The sh.i.p.s began their pursuit, heading towards the Coastal city of Jangom.
They had 5 hours and a few minutes to get to their targeted destination.
Like so, time seemed to pass by quickly, the closer they got.
They planned to launch a surprise attack.
But sadly, the many Teriquen units patrolling the waters around the city seemed to notice their Battle formation from afar.
What was this?
On several sh.i.p.s, everyone's heard drummed louder as they looked at the scene before them with horror.
Their bodies trembled with urgency when they noticed blurry-like lines on the horizon that stretched out so vast that it gave the illusion of them occupying the entire seas.
Of course, from the blurry lines of hundreds, they didnt know if it were some noble entourage from a different continent coming or enemies.
But either way, they had to get battle-ready just in case it was indeed an enemy.
No! They had to get the message to those on land fast!
~Puuuuuuuupppp!
~Pupuup! Pupuup! Pupuup!
The constant sounds from the seas alerted those on land that the enemy was huge in number.
The first long blow typically indicated the emergence of strange forces.
And after that, the blowing pattern would change depending on the number of enemies.
So if they estimated about 10 sh.i.p.s or less, their blowing pattern would sound like: Puuuuuuupup.
Some milestones suggested the difficulty of the battle from 10 sh.i.p.s, 50 sh.i.p.s or below, 100 sh.i.p.s or below and so on.
Of course, the same could be said for several numbers and estimates.
For sure, if the enemy sh.i.p.s were estimated to be about 250 or a little less or more, then the pattern would blow out like it did now.
The horns blew, and the patrolling sh.i.p.s closer to the shores relayed the same pattern, alerting those at the docks, who in turn blew out an even bigger metal horn that to the next station, and the blowing trend continued like so.
"The horns are blowing!
Battle stations, everyone! The enemy is a mighty one!"
"All units move out fast! We are working with little time on our hands.
Move! Nice! Move! Move!!!"
~Din. Din. Din. Din.~~
Like people being fed chicken soup, the Teriquen Soldiers who had trained in Baymard, as well as the knights, all jumped out like crazy, preparing for battle.
They quickly took their weapons out, shields, fasting towards the docks and shoreline like crazy.
Some also went along the neighbouring coastline along the forest regions too.
An additional horn signal had informed them of just how far the enemy was from reaching land.
From what they estimated, the enemy should be arriving in 2 hours and maybe 48 minutes.
This was just an estimate, and maybe they were a little wrong or so.
But they had to act fast and work on time.
.
The air felt frozen in place as the tension seemed to grow larger and larger every second.
Even with the cold winds, no one seemed to feel the shills at this moment.
Now, their thoughts were all focused and centred at the intruders ahead.
"Quickly, get the Siege weapons out and in place. All firing units should prepare for action!
We will not let these bastards in no matter what!"
"Yes!"
With that, countless people began transporting the siege weapons, while others headed towards the Sh.i.p.s that now had massive arrows installed to them.
Yes.
They just carved out a few holes around their existing sh.i.p.s and carried the Ballistas into their sh.i.p.s.
Of course, they also added more wood at the base of the sh.i.p.s and did more modifications to make it sturdier too.
Yes. Many were going to stay at a safe distance and give these people hell with their weapons, hoping to sink at least 20~50 sh.i.p.s down.
For sure, they would also stay at a safe enough distance too.
After all, if they got too close, the enemy might shop out black powered tube attached arrows or flame arrows onto their sh.i.p.s.
Yes. Even though today was indeed very windy and the arrows shot by the enemy would surely lose focus and spiral into current directions, it would still hit their sh.i.p.s.
.
The good thing was that the Ballista arrows should be able to bear the wind and hit their marks. Plus, they will also go further out too.
With that, the Teriquen soldiers quickly moved as per their countless drills, taking action against any intruders.
And the standby teams around the docks quickly boarded the ship like crazy.
That's right.
Their duty was to always stay close to the dock just in case of such emergencies.
