The wind and waves on the Hanjiang River are not very big, but the ship still feels a little swaying as it floats on the river.
It wasn’t until Roland brought the bodyguard knights, Giselle brought the phantom shooter, Elvie brought the angel troops, and a large amount of supplies onto the ship that the shaking feeling became much lighter.
Xu Lai did not ride on the flagship Hantan, but although it was not a flagship, it was still a cruiser of the same specifications.
It’s just that the ship he’s on has all standard weapons, unlike the cannons on the Hantan, several of which are enchanted.
Including ammunition, Xu Lai did not name the newly built cruisers one by one. He only named the Hantan as the No. 1 ship, and the subsequent ones were ranked sequentially starting from the No. 2 ship.
The ship Xu Lai was sitting on was the No. 2 ship, and there was no flagship flag or banner.
Why should he command the fleet in a water battle because he can't even swim and will probably die if he sinks into the river?
If he were not reluctant to suffer losses to his own troops, Xu Lai would rather wait and watch from the shore than board the ship.
Cruisers are larger ships than ocean-going gunboats. Of course, they are still smaller versions of those original royal ships in order to be more suitable for traveling on rivers.
Compared with the Hantan, the standard cruiser is slightly smaller, only about a hundred meters long, while the Hantan is over 120 meters long.
The biggest difference between the two sides is the collision angle of the ship's bow.
The collision horn on the cruiser is an all-steel sharp horn fixed to the bow of the ship and about seven or eight meters in length.
The ram on the Hantan has been specially modified and is a double-headed ram that is more than ten meters long.
In addition, the cruiser is only covered with a circle of iron sheets, while the Hantan is covered with a layer of steel plates.
The Hantan is obviously fatter than other cruisers. The Hantan, which is also fully manned, has a deeper draft.
The Hantan, which has a deeper draft, is slightly slower than a standard cruiser even if it uses the power provided by the magic array.
But it just so happened that Xu Lai only brought 1,000 people on the No. 2 cruiser with a standard capacity of 1,200 men, but he brought an additional 300 horses.
300 Holy Light Knights plus 300 horses occupy far more space and weight than 600 people.
Xu Lai's configuration of 1,000 people is considered to exceed the standard, but it has not reached the limit load level, which has a slight impact on the speed.
This huge cruiser has a standard capacity of 1,200 people. If it is actually packed with people, more than 3,000 people can travel.
Even if the speed will be seriously reduced, you can't carry too many supplies and the like, and there are not enough rest cabins, even if you take three shifts to rest.
On the other eight cruisers, in addition to the 200 sailors, the rest are also knights. There are exactly 500 knights and 500 horses on one ship.
Xu Lai brought so many knights with him, so he naturally wanted to go to the other side, but where to get up and down, Xu Lai had not yet decided.
This was his first time boarding a ship. The ocean-going gunboat escorting him next to him, including the sails raised high, was much shorter than the cruiser.
At such a height, Xu Lai could only give up his plan to climb high and look far away.
Sitting in the firmly fixed captain's cabin, even though the cruiser was driving very steadily, Xu Lai always felt like it was shaking.
With his current physique, seasickness should be unlikely to happen again.
But after all, it is the first time to board the ship, there is always a process of adaptation.
It’s uncomfortable to be in the captain’s cabin, let alone climb up to the tall watchtower. It’s estimated that the breeze above is like an 8-magnitude earthquake.
In comparison, Xu Lai would rather let Elvi pick him up when needed.
Even if there is no bonus from the watchtower, it doesn't matter if the line of sight is a little shorter and the image is damaged a little.
Unlike him, the recruited soldiers who were also on board the ship for the first time adapted to the environment on the ship very well.
On the front deck and the rear deck, there are two shooting platforms, one large and one small.
The two platforms are slightly raised above the deck, about 1.2 meters, slightly weaker than the fences on both sides.
On the large platform, 300 phantom shooters have started shooting at the hell flying scouts, the Winged Demons.
Xu Lai integrated the previously trained fifth-level infantry and shooters into the newly established Coast Guard Force.
Especially among them, there are 500 upgraded phantom marksmen.
Naturally, these soldiers were assigned to other battleships by Arvid, but among them, the Phantom Marksman was transferred to his Hantan.
Xu Lai did not raise any objections. Arvid only had the right to mobilize troops. In the final analysis, the ownership still belonged to Xu Lai.
