—— Vice-admiral Goliath Oxford
Exactly how did this giant pa.s.s through the small door?
“Ah—— Ah—— Can you hear me, Captain Molins?”
“Yes! Yes!”
“You suspended the conference earlier due to some urgent stuff. Have you finished your business, Captain Molins?”
“Yes! Yes!”
“Do you want to continue the conference?”
“That’s a yes for sure, admiral! For the sake of my beloved country, crews and family, even if have to give my life, I’ll fight til the end! Did the admiral hear the jokes I made?”
“Gorilla?”
“I’m an ape! Ahh!! Rather than those jokes, the Belgaria Army are still here, admiral! They will surely attack us tomorrow morning! So this isn’t the time to be bothered about those jokes! They are just jokes!”
“What evidence do you have that the enemy will attack us tomorrow morning?”
“The wind blows from the sea to the coastal area at daytime. This would be the optimal time to attack us when the wind is not in our favour. Clearly their target is the supply ships. It takes about two to three days for us to unload those supplies. So tomorrow would be their last day staying in the port. Once those supply ships sail out, coupled with our fierce attack, it will be hard for the enemy to find out the actual supply route.”
“What about counter-measures?”
“Our fleet has four Princess Cla.s.s battleships. We can station one of them outside the cape to ambush them. Once the enemy pa.s.s through the cape, we will let that battleship block the route they use and strike at them using a pincer attack. While the Empire has lots of battleships, most of them are fourth cla.s.s, so they can’t be effectively count as firepower. From the battle earlier, we found out that the enemy’s main fleet does not have durable armour. It would be easy for us to decimate them once we block off their escape route.”
“How are we going to hide our battleship?”
“The Empire’s fleet came from northwest direction. It will be fine if we station our ship slightly further in the southwest.”
“Oh?”
“Ah, the reason why I guessed they came from the northwest is because the wind at the Trouin Sea is blowing at the southwest direction at this timing. Normally, any sailboat will choose to attack from the southwest. However, a commander choosing to attack from the southwest in an orthodox manner would not be able to pull off a surprise attack like today.”
“So it’s the commander’s personality… …”
“Belgaria fleet commander is vice-admiral Bertram. He is someone who prefers to use orthodox methods. I believe the commander this time is someone else who came after their defeat at the battle of Trouin.”
“Hm, that’s possible. How does everyone else feel?”
The admiral finally released his hand which was grabbing onto Molins’ head. As his head was grabbed with a large amount of force, it still hurt even after being released.
Molins rubbed his head while shedding tears.
He did not notice that the other captains had already gathered at the mess hall due to the conversation earlier.
This bunch of people… How dare they enter other people’s ship without asking for permission—— Molins thought so without daring to say it out loud.
Lorraine adjusted her scarf and moved further away from the table.
She went to brew tea.
Seawater is enough for them! Molins thought so but he still swept away the dust on the table.
“Please take a seat. Welcome to the Garnet.”
“Really, you’re still such a smoothtalker.”
The captain of Ship No. 1, MacCunn, was a middle age man. A black cloth was tied at his arm, most likely for mourning.
His eyes were red. Even though he just lost his son, he was a man who was committed to his work. As such, he was dissatisfied with Molins’ frivolous att.i.tude.
The captain of Ship No. 5, Ballista, was an energetic youth. He was born in a n.o.ble family and was very prideful. He preferred to use aggressive strategies, which resulted in him gaining some achievements.
Be it the battle of Trouin from before or today’s battle at Épée Prière Bay, he was the first one in the fleet to attack the enemy.
“I don’t need red tea. That reminds me, while this strategy is not bad, I do not like it since it came from Molins.”
Do you think I like you?!
While Molins wanted to shout it out, he still tolerated it since the other party was a youth.
The Captain of vessel number eight, Olsen, was the only captain who was older than the Fleet Admiral. He was a rare sight, from an accountancy background. He even worked as a palace chef before that.
The old-style battleship he was on before was decommissioned. Just when he thought of retiring at the same time, he was recommended by the previous queen, Queen Charlotte, and thus became the captain of a Princess Cla.s.s battleship.
