The High Elf fleet was caught off guard. The entire fleet was still in motion, and the sailors quickly reported back.
Warlord Tyrion had his eyes on Admiral Aisling. Although Tyrion was a peerless warrior from Kosque, no one among the High Elves could rival Aisling in naval warfare.
Aisling, wearing a gold helmet with fin-like decorations and a pointed crest, sat calmly on the upper deck of the four-tier giant ship Mathrillon. Despite being shocked by the appearance of undead pirates and Dark Elf navy, his vast experience and commanding skills kept him calm. He quickly assessed the situation and nodded, saying, "As expected of our cousins."
"What should we do now, Admiral?" Tyrion, lacking expertise in naval battles, had to ask Aisling.
"Signal all ships to halt! Lower the sails!" Aisling ignored Tyrion's question and ordered the sailors directly. "Stop all ships, prepare to face the enemy! Also, don't attempt to turn the ships around—face them directly with the broadsides!"
"Yes, sir!" High Elf sailors quickly signaled with flags, while Aisling issued a second command: "Adjust the angle of the ballistae and aim at the enemy!"
"Yes, sir!" The Lothern Sea Guards immediately began aligning the eagle-claw ballistae toward the advancing enemy, loading the ammunition.
The bell rang out with a steady rhythm as Mathrillon prepared for battle.
The entire ship bustled like a spinning top as everyone sprang into action.
"Aisling!" Tyrion shouted, out of place amidst the organized chaos, calling out Aisling's name. "Tell me your plan—now!"
"The enemy intends to cut through our middle!" The admiral shouted back at Tyrion, loud enough to be heard over the noise. "Look, the enemy fleet is advancing in two columns! If we continue forward, we'll be sliced in half, unable to protect both our vanguard and rearguard!"
"Then we should group together and face them head-on!" Tyrion suggested, pointing to the map. "Look, we're at a disadvantage with the wind—they have a full sail from above! Stopping the fleet in this situation is a grave error!"
"It's too late to turn around, Warlord." Aisling tried to explain his strategy to Tyrion, "We're downwind—downwind! If we attempt to turn, it would take at least an hour and disrupt our entire battle line. By the time the enemy attacks, we'll be doomed!"
"Then the fleet should continue moving forward!"
"I told you, if we do, we'll surely lose!"
"Then what now?" Tyrion raised his telescope, spotting the distant silhouettes of the combined Dark Elf and Undead fleet.
"Turn broadside and use our side cannons on them!" Aisling coolly assessed. "The enemy's two columns are charging straight at us, meaning they can only fire from their front. By firing from our broadsides, we'll have the firepower advantage! Then prepare for boarding combat!"
"Very well, let them come!" Tyrion accepted Aisling's proposal, clutching his sword. The Warlord looked once more at the approaching enemy ships.
Under the clear, sunny sky, sunlight reflected brightly off the ocean as elven sailors shouted, "Prepare the ammunition!"
"Ready!"
In the distance, two undead battleships—The Bat and The Crown—charged forward.
Far behind them, Ryan and Fogen's ironclad ships, Enterprise and Saint Sophia, were forced to halt, affected by the High Elf fleet's sudden stop, thus delaying their advance.
"The High Elves are signaling: the enemy is coming! Prepare for battle!" shouted the sailors from Bordeleaux to Ryan standing on the bridge.
"Follow the High Elves' lead! Prepare for battle!" Ryan commanded. "Signal Fogen as well!"
"Aye!"
"Artillery, advance forward!" Thorgrin shouted energetically, wielding a rune-engraved dwarf shotgun as the dwarven engineers aboard Enterprise sprinted into action.
Around 10 a.m., the undead battleship The Bat, from a distance of two kilometers, fired the first cannonball at the outermost High Elf battleship, Princess Diamond.
"Boom!" Dozens of undead sailors dragged the corroded cannon to the bow and, at their captain's orders, fired their rusty iron projectile, splashing water about 80 meters from Princess Diamond.
"Fire!" The High Elves retaliated. Dozens of eagle-claw ballistae on Princess Diamond aimed at The Bat, loaded with powerful stone projectiles.
"Left side, load!" ordered the High Elf captain.
"Left side, load!"
Dozens of stone rounds flew through the air, whistling toward The Bat, splashing water about 100 to 200 meters ahead of the ship.
"Fire!" One command after another echoed as over thirty High Elf warships began targeting the lead ships in the undead columns, filling the sky with a downpour of stone shots.
The sounds of gears turning, shouting, stomping on decks, roaring cannons, and crashing waves created a breathtaking scene.
Despite the low hit rate, the lead undead ships, The Bat and The Crown, bore the brunt of the High Elves' concentrated fire, taking repeated hits. The Bat's captain, standing coldly on the deck, ignored the volleys of arrows and stone projectiles flying past, commanding, "Hurry! Faster, follow the wind!"
"Swoosh!" A stone round whizzed past, shattering the head of his first mate, but the undead captain continued issuing commands, "Raise the main sail!"
Dozens of undead sailors hoisted the sail as another stone round struck, blowing apart a section of the railing and splintering the rotten deck with moss-covered wood and scattering undead parts, but the captain remained unmoved, calling, "Forward! Full speed ahead!"
Despite relentless long-range bombardment, the undead warships pressed on. Two columns of over thirty undead battleships formed a massive six-kilometer line, charging toward the High Elf fleet like twin sea dragons.
Braving the High Elves' firepower, The Bat forced its way between Princess Diamond and Belle, finally showing its true form.
Cannon hatches opened on both sides as undead pirates prepared their cannons below deck. Above, undead riflemen took cover behind the ship's battered sides, loading their firearms.
