Realm of Power

The heat of war first broke out in the offshore waters of Congo and Africa.

The Congo Sea in December is the coldest time of the year. The rough sea is dotted with large ice floes. The moving fleet of ships in Fujian is like diamonds inlaid by water on the sea. It looks like a An indescribable cruel beauty,

The Chekov Squadron moved towards the direction of Kyoto, just off the coast of Kyoto, as planned. The sea surface in winter was filled with white waves and floating water. The closer it got to the sea, just off the coast of Kyoto, the ocean currents were knocked back by the land plate, and the roughness of the waves began to increase. On the surging sea, you can see waves rolling over more than ten meters high from time to time. The white ice floes are rolled up and down by the sea water, emitting colorful lights under the sunlight. The floating ice is originally pure white, but due to the refraction of sunlight, it looks colorful from a distance.

The dragon tooth warships that "swish" went hand in hand, emerging from the waves like dolphins

The bulging sails made a "pop" sound, and the tight sail cables also creaked. The Dragon Tooth warship moving forward under this full wind can reach a speed of thirty knots, and the huge sea surface It was broken open by the battleship, and it was as fast as an iron plow breaking the sea surface.

The blue falcon flag of the Falcon Empire Navy fluttered in the fierce wind.

"Report to the commander, we have entered the area marked on the map, which may belong to the area where the Gangfei Navy is cruising!" The first mate Etek on the flagship pushed open the door of the conference room, and his blue uniform was already invaded by the sea water. Wet, revealing his strong bronze body

"Really? Have you found anything? Or news from other fleets!"

Chekov withdrew his gaze from the chart, raised his head and asked, although there was a makeshift chart, the sea area of ​​​​Gangfei was for the Falcon Navy that had not yet set foot. It is still a very unfamiliar sea area, and many island areas are not marked on the charts. This is also the reason why the Imperial Navy is encircling it with all its strength.

"As an imperial soldier who targets other countries' seas, he must have the ability to fight in unfamiliar seas. Since there is no exact and specific mark, let's make a new sea map while fighting." Navy The order issued by the Ministry is written like this,

There is no time to delay in detecting the sea area, in order to give a heavy blow to Gangfei Kyoto before the main force of the Gangfei navy returns. The Imperial Navy Minister Dostronkai issued a discovery march combat order specifically designed for combat in unfamiliar waters.

In this order, all squadrons performing missions must promptly use carrier pigeons to transmit the sea conditions discovered in the sea areas experienced by the fleet every day back to the hands of Durstrunkai on the flagship of the Imperial Navy Headquarters.

There. Thirty staff members of the Imperial Navy who are from the Naval Academy and are responsible for drawing sea charts will integrate the content returned by each squadron. In the end, the Navy will get a real sea map that is far more detailed than it is now. The Minister of the Navy Dustrunkai will adjust the entire combat plan based on this real sea map.

The southwest direction where Chekov's fleet is located is the edge of the entire strategic encirclement circle. In other words, if the Congolese Navy attacks from the flank, Chekov's squadron will be the first to encounter it.

Because of this, in addition to the one Dragon-class flagship it originally owned, the Chekov Squadron also deployed two more Dragon-class flagships, which far exceeded other squadrons in terms of combat power. The commander in charge was also arrogant, but Chekov, a pirate by trade, was a half-way monk in the Imperial Navy and had very rich experience in dealing with unexpected encounters at sea.

He placed the two fleet's reconnaissance ships on the flanks about a kilometer outside the fleet. The lookout posts on the top of the flagpoles were always keeping an eye on possible situations coming from the side, even if they encountered a sudden encounter. The enemy will be discovered ten miles away, leaving time to change the formation. Moving inside, there are three dragon-class battleships that form the core of the fleet's defense. These three dragon-class battleships are located in the southwest. The gun warehouse deck has been opened in advance, and the black Thor muzzles are like three neat rows of honeycombs densely packed at the side measurement position.

Centered on the three dragon-class main battleships, there are seven second-generation dragon tooth battleships with excellent maneuverability and firepower. These second-generation dragon tooth battleships are one-third larger than the first-generation dragon tooth warships. The difference from the first-generation Dragon Tooth ship lies in the difference in load capacity and protective power.

