A chaotic war is a huge challenge to the decision-makers and commanders on both sides. It challenges their abilities and their cognition.
Bernard was confused by everything that happened. He really didn't know why the other party would make such a strange decision.
He saw with his own eyes that the opponent's sail battleship split into two and headed in opposite directions.
Several battleships broke away from their own fleet with their left rudders full, and fled into the distance without looking back. Most of the enemy ships were turning right rudder at this time, seeming to want to seize the position across his forward route.
superior.
After a brief daze, Bernard suddenly realized that he didn't seem to know how to deal with the battle situation in front of him. He didn't know what the other side's commander was thinking in his mind.
Obviously, most of the battleships were executing the order to fight his fleet, otherwise they would not have stayed on their own route.
However, there were still a few warships that actually carried out the opposite order and prepared to leave the entire battlefield. This was obviously against common sense.
He didn't know what the other party was doing, so he didn't know how to deal with it for a while.
There is no way around it. In our own exercises, there is no such thing as the other side being timid and running away. The commanders on both sides will try their best to turn defeat into victory. Even if they fight to the last person, they will not give in easily.
Therefore, in Bernard's mind, he subconsciously ignored the chaos and collapse of the opponent because he had almost never been exposed to this field.
In Datang Military Academy, students would not actively consider the option of retreat. After all, their equipment training and tactical thinking were far ahead of their time.
"Dividing the troops...what's going on?" Finally, he decided to ask the adjutant next to him to see what he thought.
The adjutant was also a little unsure about the current situation. According to his opinion, if the enemy took the initiative to divide his troops into two groups under such chaotic circumstances, he was almost seeking his own death.
"I don't know, Commander...but I think a battleship should be detached to follow those battleships!" After thinking about it, the adjutant said.
"Huh?" Bernard looked at the adjutant, waiting for his explanation.
After considering his words, the adjutant continued to explain: "The other party has come from afar, and there must be supply transport ships. These ships should be nearby, and maybe... there will be discoveries."
Bernard thought for a while and nodded in agreement with the adjutant: "I agree with your opinion, let the Bunas 6 following at the rear keep up with the battleship on the left!"
"Understood!" The adjutant immediately went to give the order.
As a result, in General Warren's telescope, the Datang Group's fleet also dispersed. One warship rushed towards the fleeing sail warships with thick smoke, and the remaining warships rushed straight towards him.
Then, these warships turned neatly and began to show their sides. The turrets on the warships were always pointing in the direction of his warship.
Soon, really soon - the warships of the Datang Group adjusted their shooting angles, and then used their naval guns to continue bombarding the few remaining sailing ships of the Talon Kingdom.
This is really a desperate massacre. Every sail warship hit by a 150 mm caliber naval gun will end up very sad.
It was a completely unilateral killing, with one party attacking and the other passively being beaten. At a distance of about a thousand meters, the sailors on the Talon Kingdom's warship, which had no power to fight back, could only watch in the distance.
A friendly warship was sunk, and he watched helplessly as his comrades died.
"Boom!" With a loud noise, another warship was hit by a cannonball. The naval gun with an optical sight at a distance of 1,000 meters had a hit rate that really made the enemy despair.
The battleship that was hit in the stern lost most of its stern. Without the rudder, they could only slow down and leave the fleet.
But this is definitely good news for them, because they may not sink immediately and do not have to continue to face the desperate artillery fire.
Immediately afterwards, another battleship was also hit by a 150 mm caliber shell and was directly blown into parts.
Those who have not faced artillery fire will not know the true power of artillery. It can be called the god of war, which is definitely not a boast.
Even in the 21st century, various countries have not completely replaced artillery, and even have great intentions to carry it forward.
The damage capability of the artillery shells is also much greater than anyone imagined. The 37mm caliber secondary cannon on the battleship can make a hole as big as a washbasin in the steel hull!
What's more, are you now using 150mm caliber artillery to bombard some wooden boards? Look at those reinforced concrete buildings blown up by 150mm caliber howitzers. Those are ten and a hundred times harder than wooden ship hulls...
This cannon was really devastating, even the mast fell down, and no one survived. A huge hole appeared in the hull of a battleship, and everything near the hole was destroyed.
