The clouds are thick and the waves are surging...
Muriel stood on the undulating bridge, and in the circular frame of the monocular in his hand, the small sail on the horizon appeared. At this moment, Murray Ed was in a very excited mood. We are finally waiting for you, the Sea King Fleet.
For two months, two months, Murray Ed couldn't remember how many times his armored fleet encountered disappointment and helplessness. He repeatedly let the Sea King fleet escape from his search and pursuit. What annoyed Murield the most was that he failed to complete the task assigned by Claude and let the Sea King fleet send the two standing divisions of the Kingdom of Hicks ashore for reinforcements.
All this happened after the armored fleet raided the Beibu Gulf, which is the principality of Karnas and the largest and richest bay in the eastern region of Farea. Countless ocean-going ships traveling from north to south gather here, turning the three towns of Karrnath along the coast into very prosperous trading cities. A newly formed cruise squadron from the Kingdom of Nasseri and the Principality of Karnas is stationed here.
Since the Kingdom of Hicks lost the leased joint fleet, the Kingdom of Nasseri and the Principality of Karnas no longer have their own ocean-going fleets. Fortunately, the Kingdom of Hicks paid a sum of money as compensation, and the Kingdom of Nasseri and the Principality of Karnas are preparing to use the funds to rebuild a brand new ocean-going fleet. After three years of hard work, we finally have a cruise squadron consisting of more than 20 battleships.
It was at this time that General Murield raided the Gulf of Tonkin. In front of the ironclad battleships, the unprepared cruise squadron was completely annihilated. Eleven brand-new warships were ignited with raging fires and sank in the Beibu Gulf in front of countless people on the shore. Sixteen sailing warships were captured by ironclad warships, and forty-eight ships belonged to the Kingdom of Hicks and Nasseri. The ocean-going ships of the Kingdom and the Principality of Karrnath also became the trophies of the Iron Armored Fleet. Under the setting sun, the Iron Armored Fleet and these captured warships and ships left the Gulf of Tonkin and sailed away.
The raid on the Beibu Gulf made the Iron Armored Fleet famous in one battle. Almost everyone knew about this monster ship that emitted black smoke, made a rumbling sound, and was covered in iron armor that could not even be hit by artillery. The most important thing was that they were better than sailing battleships. The sea runs faster. Since then, the armored fleet has lost its concealment in the eastern seas. Wherever they appear, it has become a forbidden area for the ocean-going ships of the three countries of Hicks Kingdom, Nasseri Kingdom and Karnas Principality.
But General Muriel regretted it very much. He made a big mistake. Because of the exposure of the armored fleet, the Sea King Fleet of the Hicks Kingdom never dared to set foot in the eastern sea again. He should first ambush the Sea King fleet and annihilate the two standing legions of reinforcements on the way. As a result, they raided the Beibu Gulf to alert the enemy. The Sea King fleet changed its planned plan and sent two reinforced Hicks Kingdom's standing legions ashore at the Galucha Port of the Kingdom of Nasseri.
There are two large ports and four small seaports in the northern waters of the Nasseri Kingdom. The Sea King fleet usually docks at Camillas Port, which has the best facilities. This time, two standing legions transporting reinforcements were also preparing to dock at Camillas Harbor. As a result, Murield led the armored fleet to lie in wait outside Camillas Harbor for seven days. However, the news came that the Sea King Fleet had anchored in Camillas Harbor. Rucha seaport. It was a small seaport town developed from a small fishing village, about three hundred miles away from Camillas Seaport.
Muriel hurriedly led the armored fleet to Garrucha Port and found that the Sea King fleet had long disappeared, and the two standing legions of the Kingdom of Hicks that had landed had also left this small seaport town. He traveled in vain and gained nothing. Soon, Muriel discovered that the armored fleet was under surveillance at all times in the eastern seas. Ocean-going ships from other countries passed by and offshore fishing boats made the armored fleet a target no matter where it appeared. The focus of attention.
Under such circumstances, the armored fleet would never be able to find traces of the Hicks Kingdom's Sea King fleet. Although overseas dominions also have spies located in these regions and countries, they have no way to contact higher-level people, and most of the news and intelligence they send are speculation and hearsay. The armored fleet rushed back and forth on the sea, but never found the true whereabouts of the Sea King fleet.