“Our priority is to protect the supplies that are meant to be sent to the frontline… … That is why we took up the role of protecting the supply ships and the harbour… … Aren’t we getting our priority backwards if we just think about attacking the enemy? I do not agree with this strategy even if there’s only one ship sent out for ambushing them.”
The old captain spoke words of caution.
Molins lowered his head in resignation.
“My apologies! Everyone is right! I failed to consider the big picture.”
In actuality, Molins didn’t care about the strategies.
He just wanted to muddle past the thing about him avoiding the conference.
The gorilla——No, Admiral Oxford was considering his options.
It seemed that a decision was made.
“Hmm, while Captain Molins’ idea is unique, we should prioritise our strategy in protecting the supply ships.”
I knew this would happen.
Is such a pa.s.sive strategy really fine? Despite what Molins thought, he still smiled and listen silently.
The admiral continued:
“However, I still agree with his conjecture that the enemy would attack tomorrow morning. We have to increase our security. I’ll leave this responsibility to captain Ballista.”
“Aye aye, admiral. If you leave it to me, not even a fish will escape from my watch.”
“We have to finish unloading by tomorrow and leave the port the day after. We have to hurry up if we want to finish this within the scheduled time. I’ll leave this to captain Olsen.”
“Aye aye, Sir. I’ll try my best to hasten the progress. I’ll just throw those supplies that we couldn’t unload in time into the sea.”
“Hm. Ship No.1 to Ship No. 9, remain on standby. Do not let the fire in the steam engine go out even during the night.”
“Aye aye, Admiral!”
MacCunn saluted.
Naturally, Molins also saluted.
Lorraine brought the tea over for everyone.
“Please have some Syrian Tea.”
Oi oi, don’t serve such high quality tea to them. Dish water is enough for them—— Molins was complaining in his heart.
Admiral Oxford saluted solemnly and spoke.
“My apologies, but I have to excuse myself as I have matters of grave national importance to attend to..”
After saying so, he left the officer’s mess just like this.
The other captains also returned to their own ships.
It was finally peaceful once more.
There were five cups of tea on the table.
Molins who was still in the room leaned against the chair once more and picked one of the cup up.
“Haa, they sure are busy enough that they do not even have the time to drink a cup of tea, isn’t that right?”
“Is this really fine? After all, we are in a crucial moment.”
“Even though they think that the enemy will be coming tomorrow morning, we still have to be on standby. In the end, we don’t even have the time to land.”
“Since it’s just til tomorrow morning, just bear with it for now… …”
“Is that so? How about we continue til morning since we can’t alight the ship anyway?”
“Looks like you have yet to learn your lesson… …”
“Life would be too brief if we have to rein ourselves in all the time like some saint. Don’t you also prefer to spend your time meaningfully, rather than being bored while drinking tasteless tea?”
“Didn’t the navy’s rules state that while being on standby, we need to be able to carry out the orders of the flagship at any moment.?”
“That rule does exist. Though I had already prepared everything. What comes next is to wait for your signal?”
“Even though you do not intend to wait… … Always… …”
“It’s just that you didn’t notice it, but I have already sent a signal long ago.”
He stretched his hand out and lewdly wiggled his fingers.
Tonight would be busier than the battle that happened this morning.
Regis was working around the clock
In order to avoid the enemy’s surveillance, Regis sat on a wooden raft that was even smaller than a fishing boat and slowly moved towards cape.
Under the guise of darkness and sounds of wave, Regis gave details instructions to the sailors.
Making full use of the sailors’ skill, Regis conducted some work on the Poseidon cla.s.s ship that sunk.
The sea at night was cold even if it was June right now and there were High Britannia surveillance boats around, so they did not have the time to work leisurely. Swimming towards the precise position of a sunken ship during night time was not an easy feat.
Starting from two spots that were near the cape, the sailors tied a black rope around them and jumped into the sea.
The area where the two ropes intercept was likely to be position of the sunken Poseidon cla.s.s ship.
The longer the rope, the heavier it became. Many sailors needed to work together to pull it taut.
While this was suggested by Regis, it was not a totally new idea. This was usually used when making a map.
