In the telescope's view, billowing black smoke erupted from the chimney of the Norman battleship, dragging a thick and long ribbon of smoke across the clear sky.

In the command room of the USS Merlendigan, the flagship of the Wessex Task Force, a well-dressed staff officer speculated: "Lo and behold, their boilers should be close to or at full capacity, but their speed is not very fast—visual estimates are around 50 meters." If memory serves, the Glenfin-class armored ships had a maximum horizontal speed of 68M per hour when they were put into service. Maybe because the ship is too old and poorly maintained, resulting in poor condition of the power equipment? ”

General Violena, wearing a red-on-gold collar badge, stared ahead without saying a word. The Normans, who admired force, would rather be hungry than have their weapons and equipment well maintained, could it be said that the defeat of a war made them change their habits? No, it's not that simple!

After a while, the staff officer spoke to General Waiolena: "General, is it time to fire on them as a warning?" ”

Violena breathed a sigh of relief: "Fire the cannon, send the signal, let them withdraw from North Fries, otherwise...... Sink it! ”

The staff officer's eyes widened first, and then there was excitement in his eyes. He quickly conveyed the order of the fleet commander, and after a few moments, the flagship fired empty shells from the secondary guns to warn him, and then signaled in the international flag language that the Norman fleet should immediately withdraw from the North Friesian area.

The Norman warship then replied with a flag: If you want to fight, you will come, and you will accompany you to the end!

Seeing the other party's domineering flag reply, the expressions of the officers in the command room of the "Melendigan" were very rich.

Moments later, a report came from the lookout: the lookouts had made a closer look with the help of high-powered telescopes and had determined that the two main warships of the enemy fleet were suspected to be modified Glenfin-class armored ships, and the two secondary warships were the original Okachile-class frigates.

Improved Glenfing?

General Wai Olena stared ahead, and it is common knowledge that the performance of the improved version will be greatly improved compared to the original. After the end of the last war, the Norman Empire submitted detailed filings to the Armistice Commission in accordance with the armistice. In this information, the combat tonnage of the original Glenfin-class armored ship is 10920T, equipped with 2 twin and 4 single-mounted 45PIR (225mm) main guns, 8 single-mounted 30PIR (150mm) secondary guns, 8 single-mounted 14PIR (70mm) rapid-fire guns, armor thickness 20-30PIR (100-150mm), power output 16000Z, and a maximum horizontal speed of 68M.

If the combat performance of the improved version is 30-40% higher than that of the prototype, then there is no grade difference between the hard power of the two Norman armored ships in front of them and the combat tonnage of 12680T, equipped with 5 twin 49PIR (245mm) main guns, and the maximum horizontal speed of 70M per hour.

Thinking of this, General Waiolena felt pressured.

And at this moment, a report came from the firing control room that made the atmosphere suddenly tense: "The enemy ship has entered our firing range!" ”

After entering the firing range, the two sides may exchange fire at any time. In order to seize the opportunity, it is necessary to choose a certain combat formation and adopt a certain combat deployment in accordance with local conditions.

Waiolena took a deep breath: "All turn left, starboard against the enemy." ”

"Yes, turn left with a quarter of a rounded corner, and the starboard side is diagonally facing the enemy!" As the command was repeated, the staff officer's voice was distinctly violated.

Willena couldn't help but frown.

After a while, the six Wessex battleships, led by the flagship, collectively turned around and formed a diagonal column in front of the enemy fleet.

Unlike surface ships, the weapons layout of flying warships must not only consider the spherical firing range, but also protect the fragile and vulnerable propulsion system, and the main gun fire is relatively scattered. Older warships designed and built before the war could only concentrate three-fifths of their guns when firing in one direction, while newer warships designed and built after the war, such as the Caburg-class armored ships of the Kingdom of Wessex, could concentrate four-fifths of the main guns for firing at a certain angle in front of the left or right due to the optimized weapon and power configuration, and thus evolved a new tactical formation.

As the fleet turned, Admiral Willolena re-mounted his binoculars and kept a close eye on the Norman fleet. The Normans looked a little sluggish in their reaction, and it was only after the Wessex fleet had completed the adjustment that their formation began to change: the rear ships went up and the front ships descended, forming the vertical formation most common in flying fleet combat. This kind of formation, which is conducive to the forward firepower of the old warships, maximizes the protection of the propulsion system, and firmly indicates the offensive posture of their own side, is the battle formation that the Norman fleet commander was most enthusiastic about in the last war.

Could these Normans still be stuck in the thinking of twenty years ago?

"The enemy's lead ship is 90 chains away from me!"

The report from the firing control room unequivocally told the officers, led by Violena, that the enemy ship was under their noses. As long as the order is given, according to their usual training results, two rounds of artillery fire can get a hit.

