General Werneuve saw through the telescope that the mast of the mine-striking steamer was tilting to one side and was sinking slowly and irretrievably, nodded thoughtfully, and then ordered the carrier-based aviation to dispatch and rescue the Imperial sailors on the mine-striking ship in time.

Four large ships sank one after another, because the sea near the port is shallow, after the sinking of the ship, there is still a section of mast exposed to the water, becoming four artificial reefs, most of the warships sailing out of the port have a deep draft, if they accidentally hit the wreck, the end is no different from hitting the reef.

The remaining two ships, whether lucky or unlucky, went deep into the minefield and did not trigger the mines, and drifted tremblingly on the water. Unwilling to waste any more time, Werneuve ordered the Imperial sailors on the two ships to break away as soon as possible, and then ordered the warships to shell the ships that were left with empty hulls. After two rounds of shelling, the smoke of gunfire over the harbor had not yet cleared, and the two scarred and blazing steamers finally ended their humiliating voyage, sinking and running aground one after another, becoming two great obstacles in the way of the Parnia fleet.

General Werneuf held a telescope and looked at the Palnia military port with a distracted view. Six stranded ships almost completely blocked the way out of the port, but if the commander of the enemy fleet dared to take the risk, it was still possible to escape the military port along a narrow and winding route, which was comparable to dancing on the tip of a knife.

General Werneuf was a very rigorous man, and he did not allow any flaws in his "work". Even if Parnia's fleet had only a 1 percent chance of escaping the blockade and escaping the port, he could not rest assured. In order to ensure that the blockade was foolproof, General Werneuve brought in four destroyers and instructed them to lay a large number of mines in the course of the six steamers that had just departed.

In this way, on the periphery of the minefield of the Parnians, the Imperial Navy has set up an additional mine belt, even if the Parnia fleet is unlucky and takes a huge risk to rush out of the port blocked by sunken ships, there are countless mines in front of them, and it is destined to be impossible to escape.

After making all these arrangements, General Verneuve was finally able to take out the high-level communication stone with confidence and report to Commander Lucien in person: "The departure channel of the Parnia fleet has been completely blocked, and from now on, our ships can clear mines without any interference. ”

……

On 30 April, a drizzle began to fall in the harbor of Parnia. The Imperial Minesweeper Squadron braved the rain to advance the safe passage to the nearest shore defense battery eight thousand yards before dark.

On May 1, the weather finally cleared. At dawn, the vast fleet under the command of Admiral Lucien, commander of the Imperial Navy, advanced in a mighty manner, and three of the main battleships, the "Charlemagne", "Empress Teresa", and "Frank Crown Prince", shelled the Palnian coastal positions from 8,000 yards away.

On the opposite position, the shore defense artillery under the protection of the strong fortress also began to return fire, but for them, the distance of the Imperial warship was too far, and the shells flew to a distance of 8,000 yards to become a strong crossbow, and most of them missed, and occasionally one or two shells hit the target unfortunately, and it was difficult to penetrate the thick armor of the Imperial battleship, and it was almost impossible to cause substantial damage to them.

The fierce artillery battle lasted for two hours, and at 6:50 a.m., an unusually alarming explosion was heard from the Palnia shore defense position - it was a 10-inch armor-piercing shell fired by the "Queen Teresa" that hit the ammunition depot of the No. 2 shore defense battery, and the terrifying fireball rose into the sky, directly tearing the steel and cement bunker to pieces. Over the next 30 minutes, the "Charlemagne" and the "Crown Prince Frank" also lived up to expectations, hitting the No. 3 and No. 7 shore forts several times, successfully silencing the two batteries. In this way, the Imperial Minesweeper Squadron could advance another five hundred yards and clear the waterway in the waters that had been separated from the shore defense batteries.

The shelling continued until noon, and the other side of the bay was in shambles: the positions were filled with gunsmoke, broken cement blocks and artillery fragments were everywhere, and the pillboxes were in ruins mixed with bloodstains.

From dawn to noon, the artillery battle, which lasted for a full eight hours, was almost a one-sided attack on the Palnia shore defense positions, and no less than twenty batteries had been destroyed by the Imperial guns, and the sound of the guns that returned fire had become noticeably sparse, revealing a hint of weakness.

General Lucien had been keeping a close eye on the battlefield and was keenly aware that the morale of Parnia's defenders was falling, so he decided to pour another handful of salt on the wounds of the other side to induce them to lose their minds.

The four Imperial cruisers, who had been impatient for a long time—the Lion, the Tiger, the Indomitable, and the Dreadnought—were ordered to sortie, bravely crossed the three battleships, and swam away while firing their guns on the range boundary of the shore defense batteries, as if deliberately provoking each other.

Far from being intimidated by this insulting action of the Imperial Navy, the Parnias were inspired by unprecedented courage and fighting spirit, and all the shore defense batteries shifted their attacks to the four Imperial cruisers.

Riding on the firepower of the shore defense batteries, most of them were attracted by the maneuverable cruisers, and the three slightly bulky Imperial battleships quietly advanced and calmly shelled the opposite fortress at a closer distance in order to improve the accuracy of their fire.

At this time, the scene inside and outside the harbor was both terrifying and spectacular: powerful warships swirled in the blue waves, and naval guns of various calibers roared in unison; The fortress shrouded in dense smoke and flying dust was pierced by a strong flash of light; The roar of the shore defense artillery echoed between the cliffs on both sides of the strait; Destroyers and minesweepers roamed the sea in the face of overhead gunfire, carrying out dangerous minesweeping missions – all under sunny skies and calm blue waves, creating a paradoxical impression of magnificence and terror for those who witnessed it.

This phase of the melee lasted about two hours, and at nearly three o'clock in the afternoon, the 19th battery, which was located on the left bank of the port, suddenly let out a deafening roar, billowing black smoke into the sky, and all 12 officers and men in the battery were killed and buried in the steel and concrete grave.

Just a quarter of an hour later, Fort 18, which had been continuously shelled by two Imperial battleships, finally fell silent. "Charlemagne" and "Empress Theresa" turned their guns one after another and began to bombard forts 17 and 16 in a regular manner. By 5:30 p.m., the fire on the left bank had weakened markedly, about half of the batteries had ceased firing, the officers and men of the forts had either died or had been forced to evacuate, and the abandoned fortifications were so desolate in the setting sun that they were filled with detriths of metal, rock, and cement.

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