Chapter 741 Interception at Sea
"What's going on?" Prince Leighton was shocked.
"It seems that the lookout post has discovered the enemy's situation." Captain Bray said calmly, "Go, go out and have a look and you will know what's going on."
Could it be the fleet led by the Yongye army? Grasp the rescue situation and take the initiative to attack?
A guess flashed in Captain Cornell's mind, and he forcibly suppressed it.
After all, the difference in the number of fleets between the two sides is too great.
Being stuck on the Donau River is one thing, but being in the vast sea is another matter.
No matter how cruel they are, can they still break up their huge fleet of 800 warships with 20 or 30 warships?
But when he got to the command platform and took a look, Captain Cornell couldn't hold back anymore and exclaimed: "It's the fleet led by the Yong Ye Army, it's the fleet led by the Yong Ye Army. Intercept us here, Your Highness, prepare to fight, hurry up and prepare to fight."
"The fleet led by the Yongye Army came to attack us on its own initiative? With less than 30 warships?" A trace of anger flashed in Prince Layton's eyes, "They really don't think much of us, do they? Order everyone The fleet strikes, destroying them no matter the cost."
Captain Bray on one side knew that there was a bit of anger in the order just given by Prince Layton, but he didn't stop it.
Because this is also the best solution he can think of at the moment.
The other party appeared too suddenly, and the distance between the two sides was too close, and they couldn't make other reactions.
Naval warfare is different from land warfare.
For a land battle, ten minutes or a few kilometers is a very long time, and the extremely long distance is enough for a small battle.
But for naval battles, it is only equivalent to the two sides immediately engaging in hand-to-hand combat.
After all, if a wave-breaking-class schooner wants to complete a 180-degree U-turn at high speed, it has to make a big bend for several nautical miles, let alone a hurricane-class and dreadnought-class schooner.
Captain Bree's heart was full of deep worries. Although it was ten years ago that he dealt head-on with Commander Yongye, the impression of war left on him by this emerging force was still indelible. In the past few years, his research on the Yongye Army Leader has never stopped.
From top to bottom, this force is notoriously rational.
Especially when it comes to the battlefield, the structure of their military staff makes them seldom act aggressively. Once they launch an attack, they must have their own deep meaning. Some deep meanings are often not understood by the enemy until a long time later.
Including this fleet attack, it should not be a coincidence.
The reason why the opponent is so close is not that their lookout post failed, but because the opponent used the island in front as a barrier to hide their whereabouts.
Are they so confident in their fleet's naval combat capabilities?
"Enemy attack, enemy attack, enemy attack, ready to fight, ready to fight."
"Prince Layton's order, the whole army goes out, the whole army goes out."
Drums roar, flags wave.
The rescue fleet of the East China Sea State was at full speed, aggressively rushing towards the unknown fleet that was approaching.
On the way to the rescue, although Prince Layton held several high-level meetings, he explained in detail the danger of this rescue mission to the middle and high-level captains and captains, especially emphasizing the horror of the battleship led by the Eternal Night Army.
But most of the captains and captains were laughing and joking, and didn't take it to heart at all. They just thought it was Prince Leighton making excuses for his father Stupin's defeat in the war.
At this moment, I only saw less than 30 warships, so naturally I didn't pay attention to them.
These twenty-three warships are none other than the explorer fleet led by the Yong Ye Army.
The two sides confronted each other directly at first, but when the distance reached two nautical miles, the sailing direction of the explorer fleet changed to a certain extent, and rushed forward close to the rescue fleet of the East China Sea State.
The distance between the main bodies of the two sides shall be kept at least half a nautical mile.
This distance has already entered the attack range of the artillery carried by the leader of the Yongye Army, but most of the ballistas of the warships of the East China Sea Kingdom are powerless.
"Cannon No. 1001, flame bomb, let it go!"
"Cannon No. 2003, pulse bomb, let it go!"
"Cannon No. 3010, tearing shells, release!"
"No. 8015 gun, normal ammunition, let it go!"
boom! boom! boom!
The sound of orders and the roar of artillery came one after another.
This time, the explorer fleet didn't care about consumption at all, and directly tilted out the most lethal ammunition.
Among them, the most frequently used is the flame bomb.
This kind of spell cannonball is definitely the deadly nemesis of wooden warships.
