Munitions Empire

This time, General Valen finally saw clearly the warship that was pursuing him—he saw through his own telescope the leading Wolf No. 1 cruiser.

It was the first time he had seen a warship of this design: without sails and with a low profile, no wonder he could only see the diffuse black smoke on the sea surface from a distance before.

The sides of the warship were very high, and if one looked carefully at the bow, one could see a large cannon pointing toward the side.

Only that cannon was mounted on a turret, a design he had never seen before, and it looked quite novel.

Then, he saw that cannon spit out a burst of flame, which looked like it had fired. Because the warships behind him blocked the view, Valen could not see the shells hitting their target, only hearing the distant sound of cannon fire like the rolling of thunder.

Finally, after the fleet had completed its turn, the relative positions of the two sides were essentially the shape of the number 11.

Only the one behind that 11 was a little bit shorter.

However, this was not a problem at all, for compared with before, the length of the Taren Kingdom's fleet had already been significantly reduced…

At this moment, after more than two hours of fighting, the formations of both sides had returned to the most basic state of two parallel lines.

Compared with the previous formations, the Taren Kingdom's main fleet had simply made a 180-degree turn, with no other change except that the course was opposite to that at the onset of the battle.

As for the four warships of the Great Tang Group, it was as if they had circled around the enemy's main fleet and returned to their original course.

During these more than two hours of combat, the warships of the Great Tang Group were almost unscathed, while the Taren Kingdom's fleet had already lost 30 ships, leaving only a pitiable 36 warships still holding on.

If it weren't for the need to take a wide turn, the attack efficiency of the Tang Group might have been higher, and they might have been able to sink a few more of Taren Kingdom's warships.

General Valen, who already knew he was at a disadvantage, was at this moment also considering how to change the current situation.

He had not dared to issue new combat orders before because he was afraid that the fleet formation would collapse and completely lose command.

Now that his formation had returned to a simpler shape, this gave him another opportunity to act.

Thus, this time he decided to order the fleet to turn right, to seize the T formation from the front, getting the initiative to open fire for a desperate counterattack.

Although he did not know exactly how many of his own warships were left, he could still judge that at least 40 remained that could support his all-out effort.

This time, he had already lost too much—if he could not bring the final victory back to Taren Kingdom, then he might as well die for his country as the Navy's commander-in-chief.

So he must go all-in, he must win, he had never thought of fleeing, let alone surrendering.

"Order the fleet to turn! Full rudder to the right! Seize the broadside formation!" General Valen ordered furiously.

He had been pondering for a long time, so he was a bit out of his mind by now. He wanted revenge, to completely annihilate the Great Tang fleet before his eyes!

Immediately after, the signalman standing at the top of his mast began to relay orders, and the command to continue turning was immediately transmitted to the warships on both sides.

Since his flagship had been the first to execute the turn command just now, his warship had moved up several places in the fleet.

Stay tuned for updates on

This time, his warship was the first to begin the turn, and so his ship immediately took up the third position in the fleet order.

What he did not know was that he now had only 32 warships left; four of the sail warships that had been caught up to could never execute his orders again.

Explosions were still coming non-stop, and there were still warships hit by shells that lost the ability to continue fighting. Floating on the sea surface were wooden planks and bodies, as well as battle flags and sails.

Finally, a captain of the Taren Kingdom, aboard a sailing warship in the middle of the fleet, could no longer bear the pressure.

He leaned on the railing of the ship's side, looking back at the enemy warships that were gradually approaching, devoid of his usual composure.

Soon, he withdrew his head and turned to his executive officer: "Valen that bastard is trying to take us to our deaths! He has been relaying the wrong commands all along!"

"But what can we do?" the executive officer asked numbly.

The battle had reached this stage, and everyone knew that the Taren Kingdom's Navy had suffered heavy losses. Even if they ultimately won this fight, their remaining warships were already completely incapable of maintaining the trade routes in the southern waters of the Endless Sea.

Unless the rebellion they were plotting within Dorne Kingdom succeeded, they might have a chance to catch their breath.

Once the other side suppressed the rebellion and had the energy to do so, they would certainly make trouble at sea and vie for interest while Taren Kingdom was weak.

The despairing truth was, the Taren Kingdom was a maritime nation, and its interests at sea were its core interests...

