Munitions Empire-Chapter 1172: The number soared to 1092

"Report! Tang Army’s battleships have started to change course!" Amidst the deafening roar of Tang Army aircraft engines, a Mirage Country officer stepped in front of Shen Haifeng, whose head was wrapped in gauze, stood at attention, saluted, and reported.

His words were filled with resentment because he was reluctant to admit a harsh reality: their opponents no longer regarded them as adversaries.

Similarly, Shen Haifeng felt the fury of being scorned! His fleet was still there! And yet, his opponent had turned away!

Do they think so little of his fleet? Are they so certain that he couldn’t possibly disrupt the operations at the landing zone?

"Unacceptable! Unacceptable! Order the fleet to starboard 35 degrees! Bow toward the enemy! Full speed ahead!" Shen Haifeng roared furiously from within the bridge.

A few minutes later, the smoke-billowing Mirage Country fleet began to change course, once again positioning their bows toward the enemy, charging toward the Tang Army fleet in what seemed to be a final dash.

This charge carried a hint of tragic heroism, as the third batch of Tang Army attack planes had already arrived. Above the Mirage Country fleet, over 140 Tang Army aircraft hovered, but only about five Zero Fighters were escorting the fleet.

As the Mirage Country fleet abandoned the heavily damaged Great Southern Bay Battleship, ceased concern for the already sunken Xiangyun Battleship, Northern Island Battleship, and South Island Battleship, and collectively turned their bows toward the enemy, the hull of the Windrider Battleship was already submerged on one side of the deck.

Hit by two aerial torpedoes, the Windrider Battleship had completely lost its balance. Although the damage control troops were desperately pumping water into the opposite side to prevent capsizing, the warship continued to tilt severely.

The leaking side of the hull had already vanished beneath the waves, the ship’s tilt reaching a shocking 30 degrees, while the oil spilling from the Windrider Battleship formed a deep black pool on the sea’s surface, resembling a black abyss devouring the vessel.

It became the unfortunate fourth battleship of Mirage Country’s navy to be sunk in this dawn battle. Next to go under was the New Island Battleship, hit by one aerial bomb and three torpedoes.

This battleship had been equipped with four triple-mounted 350mm caliber primary guns, and the name "New Island" signified the navy’s high regard for her.

Unfortunately, in this naval battle, she managed to fire only two salvos, failing to even scratch a single hair of the Tang Country Navy’s forces before being sunk by naval aircraft.

An aerial bomb damaged the ship’s stern, preventing her from maneuvering effectively in a serpentine course, which quickly led her to become a target for torpedo bombers, earning her place as a trophy of Tang Country’s naval aviation.

The New Island Battleship, now capable of traveling at only a third of its original speed, took three torpedoes within a minute, nearly matching the Windrider Battleship in sinking speed.

Mirage Country’s navy had a total of twelve state-of-the-art battleships, named after four islands: Northern Island, Ben Island, New Island, and South Island; rivers and bays: Shangdong River, Mountain Frost, Great Southern Bay; and three straits between islands: Windrider, Xiangyun, and Clear Jade.

The Great Southern Bay Battleship was the most unique; it should have been named "Great Southern," but the construction site of Great Southern Bay fought hard to have her named "Great Southern Bay."

Now, the Great Southern Bay Battleship was seriously damaged, while the Northern Island, South Island, and New Island battleships had been sunk, alongside Windrider and Xiangyun.

On paper alone, Mirage Country’s main naval fleet had already lost more than half of its strength. Factoring in damaged warships, Mirage Country’s navy was no longer capable of fighting.

Yet still, Mirage Country’s navy showed no sign of retreat, continuing to charge forward as though the sunken battleships had nothing to do with them.

Truth be told, there was no other option left: in traditional naval battles, the losing side could retreat to minimize further losses immediately.

Now, retreat was no longer an option: if they turned to flee, their ships would still be caught and sunk by enemy aircraft.

The Tang Country Stukas hovered over the Mirage fleet, with torpedo-carrying attack planes flying lower while dive bombers carrying aerial bombs circled higher.

This combination of high and low attacking altitudes rendered Mirage’s anti-aircraft gunners helpless; they often concentrated too much on one type of target while neglecting the threat from the other.

The inadequately coordinated anti-aircraft guns posed almost no threat to Tang Country’s planes. Compared to Earth’s World War II-level anti-air systems, Mirage’s defenses were practically non-existent.

Among the fleet, aside from the fortunate Goblin Battleship, every other ship had sustained damage—even the flagship, Shen Battleship, had been hit by Styx Missiles.

