The formal attack on Northport by the Boulder-Violet Allied Forces began from the sea.
When the mighty Principality fleet sailed into the waters around North Port following the pace of the army, the battle broke out again.
Because the Castel fleet led by the Romain-Fol family has all been sent to patrol the Dorne River, Castel no longer has the power to directly confront the Principality's fleet on the outer sea.
Of course, as a matter of fact, Castel's fleet, which has little firepower and is only suitable for sneak attacks, is not good at fighting the principality's fleet head-on.
Entering the Dorne was both for defense and to maintain the strength of Castel's fleet.
But in the open sea, the result is that Beigang loses the cover of the fleet and will directly confront the principality fleet.
Dozens of warships of the Principality were wandering offshore, almost surrounding Beigang. The sides of the ships were all pointed in the direction of Beigang, and they spewed out white mist amidst thunderous roars.
"boom--!"
"boom--!"
Accompanied by bursts of roaring, enchanted stone bullets flew out one after another.
Meteor-like stone bullets rained down, either splashing water around Beigang, or smashing into the city of Beigang, while the outer walls of the fortress surrounding the main island of Beigang and the port of Beigang were given priority.
"Peng——!"
"Boom...!"
Stone bullets hit the thick outer wall of Beigang one after another.
Fortunately, at this moment, the outer wall of Beigang has already activated a defensive magic shield.
Those stone bullets did not successfully penetrate the defense of the outer wall, but only left circles of ripples on the surface of the outer wall.
The outer wall is protected by a shield and has not been damaged.
But ports exposed within range are different.
The ships anchored in the port almost became live targets for the bombardment of the principality's warships. From time to time, sailboats could be seen being hit and sinking amidst screams and cries.
As for the shallow-water neighborhoods outside Beigang, which were also exposed within the range, they had completely turned into hell.
Those simple floating houses had no defense at all. Under the gunfire of the Principality's fleet, they were easily torn to pieces and destroyed, turning into pieces of ruins on the water.
If Charlotte hadn't ordered in advance to forcibly evacuate the poor people in the shallow water neighborhood, I don't know how many people would have been killed in the first round of shelling.
"When—! When—! When—!"
Shrill bells rang throughout Northport, and the city hall alarm sounded.
From time to time, huge roars can be heard from all over Beigang City. They are stone bullets that have passed over the outer wall and fallen into the city. Each shot almost means that a building has suffered a devastating blow.
However, Beigang is not just passively beaten unilaterally.
After the principality fleet launched the artillery attack, Northport's shore defense stone cannons also launched a counterattack, firing stone projectiles at the fleet on the sea with loud noises.
This kind of shore defense stone cannon has a longer range and is more powerful.
However, compared to Beigang, the scattered fleet is obviously more difficult to target.
Although Beigang's shore defense stone cannons were powerful, their results were quite limited. Most of the stone projectiles fell into the sea, stirring up huge water columns.
But occasionally, a lucky stone bomb would hit the principality's warship, causing serious damage.
"boom--!"
"boom--!"
"..."
After a series of counterattacks, the principality's warships were also damaged, and the combined fleet also clearly felt the threat from the North Port coastal defense cannon.
For a time, those galley battleships and schooners that were too far forward retreated one after another, away from the range of North Port.
Only the Carrick heavy three-masted warship with a longer range relied on its advantage in range to continue bombarding North Port.
"Lord Earl, the magic shield of the Earl's Mansion has been deployed. Please return to the Earl's Mansion to escape. It is really too dangerous here."
On the tower of the Northport outer wall fortress, the nobleman responsible for defending the fortress came to Charlotte and anxiously persuaded her.
Charlotte glanced at the three-masted warship on the sea that continued to spit white mist towards the city, and then at the city that was damaged everywhere under the gunfire.
The sound of solid bullets whizzing past overhead sounded one after another, and smoke rose in Beigang City.
She heard the frightened screams and cries of the residents mixed with the sound of gunfire, and the keen hearing of the vampires made people's fear and despair even more evident.
Charlotte frowned slightly.
"If I remember correctly, our Beigang also has a magic shield covering the entire city, right? Why only open the magic shield of the Earl's Palace and the shield of the outer wall of the fortress?"
she asked.
The noble hesitated for a moment and replied:.??m
"Your Majesty, Beigang has been at peace for too long. We lack enough magic crystals. The existing reserves must give priority to the supply of magic crystal cannons and the defense of Beigang Bridge."
"It would be too expensive to deploy a shield covering the entire city. President Laidun estimated that if we want to deploy a shield covering the entire city, even with the magic crystals that the Mercenary Association can provide us, it will cost us at most
We can only hold on for five days, but if we only protect military fortifications, we can hold on for a full two months."
President Laiton is naturally the president of the Beigang Branch of the Mercenary Association.
After the war started, Charlotte has hired all the mercenaries available in North Port, including Guild Master Laiton, who is a Silver Moon mage.
Not only that, as a rare second-level mage in Beigang, he is also responsible for the support and operation of Beigang's magic shield.
"Five days? That's enough. Tell President Laiton to fully open Beigang's magic shield without worrying about consumption."
Charlotte said.
After hearing Charlotte's words, the noble looked a little hesitant.
Charlotte frowned and repeated:
"Do as I say, deploy all your shields, and protect civilians! If anyone asks, just say it was my order! Even if something goes wrong, I, Castel, will be the one to bear the responsibility!"
The noble hesitated for a moment, bowed his head in agreement, and then respectfully bowed out.
Soon, knights mounted their horses and rushed to various magic nodes in Beigang, shouting, "Your Majesty the Earl has an order, unfold all shields and protect civilians!".
Following Charlotte's command, dots of aqua-blue light rose from all around North Port.
Magic shields were opened with the mage tower as the center and each outer wall fortress as the base point.
After the shield was opened, the principality fleet's bombardment of North Port became obviously ineffective, and few stone bullets penetrated the shield and smashed into the city.
Waves of cheers came from all over the city, and they were the voices of the citizens of Beigang.
It was obvious that they also recognized the shield deployed above the city.
Not only that, with her keen hearing, Charlotte even heard some residents thanking and praising her.
At the same time, shortly after the shield opened, Charlotte seemed to see a bit of illusory light flying out of the city and converging towards herself.
Looking at the star-like brilliance, Charlotte looked surprised.
She couldn't help but reach out and touch them, and when they integrated into her body, Charlotte only felt that her soul seemed to have some inexplicable changes...
"Did you...see anything?"
Charlotte glanced at the knights following her and couldn't help but ask.
The knights looked at each other and shook their heads in confusion.
"Forget it, it's nothing."
Charlotte was thoughtful and gave up asking.
On the other side, among the Boulder-Violet coalition.
Looking at the magic shield that was completely lit up over Beigang, the third prince Philip sneered and said:
"The kindness of a woman who brings about her own destruction!"