I, the prince in distress, send money

Chapter 551 The Devil's Temptation

Despite his burning ambition, and his desire to immediately wage a three-hundred-round battle against the demons, to cover the earth with corpses and dye the sea red.

However, the reality is that the more than 6,000 players in the revenge fleet have to stay obediently on this side of the beach and cannot set off immediately.

why?
For players of the Revenge Fleet, the most urgent task is to regroup and rebuild.

The beach landing may seem thrilling, but it was actually an extremely chaotic hard landing. Before arriving in this area, the Revenge Fleet had no plan to storm the beach like this.

Therefore, this operation was extremely chaotic. More than twenty ships were completely destroyed, and the remaining ships were all damaged and stranded on the beach in a haphazard manner. Some unlucky ones were stuck in the sea and were unable to reach the beach at all.

So, the players did jump off, but a large amount of equipment, ammunition, and supplies were still scattered in the cargo holds of each ship, requiring time to move and organize.

Meanwhile, many of the ship's cannons were displaced or even damaged in the impact, requiring the engineering team players to urgently repair and reposition them.

Injured players need to be healed, otherwise they will die, and there will be one less usable player.

The beachhead appeared bustling, but in reality, it was still in a chaotic "digestion" phase and far from being ready to launch a large-scale offensive immediately.

Secondly, the naval assault and the previous anti-aircraft battle consumed a huge amount of ammunition, especially the expensive Tiger Descending Rocket, which is a key point. Players need to take stock of the remaining supplies, prioritize the transfer of ammunition from the less damaged ships, and establish temporary ammunition stockpiles and distribution centers on the beachhead.

Without a stable supply of ammunition, players' firepower advantage is meaningless.

At the same time, supplies such as fresh water, food, and medicine also need to be transferred off the ship to establish initial logistical support.

Even if players are not afraid of death, if they are hungry and thirsty, their legs and arms will be weak and they will not be able to charge into the demon's lair.

Finally, there was a lack of intelligence and an unclear terrain.

While many players might agree with the statement "Whether it's a forest or a cesspool in front of them, players can fill it in," actually letting over six thousand people rush in is a different story.

He can be a brute, but the Shanghai Pirate King can't accept being a fool.

The elves have clearly stated that the Crystal Song Woods ahead has been corrupted by demons. Under such circumstances, if players continue to blindly rush in, the result will likely not be a smooth victory, but rather being sent to their deaths.

Finally, the Shanghai Pirate King was also considering whether to establish a respawn point on the beach... He hadn't forgotten that many of the armed merchant ships were loaded with building materials that could construct a Mechanicus church, as well as Mechanicus statues that more than 8,000 players had pooled their reputation to exchange for.

With these things, the revenge fleet can easily establish a respawn point. The Pirate King is now considering whether it's appropriate to place the respawn point here... This doesn't seem to be a place that's easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Although he hadn't studied military affairs in real life, the Shanghai Pirate King was still "a man who hadn't eaten pork but had seen pigs run," having played so many war games and watched so many war movies, so he still had some basic common sense.

He knew that an army, even one composed entirely of fearless players, would be worn down by continuous attrition and long-distance raids if it lacked a stable respawn point and supply base.

Therefore, the most important thing right now is not to immediately launch a massive offensive, but to gain a foothold, use the stranded armed merchant ships on the beach to establish a stable base, and then divide into three large teams from all the players.

Logistics team, elite team, and combat team.

The names of the three teams are simple and clear; anyone who has received a complete compulsory education can understand what they mean.

……

As the salty sea breeze gradually brought the coolness of the night, and the leaden sky was tinged with a poignant orange-red by the afterglow of the setting sun before finally sinking below the dark blue sea, the scene on the eastern beach of Mooncrown City contrasted sharply with the darkening sky.

There is no silence here, only an ever-burning warmth and vibrancy of human life.

The entire wide beach has been transformed into a huge and noisy open-air workshop and military camp.

Bonfires were lit, dispelling the darkness and chill, and more importantly, providing light.

Players who were assigned to or voluntarily joined the logistics team set up a makeshift forging station around the campfire using metal parts salvaged from the ship and small furnaces they carried.

