Translator: ryangohsff Editor: Nora
Chapter 857 – Cape Castle
5th month, 19th day, Morocco Imperial City Rabat.
The up and down river started from the Mid Atlas Mountains; it flowed south of Rabat and into the quiet Rabat port before finally entering the Atlantis.
South of the Rabat port was a narrow section of land that pointed straight into the Atlantic Ocean like a cape. At the cape, an important military base was built; it was the famous Kasbah of the Udayas.
The high city walls, the huge city gates, and the protruding watch towers formed the first layer of defense of the castle. Inside the castle, apart from the majestic main hall, there were various different palaces. In the middle was a garden with many different kinds of flowers. Kasbah near the castle was where the troops were housed.
The Kasbah of the Udayas formed the frontline defense for Rabat. Anyone who tried to launch an attack on Rabat through the oceans had to pass through this first.
The current Morocco king Muhammed the 6th housed 50 thousands guards troops inside the castle.
Looking over the castle, one could see the shoreline of the Bou Regreg River. This was the main part of Rabat imperial city. With that, the imperial city had a natural barrier toward the west.
On the east of Rabat was the newly formed Satellite City, and the biggest guild in Morocco guarded their only entrance into the underground world.
At the current moment, the Satellite City was even more bustling than the main city, attracting a large half of the players. Hence, only the work occupation players and casual players spent their times in the city.
In Arabic, Rabat actually meant ‘tie up’. It sounds shocking because why would an imperial city have such an inauspicious name?
Legends had it that long time ago, Rabat was just a small island, and the king tied up captured prisoners with ropes and ordered soldiers to send them here for tough labor. As more and more people were sent, the village became a city and got its weird name in this way.
In the game, Rabat was a typical Arabic city. The walls were red, and there were many ancient Arabic structures and temples in the city. The city looked really exciting and busy, and the sides of the roads had many trees and gardens everywhere.
Be it the solemn Rabat Imperial Palace or the important Hassan the 2nd Mosques, it was all typical Arabic infrastructure. Compared to western architecture or the more religiously colluded Indian buildings, the Arabic buildings had plenty of creativity, majesty, and elegance.
The streets and alleys of the city were littered with various artisan workshops. The way of life was like that of the middle ages.
In the morning, the red sun rose up from the ocean surface, signaling that a new day had arrived.
The sun shone onto the mosque, bathing the mosque in a golden glow, making it look really sacred and holy. Rabat city, which had slept for a night, had once again woken up.
In the workshops that stopped for the night, the familiar sounds of hard work broke out.
The residents who woke up early walked out of their Arabic-styled houses and gathered together to either eat, work, study, or just start a brand new day.
To the people in the city, this was just a normal day.
The city emanated a warm Arabic spirit, making one drunk in it.
The port outside the city was similarly really busy.
Fishing boats that had set out early in the morning had already returned with big catches. The midsummer season was the best time for catching tunas, and baskets of tunas were placed on both sides of the dock for people to choose.
Apart from tunas, there were many different kinds of seafood, dazzling to the eye.
Under the sunlight, the faces of the fishermen looked really warm from the joy of their catches.
The Kasbah of Udayas defending the port was similarly bathed in golden light. The soldiers that patrolled for the night changed their shifts, yawning as they dragged their exhausted bodies down the city wall.
The new soldiers who were filled with energy took over the posts, facing the sun as they started their patrol.
The soldiers were not really nervous. After all, Morocco was located at a corner of Africa, so war seemed to be very far away from them.
Especially to the civilians in the imperial city, they did not know what war was.
The three remaining Lords in Morocco were all really peaceful, with each person managing an area. No one was able to eat up the others, so they naturally lacked the strength to attack the imperial city.
Compared to the chaotic China region, this place was truly heaven.
At 7 AM, in the far horizon, a tall sail suddenly appeared. In a blink of an eye, the sails got higher and there were more and more of them.
“What’s that?”
