In contrast, Xiang Anxu appeared much more righteous, with an upright posture, rosy complexion, sharp eyes, and a commanding presence.
"Ahead is Star Moon Island!" Hou Fangjin said in a deep voice.
Wen Qing glanced at Xiang Anxu, and said softly, "Let’s proceed according to the plan, rember our goal is to subdue Star Moon Island, not to destroy it!"
He had no fondness for the people of the Divine Wood Sect. If it weren’t for them coming from afar and needing cooperation with the local forces on Divine Wood Island, he wouldn’t have wanted to work with the Divine Wood Sect.
The brutal nature of the Divine Wood Sect was well known to him; they were a group of violent madn, cruel to their own and even more so to outsiders.
Hou Fangjin chuckled, with a tinge of coldness, "Rest assured, everything is prepared!"
As he spoke, he gestured towards the rear.
Soon, the two gathered fleets diverged, with the Whale Navy continuing to sail towards the southern dock of Star Moon Island, while the Divine Wood Sect’s small boats headed north.
Their aim was to subdue Star Moon Island, but they were not planning to negotiate peacefully.
Subduing, primarily involves intimidation; since intimidation was necessary, they had to show their strength through battle first.
This battle was ant to hurt Star Moon Island and force it to surrender, only then could they truly subdue it and make it entirely serve their purposes.
As the Whale Navy gradually approached the dock of Star Moon Island, they soon found the docks deserted.
"No one, they won’t be hiding, will they?" Hou Fangjin laughed lightly.
"Hiding? Where could they hide?" Wen Qing said coolly, "They intend for us to engage in combat on the island!"
"Isn’t that perfect? Haha, just right for a fierce battle!" Hou Fangjin laughed even more heartily.
Naval battles were inconvenient to so extent; if fought on the island, it would more favorably display their might.
The coastline of Star Moon Island had limited spots suitable for large ships; the east and north had many reefs, the west was shallow, with only the south able to build docks for large ships.
The most suitable landing location for the Whale Navy to engage on the island would be the southern dock.
If landing from other directions, they would need to switch to smaller boats.
Wen Qing had no fear of engaging on land, he directly ordered: "Command, enter the port, land for combat!"
Dozens of large ships imdiately began approaching the dock of Star Moon Island.
Soon their flagship headed straight for the direction of the dock, the streets behind the dock began to unfold before their eyes.
The silent Xiang Anxu suddenly spoke: "Why is Zhang Juhai here?"
Wen Qing rushed forward upon hearing this and indeed saw Zhang Juhai standing beside Yang Zhenshan, well he didn’t know Yang Zhenshan, but Yang Zhenshan was standing at the forefront, so he naturally guessed his identity.
"He’s here to ss things up for us!" Wen Qing’s expression turned sowhat unpleasant.
Xiang Anxu’s face remained calm, "Sect Leader Chang, you handle Zhang Juhai, just keep him occupied!"
Yang Zhenshan had once taught Chang Lin a lesson, and they all knew Chang Lin was no match for Yang Zhenshan.
Xiang Anxu considered himself stronger than Zhang Juhai, but their goal wasn’t to kill him, but to subdue Star Moon Island, so he had to personally subdue Yang Zhenshan.
As for Zhang Juhai, he was just a nuisance and only needed to be held back.
Once he captured Yang Zhenshan, Zhang Juhai could no longer disrupt.
Chang Lin nodded silently.
In front of Xiang Anxu, even as the High Priest of the Divine Wood Sect, he was still dwarfed, for soone demonstrating superior skill.
As they spoke, warships were already docking, with hundreds of Whale Navy soldiers landing on Star Moon Island.
However, they did not imdiately launch an attack; they were waiting for Xiang Anxu and others to disembark.
Yang Zhenshan and his companions did not prevent their landing, rely watched quietly as one large ship after another moored at the dock.
Honestly, the Whale Navy’s strength was indeed formidable; they had many large ships.
