Chapter seven hundred and fortieth? Maritime interception
"What's going on?" Prince Leiden looked shocked.
"It seems that the lookout post has discovered the enemy's situation." Captain Bray said calmly, "Let's go out and take a look and you will know what's going on."
Could it be the fleet led by the Yongye Army? It grasped the rescue situation and took the initiative?
A guess flashed through Captain Cornell's mind, and he suppressed it forcefully.
After all, the difference in the number of fleets between the two sides is huge.
Being blocked on the Donau River is one thing, but being in the vast sea is another thing entirely.
No matter how cruel they are, can they still break up their huge fleet of 800 warships with only twenty or thirty warships?
But when he got to the command platform and took a look, Captain Cornell could no longer hold back and exclaimed: "It's the fleet led by the Yong Ye Army. It's the fleet led by the Yong Ye Army. They abandoned the blockade and took the initiative.
We are coming to intercept, Your Highness, prepare to fight, hurry up and prepare to fight."
"The fleet led by the Yongye Army took the initiative to attack us? With less than thirty warships?" A trace of anger flashed in Prince Leiden's eyes, "They really don't take us seriously, right? Order everyone
The fleet will attack and destroy them at all costs."
The captain of the Bray fleet on the side knew that the order just given by Prince Leiden contained a certain element of anger, but he did not stop it.
Because this is also the best response plan he can think of at the moment.
The other party appeared too suddenly, and the distance between the two parties was too close, and they could no longer react in any other way.
Naval warfare is different from land warfare.
For a land battle, ten minutes or several kilometers is a very long time and an extremely far distance, enough to fight a small battle.
But for a naval battle, it is just equivalent to the two sides immediately engaging in hand-to-hand combat.
After all, if a Breaker-class schooner wants to complete a 180-degree U-turn while traveling at high speed, it will have to make a big turn of several nautical miles, let alone a Hurricane-class and Dreadnought-class schooner.
Captain Bray's heart was filled with deep worries. Although his face-to-face dealings with the leader of the Yongye Army were already ten years ago, the war impression left by this emerging force on him was still indelible. These
Over the years, his research on the Yongye Army Leader has never stopped.
This force is known for its rationality from top to bottom.
Especially on the battlefield, the structure of their military staff makes it rare for them to act rashly. Once they launch an attack, they will inevitably have their own deep meanings, some of which the enemy often doesn't understand until long afterward.
Including this fleet attack, it should not be an accident.
The reason why the other party is so close is not because their lookout posts failed in their duties, but because the other party uses the island in front of them as a barrier to hide their whereabouts.
Are they so confident in the naval combat capabilities of their fleet?
"Enemy attack, enemy attack, enemy attack, prepare to fight, prepare to fight."
"Pass the order from Prince Leiden, the whole army will attack, the whole army will attack."
War drums roared and flags waved.
The rescue fleet of the East China Sea State was at full speed and rushed towards the unknown fleet that was approaching.
On the way to the rescue, Prince Leiden held several high-level meetings and explained the dangers of the rescue mission in detail to the mid-level and high-level captains, especially emphasizing the terror of the battleships led by the Evernight Army.
But most of the captains and captains were laughing and joking and didn't take it to heart at all. They only thought it was Prince Leiden making excuses for his father, Steubin, to lose the war.
At this moment, I only saw less than thirty warships, so I naturally didn't take them seriously.
These twenty-three battleships are none other than the Explorer Fleet led by the Yongye Army.
The two sides faced each other directly at first, but when the distance reached two nautical miles, the explorer fleet's sailing direction deflected to a certain extent, and it rushed forward closely following the large rescue fleet of the East China Sea Kingdom.
The distance between the two parties should be kept at more than half a nautical mile.
This distance has already entered the attack range of the Yongye Army's ship-borne artillery, but most of the crossbows on the Donghai Kingdom's warships are powerless.
"Cannon No. 1001, fire bombs, fire!"
"Cannon No. 2003, pulse bomb, fire!"
"Cannon No. 3010, tearing shells, fire!"
"Cannon No. 8015, ordinary ammunition, fire!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sounds of orders and the roar of artillery came and went.
This time, the explorer fleet did not consider the consumption at all, and directly tilted out the most lethal ammunition.
Among them, the most frequently used one is the flame bomb.
This kind of magical cannonball is definitely the fatal nemesis of wooden warships.
