Munitions Empire

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The Tang Group Navy soldier within the turret calmly slid a new round into the cannon's breech after pulling open the new-style gunlock, then proceeded to push in the propellant charge as well.

Once the breech was closed, he raised his arm, and within a few seconds, the cannon abruptly jolted backward, recoiling over two feet before quickly returning to its original position.

The not-so-thick armor plate of the turret muffled the noise of the cannon firing, and the soldiers inside only heard a dull thud before continuing with the reloading process.

Since they couldn't see the results of their own fire, they could only listen to the noncommissioned officer responsible for aiming loudly reporting the outcomes of the shots.

For these sailors, naval battles were almost no different from playing a game; they just needed to repeat their tasks, and victory would soon follow.

At least they could feel some tension of the battlefield, unlike the coal tending workers inside the ship's hull, and soldiers like cartographers and cooks, who couldn't even detect that the battle had broken out.

"Boom!" The forward main cannons of the Brunas-class warship following closely behind the Wolf 1 unleashed twin jets of flame.

Two shells struck their target almost simultaneously; the hit sailboat split apart with the front half still being pulled forward by the sails while the rear sank into the water.

The Taren Kingdom's squadron, which had originally intended to encircle the Great Tang's fleet, finally came to understand the gap in strength between their vessels; a few warships began to turn in panic.

But before they could turn around, they were hit by incoming shells and swiftly returned to the embrace of the ocean deity.

The remaining warships tried to intimidate the Great Tang warships by firing their cannons, only to swiftly face the second barrage from the Wolf-class ships.

The volley of shells flew directly into the Taren Kingdom's formation and what ensued was utter chaos.

Indeed, it was utter chaos – one of the Taren warships lost its mast in an explosion; the massive mast cleaved into the water, and the Steering Wheel Royal Flag floated pitifully on the surface.

The Taren warships, which had been lined up to show off their dense array of cannons, finally realized how naïve and ridiculous they were.

Before they could even fire a single shot, they were hit by cannon fire and turned into pitiable wrecks engulfed in flames and explosions.

Amidst the successive booms of cannon fire, the Taren general in command of the squadron suddenly realized a grave problem.

The ship he was on, positioned centrally in the formation... seemed to be approaching the enemy warships ever closer.

The ships in front of him had been almost completely destroyed or thoroughly sunk right in front of him.

Now, it was his turn.

He thought about turning and fleeing, but before he could take a step, the realization hit him that he was at sea, and there was no way to dodge the enemy's gunfire.

In fact, as he hesitated on whether to jump into the sea to escape, a shell struck, completely obliterating his desire to flee. Because he was now dead...

Equipped with recoiling cannons and shrapnel shells, the Tang Group Navy faced the Taren Kingdom's sailboats and muzzle-loading cannons in what was essentially an uninteresting, one-sided fight.

"What is that! What is that!" On the other side of the battlefield, General Valen, stunned by the thunderous cannon fire and continuous blasts, yanked his adjutant's collar and demanded loudly.

He had yet to grasp what was happening because he couldn't see the other side of the battlefield and could only guess blindly.

Unfortunately, even his boldest guesses could not have anticipated that more than half of the 21 warships he had dispatched were already gone.

"Push forward! Push forward! Share the pressure of the other side's fleet! Don't let them escape!" Worried about losses to his squadron, Valen shouted through gritted teeth.

In his view, the enemy must be planning a desperate breakout attempt, abandoning the port to escape, which is why he made the decision to push all his forces forward, hoping to annihilate the opponent's fleet before they could breakthrough.

"Push forward! Take out all enemy ships on the starboard side! Then speed up! Prepare to attack the enemy warships on the other flank!" Bernard, without any trace of complacency, issued a new order at this moment.

Seeing that the enemy fleet on his wing was practically incapable of continuing the fight and all but out of the battle, he decided to pursue and take down this squadron first.

Since the Great Tang warships had the advantage in speed, he could do whatever he wanted with it, acting virtually without restraint.

With the gap in weaponry, it was naturally easy to crush the opponent, and as the distance closed further, the 75mm caliber broadside cannons of the Great Tang joined the battle.

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The cannons filled the gap in the number of artillery pieces on the warships of the Great Tang Group, and as soon as they joined the battle, they completely bewildered the sailors of the Taren Kingdom.

The soldiers of the Taren Kingdom had never seen such fierce firepower; they didn't even have time to scream before being bombarded into disorientation by the shrapnel shells.

