High in the clouds, the place where the ancients imagined the gods to live, has a completely different landscape from the ground: the sun is exceptionally bright, the air is exceptionally clean, the sky seems to be within reach, there are no birds or beasts here, there are only clouds of various shapes, and ...... A man-made flying machine that came here by chance.

In the clouds, a steel battleship covered with rivets rumbled forward, and the soot from the chimney drew a faint black line in the blue sky. The flying ship was painted in a rare off-white livery, with no obvious markings on its hull, and only a crown and sword and shield emblem could be seen on the side of the bridge, indicating that it was part of the Wessex royal fleet.

On this small number of gun-loaded battleships, there are several special cabins in the bow and on the side of the ship, in which fixed high-powered telescopes are set up, and the crew in thick leather jackets and officers in gray scarves are condescendingly observing the whole area through these sophisticated optical devices. In the boiler room on the lower deck of the battleship, stokers wore vests and exposed their sturdy arms, and shoveled black coal and white oxidizer into the boiler......

"I think I saw the Fortress of Bergst, which looked like an erupting volcano, constantly emitting fire and smoke. There were several Norman warships parked over the fortress, and it seemed that the battle around the fortress had turned from the outside to the inside, and it was not known how long they could hold out...... Sir! In the bow observation bay, a crew member with a short beard reported to the officer behind him in a calm tone.

The officer said indifferently: "Don't worry about the ground battle, our target is the Norman warship!" ”

The short-bearded crew responded: "As far as we have observed so far, the Normans have a total of 14 ships here, and the preliminary judgment is that there are 3 armored ships, 6 frigates, and 5 transport ships. ”

The officer did not answer, and he held a pair of large binoculars and stared at the clouds in the distance for a long time.

In the airspace below the high-altitude reconnaissance ship, a sizable fleet was flying from the direction of Wessex towards the fortress of Bergst. This time, the royal fleet of Wessex was almost in full swing: all kinds of flying ships were divided into three arrays, more than 20 cruisers and corvettes formed a battle outpost, four armored ships and four battleships formed a battle arrow under the arch of more than a dozen cruisers, and the flagship "Purple Star" and the new assault ship "Paladin" were escorted by a number of cruisers and cruisers.

In the command room of the flagship "Purple Star", Crown Prince Yulimus sat in a large, unsecured chair, seemingly calmly watching the officers go about their business. The commander of the fleet, Admiral Brasigliano, the chief of staff of the fleet, Rear Admiral Ljajch, and the captain of the ship, Rear Admiral Berenguel, lined up in front of the observation window, and the coldness on their faces was not the cold arrogance of their strength enough to crush their opponents, but the apprehension and hidden worry about the prospect of this war: strictly speaking, this was not a war, but a rivalry between two great powers on the territory of a third party. Such a confrontation is of extraordinary significance to the strategic layout, diplomatic positioning and long-term development of the Wessex Kingdom, but it is quite risky to try to win in a single battle when the start is unfavorable and the situation is unclear.

Or, a staff officer presented a note to Rear Admiral Lyajich, the chief of staff of the fleet looked at it, forwarded it to Admiral Brasigliano, and the commander of the fleet looked at it and signaled the chief of staff of the fleet to report to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who was personally in charge.

Ljajic turned around and walked to the crown prince with a steady step: "Your Highness, the reconnaissance ship has arrived at the predetermined position, and the small fleet of Normans has been found, with 3 armored ships, 6 frigates, and 5 transport ships, and no more ships have been observed around, and the outer defense of the fortress of Bergist seems to have been destroyed, and there are Norman ships parked above the fortress. ”

Crown Prince Yurimus supported his chin with his right hand and rested his left hand on the arm of the chair, and asked coldly: "So, the defenders of the fortress have stopped resisting?" ”

The chief of staff of the fleet hesitated slightly: "With the style of the Wessex soldiers, they will not easily give up resistance unless they completely lose hope. ”

The crown prince seemed to be quite satisfied with this answer, and he nodded: "Attack the Norman fleet as planned!" ”

Ljajic put his legs together and straightened his waist: "As you wish, Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince!" ”

As the flagship issued a new flag command, the flying Wessex fleet began to change formation. The cruisers and corvettes at the head of the platoon were split in two, and they climbed upwards while stretching out to the wings, assuming a roundabout and outflanking posture. The armored ships and battleships in the center were adjusted from a double column at the same level to a double row of horizontal formations with armored ships on top and battleships on bottom, obviously to carry out a frontal assault. The newly commissioned assault ship "Paladin" burst forward with four frigates, and the cruisers surrounding the flagship "Purple Star" spread out in all directions, forming an all-round warning and protective circle.