Fortunately, the spies sent to the Kingdom of Hicks finally sent the latest information. Recently, the Sea King Fleet will transport a batch of ordnance and military logistics supplies to the Kingdom of Nasseri, but the date of departure is unknown. In order to avoid the traces of the armored fleet being discovered by the enemy's spies in the eastern seas, Muriel made a plan to hide it from the sky.
General Muriel formed a large fleet using the captured ocean-going sailing battleships and sea-going ships. He put the spare steam engines on the deck and started them. Breathing thick black smoke, he was escorted by two iron-clad transport ships. Get off and head to the port of Florik. The remaining twenty armored warships and armored armed transport ships hung up their sails and turned to the sea at a very slow speed. Then start the steam engine from overseas and go straight to the border waters of the Kingdom of Nasseri.
In the waters bordering the Kingdom of Nasseri and the neighboring Kingdom of Menbamark, there is an island called St. Rusk Island. The island is not big, with only a small fishing village and a large mountain covered with pitch pine trees. In folklore, this island is the incarnation of a hero named Rusk. He killed a sea monster that harmed this sea area. After being exhausted, he transformed into a small island to protect the sea monsters passing by this sea area. Safety of boats and coastal fishermen.
Therefore, this sea area is also called the St. Rusk Island Sea. The Kingdom of Nasseri and the Kingdom of Menbamark once had a dispute over the ownership of this sea area. However, because the Kingdom of Nasseri was so powerful, the Kingdom of Menbamac could only swallow their anger and move This sea area is allocated to the Kingdom of Nasseri, and it only requires that the fishermen along the coast retain the right to fish freely...
Now the twenty battleships and transport ships of the Ironclad Fleet are hiding behind Saint-Rusque Island, and they are camouflaged with pitch pine branches cut down from the island, trying to prevent passing ships from discovering the strange things here. After waiting patiently for more than ten days, the Sea King fleet finally arrived.
"One hundred and seventeen sailing battleships, including ninety-two third-class light fast cruising battleships, twenty second-class three-masted sailing cruisers, and five first-class five-masted sailing battleships, forming five fleets in the front, rear, left, center and right. Traveling. In addition, there are nearly two hundred ocean-going transport ships... "
Soon, the lookout on the battleship clearly reported the organization and composition of the Sea King fleet. However, based on distance calculations, it would take more than an hour for the transport fleet escorted by the Sea King Fleet to reach the waters of St. Rusk. Today, the wind direction is toward the northeast, and the Sea King fleet is sailing semi-headwind, unable to increase its speed.
"All battleship crews, check their combat readiness again. When the Sea King fleet passes through the Saint-Rusque waters, we will break out and catch him by surprise." Murield said fiercely. As long as this Sea King fleet is destroyed, the Kingdom of Hicks will never be able to rise again. It can no longer rely on this fleet to show off its power in the eastern seas and intervene in the affairs of the eastern region of Falea continent...
Nothing was caught off guard. After all, the rumbling sound from the steam engines of the twenty armored battleships was like thunder, which had already attracted the attention of the Sea King fleet. There were even a few third-level fast cruising warships that left the queue and sailed towards St. Rusk Island to see what was going on. The thick black smoke rising behind the island may have been misunderstood by the Sea King fleet as a fire on the island. For a moment, they never thought that the armored fleet was ambushing here.
The commander of the Sea King Fleet is not a fool. He has already learned some details about the Iron Armored Fleet from the intelligence obtained from various places. He also knows very well that the Iron Armored Fleet is not a powerful opponent of the Sea King Fleet. In the Beibu Gulf raid, the armored fleet annihilated the newly formed cruise squadrons of the Kingdom of Nasseri and the Principality of Karnars in full view of the onlookers along the coast. Almost not a single ship of the armored fleet was damaged, which is a fact that is obvious to all.
How to deal with warships covered with iron armor has become a common problem for all countries with fleets in Farea. The Sea King Fleet is no exception, but the sea is so big that it can't be fought or evaded. If it hadn't been for the ironclad fleet to threaten the captured ships and return to the port of Florik, the Sea King Fleet wouldn't have been able to take the risk and go to Nasseri. The Kingdom’s waters conduct escort operations for the transport fleet.