The Imperial Navy adopted the improvements of the first-generation Ryuga battleship that were not conducive to ocean warfare. The hull was enlarged and the firepower was strengthened. More importantly, in order to increase the Ryuga battleship's ability to withstand wind and waves, the sides of the battleship were each made 30 centimeters thicker. Although part of the maneuverability has been sacrificed due to the thick wooden baffles, the battleship's hull is more stable in the bumpy waves, and its defense has been greatly improved. It is no longer as crispy as the first-generation Dragon Tooth battleship, but is strong enough to resist A general stone throwing attack.

"The picket ship on the flank has not discovered anything else yet!" First Officer Etek replied.

"Have you contacted the Evaca that went to explore the path?" Chekov asked with a somewhat anxious frown.

"No, we haven't received any reply yet." First mate Etek shrugged and replied regretfully, "From the chart, our position has already entered the waters off Kyoto, but for now, no matter whether it is the forward Neither the ship nor the flanking picket ship sent back any message! I personally think that if there is something wrong with the chart, it is the route we have inadvertently deviated from!"

"Off course? Are you kidding! Veterans like us will not make such stupid mistakes." The voice came from the flanking officer Old Manff.

"Yes, how is this possible? We are not rookies who have never been to sea!" Squadron Adjutant Zalandin said excitedly, "I boarded the ship when I was thirteen and have been on the sea for twenty years. , will this kind of error still occur?”

On the contrary, the forward captain Anko Carmen looked hesitant, opened his mouth, and stopped talking.

Chekov gave him a rare look and asked, "Anko Carmen, what do you think? Among us, you are the only one who is truly from the orthodox navy. You, the Dylans Navy, these guys, but Just relying on personal experience, sailing in familiar waters is okay, but sailing in unfamiliar waters can easily lead to problems, so I want to hear your advice!”

"I don't know, I just think that the ice floes here are too reflective!" Anko Carmen frowned slightly.

"Reflective ice? What do you mean?" Chekov was stunned for a moment.

Anko Carmen said slowly with eyes full of memories, "When I was a cadet in the Dylans Navy, I once heard some experienced sailors say that the deflected sunlight will lead people astray, because in most cases Under the sun, the fleet determines its route according to the direction of the sun, but if the water vapor on the sea surface It is too large, and with a large amount of floating ice, at low temperatures, the entire sea surface is like an extremely smooth mirror. Under these conditions, the sunlight is likely to appear slightly distorted in our eyes, without specific sea markings. It is not impossible to say that we have deviated from the course unintentionally!

Ankokamen paused, stretched out his finger to draw a straight horizontal line eastward on the chart on the table, and said, "Since our goal is Gangfei in the east, why not go directly to the east?" Driving, first find the edge of the land, and then use this as a basis to move closer to the predetermined north. This way we will definitely be able to find our combat target!"

"Going straight east? Chekov touched his stubble-covered chin with his hand and looked at the others

"This method is good! Although it is a bit slow, at least it can ensure that everything is foolproof!" Bix, the captain of another Dragon-class battleship, the Sea Wolf, agreed, and no one else objected.

"Okay, just as you want, order the fleet to turn from the southeast to the east and approach the coast of Ganfei as quickly as possible! Then go north along the coastline to find the target." Chekov nodded to the first mate Etek, with heavy fingers. Pressing on the coastline marked with the word "Gangfei" on the table, although I don't know what I will encounter, this is the only thing I can do for now.

"Your Excellency, Minister!" Lieko, the admiral of the Navy, carefully opened the door in front of him. Seeing the white-haired old man who was holding his hands behind his back and looking up at the huge land on the wall, his old and strong eyes made Leko feel a little surprised when he walked in.

"How are the navy's preparations for counterattack?" Congolese Minister of Military Affairs Rubinthack turned around from the front.

"The main force of the navy that has returned from the south has been ordered to go north, and the local fleets have been collected along the way. I believe they should have passed the lookout rock wall," Leko said quickly with a solemn expression.

