Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 529 Main Force Showdown
The British convoy commander, who had been smiling, could no longer manage a smile.

Although they successfully lured the French Atlantic Fleet into attack, the cost of losing a dreadnought was far too high, especially since the main British fleet had not yet arrived.

Originally, in a two-against-four situation, Britain could barely manage with its two more powerful dreadnoughts. Now, having lost one dreadnought, it's clear that a single super-dreadnought cannot take on four dreadnoughts alone.

Although the British dreadnoughts also caused damage and casualties to the French warships during the battle, such damage was not enough to sink the enemy warships without hitting their vital parts. In fact, the four French dreadnoughts have not yet been completely rendered combat ineffective.

Although the situation was somewhat unfavorable, the commander of the British escort fleet knew that it was absolutely not the time to issue an order to retreat.

The main British fleet was only a few dozen nautical miles away. If they could hold out for a little longer, the main force would come to their aid immediately.

Although the loss of a dreadnought is a heavy price to pay, if the entire French Atlantic Fleet could be wiped out, some of the losses could be recovered.

Now that the mission is halfway complete, we can't afford to give up now. More importantly, with the naval battle having reached this point, even if the British escort fleet wanted to withdraw, the French Atlantic Fleet would certainly not stand idly by and watch the British fleet leave.

In fact, on the main battlefield, the British super dreadnoughts were able to overpower the French dreadnoughts. The reason that super dreadnought broke in two was actually due to bad luck; it was hit directly in the ammunition magazine by a shell.

In other words, what truly destroyed the British super battleships were the ammunition they carried themselves.

If the ammunition magazine isn't hit, even if several shells hit the ship, at most it will only leave a few holes in the hull.

This can also be seen in another, more powerful super-dreadnought. Although fighting four opponents is a disadvantage, as long as it is not hit in vital areas, the super-dreadnought is more durable than the dreadnought.

Even the British super dreadnoughts were able to suppress the French dreadnoughts at the front, leaving them battered and bruised, with the steel armor on the sides of the ship twisted and deformed, and a large hole torn in the deck.

In the hour following the sinking of the British super-dreadnought, neither side lost any major warships.

However, losses to smaller warships are inevitable; no matter how many thousands of tons a cruiser is, it cannot withstand the firepower of a dreadnought head-on.

After an hour of fighting, the French Atlantic Fleet lost four cruisers and two submarines, while the British escort fleet lost three cruisers and five submarines. In addition, the super dreadnought that sank at the beginning of the battle resulted in significantly heavier losses.

Fortunately, these losses finally had an effect. An hour and a half into the naval battle, the main British fleet finally appeared on the sea.

The sudden appearance of the British main fleet made the French Atlantic Fleet realize that something was very wrong.

Fortunately, the main British fleet was still some distance from the French Atlantic Fleet at this time. Without any hesitation, the commander-in-chief of the French Atlantic Fleet immediately ordered the entire fleet to retreat southward, drawing the enemy to Spain in the south.

The situation on the battlefield was instantly reversed. The British fleet, which had been desperately trying to hold off the French Atlantic Fleet, suddenly turned into a full-scale offensive force, chasing after the fleeing French fleet.

Knowing they were outmatched, the French Atlantic Fleet could only desperately retreat south, hoping the main Allied fleet would arrive sooner.

Although the French Atlantic Fleet had notified the Allied fleet well before the operation, the Allied fleet was hundreds of kilometers away, making it difficult for them to arrive.

The French Atlantic Fleet can now only do what the British escort fleet used to do: desperately flee while trying to buy as much time as possible for the main fleet.

The commander-in-chief of the French Atlantic Fleet knew that if all four French dreadnoughts withdrew at once, it would be impossible to guarantee the safe departure of the entire Atlantic Fleet.

Given the current urgent situation, the Atlantic Fleet must make a choice: sacrifice at least two dreadnoughts to buy more time for the Atlantic Fleet's withdrawal.

In reality, there was no other choice now. Of the four French dreadnoughts, the two leading ones were now badly damaged, with one of them having several large holes in its hull, rendering it virtually immobile.

If any sacrifices are to be made, it must be made to sacrifice these two more heavily damaged dreadnoughts, so that they can do whatever it takes to buy more time for the Atlantic Fleet and hold off the British fleet as much as possible.

