This time, General Warren finally saw clearly the battleship that was chasing him - through his telescope, he saw the Wolf 1 cruiser leading the way.
This was the first time he had seen a warship of this style. It had no sails and was low in shape. No wonder he could only see black smoke spreading on the sea from a distance before.
The sides of this battleship are very high, and if you look carefully at the bow, you can see a cannon pointing toward the side.
It's just that this cannon is mounted on a turret. This is the first time he has seen this design, and it looks very fresh.
Then, he saw the cannon spitting out a ball of flame, and it seemed to be firing. Because of the obstruction of the warship behind him, Warren did not see the scene of the cannon hitting the target, and only heard the muffled thunder of the cannon in the distance.
ring.
Finally, after our own fleet completely turned, the relative positions of the two sides were basically in the shape of a number 11.
It's just that the one after the number 11 is a little short.
But this is not a problem at all, because the length of the Talon Kingdom's fleet has been shortened a lot compared to before...
At this moment, the battle has been going on for more than two hours, and the formations of both sides have returned to the most common state of two parallel lines.
Compared with the previous formation, the main fleet of the Kingdom of Talon just made a 180-degree U-turn. There was no change except that the route was opposite to when the battle broke out.
The four warships of Datang Group were equivalent to making a big circle around the enemy's main fleet and returned to their original route.
In the more than two hours of fighting, the warships of the Datang Group were almost unscathed, while the Talon Kingdom's fleet had been sunk by 30 ships, leaving only a pitiful 36 warships still holding on.
If it had not been a large circle, Datang Group's attack efficiency might have been higher, and it is estimated that it could have sunk a few more Talon Kingdom warships.
General Warren, who already knew that he was at a disadvantage, was already thinking about how to change the current situation.
He did not dare to issue new combat orders before because he was afraid that the fleet formation would collapse and completely lose command.
Now, his formation has returned to a relatively simple shape, giving him another chance to operate.
So, this time, he decided to turn the fleet to the right, seize the T-shaped position from the front, seize the opportunity to open fire, and launch a desperate counterattack.
Although he didn't know how many warships he had left, he could still tell that he had at least 40 warships left to support him in giving it a try.
This time, he has already suffered too many losses. If he cannot bring the final victory back to the Kingdom of Talon, then he, the commander-in-chief of the navy, will almost die for his country.
So he had to give it a try, he had to win, and he never thought about escaping or surrendering.
"Order the fleet to turn! Full right rudder! Seize the horizontal position!" General Warren ordered angrily.
He has known it for a long time, so he has lost his mind a little. He wants to take revenge and completely wipe out the Tang fleet in front of him!
Immediately afterwards, the flagman standing on the mast above his head began to issue orders, and the order to continue turning immediately began to be conveyed to the battleships on both sides.
Because when the ship just turned, it was General Wallen's flagship that started to execute the turn order first, so his battleship's position in the fleet moved up several positions.
This time, it was his battleship that started to turn first, so his battleship was immediately in the third order position in the fleet.
What he doesn't know is that now he only has 32 warships left, and the four sailing warships that have been overtaken will never be able to carry out his orders.
Explosions were still coming, and some battleships were still hit by shells and lost the ability to continue fighting. There were wooden planks and corpses floating on the sea, as well as battle flags and sails.
Finally, on a sail warship in the middle of the fleet, a captain from the Talon Kingdom could no longer withstand the pressure.
He leaned on the railing on the side and looked at the enemy warships gradually approaching behind him. He no longer had the calmness of the past.
Soon, he retracted his head and looked at his adjutant: "That bastard Warren wants to lead us to death! He has been conveying wrong orders!"
"But, what can we do?" the adjutant asked numbly.
The battle has reached this stage, and everyone knows that the Taron Kingdom's navy has suffered heavy losses. Even if the battle is finally won, their remaining warships will be completely unable to maintain the trade routes in the southern waters of the Endless Sea.
Unless the rebellion they plot within the Kingdom of Dorne succeeds, then they may still have a chance to breathe.
Once the other party suppresses the rebellion and gains energy, they will definitely take advantage of the weakness of the Talon Kingdom to cause trouble at sea to compete for profits.
What makes people desperate is that the Kingdom of Tarun is a maritime country, and maritime interests are its core interests...
