Qianye got into the turret, replaced the gunner inside, and then, under his guidance, quickly figured out how to operate the frigate ballista.
The operation of the frigate ballista is not complicated. The difficulty is that the initial speed of the ballista's huge arrow is not very fast, and the flying time in the void is relatively long, which gives the target a relatively sufficient time to dodge. The nerubian warship uses this Weakness, repeatedly successfully dodging attacks.
However, the Giant Arrow Ballista does not require high force arrays and ammunition, and its range is higher than ordinary force cannons, so it is the first choice for high-speed and flexible warships such as frigates.
Qianye figured out the operation method, and then turned the handle of the wheel, and the huge turret turned accordingly, pointing at the nerubian battleship not far away.
"Mr. Qian... Qianye..." The gunner next to him watched Qianye rotate the turret with only his own strength, and was stunned and speechless.
The turret weighs several tons, and its rotation is assisted by the force array. The gunner needs to activate the array first and then adjust the direction. The movement is relatively slow, which is also the reason why it is difficult to target the nimble nerubian warship. However, Qianye actually used brute force to push the turret to rotate, and the people around him were stunned for a long time.
In Qianye's hands, the heavy turret was like an ordinary city gate cannon. It turned around several times faster than usual. He aimed with his breath and stepped on the pedal hard. The frigate shook again, and a crossbow arrow flew away. !
When the arrow was fired, the gunner and several loaders on the side suddenly looked strange. It's not that the aim is a bit off, it's really too far, and it's tens of meters away from the port side of the nerubian battleship. That nerubian battleship didn't need to adjust its course at all, and it wouldn't be shot.
Sure enough, the nerubian battleship moved to the left, and immediately returned to its original course, without continuing to move towards the ridiculously crooked crossbow bolt.
The gunner and loader were silent for a while, they were all Zhao Yuying's direct descendants, and due to the face of the eldest lady and Qianye's identity, they dared not speak out even if they had some thoughts.
Qianye didn't seem to feel that there was any problem with his aiming. The loader had just loaded a new crossbow, and then stepped on the pedal heavily. This time, his aiming was a little better, and he flew over the nerubian warship. Although the nerubian battleship was taken aback, it was still more than ten meters away from the hit.
After two arrows passed, Qianye still didn't realize that his artillery skills were not perfect, so he concentrated on aiming again.
Inside the bridge, Zhao Yuying shouted excitedly: "Good job!"
This sound startled the captain, Zhao Yuying turned her head and said angrily: "Why are you in a daze, hurry up and speed up!"
The captain subconsciously raised the speed to the fastest, but he had doubts in his heart. The flexibility of the nerubian battleship was far higher than that of the frigate. When the speed was raised to the highest, it meant that it was easier to be thrown away. There have been similar situations before. up.
But after speeding up, the captain suddenly found that the distance between him and the nerubian battleship was rapidly shortening. The gunners and loaders on the sidelines saw something at this moment, Qianye's extremely poorly aimed ballista giant arrows were waiting ahead of time before the nerubian warship wanted to change its course every time.
The nerubian warship also seemed to be in a hurry, and the next two turning movements became extremely obvious, but they were forced back by the crossbow arrows shot by Qianye, and now it flew almost in a straight line.
Straight-line flight fights for pure speed, and the strangely shaped nerubian battleship is naturally far from the opponent of the Zhao Clan frigate. In the blink of an eye, the distance between the two ships was shortened to only 500 meters! At such a close distance, Zhao Yuying had the heart to directly bombard with the upper deck of the mountain.
Qianye finally got his aim this time, a crossbow arrow shot out and hit the side of the nerubian warship, the hull was not damaged, but a joint limb connected to that part was broken, and another one nearby was also damaged. become less agile.
With this firing, the nerubian battleship suddenly became less flexible, like a spider losing its roots, but the effect was not too great.
However, Qianye shot another arrow, the arrow that was originally aimed at the empty space, but hit again because the nerubian warship wanted to avoid a wreckage of the landing ship, this time it simply took two jointed limbs flying. The terrible thing was that the three jointed limbs that were blown away were all on the same side. The nerubian warship suddenly changed from agile to clumsy, and its flight path became extremely unstable.
Facing an opponent who lost his flexibility, there was no need for Qianye to do anything, and the well-trained crew of the Zhao Clan could completely deal with it. The frigate simply kept flying around the nerubian battleship, and hand-held force cannons and crossbow bolts of various sizes kept pouring into the nerubian battleship, while deftly avoiding counterattack firepower.
Qianye fired another ballista, destroying several gun ports on the side of the nerubian battleship, greatly reducing its firepower.