Once hit by it, a raging fire will burn, which is difficult to be extinguished by normal water.
"What kind of shell is this, why is it so powerful?"
"Quickly put out the fire, hurry up, the battleship is about to be set on fire."
"Damn it, these fires can't be put out. Abandon ship. Abandon ship."
"My ears, why can't I hear, I can't hear anything!"
"My legs, who saw my legs?"
"The boat is going to sink, the boat is going to sink, everyone hurry up and run for your lives!"
"Turn the rudder to the left, turn the direction, follow them, you must get close to them to attack!"
"Idiot, turn the rudder right, turn the rudder right, stay as far away from them as possible, don't you see how brutal their shelling is? Do you want to get together and die?"
The rescue fleet of the East China Sea State was directly bombarded by a round of bombardment by the explorer fleet, and it became a mess.
There are any reactions.
Struggling, trying to save a sinking or burning battleship.
Desperate, he abandoned ship and escaped alone.
Angry, he rushed forward with the battleship, fighting to the death with the explorer fleet.
Fear, trying to take the battleship away from the bombardment range of the enemy warship.
Soon, some of those angry people turned into struggling and desperate people, because they found that they were the kind who were running behind other people's buttocks, and the distance was getting bigger and bigger.
During this process, the opponent's artillery bombardment never stopped, and the accuracy was not comparable to that of their ship-mounted ballistas, and many of them exploded directly around their battleships.
The splashing icy sea water woke many people up, turning them into terrified people who fled in panic.
When the people behind discovered that staying away and fleeing was the best way to save their lives under the fire of the Yong Ye Army's fleet.
When he saw the fleet led by the Yongye Army coming towards him, he instinctively made this choice.
In the end, an extremely absurd scene appeared in a normal naval battle.
The rescue fleet of the East China Sea State, except for the out-of-scale and tough counterattack at the beginning of contact, the rest is to flee on the wind.
Wherever the explorer fleet passed by, the surrounding warships turned towards the distance and evaded hastily.
Many warships changed direction too suddenly, there were too many warships, and the formation was dense, creating a series of dangers, and there were almost no large number of collisions.
What really saved them is that their fleet is large enough, and the explorer fleet can choose to attack too many targets, and they will not bite the same target at all.
What they need to do is to drive all the way along the long fleet line of the East China Sea Rescue Fleet, bombarding and running all the way, not caring at all about how many fireworks they created and how much damage they caused to the enemy behind them.
"Idiots! Idiots! A group of idiots, what you are doing is just fueling their arrogance and causing more damage to our fleet, stop them, the battleships behind, don't care about the damage, rush up, rush up to intercept them! !" Prince Layton, who was ashamed and disheveled, saw clearly the chaotic and chaotic battle situation behind him, his seven orifices were filled with smoke, and he jumped into a rage.
"Useless Your Highness." Captain Bray was much calmer, "The opponent's attack is too fierce, our morale has been taken away by them, not to mention that the order cannot be passed on, even if it is passed on, there is not much People will obey, and now we can no longer count on them. What we need to do now is to integrate the surrounding elites on the spot and prepare for the second wave of impact from the opponent.
If my prediction is correct, the other party will recoil back after making a circle. If we don’t want to stop them, they will be like sharks swallowing whales. They will keep circling and gnawing until they tear us apart. of fragmented. "
"Uncle Bray's words are true." Hearing this, Prince Layton's face turned pale from anger, because he knew what Captain Bray said was true.
If such a situation really happened, they would not be going to rescue the main force of the East China Sea Fleet, but sending heads to the leader of the Yong Ye Army.
Prince Layton jumped on his feet and said: "Order the surrounding fleets to assemble to the Benjamin, set up an interception front on the spot, and pass on my previous orders. Don't be afraid of the sinking of the battleship. All losses will be borne by the royal family. Double the compensation."
After the initial confusion and panic, the head of the rescue fleet of the East China Sea State, which was rushed into a mess, somewhat regained a little sanity.
It wasn't until they calmed down that they realized that the damage caused to them by the fleet led by the Yong Ye Army was not as great as they had imagined.
For one thing, the opponent was shooting at a high speed, and the difficulty factor of aiming was much higher than that of stationary bombardment. The distance between the two sides also increased the difficulty factor.
