The resonant calls of conch horns echoed across the sea and sky, continuous and unbroken.
It was the morning of June seventh—clear, gentle, and bright with sunshine. It would have been perfect for a seafood barbecue on the deck. Unfortunately, Lorist had stayed up all night guarding against a possible night raid by the Invincible Fleet, only managing a brief nap at dawn. But he had barely closed his eyes before Genollio came in to wake him—the Invincible Fleet was attacking.
Lorist didn't understand why the Invincible Fleet had passed up such a golden opportunity the previous night. Under cover of darkness, they could have reduced the accuracy of the cannon fire. Yet for some unknown reason, they had remained anchored in place throughout the night, only launching their desperate charge at the
"This must be their entire force coming out..." Lorist remarked approvingly, though he thought the Invincible Fleet's commander was foolish. Knowing full well the Norton Family fleet's long-range cannons were devastating, ordering a charge wasn't bravery—it was leading his men to certain death. Naval forces were meant for offensive warfare, but such a brainless assault was something a wise man would never do.
Sixteen massive whaling ships were arranged in a single horizontal line, all presenting their port sides toward the direction of the enemy's advance. Facing a headwind, Lorist had ordered every ship to drop anchor, refusing to retreat even a step, determined to fight this decisive naval battle face-to-face. Despite the disadvantage in wind direction, Lorist still had confidence that the bronze cannons—long-range weapons far beyond this era—would defeat the Invincible Fleet.
Each whaling ship's port side had ten dark, square openings—these were the cannon ports on the second deck. Thanks to the whaling ships' robust structural design, only they could be retrofitted on the second level to house twenty gun crews. However, each whaling ship could only be equipped with ten ship-mounted bronze cannons. Compared to the Thunderstrike warships, which carried eighteen bronze cannons on each side, their firepower was significantly inferior.
Since adopting Maileck's strategy to eliminate the Invincible Fleet, seize Hidden Gold Bay, and land at
To compensate for the lack of firepower, Lorist had also brought Schwade's artillery training camp onto the whaling ships, arranging ten land-service bronze cannons on the decks. The whaling ships' spacious decks, combined with the land cannons' wheeled carriages, allowed for quick repositioning. The remaining forty-plus land-service bronze cannons were allocated to the reinforced and upgraded medium-fast armed warships—one per ship—to counter the Invincible Fleet's small, fast ramming vessels.
Now standing beside Lorist were only the Golden Arrow Josk and Jenorio; Reddy and Hughes the Sword Saint were stationed on two other whaling ships on the left and right flanks. This was a precaution against close combat, to prevent the Invincible Fleet's elite forces from boarding the whaling ships and wreaking havoc. Josk was one of only two Golden Knights from the Norton Family's four main legions whom Lorist had personally named to accompany him; the other was
There were two reasons for bringing Josk along. After all, although the man had erred by defying orders and leading the Hunting Cavalry Legion out on his own, it had been done to avenge Lorist. He had always been one of Lorist's trusted aides. Afterwards, Lorist had demoted him from Legion Commander to Regiment Commander as a minor punishment, but it was Josk who had originally established the Hunting Cavalry Legion. To make things easier for Phalea, the new Legion Commander, Lorist decided to keep the man at his side for a while longer before sending him back. At the same time, Lorist remembered the impressive feat of Josk shooting down a mast with a single arrow during their breakout from Hidden Gold Bay years ago, and decided to have Josk participate in this naval battle to earn his redemption through merit.
As for Ovigis, this time he was returning to his old trade. Lorist discovered that even with ten land-service bronze cannons arranged on the whaling ship's deck, there was still plenty of empty space. This was unavoidable; the whaling ships needed to be massive to tow the hunted whales onto the deck for immediate butchering and storage—anything smaller would leave no room for the catch.
So Lorist ordered Ovigis to reorganize and bring aboard 320 catapults, loading them onto the whaling ships at twenty per vessel. In a naval battle, catapults were far more practical than steel crossbows. Even at a range of two hundred meters, a stone weighing over a hundred jin crashing down from the sky was something no warship could withstand. The only drawback in naval warfare was that ships moved, and catapults lacked accuracy—the stone had to travel through the air for some time, giving the enemy a chance to react and dodge...
