Chapter 435 -435-Capturing Cloudspire Harbor
Immediately afterward, all the destroyer sailors who had jumped into the sea were caught in the fishing nets.
They could barely move.
The moment they struggled, the barbed hooks woven into the nets dug into their bodies, causing unbearable pain.
One destroyer after another was gradually destroyed.
And when the final destroyer was blasted apart, the countless small assault boats immediately launched their final charge.
The harbor itself had only a little over a hundred cannons, all of which were now frantically bombarding the approaching pirate ships.
Yet the pirates showed no fear whatsoever.
There were simply too many small boats, and only a tiny portion of them could actually be hit.
Once the pirate boats approached the harbor, they used the explosives they carried to eliminate anything blocking their path.
There was nothing gunpowder couldn’t solve.
And if one explosion wasn’t enough...
then they would simply keep blowing things up.
The harbor’s defensive line deteriorated at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The senior officials of Cloudspire Harbor felt a chill run through them when they saw this.
According to their original calculations, even if the pirates wanted to break through Cloudspire Harbor’s defenses, it should have taken them at least several days.
Yet this was only the first day.
The battle had been underway for less than half an hour, and the entire destroyer squadron had already been annihilated.
Even the harbor defenses were now on the verge of collapse.
At this rate...
they were truly finished.
The officials couldn’t help exclaiming in shock.
"So this is the strength of the King’s Edge Pirates?"
"Terrifying..."
"They’re incredibly powerful!"
"I’ve never seen pirates this fierce before. They’re even more terrifying than our own soldiers!"
"Their morale and willpower are actually higher than those of our Naval Corps!"
"Their leader is definitely no ordinary man. To think he could turn a rabble of pirates into something like this..."
Karen listened to the officials’ shocked discussions and gave a bitter smile inwardly.
What kind of man was their leader?
A terrifying one.
And most importantly...
John possessed an amount of money that was almost unimaginable.
He was practically as wealthy as an entire kingdom.
Just then...
something changed again on John’s side.
...
"The destroyer squadron has been completely wiped out."
"We’ve already pushed all the way to the harbor."
"This is going even more smoothly than I expected."
"And much faster."
"We’ll have to adjust the plan."
Even John was slightly surprised by the pirates’ execution.
They were too fast.
The destroyer squadron had been annihilated just like that, and the harbor itself looked as though it wouldn’t last much longer.
John’s original plan had been to capture Cloudspire Harbor within three days.
But judging from the current situation...
there was no need to wait three days at all.
"As long as the larger warships move in and break through the harbor, we’ll reach the decisive point."
"At that stage, this battle will already be more than half won."
With that thought...
John decisively gave the order.
"Deploy the larger warships!"
"Advance toward the harbor!"
"Destroy anyone who dares resist!"
The messengers immediately relayed his commands.
A moment later, hundreds of medium and large warships began to move.
Like arrows released from bowstrings, they charged straight toward Cloudspire Harbor.
...
Outside Cloudspire Harbor.
The moment those hundreds of large warships began advancing, every observer felt their heart tighten.
This was the decisive assault.
The King’s Edge Pirates had first used swarm tactics to break through at high speed, sacrificing men and small boats to annihilate the destroyer squadron before crashing into the harbor defenses.
And now...
the large warships were following behind them.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The cannons of Cloudspire Harbor fired madly.
The entire city seemed like a cornered beast struggling desperately before death, venting all of its fear through its artillery.
Several unlucky large warships were struck directly.
Their hulls shattered as thick smoke and flames poured into the sky.
But far more large warships successfully broke through the defensive barrage.
There were no longer any destroyers to stop them.
The destroyer squadron had already been eliminated by the small assault boats.
The large warships sailed directly into the harbor.
Several more were destroyed by the harbor batteries along the way.
But enough of them reached the optimal firing positions.
And then...
they began saturating the harbor with cannon fire.
Hundreds of large warships.
Thousands of cannons.
All firing at the harbor at once.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ground trembled.
Buildings shook.
Ships were torn apart.
Men were blown away.
The entire harbor shuddered beneath the bombardment.
Meanwhile...
the continuous fire from John’s warships quickly suppressed the harbor’s own artillery.
Many of the defensive cannons were blown apart and rendered completely useless.
Under the cover of the larger ships’ bombardment, countless small assault boats began breaking through one defensive layer after another.
Using their superior maneuverability, they quickly entered the harbor.
Then they engaged the harbor guards in close combat.
As time passed...
the harbor guards were wiped out.
The harbor’s cannons fell silent.
Countless pirates began landing on the main island of Cloudspire Harbor.
Following the battle plan, they rapidly surrounded the entire city.
Hundreds of thousands of pirates...
had now encircled Cloudspire Harbor.
Escorted by his guards, John once again stepped onto the land of Cloudspire Harbor.
This was his second time here.
The first time...
he had been a penniless, captured minor pirate awaiting execution by hanging, his life hanging by a thread.
But today!
He was the King of Pirates.
He commanded a million pirates and thousands of warships.
And now...
he had Cloudspire Harbor completely surrounded.
There was no need for John to give further instructions.
The pirates immediately began removing cannons from their warships and transporting them beneath the city walls.
Hundreds of cannons were aimed directly at Cloudspire Harbor.
They looked like hundreds of ancient beasts opening their enormous jaws, ready to devour the city whole.
Yet even in such desperate circumstances, the nobles of Cloudspire Harbor still chose to resist to the end.
"Hopefully the Maritime Kingdom will notice something is wrong in Cloudspire Harbor and send the Naval Corps to investigate and rescue us."
"We just have to hold on."
"Every extra day we survive is another day of hope."
"Pirates are nothing!"
"I will never surrender to them!"
The nobles naturally had their pride.
They despised pirates.
In their eyes, surrendering to pirates would be even more humiliating than suicide.
The pirates, however, couldn’t care less what they thought.
Whether the nobles resisted or surrendered...
Cloudspire Harbor was going to fall.
These were military merits.
These were rewards.
This was money!
The pirates were already fully prepared.
The cannons had been loaded.
John stared at Cloudspire Harbor before him.
Then he gave the order.
"Fire!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Hundreds of cannons roared simultaneously.
What kind of sight was this?
Even if a god descended upon the battlefield, they might have been blasted to death beneath such firepower.
The bombardment continued without pause.
Not even for a single moment.
One hour later...
Cloudspire Harbor’s city walls were blasted apart.
Two hours later...
large sections of the city’s buildings had been destroyed.
Three hours later...
Cloudspire Harbor had practically been reduced to ruins.
Only then did John order the bombardment to stop.
Then he sent the pirates into the city.
Four hours later...
the flag of the Lather Kingdom flying above Cloudspire Harbor—
a blue banner symbolizing the sea, with a golden lion outlined across its surface—
was violently torn down by the pirates.
In its place...
they raised the flag of the King’s Edge Pirates.
A black banner bearing a simple white skull.
It marked one thing.
John had captured his first city.