"Damn it! What's going on?"
On the Whale, Federich, holding binoculars, anxiously watched the battle ahead. His own warships had encountered small warships sent by the Yan Army fleet when they approached from the flank. Those warships were very small, not even tier 3 warships, and to be precise, they could only be considered gunboats.
However, during close encounters with these gunboats, their own second-class warships were clearly damaged, and that damage was definitely not from artillery fire.
What he saw in his field of vision was a warship that was inexplicably sinking, which Federich found hard to understand. Due to their size, the enemy's gunboats could not possibly be equipped with many large-caliber cannons, and in fact, he did not see these gunboats launching a barrage.
These gunboats were moving at high speed like annoying flies, constantly changing positions. Their speed far exceeded that of our own warships, and as they kept changing positions, our second-class warships were gradually sinking.
Federich had never seen such a scene before. He had nearly twenty years of experience in naval warfare and knew countless types of warships. As warship technology had developed to this point, the competition among nations was simply about who could be larger, more robust, and carry more cannons to fire more shells.
Defeating a large warship with a gunboat is virtually impossible unless the gunboats are loaded with explosives and self-destruct upon impact, thus inflicting some damage on the large warship in a suicidal manner. This is arguably all a gunboat can do when facing a large warship, and even then, the chance of sinking a large warship is extremely slim.
But the enemy gunboats did not self-destruct. Without relying on sails, they swam on the sea like water snakes. Whether with the wind or against it, their speed was so fast that it was difficult for our shells to hit them. After sailing close to our warships, these gunboats quickly retreated, like annoying flies that circled around you a few times and then suddenly slipped away when you reached out to swat them.
But unlike flies, these gunboats did something you never expected after they came close by. They caused unacceptable damage, and our own warships were sinking under their harassment.
Seeing this, Federich knew that the tactic of ramming into the Yan army fleet was becoming increasingly difficult to execute, because the Yan army fleet's warships behind the "T"-shaped formation had already targeted the charging friendly warships after the gunboats withdrew, and were now spitting fire to suppress them.
Meanwhile, their vanguard warships continued to bombard the Dawn Fleet. From Federich's perspective, the Dawn Fleet's carefully constructed horizontal battle line had been shattered by the bombardment, with many of the vanguard warships ablaze and slowly sinking, their wrecked hulls a testament to the devastation.
Although the warships behind filled the gap in time, this horizontal battle line was no longer effective. The shells from Yan Kingdom were too destructive. Federich guessed that a warship might be destroyed if it was hit by even ten shells.
On the other hand, although their own side had already launched an artillery barrage, it had little effect. The enemy was using ironclad warships, whose defenses were too strong. Even if a dozen or twenty shells were accurately fired at their warships, they could not cause fatal damage. Of course, this did not prevent them from continuing to sail.
The enemy fleet continued to advance in a "T" formation, and they never stopped firing as they sailed. Unlike at the beginning of the battle, the enemy fleet's warships were now being reinforced from the left and right flanks to the front of the "T" formation, and they were stretching the battle line!
Federich knew what Yan Jun was planning with such a tactical arrangement. He instantly broke out in a cold sweat, unconsciously took two steps back, and began to survey the entire sea area, assessing the course of this naval battle.
On the main battlefield, the Dawn Fleet had already suffered heavy losses. Although it was impossible to make an accurate estimate, Federich knew that at least half of the Dawn Fleet's warships had lost their combat capability. Behind the Dawn Fleet was the Pearl Fleet, which was located at the rear of the battlefield and had not suffered any damage. However, at this moment, the Pearl Fleet broke away from the overall formation and stretched its battle line from the left in a "I" shape, flanking the left flank of the Yan Army warships.
Judging from their posture, they wanted to deploy as much available combat power as possible, striving to launch a siege against the Yan army with a numerical advantage. The left flank should have been where the Rose Fleet was located. If the Rose Fleet had launched a general attack from the left flank at the beginning of the battle, the current situation might not have occurred.
However, the withdrawal of the Rose Fleet has forced the Pearl Fleet, which was meant to supplement the main force, to make a tactical arrangement to move to the left flank. While their battle line will certainly be able to damage the Yan Army fleet once it is in place, the Dawn Fleet, which has already suffered heavy losses, will likely be completely defeated by the Yan Army on the front without the support of the follow-up forces.
Therefore, their current tactics are an extremely risky decision. If the Pearl Fleet cannot effectively contain the Yan Army, then once the Dawn Fleet is unable to hold out and is completely defeated, the entire coalition will face a dire situation with its central defenses wide open.
The battlefield will be divided in two, and the only advantage in troop strength will be lost.
Now, the Whale Fleet on the right flank needs to coordinate with the Pearl Fleet to extend the line as much as possible on the right flank and launch a fierce attack on the Yan Army Fleet together with the Pearl Fleet on the left flank.
However, if a counterattack is not achieved before the Dawn Fleet is completely defeated, the final outcome of this naval battle will be self-evident.
After the assessment, Federich was pale and sweating profusely; he finally succumbed to immense panic.
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