Besides, the Hantan is the flagship responsible for combat layout and command, while Xu Lai only provides specialization and talent bonuses.
In water combat, talent and specialization effects are actually not very useful.
Today is the first time Xu Lai has boarded a ship, but it is not the first time he has witnessed combat.
As early as when Xu Lai ordered the Coast Guard to sail out of Hantan and towards Hanjiang, Hantan and the escort fleet it led had launched an attack on the Hell Army on the other side of the river.
At that time, it was just a patrol team of several hundred people, mainly responsible for patrolling the river to prevent humans from escaping onto the cold river and swimming to the other side.
Hell's patrol team is mainly composed of evil spirits and hell hounds. They have strong melee capture and search capabilities. The disadvantage is that they have no long-range capabilities.
However, this patrol of several hundred people was instantly destroyed by the Coast Guard's large arrow boats and ocean-going gunboats.
Even the Hantan did not fire, and the shooters on the ship did not attack.
Relying only on the ship's own firepower, the patrol of hundreds of people was wiped out in a very short period of time.
At that time, Xu Lai was on the wall of Hantan City and could see clearly.
At this point, the hell army on the opposite side dispatched the Winged Demon.
The winged demons fly extremely high, far beyond the 500-meter projectile range of a fifth-level marksman.
Even in the Coast Guard, there is a level 6 marksman master trained by Arvid, and his hit rate is still impressive.
As for the 500 level 7 phantom marksmen, they were quite certain, but Arvid didn’t want to alert the enemy, so he never let them take action.
Of course, the winged demons did not dare to get too close.
Xu Lai alone sent more than 10,000 shooters into the Coast Guard.
Coupled with the original more than 15,000 shooters, no matter how large the number of winged demons are, they will not dare to approach casually.
Besides, after getting closer, there are more than 10,000 close combat guards on the ship.
The Winged Demon, who has no support and is not good at close combat, will only die faster after boarding the ship.
Fortunately, the Coast Guard led by Arvid only controlled the Hanjiang River, and posed a threat to the area of about 3,400 meters on both sides of the Hanjiang River at most.
In this area, more advanced archers and large arrow ships can make effective attacks.
If it is further away, only the ocean-going gunboats and a few gunboats such as the Hantan can attack.
Although the gunboat has a long range, its hit rate is not very good.
Arvid is a senior general of the navy, and his level is nearly 30. He has several practical water combat buffs, but unfortunately he is not a hero after all.
Arvid can increase the movement speed of the fleet by 15%, the power of surface combat by 20%, and the hit rate of siege weapons by 10%. Finally, there is a water surface and the stamina consumption in the water is reduced by 10%.
They are all very effective buffs, especially the last one, which is also a great help to people who fall into the water.
However, these buffs, a navigation skill and a ballistic skill, can almost completely cover it, and even go beyond it.
However, heroes who are good at water combat mostly appear in the south.
In the Western Empire, senior navy generals like Arvid were already very good.
But even with Arvid's bonus, the firepower of the 10 ocean-going gunships with only bow guns, plus the Hantan, is still not very saturated.
Of course, now that the fleet is fully deployed, 9 more cruisers will be added.
Line them up on the river, and if they are covered with firepower, they won’t look so shabby anymore.
After grasping this information, Hell's patrol team basically hid and patrolled 3,400 meters away from the shore.
The same goes for the Wing Demons. If they shoot at high places, the range will be lower than the standard range, and the hit rate will be even worse.
So hiding at a height of more than 300 meters, there is basically no threat, and you can observe the enemy more clearly.
It's just that in the past, only half of the Coast Guard went out to patrol the river, and the remaining half stayed in the cold pool for training.
Now, even the transport ships have come out, as if they are planning to make some big move.
Hell must leave some demon lords to guard hell. The remaining ones, although they followed the main material world, were also in the war and sacrificed a lot.
There were already several demon heroes who died in Xu Lai's hands, so that after acquiring such a large territory in the Western Empire, there were no longer enough demon heroes.
After all, Cregan will continue to attack the city, and his Burning Legion cannot lack heroes.
Therefore, south of the Han River, even if you are sitting on a boat, you can easily cross countless territories.
In fact, these territories are all led by a demon hero.
