Pirate Kingship

Countless ridges split the white waves, like a brave knight fighting in close combat.

Gun smoke filled the entire ship, the main sails were all retracted to prevent being ignited by the sparks running on the deck, and the hot shells whizzed through the upper, middle and lower gun decks.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

In the scorching flames, wood chips flew, and the human body hit by the heavy artillery was blown into a bloody mist in the air, and the broken limbs were scattered everywhere.

But unfortunately, the tragic bombardment had just begun.

"Fight back! After a round of salvos, all gun groups are free to fight back!"

"All gunpowder monkeys move, gunpowder, I need more gunpowder."

"Shoot all the shells out in the shortest time possible"

The fast sailing ships made by the Kingdom of Hettings are very different from the large galleons of the Kingdom of Castile.

The former has a more smooth and graceful appearance and a larger aspect ratio, which is the first factor in increasing the sailing speed.

The hull of the Hastings fast sailing ship is lower, with fewer superstructures, and the towering poop is replaced by a relatively flat double-layer rear deck.

Even if they do not have the courage to completely flatten the deck of the heavy cruiser, their forecastle and poop heights are 25%-45% lower than those of the standard large galleon.

In addition, the former can also install more sails, and the improvement of the sails also makes the fast sailing ship have more outstanding performance when sailing against the wind at a large angle.

In short, this kind of ship was designed entirely for artillery battles from the beginning, and it was never considered to be used as a platform for boarding battles.

Therefore, at this moment, the civil war of the Channel Fleet is undoubtedly the peak showdown of this era between "line tactics" and "line tactics".

And when a battleship enters its combat position to form a battle line, it is strictly forbidden to leave its queue and "leave the team to sail on its own". Violators will be treated as deserters.

There is a high probability that they will be shot on the spot during the war, and there will be no chance to go to the military court.

In addition, the training of the armed personnel on both sides is exactly the same, and even the race is exactly the same. The strengths and weaknesses are the same, so the consequences of the close-range artillery fire are particularly tragic.

"Ah--!"

"The waterline is hit, the shipwright and the damage control team should hurry up."

"Doctor! I'm applying for the quota of [Super-Speed ​​Healing]. Bandaging doesn't work, and the bleeding won't stop."

"Reload! Free fire until they are knocked down!"

The sound of gunfire, screams and the shouts of officers intertwined, making this civil war rush to the climax from the beginning.

A real third-level battleship with more than 74 guns is completely different from a cruiser.

The firepower configuration of a most common third-level ship with 74 guns is usually: 28 32-pound guns, 30 24-pound guns, and 16 9-pound guns, with a one-time projection mass of up to a terrifying 1,760 pounds.

Some people say that wooden battleships equipped with heavy artillery are like a group of eggshells wielding hammers, which is the other extreme compared to the strong defense and weak attack of the bastion.

Although this statement is a bit exaggerated, the effect of close shooting within 100 meters is indeed similar to the army musket team's line shooting at a distance of 20 meters.

You should know that officers in the Age of Discovery have learned a military common sense.

When a 32-pound cannon is loaded with 8 pounds of propellant, it can penetrate the oak bulwark by 1.2 meters when fired from a distance of 1,000 meters.

The side of the hull is indeed a thick wooden wall with dense ribs, up to one meter thick at the thickest point.

But when facing the iron ball fired by the cannon hundreds of meters away, it will still be easily penetrated, and the defense is even more impressive when the distance is pulled within 100 meters.

Superstition about the seemingly thick oak bulwark is as ridiculous as superstition that the car door can block rifle bullets.

That is just a false sense of security created by the "brain" for the soldiers.

Of course, the navy needs to rely on solid iron balls that will not explode, and continuously fire hundreds or even hundreds of rounds to turn the hull of the enemy ship into a hornet's nest.

But even so, the warship would not necessarily sink, because the underwater part of the hull was still intact.

This might not be a good thing for the soldiers, as it meant that they would have to endure longer cannon fire.

