December 34th, 7pm.
The silver moon hung high in the dark blue sky, casting its silver light upon the world.
This was one of the rare days of calm in the northern seas during winter. The silver moonlight flickered on the calm surface of the sea, as if it were covered in silver phosphorescence.
A spark appeared on the dark coastline in the distance. It should be the light of a torch. Then, the spark spun three times in the air, and then another three times …
"It should be peaceful," Bofinger said. "Sir, I think we can move out."
Even though the weather was good, and it wasn't a day with howling winds and huge waves, winter was still winter. Even though he was wearing winter clothing made from magical beast fur, Lollister still felt that his bones were numb from the cold.
"Let the soldiers drink some wine and warm up their limbs. Don't let them fall into the water like stones. If they fall into the water now, they're done for. I don't want to see any reports of accidental casualties. Begin disembarkation when you're ready. "
"Yes, I'll let everyone prepare before disembarkation. Don't worry, sir. We've already practiced disembarkation many times. Nothing will go wrong, "Bofinger replied, standing at attention.
The order was quickly passed down. The first few large ships began to move horizontally. The sailors hung a large piece of rope net along the hull of the ship, and then began to release flat-bottomed landing boats into the sea.
A few soldiers at the side raised a small leather pouch and drank a few mouthfuls. Lollister could smell the scent of rum. This was to prevent the cold and increase the body's heat. During winter, the Norton Family's armed forces didn't stay in their barracks like other armies. Instead, they often went out for various drills. This was the influence of the magical beast wave from back then. As they got used to winter drills, all sorts of basic knowledge about protection against the cold became common.
The soldiers who went out in winter carried a small leather pouch of rum with them. Drinking a few mouthfuls of rum before a mission not only increased the body's heat, but also allowed them to maintain a warm state for a period of time. This way, their limbs wouldn't be numb from the cold.
The drunk soldiers began to circulate their Combat Aura to move their limbs. After that, they rearranged their weapons and equipment. After confirming that there were no mistakes, they climbed over the side of the ship and climbed down the rope net. Below them, there were many landing boats waiting for them. They would be the first troops of the Monolith Corps to land on Silver Beach.
A few more large ships slowly moved over, dragging a series of large wooden boxes behind them. This was the movable dock. After these large ships dropped their anchors, the craftsmen on the ships would quickly assemble these wooden boxes and build a movable bridge that was over 100 meters long. This would allow the Monolith Corps to smoothly disembark.
It was more difficult to build two movable docks at night than during the day. However, the weather was good today. The waves were calm, and the silver moonlight made everything on the surface of the sea vaguely discernible. It was estimated that it would only take four to five hours to build the two floating bridges. Once the Monolith Legion came ashore, the two pontoon bridges would be fixed to the shore. After the Madras Duchy was destroyed and the Kenneth Family took over the Sydgrad Province, the two pontoon bridges would form a mobile dock. It would be a congratulatory gift from Laurist to Earl Kenneth. This was also a promise Laurist had once made to Earl Kenneth.
To shoot a man, first shoot the horse. To capture the bandits, first capture the king. Lollister had never placed his hopes on defeating the Madras army in one battle and then sweeping the entire duchy. The so-called decisive battle with the Madras Duchy next spring was just a bluff to trick the second prince. What the four Northern Clans wanted was a territory that had not been ravaged by the flames of war.
The second prince's strategy of wiping out the nobles in the Drymsk province and destroying the Madras Duchy's war potential was not wrong. However, even if the Madras Duchy was destroyed, the four Northern Clans would only get a ruined territory. Not only would they not be able to increase the strength of the Northern Clans, they would also need to invest a huge amount of money to restore and rebuild. This was the real reason why the four Northern Clans rejected the second prince's suggestion.
At the end of November, when the Madras Duchy's most elite Seamount Army appeared in the camp opposite the Northern Coalition Army, Lollister knew that the Madras Duchy's nest in the Drymsk province had become an empty shell. His plan of landing at the Silver Beach at the end of December to seize the Drymsk province had an eighty percent chance of success. As long as they could surround the city of Edris, the capital of the province of Cedargrad, and capture the Grand Duke of Madras without letting the news leak out, they could then use the seal of the Grand Duke to go straight to Sith Castle, Vanades City and Kebo City. With these three places in his hands, the fall of the Madras Duchy would be a foregone conclusion.
