Green Monster Epic

Like ghosts, the ships cut through the mist. As they reached the middle of the river, the steady hulls suddenly collided with something, causing the fully armed warriors within the ships and on the decks to lurch forward. They quickly regained their balance.

"What's going on?"

"Have we arrived?"

"Why wasn't a signal sent?"

In the enclosed cabins, the warriors exchanged hushed whispers, gripping their portable weapons tightly, ready to spring into action at any moment.

Woo-woo~~ ~ ~

"Enemies! Engage!"

The warriors in the cabins didn't have to wait long. Almost immediately after the collision, horns sounded from various distances outside, accompanied by the loud, clear shouts of familiar and unfamiliar officers.

The moment the horns sounded, the warriors in the ship's hold stood up as one and emerged in an orderly fashion from the various passages, heading straight for the deck above.

Many warriors were already stationed on the deck. Now, they immediately formed ranks, and following the orders from the officers in the watchtowers, they quickly drew their weapons and faced the direction of the collision, advancing in unison.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh ~ ~ ~

Arrows flew through the mist. The object blocking the warships' path finally revealed itself. Although still partially obscured, its massive size and familiar appearance clearly identified it as a warship similar to their own. The enemy warriors drawing bows and firing arrows or charging with swords were the targets of the warriors on this warship.

It turned out that the commanders of the opposing sides on the Iron Ridge River had, with remarkable synchronicity, chosen the same time and weather conditions to launch surprise attacks on each other's bases.

The nimble and agile elves and the heavily armored and powerful dwarves clashed violently. The crisp, cold sound of metal clashing mingled with the melodious horns, echoing towards the armies on both banks.

Upon hearing the commotion in the river, the main forces of both armies immediately realized that the plans had gone awry. Orders rang out simultaneously, and the rhythmic chanting of spells filled the air. Soon, intense magical fluctuations spread out, instantly dispelling the thick white mist that enveloped the river and both banks, revealing the scene in the several-hundred-meter-wide river.

Thousands of warships of various types were intertwined and colliding along the river's center line. Some warships had ventured too far and were now surrounded by enemy ships on all sides, while others had not yet made contact due to the obstruction of allied ships in front.

Without exception, whether surrounded or not yet engaged, as the mist dissipated and the view ahead became clear, the massive siege crossbows, catapults, and magic cannons mounted on the warships were unleashed. Roaring giant arrows and cannonballs flew across the short distance, piercing the flimsy hulls of the enemy ships.

Creak creak ~ ~ ~

The ear-piercing and chilling sound of wood breaking and tearing mingled with the sound of water rushing in. Many warriors in the warships hadn't even left the cabins when their ships were already torn apart by the powerful siege weapons and slowly sinking to the bottom of the river.

The heavily armored warriors were now somewhat panicked. They could no longer maintain their composure and calmness, desperately searching for exits from the cabins. The warriors who fell into the water struggled to swim while frantically tearing off their heavy armor, only able to swim out of the water after discarding their burdens.

The cold river opened its merciless maw, swallowing the wreckage of ships that couldn't float, as well as the warriors from both sides who were gradually exhausted and unable to shed their cumbersome armor.

Until the river surface was permeated by streams of magic, the flowing water elements were rearranged and deformed under the control of an invisible hand. The water temperature plummeted, and a layer of white frost appeared on the river surface in an instant and quickly spread outwards.

Soon, the wide river, several hundred meters across, was instantly transformed into an ice river by the powerful magical force. The swaying warships and the fallen warriors were directly frozen within, becoming as flat and solid as the land.

With the terrain drastically changed, the generals and soldiers on both sides no longer had any reservations. They rushed from the ships and onto the ice, and as orders rang out, formations for attack and defense quickly took shape, spreading across the wide and frozen surface.

The sounds of battle shook the heavens. The armies on both banks, who had been poised to strike, also rushed into the battlefield as the Iron Ridge River was frozen by magic. In an instant, the flat river surface, stretching for dozens of miles, became the battlefield for the dwarves and elves to fight to the death.

The massive armies clashed fiercely on the river. The mage teams, who should have been able to unleash their powerful attacks, were now restricted and reduced to supportive roles. Because of the fragile ice surface, they didn't dare to directly cast high-powered spells on the river, instead targeting the opposite bank, more than a thousand meters away, to intercept reinforcements.

If either commander could make a decisive decision at this moment, or retreat and want to withdraw, they only needed to order the spellcaster teams to use magic to melt the entire river surface, and the entire situation would quickly revert to the previous stalemate. However, the lives of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers fighting on the frozen river would be lost in the rolling river.

However, the commanders on both sides had clearly made up their minds to fight to the death. Not only did they not use underhanded tactics to trap the soldiers on the front lines, but they also repeatedly instructed the spellcaster teams to strengthen the ice magic on the river surface to ensure that the soldiers fighting in front had a wide and stable battlefield.

The first wave of vanguard troops who disembarked to fight was quickly decimated, and their positions were taken by reinforcements who arrived from behind, continuing the battle with the enemy. The scattered and fragmented warriors retreated, returning to the main camp for reorganization and familiarization, ready to return to the battlefield as reserves at any time.

Around the river, no more than a thousand meters wide, the dwarven and elven armies engaged in fierce battles.

From time to time, a section of the dwarven defense line would be unable to withstand the elves in front and would be pushed back to their own riverbank defense line. Then, newly reinforced troops would join, helping their comrades stabilize the formation, regroup, and fight back.

Or, in another section, the dwarven army would suddenly erupt, piercing through the elven army facing them, and then rush into the enemy's riverbank position, quickly building defenses, like a wedge hammered into the enemy's riverbank defense line.

The massive armies, numbering over two million, fought fiercely and without reservation. Neither side was willing to give way, and the bloodthirsty dwarves, despite being naturally disadvantaged in terms of height and agility, relied on their excellent equipment and strong physique to fight to the death with their opponents.

Even in the fiercest and most dangerous battles, the agile elven warriors maintained a sense of elegance and calmness. Although they inevitably found themselves in situations where death was certain, they were still able to face the arrival of death, seizing even the slightest chance of survival, while also giving the nearest enemy a fatal blow.

The earth shook with the sounds of battle that spread for hundreds of miles. The ice surface was covered with a thick layer of corpses and mud formed by blood. The gurgling blood even flowed down the river, staining the entire downstream area red, and allowing all kinds of creatures living and breeding in the river to enjoy an unparalleled feast.

From day to night, and night back to day, the non-stop fighting for five or six days saw almost all of the two million soldiers take the field in shifts, but neither side was able to completely determine the outcome.