Black Iron’s Glory

Chapter 509: The Battle of St. Rusk

The clouds are thick, the waves are very heavy...

Muried stood on a fluctuating bridge, in the round frame of a single-barrel telescope in his hand, and appeared the little wind sail on the sky. At this moment, Muried is in a very exciting mood, finally waiting for you, King's Fleet!

Two months. Two months later, Muried can't remember how many disappointments and helplessness his Ironclad fleet has encountered, keeping the Neptune fleet out of its search and tail chase. What annoyed Muriel most was that he failed to do what Claude had told him to do, allowing the Neptune fleet to bring to shore the two standing divisions of the Hicks Kingdom that were to be reinforced.

All this happened after the Ironclad fleet raided the northern bay, the Duchy of Kanas and the largest and most productive bay in the eastern part of the Farea continent. It brings together countless ocean vessels from north to south, making the towns of the three Duchy of Kanas on the Gulf coast a very busy trading city. The Kingdom of Nasseri and the Principality of Kanas are stationed here in a newly formed cruise sub-fleet.

The kingdoms of Nasseri and Kanas have lost their own oceanic fleets since the Kingdom of Hicks lost its leased joint fleet. Fortunately, the Kingdom of Hicks compensated for a sum of money that the Kingdom of Nasri and the Principality of Kanas were prepared to use to rebuild a new oceanic fleet. After three years of hard work, a cruise sub-fleet of more than twenty battleships was finally owned.

It was at this time that General Muried stormed the northern bay, and in front of the Ironclad, the unprepared cruiser fleet was completely destroyed. Eleven new battleships set fire to the bears and sank in the sights of countless people ashore in the northern bay. Sixteen sailboats were captured by the Ironclad Battleships. Forty-eight ocean ships belonging to the Kingdom of Hicks, the Kingdom of Nasserley and the Principality of Kanas were similarly spoils of the Ironclad fleet, which left the northern bay under sunset photographs and grew.

The raids on the northern bay made the Ironclad fleet famous, and almost everyone knew that such monster ships, which couldn't even break artillery, were rumbling in black smoke and dressed in iron armor, most importantly, they were running faster at sea than sailboats. Since then, the Ironclad fleet has lost its invisibility in the eastern waters, where they appear, and where they have become offshore sea vessels in three countries: the Kingdom of Hicks, the Kingdom of Nasserley and the Principality of Kanas.

But General Muried regretted so much that he made a big mistake because the Ironclad fleet had been exposed that the King's fleet of the Kingdom of Hicks would no longer dare to step into the eastern waters. He should first ambush the Neptune fleet and destroy those two reinforced standing regiments on the way to sea. As a result of the raid on the northern bay, the Neptune fleet changed its plans to disembark two reinforced standing regiments of the Kingdom of Hicks at the port of Garucha in the Kingdom of Nasseri.

There are two large seaports and four small seaports in the northern waters of the Kingdom of Nasseri, and the seaport of Camillas, which is the best facility, is usually docked on the shore by the King's fleet. The two reinforced standing regiments were also prepared to dock at the seaport of Camillas, as a result of which Muried led the Ironclad fleet to ambush the sea off the seaport of Camillas for seven days, with news that the Neptune fleet had docked at the port of Garucha. It is a small seaport town developed by small fishing villages, some 300 miles from the Camillas seaport.

Muried hastily led the Ironclad fleet to the port of Garucha and found that the King's fleet was long gone and that the two standing regiments of the Kingdom of Hicks had left the small seaport town. He came for nothing. Soon after, Muried discovered that the Ironclad fleet was under constant surveillance in the eastern waters, while other ocean vessels passed by and offshore fishing vessels made the Ironclad fleet a prominent focus wherever it appeared.

Under these circumstances, the Ironclad fleet will never find traces of the King's fleet in the Kingdom of Hicks. Although overseas autonomous territories also have agents in those regions and countries, they have no access to higher levels, and the messages and information sent are mostly speculative and hearsay. The Ironclad fleet traveled back and forth at sea and never found the true whereabouts of the Neptune fleet.

Fortunately, agents dispatched to the Kingdom of Hicks have finally sent the latest information, and recently the Neptune fleet will be transporting a shipment of arms and armament logistics to the Kingdom of Nasri, although the date of departure is unknown. Muried has made a concealed plan to avoid the sight of the Ironclad fleet being placed by the enemy in the eastern waters.

