The naval engagement history would come to know as the "218 Naval Battle" was the second sea clash between the Trade Alliance's Invincible Fleet and the
According to the battle results the Invincible Fleet released, the victory in this naval battle did indeed belong to them. Only the Fourth Sub-fleet had sortied, and they recaptured over thirty merchant ships loaded with military supplies that had been seized by the North Sea Fleet, escorting them back to Hidden Gold Bay. In the sea engagement, they also destroyed two of the North Sea Fleet's thunderbolt warships and four large armed warships.
However, the Invincible Fleet did not disclose their own losses. In truth, if measured by warships destroyed on both sides, the Fourth Sub-fleet had been virtually crippled. Of the over one hundred large and medium armed warships that had sortied, fewer than fifty returned to Hidden Gold Bay, and the majority of those still needed shipyard repairs. This was the real reason the Fourth Sub-fleet had remained holed up in Hidden Gold Bay, declining to venture out on patrol before the rainy season arrived. With seven thousand casualties and the loss of a Sword Saint, the Fourth Sub-fleet no longer had either the courage or the resources to sail out and fight again.
No one had anticipated that the North Sea Fleet would prove so vicious and cunning. When two thunderbolt warships and one large armed warship fell into the Fourth Sub-fleet's grasp, the fleet's commanders had secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Capturing three enemy warships and rescuing roughly thirty of their own merchant ships—even at a steep cost—was enough to report back. Moreover, having seized two of the North Sea Fleet's main warships to bring home for study, perhaps the Invincible Fleet could eventually equip itself with those bronze cannons, ensuring they wouldn't be entirely powerless against the North Sea Fleet in future encounters.
But the Fourth Sub-fleet's commanders had celebrated too soon. No one expected that the North Sea Fleet, having already broken through the encirclement, would forgo its chance to flee and instead wheel around for a counterattack—concentrating its fire on the two thunderbolt warships and the large armed merchant vessel that had fallen into the Fourth Sub-fleet's custody. Not only were all three ships sunk, but a concentrated barrage of grapeshot killed the Sword Saint who had single-handedly captured one of the thunderbolt warships, blasting him into the sea where no remains were ever found...
This was a devastating blow to the Fourth Sub-fleet. Victory had been within reach, yet the enemy still had enough strength to deliver a crushing slap. By this time, the third and fourth waves of flanking warships had arrived to join the fight. Gathered together, the Fourth Sub-fleet still had nearly a hundred warships. Excluding about a dozen that had been severely damaged by cannon fire, they still possessed formidable combat power.
But the North Sea Fleet had already broken free of the encirclement. Fourteen thunderbolt warships cruised at a distance of a thousand sea yards. The Fourth Sub-fleet's commanders decided to end the battle, ordering the fleet into a defensive formation to round up the scattered merchant ships, and to abandon the heavily damaged warships in preparation for the return voyage to Hidden Gold Bay. The distant North Sea Fleet seemed to have lost interest in further combat as well, turning and quickly vanishing into the dark expanse of sky and sea.
By the Invincible Fleet's past experience in naval engagements, this battle was over. What they did not expect was that Sembawood, having suffered a bitter defeat, had no intention of letting it end there. For the North Sea Fleet, today's engagement was an unbearable humiliation. Not only had four large armed warships been destroyed, but even two thunderbolt warships had fallen into enemy hands. Though those ships were ultimately sunk, the near-thousand crew casualties and the loss of six warships were undeniable proof of a crushing defeat.
That final turnaround strike had allowed Sembawood to glimpse an opportunity to defeat the enemy. In terms of sheer numbers, the North Sea Fleet couldn't hope to match the Fourth Sub-fleet. But the speed and agility of their warships, combined with long-range firepower that surpassed anything the enemy could muster, gave them dominance over any individual enemy warship. Thus were born the Norton Family's legendary sea wolf tactics—just like wolf packs on the open grasslands hunting wild bison, the warship group of the Fourth Sub-fleet became the bison in Sembawood and the North Sea Fleet's eyes.
Sembawood led the remaining fourteen thunderbolt warships in a wide arc, appearing suddenly behind the Fourth Sub-fleet around three in the afternoon. Seizing the moment of enemy confusion, he launched an immediate attack. Every thunderbolt warship struck and withdrew in a single pass, never engaging in sustained combat. The very first attack shattered the Fourth Sub-fleet's defensive formation. The five medium fast armed warships at the rear were sunk outright, while roughly a dozen more warships and merchant ships were damaged by cannon fire.