Without even taking a look at the completely scrapped battleship, the Datang Group's battleship passed by in a hurry and rushed to the next target.
Seeing that the number of warships in the Kingdom of Talon was getting smaller and smaller, both sides opened fire wildly on their respective battle lines. But this time, the warships in the Kingdom of Talon could no longer care about accuracy and orders, and were just minding their own business.
A cannon was fired.
The distance between the two sides was maintained between 1000 meters and 800 meters. The fleet of the Talon Kingdom tried to close this distance, but found that the attempt was not effective at all.
So at an extreme distance where it was almost impossible to hit the target, the warships of the Talon Kingdom opened fire like crazy, as if venting their anger.
As a result, only a few cannonballs hit the Datang Group's warships, and these cannonballs were basically unable to damage the steel hulls of the warships.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! On the other hand, the quality of bombardment by Datang Group's warships is astonishingly high. Every time they fire, it can almost damage a Talon Kingdom warship.
In the end, perhaps because they couldn't withstand the pressure in their hearts, they fell into a complete collapse. Among the warships of the Tarun Kingdom, several more warships fled and turned their course to the port side desperately.
This escape made the few remaining warships in the entire fleet even more chaotic.
General Warren found in despair that he could no longer continue to command the fleet because there were no warships to listen to his orders.
Now, there are only less than 20 warships left, and the life-sustaining maritime fleet of the Talon Kingdom is about to be completely wiped out.
Even if a few warships escape sporadically, nothing can change the outcome. The Kingdom of Tarun is over! It’s completely over!
The dream of conquering the ocean and the benefits of annexing Rewind Port have become fleeting and illusory.
When he saw with his own eyes that his fleet was falling apart, and that many captains who were usually brave and skillful in fighting were running around with their warships and escaping in a panic, he knew that he had lost, completely lost.
He not only lost his own future and everything, he also lost the national destiny of the entire Tarun Kingdom.
That’s more than 60 battleships! First-class sailing battleships! These battleships are the heritage accumulated by the Talon Kingdom one by one!
The century-old navy is not just about the cultivation of naval technical personnel, nor is it just about the establishment of a country's sea power, it is actually about the accumulation of warships themselves...
The construction of a wooden sail warship is not as simple as imagined. The wood these warships need to use requires decades of growth, several years of drying, and soaking in tung oil before it can finally be used.
Therefore, it is simply impossible to replenish dozens of large warships at once. Just like the Yangmu Kingdom, after losing more than thirty warships, it basically lost its maritime hegemony.
This time, the Tarun Kingdom lost more warships, and the problems they faced were even more serious - after all, they were not a kingdom like the Poplar Kingdom, which also had vast territory inland. They were an island country.
An island country losing control of the sea is much more terrible than a land country losing control of the sea. To compare, if Germany loses sea power, it is equivalent to cutting off an arm of itself, then losing Britain's sea power is equivalent to cutting itself in the head...
Seeing that the remaining less than 20 warships can no longer be saved, because the warships of Datang Group are still attacking, attacking tirelessly!
Intensive artillery fire struck again, and another warship was hit and capsized. Now, there are only 15 warships left in the Talon Kingdom.
Yes, there are only 15 battleships left. There were 19 battleships left in the formation. Just now, 3 battleships turned around and fled. Among the remaining battleships, another battleship was sunk.
Just where Warren could see, a battleship hoisted a white flag, but was still hit by cannonballs and billowing smoke.
The other party didn't seem to have the patience to accept the prisoners, or it seemed that the other party had no intention of letting go of the Talon Kingdom fleet.
Finally, Warren realized that he had to do something to save his face, or to seize the last glimmer of hope.
He looked at the pale-faced officers around him and shouted loudly: "Quick! Convey my order! Keep the fleet full on the left rudder! Leave this sea area... spread out! Escape as much as you can... escape as much as you can!"
"
Then, in shock and despair, the remaining commanders of the battleships saw an order that drove them crazy: "Disperse, leave the battlefield, and find a way to return to the Kingdom of Talon."
But they immediately realized that they seemed unable to leave.
Because, two more battleships were sunk...
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Thank you to His Majesty the Emperor for the reward. I still need to update it... It is well deserved.