The Invincible Overlord of Heroes.

The wind and waves on the cold river were not very strong, but the ship still felt a little shaky as it floated on the river.

The shaking was not relieved until Roland brought his personal guards, Giselle brought her phantom archers, Elvy brought her angel troops, and a large amount of supplies on board.

Xu Lai did not take the flagship Hantan, but although it was not a flagship, it was also a cruiser of the same specifications.

However, the ship he was on was equipped with only standard weapons, unlike the cannons on the Cold Pond, several of which were enchanted.

Including the ammunition, Xu Lai did not name the newly built cruisers one by one. He simply named the Hantan as the No. 2 ship, and the subsequent ones were arranged in order starting with No. .

The ship Xu Lai was on was the No. 2 ship, which did not have the flag or number of the flagship.

Why should he command a fleet in a naval battle when he is a guy who can't even swim and would probably die if he sinks into the river?

If Xu Lai had not been reluctant to see his own troops suffer losses, he would rather watch from the shore than board the ship.

Cruisers are larger ships than ocean-going gunboats. Of course, they are also smaller versions of the original royal battleships, so that they are more suitable for sailing on rivers.

Compared with the Hantan, the standard cruiser is slightly smaller, only about 120 meters long, while the Hantan is over meters.

The biggest difference between the two sides is the ram on the bow.

The ram on a cruiser is an all-steel sharp horn fixed to the bow, about seven or eight meters in length.

The ram on the Hantan has been specially modified and is a double-headed ram that is more than ten meters long.

In addition, the cruiser was only covered with a circle of iron sheets, while the Hantan was covered with a layer of steel plates.

The Han Tan is obviously much fatter than other cruisers. Even with a full crew, its draft is also deeper.

The Cold Pond, which has a deeper draft, is slightly slower than a standard cruiser even with the power provided by the magic circle.

However, it just so happened that Xu Lai only brought 1200 people on the No. 2 cruiser, which had a standard capacity of 1000 people, but he brought an extra 300 war horses.

300 Holy Light Knights plus 300 war horses occupy far more space and weight than 600 people.

Xu Lai's configuration of 1000 people is considered to exceed the standard, but it has not reached the maximum load level, and has a slight impact on the speed.

Such a large cruiser has a standard capacity of 1200 people, but if it is actually fully loaded with people, more than 3000 people can travel.

The speed will be severely reduced, and we won’t be able to carry too many supplies. There won’t be enough cabins for rest, even if we take three shifts.

The remaining eight cruisers were loaded with 8 sailors and the rest were knights, exactly 200 knights and 500 war horses per ship.

Xu Lai brought so many knights with him, so naturally he was going to the other side, but he had not yet figured out where to get on and off.

It was his first time on board a ship, and the ocean-going gunboat escorting alongside it, even with its sails hoisted high, was much shorter than the cruiser.

At such a height, Xu Lai had no choice but to give up his plan of climbing up and looking far into the distance.

Sitting in the firmly fixed captain's room, even though the cruiser was running very steadily, Xu Lai always felt shaking.

With his current physical condition, seasickness is unlikely to happen again.

But after all, it’s the first time on board a ship, so there’s always a period of adaptation.

It's uncomfortable in the captain's room, let alone climbing up the tall watchtower. I guess the breeze up there would be like an 8 magnitude earthquake.

In comparison, Xu Lai would rather let Elvy hold him when necessary.

Even without the bonus of the watchtower, it doesn’t matter if the line of sight is shorter and the image is damaged a little.

Unlike him, the recruits who were also boarding the ship for the first time adapted well to the environment on board.

There are two shooting platforms, one large and one small, on the front deck and the rear deck.

The two platforms are slightly raised above the deck, about 1.2 meters, and slightly weaker than the fences on both sides.

On the large platform, 300 phantom shooters have started shooting at the Hell Flying Scouts and Winged Demons.

Xu Lai integrated the previously trained Level 5 infantry and shooters into the newly established coastal defense force.

In particular, there are 500 upgraded Phantom Archers among them.

Naturally, these soldiers were assigned by Avid to other warships, but the Phantom Archer was transferred to his Cold Pond.

Xu Lai did not raise any objections. Avid only had the right to mobilize troops. After all, the ultimate ownership still belonged to Xu Lai.

