Those proud warships that had survived the naval battle of Stepstones and crossed the waterway of death to arrive at Lys were now burning, sinking, and disappearing one after another under the dragon's breath.
Flames licked every corner of the ship's hull.
The ship's planks deformed and cracked under the high temperature, making a crackling sound, like someone hitting a huge, shattering drum with a giant hammer.
It was not that there was no resistance on board.
Redd has never been stingy when building this fleet. Every battleship is equipped with a dragon-shooting crossbow.
It was a large ballista specially used to deal with giant dragons. The bow arm was made of keel and fine steel layered on top of each other, and the winch required four strong men to turn it.
The length of the crossbow arrow is comparable to the height of an adult man, and the arrow has barbs that can tear dragon scales.
In addition to the dragon-shooting crossbow, there are also conventional crossbows and Scorpion. Each one is well maintained and every arrow is sharpened.
But these weapons require humans to operate them.
The people who operate these weapons are facing the most difficult shooting in their careers at this moment.
Shoot a dragon.
It's not about shooting a dragon napping in Dragonpit, it's not about shooting a dragon chained up.
Instead, he shot an adult dragon that was flying at high speed in the sky and constantly changing directions.
Sometimes it dives, sometimes it pulls up, sometimes it hovers, sometimes it rolls.
Bloodworm's flight trajectory is irregular. Every turn it makes is accompanied by subtle adjustments to the reins in Daemon's hands.
And Daemon - the Dragonrider who has been sitting on the dragon's back for more than ten years - knows better than anyone how to make his dragon a moving target that is difficult to hit.
The first volley of the dragon-shooting crossbow missed.
Five huge crossbow arrows passed under Bloodworm. The closest one only grazed the fin film on its tail, tearing a hole but causing no real damage.
Bloodworm let out an angry roar, suddenly raised its altitude, and disappeared into the clouds.
There was no time for the second salvo to be fired.
Because Bloodworm swooped down from the other side of the clouds, the dragon's breath swept across the center of the fleet, setting the two warships docked side by side on fire at the same time.
One of the ships happened to store spare gunpowder. The shock wave of the explosion overturned several surrounding boats, and the water was full of fallen sailors and burning broken boards.
The third salvo actually hit.
A heavy arrow shot by Scorpion pierced into Bloodworm's left hind leg. The arrow penetrated the gap between the scales and nailed into the muscle.
Dark red Dragon Blood gushes out from the wound and drips on the sea, like steaming red pearls.
Bloodworm flicked his tail in pain, almost throwing Daemon off his back.
Daemon clamped the dragon's back tightly and pulled the reins in his hands even tighter. Bloodworm endured the pain under his command and continued to hover in the air.
But its flight speed has obviously slowed down, and its trajectory has become less flexible.
But this was the last victory achieved by the Redd fleet in this battle.
Because Tormund's fleet has arrived.
Fifteen warships pressed up from the north, forming a pincer attack with the city wall on the south.
The people of Tormund had obviously been carefully prepared. In the first salvo, their trebuchet accurately hit the only warship in the Redd fleet that still maintained full combat effectiveness.
Huge rocks smashed through the deck, smashed the rudder, and killed the soldier who was operating the dragon crossbow.
In a matter of seconds, this majestic battleship turned into a pile of floating wreckage. The hull tilted, water poured in, and the sailors jumped into the sea to escape.
Tormund's fleet did not stop.
They continued to advance until they met the fleet of Redd. The iron hooks hooked the side of the ship and the wooden planks were put on the deck.
Tormund's people rushed onto Redd's battleship like a tide, and started hand-to-hand combat with the soldiers who had suffered heavy losses in the dragon's breath.
This is a dead end situation with enemies from both sides.
To the south is the city wall. Although there are no ballistas on the city wall, there are still archers, trebuchets, and Lys defenders who have recovered from the panic.
They didn't dare to go out of the city to fight, but they still dared to stand on the city wall and shoot arrows.
Arrows fell like rain from high places. Although they did not cause too many casualties, they were enough to make the sailors on the deck unable to concentrate on dealing with the enemies to the north.
To the north is the fleet of Tormund.
Fifteen battleships, thousands of sailors and soldiers, each one is a veteran who licks blood at the edge of a knife, and each one has undergone rigorous boarding combat training.
They wielded swords, axes, and spears and fought with Redd's soldiers on the deck.
The sound of swords clashing, screams, shouts of death, and the sound of falling into the water were intertwined, echoing over the water in the port.
There is also Bloodworm above the head.
Although the dark red dragon was injured, it was still hovering in the air, ready to dive and breathe dragon breath at any time.
It was no longer as unscrupulous as it was at the beginning - that crossbow arrow made it somewhat wary of shooting the dragon crossbow.
But it is still the Sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of all Redd soldiers. It may fall at any time and turn the entire ship into a sea of fire at any time.
Redd's soldiers fought very tenaciously.
They followed Redd and traveled to too many places and saw too many lives and deaths.
They know that in this desperate situation, surrender means death. Not by the enemy's sword, but by the wrath of Dragon King.
Redd treats traitors and deserters more cruelly than any enemy.
So they can only fight and fight tooth and nail.
Use your own sword to cut off the enemy's sword, use your own body to block the enemy's arrows, and exchange your own life for the enemy's life.
But there are too few of them.
The main force has already landed with Dawg Las. Most of the people left on the ship are sailors and a small number of soldiers left behind. The total number does not exceed 300.
And Tormund brought at least thousands of people. Plus Daemon's dragons, plus Lys's defenders on the city wall.
The disparity in power has reached a desperate level.
The first one to fall was an old sailor named Wang.
I have followed Redd since he was still in Dongfang Free Cities.
He was hit in the back of the neck by an arrow fired from the city wall, and the arrow penetrated his cervical spine. He was dead even before he fell.
His body fell from the side of the ship and fell into the sea, causing a small splash.
Soon, he was drowned by broken boards and burning wreckage floating on the sea.
The second person to fall was a young crossbowman, everyone called him "kid".
While operating the dragon-shooting crossbow, he was licked by Bloodworm's dragon breath, and half of his body was roasted in an instant.
He did not die immediately. He crawled on the deck for a long time, dragging a long dark red blood trail behind him.
Finally, he was beheaded by a soldier of Tormund.
The third, fourth, fifth...
Death spreads like a plague on the deck. Every scream means the end of a life, and every dragon's breath means the destruction of hope.