“Boom boom boom!”
On Sauron’s fleet, several hundred cannons fired simultaneously.
Previously, the three main artillery fleets had only fired cannons from one side, but now both sides’ cannons were firing at full strength.
Not only that, but even the cannons on other warships were all firing at full strength.
Although previously they had concentrated firepower to bombard one side, now they had to bombard three sides.
But in terms of firepower intensity per unit area, it was still about seventy to eighty percent of before, because both sides of the fleet’s cannons were all firing. Added to that, what was being fired was canister shot and grape shot. Within two to three hundred metres, the firepower was not weakened but rather multiplied.
…
One minute before Sauron fleet’s canister shot firing, the pirates on the Rock Demon’s fleet still had savage, fierce expressions,and wildly arrogant.
In their view, Sauron’s fleet was already certainly dead, difficult even for the heavens to save.
Because they had been completely surrounded. Once they fully closed in, these pirates, agile as monkeys and fierce as beasts, would jump onto Sauron’s warships and begin fighting. At most, in just over an hour, they could kill Sauron fleet’s twenty-five thousand people completely clean.
Moreover, in the Rock Demon’s view, the ten thousand rock pirates in Sauron’s hands were useless.
Because he was the king of rock pirates. Once battle turned into a one-sided victory, Sauron’s ten thousand rock pirates would naturally defect.
“Charge up, kill Sauron’s fleet completely!”
“Kill all, burn all, loot all!”
Countless pirates waved their curved blades, emitting beast-like wailing and howling.
“Boom boom boom boom!”
However, all the pirates’ savagery and ferocity froze solid the instant Sauron’s cannons fired.
Because they saw an unprecedented sight.
Following the familiar thunderous sound, what was fired was neither the previous solid iron balls, nor the hellishly whistling chain shot.
All the pirates simply felt the sky go dark.
Then, countless projectiles smashed towards them like a torrential rain.
Truly like a torrential rain!
Several hundred cannons on Sauron’s fleet, firing at full strength, instantly fired out over one hundred thousand projectiles!
A mere two to three hundred metres distance.
This rain of projectiles arrived instantly!
“Pat pat pat pat…”
Whether to describe it as rain beating upon sand creating ten thousand pits, or rain beating upon banana leaves.
In short…
After the terrifying torrential rain smashed down!
The Rock Demon’s fleet seemed to suddenly shudder!
Then…
A mountain of corpses and sea of blood!
On these pirate warships, all crew members stood on deck without any protection!
Over one hundred people, all crowded together, gripping war blades preparing to jump ship.
After this rain of over one hundred thousand projectiles smashed over!
Truly like a sickle cutting wheat, no, like a harvester cutting wheat.
Falling in patches!
Within twenty to thirty metres, the lethality of canister shot was extremely astonishing, even exceeding arrows.
Unless struck in the arms, given the medical conditions of the time, it was basically certain death.
Moreover, once struck, it was usually not one projectile but several, even over a dozen.
This was still canister shot. Those struck by grape shot faced a completely hellish level of devastation.
How brutal was the power of artillery canister shot on Earth? A single cannon could easily cripple an infantry battalion.
Under this rain of high-speed projectiles, there was nowhere to hide.
This round of cannon fire was seventy percent canister shot, twenty percent grape shot, and ten percent chain shot!
In the air, Sauron saw it clearly!
After the cannon fire, the Rock Demon’s fleet seemed to suddenly halt, then directly stopped.
Then, a cloud of blood mist rose from the sea surface spanning dozens of li.
How many died?
Sauron did not know. The Rock Demon did not know either!
…
After the cannon fire.
The Rock Demon’s four limbs were ice-cold, his scalp numb, even his entire person lost all thought, his brain stopped thinking, just standing there blankly.
When he saw countless projectiles smashing towards him like a torrential rain after the cannon fire, he knew… it was over!
Previously, his flagship had been visited by chain shot several times, all of which he had cut apart with his blade.
But this time, the projectiles smashing towards his flagship alone exceeded several dozen to over a hundred.
He could no longer cut them all!
Seeing him standing blankly at the bow, the rock pirates beside him frantically rushed forward, raising shields to protect the Rock Demon.
Rock pirates most detested shields. They felt naval warfare completely did not need shields. So the number of shields prepared was very few.
But immediately after, the rock pirates discovered in terror that even shields were useless!
These projectiles actually directly pierced through the shields.
Then, the Rock Demon felt his body go numb and painful.
Two projectiles directly entered his body, blood gushing out like a fountain.
