Faced with the Rose Fleet already in battle formation, Pam had no time to ponder the reasons for the hostility of the Sheng Lu people. The only thing he could think of at the moment was to lead the fleet to turn around and flee immediately.
The disparity in strength was simply too great; their side was utterly incapable of engaging the Rose Fleet in direct combat, and once they fell into their battle lines, they would inevitably suffer a complete rout.
The urgent situation made him shout urgently:
"Quickly! Adjust the sails and turn the rudder to retreat!"
The evacuation horn sounded suddenly, signaling an emergency turn. The Federation soldiers were all in a panic. The sailors frantically adjusted the sails, and the helmsmen worked hard to turn the rudder. The warship turned in an arc and retreated.
On the other side, the Rose Fleet was sailing at full speed with its sails fully unfurled, charging straight towards them. As the better-prepared side, Lucat had already planned this naval battle many times in his mind.
Although the Rose Fleet cannot fight the Yan Kingdom Fleet, it has the overwhelming strength to deal with the remaining hundred Federation warships.
On the Lightning, Lucat, head held high and chest puffed out, smirked and his eyes revealed an air of domineering arrogance.
In his eyes, the Federation fleet, which had hastily turned around, could not escape even if it wanted to. The front of the battle line that his side had formed consisted of second-class warships, while the middle section was made up of larger and more powerful first-class warships.
The reason for placing the second-class warships at the forefront was that Lucat knew the Goths would never dare to engage in battle and would surely flee in panic. Therefore, this naval battle would be fought as a pursuit.
Although the firepower of the second-tier warships is slightly inferior to that of the first-tier warships, they are the fastest and can catch up to the front of the Federation warships, which can prevent the Federation warships from escaping. The second-tier warships located in the middle can unleash their full firepower and sink them with overwhelming bombardment!
"Waaah!"
The horns blared through the sky, the sails were already fully drawn, and even the wind direction was favorable to the Rose Fleet. The warships in the battle line quickly approached the Federation Fleet.
At this moment, the Federation fleet had not yet fully completed its turn, and the heavy transport ships had become an obstacle. Pam realized this problem, so he ordered his twenty medium-sized warships to use their hulls to fire at the approaching Rose Fleet while turning.
Although Pam knew this wouldn't do much good, he was happy as long as it slowed down the Rose Fleet's advance.
Even so, he still greatly underestimated the speed of the Rose Fleet.
Previously, when departing from the Roman Islands, the Rose Fleet always lagged behind the fleets of the Saar and Hunnic nations, but that was all Lucat's doing. He deliberately created the illusion that the Rose Fleet was unreliable in order to avoid the Saars acting as the vanguard in future battles.
Now, in the naval battle initiated by him, Lucate held nothing back. At this moment, the Rose Fleet was like a fully drawn bowstring, just waiting to take the enemy's head.
"Boom boom boom!"
The shells fired by the twenty federal warships fell through the air, but the result was astonishing: not a single shell hit the Rose Fleet. Without exception, all the shells fell to the seabed, some even quite a distance from the Rose Fleet.
The accuracy of the first round of artillery fire fired while at sea is relatively low. Except for increasing the density of attacks, it is almost impossible to hit the target. Only after the first round of artillery fire has determined the range will the accuracy of the second round of artillery fire improve. But now the Rose Fleet will not give them that opportunity.
In a matter of moments, the battle line of the Rose Fleet had already encompassed the Federation Fleet.
They were positioned on either side of the Federation fleet, their gun-laden gun hulls facing the Federation warships, as the command "Fire!" was given.
"Boom boom boom!"
Countless shells whistled towards the Federation fleet. Although their accuracy was not high, as long as there were enough of them, they could hit their target no matter how they were fired.
At this moment, the Federation fleet, consisting of only a hundred or so warships, most of which were transport ships, was completely powerless to resist the shelling.
By this point, they knew they couldn't escape, so they launched a counterattack. However, they lacked formation and were outnumbered, making their counterattacks futile.
Meanwhile, the Rose Fleet continued firing shells without stopping. In round after round of bombardment, the Federation fleet suffered heavy losses. In less than an hour, more than a dozen warships had been destroyed by the shelling.
The marines on board jumped into the sea like dumplings being dropped into boiling water. They had no chance to surrender; falling into the water meant certain death. If the naval battle had taken place near Chalmers Island, they might have been able to reach the island and avoid total annihilation. However, Lucat deliberately lured them here to wipe them out.
This was a battle that was almost a complete rout.
The Rose Fleet showed no mercy, relentlessly bombarding the area for several hours until the evening when the bombardment gradually ceased.
The sea was a scene of devastation under the setting sun, with countless wrecked ships of all sizes, yet many Federation soldiers were still adrift on the surface, clinging to the debris.
Lucat watched the scene expressionlessly and said coldly:
"Sweep away the remaining soldiers, leaving no one alive."
Subsequently, the smaller warships in the Rose Fleet began clearing the battlefield, and the soldiers on board, armed with muskets, began firing at the remaining soldiers.
The task of cleaning up the battlefield was left to these small warships, while Lucat led the fleet directly toward Chalmers Island. He didn't want to waste too much time and needed to arrive at and occupy Chalmers Island as soon as possible.
On the same day, Qin Ze, who was stationed in the waters near Coral Island, also issued the order to set sail. However, the fleet did not use steam power, but sailed with wind.
Qin Ze was not in a hurry to get to Chalme Island because he knew that the Sheng Lu people would hand the island over to them.
These past few days, Qin Ze has accumulated a considerable number of points in the waters around Coral Island. These points will all be spent on Chalme Island, which is indeed very important. Qin Ze plans to develop it into Yan Kingdom's first overseas military fortress.
With the first military fortress, there was bound to be a second and a third; a bold plan was gradually taking shape in his mind.
To protect the homeland, the Great Wall can be built by following the terrain. At sea, when islands are built into military fortresses, they can be connected together to achieve the same effect.
Whether it's the Delta Federation on the continent of Salisno, the Sari Kingdom on the continent of Leon, or even the Taqi Kingdom on the continent of Naliga, the formation of the island chain will pose a significant deterrent to them.
Thinking of this, Qin Ze, who was watching the sunset over the sea, pursed his lips slightly.
"To be honest, Lao Zhang thought I was leading the fleet on a long-range military exercise to intimidate those powerful nations."
"Once the island chain is complete, and all nations submit to it, when the Yan people can roam freely across the seas and oceans, we should bring him out to see the world..."
With a light laugh, Qin Ze turned and went back to the cabin.
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