“Rumble rumble rumble rumble…”
The earth-shattering explosions continued.
Nearly twenty million jin of crude oil, enough to almost cover the entire pirate harbour.
Across nearly two hundred square kilometres of sea surface, every spot was ablaze with roaring flames. It was as if the entire ocean had been completely set alight.
Apart from the over ten million jin of crude oil, there were also more than a thousand ships on the sea, all of them wooden vessels.
In this heaven-shaking inferno, not a single ship was spared, and they were all soon completely engulfed.
Originally, seawater could have been used to extinguish the flames.
But now, the entire sea surface was burning. Scooping up any basin of seawater, one would find a thick layer of crude oil floating upon it, all burning fiercely.
Amidst this heaven-shaking inferno.
The command of the Allied Fleet to Destroy Sauron instantly fell into paralysis.
Every ship was burning, and whether they were sailors or soldiers aboard, all were utterly terrified out of their wits.
“Ahh… ahh…”
Countless soldiers screamed desperately, rushing out from their cabins, about to hurl themselves into the sea.
However, the entire sea surface had also been completely transformed into a sea of fire.
Countless soldiers, their bodies set ablaze, let out inhuman howls of agony, running madly across the decks before plunging headfirst into the ocean.
Count Tully Wen roared desperately, “Continue forward, forward, land on the beach…”
Many ships, though burning, had not yet sunk.
Though their sails had been burned away, they could still row.
But soon, the oars were also burned away. Yet they could still rely upon the force of the tidal currents to carry the ships into shallow waters.
“Bang bang bang…”
Over a thousand burning ships, completely out of control, collided with one another, crowded against one another…
“Abandon ship, jump into the sea, land, land…”
Even at this moment, Count Tully Wen continued to fulfil his duty as commander-in-chief, roaring orders desperately.
In truth, his orders were unnecessary.
Countless soldiers, like dumplings being dropped into a pot, desperately leaped from the ships into the sea, sinking beneath the water to escape the flames.
Because remaining on the ships at this point was a dead end. At this moment, the most deadly threat was not the flames, but the thick smoke.
This was the most primitive crude oil. Once ignited, it released all manner of poisonous gases, utterly lethal. Merely inhaling a few breaths could cause one to suffocate and die.
“Bang bang bang…”
Countless soldiers jumped into the seawater, temporarily escaping with their lives.
In the water, they swam desperately forward, forward…
They could not even risk poking their heads out to breathe, for the sea surface was burning everywhere, filled with highly toxic smoke. To expose one’s head was death.
For many sailors, holding their breath and swimming underwater was not particularly difficult, as this was a necessary part of their training.
But aboard these thousand ships, apart from seventy thousand sailors, there were also a full sixty thousand ground troops.
These ground troops were generally very poor swimmers. Either way, for them it was a dead end.
Remain on the ship, and be suffocated or burned alive. Jump into the sea, and be suffocated alive.
Either way, death!
…
Several tens of thousands of sailors, submerged in the seawater, swam desperately forward, forward…
But soon they reached completely shallow waters, where their bodies could no longer be concealed.
Moreover, over a hundred ships were anchored here to block their path. These were all Sauron’s Queen’s Island Fleet, also burning fiercely at this moment.
“Charge charge charge…”
Under Count Tully Wen’s orders, the surviving sailors charged desperately.
And what they had to charge through was a shallow water zone of over a dozen metres, where a layer of crude oil also floated upon the surface, burning fiercely.
Over a hundred ships, linked together, formed a flaming obstacle several thousand metres long.
Though ahead lay a vast sea of fire.
The surviving sailors still ran for their lives, charging towards the inferno.
Because once they passed through these dozen or so metres of flames, there would be the beach, and they could escape alive!
But these dozen or so metres of flames were like a chasm of death, impossible to cross.
“Ahh… ahh… ahh…”
Amidst a wave of piercing, miserable howls, these surviving sailors were soon completely engulfed in flames.
Though their entire bodies were burning, countless sailors still ran desperately.
Instantly, the entire beach was witnessing a horrifying and brutal spectacle.
Countless burning figures ran desperately towards the beach, some making it a dozen or so metres, some several dozen metres.
Then, one by one, they collapsed and died!
Thud thud thud thud…
One burning corpse after another, falling in succession, lay upon the beach.
