December 34th, seven o'clock in the evening.
The silver moon hangs coldly high in the dark blue sky, casting silver light towards the world.
These are the few good days with calm waves that are rare in the northern seas in winter. The silver moonlight shone on the still overflowing sea, as if covered with countless pieces of silver phosphorous.
A spark appeared on the dark coastline in the distance, it should be the light of a torch, and then the spark circled three times in mid-air, and then circled three times after a while...
"It should be all right," said Baldfinger. "My lord, I think it's time to act."
Even though the weather was fine and it wasn't a day with strong winds and huge waves, winter was winter after all. Even though he was wearing a winter jacket made of monster fur, Lorist still felt that his bones were almost numb on the boat.
"Let the soldiers drink two sips of wine, move their hands and feet, don't freeze and numb like a stone and throw them into the water. At this time, they will be finished if they fall into the water. I don't want to see any accidental casualty reports. When you are ready, start landing. "
"Yes, I will let everyone prepare for the landing. Please rest assured, we have conducted many landing drills, and nothing will happen." Bodfinger replied at attention.
The order was quickly conveyed, and the first few large ships began to turn sideways. The sailors hung a large piece of rope net along the hull, and then began to lower the flat-bottomed landing boats into the sea one after another.
A few soldiers nearby took a few sips from a small leather bag, and Lorist smelled the smell of rum. This is also to prevent the cold from adding heat to the body. In winter, the Norton family's armed forces did not stay in the barracks like other armies, but often dispatched to hold various exercises. This was the impact of the Warcraft tide on the Norton family's armed forces. With the habit of winter drills, various small knowledge of cold protection has also become familiar and popularized.
Soldiers dispatched in winter carry a small bag of rum with them, which has become an official plan configuration. Drinking two sips of rum before taking action and then running fighting energy can not only increase body heat, but also keep people warm for a period of time. So that the hands and feet will not be numb due to the cold weather.
The soldiers who had drunk began to exercise their grudges, moved their hands and feet, and then arranged the weapons and equipment on their lower bodies again. After confirming that there were no omissions, they turned over the side of the ship, grabbed the rope net and climbed down. The landing boats below were waiting for them. arrive. They will be the first vanguard of the Rock Legion to land on Silver Beach.
Several large ships slowly moved over. They all dragged a series of large wooden boxes behind them. This is a movable dock. When these large ships anchor, the craftsmen on board will quickly Combine these large wooden boxes floating on the sea to build a movable trestle bridge more than 100 meters long through the shallow sea reef area, so that the unicycle steel crossbow corps of the Rock Legion can land smoothly ashore.
It is more difficult to build two movable piers at night than during the day, but the weather today is very good, the waves are calm and there are no big waves, and the silver moonlight makes everything on the sea faintly discernible. It is estimated that it will only cost four or five Two pontoon bridges can be built in an hour. When the Rock Legion comes ashore, the two pontoon bridges will be gathered and fixed along the coast, and when the Kenmes family takes control of West Degrad after the Principality of Madras is destroyed, the two pontoon bridges will form a movable dock As a celebratory gift from Lorist to Earl Kenmes, this was also the promise Lorist had made to Earl Kenmes.
When shooting a man, shoot a horse first, and when capturing a thief, first capture the king. Lorist never pinned his hopes on defeating the army of the Principality of Madras in World War I and then sweeping the entire Principality. The so-called decisive battle with the Duke of Madras in the spring of next year is just a way of fooling His Highness the Second. What the four major northern families want is a complete territory that has not been ravaged by war.
The strategy of destroying the war potential of the Principality of Madras is not wrong, as His Highness said, sweeping away the nobles in the province of Dremke, but it is just that if the Principality of Madras is destroyed in that way, the four major families of the Northland will gain It is just a crippled site, which not only cannot increase the strength of the family, but also requires the family to invest a huge amount of money in restoration and reconstruction. This is the real reason why the four major families rejected the proposal of the Second Highness.
When the most elite Seamount Legion of the Principality of Madras appeared in the camp opposite the Northern Allied Forces at the end of November, Lorist knew that West Degrad Province, the old home of the Grand Duke of Madras, had become an empty shelf. The plan I prepared to land on Silver Beach at the end of December to seize West Degrad Province is 80% sure of success. As long as they landed and surrounded Edris, the capital of West Degrad without anyone noticing, captured the Grand Duke of Madras, and kept the news from leaking, then he could go straight to Sith Castle with the Duke's seal, and Vannad Sicheng and Kebocheng. The acquisition of these three places means that the demise of the Principality of Madras is a foregone conclusion.