“You sure are smart, to realise something that most wouldn’t… “
“… I just happened to read about it before.”
Regis who was praised for using this method said humbly while waving his hands.
A really capable strategist would be able to prevent casualties on their side and able to finish off the enemy’s ships without the sailors needing to swim at night. This kind of magic-like strategy was something Regis could not do nor could he even imagine it.
This was why Regis felt like he was not competent and did not deserve their praise.
At the very least, I have to fulfill my role—— Regis thought as he fought off the urge to sleep while listening to the reports and gave out orders.
While this kind of battle was written in the book, it was not an orthodox strategy. Just simply giving out instructions would not work, which was why Regis came along personally. There was no one capable enough that Regis could entrust the job with.
The worse thing was that Regis couldn’t swim, but that couldn’t be helped.
Even if they were near the cape, there were still waves and the vision was not that good.
If Regis, who could not swim, was to go into the sea, they would need to prepare for a drowning accident before preparing for the actual battle.
Regis suppressed that idea as the sailors repeatedly told him ‘don’t ever fall into the sea’.
The water in the bay was not that deep, which was why the sunken boat was quite near the water surface.
What the sailors had to do was not complicated at all as the equipment that was required was placed under the Poseidon cla.s.s ship’s deck beforehand
After opening the specified box in the sea, a rope was tied to the buoys and sent out. After exiting the cabin, the buoys slowly floated to the top.
Naturally, some of the equipment was damaged during the crossfire.
After which, the buoy was tied with some heavy objects, making it sink down while surrounding the sunken ship.
The sailors did as they were instructed without understanding what was the point of doing so.
When Regis and the sailors finished their job and left the cape, the eastern sky had begun to brighten.
While withdrawing, they were discovered by High Britannia surveillance boats!
Even though their raft was disguised as a fishing boat… ...
The surveillance craft made a show of pursuit, but thought it wasn’t worth the effort — It probably decided that and returned to its original position. The sailors on the raft all sighed in relief and thanked G.o.d for watching over them.
As the sky brightened, the mountains at the eastern side were dyed in red.
The third rendezvous point chosen by Regis was a small island located at the northwest of the Épée Prière Bay. Ships that sailed from here would move southeast.
It was like what Narissa said. The wind would blow southwest at this time.
In accord to the wind, the ships began to move into position according to their ship’s height.
Sailing with the wind, the Western Liberation Fleet began moving towards the harbour.
The vanguard consisted of four Athena cla.s.s battleships.
However, these ships had unloaded provisions, shuttle crafts, gunpowder and excess ammunitions. Even the number of sailors on board was kept to a minimum. It did not even reach three hundred despite usually holding up to five hundred sailors.
To reduce the number of casualties—— That was not the case. The main point of this strategy was speed, so they would do anything to increase their speed even if it was just a bit.
Furthermore, the eight Ouranos cla.s.s ship which were on standby were added into their formation.
There should be around twenty battleships as admiral Bertram had called in the nearby ships. Though most of these ships were made to maintain order in the sea and losing these ships would result in safety-related problems in the future. Furthermore, they were not effective against Princess Cla.s.s battleship, which was why these ships were left out of the formation.
The four Athena and eight Ouranos ships were moving in a double column.
The other battleships were stationed behind them with quite a gap in between. Two Athena, fourteen Selene and twelve Ouranos Cla.s.s ships.
It looked fine for a fleet.
However, losing too many ships in the war would bring lots of trouble to the nation’s coastal security.
Perhaps another harbour would be occupied or merchant ships would be attacked by pirates. In the first place, the empire had lost a fair bit against High Britannia, so they might collapse financially.
This was not as easy as defeating the enemy and retaking the harbour.
Protecting the citizens was the army’s duty.
The empire had already lost if it had to rely on reserves.
Inside the quarterdeck of the Western Liberation Fleet’s new flagship, Brouillard——
While they were still quite a distance away from the bay, Regis returned to the conference room. Rather than for a discussion, he came here as he could not handle how rocky the ship was.
There was a wide table with chairs around it.
There was only Altina right beside Regis.
She seemed to be quite sleepy as she kept yawning. She was most likely awake waiting for Regis and the rest to return.