At this time, the second prince should be waiting for the New Year's banquet in the Archduke's Mansion in Gildusk City under Earl Kenneth's gracious invitation or coercion. Over the past month or so, His Royal Highness had probably been aware of Earl Kenneth's tricks on the oath, so much so that his attitude towards Earl Kenneth had changed from closeness to indifference and anger. On the other hand, Earl Kenneth still maintained his respect for the second prince, talking and laughing as if nothing had happened. No matter how angry the second prince was, he could not hate him.
The corner of Lollister's mouth turned up into a smile. It was his idea to let Earl Kenneth deal with the second prince, but he did not expect that under Earl Kenneth's instigation, the second prince would jump into the trap so easily. The second prince could only blame himself for thinking too highly of himself. Of the four great families in the north, he was only concerned and wary of the Norton family. In the end, under the flowery words of Earl Kenneth, who was born a merchant, he suffered a huge setback.
Perhaps at the beginning of spring next year, when the Second Prince looked forward to the decisive battle between the Northern Coalition Army and the Madras Archduke, he would realize that the entire Madras Principality had fallen into the hands of the Northern Four Great Families. At that time, the Second Prince would realize that he had been fooled. Without the flames of war, His Royal Highness would not be able to fish in troubled waters. As long as His Royal Highness did not recruit troops to form a new White Lion Legion, he would not be able to conquer Queen Kerry of the Andinac Kingdom. Then the second prince could only rely on the whims of the four families in the north and pray for Lollister to send troops to the Andinac Kingdom so that he could regain the throne …
The plan to land on the Silver Beach at the end of the year to attack the Madras Duchy's lair was not known to the three allies. It was to prevent it from being leaked. According to the plan, the Norton Family should send out the Flying Tiger Legion and reach the lower reaches of the Mitobro River next spring. They would then cross the pontoon bridge to the main camp and prepare for the decisive battle with the Madras Duchy. However, Lollister would still send out the Flying Tiger Legion next spring, but not to deal with the Madras Duchy, but to conquer the usurping Queen Kerry of the Andinac Kingdom.
"Sir, the first batch of soldiers have successfully landed. Now the sailors are pulling the boats back …" Bofinger reported.
This was the narrowest part of the Silver Beach. The distance from the boat to the beach was only about a hundred meters. Turning his attention to the beach, Laurist saw a hundred or so landing punts being hauled back by a rope tied to the stern by the seamen of the ship. The punts were empty save for a man at the helm.
Lollister remembered that he had designed three horizontal balancing plates for landing boats, but it was later rejected by a few shipbuilders in the shipyard. They redesigned the gondola and changed it to the current one with a square bow and a round stern. Not only did it increase the number of people landing, but it also made it easier to maintain balance. The only difference was that a sailor would be added to the stern to steer the gondola.
"Sir, I'm back."
A figure suddenly appeared on the boat that was being pulled back to the side of the ship to wait for the next batch of people to land. He quickly climbed up the boat using the hanging rope net and spoke to Lollister.
The one who spoke was Aire. He was the leader of the first batch of soldiers who went ashore to scout.
"What happened to those fishermen who were fishing in the shallow waters during the day? Why did we have to wait until dark before we could land? "Lollister asked.
The planned landing was supposed to be during the day, but the Flying Fish of the Kingdom of Dawn discovered that there were four to five small fishing boats fishing in the shallow waters of the Silver Beach during the winter. This was absurd. It was winter now, and there were only three to four days of good weather. No one had expected such an unexpected situation. Lollister had no choice but to wait until evening before leading the fleet to Silver Beach and changing the landing time to night.
"Sir, those are the people from the Black Pearl Merchant Guild. Their fishing grounds and salt fields are at the southernmost part of Silver Beach behind the tidal flats. They are currently under our control. According to the captives, they are fishing during the day to provide the freshest seafood for the welcoming banquet tomorrow night. It is the same every year, "Aire replied.
Lollister knew about the Black Pearl Merchant Guild. It was the largest merchant guild in the Madras Principality, and it was said that the Duke of Madras was the biggest shareholder behind the scenes. The Black Pearl Merchant Guild monopolized the seafood and salt in the Madras Principality. The sale of snow salt that Earl Kenneth was in charge of was boycotted by the Black Pearl Merchant Guild in the Madras Principality. The quality of the salt they boiled from seawater was extremely low and expensive, but it could be sold throughout the Principality.
In addition, the Black Pearl Merchant Guild built small fishing boats to fish in the shallow waters and collect seafood such as kelp and seashells to sell to the four central countries. This was one of the few specialties of the Cedargrad province. Who would have thought that they would have to provide the freshest seafood for the Duke of Madras' welcoming banquet? It was quite difficult for them to go out to sea in the winter.
