Chapter 122: Beachhead Landing Operation

The Star-Shattering Strait had a metallic gray faint light before dawn, and thick fog flowed on the sea surface. But under the mist today, there was a black torrent.

Gisk stood on the cliff command platform of the "Pale Highlands" on the Gravel Continent coast, his yellowish vertical pupils reflecting the huge shadows sliding silently on the sea below, which was the entire first attack wave.

Three hundred special flat-bottomed landing craft, wrapped in iron skin on the keel, with heavy jump boards that could be lowered on the bow, each carrying two hundred fully armed, silent and murderous ogre heavy infantry.

As soon as the fleet sailed into the middle of the strait, the seawater suddenly became viscous, and terrifying screeches came from the mist. Tentacles made of rotten seawater stretched out from the thick fog, tightly entangling the ships. This was the demon defense system, the outermost warning net.

The accompanying shamans immediately beat the exorcism drums on the flagship and threw scorching purification rune stones into the sea. The exploding golden light evaporated the tentacles, but more than a dozen landing craft were still overturned, and the heavy soldiers fell into the sea like stones.

Several wing demons, like skinned vultures, dived down from the high altitude of the thick fog, trying to throw corrosion bags at the fleet.

Above the fleet, a cyan-white electric net suddenly lit up. This was the anti-aircraft thunder storm released by the ogre storm warlocks on the transport ships behind.

Two wing demons turned into charcoal in the electric light and fell, and the rest screamed and drilled back into the fog.

At the same time, the war machines on the Pale Highlands began to roar. Fifty counterweight catapults calibrated by the underground gnome engineers made a dull loud noise.

What they threw were not ordinary stones, but blasting clay pots filled with alchemical explosives. These clay pots tore through the dawn sky and landed on the demon's preset defensive positions behind the Star-Falling Beachhead, bursting into pieces of scorching fire rain, igniting fortifications and disrupting the defenders.

The first wave of landing craft, under the cover of magic and catapults, rushed onto the Star-Falling Beachhead.

This is a slope about two kilometers wide, covered with black gravel and sharp crystal fragments. Behind the beachhead stands a low wall several meters high, with shooting holes opened on the wall. This was once the front line of human resistance against demons. Although it is now dilapidated, it is better than nothing.

Behind the wall are crisscrossing trenches, and further back on the high slope, several twisted arrow towers that seem to be made of bones and lava are vaguely visible. This is the masterpiece of the Babum demons who are good at setting traps.

As soon as the ogre's ship lowered the jump board and the first batch of soldiers stepped onto the gravel beach, the demon's defensive firepower broke out completely.

The abyss ejectors behind the low wall, which is a bloated demon creature, began to fire in unison, capable of ejecting acid and scorching fireballs. The viscous acid hissed on the shields, and the fireballs exploded in the crowd, with limbs and gravel flying together.

At the same time, the gravel on the beach suddenly arched, and dozens of burrowing demon insects broke through the ground. They resembled giant segmented insects, with mouthparts like drills, instantly dragging several ogres underground, leaving a pool of blood.

The ogre squad immediately counterattacked, piercing the ground with spears or slashing the insect bodies fiercely with battle axes, but the initial chaos still caused heavy casualties.

The gate of the low wall opened violently, and groups of berserk demons holding serrated swords and skins like cracked lava roared and launched a counter-charge. They had strong muscles and dull pain, and their only thought was to tear the invaders to pieces.

The ogre vanguard phalanx was violently hit by these violent demons, and the shields in the front row were deformed under the giant force.

Commander Margo stood on the shallow beach observing the battlefield, his orders cold and precise:

"032 flag, top it up! Shaman, purify the ground!"

In the second wave of landing craft, the ogre giant shield soldiers specially designed to deal with heavy impact, equipped with tower shields and heavy hammers, formed a tight turtle formation, advancing difficultly but firmly, firmly resisting the impact line of the berserk demons.

The accompanying shamans began to beat the totem poles and chant incantations to soothe the earth. The ground glowed with earthy yellow light, the burrowing demon insects were repelled by this power, twisted painfully, or trapped by the solidified land of the spell.

"Flank, chisel through them!"

The third wave of landing jackal assault teams, taking advantage of their physical advantages and battlefield chaos, divided into small squads to quickly bypass the reef areas on both sides of the beachhead, climb the steep slopes, and attack the demon long-range troops on the low wall from the flanks and rear.

When the battle was most intense, dawn finally arrived, but the sunlight was obscured by smoke and magic light pollution. After two hours of bloody tug-of-war.

The ogres paid the price of more than 5,000 casualties and finally captured the low wall. The corpses of both sides were piled up under the wall, and black blood and green blood mixed together, seeping into the gravel.

Most of the berserk demons were annihilated, and the remaining demons retreated to the second line of defense higher up the Hanging Sea Ridge.

The fourth and fifth waves of landing ogre engineering troops, under the cover of mages, began crazy operations.

They used prefabricated steel frames and magic-catalyzed quick-setting stone slurry, based on the captured low wall, to quickly build a semi-permanent defensive wall with shooting towers and magic barriers.

Small catapults and heavy ballistae were dragged ashore, deployed behind the newly built wall, and began artillery battles with the demon arrow towers higher up, suppressing their firepower and providing a relatively safe area for subsequent landings.

The demons did not give up their counterattack, they constantly launched small-scale night raids from high places, sent invisible demons to infiltrate, or bombarded with long-range magic.

……

On the scorched earth battlefield at the edge of the Mutu Plain, two figures like ancient giants were confronting each other.

On the left is "Bronze Scourge" Gorgon, a minotaur warlord who has been completely demonized by the abyss. His nearly four-meter body seems not to be flesh and blood, but a living fortress cast from countless bronze armor plates and cooled lava.