Once they encountered high sea conditions during the retreat, the big waves leaked through the shattered hull, and the final capsizing of the ship was still an inevitable outcome.

Just ten minutes after the first shot was fired.

Whoosh!

[Golden Deer] and a whole Seventh Fleet consisting of thirty warships of level five or above, surrounded by a large group of storm elves summoned by Byron, successfully seized the upper hand and killed in front of the Sixth Fleet of the Security Fleet under the Earl's Party.

Before the foreign aid of both sides joined the battlefield.

The Earl's Party was equipped with at least ten or more level three ships: the Second Fleet and the Fourth Fleet, as well as the Sixth Fleet of the Security Fleet.

The Royal Party was equipped with the Main Third Fleet, the Fifth Security Fleet, and the Seventh Colonial Fleet.

The commanders of both sides dispatched three fleets to fight against each other.

The story of horse racing is similar. [King Maker] Warwick originally planned to let his weakest security fleet hold off the third fleet, the only main fleet of the royal party.

His strongest second fleet defeated the seventh fleet of the royal party, the second strongest colony, and his second strongest fourth fleet defeated the fifth fleet, the weakest security fleet of the other side.

He did not pursue a complete victory, as long as he could break up two of the battle lines.

In this way, we can concentrate our superior forces to surround and kill the royal party's third fleet in the shortest time and at the lowest cost!

Fox Douglas, the commander of the Fourth Fleet of the Earl Party, [Angry Fox], relied on the ability of the strange object battleship [Vanguard] to "seize the opportunity" and successfully gained the upper hand of the security fleet, taking the lead in firing.

But when the Sixth Fleet in the Earl's party was destined to become cannon fodder, it relied on its own mobility to take the initiative to pounce on the Third Fleet where Edward IV was located.

But he was intercepted by Byron, who had already obtained information about the count's military deployment from the mouths of the devil in the bottle and the succubus.

Shout out to Edward IV:

"Your Majesty, don't panic, I'm here to save you!"

Then, regardless of whether the other party agreed or not, he relied on his unparalleled mobility to take over the enemy's weakest Sixth Fleet.

The general used a trick to push Edward IV's Third Fleet to Warwick and the Second Fleet who were flying behind.

In the chaos of the war, no one could afford to think so much.

Moreover, each of them felt that they still had trump cards in hand, and the error tolerance rate was still within the controllable range. Due to a combination of circumstances, a three-party battlefield was formed.

As for why Warwick chose to sacrifice his Sixth Fleet instead of filling it with the allies' pirate fleet?

He's not stupid.

Just like when fighting a critical battle, the troops must be elite troops with strict orders and prohibitions. If any general has a brain and dares to put the "slave army" in a key position, just wait for them to collapse at the first touch and bring down the whole situation.

If you want to harm your teammates, you must also pay attention to skills.

"Eh? Bizhi, we actually met an old acquaintance?"

Byron held the steering wheel, activated the Dragon Training Technique and merged with his "Dragon" [Golden Deer] man-ship, leading the Seventh Fleet to take the lead and merge face to face with the Sixth Fleet.

It was discovered that there was an old acquaintance among this cannon fodder team.

And it was the "big enemy" who had driven them away and almost died in the "Novice Village".

Eight Fingers, the honest man who was responsible for leading [Deathwing] as a guard for Byron, immediately recognized him. He grinned, revealing his white teeth:

"It turned out to be [Severe]! Apparently the great Holy Spirit did not visit them today."

What was approaching was the fifth-level cruiser [Severe] that had chased and killed the [Man-eating Shark] in the Strait of Dover (Chapter 8).

It seems to be because when the royal party and the earl party had not yet broken up, they worked together to capture the remnants of the Lancastrian party, but accidentally let Byron go.

As a result, the future of all personnel on this battleship, which was originally affiliated with the Sixth Fleet, was bleak.

Two years later, we still can only guard this small cruiser and have no chance to upgrade the battleship.

This time the war for the throne was sent by Warwick as cannon fodder, which was a really rough fate.

