Chapter 1691 1691. An Ambush in the Storm
Rain fell not long after. It was mild at first, but soon turned heavy. The winds were also growing stronger. Before they knew it, they were sailing through turbulent waters. Water splashed onto the deck as the waves battered the ships' hulls.
Near the helm on Palgrost's flagship was a war table. Palgrost used this war table to monitor the enemy. At the moment, only a few red triangles were seen at their back.
"Blast it!" Thelgrun cursed. He went to the stern of the ship where Viking was at. "I can't see anything. Do you still have the enemy in your sight?"
"Do you see them?" Viking asked a player who was leaning by the railing.
The player was one of his guild members. His name was Masta Chef. He was chosen to follow this sea campaign because of his skills. He was an Elite Marksman who had fully maxed his Keen Sight skill. Additionally, he had a non-standard skill called Predator Sight. This eye skill increased his vision range. It also allowed him to see through fog and darkness.
"They are still behind us," Masta Chef answered. "But I can't see the whole armada. The sea is too hectic."
Even with his eye skills, it was still difficult to make out everything. Enemies showed up on the war table's projection if allies laid eyes on them. Since everyone had difficulty spotting the enemy ships, the war table also couldn't show them.
"I think we should take the safe approach and speed up. We don't want to get tangled up with the enemies in this storm," Viking suggested.
Thelgrun agreed. He called Mamunir and had him issue an order to the entire fleet to increase their speed by a little. In a storm, it was dangerous to sail too fast, especially if it was faster than the waves, but they couldn't afford to be caught unaware by the enemies.
"We should be safe, the enemies also wouldn't dare to sail faster than this," Thelgrun said to Viking.
"Can we keep our direction with all this storm?" Viking asked.
"Don't worry, the crews are experienced sailors. They won't lose their way," Thelgrun said.
They suddenly heard explosive sounds through the storms. They weren't thunder.
"Cannons!" Viking recognized the sounds.
Sounds of explosions hitting water were heard from the far right. They couldn't see the explosions, but those explosions should be close to the ships on the left wing of their fleet.
"Horse arse!! They truly try to get to us in this storm," Thelgrun cursed. He sent a command to the one who operated the war table. That operator didn't see any enemies on their left wing. This meant none of the cannon fires they heard just now hit their ships. If they did, the enemies would show up in the projection.
Sounds of cannon fires were heard another time. They were again coming from their left wings. They sounded closer.
"They are gaining on us!" Helga shouted. She could cast a Fly spell and went to the air to provide support, but she didn't dare to be careless and went out alone. They still didn't know how powerful the enemies were. She also needed to stay close to the president to watch his safety.
"We must veer to the right, put some distances from them," Thelgrun ordered. The operator inputted the command into the war table. All the ships in the fleet moved following his command input.
"A bunch of mad ethereals!" Thelgrun swore. "I hope their ships capsized from pulling this crazy stunt."
Cannon fires continued to be heard periodically. Those sounds were now right behind them since they were veering from their original direction.
"They didn't sound like they were gaining on us. If we keep this speed. We should be safe," Viking said.
"We are nearing the Blackmaw Strait. We need to change direction to the left," Mamunir came and told them. The Blackmaw Strait was the strait that connected the inner sea to the outer sea. "The navigator said if we keep in this direction, we will run aground. There are reef formations near the strait. We have to turn left if we are to avoid those reefs."
"This must have been their plan," Viking said. "They are trying to drive us into those reefs."
"Hah! They thought they were the only ones who knew this water," Thelgrun mocked. He sent the command to the fleet to turn left. This might shorten the enemy's distance to them but it was better to lose a few ships on the left wing than to have the entire fleet run aground.
The sounds of explosions were heard again. They sounded closer but none hit.
"F*cking bastards," Thelgrun cursed. "Fire our back cannons at them! Do they think they are the only ones who have cannons?"
"But the back cannons of our ships have limited range and there are only a few," Mamunir argued. "We also cannot see them. We will just be wasting ammunition."
Unlike the siege weapons and mechanical weapons on land, the cannons of a ship had limited ammunition. If they ran out, the cannons would become useless. They had to go back to shore to refill the ammunition.
"I don't care! If they can waste their ammunition, so can we!" Thelgrun bellowed. He was pissed by the situation.
Mamunir didn't waste time arguing with Thelgrun. He went and carried out the command. Soon, the galleons and galleasses in the fleet started firing their back cannons.
The cannon fires between the two armadas resounded on the sea. The bombardment alternated between the two forces, but no ship was hit.
All of a sudden, they heard loud shouting from the right wing.
"Enemies…!!"
"Incoming…!"
"Brace for impact…!!!"
Following the shouting, multiple red triangles suddenly popped out in the war table's projection. These red triangles came from their right.
Viking and Masta Chef went to the starboard to get a better look. What they saw was a score of caravels charging at them at high speed from the right side, where their navigator said the reefs were located. Each of the bows of these caravels was fitted with a naval ram. These naval rams were aiming at the side of the ships in their right wing, and these caravels weren't slowing down.
Without being able to do anything, they saw these caravels rammed into the ships in their right wing. Since these ships were rammed from the sides, they received heavy damage. The hulls of some ships broke and the enemy caravels stuck with them.
As the ships jammed together into a halt, the ethereal soldiers from the caravels jumped onto the ships they had rammed into. These soldiers struck at the dwarven sailors who were still stunned by the sudden turns of events.
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