And the seven thousand Rock Pirate troops who had landed earlier had already retreated several thousand metres back. There was not a single Sauron soldier upon the beach.
Because once the entire Devil’s Bay was set alight, the terrifying toxic smoke, driven by the tidal winds, would permeate the entire coast.
By then, even if the flames did not reach them, it would still cause terrible casualties.
…
Count Tully Wen and Tu Lingchen, protected desperately by countless trusted warriors, finally broke through the sea of flames. With wet cloths covering their faces, they stood upon the beach, gazing upon this incomparably brutal spectacle.
This was absolutely hell, a hell burning everywhere.
Piercing, miserable howls rang out without cease, and amidst the pungent smoke, there came waves of the strong smell of roasted meat.
A full one hundred and thirty thousand troops, a full seventy thousand sailors, a full thousand ships!
All annihilated… all annihilated…
Prince Zhuli’s words still rang clearly in his ears. No matter how this battle was fought, it would be a victory, so the sole objective was to completely annihilate Sauron’s Queen’s Island Fleet and kill Sauron himself.
Not only Zhuli, but also not only Count Tully Wen himself, almost everyone had believed that this battle was certain to be won, no matter how it was fought.
Yet… the outcome was total annihilation!
One hundred and thirty thousand against seven thousand, yet total annihilation.
Moreover, Sauron’s seven thousand Rock Pirate casualties were actually minuscule!
What, what was this oil floating upon the sea? So abundant, so toxic, so terrifying?
What fire oil bombs, what new-type trebuchets, all were fake, all were feints.
Sauron used himself, and the seven thousand Queen’s Island Fleet, as bait to lure the Allied Fleet to Destroy Sauron into Devil’s Bay.
Then with the fires of hell, he completely destroyed the one hundred and thirty thousand troops.
Too ruthless, too terrifying!
The Queen’s Island Fleet was his sole naval force, such precious Rock Pirate ships, yet he abandoned them without a second thought.
To bury the Allied Fleet to Destroy Sauron, he was actually willing to sacrifice a hundred Rock Pirate ships as burial companions.
Such ruthless resolve!
And at this moment, Tu Lingchen beside him was completely stunned and despairing, gazing upon the thoroughly burning sea.
“I knew it, I knew it, Sauron would certainly have a trap, certainly have a trap…” Tu Lingchen muttered to himself.
“Too ruthless, too ruthless… Is he not afraid of offending the harmony of heaven?” Count Tully Wen suddenly roared in shock.
“Over one hundred thousand troops, actually annihilated under my command! Heavens above…”
Immediately after, Count Tully Wen suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, his vision went black, and he completely lost consciousness.
“Master, master…”
“My lord, my lord…”
The trusted warriors beside him hastily caught Tully Wen, then, taking advantage of the thick smoke and night, fled desperately towards the north.
…
Sauron and Yan Zhuoer (the Queen) stood atop the mountain peak, gazing down upon this inhumanely brutal spectacle.
This spectacle truly resembled the end of the world.
Not even the true historical Battle of Red Cliffs was this brutal.
In the Battle of Red Cliffs, of the nearly two hundred thousand Cao troops who died in the flames, not many actually perished in the fire itself. More went missing or fled.
But below in Devil’s Bay, flames were everywhere, toxic smoke was everywhere.
Sauron clearly saw thousands, tens of thousands of people, burning in the firelight, twisting, howling in agony, finally being burned into charcoal.
And several tens of thousands more, having jumped into the seawater to escape, yet after sinking down, never surfaced again.
In truth, the entire process was very short!
This nearly twenty million jin of crude oil spread across the entire sea surface formed only a thin layer, burning for at most a dozen or so minutes before extinguishing.
Roughly a quarter of an hour.
But this quarter of an hour was absolute death time for the entire Allied Fleet to Destroy Sauron.
Amidst the flames, toxic smoke, and suffocation in the seawater, one simply could not survive a quarter of an hour.
This quarter of an hour, for everyone, was hell.
After the crude oil burned out, what remained were the over a thousand ships floating upon the sea surface, continuing to burn.
This quarter of an hour, for Sauron watching the battle, was also incomparably long.
He personally witnessed the tidal fire line ignite countless oil barrels, then the entire sea surface burn, becoming a sea of fire stretching a hundred li.
Then, countless lives struggled, screamed, and were burned to ashes.
