Chapter 2246 - 1605: We Won!
The Sun sank behind the clouds of the Western sky, leaving only a last, residue of gold-bright radiance. The light slanted across the heaving surface of the Caribbean Sea, the water mirroring the evening glow above. Between water and sky, blood-orange and deep indigo were washed together, as though a god had torn open a blood-dyed curtain in the heavens.
In that instant, the Divine Spirit of the Sun over the Eastern Sea opened Its eyes from behind the veil. It gazed down upon this narrow Eastern Sea fiord, watched those tiny moving ships firing cannons at one another, ramming until they were locked together. Then Kingdom warriors like ants clambered onto the matchbox-like Large Ships. Natives and Evil Demons of differing faiths, beneath the Sun’s watching gaze, waged a Divine War that would not end until one side ceased to exist!
"Charge! Ram them, ram them!"
"Kill! Kill the Evil Demons!"
"Chief Divine protect us! The last Evil Demon Large Ship has already been entangled! Quick! Quick! Samurai oar-sailed longships, row up to support!"
"Roar! Faster!..."
The slaughter within this fiord was already drawing toward its end. At the outset, the Kingdom of the Lake’s seven oar-sailed longships and three Light Sailing Ships had ambushed three medium Castile Caravels. Nearly five hundred Kingdom warriors and Sailors clashed with one hundred and twenty Castile Soldiers and Sailors!
By this moment, the Kingdom side had already suffered more than a hundred and twenty casualties, while the Castilian Fleet had lost only eighty or ninety, leaving the Sailors and Holy War Veterans on the last remaining ship. Blood had dyed the deck red, corpses rose and sank upon the sea. The battlefield at the heart of this fiord had become the place of final, desperate hand-to-hand combat...
"Whizz, whizz, whizz!"
The three Kingdom Light Sailing Ships were entangled with the last Castile sailing ship, grappling hooks linked by cables, hull pressed against hull, none able to break free. More than fifty Red-haired Shooters now stood upon the three flanking sides, some even climbing onto the sterncastle, unleashing the sharp arrows in their hands with all their might at the Evil Demon Holy War Veterans in Armor and shield, huddled upon the central ship!
"Whizz, whizz, whizz!"
"Bang, bang, bang!"
"Damn it! We can’t pierce them! Not even a little!"
"These turtle-like Shields and Armor! They don’t even leave their eyes exposed!"
"Shoot their legs! Aim for the legs!"
"They’ve crouched down! Using Shields and that thick hide on their bodies to block!..."
"O Chief Divine! I have never seen creatures with such thick hide! Thicker than a wild bull’s!..."
More than fifty Red-haired Shooters, all good at shooting, loosed volley after volley, using the most precious Bronze Arrows. Yet their hitherto invincible tactics had finally here, before this Evil Demon "turtle-shell" phalanx, met their true nemesis!
No matter how they poured out their fire, even when the Copper Arrows struck the Iron Shield armor on the opposite side with resounding bangs, it did no more than decorate the enemy’s fine equipment with yet another layer of arrow-rain. Still, these Canine Descendants from the Wilderness were the most agile of men: since Archery did not work, they turned to other means...such as Fire!
"Stop shooting! We’re wasting arrows for nothing! Think of another way!"
"Burn them to death with Fire! No matter how thick a wild bull’s hide, it cannot endure the flames!"
"Good idea! Hurry and bring up the fire-oil jars for burning ships from the lowest level of the hold!"
"Make way, out of the way! The oil jars are here!...Watch me hurl the fire-oil and roast this thick-hided lot until they’re well done!..."
"?!!"
Two Red-haired Canine Descendants shouted loudly, clutching two earthen oil jars holding several liters, torches blazing in their hands, and rushed toward the enemy ship. Seeing this, Red-haired Captain Chabo’s soul near flew from his body; he cursed wildly as he strode forward and roared.
"Idiots! You pack of idiots! How can you use fire-oil?!"
"If the fire-oil catches, not only will the Evil Demons be burned to death, their ship will go up in flames as well!"
"Open your dog-eyes wide and look carefully! Right now our four ships are all tangled together, we can’t pull apart at all! If we set the ship ablaze with one torch, and all four vessels catch Fire...O Chief Divine! If in a single battle we burn up four swift ships, Tomate Chief Priest will have me flayed and eaten alive, and drag you all off for sacrifice without question!..."
Red-haired Captain Chabo moved hand and foot with speed, hastily snatching away the two torches and throwing them into the sea. He shouted and cursed, ordering the two overly "clever" Canine Descendants to hurry and carry the fire-oil back below. Then he narrowed his eyes, staring at that turtle-shell Shield Formation on the opposite ship. After a moment’s thought, he issued orders to his men.
"Go! Load both Two-pound Cannons on the ship, then quietly haul them up onto the sterncastle! Their ship stands higher than ours; the side cannons can’t reach them...but from the sterncastle we can! Let them taste two stone shot; that turtle-shell formation will shatter at once!..."
"Aye, boss!"
The Sailors aboard the Stone Spear once more busied themselves. On the other two ships, nine or ten hot-blooded Canine Warriors had already leapt onto the enemy vessel to hurl spears at close range. As a result, several gaps opened in the Shield Formation opposite; a few Crossbow Arrows flew out, killing three or four Canine Descendants, then the formation snapped shut again. The remaining four Canine Descendants, rage surging, rushed in with Long Spears thrusting...
"Almighty! Light! Courage!"
The opposite Shield Formation suddenly parted; six Holy War Veterans roared like madmen and surged two steps forward, swinging the steel swords in their hands! They cut as men slice melons and vegetables; in the span of only a few breaths they hacked down six Canine Descendants in Light Armor! Then, under the sudden lash of an arrow storm, they lowered their heads and raised Shields, blocking one wave with shield and armor, and withdrew once more into the formation—astonishingly, not a single one of them fell!
"Hiss! Such thick-hide, sharp-claws Armor, such elite coordination! Ten Canine Warriors, and they didn’t even manage to trade for a single Evil Demon thick-hide?!..."