What's wrong with building a steel torrent in a dungeon?

"Yes... They also know very well that they should be held responsible for this failure." Laferon said, "That's why they will not let us leave! I think they will definitely let us take the risk and launch an attack on Beichen Island! If we can capture it, at least we can win the final victory by capturing Fran."

"What if we can't capture it?" a captain asked tentatively.

"Then we will all die here!" Laferon glanced at him and said in a cold tone, "And they will definitely try every possible way to escape from the battlefield. When we return to the empire, the war situation here will be left to them to manipulate."

"Damn it! As messengers of God, how could they do such a despicable thing!" The adjutant said, "I think we should tie them up! Or just kill them, and then pretend that they died in the war! Then we can talk about it inside the empire! Besides, we didn't deceive the Elders. As long as we tell them the truth, they will definitely understand you, sir."

"You are still too young!" Laferon said, "I am afraid that by now, they have already escaped and it will be too late to catch them!"

"What!"

"And..." Laferon said, "Why do you think Fran was so kind as not to kill the sailor who fell into the water? Was it really because she was kind?"

"Then...what is the reason?"

"Because we have no supply ships! And the more people on board, the more pressure there is on supply!" Laferon said, "With the current supply quantity, the fleet won't be able to make it home! There won't even be enough supplies to attack Bieson Harbor!"

Hearing these words, all the dwarves present were stunned.

"The only option before us now is to attack Beichen Island."

Chapter 249: Forced Attack

The next morning, the light of dawn once again illuminated the dark endless ocean.

Riding on this light, the dwarf warships slowly sailed towards Beichen Island. This time, the leading ship was no longer the Javelin-class warship, but the largest Ares-class warship. Following the Ares-class were ten Ironwall-class warships.

In other words, the dwarf is planning to make a desperate attempt.

However, this was also part of the plan of Orila City. Their purpose in destroying the supply ship was to cut off the dwarves' retreat, forcing them to attack Beichen Island and fight against the island's shore-based artillery.

When the warship entered the range of the shore-based artillery, Bjorn did not directly order to open fire. He knew very well that the hit rate at the farthest distance was too low and there was no way to cause effective damage to them. The artillerymen on the shore had been waiting, waiting for the warship to get closer to them, and the dwarf sailors on the ship were also anxiously waiting for the shells that would inevitably fall on their heads.

The wait before pain is always the longest.

When the sun was about to reach the zenith, the slow Ares-class battleship finally approached the coastline, and at this moment, the artillery finally began to roar!

As bursts of explosions sounded, bullets flew towards the warship.

The shore-based artillery of the city of Orilla couldn't even penetrate the armor of the Iron Wall-class battleships, let alone penetrate the Ares-class battleships! So Bjorn also gave up using traditional artillery and switched to incendiary bombs.

These incendiary bombs were originally used to deal with the undead, but now they are used against the dwarves.

Incendiary bombs fell from the sky like raindrops, hitting the deck of the dwarf warship, and then countless flames rose up.

The dwarf sailors obviously did not expect that the city of Orila had incendiary bombs! (After all, they had never been used in the previous naval battle, which made them take it lightly). At such a short distance and under such a dense rain of bullets, the deck was soon a sea of ​​fire, which forced the sailors who were originally operating the city crossbows to put down their work and turn to put out the flames.

And at this moment, the Feather Clan set out again.

The chaotic dwarves obviously no longer had the energy to organize an attack to deal with the Feathered Tribe in the sky. They could only let them fly over their heads, and then drop grenades, explosive packs and other things to continue creating chaos on the deck.

In the continuous bombing, the first Ironwall-class battleship was engulfed in flames. The flames spread along the pierced deck and eventually burned into the cabin.

The cabin was full of flammable items, and soon the flames began to rage wildly, turning the deck into a living hell. The desperate dwarves jumped off the deck one after another. Jumping into the sea at least gave them a glimmer of hope, but if they stayed on the ship they would be burned to death.

The first, the second, the third

The flames rose high and slowly engulfed these steel monsters on the sea.

Not long after, half of the Iron Wall-class battleships stopped sailing due to burning, and the remaining battleships were not much better. They were in a mess on the deck and had no time to operate the city crossbows. They could only let them get burned, deformed, and finally destroyed in the flames.

When all the siege crossbows on the Ares-class flagship were destroyed, Laferon collapsed in his chair.

He originally thought that they could still fight with the solid hull and the superior number of soldiers, but now it seems that his idea was too naive. The incendiary bombs and the aerial bombardment directly paralyzed all their means of attack, making it impossible for them to threaten the artillery on the shore.

And even if the city crossbows were still in place, what would that do? The defenses around the shore-based artillery were solid as a rock, with layers of cement-poured shells. Not to mention the city crossbows, even artillery fire wouldn't necessarily break through.

After several rounds of bombing, all the warships were paralyzed in place. The dwarf sailors were unable to take care of themselves and had no strength to operate the ships.