At this time, His Royal Highness should stay in the Grand Duke's Mansion in Gildusk City under the kind invitation or coercion of Earl Kenmes to wait for the New Year banquet. Over the past month or so, the Second Highness has probably understood Earl Kenmes' tricks in the oath, so that his attitude towards Earl Kenmes has changed from closeness to avoidance, indifference and anger. On the contrary, Earl Kenmes still maintained his respect for His Royal Highness, talking and laughing freely as if nothing had happened, so that His Royal Highness could not hate him personally even if he was angry again.
The corners of Lorist's mouth turned up, revealing a slight smile. It was his idea to ask Earl Kenmes to deal with the Second Highness, but he did not expect that under the instigation of Earl Kenmes, the Second Highness jumped into the pit so easily. If you want to blame, you can only blame the Second Highness for thinking too highly of himself. The four major families in the Northland, he fears and pays attention to the Norton family. As a result, under the rhetoric of Earl Kenmes, who was born as a businessman, There was a big somersault.
Perhaps when the Second Highness looks forward to the decisive battle between the Northland Allied Forces and the Grand Duke of Madras in the spring of next year, he will find that the entire Principality of Madras has fallen into the hands of the four major families of the Northland. It was only when His Highness the Second realized that he had really been fooled. Without the blazing battlefield, the Second Highness would not be able to fish in troubled waters. As long as the Second Highness did not recruit troops to form a new White Lion Legion, he would not be able to conquer the current Queen Kerry of the Kingdom of Antinac. Then His Royal Highness can only rely on the breath of the four major families in the North to live, and pray that Lorist will send troops to the Antinac Kingdom as soon as possible so that he can regain the throne...
Even the three allies were not aware of the plan to land on Silver Beach and attack the Grand Duke of Madras' lair at the end of the year, just to prevent it from leaking out. According to the plan, the Norton family should send out the Flying Tiger Legion to arrive at the lower reaches of the Midoburo River in the spring of next year, and arrive at the camp via the pontoon bridge to prepare for the decisive battle with the Principality of Madras. However, in the spring of next year, Lorist will still dispatch the Flying Tiger Legion, just not to deal with the Principality of Madras, but to conquer Queen Kerry, who usurped the throne of the Kingdom of Antinac.
"My lord, the first batch of soldiers who landed have successfully disembarked, and now the sailors are pulling the boat back..." Bodfinger reported.
This is the narrowest section of shallow sea on Baiyin Beach, and the distance from the sea boat to the beach is only more than 100 meters. Lorist regained his senses and looked towards the beach. Hundreds of flat-bottomed boats that landed were being pulled back by a cable tied to the stern by the sailors on the sea boat. The boat was empty except for one sailor at the helm. .
Lorist remembered that he had previously designed three horizontal balance boards for the flat-bottomed boats that landed, but it was later rejected by several shipbuilders in the shipyard. They redesigned the flat-bottomed boat for landing, and changed it to the current landing flat-bottomed boat with a square bow at the front and a round tail, which not only increases the number of people landing, but also makes it easier to maintain balance. Just a sailor at the helm.
"My lord, I'm back."
Pulled back to the ship and waiting for the next batch of landing personnel, another figure suddenly appeared on the flat-bottomed boat. He quickly climbed onto the boat along the hanging rope net, and opened his mouth at Lorist's side.
It was El who spoke, and he was the leader of the first batch of guards who came ashore for reconnaissance.
"What happened to those fishermen who were fishing in the shallow sea during the day? We had to wait until dark before landing?" Lorist asked.
The planned landing was originally during the daytime, but unexpectedly, Chenxi's Flying Fish discovered that there were four or five small fishing boats fishing in the shallow sea of Baiyin Beach in winter like this. This is really a ghost, it's winter now, just three or four days of good weather and fishermen going out to sea for adventure, it's really an unexpected situation that no one thought of. Lorist had no choice but to wait until evening before leading the fleet to Silver Beach, and changed the landing time to night.
"My lord, those are members of the Black Pearl Chamber of Commerce. Their fishing grounds and salt farms are located behind the southernmost tidal flats of Baiyin Beach. They are currently under the control of our people. According to those captives, they go fishing during the day in order to prepare for the future tomorrow." In the evening, the welcome banquet held by the Grand Duke's Mansion provides the freshest seafood, which is the case every year." El replied.
The Black Pearl Chamber of Commerce, as Lorist knew, was the largest chamber of commerce in the Principality of Madras, and it was said that the Grand Duke of Madras was its biggest shareholder behind the scenes. The Black Pearl Chamber of Commerce has monopolized the seafood and salt goods of the Principality of Madras. The sale of snow salt that Earl Kenmes was in charge of was boycotted in the Principality of Madras because of this Chamber of Commerce. The salt they boiled with seawater was of extremely low quality and very expensive, but it could be sold throughout the Principality.
