Chapter 1710 Chapter 1710. Crossing the Border River
The newly arrived ships were the Liguritudum ships that had been captured and reintegrated into the Themisphere and Palgrost's fleets. The allied fleets had arrived nearby but they stayed back and only had the captured Liguritudum ships sail forward.
Aside from interrogating Gridhacker about Jeanny, John also interrogated Gridhacker about the blockade in this border river. He was sure the enemies left some ships behind to harass the allied armies from crossing the border river.
The first thing John asked Gridhacker was if there were any players following those ships who guarded the river. If there were, the news about the Liguritudum Armada's defeat would surely have reached those ships. If there were none, then their communication could only be through a transmission device.
Transmission devices were coupled. One transmission device could only send messages to its paired device. The one in the ships on the border river was paired with the one in the flagship. The flagship was captured without anyone making the time to use that device, so the ships on the border river were still oblivious about what had happened.
Gridhacker was second-in-command on the flagship, so he knew the details regarding the ships that were sent to this border river.
After making sure that the ships on the border river were oblivious to the fate of the armada, John used this Trojan Horse tactic. Having the captured ships close enough to the unsuspecting enemies before ambushing them. Each of the captured ships aimed at different targets. They also aimed at the enemy's cannons, taking out as many as those cannons so the enemies couldn't retaliate.
Following the ambush, Jack and the elite regiment he had gathered took to the sky. They flew to the enemy ships that were suffering under bombardment from who they thought were their allies. The ethereal soldiers on those ships were still dazed when Jack and the others descended on them.
Their confusion turned to panic when they saw their comrades fall in droves. Their morale dropped sharply. Many chose to abandon ships and jump into the river, only to become prey to the high-level monsters residing in the river.
With the combined onslaught, the ships that guarded the border river were quickly subdued. Half of the ships were destroyed, and the remaining half surrendered.
The surrendered soldiers were bound and brought to the shore. Their ships were then used to ferry the waiting armies across the river.
After receiving the news, the remaining fleets from Palgrost, Verremor, and Themisphere showed themselves.
Palgrost's transport ships docked by the shore and let off the Palgrost's troops they carried. Around 300,000 dwarven soldiers disembarked. These were half the number of troops that departed from Palgrost. These transport ships then joined the others to ferry the allied forces across the river.
With that many ships, they managed to ferry the massive troops to the other side of the river before the end of the day.
The armies rearranged themselves after disembarking. Tents were set up. It was nighttime already. Everyone decided to continue the march tomorrow. Everyone except for the Sangrod army. But since they were the minority, they followed along.
While the armies were resting, Jack went to the Liguritudum flagship they had captured. He went around the ship admiring it. John was on the bridge when he entered.
"Nice catch," Jack praised. "Don't you lose her. We can't build one of these, yet."
"Don't worry, I will sacrifice our allies' ships first before I risk endangering her," John replied.
Jack couldn't be sure if he wanted to approve that.
"So, what's the plan?" Jack asked.
"We march to Dritzuut," John answered. "With the force Master got remaining, he knows his only chance is playing defense in the capital."
"You are not worried he places some traps for us along the way?" Jack asked.
"With his number compared to us, he won't be able to place any meaningful traps," John answered. "He escaped from Hydrurond with only 300,000 troops and 500,000 zombie units. Our last knowledge was that he had around 850,000 troops inside Liguritudum. Even if he recruits troops since then, it will just be around one million. He also didn't have that many players supporting him. In total, his army of natives, players, and zombies won't exceed two and a half million. We have six million troops on our side, not yet including the half million Sangrod troops who were still on their way. Not to mention, we also have three armadas with almost one hundred ships. Master won't stand a chance against us."
"Don't get cocky, many sure-win wars ended up losing because the leaders got careless," Jack warned.
"Oh, really? Name me one of those wars," John asked.
"Uh… I forgot the title."
"Wars in movies don't count, nerd," John mocked. "But you are not wrong, careless leaders were indeed the downfall of many wars in history. Don't worry, I already made the arrangements with the Dogs of War and the Jackal Crews. If you go out there, you will find many of their members missing. They went ahead of us. They will scout all the areas we will be passing. Those people are professionals. Whatever trap Master or my mother set up for us, it won't escape them. If there is anything suspicious. They will inform you and me."
"You will stay with the fleet?" Jack asked.
John pressed a button and a holographic map was displayed above them. It showed the map of Liguritudum.
"This river had many branches along this country," John explained while pointing at the map. "Most of them wide enough for our fleet to pass. One of these rivers leads to the lake that is directly beside Dritzuut. You will go by land. I, the river. We will meet at the capital and we will lay siege there. We will attack from two sides. With our mobile fortress, siege weapons, and the cannons from these ships, Dritzuut's wall won't last long. Our victory is at hand."
Jack looked at the map. It would be great if that was so, but he knew Master wouldn't just lay down and die. He believed they would be in for one hell of a battle even when it seemed like they completely outnumbered the enemy.
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