The sentries on the Kasbah of Udayas were the first to notice that something was not right.
A soldier took out his telescope and finally saw the Mediterranean Squadron; he muttered, “Those are warships, not merchant ships.”
“Warship? Which country’s?”
“Great Xia Dynasty’s Mediterranean Squadron.”
In the Atlantic, the golden dragon flag of the Mediterranean Squadron was unique and easy to recognize. Half a year ago, when they came here to wipe out pirates, they had come to Rabat to restock.
Hence, the soldiers were not totally unfamiliar with them.
“No wonder. I heard the general say that they had been clearing out pirates. He said that recently, they have locked down the nearby ocean regions. They are probably here to resupply.”
At this point, the soldiers still did not realize that a crisis had arrived.
With their guards placed down, the soldiers started chatting; the topic of their conversation was the Mediterranean Squadron. A soldier smiled and said, “I heard that the Great Xia Dynasty was not having a good time here. The alliance has broken up, and their allies have gone their separate ways.”
“They can only show off their military in the Mediterranean now.”
“A thin camel is still bigger than a horse. Although they lost control of the Mediterranean, we still cannot provoke them. One must not forget that they have an entire dynasty backing them up.”
“That’s also true. I heard that the Great Xia Dynasty land area is bigger than our entire Morocco, and they also have millions of iron armored warriors. They are so rich.”
“Did not you see the eastern merchants that come and go from the dynasty? They are all so rich.”
…
Whilst the soldiers were chatting, the imperial city merchants who were doing business at the docks also noticed the Mediterranean Squadron. This time, their eyes lit up and shone brightly.
“A big fish has come!”
“Big deal, big deal!”
The merchants all rubbed their palms and could not hide the greed in their eyes.
When the 1st and 2nd divisions pulled into the port and looked like they were about to sell the resources in their hands, a change occurred.
The 1st division at the front did not even stop in the port, going up the Bou Regreg River instead. The 40 odd boats all spread out, a magnificent sight.
“What’s happening?”
When the merchants saw that, they were confused.
Normally, the Mediterranean Squadron would dock here for their supplies. As a result, the merchants treated them so warmly.
Weirdly, they did not stop here but went up the river instead.
“Did they realize that we raised the price?” The merchants were anxious.
In Rabat, apart from the main dock, there was still another inner river dock that one could go up to for resupply.
Although the two were less than ten miles away, the prices were different. Merchants often bullied others for not knowing prices and raised their prices to increase profit.
“We have miscalculated!”
Seeing the warships sailing up river resolutely, the merchants felt regret.
Of course, their regret was excessive.
That was because the outbreak of war often happened in an instance.
At 8 AM, the Mediterranean Squadron was in place, and they suddenly stopped. Before people even reacted, the cannons shot out huge cannonballs.
‘Hong! Hong! Hong!’
Be it the Kasbah of Udayas that was protecting the cape or the north city walls of Rabat, they were all within the range of attack. The successive cannon fire shocked the entire Rabat City.
“What happened, who fired?”
Many people did not understand what was happening.
“It’s the Mediterranean Squadron, they fired.” Someone panicked.
“Oh my god, what is happening, do they want to start a war?”
The civilians who lived in a peaceful era could not adapt to the sudden change.
The first to react were the guards of the castle.
The general’s face was black as he gritted his teeth, “Those wolves actually shamelessly used our trust in them to openly start a war. Shameless!”
“Quick, fire back!”
On the castle there were cannons but due to a lack of funds, the entire castle only had 20 cannons.
‘Hong! Hong! Hong!’
During the first round of battle, fierce cannon fire sounds broke out.
The Kasbah of the Udayas was built on the cape and was surrounded by water. Under the careful planning of the Mediterranean Squadron, the four sides of the walls were all under cannon fire.
The modified P1 Type cannons were freakishly strong. In the blink of an eye, the watchtowers, city gates, and other similar structures were hit and were on the verge of falling. Collapse was just a matter of time.