Beneath the Red Dragon

Early morning, the entire vast sea was shrouded in salty cold wind and mist.

The calm sea surface was broken by an unmatched force, revealing layers of breaking waves and sea spray.

A ram adorned with the skull of a fierce beast suddenly burst through the dissipating mist, followed by a succession of rams embedded with various fierce beast skulls breaking through the mist, beginning to spread across the entire sea area.

The mist on the sea was not dispersed by the wind, but rather scattered by countless sails, endlessly emerging sails. The sound of the vigorous sails dancing in the wind actually overshadowed the sound of the ships breaking through the waves, like a drum booming over the sea.

One by one, the enormous ships followed each other closely, occupying the line between sea and sky, slowly pushing forward like a maritime vault wall.

In the central sea area guarded by countless ships, a colossal ship painted with the Giant Dragon emblem and white coating crossed the sea like the legendary Northern Sea Giant Demon.

This massive ship is three hundred meters long, ninety-six meters wide, a moving continent on the sea, an indomitable Steel Battleship.

Accompanied by the command banner signals connecting each fleet array and the deep sound of horns, under the wind-tossed royal banner with a white bottom and gray edge stood densely packed warriors of the Beastman Army.

These Beastman Warriors, like those trained guards from the Golden Empire usually serving as the honor guard of all forces, adhered strictly to solemn military discipline, neatly arranged on the deck of this giant ship without making a sound.

Before the forest of long spears and halberds stood Beastman King Bossel Lane and members from the Elder Council of the Beastman Kingdom.

These beastmen who once fought and schemed against each other have finally come together this time, much like the Southern Noble Alliance under the pressure of the forces of the Kings.

For this, these elder beastmen and great nobles have virtually emptied their nests, leaving the talented young faction among the beastmen as the final safeguard to lead the Beastman Kingdom.

Beastman King Bossel Lane is clad in heavy armor with a lion face, standing at the front of the deck on the enormous dragon skull ram, gazing at the faintly visible coastline in the distance.

Along the coastal area of the Rosetta Duchy, mostly fjords with scattered islands, it is difficult to find a suitable landing site for the Beastman Kingdom’s army of two hundred thousand.

Among the shared intelligence collected by the Kings, there are only two nearest landing sites.

One is a large port located at Kali Sea City by the sea in the Rosetta Duchy.

However, though Kali City’s port can handle a staggering number of ships and cargo daily, the terrain on both sides of the port is elevated and controlled, preventing the Beastman Legion from fully deploying.

Moreover, in such an important sea city and port, the Rosetta Duchy would certainly have laid down layers of heavy defense.

If the Beastman Kingdom’s army cannot quickly break through the sea city’s defense in a short time, the Noble Alliance’s joint navy fleet waiting to encircle from the sides and rear will encircle.

Unable to fully deploy, lack of coordination, under attack from both the united fleet and land forces, the Beastman Army may be completely annihilated at sea.

Thus the Beastman Army abandoned confronting the Rosetta Navy Fleet surrounding Kali City’s harbor, opting for another location suited for full army deployment — Laman Beach.

Laman Beach is located approximately two hundred nautical miles south of Kali City Harbor, with an entire coastline extending over five hundred kilometers and covering an area of about eighteen thousand square kilometers.

Although the surroundings of the hundreds of kilometers of coastline are mostly cliffs and bluffs, there are two large flat beachheads within, spacious enough for the Beastman Kingdom’s army to fully deploy on land.

As long as the Beastman Kingdom’s legion can quickly breach the Rosetta Duchy’s defenses at the Laman Beach landing zone, they can secure the first foothold to destroy Rosetta Duchy.

And the entire Laman Region has a mild and humid climate, is Rosetta Duchy’s most important agricultural area and granary.

This area has a well-developed livestock industry, along with industries like metallurgy and oil refining. Once the Beastmen completely capture this region, they could secure ample supplies, not having to worry about subsequent logistical issues.

Moreover, behind the Laman Region are numerous rivers, with the largest river in the Rosetta Duchy, Guna River, flowing into the sea here.

Then, the Beastman Army could even advance through water and land, capturing cities and drawing the Marino Defense Line’s attention, opening pressure on the Golden Empire’s frontal battlefield.

”These nobles’ ships, relying on their small size for agile turning and swift speed, constantly spy on us across the sea, grasping our strategic intentions. Once we land, we will soon face the pincer attack of the northern and southern fleets,”

A young beastman, also wearing a Lion Helmet and having the same white-brown mane as Bossel Lane, withdrew his gaze from afar at this point and spoke in a deep voice.

Warfare at sea is indeed more complicated than on land.

The Beastman Kingdom’s army has numerous ships, all modified for carrying more troops, thus their sailing speed cannot compare to the Noble Union’s medium and small ships specially used for intelligence gathering.

If the opponent’s reconnaissance ship formations intentionally avoid combat, only the Golden Empire’s medium and small warships equipped with dual engines can catch up to these noble ships.

And the beastmen would not divide forces to chase these annoying flies, as that would allow the enemy to gradually pull them apart and eliminate them one by one.