General Muried formed a large fleet of ocean sailboats and seacraft that captured the captives, set up a spare steam engine on deck, sprinkled with heavy black smoke and swung under the escort of two Ironclad carriers to Florrick Harbor. The remaining twenty Ironclad warships and armoured Ironclad carriers were sailed to the outer seas at very slow speeds. Steam engines are then activated from the outer ocean directly into the border waters of the Kingdom of Panasseri.

In the border waters of the Kingdom of Nasseri and the neighbouring kingdom of Menbamak, there is an island called Santa Rusk, which is small, with only a small fishing village and a large mountain, full of oil and pine. In folklore, the island is the incarnation of a hero named Rusk, who chopped off a sea monster to the detriment of the area and, after exhaustion, turned into an island, sheltering the safety of sea-going vessels and coastal fishermen passing through it.

So this area, also known as the waters of Santa Rusk Island, where the kingdoms of Nasserley and Menbamak had had a dispute over their belonging, but because of the strength of the Nasserley kingdom, the kingdom of Menbamak could only breathe down and divide the area to the Nasserley kingdom, demanding that its coastal fishermen retain their right to fish freely...

Twenty battleships and carriers of the Ironclad fleet are now hiding behind the island of Santa Rusk, disguised with oil pine branches cut off from the island in an effort to prevent passing sea-going vessels from discovering the strangeness. After more than a decade of patience, he finally waited for the arrival of the Neptune fleet.

“One hundred and seventeen Windsurf Battleships, of which ninety-two are Class III Lightweight Rapid Cruisers, twenty are Class II Windsurf Cruisers, five are Class I Five Windsurf Battleships, and the front, rear, left, center and right are in fleet formation. In addition, there are nearly 200 ocean carriers...”

Soon, the watchers on the battleship reported clearly on the formation of the Neptune fleet. However, based on distance estimates, the convoy escorted by the Neptune fleet will take more than an hour to reach the waters of Santa Rusk. Today the wind is northeast, and the Neptune fleet is in a semi-travel state, unable to lift its speed.

“All battleship crew, check the readiness again. When the Neptune fleet passed through the waters of Santa Rusk, we stopped him and beat him by surprise.” Muriel said harshly. The Kingdom of the Hicks will never be able to make it again, as long as this fleet of kings is destroyed. It can no longer fight this fleet in the eastern waters, pointing its fingers in the affairs of the eastern part of the Farea continent...

There was no surprise, after all, the rumbling sounds of the steam engines launched by the twenty Ironclad warships were like thunder and had already attracted the attention of the Neptune fleet. Even several Class III fast cruisers left the queue and headed for Santa Rusk Island to see what was happening. And the thick black smoke that rose behind the island could have been misunderstood by the Neptune fleet to be a fire on the island or something, and for a while they had no idea it was the Ironclad fleet that was ambushing here.

The commander of the Neptune fleet was not a fool, and he had long learned from intelligence from all over the fleet that the Neptune fleet was not a rival to the Neptune fleet. In the northern Gulf raid, the Ironclad fleet completely destroyed the newly formed cruise sub-fleet of the Kingdom of Nasseri and the Principality of Kanas in front of the coastal spectators. The Ironclad fleet is almost undamaged, and that is a fact we have all witnessed.

How to deal with battleships wearing iron armour has become a common challenge for all fleet countries on the Farea continent. The Neptune fleet is no exception, but the sea is so big, you can't hide from it? Without precise information from the Ironclad Fleet covering the return of the captured seacraft to the Florida seaport, it would not have been possible for the Neptune Fleet to take the risk of carrying out escort operations for the convoy in the waters of the Kingdom of Nasri.

Only when twenty Ironclad battleships roared behind Santa Rusk Island with black smoke, the commander of the Neptune fleet understood he had fallen for it. He ordered all transport vessels to sail ashore or flee as soon as possible. On the other hand, all warships in the Neptune fleet have sieged the Ironclad warships, ordered more projectiles and flares, and carried out artillery attacks at close range. Anyway, it is agreed that long-range shelling is useless for Ironclad warships...

There is also a way to deal with Ironclad warships, which is to fight the two ships together. Using the strength of the number of troops to win an Ironclad Battleship, even if it is a tragic victory, you can develop your own Ironclad Battleship back home. Over a hundred Windsurfers against 20 Ironclad warships. Whoever dies of deer has yet to be determined, everyone has a chance to win...