The horn blared loudly, and the lookout in the crow's nest on the mast shouted hoarsely of the approaching enemy: "Directly ahead, the Invincible Fleet! Over sixty large armed warships form the vanguard; the ones behind are unclear, but we estimate nearly four hundred in total. Four Seponim Sea Fortress ships are in the center, speed approximately nine knots, distance five hundred sea yards..."
A distance of one thousand meters—engagement in about twenty minutes or so. The only unfavorable situation today was that the enemy ships had the wind at their backs, while the Norton Family fleet sailed against the wind. The whaling ships and over forty large armed warships fitted with bronze cannons had all dropped their sails and weighed anchor. This was the rhythm of a head-on confrontation.
"Order Senba Wood to lead the Thunderstrike Fleet forward and execute a flanking attack from the perimeter. Give the Invincible Fleet a first blow—what gives them the right to act so arrogantly before the Norton Family? Do they really think having more ships lets them bully others through sheer weight of numbers?" Lorist commanded with a cold smile.
Jenorio quickly wrote the order, stamped it with Lorist's seal, and placed it in the small silver tube tied to the leg of a petrel kept in a cage behind him, then released the bird. Five minutes later, a loud horn sounded from the Thunderstrike warships, and the Thunderstrike Fleet unfurled their sails to meet the charging Invincible Fleet from the outer sea route.
In less than ten minutes, the boom of cannon fire echoed across the water. Through a monocular telescope, one could see Senba Wood cleverly maneuvering his fourteen Thunderstrike warships in a wide arc, bringing them alongside the charging large armed warships of the Invincible Fleet. At a distance of two hundred meters, they unleashed a fierce cannonade upon the enemy's flank...
The intense volley of gunfire sent plumes of white smoke billowing from the Thunderstrike Fleet's gunwales, but the thunder was louder than the rain. Apart from two large armed warships that gradually slowed their pace due to the bombardment, the rest of the large warships on the flank maintained their original speed and continued sailing forward, though similar white mist now rose from those ships as well. After two rounds of shelling, not a single warship had been sunk; Lorist was greatly astonished.
"Two hundred yards..." The lookout at the masthead shouted the distance between the two fleets.
Lorist stared through his monocular telescope at one of the enemy warships taking punishment on the flank, and finally made it out — the enemy had stacked bags along the hull of each ship. When struck by cannonballs, the bags burst or went flying, sending up plumes of white smoke...
"Clever..." Lorist hadn't expected the Invincible Fleet to resort to sandbagging to absorb and reduce the damage from cannon fire. No wonder three rounds from the Thunderstrike Fleet hadn't sunk a single one of their large armed warships. But if the Invincible Fleet thought they could use this method to close in on the Norton Family fleet and turn this naval engagement into the close-quarters melee and boarding combat they excelled at, they were sorely mistaken. Lorist was happy to show them what long-range annihilation tactics really looked like.
"Open fire at three hundred meters for the first volley, then switch to chain shot — targets are the enemy masts and sails..."
If they switched to chain shot now, the gun crews would first have to extract the iron round shot already loaded in the bore, which would waste even more time and cause more hassle. Better to fire the current round first and then load chain shot after. After all, the Invincible Fleet ahead hadn't tasted chain shot yet — the four attacks Senba Wood had led with the Thunderstrike Fleet had used only round shot and grapeshot, since there'd been no need to slow the enemy ships down.
"Three hundred meters!"
At the lookout's roar, one deafening boom followed another as the cannons fired almost simultaneously. The massive warship lurched backward under the recoil, though those on deck had long grown accustomed to the jolt. Apart from the twenty trebuchets chained to the deck rolling backward and pulling their tethers taut, nothing unexpected occurred.
The sixteen whalers arranged in a line abreast, along with the large armed warships interspersed among them, almost simultaneously produced clouds of white muzzle smoke. From a distance it looked as though a white wall had appeared on the surface of the sea. But the gentle sea breeze quickly dispersed the curtain of smoke, revealing the warships large and small still holding their line formation.
