I, the prince in distress, send money

Chapter 564 The Tiger Enters the City

The next day, in the port area of ​​Mooncrown City, the dilapidated docks fell into a temporary silence after the First Fleet fired several rounds of covering artillery fire.

Xiao Daozai took a deep breath of the air, which was filled with the smell of gunpowder, the sea, and the heavy sulfur. He was the first to leap out of the violently rocking landing craft, his heavy military boots stepping onto the filthy dock planks.

"Overlords, all units, land quickly and establish a ring defense!"

He growled, his eyes scanning the collapsed warehouse ruins ahead warily.

Behind him, players belonging to the Overlord Tigers faction filed out.

They were dressed in uniform black Kree-style gas coats, their boots stomping heavily on the ground, wearing identical gas masks and World War I-style German steel helmets, as well as standard high-carbon steel breastplates.

Such equipment made them look like a group of silent and cold war machines that had stepped out of another world.

There was no commotion, only the clanging of weapons and the sound of hurried footsteps, demonstrating an extremely high level of discipline.

Nearly a thousand players slowly and orderly set foot on the land of the elves.

Landing was no easy task. Even with the revolutionary inflatable landing bridge and kayaks, as well as the help of experienced player engineers, it still took more than an hour for the thousand Tigers players to reach the dock.

The demons clearly wouldn't give up this area easily.

Just as the last group of players stepped onto the dock, a piercing roar came from the depths of the ruins.

Like stirring up a hornet's nest, countless lesser demons and horned demons surged out of the shadows and behind the broken windows. Among them were several enormous, foul-smelling berserker demons, wielding twisted limbs and rusty weapons, rushing towards the players' unsteady lines like a black tide.

"Hold on, send the signal, request fire support deep within the dock!"

He calmly gave the order, even with a knife stuck in his buttocks, without the slightest panic.

A light green signal flare whistled as it rose into the sky.

After the signal flare reached its peak, several cruisers and destroyers a kilometer away on the sea received the order and quickly roared into action.

Dozens of shells traced graceful arcs, passing over the players' heads and accurately striking the area behind the dock where demons were swarming in.

"Rumble..."

Fireballs exploded one after another, and shockwaves carrying debris and the remains of demons flew everywhere.

The intense artillery fire temporarily halted the main force of the demons' advance, blocking subsequent reinforcements from entering the dock area.

"One round of fire support is over. Now's the time. Overlord Tiger, advance..."

Instead of clearing out the remaining enemies at the dock, Xiao Daozai decisively ordered a charge into the city.

His goal was clear... to tear a hole as quickly as possible and strike at the heart of the city where the demon might be.

The black torrent began to move.

The Overland Tigers regiment, organized into companies of one hundred men each, maintained a disciplined formation and advanced rapidly along the main road leading from the port area into the city.

Their steps were perfectly synchronized, the hems of their black military overcoats sweeping across the rubble-strewn streets like a ruthless yet sophisticated war machine starting up.

These thousand players are the core force of the Over-the-Mountain Tigers battle group, the most obedient role-playing enthusiasts under Little Knife Stabbing Buttocks' command. They may not be the most capable thousand players in the battle group, even though Over-the-Mountain Tigers are the most powerful.

However, they were indeed the most disciplined and the most willing to suppress their personal desires in pursuit of a certain "battlefield ritual" and "absolute order" among this nearly 10,000-strong battle group.

For them, the synchronized movements, the impenetrable firepower, and the absolute calm in the face of death are themselves a manifestation of power and aesthetics.

After advancing only a few hundred meters, at a relatively wide crossroads that may have once been an elven market, more demons poured out from the streets and ruins on both sides, trying to intercept the army that had penetrated deep into their territory.

Among them were even several demon warlocks with dark purple skin and surrounded by a green aura of fel energy.

"Halt! First rank, raise your guns!"

The order was quickly relayed through officers at all levels.

The player in the front row, who was playing as a tiger, stopped abruptly, calmly raised his flintlock pistol, and aimed the cold muzzle at the surging tide of demons.

Their eyes behind their gas masks remained unwavering, as if they were facing not a ferocious demon, but a target on a training field.

"put!"

"boom……"

The first volley of fire sent white smoke billowing in front of the ranks, the scorching lead bullets forming a deadly metallic storm, and the demons in the front ranks fell in droves like harvested wheat.

The company commander at the front blew the whistle he had been holding in his mouth with all his might. Amidst the sharp metallic whistle, the first row of players quickly retreated, while the second row stepped forward, crossed the smoke, and raised their guns.

"put!"

"boom……"

A second volley followed.

The firepower was almost continuous. The demons' charge was like hitting an invisible wall in front of this dense and accurate volley of gunfire. The front row fell, the back row was crowded, and the already disordered demon formation became even more chaotic.

Before the smoke from the second salvo had even cleared, several support soldiers carrying light tiger-squat guns quickly stepped forward and set up the seemingly simple but powerful infantry guns on the ground.

"Boom...boom..."

With a few muffled thuds, the Tiger Crouching Cannon spewed out a large amount of fire and smoke, and the dense volley of bullets swept towards the huddled group of demons like an iron broom, instantly creating large blank spaces and shrill screams.

Throughout the entire process, the players of the Mountain Tiger were silent, efficient, and ruthless. Loading, advancing, firing, retreating, setting up the cannon, firing... all their actions were fluid and seamless, as if they had practiced them a thousand times, and their firepower output hardly stopped for a moment.

Amidst this relentless barrage of fire, the demon warlocks hiding within the demon horde knew that if they didn't act soon, they might miss their chance.

So they brandished their bone staffs, disregarding the possibility of collateral damage, and gathered green light of fel energy. Several corrosive energy arrows or small-scale magical shocks pierced through the lesser demons blocking their way and crashed into the front ranks of the mountain tiger's formation.