The two dreadnoughts' desperate efforts should be able to hold off the British fleet for some time. Although the two dreadnoughts were severely damaged, their cannons were still usable.

The British fleet had to sink these two dreadnoughts in order to continue pursuing the French Atlantic Fleet; otherwise, they would have to chase them under the fire of these two dreadnoughts.

The firepower of a dreadnought is no joke; if you're unlucky, it could very well repeat the fate of the first super dreadnought that was sunk by the French fleet.

The French were also aware that Britain, having already lost a super-dreadnought, would certainly not want to suffer further losses in its capital warships.

Super-dreadnoughts cost far more than dreadnoughts and require much longer construction time. This is a crucial time for Britain and Spain in their struggle for naval supremacy, and Britain absolutely cannot accept significant losses in its navy.

It must be said that the voluntary sacrifice of the two French dreadnoughts did indeed buy the Atlantic Fleet more time to escape.

Knowing that evacuation was impossible, the two dreadnoughts did not resist the order to stay behind and cover the rear. In fact, they immediately used all their firepower to bombard the British fleet, trying to draw attention to the enemy.

The British fleet was aware of the French Atlantic Fleet's intentions, but they could not ignore the desperate resistance of the two dreadnoughts and pursue the French Atlantic Fleet.

After a naval battle lasting nearly twenty minutes, the main British fleet finally sank two stubbornly resisting French dreadnoughts, along with several cruisers and submarines, before turning south to continue pursuing the French Atlantic Fleet.

The British had anticipated that the French Atlantic Fleet would choose to head south to Spanish waters instead of retreating north.

Compared to the northern coast of France, the Spanish coast was significantly safer. This was partly because the southern coast of Spain was home to the combined fleet of the three Allied powers, and partly because once across the Strait of Gibraltar, it was territory controlled by the Allied powers, and the British Navy could not blindly cross the strait without controlling it.

The Strait of Gibraltar is quite narrow, and Spain deployed a large number of coastal defense batteries on both sides of the strait in order to control it.

If the British Navy dared to recklessly enter the Channel, the Spanish Navy would certainly not let go of such a golden opportunity to annihilate the British Navy. Even if Britain had an advantage in total naval tonnage and the number of dreadnoughts, the Spanish Navy could make up for the difference in the number of warships by using coastal fortifications.

Furthermore, with the presence of the combined fleets of the three Allied powers in the Mediterranean, if a naval battle were to break out around the Strait of Gibraltar, it would be difficult to determine who would win.

Although the British understood the reasons for the French Atlantic Fleet's southward escape, they had no choice but to pursue them. After all, the objective of their mission was to annihilate the French Atlantic Fleet, and the current result—trading one super-dreadnought for two dreadnoughts—was not a significant gain for Britain.

Only by completely annihilating the French Atlantic Fleet could it be considered a slight gain, while also weakening the Allied naval power.

If these two French dreadnoughts were to escape into the Mediterranean, the Allied fleet would only become stronger, which would be bad news for Britain.

The British main fleet dared to continue south because it had certain advantages. This operation was not a unilateral British plan, but a joint plan devised by the British and German navies.

In order to defend against the Allied navies, not only the British Navy was fully mobilized, but the main force of the German Navy had also been deployed around the English Channel for some time.

After confirming that the French Atlantic Fleet had taken the bait, Britain notified Germany, requesting that the main German naval force move south to jointly encircle and destroy the French Atlantic Fleet, while also guarding against the main Allied fleet moving north.

If the French Atlantic Fleet could be destroyed in advance, even if they encountered the main force of the Allied fleet, given the size of the main British and German navies, they would be fully capable of engaging the enemy.

After all, with the Russian Navy not involved, the navies of Britain and Germany were far ahead of the Allied navies in terms of both tonnage and the number of dreadnoughts.

Furthermore, eliminating the French Atlantic Fleet ahead of time would further enhance the naval superiority of Britain and Germany. As long as the naval battle did not take place around Gibraltar, Spain would be unable to utilize the terrain advantage, and the balance of power would naturally tip towards the Central Powers.

The French Atlantic Fleet, of course, had no idea what the British were thinking. All they knew was that if they didn't hurry, the entire fleet would be annihilated.

In an effort to close the speed gap with the British super-dreadnoughts, all French warships, under the command of the fleet commander, were put at full speed, reaching their maximum speed.

