Murray Ed stood on the undulating bridge. In the circular frame of the monocular in his hand, a small sail appeared on the horizon. At this moment, Murray Ed was in a very excited mood. He finally waited for you.
Come on, the Sea King Fleet!
For two months, two months, Murield could not remember how many times his armored fleet had been disappointed and helpless. He had repeatedly let the Sea King fleet escape from his search and pursuit. What annoyed Murield the most was that
, he failed to complete the task assigned by Claude and asked the Sea King fleet to send the two standing divisions of the Kingdom of Hicks ashore for reinforcements.
All this happened after the armored fleet raided the Beibu Gulf, which is the principality of Karnars and the largest and richest bay in the eastern part of the Farea continent. Countless ocean-going ships traveling from north to south gather here.
The three towns of the Principality of Karrnath on the coast of the bay have become trading cities with very prosperous commerce. A newly formed cruise squadron from the Kingdom of Nasseri and the Principality of Karrnath is stationed here.
Since the Kingdom of Hicks lost the leased joint fleet, the Kingdom of Nasseri and the Principality of Kannas no longer have their own ocean-going fleets. Fortunately, the Kingdom of Hicks compensated a sum of money, and the Kingdom of Nasseri and the Principality of Kannas
The Principality of Nass is planning to use this fund to build a new ocean-going fleet. After three years of hard work, it finally has a cruise squadron consisting of more than 20 warships.
It was at this time that General Murield raided the Beibu Gulf. In front of the ironclad battleships, the unprepared cruise squadron was completely wiped out. The eleven brand-new battleships were ignited with raging fires and countless people on the shore.
Sunk in the Beibu Gulf amidst the onlookers, sixteen sailing warships were captured by the ironclad warships, and forty-eight ocean-going ships belonging to the Kingdom of Hicks, the Kingdom of Nasseri and the Principality of Karnas also became trophies of the ironclad fleet.
Under the setting sun, the armored fleet and these captured warships and ships left the Gulf of Tonkin and sailed away.
The raid on the Beibu Gulf made the armored fleet famous in one battle. Almost everyone knew about these monster ships that emitted black smoke, made a rumbling sound, and were covered in iron armor that could not even be hit by artillery. The most important thing was that they were better than sailing battleships.
Running faster on the sea. Since then, the armored fleet has lost its concealment in the eastern seas. Wherever they appear, they have become the ocean-going seas of the three countries of Hicks Kingdom, Nasseri Kingdom and Karnas Principality.
The forbidden area of the ship.
But General Muriel regretted it very much. He made a big mistake. Because of the exposure of the armored fleet, the Sea King Fleet of the Hicks Kingdom no longer dared to set foot in the eastern waters. He should first ambush the Sea King Fleet and annihilate the two
The reinforced standing legions were on their way by sea. As a result, they raided the Beibu Gulf to alert the enemy. The Sea King fleet changed its planned plan and landed the two reinforced standing legions of the Hicks Kingdom at the Garucha Port of the Kingdom of Nasseri.
There are two large ports and four small seaports in the northern waters of the Kingdom of Nasseri. The Sea King fleet usually docks at the Camillas seaport with the best facilities. This time, two standing legions of reinforcements are also prepared to be transported to Kami.
As a result, Muriel led the armored fleet to ambush outside the seaport of Camillas for seven days, but the news came that the Sea King fleet had docked at the Garrucha Port. It was a small seaport town developed from a small fishing village.
, about three hundred miles away from the seaport of Camillas.
Muriel hurriedly led the armored fleet to the Garruca harbor and found that the Sea King fleet had long disappeared, and the two standing legions of the Kingdom of Hicks that had landed had also left this small seaport town. He made a futile trip and found nothing.
Nothing was gained. Soon, Murield discovered that the armored fleet was under surveillance at all times in the eastern seas. Ocean-going ships from other countries passed by, and fishing boats offshore made the armored fleet invisible wherever it appeared.
Become the center of attention.
Under such circumstances, the Ironclad Fleet will never be able to find traces of the Hicks Kingdom's Sea King Fleet. Although overseas dominions also have spies distributed in these regions and countries, they have no way to contact the higher-level strata.
Most of the news and intelligence were speculation and hearsay. The armored fleet was rushing back and forth on the sea, but the true whereabouts of the Sea King Fleet were never found.