"Order the battleship to full port rudder! Let's get out of this hellish place!" The captain looked at his adjutant, trying to persuade him to escape with the timid him.
As expected, the adjutant was still a little hesitant, because escaping from battle was definitely a serious crime, and he didn't want to lose his bright future.
But if you follow the battleship in front and turn to starboard with full rudder, you will definitely encounter the fierce enemy ship behind you. By then, let alone getting promoted and making a fortune, you will have no chance of saving your own life.
"Captain! We are running away from the battlefield. If the people above investigate, we will both be punished by military law!" the adjutant warned tremblingly.
"This is not an escape! This is a retreat! The enemy is too powerful! Do we have to wait here to die?" The more the captain spoke, the more he felt justified, and his tone became firmer.
He looked at his adjutant, and without waiting for the latter to continue speaking, he continued: "What's more, if all the battleships are sunk here, wouldn't the Talon Kingdom be doomed?
Are you there? What we take with us when we leave here...is fire! It is hope!"
When he said this, he was even surprised by the excuse or reason he came up with, and his eyes lit up.
The adjutant swallowed his saliva and looked at the friendly warships at the back of the ship that were in a panic. In the end, his desire for survival defeated his courage.
He nodded and agreed: "Then let's stick to the left... You, you have the final say."
Hearing that the adjutant finally compromised, the captain secretly loosened his grip on the hilt of the long sword at his waist, and the cruelty finally disappeared from his face.
He waved his hand and ordered loudly: "Full left rudder! Full left rudder immediately! Let the warships behind follow us! Let's break away from the fleet and leave here!"
Soon, the warship began to break away from the fleet, leaving the captain of the Talon Kingdom warship that had been lined up in front of the warship confused.
He was sure that the order conveyed by his flagman was to keep the right rudder full, but at this moment the other party broke away from the fleet and ran wildly into the distance.
"What is the Wild Run doing?" The captain of the Talon Kingdom asked angrily when he happened to see a friendly warship behind him break away from the fleet and rush towards the outside of the battle circle.
Under his gaze, the sail warship known as the Wild Run turned its bow to the left in the opposite direction to their right turn.
"They seem...to have taken the wrong turn." The adjutant heard the voice, looked behind him, checked for a long time, and finally said.
"How could this be wrong!" The captain had already guessed something. He walked to the stern railing and leaned on it, staring at the running ship in the distance. He didn't know what he was thinking.
With this sailing ship named Wild Run taking the lead, the captain of another sailing warship from the Talon Kingdom shamelessly followed behind the Wild Run and fled the battlefield.
The two battleships turned in the wrong direction, and the following battleships were completely messed up. In the end, some of these warships, which were already out of order, turned to the left and some to the right, completely losing their appearance in the originally neat formation.
Wallen, who had just completed the turn and looked at the fleet behind him, also saw this scene. He saw at least three warships breaking away from the battle line and starting to flee the battlefield.
He also counted his remaining warships. At this time, the number of warships still in the fleet was no longer less than 30.
However, he still felt that he had regained the advantage because he had seized a better position and was about to get the opportunity to fire.
He felt that as long as he had a chance to fire, he might be able to turn defeat into victory. So he was full of confidence and believed that there was still hope for a comeback in this naval battle.
But then, the adjutant returned to him with an ugly face and a message: "Sir! There is news from the battleship behind! It says that the enemy's battleship is made of steel!"
"Steel? The wooden hull is wrapped with steel?" Warren, who didn't quite understand what the adjutant meant, asked in confusion.
"No, the word used... doesn't seem to be covered with steel, but 'hull made of steel'." The adjutant explained.
"This is impossible! Steel battleships don't use sails...how did they obtain such a fast speed?" Warren asked in disbelief.
Without waiting for the adjutant to answer, he roared angrily: "Those bastards who are afraid of death! In order to escape, they even made up rumors that the enemy's warships are made of steel! Bastards! Bastards!"
He connected this report with the escaping warship, so he didn't believe a word of the above statement.
At this time, his formation was in chaos, and there were only about twenty warships left that could follow him in battle.
"It doesn't matter so much! When I get back, I will deal with these cowards who escaped from the battle!" Valen drew out the long sword from his waist, pointed in the direction of the Tang fleet, and ordered: "Fight to the death with me! Prepare to fire!"