But when twenty armored battleships emitting black smoke and rumbling sounds emerged from behind Saint-Rusque Island, the commander of the Sea King fleet realized that he had been fooled. When things came to a close, he had no choice but to fight to the death. He ordered all transport ships to dock or escape as soon as possible. All the battleships of the Sea King fleet came forward to besiege the armored battleships, and ordered the use of grenades and kerosene bombs, and then artillery attacks at close range. Anyway, it is a consensus that long-range bombardment is useless against armored battleships...
There is another way to deal with armored warships, which is for the two ships to get closer and join forces to fight. Use the advantage of numbers to win an armored warship, so that even if you win miserably, you won't lose money, and you can develop your own armored warship when you return home. More than a hundred sail warships faced off against twenty armored warships. It was not yet decided who would win, but everyone had hope of winning...
The two fleets spraying iron and fire collided together like this. At the beginning, the Sea King fleet suffered a big loss. Nearly ten third-level sailing cruising fast light battleships were hit by white phosphorus bombs, setting off a raging fire. Firelight. But after all, the Sea King Fleet had more ships than anyone else. As soon as the follow-up warships swarmed up, they separated the five or six armored destroyers charging at the front of the armored fleet and fell into a situation of being besieged. In particular, the burning third-level light cruise warships actively rammed into the armored destroyers in order to perish together.
The four or five armored destroyers that followed immediately also accelerated their speed, bombarding and ramming into the entangled fleet, intending to rescue their companions. As a result, they were also trapped in the predicament of enemies on all sides, facing countless thrown grenades and kerosene bombs. The black smoke and flames of the explosion also flashed on the iron-clad battleship, and the sailors on the deck suffered heavy casualties for a while.
The Sea King fleet was not feeling well at this time. After a chaotic battle, the sea was covered with sail warships shining with flames and smoking. It was no longer possible to clearly see the situation on the battlefield. Only constant shelling and explosions were heard, along with screams and calls for help. From time to time, sailors and crew members holding lifebuoys were seen on the burning sea...
The commander-in-chief of the Sea King Fleet, who had been waiting for nearly an hour, finally received two pieces of news, one good and one bad. The good news was that the enemy's two armored warships had been controlled by his own marine battalion, but he did not expect the enemy's attack. The internal hatches of the battleships were also iron doors. The remaining enemies on the two armored battleships retracted into the inner cabins and closed the doors to defend themselves. For a while, they were unable to open the heavy iron doors, making it impossible to control the entire armored battleship.
The bad news is that the Sea King fleet has lost warships from three squadrons. The sail warships currently burning on the sea are all from the three squadrons on the left and front, and most of the warships are busy putting out the fire. The smoke on the sea was too dense, making it impossible to continue fighting and catch up with the enemy's warships.
The enemy's remaining armored warships have now learned their lesson and no longer engage in melee battles with the burning warships. Instead, they used their speed to cruise around the periphery and use long-range artillery fire to bombard the pursuing sail warships.
The commander of the Sea King Fleet faced a painful choice, either to abandon the fighting warships and evacuate immediately, so as to save most of the transport ships and the two squadrons of the Sea King Fleet. Either put the remaining two squadrons into the battlefield and fight to the death with the enemy. In that case, even if they win, the entire fleet will be almost wiped out, but maybe a few armored warships can be captured, and even if the fleet is gone, there is still value in return.
But the problem is that the current situation of the battle is unclear. The entire melee is thick with smoke, and it is impossible to see what is going on. Is the enemy's armored fleet consistent with the situation just reported? Most of them are fighting together, and only a few ships are fighting guerrillas on the outside. What if If this is the case, then the two squadrons and nearly fifty battleships will be put into the battlefield. Not to mention 100%, the Sea King Fleet will have a high degree of confidence in winning the final victory in this naval battle...
It was just that the commander of the Sea King fleet didn't think about it for long when he saw twelve black-smoking iron-clad warships protruding from the smoky battlefield and speeding toward their fleet array. The masts, deck turrets, and bridges of several armored warships were still shining with fire. It was obvious that they had suffered a lot in the melee just now, but because they were covered with iron armor, the damage was not very serious. , can continue to fight.
At this point, the remaining two squadrons of the Sea King Fleet can only fight. Just as soon as they made contact, the Sea King fleet felt that something was wrong. Because the twelve battleships of the Ironclad Fleet did not engage in a head-on confrontation with them, but used the speed of their battleships to make a big turn in front of the array of Sea King battleships, maintaining a distance of seven to eight hundred meters, using their artillery to continuously They kept bombarding the slow-moving sail warships of the Sea King Fleet.