Then, the flames upon the sea surface extinguished, leaving only the over a thousand ships burning fiercely.
But by now, not a single howl could be heard upon the sea surface, nor a single living soul.
Apart from the burning ships, the sea surface was completely dead.
Over one hundred thousand troops, all dead!
The entire process took merely less than half an hour.
That is to say, in less than half an hour, Sauron had killed over one hundred thousand people, had caused all four enemy armies to be completely annihilated.
At this moment, Sauron could not help but recall the scene in “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” where Zhuge Liang burned the Vine Armoured Soldiers. With a single fire, several tens of thousands of vine armoured soldiers were burned clean.
After the victory, Zhuge Liang felt not the slightest joy, but rather sorrow, saying that this battle would certainly shorten his lifespan, for it offended the harmony of heaven too greatly.
And Sauron at this moment felt exactly this way.
Too offensive to the harmony of heaven!
“Enough, no need to think further. Offending the harmony of heaven is still better than sitting and waiting for death.” Yan Zhuoer said flatly.
The Rock Pirates had always been very indifferent to life and death.
…
While the sea burned, the entire command structure of the Allied Army to Destroy Sauron was also thrown into complete chaos!
Those who successfully landed seemed to be only Count Tully Wen and Tu Lingchen, protected by Tully family warriors.
At this moment, several hundred warriors were escorting Lord Tully Wen and Tu Lingchen, desperately fleeing northwards through the dense forest.
Count Tully Wen had spat blood and lost consciousness due to the annihilation of the over one hundred thousand allied troops under his command, and had not yet awoken.
As for Tu Lingchen, he was first utterly despairing, shocked, pained, and dazed.
But, driven by the desire to survive, he quickly came to his senses.
For him now, escaping the territory of Tianshui City was victory. Though he had burns across his body, even his hair completely burned away, his entire body in burning agony, he clenched his teeth and followed the Tully family warriors, fleeing desperately northwards!
As long as he fled to the border between Tianshui City and Linhai City, he could preserve his life.
Because Gui Xingfu had deployed nearly ten thousand troops at the border. Once the Sauron fleet was annihilated and the allied troops landed, these ten thousand troops would also directly head south to invade the territory of Tianshui City.
Now, it was impossible for these ten thousand Linhai City troops to invade the territory of Tianshui City, but they could preserve the lives of Tu Lingchen, Count Tully Wen, and the others.
Flee desperately, flee…
Having charged through several dozen li of dense forest, the view ahead suddenly opened up into a clearing!
Tu Lingchen kept his head down and ran wildly, only to discover that the Tully family warriors around him had suddenly stopped.
“What is it?” Tu Lingchen involuntarily jerked his head up.
Only to see before him, several square formations of Sauron cavalry, not many in number, merely two thousand riders.
Leading them was the cavalry commander, Yan Naier in full platinum armour!
Originally, the one who should have led the army to block this place should have been her father Yan Yan. But she was unwilling to guard the main city of Tianshui together with Princess Zhiyan. She wanted to be closer to Sauron, so she led her troops to intercept here!
Unexpectedly, she had indeed caught two big fish!
Seeing the utterly wretched Tu Lingchen, Yan Naier said coldly, “Young Master Tu Ling, I trust you have been well since we last met!”
Tu Lingchen gnashed his teeth inwardly, many thoughts surging through his mind.
First, his initial thought was to stand in place and laugh heartily, preferring death to submission.
Secondly, an even more resolute option was to directly draw his sword and cut his own throat, unwilling to suffer humiliation.
Either of these two options, no matter which, would be enough to leave an indelible impression upon Yan Naier’s heart.
What surged forth from Tu Lingchen’s heart were also these two impulses.
But…
For some unknown reason, as if compelled by ghosts and gods, he trembled and said, “Naier, two years ago, you and I were as close as brother and sister. How many times did I risk my life to save you? How many times did I stand guard before you? Please, for the sake of past kindness, spare my life!”
After speaking these words, Tu Lingchen clearly felt that he had pierced through the bottom line of his dignity.
Then, his legs went soft, and he directly knelt before Yan Naier, weeping as he said, “Sister Yan, for the sake of past affection, for the sake of my previous life-saving grace towards you, spare my life!”
Then he prostrated himself completely, bowing deeply, pressing his forehead to the ground, weeping uncontrollably.