"Are you sure? This time is extraordinary for both you and the empire!" Rubinsack walked to his desk, picked up a document, and handed it to Lecco who looked confused. "The war is coming. I have once again suggested to His Majesty the Emperor that it is a time when the Imperial Navy is deploying troops and it is not appropriate to change the Navy Admiral at this time. His Majesty the Emperor agreed after much thought and said that if this battle can be won, everything in the past will be forgotten!"

"Your Excellency, Minister, is this true?" Lieko, the Admiral of the Navy, picked up the document excitedly, read it with joyful eyes, took a deep breath and said, "Thank you, Your Excellency, Minister, for your kindness. I will definitely not let down the Emperor." Your Majesty’s expectations!”

"Same opponent, what new ideas do you have?" Rubinsack waved to him with a serious expression. "If we still lose like before, I believe it will not be as simple as just resigning!"

"You can rest assured, Minister!" Lecco said confidently. "This battle is different from the past. From a strategic perspective, we have the initiative and are familiar with the terrain and sea areas. Moreover, although the Falcon Navy is powerful, it is too overwhelming. Actually adopted the method of decentralized blockade, and this time, the main force of our imperial navy plus the local fleet can reach a total of 250 In order to avoid being exposed in advance, I strictly ordered the navy to move northward close to the coastline. It is now the season of fog in winter. The fog locks the sea, and the sea is covered with ice floes. I believe that even if the Falcon Navy is bold, it will not dare to get too close to the coastline. , as long as the attack time is obtained, the main force of our navy can completely eat up the Falcon Navy one by one with its numerical advantage!"

"If that's the case, I'm relieved!" Rubinsack nodded with relief. The Northern Falcon Empire announced an alliance with Putao. A war has reached a state of imminence. With the return of the main force of the empire, because His Majesty the Emperor, who had to give up the victory in the south due to the poor performance of the navy, immediately turned his attention to the Falcon Empire in the north.

Not only did they veto the armistice agreement signed between the Empire and the Falcon Empire, they immediately decided to once again invest 30,000 new troops into the anxious Putao battlefield, this time. Gang insisted on completely swallowing the trap, and ordered the three intact main battle regiments that followed him south, a total of 210,000 infantry and cavalry mixed troops, to move north along a line to press the border of the Falcon Empire.

The Falcon Empire also reacted very quickly, as the negotiator, Governor Saron, left in anger. The war began to break out quickly. The hundreds of thousands of Falcon troops originally stationed at the northern border began to gather and build a solid defense line. In terms of the navy, the always powerful and terrifying Falcon Empire Navy came from the southwest. The area's sea area was filled with murderous intent and headed south. They put on a full-scale stranglehold on the Gangfei sea area, and headed directly towards Gangfei Kyoto with extreme arrogance. Kyoto was shocked.

Under this situation, Emperor Gangfei, who originally wanted to replace the Navy Admiral, had to put up with this idea for the time being. Although Lecco is useless, after all, he is the admiral who once commanded the overall situation. He knows the strength of the Gangfei Navy. The war is imminent, and there is no more suitable candidate to take over this position.

Rubinsack deliberately said that the suggestion was his own, hoping that this would arouse the frustrated fighting spirit of Navy Admiral Zhang, who had been hit hard by bad luck. The so-called war, there is no need to fight without fighting! This war that broke out with Pu Tao as the fuse is itself a competition for interests between the two empires. It will determine the strategic focus of the two empires in the next fifty years, which is the north of the Falcon Empire! Or just go south! Fatty needs this war to completely cut off Central Europe Barrow's covetousness of the Southwest District, and Gang Fei needs this war to maintain the dignity of his Central Europe Barrow hegemony, but the old coach of Gang Fei still doesn't know that a team that deviates from The Falcon Navy, which had lost its way, was sailing towards the crossroads where the two fleets met. The chips of fate were skewed from the beginning.

On the afternoon of December 3rd.

The eastward-moving Chekov Squadron sailed resolutely toward the offshore area in a fog. The fog in winter was so thick that it almost blocked the sunlight in the sky, and only a white afterglow could be seen. Based on the changes in the waves, Chekov knew that the fleet was very close to the coastline, because the sound of waves hitting the sides of the battleship became louder and louder.