Each sail warship was hit by gunfire and burned, especially the huge sails and masts, which burned like a torch. The warships could only park on the sea and became fixed targets. The officers on the battleship hurriedly put down the small wooden rescue boat. The sailors who could not find the wooden rescue boat jumped into the sea with lifebuoys and wooden boards in their arms like dumplings. Several burning sail warships also had violent explosions due to the ignition of gunpowder...
No one can endure the situation of being beaten without being able to fight back. After confirming that they could not catch up with the speed of the armored battleships, and seeing that one of our own battleships was hit by the enemy's armored battleships and burned, several third-level light cruisers were first launched. The warship broke away from the chasing array and set sail to retreat. Soon the remaining forty sailing warships became confused. Some were still chasing forward, while others had withdrawn and fled the battlefield without obeying the command.
The commander of the Sea King fleet had no choice but to evacuate the entire army, allowing the remaining sail warships of the Sea King fleet to return to the Kingdom of Hicks on their own. After sending a signal wishing everyone good luck, he personally cut off the rear and desperately resisted the siege of four armored warships for nearly an hour. Finally, It ended with the battleship exploding and sinking to the bottom of the sea. The remaining eight armored warships chased the escaping sailing warship for nearly three hours and captured a large number of transport ships. The pursuit did not end until dark.
The Battle of Saint-Rusque Island was the first formal large-scale naval battle between an armored fleet and a sailing fleet in the Faslan world. This naval battle marked a new chapter in the fleet naval battle model that had not changed for nearly a thousand years. The traditional naval battle methods of artillery bombardment, jumping gangs to seize ships, and throwing ships to burn are about to be eliminated, while new naval battle methods are still being explored.
But there is no doubt that the emergence of armored warships in overseas autonomous territories means that the traditional sailing warships have come to an end. The Sea King Fleet of the Kingdom of Hicks can be regarded as a powerful maritime elite among the coastal countries of Farea Continent. However, in the great battle of St. Rusk Island, they were defeated by 117 ships. The numerical advantage of the sailing battleships was defeated by twenty iron-clad battleships, and the number of sailing battleships that escaped back to their home waters was less than a squadron.
This large-scale naval battle had a profound impact on the coastal countries of Farea. Those naval powers invested heavily in the development of iron-clad warships. The simple one is to cover the sail warship with a layer of iron armor or bronze armor, while the more complicated one is to purchase various steam engines and firepower engines from overseas autonomous territories and try to transform them into marine steam engines. The most common one is to send spies to lurk into overseas autonomous territories, trying to obtain production blueprints for armored battleships, trains and new weapons...
For the ironclad fleet, it was not easy to win the great battle of Saint-Rusque Island, especially as the deck and bridge combatants suffered almost two-thirds casualties, and every ironclad battleship in the entire fleet bore wounds. The grenades and kerosene bombs produced by the Kingdom of Hicks were not ordinary. The two iron-clad warships that were almost captured were the most severely damaged. All the new naval guns on the deck and bridge were disabled, and cracks appeared in the hull shell due to the collision. It can be said that it has become a ruined ship with only the hull left. Fortunately, the marine steam engine can still operate normally and can keep up with the fleet. speed.
The admiral of the fleet, Admiral Murray Ed, was also wounded. He was almost blown up by a projectile bomb. Fortunately, his adjutant quickly hugged him and fell to the ground, only paying the price of a broken right hand and an injured left leg. However, in the Great Battle of Saint-Rusque Island, the results of the armored fleet were also fruitful. They destroyed more than 70 sailing warships of the Sea King Fleet, forced the landing of 21 sailing warships during the pursuit, and captured nearly a hundred sailing warships loaded with various military supplies. ocean carrier.
After the war, the armored fleet searched and rescued more than 4,000 Hicks Kingdom sailors and crew members at sea. At the same time, there was an episode, that is, the armored fleet consumed all the black stone fuel it carried. As a last resort, General Muriel ordered to land on Saint-Rusque Island, cut down a large amount of pitch pine from the island, use pitch pine firewood as fuel, and let the armored fleet return to the port of Florik with the captured ships. . ...