The most fatal was the last shell, which accurately hit the lower edge of the No. 1 chimney of the Motherland. As a device that must penetrate several decks, the chimney has a certain damage to the structural strength of the hull, and this is the most vulnerable place for the entire warship.

The shell that hit this vital area exploded immediately, and the huge shock wave shattered the junction between the chimney and the deck, and the huge chimney broke from the root, and it tilted to the left and then fell. The collapsed chimney fell heavily on the deck, and then tumbled into the sea, and it was this heavy fall that knocked the already damaged hull out of a wide crack again.

When the battleship is driving at high speed, the hull of the ship is already subjected to considerable seawater resistance and the torque of the propeller. With the action of these forces, the rift was torn wider and wider, and at the end of the day, the huge crack had completely broken the warship, and the battleship, which had been divided into two halves, rolled helplessly on the surface of the sea twice, and then slowly sank to the bottom of the sea.

With the first result, the sailors of the Combined Fleet became more and more excited, and they soon concentrated their firepower again, sending the already wounded Yanko to the bottom of the sea.

Seeing that his warships were sunk one after another, Vice Admiral Lowak knew very well that if this continued, none of his capital ships would be spared, so he resolutely ordered the fleet to continue sailing south, and he would venture into a group of reefs off the coast of the southern subcontinent to cause trouble for the combined fleet.

The experienced Marshal House was also aware of the existence of this reef group, and when he saw the other side rushing into it at the risk of death, the Combined Fleet did not rush into pursuit, they just cruised in the open sea, and carried out long-range artillery bombardment of the Nantes Empire's Mediterranean Fleet which was getting farther and farther away. Seeing that he could not take advantage of it, Vice Admiral Lowak immediately made a decision, and the Mediterranean Fleet broke away from contact with the other side, and the whole army sailed to the important military port of the Nantes Empire's colonies in the southern subcontinent, the Tunisian military port in the Gulf of Hammamet.

In addition to the sinking of two former Chinese ships, the remaining two Brittany-class battleships and one Motherland-class former Chinese ship were also wounded, while only two of their opponents, the seven Combined Forceweight battleships, were wounded.

As for the torpedo boats that Lovac had high hopes for, after encountering their natural nemesis destroyers, they were completely unable to play to their advantages, and after destroying seven destroyers of the opposing side, only four torpedo boats escaped the pursuit with the help of the reef.

This joint maritime operation between the Kingdom of Habushburg and the Grand Duchy of Sardinia temporarily crushed the Mediterranean fleet of the Nantes Empire, thus controlling the sea supremacy of the Mediterranean. The two countries, which had gained naval supremacy, were able to calmly cover their own land forces while threatening the Toulon defenders' defenses with naval artillery.

The defeat of the Mediterranean Fleet caused a lot of grief in the port of Toulon, and it was very difficult for the coastal port cities to hold on to this place without the cooperation of the navy. Unlike the gloomy gloom of the Nantes army, the morale of the two coalition forces was high, and they quickly appointed a new offensive plan.

For this attack, the allied forces of the two countries spent their money, and the Kingdom of Habushburg even transported four 203 mm heavy guns imported from the Chinese Empire, which were their only possessions. The four heavy guns lived up to their hopes, and under the bombardment of these four heavy guns, the steel cap forts of the Nantes Empire were overturned one by one, and the heavy firepower of the Nantes army was greatly affected.

At this time, the navy also rushed to join in the fun, the huge 330 mm main gun became a nightmare for the Nantes army, the huge crater could send a platoon of the Nantes army into the sky with a single shot, the death threat without warning, seriously hit their morale, so that the entire defense line was shaken, fortunately, with the strength of the commanders at all levels, the Nantes army would not collapse on the spot.

At this time, the artillery of the Nantes army could not return fire, and once they returned fire, they could easily be detected by the capital ships of the combined fleet, so as to carry out targeted destruction. Under the combined attack of the combined forces of Habufsburg and Sardinia from land and sea, and before even the air force could be used, the Nantes army was forced to abandon the port of Toulon and move inland.

The Nantes army was forced to abandon the military port of Toulon, and the defending forces moved inland, hoping to avoid the shelling of the combined fleets of the two countries and compete with the army. Such a strategic retreat did allow the Nantes army to avoid greater losses, but after the loss of the Toulon military port, the Nantes navy lost its own military port on the northern shore of the Mediterranean, which had a great impact on the activities of its Mediterranean fleet.

To make matters worse, the Nantes Empire's military port in Tunisia on the southern subcontinent could only be anchored and replenished, and it was completely impossible to overhaul and maintain ships, where there was neither equipment nor personnel, and in the long run, the warships of the Mediterranean Fleet, which had been immersed in the sea and had nothing to do, would be completely ineffective, and the Mediterranean Sea would allow the combined fleets of the two Allied powers to gallop freely.

