating ice, and secretly checked the new stealth cloak, only then did he feel a lot more at ease, turned around and crawled back into his own cover.