Munitions Empire

The world's rotation wouldn't change because a cat girl who could fight was discovered, at least not while she was still attending school.

Just as Yue'er's military training instructor discovered her astonishing talent, the Suthers Kingdom sent a rather pessimistic telegram to Tang Mo.

The Suthers Kingdom had strengthened its national power due to successful tax reforms but had also incited dissatisfaction among many people because of these reforms.

Previously, because the Shireck Consortium had not stirred up trouble, this discord was suppressed, but now, due to Shireck's instigation and manipulation, the political situation in Suthers had become unstable.

The King of Suthers and the Prime Minister were busy dealing with the internal strife, while on the borders, neighboring nations pressed with their armies.

Left with no choice, the Suthers Kingdom had to send out a telegram asking for aid from Tang Mo, hoping he could take measures in advance to prevent Suthers from being unable to cope when a crisis eventually broke out.

Therefore, Tang Mo had no choice but to mobilize a batch of supplies, urgently sending them to Suthers. However, compared to the support for Leite, the scale of this reinforcement was not so significant.

Since Suthers had not yet erupted into war, most of the support sent this time consisted of economic products.

Tang Mo hoped that the economic benefits brought by these supplies would stabilize Suthers' internal affairs and help suppress those hostile factions that stirred up trouble at the source.

The good news was that there was a railroad between Tang Mo and Suthers, a railway that connected Brunas to the Ice Crystal River and had long been operational, requiring no further investment.

The magic of the railway was evident at this time. The mere two railroads that Tang Mo controlled played a strategic role, allowing the supplies produced in Brunas and Dragon Island to promptly reach their needed destinations without hesitation.

While Tang Mo was deploying troops and dealing with the pressure from both Suthers and Leite, the idle fleet commander at Hotwind Port, Bernard, watched with wide eyes and jaw dropped as the sea surface filled with densely packed sails, too shocked to utter a word for quite some time.

He truly couldn't believe that while he waited at Hotwind Port, ready to set sail back home at any time, the enemy would deliver themselves to his doorstep... Could this be the legendary "Fortune falls into the lap of those who stay at home"?

Even funnier was that, after attacking the guarded armed merchant ships of Hotwind Port, the enemy waited over two hours. They waited until the furnaces of Great Tang Group's fleet of ironclad warships were thoroughly heated, they waited until Bernard saw their messenger...

"The Taren Kingdom orders you to surrender!" said the messenger arrogantly, "Otherwise, you will be completely annihilated by 100 Taren warships!"

"I'm not the least bit interested in your joke," Bernard said, looking at the messenger clad in brown military uniform, "Tell your commander to wash his neck and wait for death!"

"General Valen will remember what you have said today!" the messenger threatened Bernard coldly, "Your fleet will be sunk, and you will die in the cold sea waters!"

Bernard was taken aback for a moment, then disdainfully looked at his adjutant, "I remember my words, and I also remember this General Valen. Remember what he said!"

"Send him back!" he said, and then took off the Navy coat hanging on the wall, "My flagship is easy to recognize, I hope you bring more people to try and capture me!" ṘἈɴоʙЕṡ

The Wolf No. 1 warship was indeed easy to recognize, being the first true cruiser in the world; its hull was much more slender than the Brunas-class ironclad warships.

It was fast, excelling in long-distance raids and interception operations. With its formidable firepower and iron body, its naval combat capabilities also utterly crushed every warship of the era.

After all, it was designed to replace the Brunas-class warships, naturally far surpassing its predecessors in firepower and speed.

When black smoke rose at sea, the mechanical roar, like the beat of war drums, spurred the courage of the Great Tang Group maritime security forces' soldiers.

They awaited the outbreak of war, or rather, they looked forward to its eruption, and their opponents seemed unaware of this fact.

"Speed has increased to 20 kilometers! Boiler power is slowly rising! Although the warship is not at optimum condition, it's ready to fight!" reported an adjutant on the bridge of a Brunas-class warship to his captain.

"Has the commander boarded the flagship?" the captain put down his binoculars, turned to his adjutant, and confirmed.

"Commander Bernard has boarded the Wolf No. 1. The command flag has been raised on the mast. I saw it myself, no problem," the adjutant replied promptly.

"Then, stand by and hand over the command to Commander Bernard," the captain said, taking a breath and picking up his binoculars again to look out at the distant sea. Experience more content on

The sailing warships from the Taren Kingdom were already very close. They seemed to have formed an "eight"-shaped formation, splitting into two groups in an attempt to pincer attack the four odd enemy ships belching black smoke as they exited the port.

