When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 781 Pirate Tactics
The muzzle of the iron clockwork cannon gleamed coldly in the morning light, and the humming sound of the gears penetrated the mist on the river surface.

Kaler wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his left hand, and his greasy right hand did not dare to loosen the lever of the cannon.

In his pupils, the moving armor on the pier was reflected, and the reflection from the surface of the armor danced on the hull.

The whirring sound of flames swirling the air, the crisp sound of weapons colliding, the hoarse shouts of killing...

On this autumn morning, these sounds seem so abrupt in the quiet fishing port.

The rapid thumping sound of footsteps on the pier was getting closer and closer.

Arrows were flying back and forth in the air, and seven or eight mountain knights carrying wounded soldiers were rushing over on the trestle bridge.

"Kaler--" Old Laffer, who was in the lead, shouted at Kaler.

Kaler gave him a thumbs up, indicating that he was ready.

The ship beneath them was shaking, and the mountain knights jumped into the ship one after another, while old Laffer continued to shoot arrows to provide cover.

When the last soldier jumped onto the boat, old Laffer turned around and let out a scream.

Three blue-feathered arrows hit his shoulder blade and thigh respectively.

But old Laffer endured the pain, picked up the axe at his waist, and cut the cable on the stone pier with one axe.

Breaking through the black smoke from the dock, four soldiers in full armor appeared at the end of the plank road.

"Holy Thunder, Holy Thunder!" Old Laffer, who had climbed onto the boat and was lying on the deck, roared wildly.

"Pull down the lever and praise the Holy Spirit in the cannon." Kaler lowered his head, whispered to the Holy Spirit in the cannon, and pressed down heavily with his right hand.

"boom--"

Lead bullets and iron sand drew arcs with white smoke, and wood chips and iron pieces flew everywhere in an instant. The four Leia soldiers who caught up with the pier seemed to be overturned by an invisible giant hand.

The man on the outermost side even spun into the river, and within a moment the water was filled with blood.

"Beautiful!" Old Laffer's roar shook the side of the ship. "Black Snake Bay people, fireball!"

Five blazing fireballs flew out from the ten longships, and the Leia warship tied to the stone pier at the dock was suddenly covered with purple-blue flames.

Before leaving, they had already sprinkled alchemical kerosene all over Leia's warship.

Not only the warships, but also the fishing port which was stockpiled with countless supplies was on fire.

Thick smoke rolled up to the top of the bell tower and swallowed up the Leia emblem.

The river wind suddenly turned to the southeast, and sparks and ashes fell like raindrops on the defenders' helmets, burning them so much that they hurriedly tried to bat at them.

It was this momentary chaos that caused the ten pointed-bottomed longboats to burst out of the smoke like arrows.

"Shoot! Shoot! Cough, cough, cough—"

Sir Renato, the garrison officer who chased to the dock, cut through the smoke with his sword and cursed at the fleeing mountain people in frustration.

Wherever the sword pointed, the thirty birch bows behind him rang in unison.

The rain of arrows fell into the waves stirred up by the stern, like a farewell salute to the fugitives.

The mountain people had already covered the sides of the boat with wet cowhide, and the arrows pierced into the soaked leather with a clang, but failed to hurt them at all.

Looking at the mountain people leaving quickly, Sir Renaldo unbuckled the belt buckle on his chin with trembling fingers.

The next second, the beautifully decorated lion helmet slammed heavily onto the bluestone of the dock, with half of the charred holy emblem still stuck in the dent.

"Chase him! Chase him! Chase him to the end of the Styx..."

The roar stopped abruptly.

Sir Renato turned around to look at the warships that were burning more and more fiercely and the soldiers who were rushing to put out the fire, and picked up his helmet dejectedly: "Let's put out the fire first, and save as much food as possible in the granary..."

When Laffer arrived at the scene, his gloomy expression made Renato secretly draw the word "屮" on his forehead.

If you walk quickly to the river, you can see alchemical kerosene floating on the water, which is exposed to strange and colorful colors by the sunlight.

Half of a charred mast protruded from the water, and scraps of canvas rose and fell with the waves. Broken barrels and upturned fish floated on the river, and several two-person small wooden boats were holding up nets to salvage corpses and remaining supplies.

"What's the loss?" Laffer's eye twitched.

Sir Renato said honestly: "Two months' worth of food for a squadron was burned, and a batch of weapons and ammunition were also stolen by them.

In addition, the three newly transported warships suffered heavy losses.

One ship was damaged and could no longer be used, and the other two are expected to take three or four months to repair before they can set sail again.

In addition, several of our cargo ships have been affected and will not be able to deliver supplies for three weeks."

"You rats from Qianhe Valley!" The great knight snorted coldly and walked towards the town.

The knight's leather boots crushed the carbonized arrows as he stepped on the stone dock covered with honeycomb-like melt pits.

The outline of a human figure remained on the charred wall. The monks accompanying the army were using holy water to purify the battlefield. The water vapor made a hissing sound when it came into contact with the embers.

Laffer squatted down and picked up a piece of iron sand from the wall.

He was extremely familiar with the rough texture, and such incidents had occurred repeatedly over the past two weeks.

Meliati defended Xialu City and did not rush into battle, but she sent out a large number of mountain knights.

The mountain knights ride on the dragon-headed warships commonly used by the old Norn pirates, using the classic riding/sailing plundering tactics.

That is, cooperating with the mages transferred from Black Snake Bay, they launched a crazy raid on the port and baggage camp occupied by the Leia people.

Rafeel had to admit that the Leia people were not very good at water battles, especially the water battles in the Thousand River Valley.

No matter how powerful Batis and his men are, it is impossible for them to figure out the entire river channel in just a few months.

The early preparations and accumulated advantages of Batis and others were of great use in taking down several outer fortresses.

And those damn Franks also provided Qianhe Valley with a large number of experienced Frank crew members.

The combination of several factors allowed these mountain people to escape repeatedly.

Lavle looked at the gentle water flow, turned to the attendant beside him and asked: "Duke Yichao said, when will the flood break out at the latest?"

"At the end of last month."

With a sigh, Laffer knew that this battle would not go so smoothly.

In just one month, they swallowed up three-quarters of Hotam County, leaving only the isolated city of Xialuo and most of Luwa Township.

His Highness Genegis is expected to come to Thousand Valley in November after stabilizing the country.

But after the initial confusion, this group of mountain people actually managed to consolidate their defense line in Lvwa Township.

As for Xia Lucheng, order was restored quickly.

The city walls here were extremely strong, and the Leia people were able to repel all of their attacks.

The despot even personally led the charge and launched a night raid on the supply camp of the Leia people, bringing the siege to a standstill.

Now this tactic targeting logistics has been developed.

Even Laffer had to admire the resilience of these mountain people at this moment.

The borders such as the Thorn Garden and the Gravel Plain are still okay, but if it were placed in inland areas such as the Windmill Land and the River Island, it would probably have been like a civil war, with a huge collapse.

With the arrival of His Highness Jinigis, a large number of trained Immortal Army knights are expected.

Their number is approaching one thousand, enough to form ten imperial command companies.

Laffer thought that he was relatively lucky. If the people of Qianhe Valley were to face an opponent like the Immortal Army, it would be a terrible outcome.

"These damn Thousand River Valley rats." After cursing again, Lavle ordered, "From now on, try to transport the baggage by land."

(End of this chapter)