At this moment, one after another Aurora warships rushed out from around the sea and headed straight for the dwarf warships.

Although the Ares-class battleship was like an extremely towering giant in front of the Yukikaze-class battleship, it was now riddled with holes and was just a weak shell. The dwarf soldiers on the deck were either dead or wounded, and those who survived by chance had already lost their morale and were waiting for the moment of death.

The warships of Orila City approached the enemy and then climbed up to the Ares-class warships. The dwarves instantly understood the strategic purpose of Orila City. Since they couldn't penetrate you, they would occupy you! The captains immediately organized the sailors to prepare for resistance, but as soon as these sailors showed their heads, they were suppressed by muskets. The dwarves were far behind in terms of firepower.

After easily occupying the deck, the next thing is much easier

It has to be said that grenades are an excellent means of surprise attack. What’s more important is that the grassroots dwarf soldiers don’t even realize that the enemy has such means. Often, they are still clamoring that they can rely on the iron gate to defend until they die of old age, and the next second a round object flies in, followed by a huge explosion and flying fragments.

The speed of the attack was very fast, and before long all the Ironwall-class battleships were breached.

"O'Lila, treat the prisoners well! Put down your weapons!"

"O'Lila, treat the prisoners well! Put down your weapons!"

Familiar slogans of persuasion to surrender resounded throughout the dwarf warships. This slogan had been shouted to the Roars, the Ferumen, the Northern Kingdoms, and the elves, and now it was finally the dwarves' turn.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, the dwarf sailors dropped their weapons one after another and were led out of the cabin in a panic and taken to Beichen Island.

Of course, not all warships could break through so smoothly. The dwarves on the flagship put up a particularly strong resistance. Bjorn led his troops in several raids and quickly occupied the first two floors of the cabin and the power core. However, more dwarves gathered around Rafelen and continued to resist stubbornly.

Relying on the complex cabin structure, they actually managed to withstand Bjorn's attack.

Bjorn tried to persuade the enemy to surrender and attempted a surprise attack, but he tried various methods but failed to break through the enemy's defense.

But he had no intention of continuing to force a breakthrough. Bjorn knew very well that the hundreds of dwarves in front of him had run out of ammunition and food, and they could still resist stubbornly with their passion. Once they were starved for a few meals and their morale dropped, that would be another matter.

Since victory was certain, why should they rush to sacrifice the lives of their own soldiers? So Bjorn ordered his soldiers to guard several key positions and tightly surround the dwarves.

Chapter 250: Fall

After a day of fierce fighting, the dwarves were already hungry and thirsty. However, there was nothing left for these two hundred people except a limited amount of food. When the anger after the warship was captured slowly subsided, an unknown despair enveloped everyone's heart, especially when night fell...

The darkness made the entire cabin dark. They had no lighting and could only persuade themselves to adapt to the dark environment. This was not the most fatal thing. Now they had to be in a state of high tension at all times, as the enemy might attack them at night.

"My Lord, please eat something! You haven't eaten anything since this morning."

The adjutant looked at the haggard Laferon and handed him precious dry food and water.

Laferon took a look at the dry food and water and said, "Give these to the injured soldiers. They need them more than I do."

"But you..."

"Go ahead." Laferon said nothing more.

"Yes."

The adjutant walked out of the room and saw many dwarf warriors lying in the corridor, holding weapons in their arms, with distracted eyes and lying motionless. People who didn't know would think that these were corpses.

Laferon distributed the precious water and food to the most seriously injured soldiers. He was about to return to Laferon's room when he suddenly smelled a pungent fragrance.

That's the smell of food!!

What was going on? Did someone find the food and secretly share it among themselves? But on second thought, that didn't make sense. Something like that would have to be done secretly, so how could it be done in such a high-profile manner, as if they were afraid that others wouldn't know.

The adjutant followed the scent and soon found out where the smell came from.

It wasn't them who made the food smell so good, but the people from Orila across the street! They deliberately set up a barbecue grill and fine wine outside, and feasted over there!

These bastards! Is this something a human would do?

Not only that, they ate very loudly, fearing that the dwarves inside wouldn't know what was going on.

The dwarves were addicted to alcohol, and listening to the "dung-dung" sound and smelling the aroma of the wine was simply a torture for them.

However, these are not the most deadly things.

After having a good meal and a few drinks, the warriors from Orila City actually started chatting about family matters.

"Look at this portrait. Isn't it lovely? This is my daughter. I can go back to see her after the war here is over."

"Once the war is over, I will go home and take care of it. You must come to the wedding then."

"War is really dangerous! Fortunately, we won this battle. When I get home, I will honor my parents. It's not easy for them either."

These Orilas chatted and thought about their relatives in their hometown, and their words were full of longing for life and hope.

However, these "heartwarming" words were like poison to the dwarves. They also had their own children and families, but now they could only stay in this dark place, and they might not even be able to come out alive.