On Wolf No. 1 cruiser's bridge, Bernard suddenly felt a little nervous, afraid that the prey in front of him would escape...

"Maintain a basic speed of 20 kilometers per hour! Execute tactics! Align in sequence! This ship leads, remaining warships follow according to the prearranged plan! Engage the enemy on the starboard side! Crush the enemy fleet on our right first!" Bernard issued his first command today after a tense few seconds.

Immediately after, he issued his second command, "Left rudder! 15 degrees!"

His purpose in adjusting the course was to position his fleet's starboard side towards the enemy's left-wing fleet in the distance, which is the stroke of the figure-eight formation.

"Order the three sailing warships and two armed merchant ships from Hotwind Port to break away from the fleet and return to Hotwind Port!" He then issued his third command.

Ultimately, his fleet's speed would exceed 30 kilometers per hour. By then, the sailing warships that had sailed out of Hotwind Port with the ironclad warships would be left behind, causing a disjoint in the fleet.

To avoid unnecessary losses, Bernard decided to send the lagging sailing warships back early. Although this would reduce the number of ships in his fleet, it wouldn't affect his core combat strength.

Half an hour earlier, General Valen had received the returning messenger and admired the opposing commander's courage.

He had 70 first-rate sailing warships, but the number of enemy ships that had just sailed out of Hotwind Port was a pitiful eight!

Among these eight warships, only two were the first-rate sailing warships he was familiar with, plus two armed merchant ships to make up the numbers.

He had never expected that the enemy, with such a weak line-up, would dare to sail out and meet them in battle. Then he saw something that almost made him laugh—the only two first-rate sailing warships of the opponent were retreating with the two armed merchant ships, breaking away from the fleet.

In his view, it was a clear sign of discord among the enemy's fleet, where the main fleet units disobeyed orders, leaving the formation and fleeing back to the harbor.

Therefore, he didn't even plan to attack those cowardly enemy ships, shifting his focus to those weird guys in front of him that emitted black smoke and had no sails...

"Turn the ship's bow! Engage the enemy on the broadside! Prepare for a boarding assault!" Valen put down his monocular and commanded with a confident tone.

Following his order, his fleet started to turn, beginning to cut into the battle line, causing Taren Kingdom's fleet formation to change; the overall shape transformed from an "eight" to something resembling a "

His aim was straightforward—to lead his fleet in surrounding the enemy from the side and rear, completely annihilating the small opposing fleet in front of them.

Almost simultaneously, Bernard's fleet displayed a higher speed, with four warships closing in on the enemy fleet on the right, shortening the distance between them to 1500 meters.

"Hum!" As they approached the enemy, the single-gun turrets on the Wolf-class warships began rotating, aiming at the distant sailing warships.

These turrets, equipped with recoil mechanisms, had long 150mm caliber barrels, which were the most terrifying weapons of the era—second to none!

With a frightening rate of fire, they were faster and much more ferocious than the 120mm caliber cannons equipped on the Brunas-class warships.

"Fire at will! Lock on targets!" The officer in charge of the guns ordered loudly. When attacking sailboat targets, the 150mm caliber guns didn't need to fire salvos, which would be a waste of ammunition.

Just one shell was enough to easily sink an enemy warship, which was an incredibly satisfying feeling.

"Fire!" Bernard, having put down his binoculars, commanded loudly. Accompanied by the slight tremor of the warship beneath his feet, the thunderous roar of the cannons heralded the beginning of the naval battle—a veritable slaughter at sea had begun!

In the stunned amazement of the Taren Kingdom sailors, at a distance of combat they had never experienced, a 150mm caliber shell easily hit the target.

The massive explosion instantly blew a swath of the hull into the air; the stricken sailing ship wobbled, and its towering mast quickly toppled over to one side.

Even before they were within engagement range, the Taren Kingdom gunners were still waiting for the distance to be reduced to around 300 meters when they were sent flying into the sky by a projectile coming straight at them.

A ghastly explosion erupted from another warship—the ignited propellant on the Taren Kingdom sailing ship didn't give the sailors any chance to escape before the flames consumed them.

The soldiers standing on the deck, along with the wooden planks they stepped on, were blasted into the air and torn apart by the airflow, falling back into the sea along with the shattered wood.

The commander of the Taren Kingdom's fleet in charge of this operation was stunned in place; he had no idea what commands to give, or in fact, he didn't even know what he was fighting against.

Right in front of him, two warships were exploding, three others were sinking, and the remaining two had already caught large fires. He had lost nearly a third of his warships within the first minute of the battle!

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