The [Fortress Guard] captain with the shield on his back naturally didn't know that he and the "Sea Hunter" had such a grudge.

Seeing the [Golden Deer] emitting brilliant light like a sun coming from above.

Before he even got close to the effective range of 100 meters, he was so frightened that he couldn't help but raise his command knife high and give a stern order: "Fire!"

The fifth-level ship has a front-to-back artillery deck equipped with 20 12-pound guns, and an open-air deck equipped with 12 6-pound guns. Of the 32 guns in total, half of the guns on the enemy side flashed with flames.

Scattered shells flew towards the [Golden Deer].

But most of them only made a splash in the sea, and the rest were easily blocked by the "Border Mystery Lock", not even touching the teak bulwarks on the ship that were comparable to iron armor.

In the absence of an absolute advantage, the first salvo is usually the only decent shot by the weaker side.

After a salvo, each gun position fires randomly at its fastest speed until the opponent is beaten into submission.

But if the difference in firepower is too big, it's like a skinny guy in a slap contest who slaps a strong guy dozens of times, but it's okay if the opponent slaps him once, and he may be reimbursed on the spot.

"not good!"

Even though the [Stern] had already accepted its status as cannon fodder, a round of volley fire failed to even damage the enemy's hair, and its morale suddenly plummeted.

Byron had only one response. Under the precise control of his "ship control skills", the two 42-pound carron cannons in the upper gun deck opened fire one after another.

Two cannonballs enchanted with storm weapons carried electric light, hitting the [Severity] one after another like sniper rifles.

A shell penetrated the 76-centimeter-thick lower deck bulwark diagonally, and then continued flying until it hit the iron elbow on the other side of the ship.

The high-speed rotating enchanted cannonball did not kill anyone, but suddenly bounced downward at a subtle angle, penetrating the artillery deck and then penetrating the lower deck and the bottom of the ship.

The sea water rushed in with a "swishing" sound.

Another shell followed the first shell through the hole it made, and also bounced downward.

However, slight ballistic corrections were made based on the first shell, and it penetrated the ammunition depot below the waterline with great accuracy!

But it was Byron who used the battleship to use the "Gun Fighting Technique" he created, controlling the trajectory at will, and using a mere front-loading smoothbore cannon to produce the effect of guided missiles.

[Gun Fighting Technique] is more skillful and more universal than Storm Elves and Gun Demon Spirits. It is a practical ability that every [Storm Knight] can learn.

Also dubbed by Byron as: "carbon-based guidance."

The next moment.

Boom——! ! !

The heavily protected ammunition depot below the waterline exploded tragically.

The dazzling fireball expanded rapidly with the ammunition depot as the center, and the scorching high-temperature shock wave swept wildly in all directions.

The fragile oak hull collapsed instantly like a piece of paper, and both the ship's planks and human bodies were easily torn to pieces, and then turned into ashes in an instant in the high temperature.

Even the iron cannons equipped on the ship were swept by countless fire dragons, and were blown up into the sky and twisted beyond recognition.

"Hiss! The Severe exploded!"

Shortly after the war began, Byron gave everyone a tragic start, and also made the Sixth Fleet facing his front gasp.

Just two shells sent the [Severe] into the sky, which was so terrifying.

They originally thought that the survival rate would be slightly higher after avoiding Edward IV's main fleet, but now it seems that the Seventh Fleet that came back from the colonies seems to be even more brutal.

But no matter how frightened they were, they could only charge forward.

The flagship of the Sixth Fleet, a level 4 rare warship [Northern Snow Wind], which was responsible for the defense, was lined up side by side with the leading [Golden Deer].

The captain swallowed dryly and encouraged his crew:

"Don't be afraid! [Northern Snow Wind] is the most famous auspicious warship among all the warships in the Strait Fleet, and it is blessed by the Creator.

Even the [unlucky guy] Raymond on the opposite side who always kills his teammates is not worthy of being compared with us.

Don't worry, it's others who die, and we [Northern Snow Wind] will survive to the end!"

