The official attack of the Bold-Violet coalition on North Port began from the sea.
When the mighty Principality fleet followed the army into the waters around North Port, the battle broke out again.
Because all of Castel's fleet led by the Roman Forge family had been sent to patrol the Dorne River, Castel no longer had the power to directly confront the Principality's fleet on the open sea.
Of course, as a matter of fact, the Castel fleet, with its small firepower and only suitable for sneak attacks, is not good at direct combat with the Duchy's fleet.
The move into the Dorne was both for defense and to preserve the strength of Castell's fleet.
But in the open sea, the result is that Beigang loses the cover of the fleet and will directly confront the Principality fleet.
Dozens of Principality warships hovered in the near sea, almost surrounding North Port. The sides of the ships were all pointed in the direction of North Port, spewing out white mist amid thunderous roars.
"boom!"
"boom!"
Accompanied by bursts of whistling, one enchanted stone bullet after another flew out.
Meteorite-like stone bombs fell like rain, either splashing water around Beigang or smashing into Beigang City, while the outer walls of the fortress surrounding the main island of Beigang and the port of Beigang were given special attention.
"Bang!"
“Boom…!”
One stone bullet after another hit the thick outer wall of Beigang.
Fortunately, at this moment, the outer wall of Beigang had already activated the defensive magic shield.
The stone bullets did not succeed in penetrating the outer wall's defenses, but only left circles of ripples on the surface of the outer wall.
The outer wall was protected by a shield and was not damaged.
But the same cannot be said for ports exposed to the range.
The ships anchored in the port almost became living targets under the bombardment of the Principality's warships. From time to time, sailboats could be seen being hit and sinking amid screams and cries.
As for the shallow water blocks outside Beigang, which were also exposed to the range, they had completely turned into hell.
Those simple houses on the water had no defense at all. They were easily torn apart and destroyed by the artillery fire of the Principality's fleet, turning into ruins on the water.
If Charlotte had not ordered the forced evacuation of the poor people in the shallow water district in advance, who knows how many people would have been killed in the first round of shelling.
“Dang! Dang! Dang!”
The piercing sound of bells rang out across North Port, and the alarm at City Hall was sounded.
From time to time, huge roars could be heard coming from all over Beigang City. Those were stone bullets that flew over the outer walls and fell into the city. Each one almost meant that a building had suffered a devastating blow.
However, Beigang is not just passively taking the beating unilaterally.
After the Principality Fleet launched its bombardment, the North Port's shore defense stone-shooting cannons also launched a counterattack, firing stone bullets at the fleet on the sea with loud noises.
This type of shore defense stone cannon has a longer range and greater power.
However, compared to North Port, the scattered fleet is obviously more difficult to target.
Although Beigang's shore defense stone cannon was extremely powerful, its results were quite limited. Most of the stone bullets fell into the sea, stirring up huge columns of water.
But occasionally a lucky stone bullet would hit the Principality's warships, causing direct and severe damage.
"boom!"
"boom!"
"… "
After a series of counterattacks, the Principality's warships were also damaged, and the Combined Fleet also clearly felt the threat from the North Port coastal defense artillery.
For a moment, those galleys and brigs that were too far forward retreated one after another, away from the firing range of the North Port.
Only the heavy three-masted warship Carrick, which had a longer range, continued to bombard North Harbor by relying on its advantage in range.
"Mr. Earl, the magic shield of the Earl's Mansion has been opened. Please return to the Earl's Mansion to take shelter. It is too dangerous here."
On the tower of the North Port outer wall fortress, the noble in charge of defending the fortress came to Charlotte and advised anxiously.
Charlotte glanced at the three-masted warship on the sea that continued to spew white mist towards the city, and then looked at the city that was being damaged everywhere by the artillery fire.
The sound of solid bullets whizzing through the air rang out overhead, and smoke rose in Beigang City.
She heard the residents' terrified screams and cries mixed with the sound of gunfire, and the vampires' keen hearing made people's fear and despair even more evident.
Charlotte frowned slightly.
"If I remember correctly, we in North Port also have a magic shield covering the entire city, right? Why are you only opening the magic shield of the Earl's Palace and the shield of the outer wall of the fortress?"
She asked.
The noble hesitated for a moment and replied:
"My Lord Earl, the North Port has been at peace for too long. We lack enough magic crystals. The existing reserve materials must be given priority to the defense of the magic crystal cannon and the North Port Bridge."
"It would cost too much to deploy a shield covering the entire city. Guild Master Laiton estimated that if we deploy a shield covering the entire city, even with the magic crystals that the Mercenary Association can provide us, we can only last for five days at most. But if we only protect the military fortifications, we can last for a full two months."
President Laiton is naturally the president of the Beigang branch of the Mercenary Association.
After the war started, Charlotte had hired all the mercenaries that could be hired in North Port, including President Laiton, the Silver Moon Mage.
Not only that, as one of the few second-level mages in Beigang, he is also responsible for the support and operation of Beigang's magic shield.
"Five days? That's enough. Tell President Laiton to fully activate the North Harbor's magic shield without worrying about consumption."
Charlotte said.
After hearing what Charlotte said, the noble looked a little hesitant.
Charlotte frowned and repeated:
"Do as I say. Put up all the shields and protect the civilians! If anyone asks, just say it was my order! Even if something goes wrong, I, Castel, will take responsibility!"
The noble hesitated for a moment, nodded his head, and then respectfully left.
Soon, knights rode on their horses and rushed to various magic nodes in North Port, shouting, "The Earl has ordered to deploy all shields to protect civilians!"
Following Charlotte's command, dots of aquamarine light rose from all around North Harbor.
With the Mage Tower as the center and the outer wall fortresses as the base points, magic shields were opened.
After the shield was opened, the bombardment of the Principality Fleet on North Port became noticeably weaker, with fewer stone bullets penetrating the shield and smashing into the city.
Cheers came from all over the city; they were the voices of the people of Beigang.
Apparently, they also recognized the shield deployed over the city.
Not only that, with her keen hearing, Charlotte even heard some residents thanking and praising her.
At the same time, shortly after the shield was opened, Charlotte seemed to see a bit of illusory light flying out from the city and gathering towards her.
Charlotte was surprised as she looked at the star-like light.
She couldn't help but reach out and touch them, and when they merged into her body, Charlotte felt as if her soul had undergone some inexplicable changes...
"Did you... see anything?"
Charlotte glanced at the royal guards following her and couldn't help asking.
The knights looked at each other and shook their heads in confusion.
"Never mind. It's nothing."
Charlotte thought for a moment and gave up asking.
On the other side, among the Bold-Violet coalition forces.
Looking at the magic shield that was completely lit up over North Harbor, Prince Philip sneered and said:
"A woman's kindness that brings about her own destruction!"