Hoping for this battered fleet to withstand naval aviation attacks was nothing short of wishful thinking. After changing course, the unshielded Shangdong River Battleship—also called the Shangdong Battleship—was struck by torpedoes and damaged.

Earlier, she had only taken one hit from a Styx Anti-ship Missile and was in relatively good condition overall. Recently, she had fired two salvos at Dongwan-2 but hadn’t scored a single hit.

Now, she had been struck by torpedoes, forcing the damage control crew, who had already been working tirelessly since 3 a.m., to rush back into action to rescue the precious battleship.

"Seal it! Seal it quickly!" Standing near the jets of seawater spraying through cracks, a veteran damage control sailor breathed a sigh of relief.

At least his ship was saved, and the situation stabilized once again. But just as he and the damage control soldiers cheered in triumph for their efforts, a sudden series of vibrations reverberated beneath their feet.

Soon after, a soldier sloshed hurriedly through ankle-deep water and rushed toward him: "Sir! It’s over! Another torpedo hit the front! The Deputy Captain needs you on deck! This area is lost! Everyone evacuate! Head to the upper decks!"

"What do you mean, ’lost’? If this area is lost, the whole battleship is doomed!" The Mirage Country veteran damage control officer shouted, furious. Around him, his team had just managed to block the leaking water with various tools. Now the deputy captain was telling them to retreat—wasn’t this letting all their efforts go to waste?

"There’s no time, sir!" In the blink of an eye, the water in the corridor had reached the soldier’s knees. The soldier didn’t linger and quickly turned toward the upper deck’s passageways.

The flickering overhead lights startled the damage control soldiers plugging the leaks, and before the veteran officer could issue commands, the lights abruptly shut off.

Their already unstable morale collapsed entirely. Many began wading through water to retreat, but before they could reach the stairs, the rising tide swallowed their waists.

By the time they climbed up to the next deck, one by one, and looked back, they saw their former station was already two-thirds submerged underwater.

Nearby, Goblin soldiers were weeping, some sailors were discussing abandoning ship, and others were distributing life jackets and survival gear.

As a battleship, Shangdong housed midsection lifeboats, transport vessels, lifebuoys, and life jackets copied from Tang Country designs—all of which were the sailors’ hopes for escape.

Although most Goblin soldiers of Mirage Country could swim, who could guarantee survival in freezing January waters for even an hour?

Shangdong Battleship began its unavoidable tilt. As the torpedo planes launched wave after wave of deadly close-range torpedo strikes at Mirage battleships, sinking rates skyrocketed.

The prior situation of "loud thunder but little rain" with Styx Missiles gave way to the devastating effectiveness of torpedoes in sinking ships rapidly.

Staring helplessly as yet another allied battleship succumbed to Tang Country aircraft, the lone Mirage Zero Fighter pilot still airborne frantically reported the dire situation back to the Great Southern Bay command center on South Island.

He could no longer bear to witness his nation’s fleet annihilated under relentless enemy assaults, so… he closed his eyes.

A Pirate Fighter swooped past him from the side, its cannon shredding the cockpit of the Zero Fighter. Fragile as it was, the Zero disintegrated mid-air, and its pilot was shredded to pieces by cannon fire.

Far away in Great Southern Bay, the Mirage commander clutching the radio vainly repeated inquiries for updates, but he would never hear his pilot’s response.

The commander set his radio down, exited his command center, walked through a short corridor, and arrived outside the main office of Shenwu Zhong.

After adjusting his uniform, he opened the door and entered. Step by step, he approached Shenwu Zhong’s back, stood at attention, and saluted. "General! We’ve just received word... The navy has suffered a devastating defeat. Our aircraft couldn’t break through enemy interception and could only watch… watch helplessly as the fleet sank."

"Are the specific losses tabulated?" Shenwu Zhong’s eyes, bloodshot and dazed, lacked any semblance of humanity.

The officer faltered in fear, apprehensive that his superior might lash out and bite him. He cautiously lowered his head and said, "Not yet. From what we know, the Great Southern Bay Battleship is heavily damaged, and it seems the South Island Battleship has been sunk. The aircraft we’ve dispatched are all out of contact, so the exact situation..."

"I understand!" Shenwu Zhong waved dismissively. With the navy’s hopes shattered, he knew everything rested upon him now.

His empty, dazed eyes fell upon the map spread across the table before him: if he could hold on to Great Southern River, defend Great Southern Bay to the death… maybe he could hold out a little longer?

He didn’t even want to look at any telegrams from Ben Island anymore—he knew they were nothing but useless drivel.