Byron knew all the situations of the battleships under his own kingdom, and even took the handwritten order of his father, the former naval marshal, and personally drove every level 3 or above battleship in the Strait Fleet.

As his uncle handed over the crown to him intact, Byron also became the "owner" of most of the warships in the Strait Fleet.

Unfortunately, these were all "lost items" that were stolen, not his "investments", and could not use the power of [First Stock].

Of course, he also remembered the famous [Northern Snow Wind] very clearly, and even thought of asking his father to give it to him as a ship.

The reason is that this ship is too durable!

"The construction time of [Northern Snow Wind] has exceeded 30 years, and it is a truly old ship.

However, after experiencing the Hundred Years' War, the Red and White Rose War, and the fierce battle between the two parties, it became the only surviving ship among the eight "Northern Class" battleships of the same period.

What's more bizarre is that in the brutal wars, [Northern Snow Wind] participated in countless escort missions, serving as the close guard of third-level, second-level battleships and even first-level battleships.

Most of the escort missions ended in failure, and the escorted battleships were beaten into sieves, but it itself was unscathed like a spring outing.

That [legendary wronged species] Raymond can only kill his colleagues, but this battleship always kills friendly ships that are bigger and more expensive than itself!"

It was clearly asked to be a sword-carrying guard for others, but once it encountered danger, it immediately protected the boss firmly in front of it, grabbed his neck and killed him out of the siege.

At the beginning, it was just a series of coincidences, and there was no mysterious force involved.

But over time, the reputation of this battleship gradually spread, and even became a consensus among the navy and the enemy countries. [Kitadi Yukikaze] finally gained real extraordinary abilities.

The only ability "Friendly ships die but the ship itself does not die":

"It can slightly interfere with fate and distribute the aura of disaster gathered on itself to friendly ships, especially those that are larger than it.

In other words, when a shell hits, it will kindly help them re-plan their trajectory and show a signpost to those shells: 'Pick the biggest one to hit!'

Then the larger sailboats around it will be hit instead of it."

Extraordinary abilities are always more reassuring than illusory fate. After figuring out the principle, it was kicked to the security fleet that only had cruisers but no battleships.

No ship is bigger than it, so naturally there will be no more victims.

During naval battles, you can also arrange a few worthless large merchant ships to be placed next to it to attract firepower for it, and its survival rate will be instantly maxed out.

Who can not love such auspicious warships?

Byron is no exception.

"In order to maintain the "great loyal minister" persona, I had to join the main attack from the beginning, and I was just trying to find a way to let Edward IV and Warwick fight each other first.

[Northland Snow Wind] came at the right time."

The specific capabilities of the strange warship are military secrets to outsiders, and "Byron Tudor, Earl of Stromberg" should not know it.

So his shells were unsurprisingly affected by the extraordinary capabilities of the enemy ships. After using "United as One" to protect his own fleet, he became a salary thief openly.

He focused most of his attention on the core battlefields of the Second Fleet and the Third Fleet.

Quietly wait for the balance to tilt, so that he, the key minority, will become the decisive force in the turning point of the war.

Then the fleet commander [Star Shooter] Barrett on the royal party's quasi-legendary battleship [Centaur] shouted:

"Constellation summons! The entire fleet is blessed with precision, artillery range is increased, and a penetrating shot is fired! Fire!"

A bright starlight descended from the sky covered with gunpowder smoke, and turned into a centaur emblem over the entire Third Fleet, inlaying a layer of silver edges on all dozens of warships.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The battle line launched the first salvo at a distance of 300 meters, and countless shells landed on the heads of the second fleet with exceptional accuracy.

Most quasi-legendary warships have one or more capabilities close to the level of legendary warships, and the impact range and strength can at least benefit the entire fleet.

However, because there is no [Ship Spirit], it is like humans have a good physique but have not learned the "flow" to perfectly control themselves and exert their 100% potential.

If they encounter a real legendary warship, they will only be easily defeated.

