Alves stood at the newly completed outer gate of Blackhammer Castle, looking at the sea in the distance dyed red by the setting sun. There, it was supposed to be a trading fleet back and forth, but at the moment, it was blocked by Erengrad's naval fleet, and not a single merchant ship wanted to leave the harbor. Including the navy of Blackhammer Castle, which was carefully prepared by Rod, yes, in the face of the Ice Queen's naval fleet, the navy of Blackhammer Castle could only choose to return to port to retreat, because he only had three ships, while Erengrad's naval fleet had fourteen warships. No matter how perfect the tactics are, it is useless.

"What are you going to do with them?"

Lyanna didn't know when she climbed up the tower and stood behind Alves. Her soft whisper broke the silence on the tower. Alves looked back and saw a pale-faced priestess. Regardless, Lyanna is doing much better than she did a few days ago. Missing is like the tide, there are high tides and low tides, and now, it is undoubtedly in the low tide period. Because something diverted Lyanna's attention.

"You mean the Erengrad Fleet that came to your door. Honestly, there's nothing I can do about them right now. Alves pursed his dry lips, "A smart head can come up with many tactics and strategies, Rhodes is not here, many people here are counting on me, I can come up with some good way to drive back the enemy army, but to be honest, I really can't do anything, a dozen gunboats are parked at the mouth of the sea like this, what can I do with them? I'm not a god......"

"Then why didn't Rhodes come back?"

Lyanna asked. Alves knew that the priestess still had some hope and thoughts......

"He? What's the use of him coming back? The Northern Coalition is all some landlubbers, and landlubbers can't even swim. ”

Alves shrugged back.

"Then he should always show up so that the people don't worry so much...... I mean, aren't you worried about the enemy's fleet sailing into the Winterspring and attacking our city?"

Lyanna frowned and continued to ask.

"Don't worry, Errengrad's naval fleet is made up of large tonnage ships, and ships can't sail into inland waterways, so they're in danger of running aground. Moreover, the course of the Winter Springs River was narrow, and the further upstream it went, the shallower the water level became, and the Queen's naval fleet would not want to go out again if it sailed into the river. Also, even if Disma dares to drive the Erengrad fleet in, we will not be afraid. There were still a thousand defenders in the city, and as long as they defended Blackhammer Fort, the soldiers of these naval fleets would not want to set foot in the castle. ”

Alves analyzed.

Boom Boom Boom ......

As the two were talking, a low roar sounded on the sea in the distance, like a cannon roar...... That's right, it's the sound of shelling!" Alves hurriedly grabbed his binoculars and stared in the direction from which the sound of artillery came. He couldn't believe his eyes—an unknown fleet from the horizon was launching an onslaught on the fourteen Erengrad warships besieging the harbor of Blackhammer Castle.

Alves searched for information, but he couldn't see any familiar flags or insignia, only the gunboats that attacked Erengrad's fleet had huge white sails with black roses painted on them!

"Black Rose?"

Alves frowned, he searched for useful information in his mind, the materials he had read before, histories, records, and even legends. Finally, he remembered, Black Rose—the Knights of the Black Rose. A formidable armed force under the banner of the Imperial Moorish Cult. Yes, only such a complete and powerful order of knights could organize such an expeditionary fleet to confront the regular navy of Kislev.

But what did the Moors do here? Why did they help Blackhammer Keep through this? Alves suddenly remembered that back then, the Moorish religion had taken root in Kislev and had many followers. However, during the Old Erengrad Rebellion, due to some Moorish supporters of the then Duke of Cohen against Queen Kislev, Catalina carried out a large-scale clean-up campaign against the Moorish sect after the war, and countless Moorish believers died at the hands of the queen, and Moorishism in Kislev was almost extinct. The last few escaped from Blackhammer and returned to the Empire under the protection of Rhodes. Presumably, the Knights of the Black Rose are coming for revenge.

The spirit of Alves to clear his mind was invigorated. The attack of the Knights of the Black Rose can be described as a relief in the snow. Hitting the throat of the queen, if the most worrying thing in the north is that there is no naval strength, and the enemy is afraid of going around, then the attack of the Black Rose Knights is undoubtedly a fatal blow to the Erengrad navy. Even if it does not defeat Disma's naval fleet, it will surely be severely damaged.

Alves held up his telescope and continued to watch. In the distance, the ships of the Knights of the Black Rose were forming in a straight line, unleashing a fierce bombardment of Erengrad's fleet.

"Stay in formation and fire freely!"

The Chief Captain of the Imperial Fleet commanded loudly.

Fifteen sail battleships into the harbor with a strong wind, and a burst of solid shells whizzed by, piercing the decks and planks of the naval fleet at Erengrad.

With the flagship as the center, the Imperial fleet lined up and kept approaching. Since the number of warships on both sides was basically the same, neither could complete the flanking of the other, and the naval battle turned into a pure confrontational battle.

Whizzing projectiles swept over the crew's heads and fell into the sea, splashing into the sky.

The commander-in-chief of the Erengrad fleet, Disma, ordered the troops to meet the attack with all their might. After all, ships entering the inner harbor would be in danger of running aground, and at the same time, if they entered the inner harbor, they would have to face the threat of fire from the shore of Blackhammer Fort. Fourteen Erengrad gunboats turned into the wind, also in a long line, shelling the Imperial fleet opposite.

Solid shells shuttled through the fleets of both sides, and the crew members who were hit had little chance of getting lucky. The high-speed flying cannonball was enough to break the flesh to pieces, and the leaders of the two fleets went to the battlefield in person, and a heavy solid shell flew past the Admiral Commander of Erengrad, Disma, and pierced one of the gunners on the deck, the cannonball slashed his head off, and sprinkled the deck with splashes of blood and minced flesh, and the terrifying cannonball did not stop the pace of killing, even after smashing into the deck, it still rolled, and the strong kinetic energy combined with the heavy weight of the solid bullet crushed the thigh of a fleet crew who had no time to dodge.

Disma himself climbed onto the lookout and was surprised to see that the opposing fleet was on par with his own fleet in tonnage. How could the empire build such a large naval force and dare to fight in the Kislev Civil War? Disma didn't know, and he didn't have time to think about it at the moment.

"Turn into the wind, port side to meet the enemy!"

The admiral gave the order loudly.

In order to avoid entering the enemy's cross-fire area, the flagship made a sharp turn with all its might, and after making an emergency U-turn on the sea, the port gun muzzle was neatly opened, and the black long-barreled gun was pushed out, this time, Admiral Disma ordered to prepare chain shells, which were too damaging to the bombardment, and he wanted to knock out the enemy's ship, and then besiege one of the opponent's ships with two or three battleships. The tactics of separating and attacking are not only applicable to land warfare, but are also required in naval warfare. The Ice Queen's order was to blockade the harbor of Blackhammer for a long time, and if the losses in a naval battle were too heavy, there would be no blockade.