"It's the Norman Empire's Northern Fleet......"

Admiral Brasigliano, who was in charge of the "Purple Star," did not seem surprised to learn that his reconnaissance ship had discovered a new enemy. The base of the Norman fleet was certainly three or four hours away from here, and the battle had only been going on for just over an hour from the reconnaissance phase. Although earlier intelligence indicated that most of the ships of the Norman Northern Fleet were staying in their home port, the situation was constantly changing, and with the courage and cunning of the Norman generals, how could they keep their small forces alone and the main forces at a loss?

"What do we do now?" The chief of staff of the fleet, Ljajch, went straight to the point and asked the fleet commander for the next step: fight or retreat, the strong enemy is present, and there is no third way to choose.

Brasigliano pondered for a moment, then looked at Ljajc, who had been his partner for many years, took a deep breath, walked up to the crown prince in person, and said in a firm and decisive tone: "Your Highness, the Norman reinforcements are coming sooner than we expected. If we keep our goals intact, we'll have to fight the Normans hard. The Norman Northern Fleet is not weak, and we must send the Purple Star and the Paladin into battle, and for safety reasons, I strongly recommend that you transfer to the reserve command ship 'Marumas' to supervise the battle in the rear. ”

Knowing that another Norman fleet with considerable strength had been killed, although Crown Prince Ulimus did not show an anxious and uneasy look, his eyes no longer had the same calmness as before. The last war lasted six years, and he grew from an ignorant child to a teenager, and his intuitive impression of the war was that the king and his generals were discussing around the sand table, and that it was the emotional changes of the people's victory and defeat, and for the front line and the battlefield, he tirelessly listened to people talk about it, and also saw many images and words, but after all, he did not experience it himself.

To the fleet commander's suggestion, the crown prince quickly responded: "I believe in your ability, and I believe in the combat effectiveness of the Wessex royal fleet. Now that the Norman Northern Fleet is here, let's fight it! The road to becoming a strong man is bound to encounter many difficulties and challenges, and it is not advisable to avoid them. You don't have to worry about me being here, just command the fleet to fight according to your train of thought, so be it! ”

Brasigliano immediately persuaded: "Your Highness, the fleet is at war, and the flagship has always been the main target of the enemy, and the situation of winning a victory and losing a flagship has happened before. If you can deign to go to the reserve command ship, it will be a great encouragement to the fleet headquarters and to all the officers and men of the 'Purple Star' - we will move forward courageously without the fear of the destruction of the flagship and the leaderlessness of the fleet. For the sake of the big picture, I kindly ask you to think carefully! ”

Crown Prince Yurimus pondered for a moment, then stood up from his seat: "Okay! As you wish, I am here for you on the Marumas to win a battle destined to go down in history, and you, the brave and resourceful Admiral Wacker Vlamie Brasigliano, will be remembered as the finest fleet commander ever seen in the Kingdom of Wessex! ”

Brasigliano bowed his head and watched His Royal Highness the Crown Prince leave in a respectful manner, and the Chief of Staff of the Fleet, Captain Ljajć, and Captain Berenguer, also greeted the heavyweight royal family member out of the command room, to the gunhouse where the airship was carried, and transferred to the reserve command ship in the flagship airship.

The crown prince left on the front foot, and Brasigliano came together with Ljajic on the back foot, quickly agreeing on a tactical plan. Next, Lyajć summoned several staff officers of the fleet staff and arranged for them specific matters such as liaison and communication, ranging and positioning, and trajectory calculations, while Brasigliano silently walked to the side porthole and watched the white flagship transport boat leave the "Purple Star" and fly to the "Marumas" not far behind. Compared to other combat ships in the fleet, the cruiser-class reserve command ship did not look significantly different, but in fact it was equipped with two sets of radio communication systems, a flagship-level command room, conference rooms, and a rest room, and the protection and power equipment was also superior to that of warships of the same class, and it relied on internal combustion engines and batteries to power the Starstone flying communication boat. This kind of micro flying ship can not carry a huge amount of transformer equipment, although the power output of the internal combustion engine and the battery can drive the star source stone to produce floating force, but the floating energy efficiency ratio is very poor, a 20-ton micro flying ship, the use of star source stone is almost the same as a 2,000-ton cruiser, and can only carry out a relatively short distance flight, before the revolutionary development of electrical technology, basically does not have the conditions for large-scale equipment.

