The sound of a conch shell reverberated throughout the sky and sea, continuing endlessly.
Loriste stood high up on the berth of the whaling ship, holding an exquisite brass monocular in his hand. Looking at the specks of sails appearing on the surface of the sea in the distance, the corners of his mouth curled up. "Looks like Sunbarwood still didn't hurt them. As expected of the Invincible Fleet. I thought they would attack at night to avoid being hit by the cannons. I didn't expect them to openly fight us to the death. I don't know if I should call them stubborn or courageous, but I like enemies like this … "
It was June 7th, a clear morning. The weather was good, and the sun was bright. It would be great to have a seafood barbecue on the deck. Unfortunately, Lorist had stayed up all night to guard against the Invincible Fleet's attack. He only managed to take a quick nap in the early morning. However, not long after he closed his eyes, Genolio woke him up. The Invincible Fleet had begun their attack.
Lorist didn't understand why the Invincible Fleet had missed such a good opportunity last night. After all, under the cover of the night, the cannons would be less likely to hit. But for some reason, the Invincible Fleet stayed in place for the whole night. It was only when the sky brightened that they launched a suicidal attack on the Norton Family's fleet.
"They must have turned out in full force …" Lorist praised. However, he felt that the Invincible Fleet's commander was very stupid. Knowing that the Norton Family's long-range cannons were very powerful, but still launching an attack was not courageous. It was like ordering one's subordinates to die. Although the navy was an offensive-type military unit, such a brainless attack was not wise.
Sixteen enormous whaling ships were arranged in a horizontal formation, all facing the direction of the enemy's charge from the port side. Because the wind was against them, Lorist ordered all the ships to drop their anchors and not retreat. They were going to fight the enemy head-on at sea. Even though they were at a disadvantage in the wind, Lorist still had the confidence to defeat the Invincible Fleet with the bronze cannons, which were superior to this era.
On the port side of each whaling ship, there was a row of ten black windows. These were the cannon portholes arranged on the second floor of the whaling ship. Thanks to the sturdy hull structure of the whaling ship, only whaling ships could have twenty cannon operating cabins installed on the second floor. However, a whaling ship could only be equipped with 10 bronze cannons. Compared to the 18 bronze cannons on each side of the Thunderstruck Warship, the firepower was much inferior.
After adopting Malek's strategy of destroying the Invincible Fleet, capturing the Hidden Gold Bay, and landing in Morente City, Master Sid had been working day and night for the entire winter. Including the previous reserves and the newly built bronze cannons, there were only around 320 pieces. Half of the 16 whaling ships were taken, and the remaining 160 or so bronze cannons were evenly distributed among the 40 large warships. Although each large warship was only given four cannons, it was still considered a cannon warship that could carry out ultra-long-range attacks.
In order to make up for the lack of firepower, Lollister brought Schwader's Artillery Training Camp to the whaling ship, and arranged for ten land-type bronze cannons on the deck. The deck of the whaling ship was spacious, and the cannons had wheels that could change direction at any time. The remaining 40 or so cannons were placed on the medium warships that had been modified and reinforced. They were used to deal with the Invincible Fleet's smaller warships.
Right now, only the Gold-ranked Divine Archers Josk and Genolio stood beside Laurist. Redi and Hugh were arranged to be on the other two whaling ships on the left and right. This was also to prevent the Invincible Fleet's high-end combatants from charging onto the whaling ships and starting a massacre if close combat broke out. Josk, on the other hand, was one of the only two Gold Knights that Buckingham had asked to accompany the Norton Family's four main corps. The other was the former bandit, Ovis.
There were two reasons for Josk to accompany him. After all, even though he had made the mistake of disobeying orders and leading the Hunting Cavalry Unit, he had done it to avenge Lorist. He had always been Lorist's trusted aide. After the incident, Lorist had demoted him from corps commander to corps commander and given him a small punishment. However, the Hunting Cavalry Unit was still established by him. To make things easier for Freya, who had taken over as corps commander, Lorist decided to keep Josk by his side for a period of time before letting him go. At the same time, Lorist remembered how Josk had shot down a mast with one arrow when they broke out of the Hidden Gold Bay. He was prepared to let Josk participate in this naval battle so that he could make up for his mistake.
As for Ovis, he was going back to his old job. Lorist discovered that even though he had arranged for ten bronze cannons to be placed on the whaling ships, the deck was still empty. This could not be helped. The whaling ships were too big because they had to haul the captured whales onto the deck to be cut up and stored on the spot. If they were too big, there would be no place to store the captured whales.