Perhaps she might complain that I didn’t tell her before leaving—— Regis thought. Unexpectedly, she did not do so and complimented the sailors who returned instead.
While this might be inappropriate, but I couldn’t but think that Altina is growing...
After wiping the tears away, Altina opened her eyes.
“Hm? Is there something on my face?”
“Ah, there’s nothing… …”
Regis was staring at her unconsciously.
It’s likely that I’m going to get scolded for yesterday night. Though, I didn"t really want to do it.
“Well… you’re quite calm…”
“That’s right. After all, what I can do on the sea is limited.”
“That’s the same for everyone. Everyone has their own task after all.”
“Yes, that’s right. Looking at them made me think quite a bit of things too.”
“Like what?”
“Well… … I began to wonder whether it’s right to keep charging ahead in the battlefield.”
Regis widened his eyes.
“Are you having a fever…?”
“That’s rude!”
“Ah, that, my apologies but didn’t you keep ignoring my advice of not charging ahead of your guards? Why did you suddenly changed your mind?”
“Uh, well… … That might be so… … I don’t intend to keep staying at the back? During battles, what’s important is to help our allies and fulfill our roles. The guards have the role of protecting me, don’t they? If I wasto push ahead too much, I would put the guards in danger. Eric’s injury was likely my fault… …”
Altina’s bodyguard, Eric, was injured by the enemy when the enemy was fighting Altina.
Currently, he was recuperating at Fort Volks. Though he would definitely partic.i.p.ate in this expedition if he was not injured.
Even though Altina just celebrated her fifteenth birthday, she suddenly seemed to have grown so much when she began to consider things seriously.
She wanted to be the empress.
To achieve her ambitious goal, it was necessary for her to win in the political struggle. And to achieve that, her growth was indispensable.
Being just honest and kind disqualified her as a ruler, she must be able to think for her citizens.
If Altina obtain such valuable experiences from this battle because she took part in it, that would be wonderful.
Seeing the growth of the young princess, Regis had forgotten about the tension, anxiety and the fatigue he felt.
The door connecting the deck and the conference room opened from the outside.
It was the adjutant, Spark, who came in and saluted.
“Admiral, it’s about time to come up to the deck.”
Regis was the acting-admiral, and would be treated with respect as the figurehead on the battlefield. However, it might delay orders if they kept calling him acting-admiral, which was why the adjutant shortened it to admiral.
Even though they were calling him, Regis thought he wasn’t worthy.
“Alright… Thank you, I’ll be right there.”
“Understood!”
The adjutant left the room first.
Regis followed Altina who stood up and left the quarterdeck.
The wind was blowing.
“It feels rather nice once you get used to the sea wind.”
“You’re right…”
As there was the adjutant beside them when they went out, Regis called Altina as ‘Her Highness’ and spoke formally.
The wind came from the front.
“Sails sure are amazing. How can we still move forward even though we’re going against the wind?”
“...Actually, no matter the direction of the wind, if you are on a ship moving forward, you will feel the wind blowing at you, right?— No, I mean the breeze seem to be directed at you.”
“Ah, is that so?”
“If Your Highness wishes to know the wind direction, please look at the wind vane at the top of the mast… … Ahh, the wind is blowing at us diagonally”
“Isn’t the wind blowing against us after all?!”
“That… … Did you know, about a century ago, a scholar named Bernoulli wrote a thesis. In the thesis, it was stated that an increase in the speed of a fluid occurs simultaneously with a decrease in pressure?”
“What is the fluid?”
“In this case, it would be the air.”
“Just say it’s the air then! Why do you always use words that are hard to understand?!”
“Ah… That… Even though it’s air, but it’s actually the characteristic of the fluid that’s at work here, so it’s better to call it fluid.”
“Arghh… …”
Altina pouted.
Regis decided to raise the white flag and spoke once more.
“It’s a long story… … First, we have to change the direction the sail is facing. In any case, let’s have the back of the sail face the wind.”
