rise of empire total war

Chapter 401
"A sea battle can ruin your whole day. - Thucydides, the ancient Greek historian who is comparable to Herodotus"

……

March 1120, 3 Continental Calendar, South Ossa Sea.

It has been nearly a year since the Winster army invaded the Osa Peninsula. During this time, the Winster fleet equipped with artillery swept across the Osa Sea, stopping merchant ships sailing in various names such as collecting protection fees. , Ask them for the so-called protection fee, if someone refuses to hand it in, they will be detained in the name of colluding with pirates, and all the goods will be confiscated.

Such banditry quickly aroused dissatisfaction among various countries, especially the Acarnanian Alliance, a major trade country. They had always wanted to attack the Kingdom of Winster, but suffered from different opinions among the city-states within the alliance. Some agreed to start a war, while others opposed it. , so there has been no unanimous opinion.However, after the Kingdom of Winster went to war against the Republic of Gadir, an ally of the Acarnanian Alliance that possessed sulfur resources, they no longer had any worries. The kingdom declares war.

After the war, the Alliance Navy, which had been prepared for a long time, sailed away from the port and rushed towards the Winster Navy on the Osa Sea. In order to completely eliminate the disgusting Winster Navy, the Acarnanian Alliance dispatched almost the entire The 120 nine battleships at the Alliance's disposal were twice as many as the First Fleet commanded by General Sigurd.

Looking at the Acarnanian Alliance Fleet faintly encircling the opposite side, Sigurd on the flagship put down the early long-term telescope in his hand. When De learned about it, he guided the creation of these early telescopes.

"Pass down the order and prepare to meet the enemy." He said to the adjutant behind him, and the adjutant heard his words and went to convey his order to the sailors hanging on the sail, who waved the command flag to pass the order to other warships.

All of a sudden, while the colorful flags were waving, the 52 Hawker gunboats of the First Fleet were ready for battle. Window, shoot out.Not only the guns in the cabin are being reloaded intensely, but the musketeer sailors on the deck of the warship are also loading ammunition, as are the heavy artillery deployed on the front and rear deck towers.

At this moment, Sigurd looked at the sail above his head, which was constantly beating with the sea wind. He looked at the bright sunshine again, compared it, and he was overjoyed. The southeast wind is conducive to the operations of the First Fleet.

"Send the order, take the initiative to attack, and let the enemy groan under our artillery!"

Full of confidence, he ordered to the adjutant, and his order was immediately conveyed to the captains of other warships by the standard bearer. The captains who can become Hawker gunships are all experienced, and they immediately understood what Sigurd meant. , So, under the horrified eyes of the sailors on the Acarnanian Alliance warship opposite, the Winster fleet, which was obviously inferior in number, accelerated towards them and rushed over on their own initiative.

"Damn the Winstonians! What an arrogance!"

"Are they crazy? We have 120 nine warships!"

"God of the Sea, they must be looking for their own death!"

"..."

The sailors' discussions spread everywhere, reaching the ears of the captains of the warships. They were also very surprised, and they all looked at the flagship in the center of the fleet, hoping to get orders from the fleet commander.

Their ideas did not come to fruition. In the eyes of the captains, the flagship quickly waved the colorful flag. The colorful flag was very conspicuous in this white or blue world. After reading the flag language, the captains , one after another came to their senses and shouted loudly in Osa language: "Attack! Raise the wooden paddles, we want to show the arrogant Winsters how powerful the people protected by the Sea God are!"

"call!"

The attack order sounded, and these galley warships with various patterns painted on the sails slowly moved forward. The huge wood pulp exposed from both sides of the cabin continued to beat the sea surface under the hard push of the warship slaves, driving the heavy The warships moved forward, how slow their speed was compared to the Winster warship. Under the favorable wind, the Hawker gunboat, which was heavier than them, actually moved at a high speed, and soon entered the effective range of the artillery. within the range.

In the next second, the artillery fired in unison, and the heavy artillery deployed on the front deck tower fired the first shot. 52 black solid bullets escaped from the moment the sparks burst, rolled at high speed in mid-air, and flew towards the moving Alliance Fleet, amidst the ear-piercing whistling sound, solid shells hit the hull of the wooden warship heavily. The large hole that was pierced poured into the cabin, drowning the slaves who were fixed in place.

Although the power of the shells fired by the heavy artillery is so great (of course the artillery equipped in the cabin can also have such an effect), its accuracy is also inversely proportional to its power. The shells fired by the 52 gunboats are actually only pitiful. A few of the shots hit the target, and the rest either hit the water or just missed the boat pole, smashing the wooden boat pole, and fell heavily on the deck, crushing a few unlucky bugs who couldn't dodge.

After the first round of test firing, the artillery operators continued to load ammunition without checking the results. The rough sea made their loading more difficult, but they still successfully completed the loading.The range of the artillery is farther than the ballista equipped on the alliance warships, so before the Hawker gunship enters the range of the ballista, the heavy artillery deployed on the front deck tower has completed several launches, almost every salvo , can sink several enemy warships.

Such a terrifying weapon demoralized the Alliance sailors before the battle. They looked at the broken pieces of wood floating on the sea behind them, the sinking warships, and the drowned and floating corpses, and their hearts were filled with fear. In addition to fear, they are not afraid of death. In fact, they have fought many pirates, but what they fear is being killed by the enemy's mysterious weapons at a long distance.

Finally, the Hawker gunship entered the range of the ballista on board, and the sailors of the alliance quickly manipulated the ballista, aimed at the enemy ship that was getting closer and closer to them, and pulled down the launch mechanism. The giant crossbow bolts with the thickness of a human calf were ejected and flew towards the Winster fleet. However, due to the headwind, the trajectory of the giant crossbow bolts was affected, and most of them fell into the air. Some unlucky sailor was crucified on the deck.

"Freedom to fight!" Sigurd shouted loudly, and his flag-bearer hurriedly waved the colored flag to pass on his order, and then he shouted again: "Full left rudder! Prepare for shelling!"

"call!"

Following Sigurd's order, the straight-ahead flagship suddenly turned left, exposing the side of the cabin to the sight of the alliance fleet. The next second, the four windows on the cabin were suddenly opened, and the black cannon was pushed out. With the waves of the sea, it sways and aims at the enemy ships that are getting closer and closer!
"Cannon salvo!"

Rumble-

The four cannons in the cabin instantly roared like thunder, and the whole battleship tilted in the opposite direction as if it had been hit hard, causing violent waves. The tragic sea battle officially kicked off!
(End of this chapter)