"Commander, there is news from the reconnaissance ship that the Gangfei coastline is five miles ahead! Everything is normal!" First mate Etek walked over from the front with an excited expression.

"Order all ships to keep their distance and prepare to turn around and head north along the coastline!" Chekov stood on the command platform of the battleship and raised the lookout glass in his hand. He wanted to see the outline of the continent in the distance, but unfortunately he could only see through the lens. Seeing a vast expanse of white inside, he reluctantly put it down. Looking into the looking glass, suddenly a burst of urgent whistles came sharply through the fog, which seemed particularly harsh in the calm space. It started with one whistle, then two whistles, then two whistles... and finally all the whistles were connected. There was a sound, and the sharp whistle seemed to pierce everyone's eardrums,

"It seems to be the Dragon Tooth Ship on the flank!" Chekov's expression changed.

"There is also Bix's Sea Wolf Dragon-class battleship!" The first mate recognized the sound of the alarm. The two of them looked up at the tall mast at the same time. There were two lookout posts at the top of the mast, one holding a The lookout glass closely observed the alarming sea area, while the other one was issuing the most urgent combat warning through hand signals and whistles. His gestures were vigorously slashing downwards, and then horizontally across his chest. The flagman kept repeating this action, as if the scene he saw in front of him was so shocking that he could only express it through violent gestures.

"It's a fleet, a large fleet that can't be counted!"

Chekov raised his face and muttered to himself in disbelief. It felt like he had picked up a treasure accidentally, but this treasure made him feel a little unlucky. He only had 14 dragon tooth battleships. With three dragon-class ships, and also in such a fog with blurred vision, a close encounter with an enemy whose number is enough to crush oneself! It feels like doing a thrilling side-to-side dance with a dinosaur full of fangs.

Reality left him no extra time to think about it. Three minutes later, a whole fire suddenly flashed in the fog on the side. It was the flames fired by the Seawolf Dragon-class battleship's side-measurement Thor. It seemed that this The fog suddenly made the encounter difficult to figure out. There seemed to be blood and debris floating in the wind!

"I can't control that much anymore, raise the battle flag!"

Chekov shouted loudly, hesitating at this time, as if the sword was already on his body, and would only be penetrated by the opponent head-on. "Tell the ships that have discovered the enemy to shoot freely, and while disrupting the enemy's array, move closer to the flagship. There is no other option." When a warship is discovered, open the gun bay on the spot and prepare to fire a salvo."

As the battle flag was raised, the entire Chekov squadron stretched out its originally loose formation like a giant on the sea. Several Dragon Tooth warships were lined up in a line with Chekov's flagship as the center. , the scale-like gun bunker decks on the sides opened one by one, with a powerful momentum like dragon scales standing up in anger,

In the era of sailing battleships, it will mean that several or even dozens of Thors on all battleships can focus on shooting oncoming columns, which can greatly increase the hit rate. Cause serious damage to the opponent. However, in this horizontal position, the warship in the middle will also withstand the concentrated attack of the enemy fleet, and the danger will be doubled. Only the bravest captain can stand still.

"On the foggy sea, some of the Dragon Tooth battleships that received the semaphore retreated while shooting. The sea seemed to be boiling, and the entire row of fires was like a volcanic eruption. Especially the Sea Wolf, which was the last to hold the battle, every time it fired, It's like countless light spots suddenly flashing

More and more enemies appear in the most unlikely mist. Between the sea and the sky, the flag of the Confederate Navy is flying high, and then there are densely packed masts, like sharp swords piercing the mist. In less than ten minutes, the huge fleet appeared on the sea about one nautical mile in front of Chekov.

Like a huge black monster, it attracts everyone's attention. It gives people a powerful and intimidating feeling. Even Chekov, who has faced countless naval battles, can feel that the blood in his body seems to be burning. There is a tight, numb feeling on the face.

"Salvo!" Chekov's raised command knife suddenly fell down, and the sea boiled! (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile phone users please go to m. to read.)