Fortunately, the spies sent to the Kingdom of Hicks finally sent the latest information. Recently, the Sea King fleet will transport a batch of ordnance and military logistics supplies to the Kingdom of Nasseri, but the date of departure is unknown. In order to avoid being arranged by the enemy, Murray Ed
The spy in the eastern waters discovered traces of the armored fleet and made a plan to hide it from the public.
General Muriel formed a large fleet with the captured ocean-going sailing battleships and sea-going ships, put the spare steam engines on the deck and started them, smoking thick black smoke, escorted by two iron-clad transport ships.
The remaining twenty armored warships and armored armed transport ships hung up their sails and turned to the ocean at a very slow speed. They then started their steam engines from the ocean and headed straight for the border of the Kingdom of Nasseri.
sea area.
In the waters bordering the Kingdom of Nasseri and the neighboring Kingdom of Menbamak, there is an island called St. Rusk Island. The island is not big, with only a small fishing village and a large mountain covered with pitch pine. In folklore, this island
This small island is the incarnation of a hero named Rusk. He killed a sea monster that harmed this sea area. After being exhausted, he transformed into a small island to protect the safety of ships passing through this sea area and coastal fishermen.
.
Therefore, this sea area is also called the St. Rusk Island Sea. The Kingdom of Nasseri and the Kingdom of Menbamark once had a dispute over the ownership of this sea area. However, because the Kingdom of Nasseri was so powerful, the Kingdom of Menbamark could only swallow its anger and move
This sea area was allocated to the Kingdom of Nasseri, and it only requested to retain the free fishing rights of its coastal fishermen...
Now the twenty warships and transport ships of the Ironclad Fleet are hiding behind Saint-Rusque Island, and they are camouflaged with pitch pine branches cut down from the island, trying to prevent passing ships from discovering the strangeness here. Patiently
After waiting for more than ten days, the Sea King fleet finally arrived.
"One hundred and seventeen sailing battleships, including ninety-two third-class light fast cruising battleships, twenty second-class three-masted sailing cruisers, and five first-class five-masted sailing battleships, forming five fleets in the front, rear, left, center and right.
Traveling. In addition, there are nearly two hundred ocean-going transport ships..."
Soon, the lookout on the battleship clearly reported the organization and composition of the Sea King fleet. However, based on the distance calculation, it would take more than an hour for the transport fleet escorted by the Sea King fleet to reach the waters of St. Rusk.
Today the wind direction is from the northeast, and the Sea King fleet is sailing semi-headwind, unable to increase its speed.
"All battleship crews, check the combat readiness again. When the Sea King fleet passes through the Saint-Rusque waters, we will block it and catch it by surprise." Muriel said fiercely. As long as this Sea King fleet is eliminated, it is hoped that
The Kingdom of Kes will never be able to rise again. It will no longer be able to rely on this fleet to show off its power in the eastern seas and intervene in the affairs of the eastern region of Farea continent...
Nothing was caught off guard. After all, the rumble from the steam engines of the twenty armored battleships was like thunder, which had already attracted the attention of the Sea King fleet. Several third-level fast cruising battleships even left the queue and sailed towards St. Rusk Island, thinking that
Let's see what's going on. The thick black smoke rising from behind the island may have been misunderstood by the Sea King fleet as a fire on the island. For a moment, they never thought that the armored fleet was ambushing here.
The commander of the Sea King Fleet is not a fool. He has long understood some of the details of the Iron Armored Fleet from the intelligence obtained from various places. He also knows very well that the Iron Armored Fleet is not a matchable opponent of the Sea King Fleet. During the attack on the Beibu Gulf, the Iron Armored Fleet was in
In full view of the onlookers along the coast, the newly formed cruise squadrons of the Kingdom of Nasseri and the Principality of Karrnath were completely wiped out. The armored fleet barely suffered any damage, which is a fact that is obvious to all.
How to deal with warships covered with iron armor has become a common problem for all countries with fleets in the Farea continent. The Sea King fleet is no exception, but the sea is so big, can't it be beaten or evaded? If it weren't for the iron armored fleet to threaten those who were
After capturing the exact information of the ship returning to the port of Florik, it is impossible for the Sea King Fleet to take the risk and go to the waters of the Kingdom of Nasseri to conduct escort operations for the transport fleet.