By the time they managed to figure out what was happening, they were surprised to find they had become castaways, floating on the surface of the sea.

The battle continued, with four ironclad warships lined up in a row, cutting off the battlefield and decimating the flanking fleet of the Taren.

Even up to now, General Valen of the Taren Kingdom was still making calculations about encircling and annihilating the entire fleet of the Great Tang Group.

However, the brutality of this war greatly exceeded his expectations. He didn't even realize that at this moment, his other flotilla, consisting of 21 warships, was either sunk or damaged, nearly annihilated.

The navy warships of the Great Tang Group, lined up in battle formation, fully illustrated what it meant to kill with every pass. As they brushed past the enemy fleet, they sank all the hostile vessels.

"Turn! Hard to port! Bite the tail of the enemy fleet! Sink them all!" Bernard continued to issue orders after gaining the upper hand.

After 20 minutes of combat, the fleet of the Great Tang Group turned once again. This time, the enemy's figure-eight pincer movement had been thoroughly broken, leaving only the one stroke of the numeral left. Experience tales with

At this moment, due to prior maneuvering and turning, the fleet of the Taren Kingdom formed an approximate "

In pursuit of the faster Great Tang Group's fleet, this shape had almost turned sideways and was clearly deformed.

Put simply, because the fleet of the Great Tang Group was faster, the formation of the Taren Kingdom's fleet was already in chaos.

Naturally, General Valen knew that this was very unfavorable for him, but now he had no good way to change what had already happened.

He had a total of 55 warships on his side, positioned chaotically, with high delays in command and dispatch, making them nearly impossible to control as if by hand. Rearranging the formation would take a lot of time, but he no longer had much time.

As time went on, the fleet of the Great Tang, who had made way for visibility and position, had already bitten the tail of the Taren fleet. The Taren warships in the front, including General Valen's flagship, had already seen the destroyed segment of the Taren Kingdom's fleet.

They saw the still blazing remains of the warships, the half-sunken vessels afloat on the sea, the broken Steering Wheel Royal Flag...

Everything before his eyes completely bewildered Valen; he had not expected his flotilla not only to fail to stop the enemy from penetrating the encirclement but also to be completely annihilated...

At this moment, Valen realized that the naval battle had completely spiraled out of control: all his prior arrangements for the battle had been nullified!

The pre-battle tactical arrangement of pincer attacks from both wings was now completely ineffective. The fleet responsible for the pincer, 21 warships, had been heavily damaged by the enemy and had completely left the battle.

The main force he commanded, due to chasing, was already in disarray and even had its tail bitten by the enemy.

Reliant on shouting and flag signals to command the fleet, he was, in fact, unable to turn the tide of defeat.

"Sir! The situation doesn't look good!" After a glance at the black smoke on the sea surface that had already bitten the tail of his fleet, the adjutant said to Valen with a fearful heart.

At this time, General Valen also felt that sitting and waiting could lead to the loss of the entire fleet. So he immediately gave an order and shouted to his adjutant, "Turn immediately! Order all the nearby warships to turn! Chase our fleet's tail!"

He felt that by turning around and chasing the enemy's fleet, at least more than half of the warships could be saved.

Once they stabilized their footing, they could play to their advantage of having more warships and hold out against the enemy for a while. When night fell, the two sides could distance themselves.

"Turn around! Turn!" The adjutant immediately went to convey General Valen's orders. With the execution of this order, the main formation of the Taren Kingdom's navy became even more chaotic.

Viewed from above, the Taren Kingdom's fleet now resembled a hook shape, but the distances between the ships were uneven, and they even obstructed each other's gun ports, rendering them almost incapable of firing.

The battlefield was pure chaos, filled with warships turning or evading. In this turmoil's outermost fringes, four warships of the Great Tang Group had already grasped their targets and initiated a new round of attacks.

Accompanied by the successive cannon fire, the warships of the Taren Kingdom started exploding and sinking again. One by one, the warships were hit, damaged, and then forced to slow down, ultimately sinking.

Unable to tend to their fallen comrades, unable to return fire, the Taren Kingdom's captains and commanders, watching helplessly as the enemy caught up and then opened fire to sink their ships, could only issue haphazard orders in a cry of desperation.

Some warships raised white flags, some chose to flee from the fleet, but they soon found that these choices apparently could not alter their fate of being sunk...

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