Two, the number of warships on the other side is too small after all, and the current appearance is a bit like a shark eating a whale. Even if they are trying their best, the huge wound torn out is only a wound to the shark and to the whale. Small wounds that are not fatal.
This discovery undoubtedly greatly boosted their morale.
What's more, Prince Leighton's promise came soon after.
This is an out-and-out big deal, which greatly stimulated those captains and captains.
They just fled in a hurry. To a large extent, fear of death is only one aspect. On the other hand, they are afraid that their battleship will be bombed and sunk. This is all the family property they have accumulated with great difficulty in this life. .
Now that he has security, his courage will naturally rise.
Sure enough, an hour later, the fleet led by the Yong Ye Army circled the rescue fleet of the East China Sea, and then recoiled back.
"Rush forward and stop them, as long as we stop them for half an hour, our fleet will be able to surround him heavily." The flagship of the rescue fleet led by Prince Layton, the Benjamin, took the lead and rushed up to meet the explorer fleet .
At this time, if the flagship does not take the lead in charging, it is impossible to think that others will muster morale and courage.
Only in this way, the huge flagship will inevitably become the target of the explorer fleet's concentrated fire. As soon as the distance between the two sides narrowed, a series of shells exploded around the Benjamin.
However, the purpose of taking the lead in the charge was achieved. At least one hundred and fifty East China Sea warships, large and small, responded to the charge.
The drums of war were rumbling, and they rushed towards the fleet led by the Yong Ye Army without fear of death.
"All warships, sail at a 45-degree angle, pay attention to keeping a distance from the enemy ship, don't be obsessed with fighting, try not to start a war, try not to fall behind, and immediately withdraw from the battle if the hull damage exceeds 20%." Explorer Fleet Fleet General Arnold also issued a series of orders.
Firepower and speed are the two major advantages of their fleet.
Only by making full use of these two advantages can they be qualified to deal with the fleet of the East China Sea.
How could they give each other a chance to intercept and surround themselves?
At the beginning of the battle, the lord Xiao En repeatedly emphasized that the preservation of one's own warships is the first combat goal, and the second is to kill the target as much as possible.
Their warships were far more valuable than those in the East China Sea. Even if they exchanged ten Dreadnought-class square sailing ships for one of their warships, they would not change them.
Before the blocking fleet led by Prince Layton formed a siege, the explorer fleet brushed past them.
There were still a few warships that entered the attack range of the flagship Benjamin.
The East China Sea Fleet, simmering with anger, immediately threw the black powder shells down desperately.
At this time, the advantages of the Dreadnought-class square sailing ship are fully reflected.
Its huge size made it more resistant to beatings, and it was shot three times in a row, the fire was raging, but it still failed to cause fatal injuries to it.
There are enough ballistas on it. In terms of quantity alone, one ballista can match the firepower of three Yongye Junling Polang-class new warships.
Even with only a small amount of ammunition, it was lucky to hit the battleship of the Yong Ye Army, which still caused a lot of trauma, and even the speed dropped by several knots.
"Hit, hit. These warships only have a longer range, faster speed, and are not much stronger than us. As long as you get close to them, you can find a chance to sink them."
"Catch up, catch up, absolutely not let them run away, if you want to stop us, you have to pay a heavy price."
"To capture their warships, we must capture their warships. We need to figure out why their warships are so powerful and why they are faster than our warships."
"That's right, as long as we figure this out, do we still need to be afraid of them?"
"Rush up, rush up!"
The Benjamin hit the battleship of the Yongye Army, which greatly boosted the morale of the East China Sea Rescue Fleet.
Especially those warships that are relatively close to each other are more fierce than each other.
Because they see a huge benefit from it.
The reason why the battleships led by the Yong Ye army turned their tricks around was relying on the super fierce long-range firepower and the speed surpassing their battleships.
If these two things can be obtained, they will not only dominate the East China Sea, but at that time, they will even be able to counterattack the Huixi Sea Area and become the overlord there.
This fiery thought made them ignore the danger of death.
"Order No. 118 to withdraw from the battle, return to repair, No. 117 and No. 119, take cover nearby, and defeat them! The whole ship changes to black field bombs, throws mines, and conducts tactical interception." General Arnold calmly issued an order.
Immediately afterwards, there was another muffled roar of artillery, and more than 300 meters of black field bombs were smashed down at the same time, leaving 300 completely black areas with a diameter of more than 30 meters on the blue sea.