Thus, Lorist ordered Ovis to reorganize 320 catapults onto the whaling ships, with 20 catapults per ship. In naval battles, catapults were much more suitable than steel ballistae. Even if the distance was reduced to 200 meters, no warship would be able to withstand a rock that weighed more than a hundred kilograms. The only weakness of naval battles was that warships could move, and catapults had poor accuracy. After the rock was thrown, it would fly in the air for a period of time, giving the enemy time to react and dodge …
The horns were loud and clear, and the lookout on the observation deck on the mast was reporting the enemy's situation in a hoarse voice. "Ahead of us is the Paragon Fleet. There are more than sixty large armed warships in the vanguard. I can't see the rear clearly, but it is estimated that there are more than 400. Four Septorim Sea Castle warships in the middle, speed of nine knots, distance of five hundred yards …"
Five hundred yards. There was still a kilometer of distance, so the battle would probably take about twenty minutes. The only disadvantageous situation today was that the enemy's warships had the wind at their back, while the Norton Family's fleet had the wind at their back. The whaling ships and more than forty large armed warships with bronze cannons all lowered their sails and anchored. This was the rhythm of a head-on battle.
"Order Sunbarwood to lead the Thunderbolt Fleet to meet them head-on. Attack from the outside and give the Paragon Fleet a head-on blow. What gives them the guts to be so arrogant in front of the Norton Family? Do they really think that they can suppress us just because they have more ships?" Lorist ordered with a cold smile.
Genolio quickly wrote down the order and stamped it with Lorist's seal. Then, he placed it in a small silver tube tied to the leg of a petrel in the cage behind him and released it. Five minutes later, a loud horn sounded from the Thunderstrike Fleet. The Thunderstrike Fleet raised their sails and welcomed the charging Invincible Fleet from the periphery of the sea route.
In less than ten minutes, the rumbling sound of cannon fire came from the sea. Through the monocular, one could see that the fourteen Thunderbolt Battleships under Samba Wood's command had skillfully circled around, moving side by side with the large armed battleships of Invincible Fleet. Samba Wood then launched a fierce bombardment on the flank of Invincible Fleet from a distance of two hundred meters …
The fierce bombardment caused white smoke to rise from the sides of the Thunderbolt Fleet's ships. However, the thunder was loud and the rain was small. Apart from two large armed warships that were gradually slowing down due to the bombardment, the other large armed warships maintained their original speed and continued to advance. However, white smoke also rose from those warships. After two rounds of bombardment, not a single warship had been sunk. Lorist couldn't help but be shocked.
"Two hundred yards …" The lookout on the mast reported the distance between the two warships.
Lorist held the telescope and stared intently at one of the enemy's warships that was being bombarded. He finally saw that there were bags piled up on the side of the enemy's warship. After being bombarded by the cannons, these bags were either blasted away or sent flying, causing white smoke to rise …
"Smart people …" Laurist did not expect the Invincible Fleet to use sandbags to reduce the damage from the cannons. It was no wonder that the Lightning Strike Fleet could not sink a single large warship of the Invincible Fleet even after three rounds of bombardment. However, if the Paragon Fleet thought that they could use this method to close in on the Norton Family's fleet and turn this battle into a close combat battle that they were good at, they would be making a huge mistake. Lorist didn't mind letting them know what long-range annihilation tactics were.
"Fire the first round of bombardment from three hundred meters away, then reload the chain bullets. Target, the enemy's masts and sails …"
If they wanted to reload the chain bullets now, the cannons would have to first remove the iron pellet from the cannon. That would take longer and be more troublesome. It would be better to fire the iron pellet first before reloading the chain bullets. Speaking of which, the Paragon Fleet in front of them had never tasted chain bullets before. The Thunderbolt Fleet led by Sunbarwood had only used iron pellets and grapeshot bullets in their four attacks. This was because they didn't need to slow down the enemy's warships.
"Three hundred meters away!"
Following the lookout's roar, a series of deafening rumbles rang out, and the cannons started firing almost at the same time. The giant warship beneath their feet shook violently. Fortunately, the people on the deck were already used to the vibration of the cannons firing. Other than the twenty catapults that were tied to the deck rolling backwards and snapping the ropes tightly, nothing unexpected happened.
The sixteen whaling ships in a horizontal formation and the large armed warships in the middle were instantly engulfed in white smoke. From afar, it looked like a white wall had appeared on the surface of the sea. However, the gentle sea breeze quickly blew away the white wall, revealing the large and small warships that were lined up in a horizontal formation.