“If the ship is sailing forward, even if the wind is coming from diagonally ahead, you only need to adjust the angle of the sail to catch the wind. The wind will put pressure onto the sail this way. The shape of the ship is important at this point. A ship is narrow in the front and back, but broad at the side. It would be difficult to push the ship sideways. After that, only the forward moving force would be left behind. Since the bow of the ship is narrow, it can advance through the sea easily right? So in the end, even the wind coming diagonally at it could push the ship forward. There is the disadvantage of slight lateral movement though.”
Which was why the boat could sail against the wind—— Even so, if the angle of the wind was less than 45°, the ship would not be able to sail forward. Furthermore, if the sail was directly facing the wind, the sail might break in the worst scenario.
Regis did not know whether Altina understood it or not, but she had a look of admiration.
“Oh——”
“Well, going against the wind is always dangerous no matter what kind of sailboat it is. Like the retreat yesterday, they almost caught up with us because we were really close to going against the wind.”
“Hmm, so it’s like that.”
“Ships going with the wind would have a more ideal speed. If the sail is big, that’s even more…”
“Ship spotted ahead!”
Hearing the lookout’s voice, Regis looked ahead.
What he saw was a ship.
A small craft.
The crow’s nest gave better vision than on the deck, not to mention that spygla.s.s was used.
Thanks to that, they identified the craft that was spotted as being their own unit that was sent out for scouting. The signal they sent to the flagship could be seen clearly.
The adjutant reported to Regis.
“It’s our own scout. Erm… … its report is ‘No sign of enemy vessels in the vicinity. Coast is clear at the entrance of the bay..”
Regis lowered his head and muttered to himself.
“Looks like the enemy reduced their defense around the bay… … I see, so they decided to do this.”
While adjutant Spark was a little nervous, he still smiled and opened his mouth.
“Looks like the enemy thinks that we will be coming from the southwest. After all, that’s what we did for yesterday since it’s common sense to sail with the wind.”
“Why is that so…? If it’s me, I will consider that there’s a fifty percent chance of them attacking from northwest.”
“Is that so?”
“We have to consider about unexpected strategies that the enemy could use… … Since they don’t have any intention to engage outside the bay, it’s natural that they’re not interested in which direction the enemy might attack.”
“Will the enemy place an ambush outside the cape?”
“That wouldn’t be too big of a problem… But it would be troublesome for us if they ambushed us with a pincer attack. We might sustain a heavy loss from it.”
“Indeed, that’s dangerous.”
“Well, didn’t we send out scouts as to prevent that from happening?”
“Understood!”
While there was only one ship ahead of them, twenty small-scale ships were sent out for scouting the area near the bay.
They had begun since the battle ended yesterday.
While some sacrifice was made, it was worth it as they obtained valuable intelligence.
At this moment——
The lookout reported once more.
“An enemy ship spotted! It’s a scouting boat!”
“What are your orders, admiral!”
The Adjutant Spark became tensed.
Altina also had a nervous look.
Regis nodded his head.
“It’s fine. Unlike land battles, the surveillance made by the defenders on sea does not have much effect.”
“Eh? Why is that?”
“... If it’s the land, one would normally send an unarmoured soldier with a fast horse for scouting. If they noticed the enemy, they would return to headquarters immediately. As the enemy’s infantry move rather slowly, there’s ample of time for the army to prepare against the attack. On the other hand, the enemy’s scouting boat uses sail just like us, so our speed is about the same.”
“Ah, I see!”
Even if they were discovered, there was no meaning if the scout could not report back swiftly.
“Well… The problem now is whether that ship is faster than us.”
Listening to Regis’ words, laughter could be heard from the side—— He was the captain of the 4th Athena Cla.s.s Ship Brouillard, which was the new flagship.
He was one of the rare fat people in the army that was filled with muscular soldiers. Though he had excessive fat, there was some muscle too. In addition, he was rather short, so he gave an impression of being a meatball.
Currently, he was personally manning the helm.
“Buahaha! Don’t worry! Brouillard will not lose to that kind of small boat. I bet my bacon on that!”
The bacon was already in his mouth, betting that kind of bacon was…
Leaving aside the bacon, the captain wasn’t just boasting, and they were not losing in speed.
Rather, they were closing the gap.
