The battle wasn't going well. It should be said that not a single person had any optimistic expectations for this battle.
The main strategic target was the docks of the main battlefield, which was currently several dozen meters underwater. The Sea Tribe referred to this area as the Dragon's Graveyard. The blood of the SemiGod Nine-headed Dragon dripped here, and although the remaining dragon blood was highly toxic to ordinary lifeforms, it was still irresistibly attractive to other sea beasts. A large number of giant sea beasts gathered there.
In order to reach the Dragon's Graveyard, the Sea Tribe would have to kill at least ten street blocks of the Sea Tribe. Once the battle reached a stalemate, it was likely that the Sea Tribe's reinforcements would soon arrive.
That was why Dasos and his advisors had done their homework for this battle. Out of the sixty or so previous counterattacks, at least ten of them had chosen to break through the Dragon's Graveyard. This wasn't only for the sake of gathering information and eliminating potential threats, it was also a psychological tactic to numb the Sea Tribe.
"The Dragon's Graveyard is being attacked again? I really don't understand why humans like to attack this place. Who cares what they're doing? Just leave it to the sea beasts to deal with. "
Actually, for the current Sea Tribe, the most important strategic point was their royalty and divine temple. The second most important was their various entertainment facilities. As for the original docks where the sea beasts gathered … Did the Sea Tribe even need boats? They would rather raise pigs … er, sea beasts there.
Out of the previous five attacks, two of them had chosen to break through the Dragon's Graveyard. Perhaps the Sea Tribe's deployment was still quite timely, but the frontline warriors had already sharply discovered that the Sea Tribe's reactions had begun to slow down. At the very least, the reinforcements from other locations had arrived 30% later than before, and the number of reinforcements had decreased by at least half!
Since the Sea Tribe had already become numb to such attacks, it was now time to launch a true counterattack. "Dawn" had arrived.
There was still more than an hour before the warm sunlight would illuminate this world. Right now, most of the Sea Tribe were still in a deep sleep. They would only wake up after nine o 'clock in the morning, and this was the time of the day when they slept the most soundly.
Unlike the pitch-black depths of the sea, the Sea Tribe began to imitate the schedules of other species after feeling the warmth of the sun. However, perhaps from the day when the Sea Tribe believed that they had already achieved victory and arrogantly gave up the initiative in this battle, they were destined to meet such a fate.
As the instigators of the war, the Ottoman Empire did not hesitate to stand at the forefront. In that battle and the civil strife, their main fleet suffered heavy losses. The three major fleets were all scattered, but in this counterattack, the number of warships that participated in the war and the new warships added up to more than thirty heavy warships and a hundred medium warships.
This was the confidence of a mega empire. Once they entered a period of war, a large number of civilian and commercial industries would be converted into military industries. If they couldn't crush them in a single move, their deep foundation of industry would drag any opponent into a hell of a long war.
Obviously, the original battleships wouldn't be able to fight in such an environment. The water here was too shallow, and the water was too complicated. Even in areas with deep drains, a building that was previously on land might become a fatal reef. However, it was impossible to fight against the Sea Tribe in the water without a battleship.
Originally, the Ottoman Empire had fallen into a dilemma. However, after obtaining the technology for floating battleships, they finally came up with a solution. The valuable information from the Northlands had already been spread to every single Ottoman shipyard. All the shipwrights and designers hadn't rested since that day. The Ottoman Empire focused all of its efforts on modifying their own ships.
It was still impossible for the Ottoman Empire to completely float in the air. They would have to design, choose materials, enchant, and assemble the ship bit by bit from the keel. However, it was possible to simply install floating engines, reduce the ship's total weight, and lower the ship's draft.
Perhaps this didn't seem meaningful, but it actually provided a possibility: the bottom of the ship would be fully metalized.
If the ship was lighter, there would be extra buoyancy. Wouldn't it be possible to install heavy armor on the ship? And so, with the help of countless blacksmiths, the thick protective armor was patched on. In order to ensure that the armor would be strong enough to crush a reef without being damaged, the Ottoman Empire madly used precious magical metals. Magical metals were treasures that ordinary adventurers wouldn't even be willing to use to create weapons.
