The eastern sky was already tinged with the pale light of dawn, and at the horizon, the newly risen, flat red sun was embedded in the horizon, like a palace lantern being lifted up. In a moment, it was lifted from the horizon and leaped into the sea of clouds, and then the myriad rays of light that followed painted the entire sky.
It was already dawn, the rising sun was shining brightly, the sky was shimmering with gold, and the vast waves were surging and undulating. The coral island's shore was covered with golden waves that were several meters high. However, the giant whale fleet that was sailing under this beautiful sunrise had no time to pay attention to it. They were heading towards the coral island's coast in a zigzag pattern, like snakes, heading towards this last refuge.
The occasional tremors coming from the bottom of the ship made the soldiers tremble with fear. Everyone knew that the waters near Coral Island were full of hidden reefs, and if they were not careful, they would hit one of them and damage the ship to the point of no return.
But compared to the reefs, the fear brought by the pursuers behind them was much greater. The enemy warships were relentlessly chasing them, and the explosions from the shells were like a death curse. They had been listening to it all night. It subsided slightly in the second half of the night, but became louder again in the morning. This gave the soldiers reason to believe that they would fall into the deep sea and become food for fish and shrimp even before noon.
The only good news was that Coral Island was right in front of them. This island, which they had previously dismissed as a "worthless, terrible island," was now as precious as a jewel.
Although it is full of reefs, it can not only block our own warships but also cause damage to the enemy. At least now the enemy warships' speed has been significantly reduced, and they are obviously also wary of these reefs.
In contrast, dozens of large warships in their own fleet had already run aground and were leaking. The holes in the bottom of the hull meant they could not sail. The only remedial measure they could take at the moment was not to repair them, but to launch lifeboats to evacuate the soldiers as much as possible and let them row to the shore.
The flagship, the Giant Whale, was doing just that. Its super-class warship size meant it had an extremely deep draft. Despite the rising tide, it was still unable to avoid running aground. Federich had anticipated this, so he had his men prepare lifeboats as they sailed toward the coast.
Even the Whale couldn't prepare more than a dozen escape boats on board. Under these circumstances, he had no choice but to abandon most of his soldiers, board the escape boats first, and then be towed away by the light warship in front by a tow rope.
"Marshal, it seems they've stopped pursuing us." At that moment, the officer on the small boat said breathlessly.
Looking behind him, Federici was pale, his clothes soaked by the waves splashed into the boat, and he looked extremely disheveled.
"They won the battle, and of course they don't want to suffer unnecessary losses due to running aground."
At this point, he turned to look ahead, his face growing increasingly grim: "We don't have many warships left, this damned reef!"
What he saw was that many of his own large warships had run aground and were now stuck, and some of them were listing heavily and were about to sink to the bottom of the sea.
The smaller warships fared much better; they had fewer accidents, and those at the forefront had already reached the shore, with the soldiers frantically running through waist-deep water.
Waiting on the shore were a group of ragged refugees, who were soldiers of the Federation fleet.
Federich's expression froze instantly upon seeing these people.
Some words he had once spoken echoed in his mind.
"Those foolish Goths! Didn't their nautical charts indicate that Coral Island was an island riddled with reefs?!"
"Are their heads filled with shit? How could they bring a fleet to Coral Island?!"
"These idiots! So that's how the Yan Kingdom people defeated them!"
"They deserved to lose! These stupid idiots! They deserve to die!"
The words spoken earlier now flew like cannonballs, aimed directly at Federich's brain, and then exploded one by one.
Federich's pale face flushed red rapidly, then quickly returned to its original pale color. His body trembled slightly, and his gaze toward the coastline lowered as if he dared not look directly ahead.
The next moment, he was hit as if by a cannonball.
With a "thud," he leaned back and fell sprawled on top of his companions.
"Marshal?! Marshal?!"
"What happened to you?! Are you alright?!"
"The Marshal has fainted! Was he hit by a stray bullet?"
"Medical officer! Where is the medical officer? Quickly check on the marshal's condition!"
"The medical officer just fell into the sea!"
——
The sun was high in the sky, shining brightly under a cloudless sky; it was a beautiful day on the Bohr Sea.
Federich smacked his lips, then suddenly opened his eyes in horror.
"Was that a good dream, Marshal Federich?" Suddenly, a gloomy voice drifted over, followed by a burst of excited shouts.
"The Marshal is awake!"
"Great! The Marshal is awake!"
Federich wiped his wet face, spat out the salty seawater from his mouth, and then suddenly sat up from the ground. His face was still filled with terror, and he was somewhat dazed, as if he had not yet fully woken up from the nightmare.
Once he could see his surroundings clearly, he finally understood his current situation.
He had arrived at Coral Island, surrounded by his soldiers, but everyone looked extremely disheveled, like drowned rats.
In the shadow of the rocks nearby, a tall, imposing man stood with his arms crossed, watching him. He had deep-set eyes and a prominent hooked nose, exhibiting distinctly Gothic features. His face was particularly grim, and his gaze was clearly hostile.
Without a doubt, the gloomy voice from before came from him.
But Federich had no time to think about it; he hurriedly turned to look at the sea, wanting to assess the current situation immediately.
The soldiers noticed his fear and said, "Marshal, we are out of danger for now. The Yan people have not approached Coral Island."
Turning to look at the sea, Federich did not see the Yan Kingdom's warships. He only saw a large fleet of giant whale warships, but the current situation of these warships was worrying.
They were either stuck motionless in the reefs or their hulls were broken and torn apart. He hardly saw a single large warship that was intact, while the smaller warships were stranded nearby.
"call--"
Only then did Federich finally relax and exhale a heavy breath.
Just then, the man who had been standing in the shadow of the rock walked over, followed by a large group of people. Federich frowned.
"Welcome to my Coral Island, Marshal Federich."
Edelman walked over with a cold smile, his gloomy gaze like that of a hungry wolf.
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