Regis was impressed.
“I see, how impressive.”
“Buaha! It’s time to determine the winner——”
“It’s the difference in seakeeping… is it?”
“Oh?! That’s correct! As expected of the admiral! The waves are higher today than usual, so small-scale ship will have their hand full stabilizing the ship.”
“Haha… … In any case, please maintain your current state.”
“Yes Sir!”
“Understood!”
Looks like he’s an approachable person.
Regis was not used to people who were rather forceful, however, he felt more relax conversing with someone who did not care about ranks.
When the sun had emerged from the eastern mountains——
Épée Prière Bay was already right in front of them.
The bells were ringing.
This bell meant that the enemy had come.
The steam engine which was inside the ship let out a sound that was like a giant beast roaring.
Princess Cla.s.s, Garnet’s quarterdeck——
“Orya Orya, so noisy!”
Soon after adjutant Lorraine entered the steering house, Molins came out from the conference room that doubles as the Officer’s mess..
“You haven’t put on your clothes yet, Captain?!”
“Eh? Oh, I forgot to put my pants on.”
“You’re no longer a sailor, please do not come to the deck like this. If you’re seen by the admiral…”
“I would be scolded by the gorilla.”
“At that point, you’ll be attacked.”
“Hehe, it’s fine.”
Lorraine ran into the captain’s room and brought his pants, which were on the floor, over.
“Quickly put them on!”
“Right! Help me put them on!”
“Do it yourself!”
Lorraine brought the pants over with a cold expression.
A shrill sound could be heard.
“How cruel. It’s just the bell signalling the enemy’s attack, you don’t have to panic that much.”
“When will captain start panicking?”
“When returning home… …”
Lorraine nursed her temple and lowered her head.
Within the time span of Lorraine praying to the Lord five times, Molins had no choice but to put on the pants himself.
He was done soon after donning his belt.
“Done!”
“The front reported that the enemy have four Athena ships… … and numerous small vessels.”
“Those are probably scouting crafts. Looks like the enemy’s commander is quite cautious. In that case, it would be hard to do a pincer attack even if we placed an ambush outside the bay.”
“We should be thankful for the admiral’s calm decision.”
“Hehe, that gorilla who only follows the textbook wouldn’t use such strategy at all though? He was just finding an excuse to reject it.”
“That… What do you think we should have done then…?”
“The plan was to escort an entire fleet of supply ships with six battleships. Now that we have already lost two, we should have withdrawn last night.”
“I believe the admiral would not agree…”
“Perhaps I would be labelled as a coward, or be treated as a traitor. However, Lorraine, no matter what results Oswald achieve inland, he’s just using strategies that rely heavily on the new cannons and equipment. The key factor behind it is the supply ships. Which is why it is necessary to have outstanding battleship to control the sea. Even if we can replace the supply vessels, there isn’t anything to replace the battleships.”
“The capital, Queen"s Thames’ harbour should have three more Princess Cla.s.s ships… …”
“If the three Princess Cla.s.s ships were to move out, what’s left to protect the harbour would be those old-style battleships. This would greatly reduce the harbour’s defense. The parliament wouldn’t agree with it.”
Although Lorraine wasn’t done, she still stopped this topic.
“Captain… In any case, please go to the deck.”
“Oh, what’s coming after this will be on the bed tonight.”
“Can you please be serious?”
“I wonder when you will make me serious?”
“...”
It’s not bad getting glared by a beauty—— Molins thought.
Upon reaching the deck, there was no need for someone to urge the crew to get into position. Since the enemy had already appeared at the cape, one would quickly move to their position no matter how lazy they were.
Soon after that, Ship No. 1 and No. 5 began to move out.
Lorraine shouted.
“Captain! We receive the order to move out!”
“Got it. Well, our crew is outstanding, so don’t panic that much.”
The engine room was located several floors below the deck. Even though it would take up some time to relay the orders, it could not be helped.
Beside the steering wheel was a device that looked like a punctured barrel—— the engine order telegraph.
The function of the device was to relay messages to the engine room.
Even the relaying of messages was done by machines.
As the engine room was noisy, this device was necessary.