The ability of this [Centaur] is related to Centaur as the name suggests.

The centaurs in the mythological era are the best archers and can greatly improve the shooting ability of this fleet.

Like the world-famous Hastings archers, the Hastings have a racial bonus in the track of long-range attacks.

The other quasi-legendary warship [Royal Oak] on the opposite side is no worse.

Like [Golden Deer] and [Dreadnought], its name itself carries a powerful extraordinary power.

As long as an oak warship is given this name, it will immediately have the corresponding quasi-legendary skill.

[King Maker] Warwick threw an acorn and shouted:

"Oak Blessing!"

The acorn instantly collapsed, and a phantom towering oak tree as high as 100 meters grew out of it, which also produced countless acorns, shaking them down on the warships of the side, and then growing more oak trees and producing more acorns

In the blink of an eye, a battle line composed of oak warships turned into an oak forest belt, and all the warships became connected "roots".

The ordinary oak material suddenly became extremely tough, and the shells that could easily penetrate the bulwarks were partially bounced off and partially stuck inside the bulwarks.

Only the 42-pound main gun of the first-level ship could still penetrate the oak planks, but its power was greatly reduced.

The third fleet of the royal party had to move closer to pull itself into the opponent's range.

In the Channel Islands, oak has a special meaning. It symbolizes strength and tenacity. It is the national tree of Hastings and represents the indomitable spirit of this country.

After the oak blessing is activated, a series of related buffs can naturally be provided to the fleet: Oak Guard, Bowtruckle, Healing Aura, etc.

It is particularly worth mentioning that the three main islands on Byron's [Crown of Power] are represented by roses, thistles and clover respectively.

It is said that on the second largest Clover Island, there existed an ancient extreme environmental protection organization "Druid Sect" in the mythological era.

The mythical creature Druid is also called [Oak Sage] and masters a variety of natural witchcraft.

When the great red dragon Abaddon ruled here, it was a notorious thorn.

As a group of extreme environmentalists, they even want to ban everyone from using fire and let all intelligent creatures return to the most primitive Paleolithic Age.

If this group of [Oak Sages] still lived on this land, they would definitely not like Byron's "Industrial Revolution" and would not allow him to replicate the industrial center of the colony on the Channel Islands.

Fortunately, they have disappeared, right?

"Warwick!"

"Edward!"

On the Royal Oak and Centaur, which were a hundred meters apart, Edward IV and Warwick stared at each other. This pair of once close political allies now wanted to tear each other's bones and eat each other's flesh.

However, because of the attack and defense of the quasi-legendary warships, they had to fall into a stalemate, and could only compete to see who had a stronger will and who had a stronger ability to withstand casualties.

After they gritted their teeth and fired at each other for almost ten rounds, they finally couldn't hold on any longer after hearing the painful groans of the wounded and even the nobles.

They unanimously revealed their prepared trump cards and shouted one after another:

"Help me, Dreadnought!"

"Help me, King Edward!"

As soon as the words fell, Byron and his father did not deliberately delay time, and commanded the fleet to descend on the battlefield at the same time.

In addition to the heavy cruisers that were still kept as a trump card to guard against another old fox, the pirate fleet was the first to sail out of the "border maze", and then the ghost fleet also jumped into the material world from the edge of the world.

Then, they ignored each other, but moved in unison, with several fleets in the "battle line" mode, and directly penetrated the opponent's main fleet that had experienced more than a dozen rounds of bombardment.

Those who know the business can see at a glance that they are preparing to use the next version of "ship maneuver tactics" to break this version of "line tactics".

It was used once when breaking the treasure fleet, and the effect was very good!

At this time, neither Edward IV nor Warwick realized it.

While the two support forces were dividing and dismembering the second and third fleets, they also vaguely surrounded the two quasi-legendary battleships [Royal Oak] and [Centaur] in the middle of the encirclement.

After all, in their view, half of the people inside and outside the circle are my people, and the situation is under control. How can it be considered an encirclement?

Wise! [The Emperor's New Clothes] likes them!