In addition, the Black Pearl Chamber of Commerce also built small fishing boats to fish in shallow waters, collecting kelp and seashells and other seafood for sale to Chubu Shikoku. This is also one of the few specialties of West Degrad Province. Unexpectedly, they would also provide the freshest seafood for the welcome banquet of the Grand Duke of Madras, and it would be difficult for them to go to sea in winter.
Lorist looked at the two movable pontoons built with large wooden boxes, and they were only connected to a length of more than ten meters. Forget it, I don't know when the two pontoons are built.
Turning around, he said to Baldfinger, "Borg, I'll go ashore first, and you'll be in command here."
Bodfinger was taken aback: "My lord, why don't you go to the cabin to rest first, and then go ashore after the pontoon bridge is built, that's safer. After all, you can't see clearly on the landing boat. If something happens to the crowd Things are not going well."
Lorist smiled: "It's okay, I'll take a few guards there first. You heard what El just said, right? I'm going to go and interrogate carefully, maybe more of us can sneak into Ed's place." Liz City."
Lorist made up his mind that there was nothing Bodfinger could do, so he had to order a landing boat to be left for Lorist and the guards to go up, and El, as the leader of Lorist's guards, boarded the landing boat again.
In order to show the courage to take the lead and land with the soldiers, Lorist took the initiative to pick up a paddle board. When the landing ship left the sea and started paddling, Lorist realized that the taste was really sour. , the feeling of being splashed by the sea water splashed by the paddle board on the face is so cold that the whole body trembles, and the paddling hands are frozen stiff and numb. Looking forward to landing soon.
The closer you get to the beach, the more ice there is in the sea. When Lorist saw the beach, he realized that he had overlooked the most important point. It was snowing heavily in winter, and Silver Beach was not the frozen beach he thought it was. It became a thick snowfield, the beach was covered with thick snow, and some of the snow at the junction with the sea had frozen into turbid ice.
The square bow of the landing ship leaned against the ice and snow, and the heavy impact made the ice and snow fall into the sea. A family soldier rushed to the shore, grabbed the rope on the bow of the boat, pulled it hard, and shouted back: "Go ashore quickly, take your steps lightly, don't stomp your feet on the ice and snow, warm up and go over there for a few drinks." Then move your hands and feet."
"Uh, my lord, it's you..." The soldier suddenly found Lorist and the guards on board.
Lorist touched the ship's plank with his toes, lightly jumped onto the shore, and patted the soldier on the shoulder: "Very well done, but why can't you stamp your feet on the ice and snow?"
"Oh, my lord, it's like this. Some of the soldiers who landed for the first time stomped their feet beside the boat to keep warm, only to find that the ice and snow were not a sandy beach, but had frozen into a large piece on the sea surface. As a result, they As soon as I stamped my feet, the ice cracked, and all the people in that boat fell into the water..." The soldier replied.
Lorist's heart tightened: "What about those who fell into the water?"
"It's okay, my lord." The soldier smiled there: "The group of unlucky people all fell into the water, but the sea water reached their thighs, and it was not deep. After being pulled up, Lord Pachico ordered them to take off their clothes and warm up over there. , and drank wine, rubbed oil, and moved the body. After the wet clothes are dried and put on, it will be fine. Just now, those guys were jumping around beside the fire with their buttocks naked, making us laugh to death... "
Lorist felt relieved and also laughed. It's ridiculous to think of a bunch of naked old men circling around a fire. But I have to be thankful that this is a world of vindictiveness. If there were no vindictiveness, these people would have lost half of their lives. It would be a tragedy to fall into the water in a climate as cold as minus 20 to 30 degrees. Fortunately, the soldiers of these Panshi Legion are at least above the Bronze rank, and their physical fitness is much stronger than the supermen in the army that I remember in my previous life.
Since Knight Pachico was promoted to the Golden Rank, he was transferred to the Rock Legion. Lorist, the commander of the first batch of landing soldiers, felt relieved. Soon Lorist saw Knight Pachico running towards him.
"My lord, why are you here?" Knight Pachico stood at attention in front of Lorist and saluted.
"Well, let's take a step ahead. El and the others have captured people from the fishing ground and salt field in the south. I'll go and have a look and ask about the situation in Alice City. How many people have landed?"
"My lord, there is a battalion and a half." Knight Pachico replied.
"Well, although Silver Beach is still a day's journey away from Alice City, and it is covered with heavy snow, we must be more cautious. You let a fully equipped battalion occupy the small hill in the distance, that is This is the only commanding height in the vicinity, and if you master it, you can monitor the surrounding situation. After everyone lands immediately, we will set off for Alice City together." Lorist pointed to a snow-covered hill in the distance and said.
"Yes, my lord, I will send someone right away." Knight Pachiko replied.
"Okay, El, let's go to the fishing ground and salt field now." Lorist said to El.
"Yes, my lord, it's over there. We've got to go across this beach," said Al.
…