Metal pipes known as speaking tubes were installed in other places for communication.
By utilizing such technologies, it was not that dangerous even if the enemy was attacking with conditions favouring them. That was because they could still give orders out in the bridge that was located under the firm deck.
Oh, I didn’t give any commands yet.
Molins was just looking at the scene.
He turned and shouted at the helmsmen.
“Garnet, full speed ahead!”
“Oh!!”
Most of the navigation duties were performed by the crew.
When Lorraine was first posted here, she complained that this system was a violation of the navy rule as Molins neglected his work and was pa.s.sing his responsibility to others. However, she was already used to this, so she did not panic nor complain. She simply looked at Molins with cold eyes.
“How exciting.”
They just went through a battle yesterday and now they were off to battle again.
Though, it could not be said that there would be no losses.
Reports of water leakage and damages had increased and the one responsible for this was the repairs department. It was arranged that the engine department was responsible for the steam engine, the artillery team was to measure the distance while the logistic department was in charge of the supplies.
Furthermore, there were medical officers performing the work of doctors when not in battle to keep the six hundred men on board healthy.
The most relaxed person was Molins.
On the bridge, there was a rather large and tall table without any chairs.
Beside the table was the captain’s chair, and the sea chart on the table was marked by chalk to indicate something.
The enemy’s route was even more to the north than yesterday,
Lorraine went to report to Molins when the lookout relayed the message via the speaking tube.
“The enemy had steered to the left! The distance between Ship No. 1 and them is about 3800yd (3475m)”
“Oi oi, they turned?”
Molins furrowed his brows.
Lorraine was also surprised by this and confirmed with the lookout once more.
“There’s no mistake, Captain. The enemy battleships are forming up into a double column. At this moment, the front row is moving perpendicular from the left to the right… Maybe they are executing a manoeuvre to outflank us?”
“It’s plausible if their speed is fast. However, they will still lose out to the steam engine within the bay even if the wind is in their favour.”
“The enemy’s vanguard consists of four Athena cla.s.s in the front and eight Ouranos in the back. Maybe they want to engage in a cross fire?”
“You’re kidding right?”
It was impossible for the Ouranos cla.s.s to contribute in a firefight. The main purpose for Ouranos cla.s.s was for sea rescue or to apprehend smugglers.
Generally, battleships would maintain distance, then turn to bring their broadside to bear and fired their guns at the enemy. Even though there were other strategies like close-combat, the Princess Cla.s.s which had the advantage in range would not allow the enemy to engage them in such a way.
If their allied ships turned after getting into range, they could keep firing at the enemy while maintaining the distance. The enemy would be attacked without any chance to retaliate.
With the supply ships behind them in this narrow bay, they could not retreat backwards. However, the enemy would be eliminated before it came to that.
Lorraine said softly.
“Could they… have made a mistake…?”
“Normally, that would be the case… ...The Empire’s fleet will continue to advance when we turn and fire on them, then they will turn when they are in range, just like yesterday.”
“Did they replace the commander?”
Perhaps.
Even so, Molins did not feel relieved at all.
“Currently, the commander of the fleet… should be the one who sunk two of our Princess Cla.s.s ships with an ambush. Could it be that he does not understand the current situation? Or that he received an oracle?”
The air shook violently.
It was due to cannon blasts.
Lorraine once again relayed the message she got from the lookout.
“The enemy has fired, but it’s short.”
“Don’t be bothered by it… … They are just telling us their range by firing so early.”
“Isn’t this an opportunity?”
“That’s right. Normally, we would change our course and fire at them once they are in our range. It’s not like they can hit us anyway.”
As long they maintained a safe distance and fired at the enemy, they could easily break the enemy’s main fleet.
Any admiral who followed the textbook would not miss out this opportunity.
Molins poked at the sea chart in irritation.
“What exactly is the enemy admiral thinking? This movement seems like the preparations of a course menu of an imperial cuisine, it feels unbearably suspicious, isn"t it.”
“That’s right… Ah, the flagship has turned! Right rudder!”
“Of course, the gorilla would do that.”
Even if it was not him, no admiral would let this opportunity slipped away.