The Fourth Sub-fleet's commanders were in agony. If the situation continued, the entire fleet would be trapped in a position where they could only absorb punishment without the ability to fight back, and collapse would be inevitable. But to counterattack, they needed to be able to reach the enemy. Now every single North Sea Fleet thunderbolt warship was as slippery as a loach—impossible to catch. Sending warships in pursuit only saw the enemy turn and bolt; chase them too far and those pursuers might never return. Several thunderbolt warships worked in coordination, specifically targeting any warships lured out of formation. But if left alone, those thunderbolt warships would open fire the moment they entered range. The entire fleet's morale was steadily crumbling.
The Fourth Sub-fleet was not without its counterattack attempts. They tried to repeat their old strategy, hoping to once again leverage their numerical advantage to encircle the North Sea Fleet. But the North Sea Fleet didn't fall for it this time. Having learned from their earlier mistake, the moment they detected the Fourth Sub-fleet splitting into three directions to encircle, they turned tail and ran—then circled back to hammer the right-flanking warships. By the time the right-flank warships retreated, the Fourth Sub-fleet's commanders realized that roughly a dozen warships would never return...
...
At the time, the Fourth Sub-fleet's commanders all believed that if this continued, the fleet would quickly collapse and be annihilated. In their hearts, they began considering whether it was time to raise the white flag of surrender. But the rapidly darkening sky and the North Sea Fleet's ammunition finally running dry gave the Fourth Sub-fleet an unexpected lifeline. When night passed and the Fourth Sub-fleet's remnants limped back to Hidden Gold Bay the next day, the sight was too horrible to behold. Of the over one hundred and twenty warships that had sortied three days ago in high spirits, only about fifty returned, most of them still bearing the scars of cannon bombardment and hastily patched repairs on their hulls.
The only thing worth noting was that the Fourth Sub-fleet's operation had rescued over thirty merchant ships seized by the North Sea Fleet and escorted them safely back to Hidden Gold Bay. These thirty-odd merchant ships loaded with military supplies finally relieved the acute supply shortage plaguing the Trade Alliance's leadership. Now that the sea route had been severed by the Norton Family's North Sea Fleet, and news that over fifty merchant ships and cargo vessels loaded with military supplies and grain had been seized and taken to Shilowas Island had already reached the Qikede Merchant Alliance overland, they would no longer foolishly send merchant ships and cargo vessels to transport supplies straight into the wolf's den.
The Trade Alliance's leadership came to a frustrating realization: to obtain supplies and reinforcements by sea, they would first have to defeat the Norton Family's North Sea Fleet. They planned to order the Second Sub-fleet and the Qikede Merchant Alliance's armed fleet to march north in force once the rainy season ended. On one hand, this would escort supplies and reinforcements to
But before long, the Fourth Sub-fleet's post-battle summary report arrived before the Trade Alliance's leadership. In this report, every Fourth Sub-fleet commander who had participated in the battle had signed their name to vouch for its accuracy. The account of the engagement they described was shocking to the leadership—they could hardly believe that the Invincible Fleet had been utterly powerless against the Norton Family's North Sea Fleet.
A veteran captain stated an uncomfortable truth in the report: the Invincible Fleet's warships were far inferior to the Norton Family's North Sea Fleet in long-range firepower. At distances of over three hundred meters, the iron shot from the North Sea Fleet's cannons could easily shatter or punch through ten-centimeter-thick wooden hulls, and at over a hundred meters, they could snap masts as thick as a man's embrace. Meanwhile, the projectiles launched from their own warships—whether torsion catapults or the latest-model trebuchets—could barely leave a mark on an enemy hull within a hundred meters, posing absolutely no threatening damage.
More than that, even in warship design and protective capability, the Invincible Fleet's large and medium armed warships couldn't hold a candle to any of the Norton Family Fleet's main warships. Those cannon-equipped warships were supremely agile in handling, turned with lightning speed, and were significantly faster than anything in the Invincible Fleet. Their seaworthiness was far superior as well.
Perhaps the Invincible Fleet's only advantages over the Norton Family's North Sea Fleet were its numerical superiority and those small, fast ramming warships that could hold their own in the southern seas. But once rough weather struck, those small fast rammers were rendered useless. The Fourth Sub-fleet's commanders thus hoped the Trade Alliance's leadership would allocate a substantial war chest: first, to research and develop cannons; second, to construct an entirely new class of warships capable of matching the Norton Family Fleet.