But when twenty armored battleships emitting black smoke and rumbling sounds emerged from behind Saint-Rusque Island, the commander of the Sea King fleet knew that he had been fooled. When the situation came to a close, he had no choice but to fight to the death, so he ordered everyone to
The transport ships docked or fled as soon as possible. All the warships of the Sea King fleet came forward to besiege the armored warships, and ordered the use of grenades and kerosene bombs, and then artillery attacks at close range. Anyway, it was a consensus that long-distance bombardment was useless against the armored warships.
.....
There is another way to deal with armored warships, that is, two ships come together and join forces to fight. Use the advantage of numbers to try to capture an armored warship. In this way, even if you win miserably, you will not lose money, and you can develop your own armored warship when you return home.
Come out. More than a hundred sail warships are facing off against twenty armored warships. It is not yet decided who will win, but everyone has hope of winning...
The two fleets spraying iron and fire collided together like this. The Sea King fleet suffered a big loss at the beginning. Nearly ten third-level sailing cruising fast light battleships were hit by white phosphorus bombs, igniting a raging fire.
Fire. But after all, the Sea King fleet has a large number of ships. The follow-up warships swarmed up and separated the five or six armored destroyers charging at the front of the armored fleet. They fell into a situation of being besieged. Especially those several burning destroyers.
The third-level light cruise warship even took the initiative to ram into the armored destroyer in order to perish together.
The four or five armored destroyers that arrived shortly afterwards also accelerated their speed, bombarding and ramming into the entangled fleet, intending to rescue their comrades. As a result, they were also trapped in a dilemma with enemies on all sides.
They were faced with countless thrown grenades and kerosene bombs. The black smoke and flames of the explosion also flashed on the iron-clad battleship, and the sailors on the deck suffered heavy casualties in a short time.
The Sea King fleet was not feeling well at this time. After a chaotic battle, the sea surface was full of sail warships shining with fire and smoke. It was no longer possible to clearly see the situation on the battlefield. Only the sounds of constant shelling and explosions were heard.
There were screams and calls for help, and sailors and crew members holding lifebuoys were seen from time to time on the burning sea...
The commander-in-chief of the Sea King Fleet, who had been waiting for nearly an hour, finally received two pieces of news, one good and one bad. The good news was that the enemy's two armored warships had been controlled by his own marine battalion, but he did not expect the enemy's attack.
The internal hatches of the battleships were also iron doors. The remaining enemies on the two armored battleships retracted into the inner cabins and closed the doors to defend themselves. For a while, there was no way to open the thick iron doors, so they could not control the entire armored battleship.
The bad news is that the Sea King fleet has lost warships from three squadrons. The sail warships currently burning on the sea are all from the left and rear squadrons. Most of the warships are busy putting out the fire. The smoke on the sea is too dense and it is no longer possible to
Even if we continue to fight, we will not be able to catch up with the enemy's warships.
The enemy's remaining armored warships have now learned their lesson and no longer engage in melee combat with the burning warships. Instead, they use their speed to cruise around the periphery and bombard the pursuing sailing warships with long-range artillery fire.
The commander of the Sea King Fleet faced a painful choice, either to abandon the fighting warships and evacuate immediately, thus saving most of the transport ships and the two Sea King Fleet squadrons. Or to invest the remaining two squadrons in
Go to the battlefield and fight to the death with the enemy. Even if you win, the entire fleet will be almost wiped out, but you may be able to capture a few armored warships, and even if the fleet is gone, there is still value in return.
But the problem is that the current situation of the battle is unclear. The entire melee is thick with smoke, and it is impossible to see what is going on. Is the enemy's armored fleet consistent with the situation just reported? Most of them are fighting together, and only a few ships are fighting guerrillas on the outside?
If this is the case, then nearly fifty warships from the two squadrons have been put into the battlefield. Not to mention 100%, the Sea King Fleet is very sure of winning the final victory in this naval battle...
It was just that the commander of the Sea King fleet didn't think about it for long when he saw twelve black-smoking iron-clad battleships protruding from the smoky battlefield and rushing toward their fleet array. The masts and deck turrets on several iron-clad battleships
, and the bridge was still shining with fire. It was obvious that they had suffered a lot in the melee just now, but because it was covered with iron armor, the damage was not very serious and they could continue to fight.
At this point, the remaining two squadrons of the Sea King Fleet could only fight head-on. As soon as they came into contact, the Sea King Fleet felt that the situation was not good. Because the twelve battleships of the Iron Armored Fleet did not confront them head-on and fight in a melee, but
They used the speed of their warships to make a big turn in front of the array of Sea King warships, maintaining a distance of seven to eight hundred meters, and used their artillery to continuously bombard the slow-moving sail warships of the Sea King fleet.
