Chapter 266 Naval Battle

The Vandal ships were getting closer and closer. As the distance got closer, the archers pulled their bowstrings further and further back. Everyone held their breath and waited quietly for their commander to give the order to "fire."

"Hold on!"

Unfortunately, their commander still warned them to remain restrained. He stared at the Vandal ship closest to them without blinking. The distance was close enough that he could even see the sailors on the Vandal ship looking at him. They stared at each other, and the commander was stunned. But in just a few seconds, hundreds of arrows were fired from the Vandal ship, covering them like a torrential rain.

“Squeak, squeak, squeak…”

The commander fell down with arrows all over his body before he even had the chance to give orders. The same was true for the archers behind him. More than thirty of the more than one hundred people fell in an instant.

“Fight back, fight back!”

Without a commander, they had no reason to restrain themselves, and when someone among them shouted, it became an order that spread among them.

"brush!"

Almost at the same time, everyone's right hands loosened at the same time, and dozens of flaming arrows broke free from the bowstrings and swept towards the oncoming Vandal warships.

Looking down again, they found that their commander was dead and there was no one to command them. This was the worst thing besides the casualties.

"Don't stand there, the Vandals are getting closer, prepare the rockets, rockets!"

The rest of the archers came to their senses at the roar of the old soldier. They quickly pulled out new arrows and lit them on the fire. At this time, the second wave of arrows from the Vandals had already swept in.

“Dodge, dodge!”

The archer who was still lighting the arrows was knocked down instantly, and the other archers hurriedly hid behind the shields neatly placed on the railings on both sides of the ship, and the arrows "clinked" and pierced the shields where they were hiding.

"Get up! Fight back!"

The archers immediately picked up the still burning arrows and pulled the bowstrings towards the Vandal warships in front of them.

“Ka-ka-ka…”

There was a sound of bowstrings being pulled, and a bow and arrow carrying several rockets pierced the Vandal warship, which did not seem to cause any damage to it, but only caught fire.

"Slow down! Speed ​​up!"

Already aware of the danger, everyone called out to the rowers, but it was too late. They saw the oncoming Vandal warship with a ram on its front. This was not difficult to guess, because there were too many barbarians in the empire. They fought with the empire as mercenaries. Whether it was land or sea battles, they had always been the most reliable partners behind the Romans, and of course the most diligent students.

Such students are undoubtedly the most dangerous. They learn the Roman way of life, make themselves indistinguishable from the Roman civilization, learn the Roman siege equipment and the weapon casting on the warships. They are more or less learning, which is dangerous. The Romans did not realize that the loss of such technology has made the surrounding barbarians almost as strong as themselves. War is the best proof. Until the teacher and the student turned against each other and met with swords, the Romans at this time had to be surprised to find that the barbarians who followed behind them, who originally knew nothing but charging and roaring, used the same equipment and tactics as them.

"They are coming! They are coming!"

It was almost a cry with a cry in the voice of a cry, or it could be considered a powerless struggle. Because it was too late for them to turn the bow, the ramming ship in front of them was speeding towards them, and the huge ramming horn that appeared from the sea from time to time hit the water and the waves it created were like a hammer, constantly hitting the hearts of every archer and rower.

"I can't run away, I can't run away!"

Even though they tried their best to make amends, the human-powered warship was still clumsy after all. Turning the bow hastily was not only time-consuming, but also exposed the most vulnerable side to the enemy's ramming horn without any cover.

The enemy's warships were getting closer and closer. Everyone stayed where they were. They could only run or jump off the ship. After a while, the ship would be torn apart and fall into the sea. The difference was the same. What else was there to say? "Get ready to jump! Get ready to jump!"

There were still some who were unwilling to die in the face of disaster, so they jumped off the boat and called their companions on the boat. Holding the shield as a float in the sea, as long as one person took the lead, the others would jump into the water one after another, and they pulled out the shields placed on both sides of the boat railing.

The Vandal warships rushed before their eyes, and the terrifying ramming horns were exposed to the remaining people who were still struggling on the ship. They were stunned and stood there not knowing what to do.

“Boom!”

It was as if the gods could not bear to see such a tragic scene, so in order to help these poor archers they sent down punishment from the sky to the Vandals.

No one could see clearly what it was. They only knew that a huge object fell from the sky and directly hit the oncoming Vandal warship. The roar covered up all the cries and even the Vandals were smashed to pieces on the sea by the "punishment from heaven" before they could even scream.

What was left for the archers was the oncoming sea water and the broken planks of the torn warship.

"What? What is that?"

The frightened crowd looked at the ocean surface which had suddenly become quiet. Now the ramming ship that was going to tear them apart was no longer there, and what was left was only the wreckage floating on the sea!

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“Could it be that this is God saving us?”

An archer murmured with trembling lips. He could never have imagined that he would be saved.

"Hey, the one above, pull us up quickly!"

The archers who were floating on the sea with their shields under the ship saw that the danger was over, so they shouted loudly to the ship.

"Hit the target, General!"

The soldier ran up to report to Hermanus. Hermanus looked at the archery ship that had escaped danger, shook his head with a smile, and turned back to praise the soldier who was operating the catapult: "Well done!"

Looking back, he secretly said: "At least their luck is really good now!"

What Hermanus said was not without reason, because out of the total of twenty light ships that came forward, only theirs was accurately rescued.

"Father!" Belia stayed beside Hermanus and looked at him and asked, "When do we launch the attack?"

"Now!" Hermanus said, waving his hand forward and saying, "Order the heavy warships to move forward in parallel! The light ramming ships protect the warships and be ready to sacrifice themselves at any time!"

Seeing that these light archery ships returned empty-handed, and Hermanus also let the Vandals know the power of his ship-borne catapults, they naturally couldn't help but be a little wary of heavy warships like the one Hermanus was on.

"Go forward, don't be afraid of them, go forward!"

Orders were issued one by one, and soon, the huge fleet began to move slowly, with each warship advancing step by step!

(End of this chapter)