The advantages and disadvantages of volley fire are obvious. The advantage is the dense firepower, while the disadvantage is that when enemy fire comes, friendly soldiers have no way to avoid it and can only stand up and take the hit.

Just like now, several musketeers in the front row were hit by fel energy, their breastplates melted, their gas masks twisted, and they fell to the ground without a sound. Some even had their bodies rapidly dissolving in the green light.

However, what sent chills down the spines of the elves and half-elf guards who were secretly observing from a distance was that the human soldiers did not react at all.

There was no panic, no screams, and not even the slightest chaos in the queue.

When someone falls to the ground, soldiers in the back row immediately step forward silently and calmly drag the injured or wounded to the back of the line, where medics in black coats provide emergency treatment. The vacant positions are filled in an instant.

The entire formation remained stable, and the next volley of gunfire rang out almost unaffected.

The demons' lines finally crumbled under the relentless, cold, and efficient volleys and artillery fire of the Overlord Tiger.

Demons and horned demons fell in droves, and the survivors instinctively began to retreat, crowding together and hindering the advance of the demons behind them. The invisible wall of death continued to roll forward at a steady pace.

Amidst the chaos, the fel sorcerers hiding behind the demon horde once again raised their bone staffs, attempting to conjure even more powerful spells.

Their bodies shone brightly with green light, clearly preparing to tear this abhorrent human army apart at all costs.

However, the Tiger Crossing is not limited to line infantry.

Just as the fel sorcerer's spell was about to be completed, several distinct, deeper, and more resonant gunshots rang out from the back of the Tiger Crossing's ranks!

That was a sniper equipped with a siege gun opening fire.

These specially made heavy muskets have dark barrels nearly two meters long, with calibers as thick as a child's arm, and use specially made large slugs.

They were mounted on special tripods and operated by a five-person team. They had an extremely slow rate of fire, but their power and accuracy far exceeded those of ordinary flintlock muskets.

"Pfft! Pfft!"

The high-speed spinning heavy lead bullet, carrying terrifying kinetic energy, traversed the battlefield distance in the blink of an eye.

The fel shields surrounding the demon warlocks shattered like glass struck by a heavy hammer, scattering green light everywhere. Then, bullets penetrated their fragile bodies without hindrance, creating terrifying holes the size of bowls, and even pulverizing the upper body of one warlock!
The remaining warlocks were terrified and tried to dodge or interrupt their spells, but it was too late.

A second wave of precise heavy gunfire followed, pinning them to their spots. The half-condensed fel energy lost control, backfiring and causing a small-scale chaotic explosion that also took away several unfortunate lesser demons nearby.

The last long-range threat from the demons has been eliminated.

"Roar……"

Seeing that the magical support had failed, a small squad of berserkers that had been hiding in the shadows of the ruins let out a furious roar.

They were far more massive than ordinary demons, clad in heavy bone armor, wielding enormous machetes or chain hammers. Like several heavily armored tanks, led by a demon overseer clad in heavy armor, they trampled over the corpses of their own kind and launched a desperate charge. Their goal was clear... to break through the seemingly frail human ranks!
The Berserkers charged with astonishing force, their heavy footsteps causing the ground to tremble slightly as they attempted to break through the barrage with sheer brute force and heavy armor.

The company commander player at the front remained unmoved; he simply blew his whistle again, producing a rapid blast.

On both sides of the second rank, the Tiger Crouching Gun crews, who were already ready, immediately adjusted their firing angles.

Several tiger-squatting cannons roared almost simultaneously.

This time, the cannons were no longer spewing out light and numerous ordinary shot, but rather a dense rain of heavy lead bullets—specially designed shot to deal with heavily armored units.

Hundreds of lead bullets formed a deadly fan-shaped death zone, raining down on the charging berserker squad.

The sounds of intense impacts and bone shattering mingled together.

Thirty paces away from the first rank of musketeers, the berserker at the very front bore the brunt of the attack.

Even at such close range, the thick bone armor could not completely withstand the impact of the specially made shotgun shells, and was riddled with holes. The huge body was as if struck by an invisible force, staggering and falling to the ground, green blood gushing out from the countless holes.

The berserkers following closely behind fared no better. Enveloped by the storm of lead bullets, their charge was abruptly halted, bursting into sprays of blood as they screamed and tumbled to the ground.

This Berserker squad, which served as the spearhead of the Demon Assault, was wiped out before it could even get close to melee combat, thanks to the precise and fierce infantry support artillery of the Overlord Tiger.

The remaining demons finally lost all will to fight, letting out chaotic howls as they scattered into the depths of the city like a receding tide.

The brief battle at the crossroads has ended.

In front of the Tiger's formation, layers upon layers of demon corpses lay scattered, among which the shattered remains of several berserker demons and warlocks were particularly striking.

The black lines of troops still stood silently, with only the smoke of gunpowder slowly dissipating and the faint sounds of medics in the rear carrying the wounded and transporting the bodies of the fallen.

Throughout the entire process, apart from the necessary commands and gunfire, there was no extra noise, as if the fierce and brutal battle just now was just a routine exercise for them.

Not far away, the elves and half-elves in the dilapidated buildings were already dumbfounded.

They were not only shocked by the ferocity of human firepower and the severity of discipline, but also horrified by their precise and efficient tactical configurations in dealing with different threats... suppressing grunts with volleys, accurately sniping spellcasters with heavy guns, and ruthlessly crushing heavy armor charges with shotguns.

Everything proceeded so smoothly, as if it were all within their calculations.

"Who...who are they...?"

The young half-elf archer muttered to himself, his gaze towards the black array a mixture of awe and fear.

(End of this chapter)