Each sail warship was hit by gunfire and burned, especially the huge sails and masts, which burned like a torch. The warships could only park on the sea and became fixed targets. The officers on the warships hurriedly
After putting down the small wooden rescue boat, the sailors who could not find the wooden rescue boat jumped into the sea like dumplings with their lifebuoys and holding the wooden planks. Several burning sail warships also had violent explosions due to the ignition of gunpowder.
....
No one can endure the situation of being beaten without being able to fight back. After confirming that they could not catch up with the speed of the armored battleships, and seeing that one of our own battleships was hit and burned by the enemy's armored battleships, several third-level light cruisers were first launched.
The warships broke away from the chasing array and set sail to retreat. Soon the remaining forty sailing warships became confused. Some were still chasing forward, while others had withdrawn and fled the battlefield without obeying the command.
The commander of the Sea King fleet had no choice but to evacuate the entire army, allowing the remaining sail warships of the Sea King fleet to return to the Kingdom of Hicks on their own. After sending a signal to wish everyone good luck, he personally cut off the rear and desperately resisted the siege of four armored warships for nearly an hour. Finally,
It ended with the battleship exploding and sinking to the bottom of the sea. The remaining eight armored battleships chased the escaping sailing battleship for nearly three hours and captured a large number of transport ships. The pursuit did not end until dark.
The Battle of Saint-Rusque Island was the first formal large-scale naval battle between an armored fleet and a sailing fleet in the French world. This naval battle marked that the fleet naval battle model that had not changed for nearly a thousand years had finally turned to a new chapter. Traditional artillery vs.
Boom, the naval battle methods of jumping gangs to seize ships, throwing and burning ships are about to be eliminated, while new naval battle methods are still being explored.
But there is no doubt that the emergence of iron-clad battleships in overseas autonomous territories means that the traditional sailing battleships have come to an end. The Sea King Fleet of the Kingdom of Hicks can be regarded as a powerful force among the coastal countries of Farea Continent.
They are powerful maritime elites, but in the great battle of St. Rusk Island, they had a numerical advantage of 117 sailing warships, but were defeated by twenty ironclad warships. The number of sailing warships that escaped back to their home waters
Not even a squadron.
This great sea battle had a profound impact on the coastal countries of the Farea continent. Those naval powers invested heavily in the development of iron-armored warships. A simple one is to cover the sail warship with a layer of iron armor or copper armor, and the more complex ones are
Acquire various steam engines and firepower engines from overseas autonomous territories and try to transform them into marine steam engines. The most common method is to send spies to lurk into overseas autonomous territories in an attempt to obtain production blueprints for armored battleships, trains and new weapons...
For the armored fleet, it was not easy to win the great battle of Saint-Rusque Island, especially as the deck and bridge combatants suffered almost two-thirds casualties, and every ironclad battleship in the entire fleet was traumatized. The Hicks Kingdom-produced
Throwing grenades and kerosene bombs are not just a matter of course. The two iron-clad warships that were almost captured were the most severely damaged. All the new guns on the deck and bridge were disabled, and cracks appeared in the hull shell due to the collision. It can be said that
It turned into a useless ship with only the hull left. Fortunately, the ship's steam engine was still running normally and could keep up with the speed of the fleet.
Fleet Admiral General Murray was also injured. He was almost blown up by a projectile bomb. Fortunately, his adjutant had quick eyesight and quick hands to hug him and fall to the ground. He only suffered a broken right hand and an injured left leg.
The price was high. However, in the Great Battle of Saint-Rusque Island, the results of the armored fleet were also fruitful. They destroyed more than 70 sailing warships of the Sea King Fleet, forced the landing of 21 sailing warships in pursuit, and captured nearly a hundred sailing warships fully loaded with various weapons.
An ocean-going transport ship for military supplies.
After the war, the armored fleet searched and rescued more than 4,000 Hicks Kingdom sailors and crew members at sea. At the same time, there was an episode, that is, the armored fleet consumed all the black stone fuel it carried. As a last resort, General Murray Ed
Ordered to board Saint-Rusque Island, cut down a large amount of pitch pine from the island, use pitch pine firewood as fuel, and let the armored fleet return to Florik harbor with the captured ships...