Chapter 351 Goblin
A column of smoke rises, signaling the start of the attack by the Kingdom's troops.
Two pillars of smoke rose, indicating that the kingdom's army was successfully attacking, and the northwest fleet only needed to intercept the pirates escaping by boat in the outer sea.
Three pillars of smoke rose, indicating that the attack of the kingdom's army was blocked, and the northwest fleet needed to storm the port to distract the pirates in the city.
This is a signal agreed between the two armies. If possible, the Kingdom's army hopes to eliminate the pirates by its own strength, while the Northwest Fleet does not want to rashly attack a port that may have heavy defense facilities.
Twelve battleships floated in a line on the sea. On the deck of the flagship Unicorn, fleet commander Tirpitz anxiously waited for the next signal.
On the distant land, a plume of thick smoke stood high in the sky. The attack of the Kingdom's army had been started for a long time, but there was no hint of the next move.
…
Before launching the attack, Harrison conducted as detailed a reconnaissance as possible on the pirates entrenched in Westport. He roughly estimated that the number of pirates remaining in Westport was around 1,500 to 2,000.
Is this still a pirate? The navies of some small countries in the Horn Bay are no more than this size, right? It must be the fault of the greedy wolf prince who started the rebellion in the south.
In addition to not wanting his initial formation to fail, there were three reasons why he was reluctant to launch an attack. First, the team he led at the beginning only had more than 4,000 people. It is basically impossible for the enemy to defend the city. Secondly, except for a few elites, most of the soldiers are They were recruited temporarily, and they had to be allowed to go home after the battle. Their morale and combat skills could be imagined. Third, he learned from senior officials that this group of pirates seemed to have "mysterious power" to help them—— The assassination of a high-ranking naval officer is still inexplicable, and the released political officer even claimed to have seen the legendary wizard with his own eyes.
During this period of time, he strengthened the training of the army and recruited more soldiers, until the arrival of the Northwesters brought him confessions from prisoners. It turned out that the pirates had evacuated a lot in order to transport supplies, and only more than 1,000 people remained. In the harbor.
After observing the weapon called "artillery" on the Northwest warship, Harrison's confidence greatly increased. In his opinion, this was also a "mysterious power" and was extremely powerful. It's a pity that they are very stingy and have no intention of borrowing it at all.
A specific plan to recapture Westport was quickly formulated. The royal army and the Northwest Fleet attacked by land and water to defeat the pirates.
Somewhat unexpectedly, the walls were breached very quickly after the attack was launched. After an interrogation, it was revealed that most of the city walls were made up of residents who had been forced to defend the city by pirates. There were only a few real pirates. They were really crazy bastards.
He ordered his troops to advance deeper into the city, and at the same time reminded his subordinates to be careful of ambush. However, the pirates had already given up on the most powerful fortification wall. With their numbers at a disadvantage, they were most likely to escape by boat. Then it was time for the Northwesters to show off their skills.
Just as he surveyed the entire battlefield with cautious optimism, a group of broken soldiers ran back crying and shouting.
"Ghosts! There are ghosts in the city!"
Harrison was shocked and immediately took people to the front line and saw with his own eyes what the soldiers called "ghosts" - goblins.
This is a kind of humanoid creature that lives in the southern rainforest. They are small and thin, only about half the height of adults. Their skin is usually green or brown. From a distance, they look like children. They have a little wisdom and are generally smart. Individuals can also learn some words and phrases to communicate with humans.
But their character is also notoriously evil, and cruelty seems to be the innate trait of this race - they will attack the settlements of intelligent creatures, snatch away women and children, and torture the captives to death in their lairs .
However, this only applies to things that are weaker than them. Goblins are also afraid of beings that are stronger than them. When faced with violence that they cannot deal with, they will temporarily choose to "surrender". Note that they are only succumbing to "violence". If the other party Although they have power but do not choose violence, the goblin will think that the other party is weak and bully the other party step by step. To this kind of creature, patience and retreat are useless. And even if you use violence to make the goblins temporarily surrender, betrayal is only a matter of time. When you relax even a little bit, a sharp blade will stab you in the back.
Goblins also have a notorious habit - they like to eat people, or they will eat any intelligent race. According to research by scholars, the source of various horrific folklore about cannibals deep in the rainforest comes from goblins. Although there are many conflicts and even deep hatreds among various intelligent races on the continent, no talking individual is willing to eat another talking individual, not even the savage orcs on the prairie. Goblins are different. They don't have any of the taboos of an intelligent race. This is the biggest reason why they are never considered an intelligent race. Of course, their poor IQ is also a big reason.
Although their IQs are very low, they are old enough to support them in making some simple tools. What they create are all tricky things - poisonous darts, well-concealed traps, etc., and they will also create some A metal blade, but of poor quality.
The Goblin's single combat effectiveness is very low. Although it moves quickly, if the fighting space is small enough, a strong child can beat up an adult. What troubles intelligent races is that this creature has super fecundity and can mate all year round. The gestation period is about one month, and it can give birth to 6 to 8 babies a year. One litter can give birth to 5 to 10 babies. After one year of growth, the larvae can They can continue to reproduce, and their ability to expand the population is comparable to that of mice, and their females give birth as easily as hens lay eggs, without the pain of going through hell when giving birth to humans or other humanoid creatures.
Some people say that Goblins are the remnants of the war between humans and demons in ancient legends, and are the curse left by the demons to the world. All civilized races strictly guard against this kind of creature. Once such a creature appears on their territory, they will immediately send out armies to suppress it. A net-like crackdown prevented these "devil's relics" from spreading to every corner of the continent.
After Harrison recognized the true identity of the "ghost", he shouted: "This is just a goblin domesticated by pirates, a timid, insignificant, and cowardly poor creature. There is nothing to be afraid of. Warriors of the kingdom, hold on tight Kill them all with the weapons in your hands!”
The soldiers under his command all came from the countryside in the hinterland of the kingdom. Most of them had never left their hometowns before being recruited. It was normal for them not to know Goblins.
There is no mistake in every song, one post, one content, one 6 one, one book, one book, take a look!
The commander's words were spread throughout the army, and the morale of the kingdom's army was restored. Although many people did not know Goblins, they had heard of them. They knew that although they were cruel in nature, they had low fighting power, and their courage was restored in their hearts. The soldiers who retreated waved their weapons and roared before reentering the battlefield.
But things did not develop as smoothly as Harrison imagined - as long as the soldiers overcome their fear of this strange creature and fight seriously, they can kill the Goblins with low combat effectiveness all over the streets.
The performance of the goblins on the battlefield was beyond his understanding - they, they were not afraid of death.