Every heavy breath sprayed sulfur sparks from the gaps in the face-covering iron helmet, and those giant eyes burning with eternal amber flames were now locked on the existence of the same height opposite.

On the right is Druid Vilanse. Her four-meter-tall deer-shaped body is composed of muscles like ancient wood, crisscrossing craggy bone plates, and countless activated thorns flashing with cold light. The antlers are like slowly growing black iron-colored thorn crowns, making a subtle, teeth-aching friction sound in the air.

Gorgon took a step forward, and the scorched earth under his feet collapsed and dented. He did not roar, but squeezed a series of broken roars mixed with metal friction and furnace roar from the depths of his chest.

"Vi——lan——se——!"

His voice tore through the dead silence of the battlefield, "It's been a month! My battle group fought from the boiling Mutu River to the dried-up rift valley! The soul fires of 381 clan brothers are still crying in this iron armor!"

His giant black iron battle axe slammed into the ground, stirring up a scorching heat wave, and the blood scabs that had long solidified on the axe surface peeled off one after another:

"And where are the reinforcements you promised, those lizardmen who should have poured out of Shadow Bay?!"

Amber flames erupted from his eyes, almost burning Vilanse's thorn crown: "My warriors are using their last strength to dig demon fragments from each other's wounds! Before the next sunset, if I still can't see the reinforcements in your oath, then......"

He lowered his helmet-covered head, and the pair of twisted bronze giant horns aimed at the druid, "My remaining clansmen and I will no longer fight for this land waiting for redemption. We are going to kill a bloody path for ourselves... no matter where we go."

"My friend, please hold on for a while longer, you also know that without the canal being dug, my people can't get here. Besides, the Iron Skeleton War Gang doesn't just have the Abyss Hoof Clan, recruit more other demons to top it up!"

"Hmph, you speak nicely, in order to share the plain you said, our Iron Skeleton War Gang has already provided thousands of tons of iron, but what have we gained? The endless attacks of the flatland king Bazago."

"Don't be excited, my friend, you are the most powerful warrior, how can you be afraid of the small Shadow Abyss Terror Demon? Don't worry, I will let the Blood Howl Clan support you, you can also go to the Ink Iron Mountains to recruit some inferior demons."

"You'd better take out something practical, I can tolerate your weakness, but don't think about getting half of the land without paying any price!"

"I think you really misunderstood me, I have already asked people to prepare a thousand battle axes for your clan, all of which are engraved with inscriptions."

"Thank you, I hope your people can arrive early and drive that group of wolf cubs into the river."

……

"Ms., someone from Marshal Gisk's side came, saying they wanted to borrow our ships to transport a batch of supplies to them, it seems that side has been delayed for too long."

"Then how did you reply to him?"

"I said let them send a legion to support us, otherwise the efficiency of transportation may be discounted."

"Morgan, you have to understand one thing, don't be so direct in front of your own people. If something happens later, Gisk says it's because you didn't transport the supplies well, what do you plan to do?

Besides, before these demonized minotaurs die, I will not send troops into the Mutu Plain, so you have to do your best to support that side, so I can find an excuse to continue dragging it out."

"Uh... Ms., are we not very credible? Is it really good to deceive the minotaurs like this?"

"Everything that cannot be used by us is an enemy, especially demons. Besides, I didn't say I wouldn't support them, it's just that other things have caused me to be 'temporarily' unable to spare manpower."

At this time, a jackal riding a sturdy hyena galloped over, rolling up smoke and dust. He saw this side from a distance, then grinned his long mouth, waving his hand while shouting:

"Good afternoon, Ms.! I represent Marshal Gisk and send you greetings!"

"Yo, it's Ye Kemu!" Her tone was leisurely, as if she had expected it, "It's rare that you still remember me, an old guy. Is everything going well with that young man in Gisk's family? As for you... you wouldn't have been blown here by the wind of the Ink Abyss Sea by accident, would you?"

"Supplies and ships, I can manage to procure those. It's just..." She tapped the tip of her front hoof against the ground, as if recalling something.

"Supplies and ships, it's not difficult for me to raise them. It's just..." Her front hoof tip tapped the ground lightly, as if recalling something.

"If I remember correctly, the Grand Duke doesn't seem to have prepared enough supplies for this battle? In this way, I can only allocate them from my own share. Marshal Gisk... what does he plan to use to express his heart?"

"Haha, Ms., this is easy to handle!" The jackal grinned, revealing sharp teeth, "My Marshal had expected it. He said that Sha Lu Te has been missing so far, and that stupid pig is afraid that he has already been made into roast suckling pig by demons.

The Marshal's meaning is very clear, why let those good supplies gather dust in the warehouse? Directly transfer the share originally 'reserved' for him to us, this is making the best use of everything, Ms."

"Ha! It really is a 'good brother'." Her smile carried a sharp meaning.

"Gisk's idea is quite labor-saving. But is he so sure that the 'roast suckling pig' won't suddenly resurrect, and then find that the family property has been moved away, and will come to him with an axe to fight for his life?"

"Hey, this is the key!" The jackal Ye Kemu's tail shook excitedly, "The Marshal can't wait for him to do it. The Grand Duke has an order: 'Strictly forbid beating comrades'.

If that stupid pig dares to swing his fist, the Marshal can send him to the black jail as soon as he turns around! The Marshal is waiting for this good show."

"Haha, what a clever plan." Her smile didn't reach her eyes.

"Okay, in order to facilitate Sha Lu Te to be a 'guest' at the military law department, I approved this batch of supplies. But the shipping fee for the ships must be calculated separately. Let Gisk mobilize two full-strength legions to assist me after the war, this is the bottom price, no discussion."