If it is the nerubian battleship, it is doomed. However, the nerubian battleship has always been known for its thick armor, solid and reliable, and it lasted for a while before it exploded under the indiscriminate bombardment of the Zhao Clan frigate.
The frigate flew around the wreckage and confirmed that everyone in the nerubian battleship was dead and there were no survivors, so it turned around and rushed to another battle circle.
After the initial chaos, the escort fleet left by the Empire's Third Fleet finally reacted, forming groups of three or four, covering and cooperating with each other, fighting against the Nerubian assault ship. The advantages of the Imperial Fleet in terms of ship types, tactical coordination, and training quality finally began to emerge, and the nerubian raid ships were destroyed one after another.
After more than half of the warships exploded, the nerubians finally couldn't bear the loss and began to retreat. But retreating is not so easy, many of the escort ships of the family fleet are elite high-speed warships, even faster than Nerubian warships. After some pursuit, the four warships left behind by the nerubian raid fleet were all destroyed, and this was the end of the battle.
Qianye was sitting in the main turret. In this battle, he had destroyed two warships and seriously damaged one Nerubian warship. For a warrior who was manipulating a battleship turret for the first time, this record was brilliant.
However, Qianye was not very happy, and his eyes fell on the porthole. There, embedded in a twisted steel plate, nearly pierced the porthole. Half of the steel plate was scorched black, and half of the nerubian's severed arm was stuck to it, which was also burned like charcoal.
Most of this steel plate is embedded in the outer armor of the turret, and it is only a few centimeters away from completely piercing through the porthole. In that case, Qianye sitting in the turret would be in danger. With the speed and strength of the steel plate flying at that time, he could only stop it with Dongyue, otherwise he would be injured. But there is only room for a gunner to sit in the turret console, and he can't even stand upright. How can there be room for him to wave Dongyue
The scale of this battle was not too large, but it made Qianye feel the danger and cruelty of the void fleet battle. On the stage of the Force Cannon and the giant ballista, personal power is too fragile, and more often it is helpless.
Another difference from land warfare is its casualty rate. Once the battleship explodes, it is completely impossible for ordinary soldiers to survive in the void, and the warrior-level powerhouses will have to try their luck.
Just like those nerubian battleships, according to their ranks, there should be at least one viscount-level powerhouse sitting in command. But this raiding team is based on fewer attacks and more attacks. No matter how good the combat power of a single battleship is, there are enemies in the surrounding void. After the battleship explodes, there is no help at all.
After a great battle, Qianye saw three or four dark powerhouses escape from the wrecked and fallen warships. However, in the void, where could they escape in the Imperial fleet, they were still hit one by one in the end. kill.
The ballista that was originally used to deal with the battleship armor that was thicker than the city wall was bombarded on the body, even if the nerubian was strong, it was smashed on the spot. On the void battlefield, only those who have reached the level of a god general can control the situation of the battle with their own strength. Most of the generals are lucky to be able to protect themselves.
As for Zhao Yuying's ship control skills, no matter how good Qianye's artillery skills are, they can only entangle one or two warships, and the impact on the overall battle situation is minimal.
Sitting in the turret, Qianye experienced for the first time the insignificance and powerlessness of human beings in the vast void.
The battle was over, and after hastily sweeping the battlefield, the Imperial Landing Fleet set off again, leaving only pieces of wreckage floating in the void. In this tragic battle, dozens of transport ships in the empire were destroyed, and nearly 10,000 soldiers inside were buried in the void before they could reach the battlefield.
Although half of the lost transport ships belonged to small and medium aristocratic families, and half belonged to noble families and poor families, the loss of personnel was still real.
The nerubian's losses were not small, and more than half of this elite raid fleet was eventually lost. In fleet battles, this proportion of battle damage can be regarded as heavy. And in the first battleship Qianye destroyed, the commanding Nerubian's ship handling skills were not inferior to Zhao Yuying's.
Qianye walked out of the turret, returned the position to the original gunner, walked onto the bridge, and looked out. At the end of the line of sight, the Wei family's fleet can be seen advancing at a constant speed. The Wei family is one of the two high-ranking families in this imperial fleet, but the size of the floating fleet can only be ranked fourth. Since the Far East province is still in a state of war, it is necessary to leave enough warships to ensure the battlefield air supremacy.
However, apart from the slight shortage of numbers, the Wei family fleet is well-organized, obviously well-trained and very elite. Whether it is a battleship or a transport ship, they all belong to the military active service level. In the battle just now, the Nerubians wisely chose to avoid this hard bone after they came into contact with it for a while.
