Chapter 292 Naval Battle

Chapter 292 Naval Battle

Chapter 292 Naval Battle
July 1600, Exploration Year 6.

Lead-gray clouds piled heavily in the sky, covering the high altitude tightly. The sea and the sky were all stained with this dark hue. The inky storm sea was now raging with winds and rain. The waves were carrying white foam, colliding and piling up on each other, making thunderous noises from time to time.

The Northern Fleet braved the raging waves, the leading third-class destroyer was like a giant steel beast, its sharp bow fiercely splitting the surging waves, splashing water everywhere, and bursting to both sides like silver-white shotgun shells.

The rain poured down, crackling on the cold deck, and the flags fluttered in the chilly sea breeze.

Seven days later, the Northern Fleet broke away from the high-speed ocean current and arrived at the designated location. The sea here was less than two hundred miles away from the port of Caribib, and it took less than half a day to arrive.

But at the center of the fleet, one of the flagships, the White Rose, suddenly waved its flag, and complex flag signals conveyed the message to the entire fleet.

"35 minutes east by north, enemy ships spotted miles away."

The lookout on the White Rose quickly reported the news to the fleet commander, Earl of Rock.

In the captain's room, the Duke's youngest son Brownie paced back and forth, and the sword-wielding elder of the family looked at him with an expression that did not show joy or anger.

The Earl of Rock put down his telescope. The militant's enthusiasm was replaced by calmness. He said slowly:
"It should be the combined fleet of Bourbon nobles. The situation is simple. Our intelligence has been betrayed."

According to the plan made by the fleet headquarters, the Northern Fleet will launch a surprise attack on Caribib Port. The Duke Wyatt family has no titled knights, so the chances of winning are extremely high.

The Bourbon Kingdom has three fleets: the Royal Fleet, the Nobles' United Fleet, and the Colonial Development Fleet. Now that they have been caught by the enemy fleet, the answer is self-evident.

"Who wins?" asked the sword-wielding elder.

"Hey, don't even think about a big victory, unless the opponent's commander is Brownie. But a small victory is no problem. The quality of the sailors in the Land of Chaos is far better than that of the opponent." Earl of Rock laughed ostentatiously.

Brownie was speechless.

The quality of seafarers does not only refer to combat effectiveness, sail and gun control are more critical factors. A skilled crew can complete a single turn in a quarter of an hour, but the "professionals" who came out of the Royal Capital Exploration Academy once achieved the feat of turning which took two hours but still failed. The gap is so huge that it is unbelievable.

Earl of Rock worked out a tactical plan with the fleet staff. Since the number of guns on the sides of the ships far exceeded that at the bow and stern, the naval warfare tactics of this era usually adopted a straight line method to maximize the advantage of the artillery, which was the so-called battle line.

"Order the entire team to immediately adjust into a vertical straight line formation, move forward fifteen nautical miles, and then turn back to the right rear." Earl of Rock finalized the plan with a wave of his hand.

The Sword-wielding Elder had no objection to this. According to the current situation, the enemy was advancing in a straight line, and their side would adjust to a "U" formation to meet the enemy. The two sides would confront each other in battle lines, which was a result that everyone could accept.

The nobles' combined fleet wanted to keep the enemy out of the port, and they hoped to bring into play the combat skills of their crews. On the sea, the field of vision was wide, and the movement efficiency of ships was much slower than on land. Therefore, for both sides, there was basically no surprise, and annihilation battles were extremely rare.

……

Half an hour after the two armies discovered the enemy.

The vanguard fleets of both sides encountered each other.

The Tulip, the vanguard ship of the Northern Fleet, turned around and sailed on the sea side by side with the enemy's vanguard ship. The two third-level destroyers fired at full power in an extremely tacit understanding.

Rumble!
Following the captain's order, in an instant, a deafening roar sounded on the sea, and white gunpowder shells burst out like angry meteors, drawing sharp arcs on the dark sea. The arcs of both sides intertwined, as if weaving a net in mid-air.

The shells whizzed into the sea, and the sea surface was instantly stirred into turbidity. The surging waves rose one after another like hills, columns of water gushed into the air, and waves were heard at the place of the explosion.

"Don't stop reloading, sink it!"

"Main sail adjusted to the southwest for 12 minutes, the wind is now northeast!"

"Hurry up and deliver the white powder!"

The captain of the Tulip roared loudly. As a vanguard, he had the strength of an ordinary great knight, but he held the position of rear admiral. At this moment, he not only had to command the entire ship, but also had to shoot down enemy shells from mid-air as much as possible.

boom!
Amidst the streams of water, a white gunpowder shell hit the bow of the ship. The enormous power directly tore a big hole in the front side, and more than a dozen soldiers who were loading bullets in the gun port were killed in an instant.

