Another World: Naval Storm

Chapter 135 The Joy of the Talens

This plan was undoubtedly very bold, and all the details required precise calculations and rigorous scrutiny, and it required the cooperation of many people to formulate and perfect it. Leo later explained that it was a spur-of-the-moment idea, which was considered a lie by the Talen people.

If it had not been planned for a long time, how could the Ocean Fleet have bypassed the Emperor who loved the navy and the mediocre and incompetent new Minister of the Navy? The Commander-in-Chief of the Ocean Fleet, Apewen, and the Navy General Staff directed such a wonderful show.

The Emperor transferred Vice Admiral Leon's fleet to the Sarmatian Sea, far away from the battlefield, causing the Royal Navy to misunderstand that the main force of the Ocean Fleet would not have time to rescue Leo's raiding fleet.

In order to attract the Royal Navy to dispatch a fleet, Leo led his fleet, which was neither too strong nor too weak, to continuously attack the port of Talen and the coastline.

Originally, Liam had also drawn up a more comprehensive plan, the general content of which coincided with Leo's plan.

This time, the Talens made a lot of preparations, such as transferring three Guardian-class battleships to the First Battlecruiser Squadron, and mobilizing spies and intelligence departments lurking in the Drake Empire to monitor various unusual movements of the Drake Navy.

However, plans cannot keep up with changes. Leo, who made the first move, caught the Royal Navy off guard and they had to fight back hastily.

The raid by Leo's fleet was a great provocation and insult to the Kingdom of Tarun. They bombarded the ports of Harwich and Delis, sinking a total of three destroyers, one submarine in the port, six auxiliary ships, more than 3 civilian ships, and damaged one light cruiser. More than a dozen coastline watchtowers, one artillery position, three fuel depots, and five military warehouses were destroyed, causing millions of gold pounds in property losses and hundreds of officers and soldiers killed to the people of Tarun, so that the people of Tarun developed an inexplicable panic about the name Leo.

The actions of Leo's fleet made Hochukis's position as prime minister shaky, and put Admiral Marshal Jericho, who insisted on a long-range blockade, in a dilemma.

Of course, the Royal Navy would not just sit there and wait for death. At this time, a Drak submarine was sunk, and the secret code of the Ocean Fleet was leaked. The Grand Fleet made a huge gain. By deciphering telegrams and spy investigations, Liam planned to intercept Leo who was returning in the Bay of Burial.

The Tarun people were extremely confident that they could completely annihilate the Leo fleet. According to intelligence from the naval intelligence department and other government departments, they knew that the Ocean Fleet had only one fast-response warship, the Derflinger, but he was eventually transferred by Emperor Drake to the First Battleship Squadron for naval training in the Sarmatian Sea.

The High Seas Fleet confused everyone and arrived at the battlefield ahead of time, sinking the Bharadostan and Union pre-dreadnoughts that were besieging the battlecruiser Von der Bella, and then successfully scared off the Grand Fleet and successfully rescued the Moltke.

Leo was not a saint, and he also made mistakes in the naval battle. He should not have confronted Liam's First Battlecruiser Squadron head-on. Although Talen's poor shell fuses and fragile defensive armor allowed him to sink three battlecruisers, his situation was very dangerous. If the Ocean Fleet had arrived a little later, his fleet would have been annihilated.

As for the sinking of the three Talen battlecruisers, subsequent investigations showed that the neglect of safety measures by several Talen battlecruisers during the Battle of Shipwreck Bay was also one of the reasons for their sinking.

Lieutenant General Liam, commander of the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron, repeatedly ordered an increase in the rate of fire during the exchange of fire, so that the fire door at the bottom of the Talen Battlecruiser turret was kept open at all times to supply ammunition to the turret more quickly.

In addition, the Talen battlecruiser piled a large amount of propellant and shells inside the turret and the ammunition supply channel to reduce the loading process and increase the rate of fire.

In this case, once the turret was penetrated, the resulting explosion and fire would not only burn the accumulated shells and propellant, but the fire would also spread along the ammunition supply channel to the medicine and ammunition storage under the turret, which caused the catastrophic explosion of three ships including the Lion battlecruiser.

The encounter between the two battlecruiser fleets immediately led to a showdown between giant ships and cannons.

*****

"Extra! Extra! On December 1916, 12, the shameless Drake Leo led his fleet to attack the ports of Harwich and Delis. The Ocean Fleet ambushed our fleet in Burial Bay."

"At the critical moment, Vice Admiral Liam and Marshal Jericho led the large fleet in a bloody battle and repelled the Drakes. The Royal Navy wiped out the Drake Navy's raiding fleet at the cost of sinking three battlecruisers. The Royal Navy once again won a glorious victory!" Countless newspaper sellers were wandering around the streets of the Kingdom of Tarun, waving their freshly printed newspapers.

"Give me one!"

"I want two!" The crowd crowded in front of the newspaper vendor, waving banknotes and coins, and everyone wanted to buy a newspaper.

"Don't rush to grab them! Don't rush to grab them! We all have them!" The newspaper vendor smiled from ear to ear. He sold a month's worth of newspapers in a day, which was enough for his living expenses.

On the evening of December 12, the people of the Tarun Empire who had caught the special edition finally breathed a sigh of relief, and the crowds that poured into the streets celebrated wildly.

"Great, free beer today!" a pot-bellied owner announced loudly at the door of a bar.

"Oh, that's great! Thank you, boss!" The crowd cheered again. After the wartime food rationing system was implemented, alcohol was strictly controlled when there was still not enough food.

"Boss, please read the newspaper again!"

"Haha, happy to help!"

"On December 1916, 12, Vice Admiral Liam led the fleet to ambush the despicable Leo Fleet, but the shameless Drake Ocean Fleet ambushed Vice Admiral Liam's First Battlecruiser Squadron. With Vice Admiral Liam's hard work, we held on until the main force of the Grand Fleet came to support us. The Royal Navy destroyed the Drake people's evil plot. We sank two Drake people's battlecruisers and one quasi-battlecruiser at the cost of three battlecruisers!"

"Oh my God! General Liam is so brave!" Countless crazy girls shed tears.

"Oh my God, our Royal Navy lost three battlecruisers because of that evil Drake... It's terrible!" A middle-aged man in the tavern said in a trembling voice.

"Yeah, when I heard the news that the Drakes had landed, I wanted to flee Albion!"

"Why are you running? Every household has a weapon. If the Drakes dare to come, we will destroy them!" said a drunk man gritting his teeth.

"Well said! We Albion people are not cowards!" Many people inside and outside the tavern shouted together, shaking the entire street.

"For the Royal Navy, for the Kingdom! And General Liam, cheers!" the tavern owner said loudly, raising his glass.

"Cheers!" everyone responded.

On December 12, all Tarun newspapers were sold out, and all the content in the newspapers was about the Battle of Shipwreck Bay.