Besides, the Hantan is the flagship responsible for battle deployment and battle command, while Xu Lai only has the function of providing specialization and talent bonuses.

In water combat, the effects of talents and specializations do not actually have much effect.

Today was Xu Lai’s first time on board a ship, but it was not his first time witnessing a battle.

As early as when Xu Lai ordered the Coast Defense Force to leave Hantan and sail towards Hanjiang, the Hantan and the escort fleet it led had launched an attack on the Hell Army on the other side of the river.

At that time, there was only a patrol team of several hundred people, whose main responsibility was to patrol the river surface and prevent any human from escaping into the cold river and swimming to the other side.

Hell's patrols are mainly composed of evil spirits and hellhounds. They are extremely strong in melee capture and search capabilities, but their disadvantage is that they have no long-range capabilities.

However, this patrol team of hundreds of people was destroyed in an instant by the large arrow ships and ocean-going gunboats of the Coast Guard.

Even the Hantan did not open fire, and the shooters on the ship did not launch an attack.

Relying solely on the ship's own firepower, the patrol team of hundreds of people was wiped out in a very short time.

At that time, Xu Lai was on the city wall of Hantan City and saw it clearly.

It was also at this point that the opposing hell army sent out the winged demons.

The winged demons were flying very high, far beyond the reach of a 5-meter projectile range of a level 500 sharpshooter.

Even in the Coast Guard, there is a level 6 archer master trained by Avid, whose hit rate is also touching.

As for the 500 level 7 phantom archers, he was somewhat confident, but Avid did not want to alert the enemy, so he never let them take action.

Of course, the winged demons didn't dare to get too close.

Xu Lai alone sent more than 10,000 shooters to the Coast Defense Force.

Adding to the original 5000-plus archers, the Winged Demons would not dare to approach casually no matter how many there were.

Besides, once they got closer, there were more than 10,000 melee guards on the ship.

Without support and not good at close combat, the winged demon will only die faster after boarding the ship.

Fortunately, the coast defense force led by Avid only controlled the surface of the Hanjiang River, and posed a threat to the area about 3 meters on both sides of the Hanjiang River at most.

In this area, more advanced archers and large arrow ships can make effective attacks.

If it is farther away, only the ocean-going gunboats, such as the Hantan and a few other gunboats, can attack.

Although the gunboat has a long range, its hit rate is not so good.

Avid is a high-ranking naval commander, and his level is nearly 30. He comes with several practical naval battle buffs, but unfortunately he is not a hero after all.

Avid can increase the fleet's movement speed by 15%, increase the power of surface combat by 20%, increase the hit rate of siege weapons by 10%, and finally reduce the physical strength consumption on the surface and in water by 10%.

They are all very useful buffs, especially the last one, which is also a great help to people who fall into the water.

However, these buffs, one navigation spell and one ballistic spell, can almost completely cover it, or even go beyond that.

However, heroes who are good at water combat mostly appear in the south.

In the Western Empire, a senior naval commander like Avid is already very good.

But even with Avid's bonus, the firepower of 10 ocean-going gunboats with only bow guns, plus the Hantan, was still not saturated.

Of course, now that the fleet is fully deployed, 9 more cruisers will be added.

If they were lined up on the river and provided firepower coverage, they would not look so shabby anymore.

After obtaining this information, the Hell patrols basically hid and patrolled 3 meters from the shore.

The same goes for the Winged Demons. If they shoot higher, the range will be lower than the standard range, and the hit rate will be worse.

Therefore, hiding at an altitude of more than 300 meters basically poses no threat, and you can also observe the enemy more clearly.

However, in the past, only half of the coast guard went out to patrol the river, and the remaining half stayed in the cold pond for training.

Now, even the transport ships have come out, as if they are going to do something big.

Hell had to leave some demon lords to guard hell. Although the rest came to the main material world, they also suffered many sacrifices in the war.

There were already several demon heroes who died at the hands of Xu Lai alone, so after gaining such a large territory of the Western Empire, there were no longer enough demon heroes.

After all, Kerrigan still has to continue attacking cities and capturing strongholds, and his Burning Legion cannot be without heroes.

Therefore, south of Hanjiang River, even though you are sitting on a boat, you can easily cross countless territories.

In fact, all these territories are ruled by a demon hero.

Close to the border, Kerrigan did not draw troops from his side, but many of the demon lords near him did.