The rumbling of the cannons was still echoing in his ears, but Lollister, who was holding his monocular, was very disappointed. More than five hundred cannons fired at the same time, but nearly two hundred iron pellets hit the surface of the sea and created huge splashes. Only the two large armed warships that were charging at the front stopped abruptly. Obvious distortions and holes appeared on the bows of the ships. Seawater rapidly poured in, and the speed of the ships immediately slowed down.
Lollister sighed. There was nothing he could do. These cannons had only been training for three months, and they clearly lacked experience. Not only could they not aim accurately during battle, their luck was also not very good. More than five hundred bronze cannons had only destroyed two warships. This result left him speechless. However, this was only the first round. They should perform better after firing a few more times …
"Fire!" Schwald suddenly waved the small red flag in his hand, and the ten bronze cannons on the deck roared once again. The mournful whine of the cannons was accompanied by the rumbling of the cannons. It was like the ominous cry of an owl piercing through the sky as the cannons charged forward.
The sixty large armed warships at the front of the aggressive Invincible Fleet broke their masts and sails amidst the mournful sounds. The warships suddenly lost their momentum and slowed down greatly. It was a mess, and there were faint screams, cries, and cries for help. The warships that were charging at the back could not dodge in time and crashed into the warships in front. They were squeezed together about two hundred meters away from the Norton Family's fleet …
The sharp sound of a copper whistle rang out. Even the ears that had been shaken by the cannons could still hear the whistle through their earplugs. This was the order to stop firing. Lollister felt that there was no need to waste ammunition. It was time for the catapults to show their might.
"Fire!" Ovis' loud voice reverberated across the surface of the sea. Boom! Boom! Boom! The catapults sent rocks weighing over a hundred kilograms into the sky. They whistled through the air as they smashed towards the battleships of the Invincible Fleet that had gathered together. The rocks fired by the catapults were basically circular in shape. This was because they wanted to make use of the elasticity of the ground to make the rocks bounce up and kill more enemies. However, the catapults used in naval battles had edges and corners. This was so that the sharp edges could smash through the planks of the enemy's warships.
The first round of firing was just to test the direction of the catapults, and to better estimate the approximate distance and area of impact. After a short period of adjustment, the second round of catapults turned into flaming rocks. These flaming rocks were very simple to make. They were tied to the rocks with ropes covered in kerosene, and after igniting them, they were thrown. By the time the rocks reached their targets, most of the ropes on the rocks had already been burnt into pieces. As the rocks fell, they splashed everywhere, increasing the threat of fire.
The dozens of large warships charging at the front were already in flames. They were all turned into huge piles of fire. From time to time, small black dots could be seen jumping from the burning warships into the sea. Those were the escaping crew members and sailors. The few large warships at the side had already lost their masts and sails, but they were still moving towards the Norton Family with the current.
Shrill cries rang out in the distance again. That was the Thunderbolt Fleet using chain bombs to stop the follow-up warships of the Invincible Fleet. On Lollister's side, there was basically no longer any threat. Other than the large warships that were burning like torches, there were no more enemy warships that were circling around the fire ships to continue their charge.
"We will definitely win this naval battle!" Lollister thought proudly. In the distance, the flames soared into the sky, and the smoke was hazy. He could not see what was happening behind him. Perhaps the Invincible Fleet had suffered such a huge loss and was now turning around to retreat. The Thunderbolt Fleet under Senbarwood's command was using chain bombs to stop the enemy warships from escaping.
"The enemy warships are 150 meters away!" the lookout on the mast shouted in panic.
"What?" Lollister was shocked.
"The enemy warships are blocking the fire ships and continuing to close in on us!" The lookout's words revealed the truth.
"Ovechiss! The catapults continue to fire at the fire ships. It doesn't matter if you can't see the target! Throw the rocks at them! "Lollister hurriedly shouted at Ovechiss, who was on the deck.
He had miscalculated. He did not expect that when the large warships in front of him were burning, they would also block his vision. The enemy warships at the back were hiding behind the thick smoke, using the fire ships in front of them as shields. They were blocking the fire ships and continuing to close in on him, instead of turning around and escaping like he thought they would …
"Danger!" Genolio shouted as he pounced over. Loriste looked up and saw countless cold lights appearing in the thick smoke from the burning ship in front of him. They were flying towards his warship.
…
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