Under the Red Dragon.

Chapter 177 The First Day

There was a rumble of thunder in the sky and the heavy rain gradually subsided, but the dark clouds covering the Gold Coast became thicker.

Muffled thunder that was set to shake the entire world rolled and exploded above the sky. Countless huge lightning bolts that looked like tree branches blazed brightly in the gradually darkening sky, connecting the entire sea and sky, shining brightly and splitting wildly.

An extremely strong dragon might filled the night sky, and the huge figure of a blue dragon occasionally appeared among the dark clouds.

Below this terrifying figure, outside the wide harbor, huge ships were lined up in an arc across the sea, with sails fluttering and flags flying.

Rows of pitch-black cannon barrels and huge dragon-hunting crossbows were lined up facing the coast.

"Aim at the windows and watchtowers of the castle, aim at the cliffs on both sides, and fire."

The orc commanders on each capital ship were roaring and conveying their orders to the messengers and flag bearers.

These messengers and flag bearers shouted orders loudly and waved attack flags to convey them to every ship participating in the attack.

Amid the waving flags and roars of countless orcs on the ships, the artillery fire and giant crossbows made sounds more terrifying than the thunder in the sky. The strong vibrations even shook the huge hulls, and some small brigs even had the recoil of the artillery fire push the hulls backwards.

The cannon barrels burst into blazing flames, blending with the violent screams of the giant crossbows, and struck at the tall castle.

boom,
Countless artillery fire bombarded the castle built specifically for the dragon, blasting holes in the solid walls. Dragon-hunting crossbows were directly inserted into the solid castle. The huge force made the tails of these thick and long crossbow arrows vibrate.

Several accurate dragon-hunting crossbows pierced through the bodies of archers who dared to show themselves at the windows and observation towers of the castle, and the remaining force continued to drive them into the dark castle.

However, this castle, which was built on an island reef extending out from the sea, was built to allow dragons to move freely.

Therefore, even though the solid fortress was full of potholes and magic runes were exposed in some places, its defenses could not be destroyed in just half a day.

After avoiding the artillery fire and the bombardment of the giant crossbow, many heads popped out from the windows and observation platforms in this dark castle.

The elf archers and mixed gunners took their positions one by one. The elf archers did not need any training or command, as they were born to be excellent archers.

Rows of elven archers raised their longbows to form an angle for throwing, then pulled the bowstrings to their full extent. Countless sharp iron arrows, with violent whistling sounds, were thrown over the ships like sudden raindrops.

The power of these elves combined with the improved longbow can easily penetrate refined leather armor within 500 meters. If shot flatly, even slightly thin iron armor can be penetrated.

"Pay attention to defense and evasion," the orc captain on the brig roared loudly, and the guards around him raised their shields to protect the orc captain's body.

Arrows whistled down like rain, shooting down the orc warriors on the small gunboats one by one. Many arrows were blocked by the orc warriors' raised shields, and their shields were full of arrows.

These elven archers target small and medium-sized ships that do not have extra strength for defense. Large ships and capital ships are protected by magic runes and spellcasters, making it difficult to cause effective damage.

At the same time, the gunners stationed in the castle's French windows and observation towers had already loaded their artillery and fired a salvo with a thunderous boom.

Artillery fire exploded randomly on the sea and on the decks of ships. Nails and caltrops shot out in all directions, piercing into the unprotected limbs of the orc warriors. Several unfortunate orcs rolled on the ground wailing.

Boom, thunder roared, and dancing lightning struck along the humid air, tearing apart the fragile mast of a brigantine.

The residual power splashed and knocked down two orcs who were carrying artillery and crossbows and passing by the mast. They lay on the deck twitching all over, and a burnt smell emanated from the two orcs.

Under the cover of dark clouds, flames suddenly burst out on the cliffs on both sides of the dim harbor. Cannon barrels and improved eight-ox crossbows fired back at the ships on the sea under the blazing flames.

Even for these warriors with excellent arm strength, the Eight Ox Crossbow, which requires twenty strong warriors to operate, is attached with magical aura.

The whistling giant crossbow pierced through the exploding air and directly shot through the spell barrier raised by the spellcasters on the large gunboat guarding the main ship launching the attack, directly stringing together several densely positioned spellcasters.

"Descend through and prepare to aim and throw," Bartoli rode on the huge flying dragon Swift Shadow, raised her right hand and swung it down.

Before the other spellcasters could react, the bat-winged dragons in the sky emerged from the clouds, and the dragon riders dropped explosive bangs one after another.

Although the dragons flew very high to avoid the fleet's firepower, causing their missiles to be less accurate, many of the hundreds of missiles would always fall onto the huge ships with a bang, exploding with deadly iron flames and piercing iron nails and caltrops into the bodies of the orcs.