As soon as the menacing Wessex fleet appeared at the end of the field of view, the Norman ships near the fortress of Bergster reacted vigilantly: the armored ships and cruisers quickly rose and formed a shield defensive array in the air, and the transports turned around and flew in the opposite direction at full speed.

In front of the main fleet of Wessex, which was like a dark cloud, the nine Norman warships looked so insignificant, as if they were hastily constructed seawalls of mud and sand, which could not hold back the invasion of huge waves, or fences woven with vines, which were useless against the savage impact of large animals. Even so, the Norman officers and men who piloted these ships still chose to meet the enemy.

The Norman battleships did not retreat in a hurry, and the commander of the Wessex fleet should have been happy, because it meant that his fleet did not need to disperse its forces and pursue the enemy ships all over the map. However, there was no trace of joy on Admiral Brasigliano's face, but the solemnity in his eyes deepened a little.

How much combat effectiveness can the Normans' new weapons make the modified armored ships more effective, in other words, what is the cost of annihilating the small Norman fleet in front of them? This is one of the concerns.

The Normans were good at tactical strategy, and with normal logic, they would not go deep into enemy territory alone without any back-up, so how should they deal with it in order to be invincible? This is the second concern.

Despite his apprehensions, Admiral Brasigliano saw the Crown Prince's proud face through the faint reflection in the observation window. In a country like Wessex, where the will of the king is above all else, the ambitious young man in the chair is destined to become the ruler of the country, even if he makes an unforgivable decision-making mistake.

Thinking of this, Brasigliano, who had been a horse all his life, sighed silently, turned his head sideways, and gave Ljajic a look.

The chief of staff of the fleet comprehended, and once again walked up to Crown Prince Yurimus: "Your Highness, those Norman warships have put on a confrontational posture, and it seems that they want to help the transport ships gain time to retreat. We will soon be in range, will we launch an attack on the Norman fleet as planned? ”

The crown prince stood up abruptly, walked to Admiral Brasigliano, looked at the group of ships in front of him with his head held high, and said loudly: "Act as planned!" This victory must belong to the great Kingdom of Wessex! ”

The fleet commander bowed his head: "As you wish, Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince!" ”

The crown prince stood in front of the observation window for a moment, and deliberately lowered his voice: "Wacker, with your knowledge...... How can a kingdom become an empire? ”

Blasigliano's whole body shuddered.

"Throughout history, I think that in order for a country to achieve rapid development, it must defeat one competitor after another, and then in this gradual process, cross an invisible and boundless threshold and become the king of the world." The crown prince seemed to have said such a thing to himself.

Brasigliano turned his head sideways, looked at the prince of the kingdom quietly, and replied quietly: "If I were twenty years younger, I would probably not hesitate to follow His Highness to realize that great dream, but unfortunately, I will retire in a few years." Once a person is old, whether he admits it or not, his energy, vitality, and courage are declining, and he may not be able to cope with the arduous and long-term task. ”

The crown prince frowned slightly, thought for a few seconds, and then collected his expression, and looked at Brasigliano with a relaxed demeanor: "As long as the strategy is used properly, we may only need a few years to realize our dreams, and we will all stand at the peak of our lives at the moment when our dreams are realized." ”

Blasigliano was not moved, but reminded faintly: "The victor deserves to be worshipped by the crowd, but the loser may lose everything, you ...... Are you sure you've got it all figured out? ”

The crown prince snorted: "Of course. ”

The fleet commander nodded and said no more.

Five minutes later, four Wessex battleships lined up in a row took the lead in the symphony of battle.

Two Mountain class, two Champion class, these four are the Kingdom of Wessex in the last war design finalization, after the war built and put into service battleships, the standard tonnage is between 24000-28000T, equipped with 64-70PIR (320-350mm) caliber guns, although the appearance and combat effectiveness are not as good as those designed and built after the war "Big Mac", thanks to good maintenance and various improvement measures, to maintain a relatively ideal condition, the performance of medium-intensity combat missions is more than enough.

In the blink of an eye, 24 heavy shells smashed into the Norman battleship more than ten kilometers away with a terrible scream. In the command room of the "Purple Star", the generals maintained their usual calmness, but Crown Prince Yurimus squinted his eyes in front of the observation window. When the deafening roar of the artillery fire cleared, he turned his head to look at the gray-haired fleet commander: "Did we open fire too early?" ”

Brasigliano replied unhurriedly: "Are you worried that the Norman battleship will be scared away by us?" In my own experience, the Normans would only retreat in an organized way, not scatter and flee, and it was only in the months towards the end of the war, when the morale of the Norman army almost collapsed, that I saw the Normans flee for the first time. ”