The roaring heavy shells hit the air with the sound of meteorite falling, and the nine Norman battleships instantly became small boats in the stormy waves, only to see them trembling, shaking, desperately climbing upwards to avoid those shells that were enough to "enter the soul" with one shot.

The four Wessex battleships, with a total of 24 main guns capable of attacking targets in front, fired three rounds of artillery fire and fired 72 shells in less than two minutes. Behind the Norman fleet, east of the fortress of Bergest, the woods in the wilderness were ablaze, destroying vast swaths of crops and razing villages......

As the distance between the two sides narrowed, the armored ships of the Wessex fleet also joined the artillery bombardment. In this way, the intensity of the attacker's firepower output increased significantly, and the results were quickly reaped: a cruiser on the Norman side was hit by a large-caliber cannonball, and in an instant, a blazing fireworks bloomed at the middle of the bullet, and the orange fireball was instantly wrapped in gray and black gunsmoke, and then a series of explosions spread backwards, and in the blink of an eye, the middle and front parts of the Norman battleship turned into countless fragments and scattered debris, and fell to the ground one after another. Hit hard, the middle and rear parts of its hull did not immediately lose its ability to levitate, only to see that its upward momentum quickly stopped, and the hull began to turn, trying to withdraw from the battle with unextinguished fire and billowing smoke.

Moments later, another Norman battleship was shot. This time, it was a larger, stubby, armored ship that was hit by the enemy's artillery fire. As the name suggests, the hull of the ship is covered with armor steel plates to protect the core area, and although the level of protection is not as good as that of battleships, it still has the ability to resist or mitigate enemy fire in battle. In the line of sight, the Norman armored ship that was bombarded by the opponent's artillery fire was also located in the bow, and the explosion was equally amazing, but there was no scene where the bow was blown apart. When the explosion and gunpowder smoke dissipated, it can be seen that a large black hole was blown out on the right side of the bow, a large circle of armor steel plates around it was cracked, and the two main guns and several auxiliary guns in the bow were damaged, and the overall combat strength of the battleship was weakened, but it could continue to fight.

In this battle, which took place in the territory of a third party, the armored ships put in by the Kingdom of Wessex and the Norman Empire were not about the same performance. After the Wessex armoured ships opened fire, three Norman armoured ships joined the artillery battle. Although far inferior to their four-ship rivals, the Normans guarded their pride with composure and excellent accuracy. In just the second round of fire, the Norman fleet's shells hit the Wessex, and after the two sides were closer together, the three Norman armored ships turned one after another, revealing their sideboards to their opponents......

"They're going to use that new weapon!"

In the command room of the Purple Star, the flagship of the Wessex Royal Fleet, the commander of the fleet, Brasigliano, and the chief of staff of the fleet, Ljajc, exclaimed in unison. The night before, they had stayed up all night studying the information brought to them by the crown prince, analyzing and studying the operating principles of the new Norman weapons and how to evade them, although the gains were not small, but they were far from enough for them to deal with them calmly, and the best way to resolve this embarrassment was to obtain the physical objects of the new weapons.

The situation was urgent, and Admiral Brasigliano directly swept past Crown Prince Yurimus, who was standing aside, and gave an order to Lyajć: "Order, the combat detachment adopts mobile evasion tactics, and the guerrilla detachment immediately attacks from both flanks!" ”

Without hesitation, Ljajic passed the order to the communications officer, who radioed it - now that the battle had begun, there was no need to keep the radio silent.

Being "snubbed" by Brasigliano and Ljajć, Crown Prince Yurimus not only did not show any unpleasantness, but expressed satisfaction and relief at the tacit cooperation of the fleet command team. As the battle progressed, the view on the battlefield was obscured by the smoke of gunpowder, and it was difficult to judge the enemy's movements and conditions through direct observation, so the crown prince simply returned to his special seat, supporting his chin with his right hand, and quietly observing the behavior of everyone in the command room.

The critical moment came quickly, and Brasigliano didn't have the heart to pay attention to Crown Prince Yurimus, he intently observed the Norman armored ships on the opposite side, and silently prayed in his heart, praying that his artillery could destroy one or two more ships before the enemy armored ships fired the "devil's bombs", so as to reduce the casualties on his side as much as possible - from the descriptions of the surviving officers and men of the advance fleet and the information obtained by the intelligence department, it was inferred that the new weapons used by the Norman fleet were more powerful than the most powerful naval artillery shells, Maybe even the battleship will not be able to carry it.