The red-hot metal clanged and sparked as they frantically repaired the deformed gun carriage, forging the thick nails for fixing it in place and the iron plates needed to mend the gaps in the breastplate.

On the other side of the beach, a continuous chain of people stretched between the stranded ships and the beachhead.

Players chanted off-key slogans as they carried heavy boxes of ammunition, buckets of precious fresh water and food, bundles of spare guns and canvas from the swaying ship's hold to designated storage areas on the beach, either on makeshift stretchers or by carrying them on their shoulders.

The heavy wooden crates left deep tracks in the sand, and the heavy breathing and shouts of encouragement mixed together, creating a sense of primal power.

Those misaligned and stranded armed merchant ships became ready-made barriers and material depots.

Like diligent worker ants, the players clung to the hull, using axes and saws to dismantle the severely damaged superstructure and planks, quickly transporting the timber to designated locations to reinforce the ring-shaped defensive wall built around several of the strongest ships.

Although crude, a defensive line combining a hull, sandbags, and wooden fences is rising at a visible speed.

In the central area, which is relatively far back from the position, an open space has been cleared.

The mechanical god statue, which was exchanged by eight thousand players and gleamed with a cold metallic luster, was carefully placed on a temporary base, surrounded by piles of prefabricated church components.

Players busied themselves around the statue and building materials, measuring, driving piles, and assembling. Piles of corpses, pulled from the sea, lay nearby. These were players who had died in the naval battle and whose bodies were relatively intact. The Shanghai Pirate King plan was to revive them as the first group.

By evening, the Shanghai Pirate King had figured it out: the respawn point was very important. Although it wasn't very safe to place it here, if players couldn't replenish their ranks and had to roll back to Bagnia after dying, some people would definitely slack off.

Originally, the players in the Vengeance Fleet were at a disadvantage in both quantity and quality compared to the demon army. If anyone didn't give their all, this battle would be difficult.

Therefore, this resurrection point really needs to be captured... even if it is a small resurrection point with a long resurrection time, and a player's resurrection requires a lot of meat, and players will also have their reputation and military merits deducted when they resurrect there.

However, having a respawn point and not having a respawn point are completely different concepts when you are far away from Bagnia's base.

In addition, next to the respawn point are dozens of Bagnya-style green military tents, from which waft the bitter smell of herbs and the odor of disinfectant.

This is a field hospital, and there are currently about a hundred unfortunate men lying inside receiving treatment.

Players who can move won't be inside. The ones who will lie down inside are all severely injured and unable to move; they might just kick the bucket tonight.

Those who die tonight are easy to deal with. The respawn point can be built tonight, and then we can just throw their corpses in there and they can respawn tomorrow.

Because the corpse is intact, the cost of resurrecting the player is less, with fewer reputation points deducted.

As for those guys who can't die but can't survive either... well, I hope they can figure it out soon, then ask the doctor to cut them open so they can get to the respawn point as soon as possible.

If the injury is delayed for a couple more days, causing the severely injured character to lose weight, then the amount of meat and reputation points needed for resurrection will be much greater.

However, the doctor players who know about this won't tell the player who's lying on the floor, because the latter has to realize it for themselves. Anyone who's been through the harsh realities of life knows that often, being a kind person doesn't bring good fortune, but only resentment.

The few elves who remained stood in the shadows a little further away, silently watching this scene, so different from the elegant and tranquil style of the elves, filled with wild and burgeoning power.

Their pale eyes reflected the flickering firelight, filled with an indescribable awe.

These Bagnians, with their crude organization and almost nonexistent discipline, were surprisingly efficient.

They seemed tireless, carving out their own foothold on this beach, which had just been the site of a bloody battle, in a way that was almost like burning their lives.

The overwhelming scent, a mixture of sweat, gunpowder, and vibrant life, stirred a strange excitement in the spirits who had lived a tranquil life for centuries.

The Shanghai Pirate King stood on a makeshift command platform made of ammunition boxes, hands on his hips, looking at the bustling scene below, and grinned with satisfaction.

Under the cover of night, this brightly lit and bustling beach is like a nail firmly driven into the edge of a demon's territory, stubborn and threatening.

"Give it your all! Before dawn, I want to see the respawn point lit up, the defensive wall erected, and ammunition piled up like mountains!"