The captain remained unmoved and continued to shout orders. He was guarding the gunpowder depot at the moment just to avoid major accidents such as the bombing of the ship. The casualties of a few soldiers were not worth leaving his post.

Rumble!
Above the dark sea.

More and more warships were bombarding each other in parallel in groups of two.

The second-class battleship White Rose blasted the fourth-class frigate on the opposite side to pieces with just one round of salvos of 360 shells. Because it had the best gunners, its bombardment hit rate exceeded 70%, and it had a crushing lead in terms of the number and caliber of its artillery.

The sea breeze was howling, the warships were breaking through the waves, and rows of artillery shells, carrying the breath of death, tore through the air over the sea, making a sharp hissing sound.

Wherever the shells passed, the sea breeze was split like a sharp blade, and then exploded on the sea in the distance. The water splashed like white fireworks in an instant. The huge impact caused the sea water to sink and bulge, forming a continuously spreading circular wave. The two fleets launched a large-scale battle line bombardment.

"How long will the queue last?"

On the Saint Lilith, Wuhe was looking through a monocular telescope and saw that his own fleet was making a U-shaped turn.

The battle line bombardment has not yet "matched" them, and there are more than 20 warships in front of the bow waiting for the opponent to join the battle.

Lilith floats in front of someone like a ghost.

"I have a fun idea."

"Just say what you want to say." Jiang He put down the monocular telescope.

"Let's cut in line. We should turn now and drive directly in front of the enemy fleet's vanguard. If we sink two or three ships, the wreckage will be enough to stop the enemy fleet." Lilith reminded, "But you may be charged with disobeying orders on the battlefield."

Jiang He looked across the sea to the front of the enemy fleet. The fleet in the front were all level 3 destroyers, which was a bit risky in theory.

"Okay." Jiang He agreed. Lilith shouldn't be so tactful as to joke about her own natal ship.

Lilith made an OK gesture. Only after getting authorization from the captain could she command the evil soldiers.

Ah Si led the steering team to change the course.

"Three sails adjusted to the northeast for 50 minutes."

"Bowsprit and second staysail to starboard."

"Take up the mid-mast sail..."

Micro-management instructions are issued one by one
A group of evil soldiers went up and down the mast. As the sails were adjusted, the strong wind on the sea quickly blew the Saint Lilith away from the fleet and turned 90 degrees on the spot in less than two minutes.

Jiang He watched as Lilith issued a new round of instructions after completing the turn. It seemed that she wanted the ship to obtain the maximum wind force, and the content was quite complicated.

On the sea, the Saint Lilith left its own formation and headed straight towards the enemy's vanguard ship.

This scene attracted the attention of the flagship.

"Send a flag signal to Baron Rhine." Earl Rock's face was gloomy. "As a great knight, if you take the lead in disobeying military orders, don't blame me for turning against you after the war." Regardless of the outcome, this was a great provocation to his authority as the commander.

"Understood." The messenger turned and ran out of the captain's room.

The Sword-wielding Elder said, "Looking at the speed at which they turned the rudder, the pilot must be an expert in navigation. The Saint Lilith may be trying to stop the enemy fleet. Since it has already turned, there is no point in coming back."

"I know." Earl Rock said unhappily, "Then what do you think I should do? This one doesn't listen, that one doesn't listen. In the end, what's the point of military orders?"

Brownie wanted to say something but finally chose to keep his mouth shut. Before he was officially confirmed as the heir, there was no room for him to speak in the captain's room. After all, there were two top knights in front of him.

……

A full quarter of an hour.

The Saint Lilith came to the front of the battle line.

On the vanguard destroyer of the aristocratic combined fleet, Earl Green frowned as he held a monocular telescope in his hand.

At this moment, the enemy ship is about to aim its broadside at our bow. With a level 4 ship attacking a level 3 ship, the former will have the advantage in artillery.

But once it turned, its stern was exposed to the Tulip, which was traveling side by side. This brilliant move forced the Vanguard destroyer into a dilemma.

In just a few seconds, Earl Green made a decision. As the vanguard captain of the noble coalition fleet, he was different from the nobles who invested in the ships. He had more than ten years of actual sailing experience.

"Abandon all artillery and supplies, throw them all into the sea, and ram the fourth-level ship in front at the fastest speed."

The order was given, and looking down from the sky, the Vanguard completely gave up fighting back against the Tulip. As each heavy object sank into the sea, its speed increased significantly. It successfully left the bombardment range of the Tulip's side and rushed towards the Saint Lilith at the speed of an armed merchant ship.

