Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

"It's terrible, sir! The Chu army has launched an attack!"

A guard rushed into the prefectural government office and accidentally fell in front of Nie Shitu, but did not forget to tell him about the Chu army's attack.

Nie Shitu was already unsettled by the previous cannon fire and thought it was thunder.

Hearing his guards say this, he was stunned for a moment, then flew into a rage: "This is outrageous! How dare the Chu Kingdom launch an offensive? They are simply courting death! Order the entire navy to move out and give them a good beating!"

At this moment, Nie Shitu had no idea that the Haizhou Navy had been completely wiped out. Of the 2,700 officers and soldiers in the navy, less than 600 were able to swim back to shore. The rest were either missing or drowned at sea.

It's not entirely Nie Shitu's fault. Even the guard who came to report didn't expect that the Haizhou Navy was finished. After all, he was the first person to run over and inform them when the cannons fired.

In just seven minutes, all seventy-plus warships were wiped out, something none of them had anticipated.

"Report~"

Another gasp rang out as the naval commander, Wang Ming, was seen lying on a stretcher, carried into the yamen by two soldiers.

"Your Excellency, it's over! The Haizhou Navy is completely wiped out!"

Wang Ming was in tears; at over fifty years old, he was crying like a young adult.

"Wang Ming, what nonsense are you spouting? What do you mean the Haizhou Navy is finished?"

"My lord, all seventy-two warships of the Haizhou Navy have been sunk by enemy ships. The blood of my naval soldiers has all been shed at sea. Waaah!"

Nie Shitu was stunned, his face full of disbelief.

"This is only the beginning, how could this happen?"

"My lord, the Chu ships are armed with firearms, extremely powerful. A single shot can destroy everything within dozens of miles. Our ships cannot even get close; to touch them would mean certain destruction!"

As if recalling the scene of the battle just now, Wang Ming cried and trembled.

Upon hearing this, Nie Shitu realized that the State of Chu was serious this time.

So he decisively ordered: "Immediately order the officers and soldiers guarding the shore to prevent the Chu people from landing under any circumstances. Hold the line at all costs!"

After saying this, he picked up his sword and headed straight for the coastal fortress, intending to personally take command.

Meanwhile, after annihilating the Haizhou navy, the Chu fleet quickly cleared the waterway, and all twenty-four main warships sailed to a point three miles outside the shore defense line, preparing to uproot the coastal fortress.

When the officers and soldiers guarding the coastal fortress saw the steel behemoth they had never seen before, all of them turned pale.

An hour had passed since the annihilation of the entire navy. They had also received the news and knew that it was their turn to face these terrifying ships. Their hearts began to pound with apprehension.

On the Dinghai, Jiang Mengxuan and Shen Lang stood side by side in the command room, using high-powered binoculars to observe the fortress stretching for miles.

After a long while, Jiang Mengxuan put down her binoculars and said to Shen Lang, "Husband, the coastal defense fortress of Wu Zhao is quite interesting. Even an Immortal Realm cultivator would have great difficulty breaking into it with traditional offensive methods."

Shen Lang: "The era of martial artists standing on the battlefield is over. Now it belongs to the era of technology. These coastal defense fortresses are just sitting ducks in front of cannons and warships."

Jiang Mengxuan smiled slightly: "Then let's test the power of the battleship's newly equipped 220mm main guns."

Shen Lang smiled slightly: "Whatever my wife requests, I will naturally comply with."

After saying that, he immediately transmitted the launch command to the Jinling warship via radio.

boom--

With a loud bang, a heavy high-explosive shell was launched from the deck gun platform of the Jinling.

boom--

More than twenty officers and soldiers who were observing the enemy situation on the fortress did not even have time to react before they were buried under the ruins along with the thick walls of the fortress by this shell.

"Oh no! The enemy has launched an attack!"

"Run!"

With a single shot, the four thousand garrison troops on the fortress defense line were completely wiped out, scattered like headless flies.

"Free Fire!"

Shen Lang gave another order, and the eight battleships roared and aimed their guns, with calibers of 200mm or more, at the coastal fortress, launching a barrage of attacks.

In an instant, the defenders on the city wall, like startled birds, cried out and frantically searched for any cover to escape the calamity.

However, the scorching shells mercilessly tore them to pieces.

After just one round of indiscriminate firing, the coastal fortress was littered with severed limbs and a bloody, apocalyptic scene.

"Ah, help me, help me!"

A soldier from the Wuzhao Army, whose body was reduced to half by the explosion, crawled forward with his last strength, constantly calling for help from his comrades passing by.

Unfortunately, the morale of the soldiers had already collapsed under the bombardment of the Chu army fleet, and they scattered and fled for their lives.

Human body parts were scattered everywhere, and the air was thick with the stench of blood.

In just over ten minutes, this coastal fortress, which was said to be impregnable even after three years of attack, was on the verge of destruction.

"You bastard, I'll fuck your grandma!"

Upon seeing his comrade reduced to scrap metal, a garrison commander was so enraged that he removed his helmet, revealing a rat-tailed hairpin.

He cursed angrily, then picked up a stone and placed it on the catapult.

"I'll crush you to death!"

With a roar of resentment, he pulled hard on the boom rope, and the heavy stone, weighing dozens of kilograms, was immediately launched into the sea.

puff-

Unfortunately, his anger only resulted in the stone creating a splash on the sea two hundred paces away.

"Fuck your grandma!"

The commander, still cursing, wanted to continue using the catapult, but the next moment—

boom--

A shell landed precisely at his feet.

The next moment, his body was torn to pieces, and the catapult was thrown high into the air, falling to the ground with scattered parts, completely destroyed.

Inside the crater where the shells landed, a charred buttock was emitting wisps of white smoke, bearing witness to the cruelty of this war.

In just thirty minutes, more than thirty coastal defense fortresses were reduced to ruins under the bombardment of artillery fire.

Seeing that the time was ripe, Shen Lang decisively ordered: "Landing troops, prepare to seize the defensive line."

The sound of ship horns echoed continuously across the sea.

All the battleships ceased firing, and in their place, over a hundred small boats began to desperately approach the beach.

It was at this moment that Nie Shitu arrived at the fortress defense line, which had been reduced to ruins.

"how so……"

Seeing the coastal defense fortress, which cost over three million taels of silver to build, now reduced to ruins so quickly, Nie Shitu collapsed to the ground.

"What should I do? How can I explain this to His Majesty?!"

He completely lost the will to reorganize his troops for a counterattack and burst into tears on the spot.

bang bang bang-

Suddenly, a burst of gunfire rang out, and the Chu marines had successfully landed and launched a general offensive against the fortress.

"My lord, the situation is hopeless, we should retreat immediately."

Wang Ming hurriedly pulled Nie Shitu up, preparing to leave Haizhou City.

Looking at the more than a thousand Chu soldiers armed with rifles on the coast, Nie Shitu knew that the situation was hopeless and could only follow Wang Ming to flee Haizhou City.

With Nie Shitu gone, the defenses of Haizhou completely collapsed, and the Chu army smoothly took over the defenses and occupied Haizhou City.

This was only three hours after the entire battle had begun...