Soon, low sobbing sounds were heard in the dark cabin.

The adjutant heard it all, but didn't know how to comfort them or boost their morale.

Because even he himself began to miss his family, and he didn't want to die here.

One night passed like this.

However, when the morning light shone into the cabin through the cracks and dispelled the darkness and cold, the dwarves not only did not feel any hope, but fell into deeper despair.

How long can they hold on, and how long do they need to hold on.

Through the gap, the dwarves could see the situation of North Star Island in the distance, and found that there were many dwarf captives sitting in the open space of North Star Island. They were not abused, but gathered together to enjoy food.

The Aurelians did treat the prisoners well, as they said (in their eyes, not abusing them was considered good treatment).

All the dwarves were silent. They no longer had the heart to resist, but they did not dare to say it out loud. They could only pray that their superiors would come to their senses and lead them to surrender, thus ending this battle that was doomed to fail.

As the leader, Laferon certainly noticed the change in his subordinates' mentality.

He knew that with their current morale, if the warriors of Aurora City launched a surprise attack, they would not be able to resist anyway.

So Laferon sighed and said to his men: "Today is different from the past. The failure of this war is not your fault, but our fault as commanders. You are brave warriors and have proved yourselves with your actions."

At this point, Laferon paused, then said: "We are in the wrong time, in the wrong place, and fighting the wrong war. It's not your fault... So if you want to surrender, go ahead."

After hearing this, the dwarf warriors felt relieved.

As the first man slowly raised his hands and walked out of the cabin, more and more dwarf warriors followed behind him. Later, only Raferen and his adjutant were left in the huge cabin.

"You should go too." Laferon said, "If I remember correctly, your child is only two years old. She needs you as a father."

"But...Captain, you..."

"After all, I am the fleet commander of the Dwarf Empire." Laferon said, "Even if our Endless Ocean Fleet has been sidelined for a long time."

As the two were talking, a group of warriors from Orila City rushed in. They quickly found where Laferon was and immediately pointed their spears at the old man in front of them.

"Put down your guns." Bjorn said to his men, "Mr. Laferen. Our city lord said that you are a worthy opponent and we will not do anything to you! So please get off the boat with us."

"Worthy of respect? I lost so badly and yet I still deserve your respect?" Laferon smiled self-deprecatingly.

"You have done everything you should do." Bjorn said: "Please!"

Laferon knew that as a defeated general, he should not have received such courtesy from the other side. So he said nothing more and silently followed the group of Orila warriors off the boat.

The moment he stepped onto Star Island, he subconsciously glanced at the warship in the distance.

The sun had risen high, and the warships looked particularly small. For the first time, he realized that the Ares-class warships that had always amazed him seemed to be just like this.

Chapter 251: Feather Tribe Habitat

A few days later, the news of the great victory on Beichen Island spread throughout the entire main plane.

The city of Orila once again shocked all forces with its practical actions.

The once invincible overlord of the sea was actually defeated by the city of Orila. Almost half of the combat power of the Endless Ocean Fleet was buried around Beichen Island, and the city of Orila only had 20 warships to fight.

Everyone knew that not all of Fran’s surface forces were participating in the naval battle. If a real fight broke out, even Wall Harbor would probably be occupied.

The most crucial thing is, it has only been a short time since the city of Orila started developing its navy, and in such a short time, they have been able to challenge the dwarves' maritime hegemony.

For a moment, everyone looked at him sideways.

Of course, these forces are also very clear that this is not because the dwarves have declined. Their power at sea is still very strong, but after the rise of artillery, the dwarves' firepower has been seriously insufficient, and the traditional long-range weapon, the crossbow, has long been insignificant compared to the new weapons.

The emergence of firearms brought everyone's firepower back to a new starting point.

But firearms are different from the elves' tree ships or the dwarves' mechanical cores. If you can make them, I can make them too.

I believe that after this war, other forces will actively imitate the navy of Orila City and move artillery onto their own warships.

If the previous Battle of Olgaton changed the army, then the Battle of Beichen Island completely changed the navy.

Of course, some things can’t be changed just by saying so!

It is not so simple to put the cannon on the warship. The training of sailors, the placement of the cannon, the storage of the gunpowder magazine and daily maintenance are all big things. The sea is humid, and if these things are not done well, the gunpowder will be scrapped. Then these cannons will become scrap copper and iron, and even less useful than traditional crossbows.

More importantly, the artillery production capacity of other forces is quite limited. Even the army of our own side cannot meet the demand, let alone the navy. This is why no force has installed artillery on warships on a large scale. There is no urgent need, and there is no production capacity to support it.

But things are different now.

The effect of artillery on the navy far exceeded everyone's expectations, and it has crushed the traditional navy. This also means that as long as one can build such a cannon warship, it will be a dimensionality reduction attack on the surrounding countries. Similarly, once the neighboring country is equipped with such a warship, the coastal defense on one's side will be equivalent to nothing.