Chapter 292 142 Naval Battle and Quarrel

Chapter 292 -142- Naval Battle and Quarrel

On January 17, 1446, the Holy Calendar, the Castel family declared war on the Bold family in the name of independence and recovery of legal territory.

On January 18, the Bold family also declared war on Castel on the grounds of suppressing rebellion and legally depriving the title.

The Castel-Bold War officially broke out.

At the same time, the third prince Philip also assured the northern nobles as the Duke of Bold that this rebellion was only against the Castel family.

As long as the northern nobles remain neutral, the spread of war can be avoided, and the titles and territories can be retained.

Those who swear allegiance to Bold can obtain many preferential conditions, including reducing the tax on vassal contracts.

The Bold-Violet coalition, which has reached the border between Violet and Castel, marched into Castel territory in a mighty manner after the declaration of war, claiming to have 50,000 troops and 30,000 standing troops.

At the same time, the Duchy's joint fleet, consisting of 38 warships loaded with stone-shooting cannons, including five heavy Carrick three-masted warships, twelve brigs, and twenty-three galleys, also left the northernmost port of Violet and headed towards the North Port along the Star-Moon Strait.

On land, after the coalition forces of the two duchies entered Castel, they were unstoppable all the way.

Except for a few northern baronial families including the Valais family who used their own castles as strongholds to resist for a while, the coalition forces encountered almost no other effective resistance along the way.

Wherever they went, the northern nobles almost declared neutrality or simply surrendered directly after seeing the mighty army.

However, the coalition forces of the two duchies did not stop in the villages and castles they passed by.

After leaving some soldiers and noble officers as temporary controllers to ensure the normal operation of the supply line, the main force continued to move northward with great momentum and headed straight for Castel's direct jurisdiction North Port.

On the other hand, unlike the army that was advancing like a hot knife through butter, the navy of Bolde Violet encountered some troubles.

After entering the Star-Moon Strait, the joint fleet was ambushed by the Castel fleet led by the Roman-Forer family...

...

Star-Moon Strait, Zen Island Sea.

The roar of artillery fire resounded through the sky, and dozens of warships were divided into two camps, swimming and firing in the north and south directions.

Waves of white smoke spread and rose along the hull, and magic-breaking stone bullets were fired from the muzzles of the stone-shooting cannons on the side of the ship.

From time to time, a faint glow could be seen above the warships, which was the magic shield activated by the accompanying wizard on the ship.

However, the effect of the magic shield was obviously limited.

After the initial engagement exhausted the magic power, the fleets of both sides entered an unguarded hot war mode.

From time to time, you can see warships that have experienced a series of artillery bombardments, or have been hit in the gunpowder magazine and caught fire, or have their masts directly shattered and lost their mobility, or have been beaten into sieves, slowly sinking in the continuous roar.

"Right full rudder! Right full rudder!"

"Ammunition man reloads! The other side is about to turn around!"

"Fire!"

On the flagship of the Roman-For family, the "Black Order".

The first mate, who was born as a pirate, commanded the crew and roared to give the order to attack.

At the bow, the fleet commander, Viscount Roman-For, held a telescope and looked solemnly at the battle situation on the sea.

The roar of artillery sounded one after another, and from time to time, you can see that ships were destroyed and sunk in a series of artillery fire, and the entire sea surface was gradually covered by the white smoke of gunpowder.

If you look carefully, you will see that the flags flying on most of the sunken warships are those of the Violet Principality and the Polder Principality.

Unlike the powerful Duchy's combined fleet.

Although the number of ships in the Castel fleet is small, with only three Carrick three-masted warships and eighteen galleys, it is much faster and more flexible than the combined fleet of the two duchies because it has integrated a lot of elves' shipbuilding technology.

The gunfire of the Duchy's warships often misses, but as long as the Castel fleet seizes the opportunity, it can always cause damage to the combined fleet.

However, although his own fleet has achieved more fruitful results, Viscount Roman-Fore's face is extremely serious.

"Captain! The Hyacinth has been sunk! The White Oak and the Purple Azalea sent flag signals, and the ammunition is running out!"

The flag bearer on the ship shouted at him.

After hearing the other party's words, the old viscount sighed secretly.

Although the Castel fleet is known for its fast speed and flexibility, it is too small in number and has limited ammunition.

Although the fleet of the Roman-Fore family is strong, it was originally a pirate, and it is not suitable for this kind of head-on naval battle.

In the final analysis, Castel is an earldom after all. There was no need for it in the past, and it had never built a large-scale regular naval fleet.

Facing the combined fleet of the two principalities, this ambush could not have won.

"Send flags to each warship, retreat."

After looking at the direction of the combined fleet, the old viscount finally ordered.

...

This ambush on the sea lasted only half a day.

After sinking a Carrick three-masted warship, two brigs and three galleys of the combined fleet of the principality, and paying the price of sinking four galleys at the same time, the fleet led by the Roman-Fol family withdrew from the battle in time and retreated to the direction of North Port with its speed advantage.

The combined fleet, whose strength was not severely damaged, continued to move forward and also headed towards the direction of North Port.

...

North Port, Earl's Mansion.

In the meeting hall where the nobles of the territory were convened.

The news of the naval battle has not yet been reported, but the battles on the road have been continuously reported to North Port.

Charlotte, who led the main force of the army back to North Port, fell into deep thought as he watched the war reports from the south.

In the hall, the nobles who participated in the rebellion had already exploded.

"Shame! This is a shame for the North! Lord Earl, these southern nobles are so stupid that they actually believed the promises made by people like the Third Prince. It's simply self-destruction!"

A noble in the North waved his fist and said angrily.

"Sir, your family's territory is in the central region. The war did not burn to your family's territory, so you naturally said it easily. Bolde and Violet sent out 50,000 troops, 30,000 standing troops. With such a powerful army, how can you let the families in the south resist?"

A noble who was obviously from the south retorted.

"Even if we can't resist, won't we temporarily evacuate? Why surrender?"

"Evacuate? Do you mean that our family should give up our own territory and people?"

"Didn't we do the same during the Star-Moon War? At that time, many nobles even fought for the kingdom until the last moment. Why are you living backwards?"

"Am I not fighting for Castel now? My family is far away in the south, and I don't know what happened there. After the war, I will deal with the traitors, but now, shouldn't we discuss how to defeat the enemy?"

In the hall, the nobles quarreled, just like a vegetable market.

Stay up late_(:з」∠)_