His roar carried on the night sea breeze, drawing curses from many people.

"You damn thief king, what are you yelling about? Get down here and get to work!"

"Yeah, you idiot, we're short-handed right now, and you're just whining. What, are you the emperor who doesn't have to work?"

"I am the commander..."

"You motherfucker, get down here... or don't blame us for shooting you in the back!"

Such a conversation left the elves standing not far away looking at each other in bewilderment; these Bagnians seemed a bit too "unconventional."

In their long lives, they had never seen such an army with blurred lines between superiors and subordinates. Before the elves could even process what they were seeing, a sharp whistle suddenly rang out from the southeast, abruptly severing their thoughts.

The whistle was shrill and piercing, breaking the relatively peaceful hustle and bustle of the night; it was the highest-level enemy attack alarm issued by the outer perimeter sentry.

Almost the next second after the whistle blew, a few scattered but rapid flintlock shots came from that direction, accompanied by a player's harsh warning through a large metal megaphone.

"Enemy attack... Something's come out of the woods!"

As soon as the gunshot rang out, the atmosphere on the entire beachhead instantly tensed up. The previous busyness and noise seemed to be paused, and everyone stopped what they were doing and listened intently.

Then came more, more intense gunfire, and a chilling sound, a mixture of shrieks and the scraping of claws against rocks, rapidly approaching from the edge of Crystal Song Woodland.

"Damn it, they really won't let me have a moment's peace!"

The Shanghai Pirate King's face hardened, and his earlier minor struggle with command authority vanished instantly.

He jumped off the ammunition box and charged toward the direction of the most intense gunfire, roaring with all his might.

"Enemy attack! Everyone who can move, grab your weapons! Logistics team, continue repairing fortifications and respawn points! Combat teams, follow me... Spearhead team, prepare to plug the gap!"

His command was like a spark thrown into boiling oil, quickly igniting the entire position!

The players demonstrated an astonishing speed of response.

The burly man who had been carrying supplies immediately dropped the wooden crates, grabbed the musket leaning against the side, and rushed toward the defensive wall. The craftsman who was hammering on the anvil picked up the battle axe and hammer at hand.

Even some of the less seriously injured players in the field hospital struggled to grab the muskets around them... Unable to get up, they climbed into their tents, waiting for the devil to come knocking.

"Damn it, I just found a suitable screw!"

"Stop fixing it, the devil has delivered himself to our doorstep!"

"Artillery! Quickly move the artillery into position!"

The player's actions were chaotic, yet they were extremely efficient.

Meanwhile, on the outermost edge of the position, on several armed merchant ships that were stranded deeper and had relatively intact hulls, and were being used as temporary forward fortifications, the players on guard duty had already engaged in firefights with enemies emerging from the shadows of the woods.

By the light of the campfire and the lingering glow of the setting sun, they could see hundreds of lesser demons bursting forth from the corrupted woodland, led by dozens of mid-ranking demons, launching a wild charge from a great distance.

Led by a mid-level demon, these lesser demons, their crimson eyes burning with a desire for destruction, let out piercing howls and surged like a tide toward the nearest stranded merchant ship, the Unyielding.

Players on the deck of the Unyielding, relying on the ship's sides and the damaged superstructure, fired their flintlock muskets with all their might.

The Unyielding went the furthest and suffered the most damage. It happened to be facing the side of the ship that was called Crystal Song Woodland, but was actually Demon Woodland. Its cannons either flew out of their muzzles or were damaged in the shock.

The ship had more than twenty cannons, but only three of them were capable of firing.

As a result, the Unyielding only fired three shots before running out of ammunition.

Even so, the three shots fired still swept through a group of demons, each lead bullet piercing their flesh and exploding into filthy sprays of blood, clearing three empty spaces in the demon horde.

However, there were too many demons, and they were extremely fast. The inferior demons that rushed up from behind quickly filled the gaps, especially some winged demons that flew low and constantly interfered with the players' shooting on the deck.

"No, there are too many demons, we can't hold out much longer!"

Someone on the ship was shouting.

Soon, the demonic wave surged beneath the Unyielding, and the players hiding inside quickly heard the sound of the wooden planks below being struck repeatedly... It was the lesser demons desperately hacking at the hull with their iron blades.