The 49PIR (245mm) main gun equipped with the Carburg-class armored ship has a 50% higher armor-piercing ability than the previous 45PIR (225) naval gun because of the lengthened barrel and the use of heavy ammunition, even if the Norman Glenfin-class greatly enhanced armor protection, it can still be easily penetrated.

In the blink of an eye, the firing control room reported: "The enemy's lead ship is 80 chains away from me!" ”

General Waiorina gritted his teeth: "Order, all reload armor-piercing shells!" ”

The fleet has taken combat alert, and the live ammunition has long been prepared at the firing position, and only waiting for the commander's order, within ten seconds, all the gun chambers have been loaded, and the fire control system has fed back to the command room: "All are ready, and the shooting is on standby!" ”

General Waiolena's eyes narrowed, as long as the Normans turned away, the battle could still be avoided, but...... When did the Normans admit cowardice?

Just as Violena clenched his fists and was about to shout "fire", a staff officer shouted, "The Norman battleship is turning!" ”

Waiolena jerked his fist open, his eyes wide, holding his breath. In sight, the four Norman warships were indeed turning as a whole.

Their turret distribution is conducive to forward facing the enemy and not conducive to flank fire, so they should actively steer to avoid battle rather than adjust their tactics...... Waiolena comforted himself in his heart, but out of prudence, he did not rush to order the battle guard to be lifted. The courage and cunning of the Normans have always been deeply feared by their opponents.

At a distance of 70 chains, or 35,000 feet, the Norman fleet unhurriedly turned three-eighths of the way, and all four ships were facing the Wessex fleet on the port side, and the two sides went from going in opposite directions to parallel directions, and the Norman fleet flew about 1,000 feet lower than the Wessex fleet.

Which Normans are singing?

General Waiorena's doubts soon turned to surprise and panic in the exclamations of the subordinate officers. I saw two enemy armored ships "throwing" a number of cigar-shaped metal objects from the side of the gunwales. With short fins like fish, trailing dark trails of smoke, they quickly ascended after leaving the ship, and when they reached the height of the Wessex fleet, they quickly flattened down and slammed towards the Wessex battleship.

"Fire!" Violena shouted, "The main gun attacks the enemy ship, and the secondary gun intercepts the fire!" ”

"Fire! Shoot! "The staff officer grabbed the microphone in a panic and conveyed the instructions to the firing control room.

The gun emplacements opened fire immediately, and a deafening sound of cannon rang out. Realizing that the staff officer had missed the second half of his commands, Waiolena rushed over and pushed him away, intending to give the order to the firing control room himself, but the loud sound of the main gun fire forced him to wait for a moment.

Someone next to him exclaimed, "They're coming!" ”

Waiolena looked up and saw that the cigar-shaped metal objects were flying like a row of arrows, and with his years of experience in the army, these high-speed flying objects were much larger than the shells that his own warships had just fired, which meant that they could contain a large amount of high explosives......

When unprecedented fear and despair struck Willena's spirit, a huge explosion struck violently with a violent concussion. The officers in the command room were caught off guard and fell to the ground one by one.

In this armored command room, the eldest Violena was the first to get up, he held on to the riveted bulkhead, and through the shattered observation window, he saw a scene that broke his heart: the original brand new battleship suddenly became a "broken ship", a large cloud of black smoke with orange flames gushed out from the ruptured starboard side, the hull around the breach showed a terrible state of distortion and expansion, located in the second main turret on the foredeck, a large crack appeared between the turret and the gun mount, It shows how powerful the explosion just now was.

Before Waiolena could think about it, he felt the bulkheads and floor tilt. The loss of balance of the flying battleship meant that the floating structure inside the hull was damaged, and unless it could be repaired within a short period of time, the "Merendigan" would be defenseless against the enemy.

"Damn, what did the Normans attack us with!" A staff officer struggled to get to Violena's side, gasping for air.

"Flying bombs, their new secret weapon!" "Send a signal to the rest of the ships and let them cover our retreat!" ”

"Yes, General!" The staff officer tried to contact the signal station with a microphone, but there was no response, so he had to go out of the command room and go to the signal station to give orders himself. However, the flying battleship leaned more and more, and finally turned almost completely sideways to the right. In the process, many objects fell from the battleship, and strange and tooth-aching sounds were constantly heard from inside the hull.

Suddenly, the "Melendigen" exploded again, and the flying battleship shook like a leaf in the wind, and one of the staff officers under the command of Violena nearly fell out of the hatch. Realizing that the condition of the battleship was deteriorating dramatically, Violena had to consider abandoning the ship. "Melendigan" is located in the front of the fleet, and in front of it there is also a 1st class frigate called "Schott". After the explosion of the "Merendigan", it had been firing at the Norman fleet, and when Violena was about to summon it to pick up the crew, he saw that the cruiser had been hit by a shell. The protection and structure of the cruiser, where can it withstand the attack of the main gun level of the armored ship, its bow exploded in an instant, and countless hull fragments and stumps were scattered in all directions......