Close to the border, Kerrigan did not mobilize his troops, but the demon lords near him, many of whom were mobilized.
In other words, this demon hero basically has to rely on himself, and it is difficult to obtain reinforcements.
Under such circumstances, the navy troops on the opposite side suddenly came out in full force, which naturally attracted the attention of the demon hero.
Therefore, he sent dozens of Winged Demon squads this time, trying to gain a clear insight into all ships and movements in the fleet.
The number of winged demons exceeds a thousand, and they are already worthy of attack.
Arvid gave a direct order, ordering all level 5 and above shooters in the fleet, including the phantom shooters, to shoot with all their strength.
The number of these winged demons increased several times and became more dense.
Secondly, the entire coast guard force was dispatched. There were more than 3,000 level 6 shooters on the fleet alone. With the addition of phantom shooters, the long-range firepower increased several times.
Thirdly, with Xu Lai in charge today, the ultimate archery and the attachment effect of the Angel Alliance alone can nearly double the power of the long-range troops.
Caught off guard, with just the first wave of arrows, all the winged demons in the sky fell down.
Although Phantom Marksman and Phantom Archer do not have the guaranteed hit effect of Phantom Archer, their hit rate is already high.
And as a recruiting unit, although they are not professional water warfare units, they can still stably display their abilities on the water surface shooting platform.
Even if the hit rate is not as good as that on land, the difference is not big. It is just a matter of catching the second wave of arrows before the winged demons have time to close the distance.
The second wave of arrows rained down, the sky became clear, and all the winged demons fell into the water with a splash.
Even if there are still people alive, the injured Winged Demon will basically drown if he falls into the water.
When the winged demons fall into the water and try to get ahead, the sailors on the fleet will raise their clap sticks and smash all the winged demons into the water until they are completely drowned.
The Wing Demon in charge of the investigation was almost wiped out, which immediately caused the demon hero to panic.
If peace is to prevail, this demon hero is definitely not afraid. He even eagerly wants the opposite city lord to bring troops over.
It's just that today is obviously not comparable to usual times.
His troops were not deployed because Kerrigan was on the safe side.
If he loses the land that has been conquered without reducing his troops, you can imagine the consequences waiting for him.
Besides, even if he can't defeat him, he can still call for reinforcements.
If he can't defeat it now, he can only leave it behind. He has already transformed nearly one-third of the empire's land.
Knowing that the enemy was approaching fiercely, the demon hero did not dare to delay and quickly began to assemble his troops.
Even though the big ship can sail across the Hantan River, it is not that easy for it to dock for the soldiers to land.
The ancestors of the Valentine family chose to build the city in Hantan City because there was a deep-water port here that could dock large ships.
Generally speaking, such deep water areas are only in the center of the river and on both sides.
The closer you get to the shore, the deeper the water becomes, making it less suitable for anchoring large boats.
Although the fleet has many flat-bottomed transport ships, they still need a more suitable one with a relatively open entrance and shallow water to land in.
Of course, as a family that has lived by the Hanjiang River for hundreds of years, Arvid knows all the nearby places suitable for landing.
Before Hell had completely changed the terrain, Arvid easily found a suitable location for the army to land.
But this location was also discovered by the hell army watching from the shore.
The ships need to be unloaded one by one, and the siege weapons, arrows and ammunition also need to be transported bit by bit.
Arvid signaled on the flagship and asked Xu Lai if he could find another place to land. He also knew of many landing points far away from the city.
Xu Lai did not hesitate for a moment and directly told Arvid to land at the landing point in front of him.
He wants to have a head-on battle with the hell army.
To be honest, the soldiers of the Western Empire had already been beaten by the hell army and lost their temper.
This can be seen from the fact that after nearly two weeks of training and the blessing of the God of War statue, the morale of the Coast Guard has never been able to break through 90 points.
Moreover, Xu Lai also needed a head-on and hearty battle to calm his complicated heart at this time.
While the large army of demon heroes was still gathering, ten cruisers, including the Hantan, lined up in a row, firing 60 secondary guns.
The secondary guns fire only conventional artillery shells. Although the range is long, the hit rate is still somewhat impressive.
There were not many hell troops stationed at the landing point, only a thousand demons, and a salvo only killed a few dozen unlucky ghosts.
At the same time, a medium-sized transport ship took the lead in approaching the shore. (End of chapter)