Even so, they pose no threat to this defensive point. Even if some demons try to squeeze into the breach in the hull of the Unyielding Ship caused by the beaching, the players guarding inside will kill them with spears and muskets.

However, the mid-level demons hidden among these lesser demons are the biggest problem. Their intelligence allows them to understand that the hole in the hull is a trap and that continuing to hammer the thick hull will take time. So, they choose to climb up, preparing to climb onto the deck and kill the humans inside the ship from above.

The players on deck naturally saw the significantly larger demons below, and they were also firing their muskets down at them. However, this process was fraught with danger, as they could see the demons and the demons could also attack them.

The Berserker Demon would grab the lesser demons nearby and throw them up forcefully, while several oddly shaped mid-level demons used strange magic to launch upwards, knocking down many players who were then surrounded by demons and chopped into mincemeat.

These demons' ranged attacks suppressed the players' firepower on the Unyielding Ship's side, making the demons' climb even easier.

Just as several berserker demons were howling and about to climb onto the tilting side of the Unyielding with brute force...

"boom!!!"

A deep, thunderous roar erupted from another armed merchant ship called the Reefbreaker, located to the side and rear of the Indomitable!
It was a twelve-pound cannon that had just been urgently repaired and re-secured by the engineering team. The muzzle spewed out scorching flames several meters long, and a heavy solid iron ball shot out at a speed that was difficult to detect with the naked eye, slamming into the demon horde that was charging at the Unyielding.

"Pfft..."

A terrifying tearing sound rang out as the solid shot bounced once on the soft sand before plunging an unstoppable path of blood and gore through the dense horde of demons.

Among them, at least a dozen lesser demons and three berserker demons were directly hit or affected by the high-speed flying fragments of bone and flesh, instantly turning into scattered limbs and blood.

This thunderous strike successfully halted the demon's fierce offensive!
Demons also know what fear is, especially after seeing the horrific scene of the towering berserker being smashed into a bloody pulp amidst the howling sound, which frightened many inferior demons into turning tail and running away.

"Well done, Reef Breaker!"

The players on the Unyielding erupted in cheers.

"Don't fucking stand there! All ships that can fire, blast them! Aim and fire! Don't let these sons of bitches get in!"

The Shanghai Pirate King had already rushed to the front line, using his flintlock pistol to blow the head off a small inferior demon that was trying to climb up the defensive fortification from the side, while shouting hoarsely.

The order was quickly relayed.

One cannon shot after another rang out from the different stranded ships.

These heavy cannons, originally intended for naval warfare, now unleashed terrifying power on land.

Solid shot, chain shot, and even expensive explosive rounds were fired, sweeping across the beach and woodland edges like the Grim Reaper's scythe.

The flashes of fire from the explosions illuminated the charging demons in a ghastly white light, then tore them apart and sent them flying.

The stench of gunpowder and demon blood mingled together, filling the air above the entire beach.

The demon's night raid was clearly a probing attack, and its scale was not very large.

Their offensive was quickly contained by the players' hasty but fierce counterattack, especially after the cannons on several armed merchant ships unleashed their power.

After leaving behind dozens of corpses, the surviving demons let out a resentful shriek and retreated back into the dark depths of the Crystal Song Forest, leaving behind only a mess on the beach and an overwhelming stench of blood.

The battle goes as quickly as it comes.

The Shanghai Pirate King laughed heartily. He watched the retreating demon, wiped the blood splattered on his face, and spat fiercely towards the woods.

"Pah! This amount isn't even enough to fill our teeth!"

He turned around, looking at the excited and cheering players, and at the dumbfounded elves in the distance who seemed not yet to have recovered from the brief but intense firefight, and grinned, revealing a bloodthirsty smile.

"You all saw that, right? This is what demons are like... Brothers, hurry up, those who need to build fortifications should build fortifications, and those who need to move ammunition should move ammunition."

Tonight we'll take turns resting. Sentry, keep your eyes peeled! Tomorrow at dawn, once the respawn point is up and running, we'll settle the score with them!

"You should come down and get to work too..."

"Hey, hey, I already told you I'm the commander..."

"You damn commander, get down here right now!"

"Okay, okay, I'll come down..."

(End of this chapter)