The thunderous roar of cannons still echoed in his ears, but Lorist, peering through his monocular telescope, felt a wave of disappointment. Over five hundred guns had fired at once, yet more than two hundred iron round shots splashed into the sea, sending up towering columns of spray. Only the two large armed warships at the very front had jolted violently, their bows visibly twisted with several holes torn through them. Seawater poured in at a rapid pace, and their speed dropped at once.
Lorist sighed. There was nothing to be done — these gun crews had only trained for three months and were clearly very green. They couldn't aim precisely under the pressure of battle, and luck hadn't been on their side either. Over five hundred bronze guns had fired and only two warships were destroyed — a result that left one speechless. But this was only the first volley; a few more rounds and they should improve...
"Fire!" Schwade violently swept the small red flag downward. The ten land-warfare bronze cannons on the deck roared to life once more, their piercing "woo-woo" wail accompanying the rumbling gunfire — like the ominous cry of a night owl slicing across the entire sky as it hurtled toward the enemy.
Nearly sixty large armed warships at the vanguard of the imposing Invincible Fleet splintered in that ear-piercing wail. Masts snapped, sails shredded, and the ships that had been charging forward suddenly lost momentum. Their speed plummeted into utter chaos, and faint screams, wails, and cries for help drifted through the air. Some warships in the rear that couldn't dodge in time crashed straight into the ships ahead, all piling up into a tangled mass just over two hundred meters from the Norton Family fleet...
A shrill copper whistle cut through the air. Even through the earplugs, his cannon-rattled ears could still pick up the signal — the order to cease fire. Lorist saw no reason to waste ammunition; it was time for the catapults to shine.
The stones hammered into the enemy fleet's warship formation. Stones used by catapults in land warfare were generally round, since the ground's elasticity allowed the stone spheres to bounce and kill more enemies. But in naval warfare, the projectiles selected had sharp edges and corners, designed so their jagged points could smash through enemy hull planks.
The first volley was merely a ranging shot, a way to better estimate the approximate distance and drop zone. After a brief adjustment, the second volley turned into blazing fire stones. These incendiary projectiles were simple to make — ropes soaked in fire oil were tied around the stones, ignited, and then launched. By the time the stones reached their targets and crashed down, the fire-ropes had mostly burned through into segments that scattered everywhere as the projectiles fell, further amplifying the threat of conflagration.
Dozens of large armed warships at the front of the charge were already engulfed in towering infernos, each transformed into a massive bonfire. Here and there, tiny dark figures could be seen leaping from the burning ships into the sea — fleeing crewmen and sailors. Several of the outermost large armed warships had already lost their masts and sails but were still drifting with the current toward the Norton Family's position.
In the distance, the piercing wail sounded once more — the Thunderbolt Fleet, likewise using chain-shot to intercept the rear ships of the Invincible Fleet's charge. On Lorist's side, the threat had been virtually eliminated. Beyond those large armed warships burning like torches, no further enemy vessels could be seen trying to bypass the fire ships and press the attack.
"This naval battle — we've already won it!" Lorist thought with quiet satisfaction. The horizon blazed with fire, smoke billowing thick enough to obscure what lay beyond. Perhaps the Invincible Fleet, having suffered such a devastating blow, was already turning to retreat, and the chain-shot strikes by the Thunderbolt Fleet under Sembawood's command were meant to cut off their escape.
"Enemy ships — one hundred and fifty meters!" the lookout perched on the mast screamed in panic.
"What?" Lorist's heart lurched.
"The enemy ships are pushing through the fire ships and closing in on us!" The lookout's words revealed the terrible truth.
"Ovigus! Keep firing the stone throwers behind the fire ships — it doesn't matter if you can't see the targets! Just keep hurling the stones!" Lorist bellowed across the deck at Ovigus.
It was a miscalculation. He hadn't anticipated that the large armed warships charging in front would, once ablaze, also blind his own field of vision. The enemy ships trailing behind had been hiding within the thick smoke, using the burning fire ships ahead as shields, continuing to press toward them instead of turning to flee as he had assumed...
"Danger!" Genollio roared and lunged forward. Lorist looked up and saw countless pinpoints of cold, gleaming light emerging from the thick smoke of the burning fire ships, hurtling toward their fleet.
...