"Order the warship to turn hard to port! We're getting out of this damned place!" the captain looked at his executive officer, trying to convince him to flee alongside the cowardly captain himself.

Sure enough, the executive officer hesitated, because deserting in the face of the enemy was undoubtedly a serious crime, and he wasn't ready to lose his promising future.

But if they turned hard to starboard like the warships ahead, they would certainly meet the ferocious enemy ships behind them. Then, forget about promotion or wealth, there would be no chance of even saving their own lives.

"Captain! This is desertion in the face of the enemy, if those above pursue the matter, we both will be dealt with by military law!" reminded the executive officer, trembling with fear.

"This isn't running away! This is a retreat! The enemy is too powerful! Do we really want to sit here and wait for death?" the more the captain spoke, the more he felt justified, and his tone became even more resolute.

He looked at his executive officer and didn't wait for a response, continuing on his own: "Besides, if all the warships are sunk here, wouldn't the Taren Kingdom be finished? Our departure... carries the embers! Carries hope!"

At this point, he was even astonished by the excuse or reason he'd found for himself, and his eyes shone with excitement.

The executive officer swallowed hard and glanced at the chaotic friendly warships behind them. Finally, his will to survive overcame his courage.

He nodded and agreed, saying, "Then we turn hard to port... You, you make the call."

Hearing his executive officer finally compromise, the captain secretly relaxed the hand that had been gripping the hilt of the Longsword at his waist and finally suppressed the fierce look on his face.

He waved his hand and commanded loudly, "Hard to port! Immediate hard to port! Let the warships behind us follow! We're breaking off from the fleet, leaving this place!"

Soon, this warship began to break away from the fleet, leaving the captain of the lead Taren Kingdom warship utterly confused.

He was sure that the order he relayed was hard to starboard, yet the other ship was now breaking away from the fleet, dashing off into the distance.

"What is Mad Rush doing?" the Taren Kingdom captain, who happened to see the friendly warship behind him breaking away from the fleet and dashing toward the edge of the battle, furiously demanded.

Under his gaze, the sail warship known as Mad Rush was moving exactly opposite to their turning direction, veering its bow to the left.

"It seems... they've turned the wrong way," the executive officer heard his voice, looked behind, confirmed after a long pause, and finally spoke.

"How could this mistake happen!" the captain, who had guessed something, walked to the stern railing, leaned on it, and stared at the departing Mad Rush, lost in thought.

Following the lead of the sail ship called Mad Rush, the captain of another Taren Kingdom sail warship shamelessly followed Mad Rush, fleeing the battlefield.

Two warships took the wrong turn, completely disorganizing the subsequent ships. In the end, these bewildered warships, some turning left, some right, made the previously tidy formation completely fall apart.

And General Valen, who had just completed the turn and was watching the fleet behind him, also saw this scene. He noticed that at least three warships had left the line of battle and begun fleeing the battlefield.

He also counted the warships still with the fleet, and the number that remained was already fewer than thirty.

Nevertheless, he still felt he had regained the advantage because he had seized a better position and was about to get the chance to open fire.

He believed that as long as he had the chance to fire, there was the possibility of turning defeat into victory. So full of confidence, he thought there was still hope to turn the tide in this sea battle.

But then, the executive officer returned to his side with a somber face, bringing news: "Sir! A message from the warships behind us! They say, the enemy's warships are made of steel!"

"Steel? The hulls are covered with steel on the outside of wooden ships?" Valen, not quite understanding his executive officer's meaning, asked in confusion.

"No, the term used... doesn't seem like it's covered with steel, but rather 'built with a steel hull,'" the executive officer explained.

"Impossible! Steel warships, without sails... How do they achieve such speed?" asked Valen, incredulous.

Without waiting for the executive officer to answer, he roared in a fit of anger, "Those cowards! To escape, they actually concoct such rumors that the enemy's warships are made of steel! Scoundrels! Scoundrels!"

He linked this report with the fleeing warships, and thus didn't believe a single word of it.

At this point, his formation was already in disarray, and he was left with only about twenty warships that could still follow him in battle.

"Never mind all that! When we get back, I'll deal with those cowards who desert in the face of the enemy!" Valen drew the Longsword from his waist, aiming toward the Great Tang Fleet, and commanded, "Follow me to a bitter fight! Prepare to fire!"

---------

I still owe everyone 4 more chapters.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!