Under the command and dispatch of the flagship "Purple Star", two guerrilla detachments composed of cruisers and corvettes continued to pursue the retreating Norman ships, the combat detachment composed of armored ships and battleships joined forces with the command detachment where the flagship was located, the five battleships put on a "diagonal cutting queue" with high left and low right, and the assault ship "Holy Knight" led four cruisers to climb to a high-altitude position - when the main ships of the two sides were fighting fiercely, using potential energy to convert kinetic energy to carry out a high-speed assault on the enemy ship group was the unique skill of this new warship!

Not to be outdone, the Norman fleet, which had flown at full speed from the southwest, quickly shifted from marching columns to battle formations, thus presenting the complete lineup to the adversary: the three battleships formed the famous "Cobra battle line", that is, the battleships above were in the rear, and the battleships below were in the front, which was conducive to attacking the same target in the distance at the same time; Two armored ships and four cruisers lined up above the fleet, capable of both delivering firepower and charging like the assault detachments of the Wessex fleet; The remaining fifteen frigates formed five three-ship squadrons in the flanks and rear of the battle line.

At the beginning, the report of his own reconnaissance ship described the Norman fleet as "a large fleet with 6-8 large warships and a large number of light ships", if true, its number of ships has exceeded the conventional configuration of the Norman Northern Fleet. But the specifications are basically the same as the battleships, that is, the Wessex fleet has twice the capital ships of the opponent, and the number of armored ships, cruisers and cruisers also has an advantage, as long as you beware of the "devil's bombs" of the Normans, the chances of winning this battle are still relatively large.

"General, we've just overheard the enemy's radio communications and decoded part of it."

A staff officer handed a handwritten piece of paper to Ljajc. The Chief of Staff of the Fleet carefully read the contents and reported to his commander: "The Normans have ordered all the ships they can continue to fight to fight, and it seems that ...... They were determined to fight us. ”

"Perhaps, a new big war will begin." Brasigliano stared ahead and let out a low sigh. The dominant Wessex guerrilla detachment continued to chase after the defeated Norman ships, in addition to the two cruisers with damaged thrusters falling behind, a smoke-emitting armored ship with a tail also slowed down significantly, originally everything was developing in the expected direction, but the timely appearance of the Norman Northern Fleet instantly changed the situation and changed the mentality of the officers and soldiers on both sides - seeing that reinforcements had arrived, the remaining Norman battleships simply stopped retreating, turned around and fought side by side with friendly ships that could not be evacuated, and the Wessex fleet side, Even a veteran of the war, such as Brasigliano, has become a loser.

Moments later, another staff officer stepped forward to report that the enemy fleet was about to enter range.

The flagship "Purple Star" is equipped with the largest caliber main gun of the Wessex Air Force, and the combat range of the same high target has reached an unprecedented 94,000 feet, and the effective range is more than 63,000 feet, and it uses heavy shells with less kinetic energy attenuation, and its armor penetration ability against long-distance targets is very strong. There is no doubt that the "Purple Star" is the confidence and glory of the Wessex royal fleet, and it is also the most powerful weapon that Brasigliano can rely on......

After making up his mind, just waiting for the enemy fleet to enter the range of engagement, Brasigliano turned to the captain Berenguer, nodded at him, and decisively ordered: "Fire!" ”

Berenger immediately gave the order to "fire at the enemy from the front main guns" to the firing commander on the ship.

This scene reminded the two of them of their experiences more than 20 years ago. At that time, Brasigliano was the captain of a second-class cruiser, and Berenguer was his herald. In every battle, the former always gives orders to the combat post through the latter to shoot at the enemy. The two did not cooperate for a long time, and after the war, Brasigliano was prosperous, and soon entered the threshold of generals, until he became the commander of the royal fleet, while Berenguer chose to enter the military academy for further study, and through diligent study and hard study, he became an artillery expert in the aviation unit, and achieved the transformation from a shooting commander to a battleship commander with excellent performance, and obtained the opportunity to command cruisers, armored ships and even battleships, until he stood in the command room of the "Purple Star" and became the commander of the fleet flagship.

Not long after, the whole ship of the "Purple Star" sounded the bell for the preparation of the main gun firing. The Amethyst-class battleship was armed with a total of 10 73PIR (about 365mm) guns, and these long-range and powerful heavy guns were distributed on five twin turrets, arranged in the bow, forward main deck, aft main deck, port side amidships, and starboard side sides. For targets within a range of ±± 4 degrees in front and 12 degrees on the left and right sides, it can concentrate 8 main guns to fire at the same time, and its momentum is very fierce and the recoil is also large. As the firing bell rang, the ship's personnel took their positions in the safe area, and the officers in the command room also stood still, silently waiting for the deafening cannon sound like a rumbling war drum......