He did not like wearing armour. Other pirates and rock pirates liked wearing armour even less. Because naval warfare was about jumping ship for boarding battle. How could you jump wearing armour?
Thus, after several dozen projectiles flew through the air, they instantly pierced through rock pirate bodies, then entered another rock pirate’s body.
The rock pirates around the Rock Demon fell like wheat!
Not only that, but fierce grape shot and astonishing chain shot, at this distance, brutally tore apart the fleet’s masts and sails!
Instantly, the Rock Demon fleet’s speed immediately slowed!
Among them, several dozen ships had their masts directly broken, the warships spinning in place. And the warships behind still sailed by wind power, then collided with them, like rear-end collisions, one ship crashing into another in a chain.
The Rock Demon fleet’s formation was in great chaos, clusters of ships trapped together.
…
The gamble paid off!
A wave of wild joy surged in Sauron’s heart!
Just now, the Rock Demon had used his central army as bait, attracting Sauron’s fleet while his two wings flanked.
And this time, Sauron used his entire fleet as bait, letting the Rock Demon fleet encircle and close to this death distance of two to three hundred metres.
Not only that, after surrounding Sauron’s fleet, to more conveniently carry out boarding battle, the Rock Demon fleet that had already dispersed once again gathered together.
Then, Sauron fleet’s canister shot and grape shot, attacking like a violent storm!
Sauron was gambling, gambling that one round of canister shot and grape shot attack would be enough to deliver a strong blow to the Rock Demon fleet, at least disrupting and destroying their formation, making it impossible for the Rock Demon fleet to smoothly close in, making it impossible for tens of thousands of pirates to smoothly jump ship for battle.
Indeed, at such a distance, facing such a dense fleet, the power of canister shot and grape shot was even greater than Sauron had imagined.
Sauron was completely gambling with the fate of his entire fleet. If the strike effect was not strong enough, insufficient to disrupt the Rock Demon fleet’s momentum, once the pirates managed to jump ship for battle, then Sauron’s fleet would certainly be annihilated!
And the Rock Demon had also completely prepared for heavy losses.
He knew that at this distance, the power of Sauron’s chain shot was extremely astonishing! But one round of cannon fire took about half a quarter hour, so Sauron could at most carry out two rounds of cannon fire before his fleet could close in for boarding battle.
How many casualties could two rounds of cannon fire bring? Twenty percent!
Twenty percent casualties, the Rock Demon could endure. Even if twenty to thirty thousand died, the Rock Demon still had seventy to eighty thousand troops, enough to kill Sauron’s twenty-five thousand people three or four times over.
Paying the price of thirty to forty thousand people to annihilate Sauron’s fleet was completely worth it!
However, what the Rock Demon had not expected was that after chain shot, Sauron still had even more terrifying and lethal canister shot and grape shot!
So, he was instantly stunned!
A thought surfaced in his mind. Could it be… that I am going to lose this battle?
The moment this thought arose, the Rock Demon’s entire body trembled!
He truly had never considered this possibility. He was the king of naval warfare. How could he possibly lose?
Indeed, Sauron had won two glorious naval battles.
The first time, sixty thousand naval troops attacked Sauron, resulting in total annihilation.
But that was not the navy’s merit. It was because the anti-Sauron alliance was overly contemptuous, falling for Sauron’s treacherous scheme, being lured to Devil Bay and burned completely clean by a single fire.
Because no one had expected that Sauron could use tens of millions of fire oil to create this flame trap!
The second time, Gui Xingfu’s forty thousand naval troops once again attacked Chaos Rock Salt Field!
This time, Sauron knew his navy could not win, so he directly abandoned naval warfare, luring the Rock Demon’s navy to land to attack the castle!
The victories in both naval battles had nothing to do with the Sauron clan navy.
So, not only in the Rock Demon’s understanding, but even in the understanding of all under heaven, Sauron’s navy was relatively weak.
And the Rock Demon possessed the strongest navy under heaven, outnumbering Sauron’s fleet four times over. How could he possibly lose?
This time it was pure naval warfare, with no traps, no luring to land to attack castles, just fierce battle on the sea surface.
So, even in dreams, the Rock Demon had never thought he might lose.
At this moment, for the first time, the thought of losing surged into his mind.
The Rock Demon only felt bone-chilling cold, his entire body without warmth.
Sauron could not afford to lose this battle. Once lost, it meant destruction!
Then could the Rock Demon afford to lose?
Once the Rock Demon lost, what would be destroyed was not only him, but the entire Rock clan!
He was the king of the Rock clan, bearing the fate of the entire Rock clan!