According to the post-war statistics, the magical metals used on the ships had caused the Ottoman Empire's treasury to lose one-fifth of its wealth. That was enough to rebuild the capital of Kagesi.
At a time when ironclad warship technology was still immature and engine technology was still lacking, Auland's shipsmiths had actually combined floating technology and created a half-finished ironclad warship. It was truly a sight to behold.
Unlike their cousins on Earth, ironclad ships here didn't need to worry about the cannons used to defend against other ships. Instead, they needed to worry about the "reefs" that they might encounter at the bottom of the ship.
Once the engine technology was mastered, true heavy ironclad ships would definitely arrive in this era. But for now, these half-finished ironclad ships were more than enough.
Compared to the original ships, they had even more astonishing defensive capabilities. Since they were equipped with an excessive amount of anti-gravity engines, they also had the ability to float in the air for a short period of time. (Dasos: Not enough buoyancy? Then let's build more engines. If they overload and explode, we'll just replace them with new ones. Bring enough workers to the ships. We have mages to provide magic power. We have enough industrial capacity. We have money! Be willful!)
The people of this world weren't stupid. When an intelligent species was pushed to their limits, all sorts of seemingly wonderful modifications would achieve miraculous results that regular armies would never be able to achieve.
Of course, if it wasn't for the fact that the Ottoman Empire's metallurgy, especially the forging of alloys, surpassed all other countries' industrial standards, even if they had such ideas, they wouldn't have been able to achieve them. Alright, the most important thing was that the Ottoman Empire was rich enough. War was a competition of overall national strength. As super rich, the Ottoman Empire could be willful.
In order to cover up the fragile wooden planks that didn't have any armor, and in order to fight at night, these battleships were painted black. In the near future, these black battleships that always brought doom to their enemies would be called "Death Battleships."
This was doubtlessly a trump card. Even during the most dangerous times on the battlefield, even though countless warriors' bodies became meat targets for the Sea Tribe in the water, these modified battleships were still repeatedly modified in their warehouses. They had no intention of being used on the battlefield at all.
"This type of modified battleship can achieve miraculous results the first time it's used on the battlefield … What kind of trump card is this if it can't be used at a critical moment and obtain the strategic key that will determine the outcome of the battle?"
As an emperor, Dasos was obviously incredibly ruthless. And right now, all the sacrifices had been made. This trump card that had been hidden for so long had achieved astonishing results.
Nobody was able to stop this black battleship as it traveled through the night. Their gigantic bodies were incredibly agile, and if they got stuck on a reef, they would be able to float for a short period of time in the air, which was even more inconceivable.
There were no more "reefs" in the water where these heavy battleships passed. In fact, there weren't even any large Sea Tribe members. Their sturdy hulls were more than enough to flatten everything.
When the alarm bells rang, the Sea Tribe members had no idea how to deal with such battleships when they first arrived on the battlefield.
Dig through the bottom of the battleships? The protective deck of the battleship was a combination of magical metal coating and steel plates, which was more than enough to deal with cannons. Although the Sea Giants' rusty anchors managed to pierce through the outer layer of the battleship, they were actually embedded in the battleship and dragged away.
Toss giant waves to drown the Sea Giants? These battleships were far too stable. They were even capable of automatically adjusting the depth of the water. Ordinary Water Mages wouldn't be able to drown these huge iron blocks that could be adjusted by their anti-gravity engines. It would be better to use forbidden spells instead.
Using cannons to attack the weakest parts of the Sea Tribe's upper body? The Sea Tribe didn't have cannons, and the Sea Tribe's mages were actually suppressed by the Sea Tribe's mages, who outnumbered them by more than three to one.
The Ottoman Empire's superiority in metallurgy and smithing was far too obvious. The Ottoman Empire's patented technologies such as full-body alloy armor and exploding magical alloys were the best evidence. The Sea Tribe's magical metal coating was still the Ottoman Empire's best alloy technology. Not to mention the Sea Tribe's cold weapons and hands, even ordinary fifth-circle magic spells would be useless against it.
Both sides had completely different attitudes towards this battle. Naturally, the results would be completely different.