Unlike yesterday, they were quite far from the cape.
They were at the centre of the bay, slightly closer to the outside.
No matter what kind of trap awaited, it would not be dangerous if they remain outside the enemy’s range—— That should be the case.
Molins spoke.
“Engine room slow ahead! Right full rudder! Maintain distance from them. No matter what, let us enjoy first.”
“Aye aye Captain!”
The helmsmen operated the telegraph to relay the message.
At the same time, the steering wheel was turned to the right.
They were not following the flagship, but were sailing to the rear of the formation.
Molins actually wanted to turn to the opposite direction…… However, he would not be able to explain himself if he really did that.
The cannons were fired.
But it was just a one-sided battle where they suppressed the empire’s fleet with their range.
Nothing unexpected occurred.
Molins looked through the narrow window to observe the battlefield.
Maybe I’m overthinking it?
Ship No.1 and No. 5 were firing their cannons ferociously.
Slightly further was Ship No. 8.
Molins’ Ship No. 9 was stationed at the rear.
At this point, it could be seen that the flagship, Ship No. 1, had changed it course.
This was the moment when the cannon fire was the fiercest. Since they were not within the enemy’s range, there was no need to execute a Zig-zag maneuver.
However, the ship was turning at a wide angle. If they were not careful, the ship could even capsize.
What is MacCunn doing?!”
Suddenly, he remembered the enemy’s large-ship sunk around that area.
Lorraine tilted her head.
“This reminds me, that seem to be the area where the Empire’s Poseidon cla.s.s ship sunk… … However, isn’t their technique that bad if they really hit the sunken ship?”
“Uh… … Perhaps…?”
Even if the firing of cannons were at their fiercest, they were in the middle of the vast sea, so it was unlikely that they would fail to avoid it. Furthermore, the sunken ship’s mast could not be seen, so Ship No. 1 should not have collided with it.
It was likely that Ship No. 1 panicked as they were late in realising the position of the sunken ship. Though, it would be fine once they avoid that dangerous area.
Basically, it was not a big problem.
That was supposed to be the case.
The enemy steered their boat at that distance wisely and fired the cannons even though they could not hit us, all of this was to lure Ship. No. 1 to that position. While they were quite capable, there was not much point in doing this.
This should be what the idiom ‘the strategist dies by his own strategy’ is trying to say.
Molins wasn’t completely relieved, but he still relaxed a little.
At this moment——
From the window, Ship No. 1 rapidly decelerated, as if they were caught by a large net.
“What?!”
“Eh… … Did they collide with the sunken ship?!”
“Even so, it’s too strange for them to decelerate so rapidly! There should be a large hole in the hull if they were hit!”
Even though it was quite serious to have a hole at the bottom of the ship, it should not be able to cause the ship to decelerate that rapidly.
It was hard to see clearly what had happened from the small window and no message had come from the lookout.
Molins started dashing.
He dashed up the stairs and pushed open the quarterdeck door that led up to the deck.
Ignoring the surprised sailors, Molins leaned his body on the portside railing.
He took the spygla.s.s from his waist and looked at Ship No. 1.
“What exactly happened?!”
Soon, Lorraine came in a hurry.
“Please calm down, Captain! Perhaps they slowed down to put some distance between them and the enemy!”
“That isn’t it. Even a Princess Cla.s.s battleship cannot do that kind of deceleration. Maybe they caught onto something… Oi! Can you see something in the water?!”
“Eh? There’s nothing… …”
“Move closer to Ship No. 1! Ah, don’t get too close!”
“I’ll go relay the order!”
Lorraine began running.
Molins looked at Ship No. 1 once more.
There were sailors had gathered at the quarterdeck. Some even climbed up the intersection of the rope that was hanging at the mast.
Are they trying to open the sail?
——Did their steam engine malfunction?
Ship No. 5 pa.s.sed by Ship No. 1 which stopped suddenly.
Ship No. 8 also move close behind Ship No. 1 like a loyal dog. Most of the High Britannia ships had stop moving. Though, it was not surprising at all since only a fool would move close to it without knowing the reason why it suddenly decelerated and stopped.
“Ah! This is bad!”
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