But these attacks brought on even more fierce counterattacks. The roar of ships lined up like mountains and walls on the sea was louder than the thunder in the sky. Rows of heavy artillery and dragon-hunting crossbows dealt oppressive blows to the enemies who dared to attack.

boom,
The rocks on the cliffs on both sides were blown to pieces, large chunks of rock collapsed, and several green-skinned gunners screamed and fell into the sea with the cannons beside them.

Several dragon-hunting crossbows shot through the troll crossbowmen not far away who had no time to dodge, and shot into the woods with the remaining force.

Countless corpses and ship fragments had already floated on the sea, and several brigs were crumbling. Seawater was pouring into the ships through the cracks in the hull. Dozens of surviving orc soldiers jumped into the sea in despair, but soon turned into floating corpses.

Among these corpses there were various races, some were dragon soldiers, but more were Sahuagin.

The huge fleet on the sea was attacking the coastal defense system, and fighting was also taking place under the sea at the same time.

Countless shipwrecks blocked the landing entrance of the harbor. Shahuamin driving sharks dived to the bottom of the sea, tied tough ropes to the ramming horns and sturdy railings of the sunken ships, and then tied the other end to each huge shark sea monster.

Under the command of the Baron, many strong Shahua warriors also grabbed the ropes and slowly pulled the sunken ships to the deep sea area outside the port for processing.

But at the bottom of the dark harbor, among the shadowy shipwrecks, a young white dragon more than ten meters long appeared, its ferocious fangs flashing cold light, its long tail swinging, it rushed out from the shipwreck and bit several Shahua fishmen in half with one bite.

The clear sea water was dyed red with blood, and several body parts floated to the surface. When the other Shahua fishmen were furious and wanted to besiege the hateful white dragon, the young white dragon shook his head and dived into the dense ruins of shipwrecks, avoiding the shooting of dragon hunting crossbows from the ships at sea that were covering the Shahua fishmen.

"Damn, these damn white worms, go up, go up, a few more guys,"

The Shahua Fishman Baron waved his four arms and asked the rest of the fishmen to replenish.

At first, these fishmen chased the white dragon into the ruins of the shipwreck, but there was not only one young white dragon in the ruins, but also one teenage white dragon and two young white dragons.

Although these dragons did not dare to face the huge fleet even under the slavery contract of the blue dragon Akzi, they could still attack the murlocs by hiding in the underwater ruins.

Although white dragons are the weakest among the five colored dragons, they are also the best hunters.

The battlefield not far away seemed even more intense. Although this stubborn castle had little damage to the fleet, it was slowly eroding the firepower and morale of the orcs.

In order to protect the murlocs under the sea, the huge fleet had to get closer to the coast, and thus suffered a blow from the coastal defense system. Countless murlocs rode on sharks, pushing the waves to hit the solid castle. One by one, the Sahuagin murlocs jumped out from the sea and tried to climb onto the windowsill on the first floor of the castle, but the gnoll soldiers waiting on the first floor were staring at the murlocs with their green eyes.

These growing numbers of gnoll soldiers are tough and bloodthirsty, loyal to the dragons and call themselves the 'Minions of Gogmora'.

Unlike the centaur warriors who call themselves the Spears of Gogmora, who are warlike but do not like to initiate wars, these gnolls are more keen to please their masters with blood.

To these Shahuamin who don't even have armor, the werewolf warriors wearing armor and holding sharp swords are like invincible gods of war.

The Shahua fishmen were just balls of meat with strange shapes. As soon as they jumped into the castle, they were torn into two halves by a flash of a knife.

Even before the Shahua people could issue a warning or roar excitedly, ugly heads rolled down the castle hall, and smelly blood gradually accumulated and flowed.

"Go around, go around, go around to the bay behind the castle and attack from the castle gate."

The roar of the Shahua Fishman Baron echoed on the sea. He commanded countless fishmen to patrol around the castle's reefs from the bottom of the sea, trying to open a breakthrough from the castle's main gate.

But when these Shahua fishmen emerged from the bottom of the sea, they were greeted by the hideous head of a giant dragon and blazing dragon fire.

Whoosh...Boom,

The red dragon Caedilos, hiding in the bay behind the castle, climbed on the castle with his limbs, head down, and the claws on his wings firmly hooked on the castle. The blazing dragon fire lit up from his chest and abdomen and spurted out from his throat.

The destructive dragon fire burned the entire sea surface as the young red dragon shook its head. Many Shahua fishmen were burned into charcoal by the red dragon's breath before they could even scream.

The surface sea water was also burned hot by the dragon fire of the young red dragon. The corpses of the Shahua fishmen floated to the surface of the sea and sank with the waves.

"Oh, you scum, you dare to offend the majesty of the dragon, I will turn you all into ashes,"

The young red dragon roared amid the thunder and artillery fire, and the venting of destruction made the red dragon particularly happy.