Unfortunately, even though the Sea Tribe and the Sea Tribe were both on the Sea Tribe's side, and even though the Sea Tribe's advance was relatively smooth, they still didn't have much of an advantage in the first half an hour of the battle. Although the Sea Tribe's advance was quite smooth, they didn't have the most anticipated spoils of war – a large number of casualties among the Sea Tribe.
In such a special battlefield, it was impossible for the Sea Tribe to occupy the Sea Tribe's territory. Therefore, the Sea Tribe's first priority was to eliminate the Sea Tribe's forces. However, the result was disappointing. The Sea Tribe didn't have many casualties, and the number of high-level Sea Tribe members who died could be counted on one hand.
The reason? No matter what, it was still the first reason – geographical advantage.
Yes, the Sea Tribe couldn't do anything to the Sea Tribe's huge battleships, but the huge battleships couldn't do anything to the Sea Tribe either!
For the Sea Tribe, as long as they could dive into the deep water and escape far away, what could the huge battleships that had to stay on the surface of the water do to them? The speed of these large pieces of iron was extremely slow.
Attack with cannons? Even the stupidest commander wouldn't make such a decision.
Magic attack? How much magic power could a mage gain from the seawater?
Using a crossbow to shoot a huge harpoon? That would be useful, but the Sea Tribe with high intelligence wouldn't just stand there and watch the enemy attack. As long as the Sea Tribe could keep a distance, the harpoon would be useless.
Send people into the water to chase after the Sea Tribe? This was an excellent idea. To the Sea Tribe … this was a stupid idea that was almost like colluding with the enemy. This was basically giving the Sea Tribe more food. The Sea Tribe had been waiting for the humans to chase after them for far too long!
On the flagship of the Sea Tribe's fleet, the "Evil Shark", Dasos was also secretly anxious. He had considered many situations in his battle simulation, but the Sea Tribe's losses were still less than he had expected. It was possible to achieve the strategic goal of reducing the Sea Tribe's forces. In that case, even if the Sea Tribe conquered the docks, the Sea Tribe's subsequent counterattack would be astonishing.
Not to mention, these modified battleships weren't invincible. As time passed, their weaknesses would also be discovered.
Meanwhile, on the floating battleship in the clouds, Renée and the others were also looking at the battlefield in astonishment.
Perhaps it was because her continuous victories had given her confidence that she didn't think too highly of the Ottoman Empire, which had repeatedly suffered losses at Roland's hands. But today, when she saw these suddenly rising battleships, she finally understood what it meant to be a superpower.
The Donglan Principality was also building battleships. In terms of technology, they were even ahead of the Ottoman Empire. However, there wasn't a single decent shipyard in the entire Donglan Principality. Not only that, their metallurgy and smithing techniques were extremely backward. Otherwise, they wouldn't have forced Roland to use necromancy to build battleships.
But even so, the resources and funds required to build a large battleship were astronomical. Even the maintenance and maintenance costs after it was built weren't cheap. The Aurora Battleship was a living battleship. "Envy" would devour and evolve itself to recover from its injuries, so that it wouldn't drain the entire treasury of Donglan. As for the other few large battleships, Roland didn't even consider building them in Donglan. He directly sent them to the Undead Empire, the Xiluo Empire to build them.
From a blueprint to a real product, countless processes were required. Materials, craftsmanship, manpower, and many other aspects needed to be tackled. Due to the fact that they had the completed battleships, skilled workers, designers, equipment, alright, Roland had obtained an entire industrial chain from the Ottoman Empire, he was able to directly digest this top-notch technology. It was also because of this that the Donglan Empire was still the only country in the world that possessed mature floating battleship technology.
Even if Donglan sold a portion of the technology, it would still take several years for the other countries' floating battleships to reach combat strength. Renée had always treated this as her trump card, and she was vaguely proud of it.
"The White Wolf Knight, whose entire crew is Silver-ranked, is rampaging through the human world? Heh, our Aurora Knight is made up of Gold-ranked soldiers! The Ottoman Empire's alchemy, smithing, and metallurgy are known throughout the world, but they are still unable to overcome the technology of floating battleships. It seems that the Ottoman Empire is nothing. "
But now, the "Death Fleet" had shattered her confidence. Just the potential of this industry, the vast territory, the rich resources, and the huge population was enough to easily crush Donglan.