On the other side, the airships used by those fighters from the small and medium-sized aristocratic families and the poor families of the gentry were much shabby, and they did not have the faint killing momentum of the Wei family fleet. It seems that the fierce war in the Far East during this period brought not only losses to the Wei family, but also the baptism of war. It is no wonder that in the history of the empire, there are always many people of insight who gave up the comfortable life in the inland and resolutely went to the war-torn border to expand the territory.
In the silent void, the huge empire landing fleet kept moving forward.
There was an experience of being raided once. This time, the overall speed of the Imperial Landing Fleet slowed down a bit, and the formation was kept tighter. After paying the price of blood and life, even the most rebellious fighters have fully understood the cruelty of the void battlefield, so they obediently obey the command of the third fleet's guidance ship, and no longer go their own way.
However, the Third Fleet of the Empire did not send additional escort ships, and the main squadron with terrifying combat power was hidden in some corner of the void.
On the bridge, Zhao Yuying handed over the work to the captain, came to Qianye's side, and said, "Good job! Next time I can rest assured that you will be on the ship alone."
Qianye smiled wryly: "I'm not a child."
Zhao Yuying stared, and said: "Back when my old lady saw your bare butt..."
As long as this topic is brought up and he doesn't know if it's true or not, Qianye can only raise his hand and surrender, saying: "Okay, you can do whatever you say."
Zhao Yuying lit a cigarette, threw another one to Qianye, and asked, "What are you thinking?"
"Isn't smoking prohibited on the airship?"
Zhao Yuying looked disdainful: "Whatever the rules are, on this ship, I am the oldest."
"Then other people can smoke too?"
"They dare! Unless they can defeat me, who dares to break his leg when smoking!"
Qianye looked at Zhao Yuying and saw that her face was taken for granted, and he didn't feel that there was anything wrong with him blatantly promoting the two sets of principles, so he knew that he shouldn't try to instill in her the one of leading by example.
"By the way, Yu Ying, we encountered a surprise attack here, why didn't we increase the escort force?"
The void is vast, and what they are heading to is another void floating land that has just been discovered. The current flight route is not a fixed route at all. Under such circumstances, it is unlikely to be a coincidence to encounter a dark race warship raid. Obviously, this imperial landing fleet has been affixed by the Yongye side, and there will definitely be battles in the future.
Zhao Yuying blew out a smoke ring, watched it slowly rise into the sky, then patted Qianye on the shoulder and said, "Don't think about it, there won't be reinforcements."
Qianye frowned and said, "But with the current escort force, we don't need many, and we still can't avoid the loss of transport ships if we have another Nerubian fleet like the one just now."
Zhao Yuying sneered and said, "So what? Do you think those big men above would care about such a small loss? To put it bluntly, the vast majority of people in this fleet are just cannon fodder. If you really want to occupy the void Lu, how could it be possible to rely on them, just like you and me, they are the main force in the battle, but they are not the decisive force."
Qianye's eyebrows were furrowed even tighter. He could understand what Zhao Yuying said, and it wasn't that he didn't understand the reason behind it, but he felt that it was hard for so many well-trained fighters to give up just like that.
Zhao Yuying looked at Qianye's expression and said: "The key to this war is half on the floating land and half outside the floating land. The bosses of the empire's few fleets probably want to kill For the main fleet of Yongye’s side, it doesn’t matter if you lose the entire landing fleet. As long as Yongye’s void combat power is eliminated, the floating land will fall into the hands of the empire sooner or later.”
"The entire landing fleet is a bait?!" Qianye still found it inconceivable. You must know that there are hundreds of thousands of troops in this fleet.
"Why is this impossible? If the bait is not enough, how can it be called a battle of national destiny?" Zhao Yuying sneered.
Qianye calmed down slowly, sighed, and said, "If you and I were in that position, we should have made the same decision, right?"
Zhao Yuying looked out of the window and said quietly: "Whenever you don't say this, but do it directly, you have really grown up."
Qianye's heart skipped a beat, for some reason, the silver-haired figure suddenly appeared in front of him. Now he has more and more ways to see some imperial military reports, and every time he will unconsciously search for news about that person. Qianye didn't know what he was looking for, but when he recently saw the same news about being absent from certain occasions due to injuries, he felt his heart tighten.
Qianye was silent for a while, then sighed softly: "Maybe I'm not suitable for leading the army, going to the front line to fight is the position I should be in."
Zhao Yuying didn't know what came to mind, she looked a little sad, and said: "No one wants to be a general, but there must be someone to sit in that position. So the people who sit on it may not be happy."