"The enemy's entire fighting force has been destroyed on the main battlefield!"
On the Dinghai, listening to the soldiers' report, Qin Ze looked out at the sea. There were still dozens of enemy ships at sea, but they had all lost their fighting capacity. These warships were burning, and it was only a matter of time before they sank completely.
But this does not mean the battle is over; so far, it is only the first phase of victory.
From the moment the allied fleet came into view until now, Qin Ze has seen three groups of warships choose to withdraw from the battlefield. The first fleet to leave was unharmed; it was the fleet from Shenglu Kingdom. Just like in the last South China Sea battle, they fled at top speed again.
But can they really escape? Qin Ze shook his head.
Both the fleet of Shenglu and the other two fleets that fled after the start of the war will be caught.
With the aid of steam power, his fleet was far faster than theirs, and the principle of not pursuing a cornered enemy was not important in the face of the overwhelming combat power he possessed.
Since the battle has begun, it must be fought to the end. The nations have prepared an even larger fleet this time, and they must be made to ensure that none of them return. Although Qin Ze still does not know how much combat power those nations on the Leon Continent possess, the complete defeat of their fleets would be a significant loss for them.
"Chase after them!"
"Until their fleet is completely crushed!"
Qin Ze gave the order, and the fleet set off in a mighty procession.
——
Compared to steam-powered ironclad warships, the sailing warships used by the Sa Ri Kingdom were significantly slower. The Pearl Fleet, which fled in panic, consisted of the best warships in the Sa Ri Kingdom's navy. Unlike the Dawn Fleet, which had multiple cannons, the Pearl Fleet's warships were not large, but they were faster than the Dawn Fleet. Similarly, they were faster than the Whale Fleet, which consisted of giant sea creatures.
Therefore, in the midst of the relentless pursuit, by the middle of the night, although another twenty or so warships behind the fleeing Pearl Fleet were destroyed by the Yan Army's torpedo boats, they gradually caught up with the Giant Whale Fleet that had retreated earlier.
Behind the Whale Fleet, on its flagship, the Whale, Federich was covered in sweat and looked extremely panicked.
He had considered that the Sa Ri Kingdom's fleet would be defeated, but he hadn't expected that they wouldn't even last one night, let alone that the Yan Army had already caught up with them here.
The Yan army's ability to end battles was simply unstoppable. With a naval battle at this point, Federich clearly knew that the Yan Kingdom's naval power completely overwhelmed his side.
Even if we send more warships to fight this war, we will probably only be defeated. At least until we have the new warships of Yan Kingdom, we must not engage in naval battles with them again.
Now, aboard this super-class warship, he felt immense regret. While the Giant Whale was indeed a top-tier large warship, carrying even more cannons than the Dawn, the flagship of the Sasiri Kingdom, this came at the cost of sacrificing agility and speed.
During the escape, its bulky and heavy hull and more than a hundred cannons became a burden. After hearing the sound of cannon fire from behind, Federich ordered his soldiers to throw as much heavy object as possible into the sea to reduce the weight of the ship, but this did not have much effect.
Food and fresh water cannot be thrown away carelessly; the only option left is to throw artillery, but that is absolutely impossible. If they still haven't caught up after unloading the artillery, they can only wait to die.
The other ships in the Whale Fleet had already sailed ahead, while his own flagship had fallen behind. Federich turned his head and could see the remaining twenty or thirty ships of the Pearl Fleet fleeing in disarray.
Federich knew that as time went on, all the warships would be destroyed once the main force of the Yan army caught up.
The sea is indeed vast, and you can go anywhere, but the Yan army can also chase you to any place. Federich was both panicked and helpless.
How can we shake off their pursuit?
Just then, a cry of surprise rang out:
"Another warship has been hit!" a soldier shouted in panic as he looked back.
"They're sailing too fast! They'll catch up with us soon! Marshal! What do we do?!"
Federich suddenly became angry. He waved his hand and said abruptly, "I know! Don't worry about what happens next! See if there's anything else we can throw down!"
"That's all... Marshal, we've thrown away everything we could." The soldiers looked dejected.
"Marshal...we may only be able to..." an officer said hesitantly.
Federich knew what he was going to say just by looking at his expression, so he said coldly:
"There's no possibility of surrendering when fighting these Yan Kingdom bastards. The last battle already demonstrated their brutality; these people will slaughter us like pigs!"
Upon hearing this, everyone looked utterly hopeless.
"Sigh." Federich sighed inwardly.
At that moment, he suddenly remembered the Rose Fleet, which had already withdrawn before the war even started. They were the first to leave, and he hadn't seen them at sea since.
Without a doubt, these guys have already run far away.
But their warships had been having problems on the way here and weren't going very fast, so how come they were able to escape so quickly once they left?
"Brutal Yan people, cunning Shenglu people... Damn it!" Federich clenched his fists and cursed inwardly.
At the same time, the intermittent shelling grew closer and closer, the pressure of death intensified, and Federich's face grew paler and paler.
He looked out at the sea. The other warships were sailing a little faster, but not by much. At this rate, they would be caught up with as well.
Further away, a huge dark shadow appeared to the left front.
That's Coral Island.
In an instant, Federich had a flash of inspiration, and then shouted, "Quick! Adjust the sails! Sail towards Coral Island!"
"Marshal, there are reefs over there!" an officer exclaimed, surprised by his order.
"Do you want to be caught by the enemy and sunk by them?! Coral Island is the nearest island. After that, we won't encounter another island even if we sail for another five or six days, and we simply can't sail for that long!"
"If we don't go there to escape the Yan Kingdom's pursuit, we won't even see the sun rise tomorrow at noon!"
"It really is the only place we can go," the people on the ship thought helplessly.
Under Federich's orders, the whale fleet changed course and sped toward Coral Island.
Meanwhile, on the shore of Coral Island, Edman sat on a reef, staring blankly at the sea, then he let out a cold laugh.
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