33: Chapter 33 Western Continent United Army

After being bombarded by the cannons of the Gospel Army warships for half the night, one-third of the houses in Luojia City had collapsed.

The cannons of the Iron Age were not particularly powerful; the massive damage was mainly due to the fires they sparked not being extinguished in time.

Inside a tall building with a facade scorched pitch-black, the supreme commanders of the three races' troops were discussing countermeasures.

The Armored People leader, Le Gang, looked grave: "Day has broken, and the Starfire Empire's warships are docking. Once they transport those fire-breathing iron pipes to land and establish a foothold, it will be very difficult for us to stop them."

The four-meter-tall Giant King, Baron, waved his hand: "That thing is called a cannon. Don't worry; we have been building defensive lines for these 35 years, and there are many iron chains and iron spikes along the coast. Besides, our warships are also on their way."

The Winged People legion commander, Yu Lan, frowned: "And what about the muskets? The people we sent to scout yesterday were hit, and the iron balls are still lodged in their shoulders."

After speaking, she looked up and glared fiercely at the Giant: "Baron! Have you executed those few people?"

A few days ago, during a training exercise, the Winged People's aerial unit accidentally shot and blinded a Giant.

Later, several Giants in the military camp, whether out of revenge or desire, got two Winged People drunk in the middle of the night and assaulted them. This incident caused a huge uproar within the Western Continent Allied Forces.

Baron stared at Yu Lan's petite and lithe body, shaking his head impatiently: "Weren't the ringleaders beheaded long ago?"

"That won't do!" Yu Lan slammed both hands on the table: "The other four must also die!"

Le Gang tried to persuade her from the side: "This is a time when we need every person we have; let those four serve as the vanguard later."

Unfortunately, Baron did not appreciate the gesture: "Since you Armored People are so sturdy, why don't you charge? You only know how to sneak into our Giant territory to engage in petty thievery!"

The three soon began accusing each other, arguing incessantly. The three races had harbored deep-seated grudges for thousands of years, and even during the 35 years of jointly preventing the Starfire Empire's second expedition, conflicts had been constant.

An adjutant nearby could no longer stand it and said indifferently: "If you keep arguing like this, we might as well just convert to the Star Fire Nation's Xingyang God."

Baron gritted his teeth, his gaze filled with ferocity: "How is that possible! Our ancestors once thought those dinosaurs were gods, but as we grew stronger, we drove those dinosaurs away! If there are truly gods in this world, then it is us!"

Yu Lan and Le Gang stopped arguing and nodded vigorously: "That's right, let them produce something that proves the existence of a god first."

The three races united once again and launched an attack on the Gospel Army on the shore.

At this moment, the Gospel Army's General Tang Wei was commanding his subordinates to burn the iron chains on the water's surface with oil. He then had soldiers who were good swimmers dive underwater to clear the iron spikes nailed to the hulls of the ships.

A trace of disdain appeared at the corner of his mouth: "They think they can stop us with such petty tricks."

The adjutant nearby, Staff Officer Tang Ruo, was a veteran who had participated in the first Battle of Luojia: "General, do not underestimate the enemy; those three races are truly strong."

As the two were speaking, a loud shout suddenly came from the lookout tower on the mast: "Report! Thousands of enemy ships are approaching from the northeast!"

General Tang Wei was startled. How is that possible? We exhausted the power of the entire continent, and we only brought 80 hundred-meter warships.

In his haste, he took out a monocular telescope and carefully observed the densely packed sea surface. After seeing clearly, he breathed a slight sigh of relief: "They are all ten-meter boats, mere dinghies. Pass the order: turn the cannons, target the incoming enemy ships, fire!"

The sound of cannons being dragged echoed on every ship. Soon, a thousand cannons fired simultaneously, smoke billowed, and the earth shook.

With just one volley, nearly a thousand cannonballs landed in the area where those small boats were located. After the towering splashes dissipated, the sea surface was covered with wreckage of ships of all sizes and countless wooden planks.

