Arrival at Anchorage

A small fishing boat is fishing off the coast of eastern Suffolk County.

Looking at the clear, cloudless sky, the captain said to his crew, "The weather is great today. We're the first boat to set sail this spring, so we must take advantage of this time to catch as many fish as possible."

"Just you wait and see, this time we'll definitely come back with a full haul."

The other fishermen echoed their sentiments, and everyone was filled with hope for this voyage.

Once the captain located the school of fish, he immediately arranged for the fishermen to begin their work: some lowered the sails, some dropped anchor, and some prepared to cast their nets.

While all the fishermen were happily busy, only one person was standing at the stern of the boat for some unknown reason, which made the captain very angry.

The boat captain walked over and slapped him, saying, "Old Gouzi, what are you doing? Get back to hauling in the net!"

Strangely, even when the crew of that nicknamed "Old Gouzi" were being beaten, they didn't move at all, just staring blankly to the north.

The captain was curious and followed his gaze. He saw a black column of smoke in the sea to the north, and many masts appeared, with black flags hanging on them.

Just as the boat captain was watching intently, he noticed that the masts were getting higher and higher, and in the blink of an eye, a large group of ships appeared.

The captain was initially puzzled as to why the caravans there were setting sail so early to trade.

But he soon discovered that the faint, cold glint on the ships indicated that what was laid out on the decks were not cargo or fishing gear, but rather terrifying war machines such as Bed Crossbow.

"Where did these warships come from? Are they the Great Oak Territory's fleet? How come there are so many of them?"

The boat captain muttered to himself in confusion, but Old Gouzi suddenly interrupted him.

"That's not the patrol fleet of Great Oak Territory, nor is it the patrol fleet of the eastern coast; it's the fleet of the Northern Frontier Allied Army?"

The Old Gouzi spoke slowly and deliberately, his face extremely gloomy.

It was only then that the captain remembered that his crew member had once been a Great Oak Territory, but had retired from the military due to injuries and illnesses.

At this moment, the captain finally realized the danger. He quickly ran back to call everyone to raise the sails, lower the anchor, and prepare to sail away.

Who knows what these Northern Frontier nobles' fleets are here for? For them, the best course of action is to stay as far away as possible.

But just after the ship set sail, Old Gouzi found the captain who was directing the ship's navigation.

"Boss, don't go back. We should head towards the shore immediately. Their sailing speed is much faster than ours."

If you keep running back, they might think we're the ones tipping off others. Let's run towards the shore."

When the Old Gouzi said that, the boss also thought it made a lot of sense. He looked back and saw that the huge fleet was getting closer and closer to their ship, and its speed was much faster than his broken fish boat.

The other fishermen noticed the situation and panicked, but the captain knew things couldn't continue like this. He immediately took the helm, turned the bow of the boat towards the shore, and plunged straight there.

From the distant warship, Sodoma spotted the lone fishing boat. At first, when he saw the fishing boat heading south, he planned to chase after it with his own Wavebreaker.

Just as they were about to set off, they discovered that the fishing boat had already turned around and headed towards the shore. Sodoma abandoned the pursuit, deciding that he only needed to confirm that the fishing boat would not escape and send a message.

However, Sodoma was somewhat puzzled, since Viscount Victor had already confirmed the amphibious landing operation with his father, Viscount Sonanda, the fleet commander of the Great Oak Territory, at the end of last year.

For some reason, Victor instructed him again to keep the fleet's whereabouts secret and to control any fishing boats and merchant ships encountered along the way.

Now that the fishing boat wouldn't have a chance to deliver a message, Sodoma let it go, otherwise it would have been quite troublesome to readjust the fleet formation.

This time, they used the Iron Birch Territory's ocean-going fleet route to sail south, with the Iron Birch Territory's fleet leading the way and the Two Rivers Territory's fleet following.

Sodoma felt he had gained a lot; at least he had memorized the route completely, and he could use this route to travel between the Northlands and the East in the future, which would be two days faster than the original route.

Their southward journey was smooth sailing, and the fleet moved very quickly. This huge fleet only took 6 days to travel from the mouth of the Great Fish River to the waters off Suffolk County.

Sodoma was very familiar with the area; he had lived on the ship for nearly ten years and was extremely familiar with the Suffolk County coast.

After deciding not to pursue the fishing boat, Sodoma took a small boat directly to Victor's ship.

Victor was on the deck, where a magnificent eagle was perched. A boy was feeding the bird of prey with meat, and Victor occasionally joined in.

Sodoma knew that this was a pet that the Viscount loved very much. Its name was Gale, and it was not only magnificent in appearance, but also very powerful. It could conduct high-altitude reconnaissance and relay messages, and it was so intelligent that it could express its meaning through gestures.

This giant eagle played a significant role during the fleet's southward voyage, especially in relaying information between the ships, and everyone greatly appreciated it.

Sodoma liked it too, and he even asked the boy named Little Paru how to obtain such a giant eagle, but the answer he received was not good. Such giant eagles were extremely rare, and there were only a handful in the entire territory.

Only three of them completed the training, and they were all taken along this time. The other two were far less big and intelligent than the giant eagle named Gale.

The Viscount also valued these giant eagles highly and even sent a squad of guards to protect them.

Just as Sodoma was admiring the giant eagle, Victor noticed him.

"Sodoma, what brings you here?"

"Your Excellency, I have just spotted a fishing boat. After comparing the information on the nautical chart, I am certain that we have reached the coast of Suffolk County and are not far from our destination, Rotten Tree Beach. We should arrive this afternoon."

Victor nodded and tossed the strip of meat in his hand to Gale. Gale caught the strip in its mouth, swallowed it whole, and made a few happy "quack" sounds.

Then Victor turned and walked towards Sodoma. "You've worked hard these past few days, clearing the way for the fleet. You probably haven't had a proper rest."

Sodoma bowed and said, "My lord, it is my duty. You flatter me."

"Very good, Sodoma. I'll leave the rest to you. Lead the fleet to the landing site we've set up beforehand."

Sodoma nodded. "Please rest assured, this is what I should do."

Sodoma and Victor then discussed the matter and decided to change the fleet formation and adjust the order of the ships in preparation for the upcoming landing. Sodoma was in charge of all the arrangements and command.

After the discussion, Sodoma took his leave and boarded another ship, whose captain was none other than Blox.

"Hey, my fleet commander, what brings you here?"

Blox was looking at the nautical chart on the deck when he saw Sodoma climbing up the rope ladder onto the ship, and he teased him.

"We're very close to our destination. I've consulted with the Viscount, and we need to adjust the fleet's order to prepare for landing."

Sodoma ignored Blox's teasing. The old man, after once beating him in a drinking contest, would often joke with him in order to have another drinking contest.

Sodoma directly assigned Blox the task. "Your squadron should be at the forefront. Your fleet contains most of the supplies and Cavalry for this operation, and the components for the makeshift dock are on your ships. Your section should be the first to land in the entire fleet."

Blox, with his gap-toothed grin, knew this wouldn't be an easy task. "You'd better keep a close eye on things for me. I'm not much better at understanding the hydrology here than you are."

Don't worry!

That afternoon, the fleet arrived at its destination on time as expected. Sodoma looked at the designated landing site, and everything seemed normal.

However, it was already late, and according to Victor's orders, they would not land at night. Sodoma directly ordered the fleet to use this place as an anchorage, rest for the night, and land the next morning.