The Trade Alliance's leadership read the report with grim smiles. They had long since learned that the Norton Family had invented a formidable cannon—one not much inferior to the legendary Dwarven Kingdom's national treasure, the Dwarven Cannon. The previous year, they had dispatched Sword Saints to infiltrate Northland to assassinate the still-injured
Unfortunately, while the Sword Saints had obtained a great many blueprints for new and powerful weapons from the Norton Family, not a single one contained information about cannons. It also remained unclear where the Norton Family had obtained the propellant powder. However, gazing at the map of Northland with its countless hills and mountain ranges, the Trade Alliance's leadership concluded that the Norton Family had most likely discovered a saltpeter mine, enabling them to produce the gunpowder the cannons required.
As for cannon research, the Trade Alliance pinned its hopes on the Dwarven Kingdom in the Titanini Mountains. However, communication and negotiations with the dwarves were proving difficult and would require more time and effort. The substantial research funding needed to build new warships, as proposed in the report, left the Trade Alliance's leadership with no solution in sight.
Though the Trade Alliance was renowned for its vast wealth and power, this did not mean it possessed limitless treasure. Since the Glass War, the Trade Alliance had been viewed with hostility by surrounding nations, its commercial activities systematically suppressed—a situation that ultimately forced it to adopt a policy of outward expansion to safeguard its commercial interests and sphere of influence. After expending enormous time and effort to crush and dismantle the hostile Central-Southern Kingdom Alliance, the Trade Alliance had risen to become the Galentea Continent's largest nation by territory. But now it found itself locked in conflict with the Andinak Kingdom, and the intensity of this war dwarfed every conflict the Trade Alliance had previously been involved in.
At such a critical juncture, where could they possibly redirect the enormous funds needed for new warship research...
The Fourth Sub-fleet's post-battle summary report brought the Trade Alliance's leadership to a consensus: they would destroy the Norton Family's North Sea Fleet and capture Shilowas Island at absolutely any cost. Since the Norton Family Fleet had already pulled far ahead of the Invincible Fleet—making it impossible for the latter to catch up in the short term—they would seize the opportunity while the North Sea Fleet was still small, leveraging the Invincible Fleet's overwhelming numbers to annihilate this enemy. No matter how great the sacrifice, they had to drag the Norton Family's naval power down to the Invincible Fleet's level, so both sides could then compete on equal footing.
Once Shilowas Island was captured, there would be no need to worry even if the Norton Family poured massive resources into naval development. Without Shilowas Island, the Norton Family would lose both the initiative on the naval battlefield and their anchorage base, rendering them incapable of threatening the sea trade routes south of Hidden Gold Bay. The Trade Alliance's leadership was supremely confident: with the sunny seas and golden coastline of the continent's central and southern regions, the Invincible Fleet would only grow stronger and faster. Against that, how could the Norton Family—relying on a remote and desolate Northland—hope to challenge the Trade Alliance's Invincible Fleet on the open seas once more?
Having steeled their resolve, the Trade Alliance's leadership once again expanded the scale of the northern expeditionary fleet. This time, they planned to have the Invincible Fleet's First Sub-fleet, stationed in the Qigeda Kingdom, also march north. It would first rendezvous with the Second Sub-fleet, then join forces with the Qikede Merchant Alliance's armed fleet to escort grain, military supplies, and reinforcements to Hidden Gold Bay. After that, every available fleet would converge for a direct strike at Shilowas Island. So what if the Norton Family's North Sea Fleet was formidable? How could a dozen cannon-equipped warships possibly stand against seven or eight hundred warships? Even as target practice, they couldn't possibly shoot down that many...
Just as the Trade Alliance's leadership was calculating how to attack Shilowas Island and sever the Norton Family Fleet's threat to the sea routes, Sembawood was leading his fourteen thunderbolt warships back to Shilowas Island. In Sembawood's eyes, this sortie had been a failure. Not only had four large armed warships been destroyed, but he had personally ordered two thunderbolt warships scuttled. For Sembawood and every member of the North Sea Fleet, this was an unbearable humiliation.
When the North Sea Fleet later employed the correct sea wolf tactics to besiege the enemy, and the Fourth Sub-fleet's warships were dwindling—just a little more effort and they could have achieved total annihilation—the North Sea Fleet's ammunition ran dry. Sembawood had no choice but to retreat in frustration with his fourteen thunderbolt warships back to Shilowas Island. The near-victory slipping through his fingers left Sembawood seething. Now he could only hope that the warships sent to Northland's Ox Horn Bay for cannon retrofitting would return as soon as possible.
But the rainy season was fast approaching, and Sembawood had no window to once again sail toward the sea routes south of Hidden Gold Bay to hunt down the Invincible Fleet. The thunderbolt warships that had returned from this battle all required shipyard repairs of varying degrees. Sembawood could only bury his desire for vengeance deep in his heart, waiting for the rainy season to pass before settling accounts with the Invincible Fleet.
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