In the Yan Kingdom fleet that was in pursuit, Qin Ze stood on the bow deck, expressionlessly watching the enemy ships approaching ahead:
"Trying to cut off the tail to survive."
"But is there even a chance?"
His face darkened, and he said in a loud voice, "Once within firing range, destroy the enemy ship at top speed!"
"We must leave as many enemy ships as possible in this sea!"
As he gave the order, the fleet gradually lengthened its line, advancing side by side in a horizontal formation, with all its cannons aimed at the sea ahead.
In a short while, as the enemy ships entered firing range, the order to "fire" was given, and instantly thousands of cannons roared in unison, the sound like rolling thunder, as thousands of large-caliber heavy explosive shells shot out.
A few breaths later, a series of rapid explosions rang out in quick succession.
In an instant, dozens of Federation warships burst into flames, various items were scattered on the blown-out hulls, masts cracked in the explosion and gradually tilted, and sails began to burn with the flames, and this was only the first round of shelling.
After the first round of rangefinding, the second round of firing will be calibrated, thus significantly improving the hit rate. In addition, since the steam ironclad ships are equipped with central rotating gun turrets instead of fixed gun turrets on the sides, they can fire at various angles.
This is why even warships at the rear can find angles to fire from the gaps between the warships in front, which greatly increases the density of the shelling.
At the rear of the Yan Kingdom's warships were large transport ships. These warships would not participate in this operation; their mission was to engage in combat after reaching land. In fact, only about four hundred warships were currently firing their cannons. However, even with only four hundred ships, they could still crush sailing warships even if the opposing side had ten times their number.
Just now, after calibration, when the second round of shelling was launched, the Federation fleet in front suffered even more intense damage. Advancing in battle lines, their bows were severely damaged. Although the two rounds of shelling could not completely sink the warships, they were able to disable some warships with collapsed masts.
Up to this point, they hadn't even fired a single shell because the distance was too great, and they could only passively take hits.
"Boom boom boom!"
Without wasting a single moment, the Yan Army launched its third and fourth rounds of artillery fire, aiming to prevent a counterattack from the Federation fleet once they closed in.
Even under such intense bombardment, the Federation fleet continued to sail forward, seemingly determined to fight to the death to reach their destination.
And indeed, in the Federation fleet being bombed, Chick was roaring in fury:
"Charge straight there!!!"
"Block their path!"
Chik had anticipated the power of the Yan army's artillery shells, and now his guess had indeed been confirmed. It was for this reason that he decided to lead all available warships in a suicidal charge.
If they can slow them down and keep them on the battlefield, the main force can use this time to return to Bruno Harbor as quickly as possible.
When he saw Yan Jun appear at sea, he was already prepared to be the last one to fall in the critical moment. Unfortunately, he couldn't control what others thought, at least Sebastian wasn't prepared to sacrifice himself.
Sebastian took the Black Powder Fleet with him, which means this rearguard action may not be effective. With the enemy's bombardment so intense, how long can our side hold out?
'At least let me see tomorrow's sun...' Chick thought to himself.
His response was an increasing number of shells being fired at him.
——
"Bang bang bang".
In the holy city of Salivia, outside the royal castle council chamber, a man dressed in military uniform with medals adorning his chest knocked on the door.
"Please come in."
The man had barely pushed the door open a crack when bursts of laughter came from inside. When the door was fully opened, a thick, pungent white smoke accompanied by hot air rushed out. He squinted, took a step back, fanned the air with his hand, and then entered the room.
As soon as he entered, someone greeted him at the round conference table.
"Gustav, I saw you return to the manor yesterday, why are you so late? Did you just wake up from a woman's bed?"
"Ha ha ha ha."
As the joke was uttered, everyone seated at the conference table laughed, and Gustav, who had just entered, blushed slightly. He shook his head and chuckled, saying:
"Field Marshal Wolfgang, please spare me."
"Hahahaha," came another burst of laughter.
The man Gustav called "Marshal Wolfgang" had a pipe dangling from his mouth, his bushy beard slightly tinged with ash, but he seemed oblivious. Upon hearing Gustav's words, he removed the pipe, picked up his glass from the table, stood up, and continued with a smile:
"I know your navy is very busy right now. Without you in the Empire's next campaign, our army units won't be able to play a role."
"Now you've sacrificed your precious rest time."
"Gustav, on behalf of all the army units, I raise a toast to you!"
It was meant to be a casual joke, but coming from Field Marshal Wolfgang, Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Army, it carried a great deal of weight. This caused several officers sitting at the conference table to stand up and raise their glasses.
Wolfgang didn't seem to care that the others got up; he just smiled and looked at Gustav.
Gustav was just walking to the table when he heard this. He puffed out his chest, a proud look on his face. His servants brought over a wine tray, and Gustav took a glass and said with a smile:
"The conquest of the empire requires the efforts of everyone!"
Upon hearing this, Wolfgang burst into laughter:
"Alright, everyone, let us drink this cup together."
After finishing his drink, Gustav sat down amidst relaxed and cheerful laughter. He looked around and saw that the people present were all the highest-ranking commanders of various empire forces. Among them, the highest-ranking was naturally Wolfgang. This man, who was not yet fifty years old and had an exceptionally tall and strong physique, was known in the military camp as the Emperor's "right hand" and was the Emperor's most trusted field marshal.
Gustav had never received such high treatment before, so he was in an exceptionally good mood. Even the smoke exhaled by the officers around him didn't seem so pungent to him anymore.
"Gustav, how many of our warships will be able to set sail before spring arrives?"
Wolfgang crossed his legs, put his pipe in his mouth again, and asked as he exhaled smoke after taking a puff.
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