Lollister looked at the two movable pontoons made of large wooden boxes. They were only a dozen or so meters long. Forget it, who knew how long it would take for the two pontoons to be completed.
He turned to Bofinger and said, "Bofinger, I will go ashore on a landing boat. You will command from here."
Bofinger was startled. "Sir, why don't you go to the cabin and rest for a while? It won't be too late to go ashore after the pontoons are completed. It will be safer that way. After all, it won't be very clear on the landing boat. It will be very crowded, and it will be bad if something happens. "
Lollister smiled. "It's fine. I will bring a few guards over first. You heard what Aire said just now, right? I will go and interrogate him in detail. Perhaps more of us will be able to sneak into Edris City. "
Lollister had made up his mind, and Bofinger had no choice but to leave a landing boat for Lollister and his guards to board. As the leader of Lollister's guards, Aire boarded the landing boat again.
In order to show his courage as a soldier, Lollister picked up a paddle board to paddle with the soldiers. When the landing boat left the sea and started paddling, Lollister realized that the feeling was too refreshing. The splash of seawater from the paddle board was bone-chilling, and his entire body was trembling. His hands were stiff and numb from the cold, and he could only repeat the mechanical paddle movements, hoping to reach the shore as soon as possible.
The closer they were to the beach, the more ice there was in the seawater. When Lollister saw the beach, he realized that he had overlooked the most important thing. Snow was flying everywhere in winter, and Silver Beach was not a frozen beach like he had imagined. Instead, it had turned into a thick snowfield. The beach was covered in a thick layer of snow, and some of the snow had already frozen into murky ice cubes at the interface between the beach and the seawater.
The square-shaped landing boat's bow leaned against the ice, and the heavy impact caused the ice and snow to fall into the sea. A family soldier rushed over from the shore and grabbed the rope at the bow of the boat. He pulled hard as he turned around and yelled, "Hurry up and get on the shore. Walk softly, and don't stomp on the ice and snow. If you want to warm up, go over there and drink a few mouthfuls of water before moving your limbs."
"Uh, Sir, it's you …" The soldier suddenly realized that it was Lollister and his guards on the boat.
Lollister tapped the boat with the tip of his foot and lightly leaped onto the shore. He patted the soldier's shoulder and said, "Well done, but why can't we stomp on the ice and snow?"
"Oh, Sir, it's like this. A few of the soldiers who landed for the first time stomped their feet by the side of the boat to warm up, but they realized that the ice and snow weren't on the beach, but on the surface of the sea. They stomped their feet, and the layer of ice cracked, and everyone on the boat fell into the water … "the soldier answered.
Lollister's heart tightened. "What happened to those who fell into the water?"
"They're fine, Sir." The soldier laughed. "Those unlucky bastards all fell into the water, but the water only reached their thighs. It wasn't deep. After they were pulled up, Sir Paciko ordered them to take off their clothes and warm themselves by the fire. They drank some wine and smeared oil on their faces before circulating their combat energy to warm up their bodies. They'll be fine after their wet clothes dry. Those fellows were still jumping around the fire with their butts bare. What a joke … "
Lollister relaxed and laughed as well. It was quite funny to think of a bunch of naked men running around a fire. However, he still had to thank that this was a world of combat energy. Without it, these people would have lost half their lives by now. Falling into the water in a climate that was as cold as negative twenty to thirty degrees Celsius was a tragedy. Fortunately, these soldiers of the Monolith Corps had at least Bronze-rank combat energy. Their physiques were much stronger than the military superhumans he remembered from his previous life.
Ever since Knight Paciko had reached the Gold-rank, he had been transferred to the Monolith Corps. Lollister was at ease having him as the commander of the first batch of soldiers to land. Soon, Lollister saw Knight Paciko running towards him.
"Sir, why are you here?" Knight Paciko saluted in front of Lollister.
"Yes, I'll go first. Aire and the others have captured the people from the south fishery and the saltworks. I'll go take a look and ask about the situation in Alice City. How many people have landed? "
"Sir, there's half a battalion," Knight Paciko replied.
"Yes, although the Silver Beach is still a day's journey from Alice City, and it's covered in snow, we still have to be careful. Send a fully equipped battalion to occupy that small hill in the distance. That's the only high point in the vicinity. Once we have it, we can monitor the surrounding situation. Once everyone is ashore, we'll set off for Alice City together, "Lollister said as he pointed to a snow-covered hill in the distance.
"Yes, sir. I'll send someone immediately," Knight Paciko replied.
"Alright, Aire, let's go take a look at the fishery and the saltworks," Lollister said to Aire.
"Yes, sir. It's over there. We have to cross the beach, "Aire said.
…
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