Chapter 659 "Naval Battle"

"What is that?"

Qiao Zhenggang frowned. A few days ago, this sea area was empty, but now such a thing has appeared, indicating that it is a movable object. But after spending an hour and a half on the road, the thing is still floating far away in the open sea, and its speed is probably not even as fast as a sailboard.

"My Lord," the staff officer on the side bowed and said, "According to the intelligence sent back from Jinxia before, a group of long-eared monsters live on a floating island made of trees. The locals call it a tree boat, but it is actually more like a small reef. I suspect that this thing is sent by the people of Jinxia."

"The enemy from Jinxia..." Qiao Zhenggang showed a thoughtful look. Although he is bloodthirsty, he is not a brainless reckless man, otherwise he would not have been able to climb all the way to the position of guard. The country people have no ability to resist, so they can be rubbed in any way, but Jinxia is different-it is a powerful enemy that defeated the Shangyuan Privy Council. "If I understand correctly, it is actually a huge troop transport ship?"

"The intelligence did not mention that it is armed." The staff officer shook his head, "But the tree boat can transport troops and naturally can also transport weapons. Generally, the most taboo for artillery is an unstable base. If it can be mounted on such a floating island of amazing size, I am afraid that the power and accuracy can be maintained at a very high level."

Artillery...

The intelligence did mention that Jinxia had studied firearms very deeply. The source was that there was a traitor in the Machinery Bureau, which made the mechanical skills of this group of traitors advance by leaps and bounds. In the battle with Shangyuan Privy Council, the artillery support provided by the inland fleet put a lot of pressure on the Taoist priests, not to mention the two-legged mechanical beasts that could carry artillery over mountains and ridges.

"In this case, we should wait for them to get close to the dock and then attack them." Qiao Zhenggang pondered. If you think that Qixing has not learned a lesson from the intelligence, it is undoubtedly a big mistake. After all, Xu State also has a family of mechanical arts that is no less than Mohism, and it has been expected that Jinxia will not allow the Seven Stars to enter the interior of Qi State. The camp in front of us stretches for ten miles outside, which is set up to meet the enemy.

It is not only a landing site, but also a barrier carefully built by the Seven Stars Privy Council.

"Your Excellency is wise. Our ships are weak and the firearms we carry are few and far between. Avoiding their sharp edge is the most correct choice." The staff officer echoed.

"Send the order to the tent," Qiao Zhenggang ordered, "Let all the generals go to my tent to listen to orders, and the whole army is ready to meet the enemy!"

...

At this time, Noah's tree boat was also slowly approaching the port coast.

Since the blocking plan was approved by Mo Yun, Jinxia City immediately took action, preparing for half a month and setting off for half a month. Until late August, the tree boat that restarted its voyage finally crossed Qingzhou and headed north to the designated battlefield.

This plan is mainly based on the World Island elves, supplemented by alchemists such as Qian and Yan Qing. The primary goal is to cut off the transportation line of the Seven Stars, so that the opponent cannot assemble troops so smoothly, and at the same time destroy as many ships at sea as possible to weaken the opponent's supply capacity.

With the blessing of a new batch of binocular telescopes, Jinxia and his party can clearly observe the movements on the shore.

High Priest Senia can't put it down - the change from single-tube to double-tube not only significantly expands the field of vision, but also can flexibly adjust the distance of vision through a knob, and its clarity has also been improved to an unprecedented level. Even if it is more than ten miles away, it can capture the small section of the mast rising from the sea.

This is of great significance to the elves who deal with the sea all year round.

If it weren't for the limited production of the new batch of telescopes and the high exchange price, she really wanted to equip each of her comrades with one.

"They found us." Yan Qing slowly moved her eyes and said.

The supervisor was using a whip to drive the workers to carry the materials piled up at the dock, and the soldiers were also moving to the rear in an orderly manner. The ships docked at the shore hurriedly raised their sails and left the port, heading north, with the intention of abandoning the shore defense and giving up the dock.

It was not surprising that the enemy discovered it in advance.

The tree boat was basically the same as a small mountain. Its majestic outline made it completely invisible. In addition, the sailing speed was limited, so the Bureau had no intention of attacking the enemy from the beginning.

"It seems that they want to lure you into a trap." Kong Xuanzi agreed, "Look at the foot of the cliff in the north."

Everyone looked together and saw a huge man-made object half hidden in the woods. At first glance, it looked a bit like a lying cow made of wood, but its head was cast in metal, which was obviously not made for beautiful appearance.

Soon, several more lying cows were discovered.

Their body length was about 100 feet, and their height was as high as two or three adults. It was almost impossible to move them to every corner of the camp by manpower alone.

"I'm afraid these are all mechanical beasts." Yan Qing judged.

"Nine out of ten." Qian nodded. "If this thing collides with Xuanwu, let's not talk about how it attacks, the iron head alone is enough to block Xuanwu's bombardment."

After staying in Jinxia for a while, Yuyi had a new understanding of the city's strength.

He never thought that complex metal parts could be produced in a blink of an eye and assembled on a constantly sliding conveyor belt. It was not until he saw it with his own eyes that he realized how amazing it was to be able to knead metal at will and press it into various shapes as needed.

With these new weapons, even ordinary people who have just joined the army can pose a threat to high-level alchemists. Even if the latter master a lot of defensive techniques, they can hardly resist in the face of overwhelming numbers and firepower.

The failure of the Privy Council cannot be blamed entirely on Ning Qianshi and Fei Nian.

It is not a coincidence.

Even if they fight ten or a hundred times, the outcome will not change much.

This makes Qian gradually infected with Jinxia's habits. When fighting with the enemy, the first thing he thinks of is no longer how to get close to the opponent and use his own abilities and experience to defeat the opponent, but to take advantage of the range and firepower first, and try not to get close if possible, and it is best to win "without bloodshed".

For example, the mechanical beast in front of him, he subconsciously considers whether the artillery can break the defense.

"There is also a situation in the northern sea area." Senya reminded, "They seem to be preparing a speedboat."

Not only that, everyone also noticed that the boat was full of various bottles and jars.

There is no doubt that what is inside must be flammable, either sulfur, saltpeter or grease.

After all, fire attack has always been an effective means to deal with large ships.

And Shuzhou is indeed afraid of starting a fire.

"They probably want to wait for Shuzhou to dock before attacking us halfway across the river." Yan Qing put down the telescope and shook his head regretfully, "It's a pity that we have no plan to engage in land battle. Your Excellency the High Priest, it's up to you next."

Senia waved her hand, signaling Aili and others in the distance to take off their rainproof gun jackets, "I also want to try it out to see how the new weapons of the Machinery Bureau perform in actual combat."