Once hit by it, it will burst into flames, which is difficult to extinguish with normal water.
"What kind of cannonball is this? Why is it so powerful?"
"Put out the fire quickly, put out the fire quickly, the battleship is going to be set on fire."
"Hell, these fires can't be extinguished. Abandon ship, abandon ship quickly."
"My ears, why can't I hear? I can't hear anything!"
"My legs, who has seen my legs?"
"The ship is going to sink. The ship is going to sink. Everyone, run for your life!"
"Turn left, change direction, and follow them. You must get close to them before you can launch an attack!"
"Idiot, turn right, turn right, stay as far away from them as possible. Haven't you seen how ferocious their bombardment is? Do you want to join us to die?"
The East China Sea Rescue Fleet was directly bombarded by a round of artillery bombardment from the Explorer Fleet, and became a mess.
No matter what the reaction is.
Struggling to save a sinking or burning battleship.
In despair, he abandoned the ship and escaped alone.
Angry, he rushed up with his warships and fought to the death with the explorer fleet.
Fear, trying to lead the warship away from the bombardment range of enemy warships.
Soon some of those angry people turned into strugglers and despairers, because they discovered that they were the ones running behind others, and the distance was getting wider and wider.
During this process, the opponent's artillery bombardment never stopped, and their accuracy could not be matched by their ship-borne ballistae. Many of them exploded directly around their warships.
The splashing cold water woke up many people, turning them into fearful people and running away in panic.
When the people behind realized that running away was the best way to save their lives under the gunfire of the Eternal Night Army's leading fleet.
When he saw the Yongye Army's fleet heading towards him, he instinctively made this choice.
In the end, a normal naval battle turned into an extremely absurd scene.
The East China Sea Rescue Fleet, apart from a small-scale and tough-minded counterattack when they first came into contact, the rest just ran away.
Wherever the explorer fleet passed, the surrounding warships moved toward the distance and evaded hastily.
Many warships changed direction too suddenly, there were too many warships, and their formations were dense, causing numerous dangers. There were almost no large number of collisions.
What really allowed them to escape was that their fleet was large enough, and the explorer fleet could choose to attack too many targets, and would not bite the same target at all.
What they need to do is to drive along the long fleet line of the East China Sea Kingdom's rescue fleet, bombarding them all the way, without caring about how many fireworks they create and how much damage they cause to the enemy behind them.
"Idiots! Idiots! A group of idiots. By doing this, you are only fueling their arrogance and causing greater damage to our fleet. Stop them. For the warships behind, don't worry about the damage. Rush forward. Rush forward to intercept them.
!" The disgraced Prince Leiden saw clearly the smoke and chaos behind him, and he was so angry that his eyes were filled with smoke and he flew into a rage.
"It's useless, Your Highness." Captain Bray was much calmer. "The opponent's attack was too fierce. Our morale has been taken away by them. Let alone the order cannot be passed on, even if it is passed on, it won't be much."
People will comply, but we can no longer count on them. What we need to do now is to integrate the surrounding elites on the spot and prepare for the opponent's second wave of impact.
If what I have predicted is correct, the other party will come back after making a circle. If we don't find a way to stop them, they will be like a shark swallowing a whale. They keep spinning and gnawing until they tear us apart.
of fragmentation.”
"What Uncle Bray said is true." Upon hearing this, Prince Leiden's face turned from angry to pale, because he knew that what Captain Bray said was true.
If that situation really happened, they would not rescue the main force of the East China Sea Fleet, but kill the leader of the Yongye Army.
Prince Leiden jumped on his feet and said: "Order the surrounding fleets to assemble towards the Benjamin, form an interception front on the spot, and pass on my previous orders. Don't be afraid of the battleship sinking. All losses will be borne by the royal family. All losses will be borne by the royal family."
The compensation will be doubled.”
After the initial confusion and panic, the head of the rescue fleet of the East China Sea Kingdom, which was washed away in a mess, regained some sense.
When they calmed down, they discovered that the damage caused to them by the Yongye Army's fleet was not as great as they thought.
First, the opponent is traveling at a high speed for artillery fire, so the difficulty of aiming is much higher than that of stationary artillery fire. The distance between the two sides also increases the difficulty factor.
For both of them, the number of the opponent's warships is too small after all. The current appearance is a bit like a shark gnawing at a whale. Even if they use their full strength, the huge wounds torn out are just a wound compared to the sharks and to the whales.