In order to regain control of the Mediterranean, the Saar Empire began to consider supporting part of the fleet through the Strait of Gibraltar under its control, and also formed a joint fleet with the Nantes Empire, and at the same time began to contact the Nantes Empire, intending to have their fleet retreat to the port of Ceuta near the strait for renovation.

Regardless of how the two countries approached on naval alliances, the current strategic posture of the Nantes Empire on land was already quite dangerous. Regardless of the danger of the Northern Front under the oppression of the Yaman Empire, the combined forces of the two countries in the South first reached Castel, located in the south of the Nantes Empire.

The terrain of Castel is not precarious, but it was the transportation hub of the Nantes Empire in the south and the barrier of Toulouse, the country's third largest city. Once this city is lost, the southern lines of communication of the Nantes Empire are in danger of being cut off, and then the entire southern front of the Empire will be in danger of insufficient logistical supplies.

The Nantes army was small in number, and in the face of the bombardment of the superior firepower of the combined forces of the two countries, the Nantes Empire took off the air force, hoping to rely on bombers to suppress the front-line artillery of the two countries.

This is the case with the military leaders of the countries of the Western Continent, although they have clearly understood the power of aircraft in land warfare, but under the habitual thinking, they still selectively forget this superior weapon many times. Perhaps only when the artillery is insufficient, the military strategists of the countries of the Western Continent will think of the bomber, which can completely replace the existence of artillery.

It's not that the military top brass of the Nantes Empire can't think of it, and the top brass of the Kingdom of Hahavesburg and the Grand Duchy of Sardinia also didn't expect that when the bomber group of the Nantes Air Force was in the air, the top brass of the two countries woke up like a dream, and then they realized that they had made a big mistake.

In the process of advancing, the two countries never thought of building a front-line field airfield, and when they saw each other's bombers flying, they found that their fighters could not fly to the front line because of their insufficient range.

They could only watch each other throw bombs frantically, and the two coalition forces on the ground could only set up all the machine guns they could find and shoot into the air.

Anti-aircraft shooting played a role, at least the two coalitions shot down a dozen bombers and saved half of their artillery. However, the ensuing artillery bombardment and counter-charge of the Nantes army caught the combined forces of the two countries by surprise.

It has to be said that Marshal Petain, the commander of the Nantes army, thought of having courage, and the Nantes army saw the opportunity and launched a counter-charge on all fronts in a desperate manner. The machine-gun fire and the bright bayonets caught the two coalition forces by surprise, and after tens of thousands of casualties, the two coalition forces chose to retreat, while the Nantes army, which also lost tens of thousands of men, did not dare to pursue because of its weak strength.

This battle made the two allied forces put away the idea of underestimating the enemy, and they began to build fortifications on the spot to stabilize their front first, and at the same time, a large number of engineering teams chose the place to build field airfields, preparing to transfer the domestic air force to the front line, and use the numerical advantage to overwhelm the Nantes air force.

With the buffer of these few days, Marshal Pétain was able to bring in two more corps of reserves from the top of the Nantes army, along with a reinforced artillery division armed with 155 mm howitzers, and a tank regiment, which was already all that the top management could support the southern front. As for the Air Force, since the fighting in the north is also quite tight, the top brass cannot give him even one more plane.

Looking at the strength in his hand, Marshal Petain also sighed again and again, he knew very well that relying on such a small number of troops, it was difficult to defend against the attack of the Kingdom of Habuafsburg and the Grand Duchy of Sardinia with almost all the strength of the whole country, and the two countries had more than 700,000 troops in front of them alone, and more than 400 large-caliber artillery, which was far from being able to compete with the 200,000 troops in their hands.

Sure enough, as Marshal Pétain had expected, the coalition forces of the two countries, after resting and recuperating, attacked again, this time they came prepared, and sent 100 bombers in advance, under the cover of 230 fighters, to attack the positions of the Nantes army, and the Nantes air force also took off all 110 fighters to meet the enemy, and the two sides fought fiercely in the airspace near Castel.

The pilots of the Nantes Air Force were of higher quality, and with their extremely high flying skills, they gave full play to the full performance of the Eagle 1 fighters, and fought tenaciously in air combat. The joint air forces of the two countries have not fought any decent air battles and lack combat experience, but they are numerous in number, and they have also undergone perfect training, and they will not suffer losses in air combat.

Seeing that their fighters had successfully entangled each other, the bomber groups of the two coalition forces immediately flew to the position of the Nantes army, the hatch in the belly of the plane opened, and a string of 50 kilograms of bombs rushed out and smashed straight into the Nantes army on the ground.

The anti-artillery holes covered with logs could not defend against the direct bombardment of aerial bombs or large-caliber artillery shells, and soon some of the anti-artillery holes were directly hit, and the anti-artillery holes that were blown up were completely opened, and the Nantes soldiers with a squad inside turned into wisps of green smoke.