"Once the two countries go to war …"
As the leader of a country, such assumptions would never be unnecessary. After all, in the interactions between countries, there were only absolute benefits and no absolute friends. There were too many cases of yesterday's allies becoming today's mortal enemies.
For some reason, she recalled the time when she asked Roland why he insisted on rebuilding the industrial system when the country was still troubled by the problems of the people's livelihood. Roland's answer was then.
"It's not that I'm a war maniac and the entire country is preparing for war. It's just that war is unavoidable. What? You're saying that even if we don't have a complete industrial system, we only need the Borealis to win the war? "
"You're underestimating those big countries. Perhaps their single warship's strength isn't enough to deal with our advanced warships, but they only have ten warships while we only have one. They're not afraid of damage, they can just rebuild again. It doesn't matter if their soldiers die, they can just recruit more. What about us? We only have so little assets. Without an industrial system, it means that we lack the ability to produce blood. Without a complete industrial system, we won't be able to deal with a prolonged war. "
"Right now, the Donglan Principality is actually on top of a volcano. It looks beautiful, but it's actually being roasted on top of a volcano. Big countries can lose countless times, but they can afford to lose. As for us, if we take one wrong step, we will never be able to climb out of the abyss. I don't want to gamble with my country. "
At this moment, facing the harsh reality and recalling Roland's seemingly meaningful words, Renée finally saw the difference between Donglan and the big countries in the continent. At least for now, there was no comparison at all.
"And this is only a mega empire …"
Renée wasn't an idiot. The moment she discovered the difference, she adjusted her entire strategy. Then, she discovered Roland's true intention of integrating the entire Northlands.
"The Mist Alliance?"
Indeed, just Donglan alone wouldn't be enough. But if Sleuweir and the other Northlands countries were included, the situation would be different. Roland had always been integrating the Northlands countries economically, politically, and commercially. Actually, he had long since prepared for this.
"Big Brother Roland probably isn't thinking about just that. What else does he intend to do? If it's the Mist Alliance, then the Kasmi Dukedom, which is a vassal of San Antonio, will be too difficult to deal with. And in order to pull out this nail and make San Antonio stop from invading the Northlands, he'll need the support of the other mega empires … "
"No wonder Big Brother Roland not only invited the major countries to the military parade and celebration, he even gave them so many benefits in terms of technology exchange. Right, there's also the envoys from the major countries. Big Brother Roland has always been too lazy to deal with things. He even personally read the letters. "
"The matter of the Northlands dwarves and elves is obviously quite difficult to deal with, but he actually took the initiative to deal with it. There's also the recent diplomatic relations with the Northlands countries. Even though the Mist Alliance's proposal to abolish all tariffs and allow citizens to freely travel to and from the Northlands countries wasn't interested, he actually insisted on negotiating. Also, he's always sending letters to Big Sister Glina. Then, the two countries made a joint political declaration. Although the matter itself isn't that important, it seems to show that they're on the same side. And that matter … just how many things has he done in secret!? "
Roland didn't hide his own actions towards his companions. But now that she was able to understand Roland's strategic plans on her own, Renée was one step closer to becoming a mature leader.
Now that she had a correct understanding of Roland and Donglan's position in the world, as well as their strategic plans, she knew what she needed to do.
"I originally intended to just watch the show and let the Ottoman Empire and the Sea Tribe both suffer heavy losses before taking advantage of the situation. But now, it seems that while this might be fine for me as an individual, it's far too petty for me as a representative of an entire country. What we need now is to prove our strength to the world in a dignified manner, as well as obtain as much support as we can. This will make the Ottoman Empire owe us even more favors and repay us even more in the future. In that case, since the battle has reached a stalemate, it's time for us to break this stalemate and perform on the stage. "
How could adding icing on the cake compare to providing timely assistance? Fence-Sitters would always be annoying. Since she had already made up her mind, what was there to hesitate about?
"Aurora Knight squadron, Silver Cross squadron, move out! Borealis, deploy new weapons. "
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