Comparable to the Da Fu Ship, there were sixteen, and more than forty dium-sized warships, with even more small warships, amounting to three to four hundred.
Large and dium ships needed to dock, while small warships could land anywhere along the shore.
In the blink of an eye, a dense array of small warships covered the southern coast of Star Moon Island.
The first battle erupted not at the dock, but at various outposts along the southern coast.
A multitude of Whale Navy small ships landed on the shore, imdiately spotting the assembled local militia around the outposts.
The sound of horn blasts and whistles echoed loudly.
"Kill!"
Hundreds of Whale Navy soldiers charged toward Star Moon Island’s local militia.
A fierce battle imdiately comnced.
Outposts were essentially two-story bamboo towers, the lower level stored supplies, the upper level was for habitation, with a shelter on top to protect against wind and rain.
The small bamboo tower could accommodate three to five people, surrounded by no defensive structures.
Governnt Officials and militian gathered here, essentially engaging in field battles with the opposing side.
Each outpost had about four to five hundred locals, the southern coast had four outposts, the northern coast had six, while the east and west each had three.
Star Moon Island’s population totaled a little over thirty thousand, with about ten thousand inside the city, leaving around twenty thousand in villages and towns outside; excluding the elderly, won, and children, there were only about five to six thousand able-bodied n.
Most of the able-bodied n were on the northern coast, ready to counter any enemy landing from there; the southern coast had fewer than two thousand drawn from villages due to the presence of the docks and Star Moon City.
As for the eastern and western coasts, even small ships weren’t suitable for landing, so each coast had only about a hundred n on alert.
Seeing more and more enemy ships approach and more enemies charging forward, those around the outposts imdiately beca uneasy.
"Stay calm, stay steady, form formations to fend off the enemy!"
Yang Qinwu watched the approaching enemy with an icy tone, calling out.
The governnt had three hundred officials, although they were officials, they were quite capable, many were forr guards of the Yang family.
Half of these officials were deployed to each outpost, leading the locals in defense.
Soon, both sides collided.
The sword and shield soldiers on the outskirts blocked the enemy’s advances, while the spearn behind quickly thrust through the gaps in the rattan shields, and behind them, other militian hurled javelins.
In the blink of an eye, dozens of enemies lay dead before the Round Formation.
The Whale Navy of the Taro Dynasty was elite, but how elite could a dynasty’s finest forces be?
How high could the proportion of martial artists be?
Most soldiers were ordinary n.
Whereas Star Moon Island’s locals were all martial artists, even just basic-trained farrs were genuine martial artists.
Initially, the militias were nervous, thrusting spears rather chaotically, but they quickly found the enemies weaker than themselves.
They imdiately beca invigorated upon realizing the enemy’s strength was not as great, reactions slower, and easily evaded their attacks.
"Charge!"
Soone began to shout boldly.
Many locals launched a counter-attack, shifting from a defensive to an offensive formation.
Despite lacking training, as the formation shifted, it beca chaotic, but fortunately, their individual strength was far superior to the enemy’s. Even with a disorderly formation, they overwheld the enemy.
Of course, casualties were unavoidable.
On the battlefield, where blades are blind, even with heightened awareness, there’s no certainty of avoiding injuries.
With formation disruption, many locals beca injured, yet this sparked their fighting spirit.
Among them were individuals assigned to treat the wounded; lightly injured continued to charge, severely injured were dragged to the side of the bamboo towers.
Yang Qinwu watched the chaotic formation, a bit speechless but understanding the inevitability of such circumstances.
These locals weren’t capable of strict commands, their sole advantage was being martial artists.
Given the situation, excessive command would worsen the disorder; conversely, giving them free rein proved better as their individual strength was considerable, chaotic battle allowed greater expression of their prowess.
Thus Yang Qinwu refrained from reorganizing the formation, allowing them to engage at will.
Free engagent didn’t an recklessness; militias maintained squad formations during charges, with each squad leader in charge of actual guidance.
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