233: Great disappointment
In the Combined Fleet, dominated by Holy Rome, Prince Eugen personally came to the front line to supervise the battle, as he did yesterday, hoping to make a breakthrough in the air battle and turn the tide of the entire war. At this time, he was sitting in the flagship Habsburg air battleship, and his heart was extremely angry, and he couldn't help but be furious.
Last night, when Prince Attila himself came to visit and ask for battle, the young prince's tense mood for days was much lighter. Due to the lack of air superiority, Eugen had lost confidence in successfully intercepting the enemy's breakthrough. But with the Golden Horde, a new force that is not weak on the surface, joining the war, the young prince seems to have shot a shot in the arm!
In his estimation, the gap in air strength between the two sides will be greatly reduced in the future, and even as long as the tactics are properly used, it is not impossible to achieve a partial victory! As for the army that already had the advantage, its strength has increased greatly at this time, as long as it can entangle the enemy's floating fleet in air combat and prevent them from supporting Pera's breakthrough force, then it is only natural that the powerful Shinra army will surround and annihilate the enemy!
Unexpectedly, as soon as today's battle began, Prince Eugen's full expectation seemed to be poured with a plate of cold water, and he became extremely disappointed! Although the army of the Golden Horde did fight with all its troops, it did not change its true character of fearing the enemy and avoiding war, and after each attack, as long as the enemy's counterattack strength was slightly strengthened, he would immediately abandon his comrades and retreat, otherwise he would cower and have no combat effectiveness at all!
In the land battle just now, the HRE side already had a great advantage, and it was immediately possible to encircle the enemy. Didn't expect the so-called Khan Guards of the Golden Horde. Swallow slowly when attacking, and run faster than anyone else. As soon as the enemy's floating fleet appeared, they immediately fled. In fact, as long as they were not afraid of sacrifice and gritted their teeth and braved the enemy's artillery fire for a while, the combined fleet of the Holy Rome would be able to arrive, and then the enemy fleet would be unable to support its army, and a great victory would be within reach!
Not only that, but they also showed extreme cowardice in the current air battle. According to his previous strategy, the melee combat formation, with the Golden Horde Khan-type fast ships as the main force, should break through the interception of the enemy's melee forces from the left flank. Detour back to the flanks of the enemy fleet, then unleash a suicidal melee attack with ferocious assault. At the same time, Eugen will command the Combined Fleet to change formation, assemble on the right flank and attack the enemy with the heaviest salvo of naval guns. The main force of the enemy fleet was severely damaged in one fell swoop under the simultaneous attack on the left and right!
This tactic was originally very smooth, but now the combined fleet had been assembled into a tight decisive battle formation, and the Khan-style fast ship formation of the Golden Horde had broken through to the perimeter of the enemy fleet, and then they would rush in and launch a melee attack in the face of the opponent's artillery fire. The outcome is basically decided! Unexpectedly, these stupid barbarians were afraid of the enemy like tigers. He actually kept going around in circles on the periphery, but he didn't dare to break through the enemy's fire net and rush to the enemy ship in close combat. In this way, the assembled main forces of the combined fleet attracted most of the firepower of the enemy fleet and instead fell into danger!
"What the hell are these cowardly savages?!" Eugen shouted angrily, his hands slapping vigorously against the metal plate of the platform in front of him, making a heavy thud.
"Your Highness, I'm afraid it will be dangerous if this continues. Let's switch back to a loose formation and hold back the opposing fleet until our land forces defeat the enemy!" Marshal Tilly beside him anxiously advised.
The prince bites. Seeing that victory was within reach, he was really unwilling to give up so lightly! He shook his head and shouted: "Send an order to Attila immediately!"
A herald immediately ran to the side and began to communicate with the Khan-type fast ship formation of the Golden Horde. Marshal Tilly sighed and said, "According to the investigation of the spies we sent, a mysterious man in black visited the camp of the Golden Horde at night last night and spies with Attila for a while. It is said that the man in black was an emissary sent by his old khan to ask Attila not to fear the enemy and avoid battle. But this news is difficult to confirm, I think it is very suspicious, Your Highness should be careful that there is fraud in it!"
Eugen frowned and thought for a moment: "Do you mean that this man in black is a spy sent by the enemy, and Attila has betrayed us? But if that is the case, why did Attila not only not defect, but also sent troops to fight? Although their army is indeed incompetent in combat, after all, there are still some sacrifices and achievements, not like they have already defected to the enemy." ”
Marshal Tilly was silent, and though he was skeptical, there was no evidence. The Prince's words are not wrong, if Attila has indeed secretly defected to the enemy, then how can he still send troops to fight the enemy, even if he does not suddenly attack the enemy and attack Holy Rome, he should immediately withdraw his troops and return home. But in fact, they took the initiative to ask for battle, and although they were still afraid of the enemy on the battlefield, they showed no signs of defecting. In all the details, these barbarians are simply cowardly, and they do not seem to have betrayed.
While Eugen and Tilly were frowning and contemplating, the herald had already walked back and reported to the prince: "Your Highness! Prince Attila replied that the enemy's artillery fire was too dense, and that if they barely rushed in, they would suffer heavy casualties!"
"Bastard!!" Eugen was furious when he heard this. If you are afraid of danger, why do you want them to do it?! This Attila is really cowardly, and he actually said such a thing, and he should have believed in his combat ability from the beginning!
The prince turned his head hatefully and was about to give the order to change the formation, but at this moment, an anxious alarm sounded from beside him: "Your Highness! There is a group of air combat knights in the enemy fleet attacking and is rapidly rushing towards us!"
Eugen frowned, and immediately said in a loud voice: "Don't panic! The other party's air combat knights are not strong, and sending our melee troops is enough to intercept them!"
Who knows, the next sentence that the prince heard made everyone shocked: "My God! they are led by a black dragon!!"
(To be continued......)