Another World: Naval Storm

By the time Leo wanted to rescue the other three cruisers, the three old cruisers had already sunk a transport ship and severely damaged a Flange protection cruiser at the cost of all of them being destroyed.

Now the sea was full of soldiers from both countries struggling to survive, and the Frankish transport ships were rushing to salvage them. The huge hull of the Arminius slowly pushed away the floating debris on the sea, and a Frankish cruiser was about to escort another cruiser away from the battlefield, but unfortunately Leo came too fast, and in order not to slow down the speed of the friendly ships, the severely damaged protection cruiser neatly raised the white flag.

Leo did not pursue them. After disarming the severely damaged cruiser, he ordered them to continue searching and rescuing the officers and soldiers of the two countries who fell into the water.

While the Dreadnought was concentrating its firepower on attacking the battleship Charlemagne, the battleships Charlemagne and St. Louis were also attacking the Dreadnought with all their might. Unfortunately, the two battleships' eight 8mm main guns performed poorly. On the one hand, their firing rate was too slow, and on the other hand, their fire control equipment was backward and lacked accuracy.

The Dreadnought fired ammunition at an average rate of one round per minute at a distance of 8000 meters. When the news was sent back to the country, even Piltz thought that Aperven was lying about military intelligence. This record had never been set during the Dreadnought's trial period. It can only be said that human potential is unlimited in war.

"The Dreadnought is so powerful. The Frankish battleships are just so-so." Just as Apewen was praising De, the bow turret of the Dreadnought shook violently. With a loud bang, the turret flew more than ten meters into the sky and then slammed into the sea.

In less than two minutes, another shell hit the side of the battleship, creating a hole at the waterline. Seawater continued to pour in from the hole, flooding several compartments. Finally, it was only a large number of watertight compartments that stopped the spread of the seawater.

8门305mm主炮对7门280mm主炮，立即让阿佩文感受到了压力，至于无畏号为什么不使用全部的12门280mm主炮，那是因为六边形布置的炮塔只能保证在每侧船舷8门主炮的同时射击。

Fortunately, the Charlemagne was not without cost. The rear cabin of the ship caught fire, and the steam steering wheel was destroyed. It could only be steered manually, and the speed was already very slow. If the Charlemagne could be kept, then unless warships were withdrawn from the mainland, the Franks would no longer be able to threaten the Drakes in the waters around the Felix continent.

The Franks no longer wanted to sink the Dreadnought, and they slowly sailed towards the open sea. The most important thing now was to keep the battleships. The loss of two battleships would greatly reduce Frank's influence in the Mediterranean and Africa.

The speed of the Dreadnought made it impossible for the Franks to shake it off. The Dreadnought's accurate fire soon put the Charlemagne, which was lagging behind, under tremendous pressure. The 138mm secondary guns on the Frankish battleship had no effect on the Dreadnought's armor, and they could only rely on 8 305mm main guns to fight back.

However, Apevin was not having an easy time either. The six main guns kept hitting the Frankish battleship. However, a battleship was a battleship after all, and it was tough! Relying on its thick armor, the Charlemagne still sailed firmly on the sea, and from time to time it fired a few shots to interfere with the Dreadnought.

The three ships were like medieval heavily armored warriors, fighting each other with thunder and clang, and no one could do anything to the other in a short period of time. However, due to the high hit rate of the Dreadnought, the battle situation gradually turned towards the direction of the Drake Empire.

"General, the Arminius is chasing us." An officer reported to Thierry.

"So what? What can the small tubes on it do? Use all your strength to repel the Dreadnought!" Thierry did not take the Arminius seriously, and he would pay the price for his decision.

When the shells of the Arminius fell on the Charlemagne, the Arminius had already formed a battle line with the Dreadnought, and the continuous firing of 280mm and 210mm projectiles covered the Charlemagne like a fishing net.

The Charlemagne was immediately suppressed, shells flew across the hull, the hull armor was torn, and the shock wave swept the deck again and again with shrapnel and flames. The battleship's combat side was badly damaged, and the hull was severely damaged due to water ingress.

"General, Charlemagne's power is paralyzed!"

"General, half of the port secondary guns have been destroyed, and there are not enough people to man the remaining secondary guns!"

The bad news one after another made Lieutenant General Thierry depressed. How could the war turn out like this? Where was the armed parade? The Franco-French fleet, with a total tonnage of more than 4, was defeated in less than two hours.

"Let the St. Louis retreat, I will cover their retreat." Vice Admiral Thierry sat steadily in the captain's seat and smoked his treasured Tainosilan cigar.

The Charlemagne was no longer able to move, so the St. Louis had no choice but to abandon the Charlemagne and escape alone. If they didn't leave now, they would be stuck.

In order to buy time for the St. Louis, the Charlemagne fired its only two remaining 305mm main guns at a rate never seen since it was commissioned, two rounds a minute, forcing the Dreadnought to not dare to pass them to pursue.

"Let's leave it at that for now. The Franks will be furious if we are completely wiped out!" Apeman gave up the pursuit. "For the first victory of the Dreadnought! I'm sorry for the Charlemagne."

The two Drake Empire warships began to close the distance between each other, bypassing the Charlemagne's only two remaining 305mm naval guns. At a distance of 3000 meters, the main and secondary guns of the two warships were used to the fullest, and continuous explosions came from the Charlemagne.

[Reporting to the commander, moderate damage has been caused to the Charlemagne]

[Reporting to the commander, moderate damage has been caused to the Charlemagne]

...............

The Charlemagne was drifting on the sea like a dead fish.

"Sir, it's time to evacuate!" the chief of staff said anxiously.

"That's it. Let all crew members evacuate. There should be no more unnecessary deaths!"

"What about you?"

"This is my fleet and my warships, and I will accompany it!" Lieutenant General Thierry said calmly.

"Then I'll accompany you. I've been your partner for more than ten years. I don't want to change partners before retiring!" said the chief of staff, straightening the wrinkles of his navy uniform.

Dozens of people on the Charlemagne chose to sink with the ship. They waved goodbye to their comrades who had already boarded the lifeboats and waited quietly for death.

Two Drake warships were waiting in the distance to keep the Franks away from the Charlemagne.

"Wait until the Franks go far away, then fire torpedoes to kill them!" Apewen gave the order, putting an end to the war.