Small, non-fatal wounds.
This discovery undoubtedly greatly boosted their morale.
What's more, Prince Leiden's promise came right after.
This was an out-and-out generous move, which greatly stimulated the captains and captains.
They had just fled in a hurry. To a large extent, they were afraid of death on one hand. On the other hand, they were afraid that their warship would be sunk. This was all the wealth they had accumulated in their lifetime. Once it sank, they would be worse off than dead.
.
Now that I have protection, my courage will naturally increase.
Sure enough, an hour later, the fleet led by the Yongye Army circled around the East China Sea Kingdom's rescue fleet and then rushed back.
"Rush up and stop them. As long as we stop them for half an hour, our fleet will be able to surround them heavily." The flagship of the rescue fleet, the Benjamin, led by Prince Leiden, took the lead and rushed towards the explorer fleet.
.
At this time, if the flagship does not take the lead in the charge, there is no hope that others will muster up morale and courage.
However, as a result, the huge flagship would inevitably become the target of the Explorer fleet's concentrated fire. As soon as the distance between the two sides narrowed, a series of shells exploded around the Benjamin.
However, the purpose of leading the charge was achieved. At least one hundred and fifty East China Sea warships, large and small, responded to the charge.
The war drums roared, and they rushed towards the leader of the Yongye Army without fear of death.
"All warships, sail at a 45-degree angle, be careful to keep a distance from enemy ships, don't be too eager to fight, try not to engage in follow-up battles, try not to fall behind, and withdraw from the battle immediately if the hull damage exceeds 20%." Explorer Fleet Fleet
General Chang Arnold also issued a series of instructions.
Firepower and speed are the two major advantages of their fleet.
Only by making full use of these two advantages can they be qualified to deal with the Donghai Kingdom's fleet.
How could they give the other side a chance to intercept and surround themselves?
At the beginning of the battle, Lord Sean repeatedly emphasized that protecting one's own warships is the first combat goal, and the second is to kill the target as much as possible.
Their warships are far more valuable than the East China Sea warships. Even if ten Dreadnought-class galleys were exchanged for one of their warships, they would not trade it.
The explorer fleet rushed past the blocking fleet led by Prince Leiden before they formed an encirclement.
There were still several battleships that entered the attack range of the flagship Benjamin.
The East China Sea Fleet, simmering with anger, immediately dropped the black powder cannonballs desperately.
At this time, the advantages of the Dreadnought-class sailing ship were fully demonstrated.
Its huge size made it more resistant to beatings. It was hit three times in a row and the fire was raging, but it still failed to cause fatal injuries.
There are enough ballistas mounted on it. In terms of quantity alone, one can withstand the firepower of three new Yongye Army-leading Polang-class battleships.
Even though there was only a small part of the ammunition, it accidentally hit the Yongye Army's leading battleship, which still caused a lot of damage to it, and even the speed was reduced by several knots.
"It's a hit, it's a hit. These warships only have a longer range and faster speed, and are not much stronger than us. As long as we get close to them, we can find opportunities to sink them."
"Catch up, catch up. We must not let them escape. If you want to stop us, you must pay a heavy price."
"To capture their warships, we must capture their warships. We need to figure out why their warships are so fierce in firepower and why they are faster than our warships."
"Yes, as long as we understand this, do we still need to be afraid of them?"
"Come on, rush on!"
The Benjamin hit the Yongye Army's leading battleship, which greatly boosted the morale of the East China Sea rescue fleet.
Especially those warships that are relatively close, it's like they have been pumped with blood, each one charging more fiercely than the other.
Because they see huge benefits from it.
The battleships led by the Yongye Army relied on their super fierce long-range firepower and speed that surpassed their battleships to spin around.
If they can get these two things, they will not only dominate the East China Sea, but when the time comes, they can even counterattack the Huixi Sea and become the overlord there.
This fiery thought made them ignore the danger of death.
"Order No. 118 to withdraw from the battle and return to the ship for repairs. No. 117 and No. 119 are to provide cover and defeat them! The entire ship will use black range bombs, drop mines, and conduct tactical interception." General Arnold calmly issued the order.
Then there was another dull roar of artillery, and more than 300 meters of black area bombs were smashed down at the same time, leaving 300 more black areas with a diameter of more than 30 meters on the blue sea.