In other words, this demon hero can basically only rely on himself and it is difficult for him to get reinforcements.

Under such circumstances, the opposing navy suddenly came out in full force, which naturally attracted the attention of the demon hero.

Therefore, he sent out dozens of Winged Demon teams this time, trying to gain a clear understanding of all the ships and movements in the fleet.

The number of winged demons exceeds a thousand, and they are worth attacking.

Avid gave a direct order, ordering all the shooters of level 5 and above in the fleet, including the phantom shooters, to fire at full speed.

The number of these winged demons increased several times and became more dense.

Secondly, the entire Coast Defense Force was mobilized. There were more than 6 level 3000 shooters on the fleet alone. With the addition of phantom shooters, the long-range firepower was increased by several times.

Thirdly, with Xu Lai in charge today, the ultimate archery and the attached effects of the Angel Alliance alone can nearly double the power of the ranged troops.

Caught off guard, most of the winged demons in the sky fell to the ground in the first wave of arrows alone.

Although Phantom Sharpshooter and Phantom Archer do not have the guaranteed hit effect of Phantom Archer, their hit rates are already high.

Moreover, as a recruited branch of the military, although they are not professional naval warfare branches, they can still stably demonstrate their abilities on the surface shooting platform.

Even though the hit rate is not as good as on land, the difference is not that big. It is just a matter of launching a second wave of arrows before the winged demons have time to distance themselves.

After the second wave of arrow rain, the sky cleared up and all the winged demons fell into the water with a splash.

Even if there are still some alive, the injured winged demons will basically drown if they fall into the water.

When the winged demons fell into the water and tried to surface, the sailors on the fleet would raise their sticks and smash all of them into the water until they were completely drowned.

The winged demons in charge of reconnaissance were almost wiped out, which made the demon hero panic.

Under normal circumstances, this demon hero would definitely not be afraid. He even urgently wanted the opposing city lord to bring his troops over.

But today, it's obviously not comparable to usual times.

His troops were not withdrawn because Kerrigan wanted to be on the safe side.

If he lost the conquered land without reducing his military strength, the consequences that would await him can be imagined.

Besides, if he can't win the battle, he can always call for reinforcements.

Now that he couldn't win, he had no choice but to abandon nearly one-third of the empire's land, which he had already transformed.

Knowing that the enemy was coming in full force, the demon hero did not dare to delay and quickly began to assemble his troops.

Even though a large ship can traverse the surface of the Hantan River, it is not easy for it to dock and allow soldiers to land.

The reason why the ancestors of the Valentine family chose to build the city in Hantan City was because there was a deep-water port here that could dock large ships.

Generally speaking, such deep water areas are only in the center of the river and on both sides.

The closer you get to the shore, the deeper the water becomes, making it less suitable for large ships to anchor.

Although the fleet has many flat-bottomed transport ships, it still needs a more suitable area with a wide opening and shallow water to land.

Of course, as a family that has lived by the Han River for hundreds of years, Avid is familiar with all the suitable landing spots nearby.

Before Hell completely changed the terrain, Arvid easily found a suitable place for the army to land.

However, this location was also discovered by the Hell Army monitoring on the shore.

The ships had to be unloaded one by one, and the siege weapons, arrows and ammunition also had to be carried bit by bit.

Avid sent a flag signal on the flagship, asking Xu Lai whether he wanted to find another place to land. He also knew many landing points far away from the city.

Xu Lai didn't hesitate for a moment and told Avid directly to land at the landing point in front of him.

He wants to have a head-on battle with the army of hell.

To be honest, the soldiers of the Western Empire had already lost their temper after being beaten by the Hell Army.

This can be seen from the fact that after nearly two weeks of training and with the blessing of the statue of the God of War, the morale of the Coast Guard has never been able to break through 90 points.

Besides, Xu Lai also needed a head-on and thorough battle to calm his complicated heart.

While the demon hero's main force was still gathering, ten cruisers, including the Hantan, lined up in a row, with 60 secondary guns firing at the same time.

The secondary guns fired only conventional shells. Although the range was long, the hit rate was still somewhat touching.

There were not many hell troops stationed at the landing point, only a few thousand demons, and a round of volleys only killed dozens of unlucky guys.

At the same time, a medium-sized transport ship approached the shore first. (End of this chapter)