Earl Green drew his sword. Boarding battle was the only way to break the situation at the moment. Rushing towards the enemy's bombardment area meant that the vanguard ship would be destroyed or sunk. He knew that he could no longer return. Even with the strength of an ordinary great knight, he was powerless to fight against the fleet at sea.

Another quarter of an hour.

At a distance of 500 meters, the Saint Lilith fired five rounds of artillery fire, with a total of 200 shells fired.

More than twenty shells hit the vanguard ship, with a continuous whistling sound. Several hideous holes were torn on the side of the ship, and the sea water rushed in. The water in the passage suddenly became turbulent, and debris was splashed around with the waves. The sailors' faces were covered in black and gray, and they staggered and fled on the tilted and slippery aisle. Their shouts were ruthlessly drowned out by the sound of the explosion.

The two sides were less than a hundred meters apart.

Count Green's face was full of determination to sacrifice his life for the cause.

But at this moment, a brilliant flame rose on the Saint Lilith.

Jiang He stood on the side and looked forward with one hand.

Perfect level flame control is fully activated.

Energy value injected 4000 points.

The fire control of the Longhen Dragon Spear increases the damage by 60%.

Blessings of three energy qualities.

Crystallization solidification technology compression.

As the power gradually concentrated, the black "three-color" fireball became larger and larger, eventually reaching a diameter of ten meters.

Releasing energy at all costs caused Jiang He's body to be riddled with holes, but with his extremely effective self-healing ability and long-burning embers, he didn't care about this terrible injury.

It takes three full minutes to accumulate energy.

A huge black fireball left his hand.

At the last moment, Jiang He launched the perfect-level skill, Fatal Strike, which increased the shooting power of the fireball by 50%, and provided an additional 50% armor-breaking damage and 50% bullet flight speed, as well as 25% concussion damage and 20% shooting kinetic energy enhancement.

It was like a pitch-black meteor slicing through the sea.

Count Green was at a loss when he saw this.

The "three-color" fireball accurately hit the front deck of the warship. In an instant, flames appeared like a demon and exploded violently.

The hull, which was as hard as steel, twisted and wailed under the extreme high temperature. The thick deck was torn apart in an instant like fragile paper, and the fragments flew everywhere in flames, blooming like fireworks.

The vanguard ship trembled violently under the bombardment of the fireball, and the broken armor caused the main body to fall apart. Billowing black smoke wrapped in pungent gunpowder rose into the sky, dyeing the surrounding sky ink-black.

A third-class vanguard ship with 800 people on board was almost wiped out.

On the wreckage, Earl Green was charred all over, kneeling on one knee, leaning on his sword with difficulty. The fireball was not the main target of him, but the power of the aftermath was still terrifying even though it was so close.

boom!
Before he could regain consciousness, a silver spear came through the air, and the cold tip of the spear blasted his lower body. Jiang He switched places with the blood shadow of the Mobius Knight covered by the spear, and skillfully reached out to draw blood from his heart, executing his soul.

[Ultimate Blood Poison LV6→LV7 (cause 17% additional poison damage)]
The intense flames blooming between the sea and the sky attracted the attention of tens of thousands of people from both fleets.

Earl Rock silently put down the telescope, then picked it up again to watch. The power of the fireball was too terrifying, almost touching the edge of the Titled Knight, and it was clearly targeted at ships. If a few more came, the White Rose would be in danger of being paralyzed and sinking.

"Make a report before acting on your own. If Rhine had told him earlier that he had this trick, this kid would have acted however he wanted." Count Rock became more alert. He thought that the other party might really be able to force the enemy fleet to stop.

The sword-wielding elder stood at the window, staring in silence. As a family elder, he had to consider whether Rhine's existence would bring hidden dangers. According to the analysis of the family's great wizard, the other party had hundreds of thousands of lives on his hands. Of course, such an outrageous number might mean that something had gone wrong.

"We must win him over at all costs."

Different from the scrutiny of the two top knights, Brownie's eyes were full of enthusiasm. Once he succeeded in attracting such a strong force, it would greatly make up for the disadvantage brought by age between himself and his elder brother in the battle for succession.

……

On the sea.

Jiang He looked at the dozens of aristocratic coalition warships in front of him.

A few miles away, two third-level destroyers were approaching and were in a state of exchanging fire with their "matched opponents".

"You take care of one ship, and I'll take care of the other. There are no great knights on these two warships."

Lilith was on the boat, but the sound was transmitted to someone's ears. She couldn't leave the host's side before, but being on the Saint Lilith was an exception.

"Okay." Jiang He said.

(End of this chapter)