At this point, there was no need to worry about the impact of maintaining maximum speed for an extended period on the warship; after all, if it slowed down even slightly, the warship might not even exist anymore.

While fleeing, the commander-in-chief of the French Atlantic Fleet prayed that the combined fleet would arrive soon.

Fortunately, the French Atlantic Fleet had contacted the Allied Fleet before the operation, and considering the time of the operation and the naval battle, the Allied Fleet should have already approached the border between Spain and France.

If they were a bit luckier, the French Atlantic Fleet would only need to wait a few more hours for the Allied main fleet to arrive.

If they were unlucky, the entire Atlantic Fleet might be wiped out before the Allied main fleet arrived.

In order to save as many warships as possible, the commander of the French Atlantic Fleet had no choice but to order the rearmost warships to be sacrificed one by one to buy more time for the forward warships.

Almost all of the fleet's submarines were also deployed, disregarding their own casualties, to buy more time for the main warships to escape.

Such a huge sacrifice did indeed buy more time for the French Atlantic Fleet. However, the price was also quite heavy. When the French Atlantic Fleet finally saw the main force of the Allied fleet, the fleet only had one dreadnought and two cruisers left. The rest of the warships had all been sacrificed in the rearguard action.

The loss of three dreadnoughts was a devastating blow to France, but there was no time to worry about anything else. The last remaining dreadnought needed to be put back into the fight, as they were about to face a full-scale naval battle against Britain, Germany, and the Allied powers.

Each additional dreadnought could play a greater role, which meant that the French Atlantic Fleet had no time to rest and immediately rushed to the side of the Allied fleet, quietly awaiting the arrival of the British fleet.

After confirming that they had caught up, Spanish Admiral Martín Hernández of the Allied fleet finally breathed a sigh of relief and immediately ordered the fleet to change course and prepare for battle.

Because the warships' cannons are located on the sides, they can only be deployed in a line, facing the enemy sideways, to maximize their firepower.

The good news is that the Allied fleet had ample time to adjust its formation and change course in advance to await the arrival of the British fleet.

The British Navy had been pursuing the French Atlantic Fleet, and by the time they spotted the main Allied naval force, they had little time to adjust their course.

While they were adjusting the orientation of their warships, the Allied fleet could launch an attack in advance, at least gaining an initial advantage.

The main British fleet, which had been pursuing the French fleet for several hours more than ten nautical miles to the north, was now approaching the location of the Allied fleet.

However, due to a period of fog at sea and the considerable distance, the British fleet did not spot the Allied fleet.

When the British fleet broke through the fog, the lead warships were surprised to find that what awaited them was not the shaky French battleships, but the main Allied fleet that was already lined up in neat rows.

"Damn it, it's the Spanish!" Looking at the Allied main fleet that had been waiting for a long time, the naval soldiers on the British dreadnought at the front immediately recalled the fear that the Spanish navy had brought them a few years ago.

As the British fleet slowly advanced, the main British fleet also spotted the Allied fleet.

Without a moment to think, the British fleet commander immediately ordered all warships to form ranks and prepare to fight the Allied fleet.

Before the British fleet could take any action, after confirming that the enemy had entered their firing range, the Allied forces opened fire first on the order of Spanish Admiral Martín Hernández, and smoke instantly enveloped the Allied fleet.

boom! Boom boom!

boom!
The sight of dozens of dreadnoughts firing simultaneously was quite spectacular, and the effect was excellent. A large number of shells were fired at extremely high speeds at the British fleet; some fell into the sea within tens of meters of the British warships, while others hit the British warships with precision.

Unlike France, Spain possessed super dreadnoughts. Super dreadnoughts had far greater firepower than dreadnoughts, and the damage they inflicted on super dreadnoughts was far beyond the capabilities of dreadnoughts.

The first few British dreadnoughts were hit by a series of shells. The superstructures of the warships were riddled with holes, and even the gun emplacement of one warship was blown off. The British soldiers around the gun emplacement suffered heavy casualties, and cries of agony filled the air.

Seeing that the first round of bombardment had achieved very good results, Martin Hernandez did not hesitate at all and ordered all warships to bombard the British fleet in front of him at all costs.

In an instant, the sound of exploding shells rose and fell, and the first few British warships were quickly reduced to mangled pieces.

(End of this chapter)