Warlord: King of All Clans

When the Anzeno River reaches the Abros area, the river is nearly 800 meters wide, which is already a big river for the people of Isenbol City.

Looking at the vast white water, even the soldiers squatting in the concrete barge had some ambition to conquer the world.

The southern shore here is still dominated by the mountains of the Buck Range, while the northern side is an endless plain.

There was only the city of Arbroath, standing on a hill overlooking the river.

The small hill is less than a hundred meters high, like a pile of cow dung on the flat ground, and it just blocks the course of the Anzeno River.

Years of water erosion have turned the river bank of this small hill into a steep cliff several dozen meters high.

Because of its obstruction, the wide channel of the Anzeno River suddenly shrinks by half here, forming a sharp bend.

Merchant ships passing through the city of Arbroath can only stay in the port near the city for one night, gathering trackers and auxiliary boats, so that they can safely pass through this sharp turn during the day the next day.

Many ships that tried to sneak across the river at night were either intercepted by the patrolling Abrox garrison or sank in the reefs in the sharp bends amid the rapids and undercurrents.

The lord's castle of Arbroath is located on a small hill, overlooking the river several dozen meters below.

The population continued to gather on the other side, eventually forming a city of 20,000 to 30,000 people.

Godwin, the younger brother of Count Beboos, the strongest man in the Beboos family and the famous general in the North, is in charge here.

Since being defeated by Leo at Fort Bavanach the winter before, Godwin had returned to Arbroath to train his troops in preparation for war.

Almost all the heavy infantry in the Abros Legion were killed, leaving only a bunch of regular iron-clad soldiers and leather-armored conscripts. The army was reduced from the second strongest army of the Beboos family to an ordinary local armed force.

When the Riverbend Legion set out, a secret sentry rushed back at night and reported the news to Godwin of Arbroath.

Godwin was well aware of the power of the firearms in the river bay and did not dare to be arrogant. He sent people downstream to the main city of Earl Beboos to call for support from the naval fleet of the Beboos family.

Count Beboos himself was leading his main army to fight against Beowulf's army in the north and had no time to return to defend, but this naval fleet cruising on the Anzeno River could come and go freely.

Leo's River Bay Fleet went downstream, but not very fast.

He still has concerns about the safety of the cement barge, fearing that the ship might collide due to its high speed.

Moreover, since it was their first water march, they were also worried about being ambushed.

When they arrived outside the city of Abros, they happened to run into the Beboos naval fleet which had just passed a sharp bend downstream.

This is an inland navy. Leading the way are three multi-masted warships, each of which is more than 40 meters long. Behind them are seven or eight brigs, which are about the same size as Leo's armed merchant ships.

In addition, there are a large number of sampan auxiliary vessels.

This is a relatively complete naval fleet, and the commander of the fleet is Miles, an ocean-going captain who was hired by the Beboos family at a large price.

There are not many people who can do business on the sea these days. Almost every captain of a large ship is a pirate or a naval general.

Miles served in the Southern Naval Fleet for nearly ten years and was an ocean-going trade captain for half his life.

In addition to legitimate business, he also doesn't mind doing some pirate business with no capital.

After becoming a servant of the Beboos family, the naval fleet he trained was second only to the navy of the Grand Duke of the North in strength, and at one point blocked the army of the Kurolov family on the east bank on the other side of the Anzeno River.

For such a person, running to the upper reaches of the Anzeno River is like entering a small fish pond. The only thing that can cause damage to him is the narrow river channel.

After seeing the fleet at the river bend, Miles couldn't help laughing. "What kind of junk is this? It took three or four days to get here after sailing three hundred miles downstream. What are those things behind? Big bathtubs?"

Their fleet composed of warships can be called a naval fleet, but those things upstream do not even have a regular combat ship, so they can only be called a transport fleet!

Moreover, in the eyes of an expert like Miles, he could see at a glance that the strange big ship behind the enemy had no sails or oars and was towed by the sailboat in front. It was like a big bathtub on the water and had no combat capability at all.

As long as we deal with the merchant ships in front, we can trap this fleet on the water.

The army soldiers staying on the boat would not even have the chance to get ashore and would be wiped out.

As for those merchant ships in front, although they look a bit strange, they are civilian merchant ships after all.

Their own warships were specially designed for inland river warfare and were equipped with rams, catapults, battering rams, and crossbows. They could carry fifty oarsmen and a hundred sailors and were armed to the teeth.

In addition, the ship is taller and can attack from a high position, so one ship can defeat three opposing ships.

For a moment, Miles thought that all landlubbers were cute. Once they were on the water, they behaved like babies who had just been weaned.

On the other hand, after discovering the enemy, the Hewan Fleet began to urgently pull over, preparing to lower the landing sampan and build a pontoon dock, and was not prepared to fight the aggressive navy fleet.

How could Miles allow them to land so easily? He immediately issued an order: "Encircle them and capture the merchant ship in front first. Don't damage it. These are valuable ships."

As he said this, he looked at the smoke-filled schooner of the River Bay Fleet and added, "It looks a little strange. Pay attention, everyone. Prevent them from setting fire and perishing with us."

"I heard that the firearms in the river bay are powerful. I want to see what they do on the water."

Although Rio's three armed merchant ships had been modified in an unrecognizable manner, when viewed from a distance they were still top-quality schooners on the Anzeno River.

If it is captured intact, it can be sold at a good price.

Warships in the old times did not have many means of destroying ships except for ramming and burning. The captains under Miles were all experienced bandits. They were ready to fight and drove their warships towards the river bay fleet.

On the armed merchant ship of the Hewan Fleet, artillery commander Marvin was taking time to read a book.

Ivan stood beside him, stretched his neck to look, and saw the words "ballistics" and "mechanics" in the book. He immediately knew that this was not a field he could get involved in.

He looked at the warships coming from afar, feeling a little anxious. "What should I do? Why is there no movement from Leo?"

Marvin looked up and glanced at it, then lowered his head to continue reading, saying casually, "I'm not even good at land warfare, let alone naval warfare. If you ask me, who should I ask?"

Ivan was young and hot-tempered. He hated to see others look down upon him. He said angrily, "If I knew how to fire the cannon, I would have taken over your artillery regiment sooner or later."

Marvin knew that he had the ability. If Ivan went to school for a few more years and then went to Marvin's artillery class for two years of intensive study, Leo might indeed be able to hand over the artillery regiment to Ivan.

Ivan was originally the commander of the River Bay Infantry Regiment, but after attending the River Bay Musketeer Officer Training Class for one year, he suddenly became the commander of the Second Musketeer Regiment. The whole River Bay knew that he was the lord's trusted childhood friend.

But Marvin was not worried at all. He was not a professional officer but a skilled craftsman who was pulled out by Leo. He had been waiting for someone to take his place.

Hearing this, Ma Wen laughed and said, "Want to learn? I'll teach you."

At this time, the lookout on top blew the whistle, waved the command flag vigorously, and shouted, "The main ship is moving! Pay attention to the instructions! Pay attention to the instructions!"

Then he continued to watch carefully, and then continued to wave the flag.

Marvin below stopped reading and began to supervise the artillery operations.

"Reload the main gun!"

"Main gun reloading completed!"

"Aiming completed!"

While the three armed merchant ships were adjusting their posture, the warships on the opposite side had already approached within a thousand meters of the armed merchant ships, and the figures on the ship were swaying.

The sailors of the Beboos family looked at the merchant ship in front of them eagerly, holding longbows and javelins, and operating the ship-mounted crossbows, preparing to launch a long-range attack to defeat the enemy's morale in one fell swoop, and then board the ship to seize it.