The sailors on the ship were not surprised by his laughter, because they knew exactly what the marshal was laughing about.
After the laughter subsided, Clemento narrowed his eyes and said coldly:
"So, all these past few months, they've been busy equipping the warships with iron armor..."
He had barely finished speaking when he suddenly shouted:
"madness!"
"You pretentious Yan Kingdom bastards! You think equipping warships with iron armor makes them strong? You're sorely mistaken!"
"With so much armor, your warships are as cumbersome as turtles! Even with a tailwind, their speed will be greatly reduced."
"These ironclad warships have very little use in actual combat. When surrounded by concentrated firepower, they can only passively take hits and cannot even escape!"
His words were proven true. An officer lowered his binoculars and hesitated before saying, "Marshal, I don't think I can see their gun barrels. Or are they too far away for me to see clearly?"
Clemento waved his hand and continued:
"To put an ironclad ship into service, trade-offs must be made in other aspects of the hull, the most important of which is the heavy gun turret. This is why our country has not used ironclad ships in the navy!"
"The power provided by the sails makes it difficult for ironclad ships to sail normally. Although the iron armor enhances the ship's defense, it is only on the outer layer. In fact, they are not only not as sturdy as imagined, but also useless due to their sluggish maneuverability. At most, they can only serve as a deterrent in coastal waters, and they can be useful in fighting some pirates."
"But in a proper naval battle, anyone who uses this kind of warship as their main force is simply throwing their life away!"
"Now we have the upper hand again, and they are facing the headwind. Even if these clumsy ironclad ships wanted to escape, they wouldn't be able to!"
At this point, Clemento's already swelled confidence even further, and he let out a triumphant laugh:
"Great! Now the advantage is entirely in our hands!"
"No matter how you fight, you won't lose! You can win even if you play recklessly!"
"Come on! Let's sink these iron turtles! Full speed ahead! Slaughter them!"
Like Clemento, Federich, holding a binoculars, in the Whales fleet on the right wing, gave roughly the same assessment.
In recent years, under the direction of King Saint Ist, the Kingdom of Hunli has been building super-class warships. At the beginning of the project, shipbuilding craftsmen had already designed preliminary blueprints for ironclad warships. According to the blueprints, compared to wooden warships, ironclad warships have a significantly stronger hull. However, the problem is that these iron plates are too heavy. Even if the interior is made of wood and the exterior is covered with iron armor, it is still difficult to sail.
The craftsmen were convinced that ironclad warships were the future trend, but due to the lack of a powerful driving force, the construction of ironclad warships could only remain on paper. They then continued to build large warships, which is today's Whale.
The Whale has not encountered any problems since it set sail. During the previous storm, the ship barely moved. Now, equipped with 148mm cannons, it is a unique behemoth even among the entire Allied fleet.
Federich lowered the binoculars, shook his head, and sneered:
"In order to improve the ship's defenses, they did not hesitate to reduce the number of cannons. It seems that the Yan people did make preparations after the last battle. But is this preparation going in the wrong direction?"
"To greet us with a warship like this..."
"court death!"
He shouted, then yelled, "Pass down the order: once they're within range, fire all the shells and sink all these ironclad ships!"
"Prepare to utterly crush them! Make them pay for their crimes in blood! Even if they surrender, don't worry about it; keep fighting until all their warships are sunk to the bottom of the sea!"
"Yes, Marshal!" The soldiers replied in high spirits, their faces beaming with fighting spirit.
Meanwhile, the Rose Fleet, which was sailing, made a move that surprised everyone.
While the Sauri and Hunli nations were intently watching the Yan nation's warships on the sea ahead, the last warship in the Rose Fleet began an emergency turn.
This turn came suddenly, starting from the rear of the Rose Fleet and gradually spreading to the middle ships, with the leading ships also turning their sails at this time.
Their sudden turn was gradually noticed by the other two countries, but because they were in the process of forming a battle formation, in order to avoid collisions between warships, the fleets of the three countries had already separated and were in different positions.
Furthermore, the unusual events involving the Rose Fleet were not disclosed to the other two countries beforehand, which is why people in both countries are now greatly shocked.
These two countries were not the only ones shocked.
On the opposite side, in the Yan Kingdom fleet that was raising its anchor, Qin Ze, on the ironclad ship at the rear, also frowned in surprise.
"What's going on now? Are they fighting amongst themselves or are they scared?"
"But we haven't flexed our muscles yet."
He muttered something to himself, then looked up at the sky. The sun was about to set completely, and the sky was beginning to darken.
The enchanting sunset is about to disappear, and night is about to fall.
He took a deep breath, then said in a resounding voice:
"Come on! Let's begin!"
"This Battle of Bohr will establish the prestige of our Yan Kingdom overseas!"
"Prepare for battle!"
Immediately following, a loud whistle suddenly sounded, and at the same time, in the huge coal-fired boiler rooms in the underwater compartments of each warship, shirtless soldiers were shoveling coal and throwing it in, sweating profusely.
After a large amount of coal entered the boiler, the flames burned brighter and brighter, and the water in the steam engine above the boiler began to boil violently amidst the blazing flames.
Large amounts of high-pressure steam are released from this point, which then rushes into the cylinder, pushing the piston to start moving. The directional valve moves accordingly, and high-pressure steam is injected again. This cycle repeats itself, and the resulting thrust causes the propellers at the bottom of the ship to start fanning, stirring the seawater and making the warship move.
Meanwhile, at sea, large amounts of white smoke are being generated.
Before he could be enraged by the Rose Fleet's abrupt actions, Clemento gazed at the horizon, astonished by the strange spectacle unfolding there.
"What...what is this?!"
——
"Hmm? Did their warships catch fire?" Federich muttered to himself, frowning.
Like everyone else, he was completely clueless and had no idea what they were about to face.
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