They started learning how to operate things per how Baymard's Navy was always close to the seas.
Likewise, they stayed close by for situations like these and went over their drills at least 4 times a week.
Of course, this wasn't the only thing they did because it just so happens that the estate they were laying in wait was also where the Siege weapons were being kept.
That's right. They also worked as guards, protecting the siege weapons too.
And they also used the massive estate as training grounds too.
To many who had already trained in Baymard, it was perfectly normal for the barracks or training facilities to carry or hold weaponry.
So they took the Siege weapons to be their own explosive powers.
That said, they didn't mind using their training grounds as a storage region for these military siege weapons too.
That said, with the estate just being very close to the docks, the moment the horn sounded out, it didn't take too long for some to haul the Siege weapons out, while others quickly got on the sh.i.p.s and headed out too.
.
~Din. Din. Din. Din. Din. Din.~
The docks got extremely busy as countless people boarded the sh.i.p.s, while several others controlled the traffic, directing the exiting merchants to flee.
Of course some within the city who heard the horns blow quickly got on their wagons, horses or carriages to flee to the next town or region to stay in hiding first.
They would wait out the matter and first see what was going on.
And if it were safe, they would come back.
But if the enemy had taken over, they would head even deeper into the empire.
Again, some soldiers also tried rounding up everyone and telling them to head out for a while too, because they didn't know if the entire place would turn into a battlefield or not.
They really took references from their understanding of how Baymard functioned.
For one, if it were Baymard, whether war was going on or not, they would always try to secure the safety of their citizens and tourists.
Even during sea battles, there were teams either stopping those from leaving the check-out port or recording those already on their sh.i.p.s through a safer route out.
They didn't fully understand how the Baymardians operated, but they did have a certain level of understanding about their actions.
Thus, all Teriquen forces worked diligently alongside each other to do an outstanding job today.
.
Time flew by swiftly, and before those on the sh.i.p.s knew it, they had come at very close proximity to the enemy.
They looked at the sheer sizes of the sh.i.p.s, and their faces turned grim.
Huge!
Seeing the situation, Teriquen Lieutenant James quickly did a few calculations in his mind.
Firstly, they didn't expect that the enemy sh.i.p.s would be this time, meaning that the arrows the enemy would shoot at that distance would go either than what they expected.
So they had to distance themselves more for their safety too.
Thinking like that, James quickly commanded everyone to reverse swiftly before taking any actions.
"Fall back, Left Swing!"
"Yes. Lieutenant!" The men answered in union and receded back, making these on the Adonis sh.i.p.s scoff in disdain.
Kardinal Ratum IV Minkus and his direct subordinates saw their actions and only felt that these beggars were just intimidated by them.
"Tsk!
Holy Kardinal, just look at how frightened these lowlifes are? Just looking at their tiny sh.i.p.s, it's clear that they're scared of our sh.i.p.s and have chosen to flee for their lives instead."
"Holy Kardinal, I agree with Holy Bindol Wagins here.
Their actions can only mean fear. And from a logical standpoint, we far outnumber them.
So it would be suicide to fight us.
That said, it has truly been a long time since I saw such tiny sh.i.p.s.
Tsk! It's no wonder that they are referred to as beggars.
Why, if these are their standard sh.i.p.s, then it's truly a disgrace!"
Listening to his subordinates, Kardinal Ratum completely agreed with them.
He almost felt disgusted just seeing the ancient ship designs and poor conditions of these sh.i.p.s compared to theirs.
It was almost disgraceful for someone of his status to fight them now.
He began wondering whether his comrades had fallen to these people or the pirates instead because now, he and many others were more inclined to believe that the Pirates were the ones who took them down.
Ugh... Beggars were undoubtedly disgusting.
Everyone looked at the receding sh.i.p.s in disdain, feeling like they had already won this battle.
But before they could even think further, something shocking happened that left them dumbfounded.
~Bam!!"
A loud sound echoed out, leaving them with their mouths wide open.
('0')
What just happened?