Woo…, Woo…,
From the roaring battlefield in the distance came the dull sound of horns and the loud sound of conch shells. The ships that were as tall as mountains and walls on the sea began to turn their sails and retreat towards the distant sea.

The Shahua fishmen who were constantly charging on the seabed also stopped their crazy behavior, riding on sharks, and receding waves, leaving only corpses floating on the sea.

In the distance, the fleet, which seemed to have suffered no losses and was still huge, was surrounded by Shahua fishmen under the sea. The three-meter-five-meter-tall Shahu fishman prince jumped out of the sea and actually jumped directly onto the tall flagship deck.

"Gaen, why do we have to retreat now?" The gloomy-faced fishman prince flexed his six arms, and his strong body made the deck wet.

He easily squeezed aside the sturdy orc guards and came to the calm-looking orc royal family. He suppressed his anger and asked, "We are almost there. As long as we clear all the sunken ships on the seabed, we can directly step onto the coast and capture that fragile city."

"It's almost night," the calm orc replied, "and those timid dragons haven't shown their heads yet. Continuing the attack will give them a chance to launch a surprise attack. Not all orc warriors are good at nighttime naval battles."

"Wouldn't this give them a chance to rest?" the merman prince asked dissatisfiedly.

"Our soldiers have also had a rest. Moreover, the defense of this port depends entirely on the ruins of those sunken ships. Loreka, how long can the incarnation of the Shark God that you summoned last?"

Garen, the orc army leader and supreme commander of the entire fleet, maintained a calm tone, and it was hard to tell from him that he was an irritable and violent orc.

"Two quarters of an hour. Our spellcaster can only last two quarters of an hour. The tyrannical Shark God is not so easy to control," the merman prince replied while holding back his anger.

"That's enough," the orc Garn's eyes lit up slightly. He comforted the murloc prince and said with a smile, "Tomorrow, tomorrow, we will break through the defenses of this harbor and step into the Golden City."

The battlefield gradually calmed down, the thick dark clouds in the sky began to dissipate, and tranquility returned.

The blue dragon Akzi landed from high in the sky onto a high platform in the city, landing next to the bronze dragon Alina and the foreign dragon Naxon, but his heavy body caused Akzi to accidentally break a wooden board.

"You should go and rest, Akzi. I will be in charge of the situation here from now on," the bronze dragon looked at the tired appearance of the blue dragon and knew that the blue dragon could no longer control his body as he wished.

"I will. I will come on time tomorrow to take over from you, Alina. The next patrol and deployment will depend on you."

The blue dragon Akzi felt that all the magic power in his body had been drained. The continuous release of thundercloud storm spells made it difficult for even a giant dragon to bear the consumption.

"I don't know how Carlit and Ellie are doing. I'm not very worried about them," the bronze dragon Alina suddenly said.

"We only let them lead the dragon riders to harass and invade, but we don't let them confront the orc tribes head-on. If they can't even do this, then they are not worthy of being dragons."

The blue dragon Akzi said coldly. Without waiting for the bronze dragon's response, he flapped his wings and flew towards the resting place in the city.

"It looks like the castle won't last longer than the third day," the foreign dragon Naxon is now in charge of a large part of the personnel deployment, including the deployment of materials and logistics in the war zone near the Golden City, so he has the free time to appear here.

"Then notify the soldiers in the castle to be ready to retreat at any time. There is no need to defend the castle to the death. Let's start the next plan," Bronze Dragon Alina nodded, agreeing with her companion's opinion.

The foreign dragon Naxon nodded and disappeared step by step into the dark shadow under the light.

Bronze dragon Alina sighed, and watched the soldiers carrying the wounded from the castle and the cliff into the city. She felt heavy in her heart. Although the territory's soldiers had withstood the orcs' attack on the first day and the losses were not much, she knew very well that the next moment would be even more cruel.

"I hope fewer soldiers will die," Alina raised her head, looking at the dim lights in the city, and missed her previous territory.

Behind the Golden City, countless logistical personnel who voluntarily responded to the call-up were building fortifications on the roads leading to towns and cities, with watchtowers and simple walls rising from the ground.

The kobold soldiers wielded hoes and shovels to dig deep trenches in front of these defensive facilities, and rows of anti-impact spikes like chevaux de frise were driven into the ground.

These defensive outposts and facilities are gradually connected into a circular defense system to minimize the enemy's impact.

Fine and some strong laborers were assigned to dig trenches. At this time, they were waving shovels to turn the shallow pits in front of them into deep trenches.

"We need some brave warriors as reserves. If anyone signs up, we will provide preferential treatment," a Gnoll soldier shouted loudly in the camp, beating a small gong and drum.

Many young people dropped their tools and gathered around.

Seeing this, Fine dug the shallow pit deeper with a few shovels. Then he dropped his own shovel, clapped his hands, and also went over to dig.

(End of this chapter)