Now the Rock Demon finally understood why the mother queen never lightly initiated warfare, nor had any intention of expansion.
Although rock pirates were extremely powerful, as a people they were far too weak. Once defeated, it might mean the extinction of the entire race!
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your Majesty…”
The rock generals beside him shouted desperately, pushing the Rock Demon.
Their king seemed to have turned to stone, or become a wooden puppet, completely motionless.
No matter how they shouted, how they pushed, he just stood there blankly.
…
Who knew how much time passed before the Rock Demon felt someone calling him, but the voice was distant, as if coming from beyond the nine heavens.
After quite a while, he finally came to his senses.
Seeing the corpses all around, he once again felt heart-piercing pain.
“Your Majesty, what should we do? Continue fighting, or retreat?” the rock general beside him asked loudly!
The Rock Demon looked at his fleet. It still appeared boundless, still complete, with still over nine hundred warships.
However, many warships had already lost control, and the entire formation was in great chaos.
As for how many died? Truly unknown, and impossible to tally.
“How many casualties on our ship?” the Rock Demon asked.
“Twenty-three.” the rock general said.
The Rock Demon surmised in his heart. Then for the entire fleet, casualties perhaps exceeded ten thousand. Added to previous casualties, it should exceed twenty thousand!
That meant he still had eighty thousand troops in hand!
Next, he faced a difficult choice.
Continue fighting, or withdraw troops?
Now, his fleet’s formation was in chaos. Continuing to fight, with good luck, he could successfully close with Sauron’s fleet for boarding battle.
And once successfully boarding, victory was certain.
But with bad luck, they might very likely become lambs awaiting slaughter.
What large scale naval warfare feared most was formation chaos, losing control!
If withdrawing troops, at least half could escape. His rock pirates could still have forty thousand people escape back to the Thunder Islands.
But that way, he would have lost in advance!
He, the Rock Demon, was an invincible commander. The rock pirate fleet was invincible in battle! Once he was defeated, not only would Sauron completely seize back the great power of maritime trade, but he would also completely expel the rock pirates from the Maritime Guild. Not only that, but next the Thunder Islands would certainly face Sauron’s revenge, plus the Hai clan of Yingzhou Island looting while the fire burned!
What should be done?
Continue fighting, or withdraw troops?
The Rock Demon was also a gambling man. The scales in his heart kept tilting towards continuing to fight.
Only by continuing to fight was there possibility of surviving certain death and obtaining victory, but also possibility of complete annihilation.
Next, his mind desperately tried to persuade himself. Do not continue fighting. Retreat now while there was still time. Sauron’s second round of cannon fire still needed some preparation time.
As long as green mountains remain, there will be no shortage of firewood!
The Rock Demon kept persuading himself!
But… he still could not convince himself!
Continue fighting, either great victory or complete annihilation!
Immediately, the Rock Demon roared, “All warships of the fleet, all warriors, do everything to close with Sauron’s fleet! Each ship, each vessel, fight independently. There is only one goal: close in, close in, jump ship for battle, kill Sauron’s fleet completely!”
Although the Rock Demon roared much, in flag signals it was only about a dozen characters: fight independently, close in at all costs!
This was the Rock Demon’s survival through certain death!
This order!
A few minutes later it spread to every warship, because this order was too simple.
Immediately, all ships of the Rock Demon fleet, all pirates, like madmen, all fought independently.
Every warship was like a shark, frantically closing with Sauron, no longer caring about formation, no longer caring about tactics.
Only for one purpose: close with Sauron’s fleet, jump ship for battle!
Sauron looked down from the air. Instantly, the scene was incomparably dangerous, incomparably tense!
Several hundred Rock Demon warships, like a wolf pack, frantically pounced towards Sauron’s fleet.
The entire scene was chaos!
At this moment, Sauron was filled with respect for the Rock Demon.
This man, at every critical juncture, made correct decisions, and was incomparably ruthless and decisive.
Fighting independently, closing with Sauron’s fleet, surviving through certain death.
Once successful, it meant annihilation for Sauron.
Moreover, the possibility of the Rock Demon’s success existed, and was not even low!
And right at this moment!
Sauron’s second round of close range cannon fire was ready!
Still seventy percent canister shot, twenty percent grape shot, ten percent chain shot!
This time, the Rock Demon fleet’s distance was even closer.
The furthest was only two hundred-odd metres, the nearest only just over one hundred metres!
“Boom boom boom boom boom…”
Several hundred cannons, firing fiercely!
Over one hundred thousand projectiles, once again smashing out like a violent storm!