General Tang Wei proudly picked up the telescope to check the results, but his expression quickly fell. Although dozens of small boats had been sunk, there were not that many corpses on the water's surface. Moreover, some of the small boats were crudely made, with wooden planks as thin as paper.

"A diversionary tactic; real and fake ships are mixed together!" Staff Officer Tang Ruo stared intently at the sea surface, lost in thought.

General Tang Wei lowered his telescope: "Regardless of whether they are real or fake, we should bombard them as many times as possible before they get close."

But there were too many enemy boats, and reloading the cannons took time. Therefore, after several rounds of shelling, nearly a thousand still managed to approach.

The Giants and Armored People who emerged from inside threw grappling hooks toward the nearest three hundred-meter Imperial warships.

The boarding battle began; they pulled on the grappling hooks, roaring as they climbed with all their might toward the decks of the warships.

"Spread the divine light, slay the heretics!" The Gospel Army stood on the gunwales, raising their muskets and firing downwards.

A barrage of dense gunfire erupted, bullets raining down like raindrops, causing the climbing Giants and Armored People to fall into the sea one after another.

The Winged People flew over at this moment; the cloth bags in their hands contained a secret weapon: sand and dust.

As each bag fell, a sandstorm seemed to sweep across the entire ship, causing darkness and chaos; many Gospel Army soldiers had to temporarily lower their muskets to rub their eyes.

Some Giants and Armored People took this opportunity to board the deck.

As more and more Allied Forces climbed onto the three ships, Gospel Army soldiers from other ships immediately jumped over to support them using boarding planks and other methods.

The effectiveness of muskets in close-quarters combat was greatly reduced.

The Imperial soldiers were at a great disadvantage against the three-to-four-meter-tall Giants and the exceptionally tough-bodied Armored People.

In the chaos, the Winged People discovered gunpowder on the decks and in the cabins, so they quickly used the cloth they carried to pack up the gunpowder and take it away.

Even though many were shot down from the air onto the ships and into the water, the Winged People continued to transport it back and forth, disregarding their own lives.

Seeing this, Staff Officer Tang Ruo was anxious, but the battlefield was very chaotic at this time; he could only lead a few soldiers and use muskets to specifically target the Winged People stealing the gunpowder.

The boarding battle lasted for several hours and only ended when it was almost dark. The entire sea surface was covered with corpses, and the seawater was dyed crimson.

Although the attacking Giants and Armored People were all wiped out, the Winged People also left behind nearly a thousand corpses.

But the Gospel Army on the three boarded warships was almost completely wiped out. The gunpowder in the warships had also been almost entirely emptied.

General Tang Wei looked grave: "We haven't even landed yet, and out of 80 ships of men, we've already lost three."

Staff Officer Tang Ruo looked at him: "The sun is about to set; we must prepare for the night. Those women who fly in the sky have stolen the gunpowder and will definitely come to launch a sneak attack."

Things went exactly as he had expected; in the middle of the night, the Winged People returned, carrying packages of gunpowder.

Even if their bodies were pierced by the ship's ballistae and muskets, they would still throw the lit explosives onto the ship before they died.

In an instant, nearly half of the remaining 77 hundred-meter warships were engulfed in flames.

Just as the Gospel Army was busy putting out the fires, deafening shouts suddenly came from the sea.

Nearly a hundred warships, about thirty-some meters in size, arrived. The Giants and Armored People on board brandished their weapons, looking fierce and menacing, shouting loudly: "This time we will kill all of you from the Star Fire Nation! Not one of you will escape."

General Tang Wei's face turned ashen; so those small boats during the day were specifically used to steal gunpowder.

Seeing his own soldiers still frantically trying to put out the fires, while the opposing Western Continent Allied Forces' morale was high.

He closed his eyes and prayed: "Almighty, great, and only Xingyang God, please protect us one more time; please guard your loyal believers."