Having received a combat order from the flagship, the combat detachment, consisting of armored ships and battleships, began to reduce the flight altitude. Unlike the tactical maneuvers of ground and surface forces, flying warships can maneuver horizontally or vertically, or a combination of horizontal maneuvers and verticals, and maneuver much faster than ground and surface forces. Because of this, the hit rate of flying warships in long-range artillery battles is often pitifully low, and those aerial battles with outstanding results are often achieved in medium-close and even near-hand-to-hand combat.

In the face of the fierce artillery fire of the Wessex fleet, three Norman armored ships took the initiative to cross and show their sides, and the area of bombs and the probability of being hit increased sharply. Having lost the suddenness of the previous operation, this risky approach of the Norman fleet was quickly punished by the rules of the battlefield. The Norman armored ship in the center, the amidship position was hit by a high-speed heavy shell, and the blazing flames instantly swallowed the gun silhouette single-mounted main gun located on the side of the gun, the heavy barrel was like a dry branch shaking and flying out, and the hull was also pushed back by the impact of the explosion by at least twenty or thirty feet, and then the hull was deflected longitudinally, becoming starboard side up and port side down. Obviously, this Norman armored ship not only suffered from the penetration of the external armor, but also damaged the internal structure, especially the power system, although it did not fall directly, but there was not much combat power left......

As for the other two armored ships of the Norman fleet, including the one that had already been hit by a shell before, although they were spared a blow here, several shells flew by their hulls, and if the trajectory was offset by two or three meters, it was even possible to destroy them all!

Passing through the most dangerous stage, two Norman armoured ships successively dropped what Wessex called "devil's bombs" from special launches on the side of the side. The oversized spindle-like weapon, with its fin-like blades and trailing gray trail, first rises to a certain altitude after leaving the ship, then turns into level flight, and has a noticeable acceleration during flight.

As the Norman fleet unleashed its new weapons, the Wessex ships followed the battle plan they had received before departure: the armoured ships and battleships of the battle detachment descended at a rapid rate and turned left quickly during the descent, and these large creatures, like prehistoric behemoths, performed tactical maneuvers at a speed disproportionate to their size. The cruisers and corvettes of the guerrilla detachments, with their natural ability to maneuver, detoured to the flanks of the battlefield, and when they received the order to attack, they quickly adjusted their course, bowed towards the Norman fleet, quickly approached it, and as soon as they were in range, they did not hesitate to pour artillery fire on the Norman ships!

In this era when steam technology is close to full level and electrical technology is in the ascendant, the Norman weapon that can fly and set the height has made people feel incredible, and if it has artificial guidance or even intelligent guidance function, it will be too rebellious. After the battle detachment of the Wessex fleet continued to change its altitude and level, the Norman "devil's bombs" still swooped down on their targets, and even though they were fast and had a certain dispersion, they still came up empty.

It worked!

The "Purple Star" was placed in the command room protected by thick armor, and Admiral Brasigliano watched the "devil bomb" that had kept him awake these days flying thousands of feet away, and the big rock in his heart finally landed. No matter how powerful the new weapons of the Normans were, they had to follow the objective laws of nature, and as long as there were laws to follow, they could find flaws - for Brasigliano, this battle that directly bet on the main force of the royal fleet and indirectly bet on the fortunes of Wessex was really not to be lost.

After the two Norman armored ships launched this wave of "devil bombs", they did not continue to stay where they were brewing the next wave of attacks, but quickly implemented tactical maneuvers to avoid the fierce artillery fire of the Wessex armored ships and battleships, but they have become the focus of the Wessex fleet, especially after the cruisers and cruisers outflanked on both flanks entered the range of the guns, shells of various calibers fell like raindrops, even if they were "dancing" on the battlefield, they were still shot one after another, Moreover, large tactical maneuvers can easily expose the fragile thrusters to enemy fire, and once the thrusters are damaged, it is difficult to escape by emergency means alone.

After holding out for a few minutes, the two Norman armored ships could not hold out and began to retreat, and the armored ship, which had lost its balance due to the previous damage, had already retreated first, leaving only a few cruisers to drag behind, barely covering the retreat of friendly ships with artillery fire and smoke screens. How could the Wessex warships, outflanked from both flanks, let them go so easily? The rain-down artillery fire continued to hit the Norman ships, and the shells of the cruisers and corvettes were relatively weak, but they were superior in number, and the Norman cruisers behind the palace were shot one after another, not to mention the fire and smoke, and two thrusters were damaged, and it was a luxury to retreat......

Judging from the scene, the Wessex fleet is already victorious, and it will be a perfect victory if it can capture a Norman armored ship in its entirety and obtain the "Devil's Bomb" technology. But just as the officers and men of Wessex were enthusiastically pursuing the Norman ships, their high-altitude reconnaissance ship suddenly sent an alarm: an unidentified large fleet has appeared in the southwest!

To the southwest of North Frees, it is none other than the Norman Empire!