"Wait!" ordered The Bat's captain.
The undead pirates halted, waiting.
The distance grew shorter, with the High Elves' ballistae and stone rounds battering The Bat, yet the undead ship remained upright.
This was the nature of the undead—neither broken limbs nor shattered bodies could easily disrupt them. So long as the ship was not completely sunk, it maintained combat power.
Closer, closer still!
"Fire!" At last, as The Bat wedged itself between the High Elven ships at a hundred meters, its captain roared, "Fire!"
Undead pirates lit the fuses, and dozens of cannons erupted, their rounds whistling toward the High Elven giants.
"Boom!" The aft cabin of one High Elven ship was punctured, spraying wood and sand everywhere.
"Boom!" Another round obliterated a railing, sending two High Elven archers flying into the air.
"Boom!" A cannonball struck a High Elf sailor turning a winch, hurling him into the sea amid his screams.
"Boom!" One eagle-claw ballista exploded, flinging the operator across the deck as he clutched his leg in agony.
"Fire!" Undead riflemen emerged from behind the railing, aiming at the High Elves. Yet their accuracy was poor, and the High Elven archers swiftly retaliated, piercing the undead in return fire.
"Deck cannons!" ordered the undead captain.
"Deck cannons!" replied the High Elf captain, unfazed by their foes. Under his command, the High Elves loaded fresh scattershot into the eagle-claw ballistae and fired in unison.
The result was devastating at close range. Scattershot and arrow volleys swallowed the undead, obliterating the remaining cannon operators.
The Bat suffered severe damage, finding itself surrounded by enemy ships. After enduring more than twenty minutes of bombardment, it was reduced to a hollow shell and was finally sunk under concentrated High Elf fire.
After The Bat was destroyed, The Crown likewise forced its way between two High Elven warships, Unyielding and Fearless, bombarding both ships with relentless cannon fire. In retaliation, the High Elves fired back, and The Crown's masts were completely shattered. Its undead crew fell one by one, cut down by elven archers or pierced by ballista bolts.
About fifteen minutes after The Bat sank, The Crown met the same fate.
Despite this, undead battleships continued to press on in two columns, using their broadsides to target the High Elves from both ends of the line. Every enemy ship suffered under their continuous concentrated fire.
While the undead fleet suffered heavy losses—the first ten battleships that charged forward were either sunk or disabled—the High Elves also paid a heavy price, losing four of their great ships, with another four severely damaged.
The battlefield was a sea of smoke and debris.
"Roar~~ Howl~~" The sound of dragon roars spread over the ocean as High Elf dragons took to the air.
Two 20-meter-long solar dragons soared through the sky, entering the battlefield under the High
Elves' command. With wings spread wide, they glided down through the smoke-filled sky.
Their target was the undead battleship Cruel Reaper.
Two streams of bright red flame poured from the dragons' mouths, engulfing the undead captain of Cruel Reaper before he could react, turning him into a smoldering pile of charred remains.
However, their display of power was cut short when a dozen manticore creatures with wings ascended, clashing with the dragons high above.
Meanwhile, on the three-kilometer-long undead flagship Bloody Marauder, Count Noctelras held his halberd, speaking to Lokh'shia. "I miscalculated. The High Elves didn't fall for the trap—they kept their formation and didn't attempt to turn."
"But our plan is still working," gloated the corrupted heart of Lord Kraken. The roar of cannons, the vast ocean, and advancing fleets filled his twisted soul with joy—perhaps only surpassed by slaughter and pillaging. "Now it's our turn. Forward, Druchii!"
"For Naggaroth, for the Witch Queen and the Witch King, and for the Bloody Hand of Khaine!"
After the undead fleet broke through the High Elf formation, the Dark Elf fleet advanced, with the Black Ark Tower of Godsworn Sin leading the charge.
"There is only one target—High Admiral Aisling and Warlord Tyrion. I'll present their heads to the Witch King." Grinning, Lokh'shia twisted his twin blades and left Bloody Marauder.
Ah, a true Druchii day! Nothing excited a Druchii more than slaughter and excess.
On the other side, Enterprise and Saint Sophia struggled to break through the halted High Elf line, finally managing to enter the fray.
An hour and twenty minutes into the battle, Saint Sophia reached the battle zone. Ash Legion's Chief Engineer Jerick Grim commanded, "Load!"
"Load!" The soldiers pushed the cannons forward, loading the ammunition.
Their target was the undead first-rate battleship Ghoul King.
"Fire!" Saint Sophia unleashed its first volley, but the dual-cannon and dwarf cannons all missed.
Likewise, Ghoul King's return fire missed as well.
The two ships closed in, Ghoul King maintaining broadside distance and unleashing another volley, which splashed harmlessly into the sea.
Standing on the bridge, Fogen laughed, "Don't waste ammo. Fire at close range!"
Finally, within range, they fired.
"Boom!" At close range, Saint Sophia's cannons fired simultaneously, blasting apart half of Ghoul King, with skeletons and wooden shards scattering everywhere, the hull riddled with gaping holes.
Inside one of those holes, a massive Queen Bess cannon with an 800mm black muzzle emerged.
"Fire!"
"Boom!" The Queen Bess cannon fired, punching through the armor of Saint Sophia with a deafening blast, leaving a gaping hole.
The ship tilted slightly as Fogen and his companions stumbled. Before they could react, a Skaven undead leviathan battleship rose directly from the depths, targeting Fogen's bridge with a barrage of warp lightning cannons.
"Break the metal! Break-break! Filth-filth, die-die!"
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