Two fleets sprayed with iron and fire collided like this, and the Neptune fleet suffered a huge loss in the first place. Nearly ten Class 3 wind sail cruises were hit by white phosphorous bombs, igniting the fire of the bear. But after all, the Neptune fleet was crowded, and as soon as the subsequent battleships were held up, they separated the five or six Ironclad destroyers in the front of the Ironclad fleet and fell into a state of siege. Especially those Class III light cruisers that are burning, they are also active in crashing into the Ironclad Destroyer in search of their common destiny.

The four or five Ironclad destroyers that arrived immediately thereafter similarly accelerated their speed, as they stormed into an entangled convoy with the intention of rescuing their own companions. As a result, the siege was sieged on all sides by the enemy's plight, facing countless projectiles and flares thrown at it. The exploding black smoke and fire also flashed on the Ironclad warships, causing casualties among the sailors on the deck for a short time.

The Neptune fleet was also uncomfortable at this time, and after a chaos, the sea was lit with flames and smoky windsails, and the situation on the battlefield could no longer be seen. All we hear is constant shelling and explosions, screaming and crying for help, and from time to time we see sailors and crew holding lifelines on the burning surface...

Waiting for almost an hour, the Commander-in-Chief of the Neptune fleet finally received two messages. The good news was that the surface of the enemy's two Ironclad warships had been controlled by their own land battalions, but it was only unexpected that the enemy's battleship interior hatch was also an iron gate. The remaining enemies on the two Ironclad warships retracted the interior hatch to defend themselves, and for a while there was no way to open that heavy iron gate, so that they could not control the entire Ironclad warship.

The bad news is that the Neptune fleet has lost three sub-fleets of warships, and currently all three sub-fleets, front and rear, are burning on the surface of the sea, most of which are busy fighting fires. Smoke on the surface is too dense to sustain combat or catch up with enemy warships.

The remainder of the enemy's Ironclad warships have now learned their lesson and are no longer intertwined with burning warships. Instead, they use their speed to roam the periphery, bombarding pursued sailships with long-range artillery fire.

Commanders of the Neptune fleet face a painful choice, either to abandon the battleships in battle and evacuate immediately, thus preserving most of the convoys and the two Neptune fleet sub-fleets. Either throw the remaining two sub-fleets into the battlefield and fight your enemies to death. That would almost reimburse the entire fleet even if it won, but it might capture several Ironclad warships, and even if the fleet was gone, it would be worth the reward.

But the problem is that the war is now unclear, the whole mixed maritime area is smoky and rolling, and there is no clear view of what is happening. Is the enemy's Ironclad fleet consistent with what has just been reported? Most of the mixed warfare is together, with only a few ships left to fight guerrillas outside? If that is the case, then nearly 50 battleships from the two sub-fleets will be on the battlefield, not to mention 100%, and the Neptune fleet will have great certainty of winning the final battle...

It was only a matter of time before the commanders of the Neptune fleet saw twelve black-smoked Ironclad warships rushing towards their fleet arrays on the rolling battlefield of smoke. The masts and deck cannons on several Ironclad warships, as well as the lights still shining on the bridge, obviously suffered a lot in the mixed warfare just now, just because it was covered by Ironclad, it was not very traumatized and they could continue to fight.

To this day, the two remaining divisions of the Neptune fleet can only be fought. The Neptune fleet feels bad just as soon as it comes in contact. Because the twelve battleships of the Ironclad fleet were not mixed with their head-to-head rivalries, but rather used the speed of their warships to orbit a large bend in front of the array of Neptune warships, maintaining a distance of 7,800 meters, and shelling the Neptune fleet with their artillery constantly at these slow moving sails.

A wingsail ship was hit by artillery fire and set on fire, especially the giant wingsail and mast, which burned like a torch and could only be stopped at sea as a fixed target. Officers on the battleship hurried to put down the lifeboat and couldn't find the sailors of the lifeboat carrying the lifeboat around the plank jumping into the sea like dumplings. There was also a violent explosion on several burning Windsurf battleships due to the ignition of gunpowder...

No one can stand a situation where light strikes cannot be countered. After ascertaining the speed at which Ironclad warships cannot be chased and seeing one of the warships burned by enemy Ironclad gunfire, several Class III light cruisers disengaged from the chased array and retreated sailing. Soon the remaining 40 wind sails became chaotic, some were pursuing forward, and others had withdrawn from the battlefield without taking orders.

The commander of the Neptune fleet helplessly defeated the entire army and allowed the remaining sailboats of the Neptune fleet to return to the Kingdom of the Hicks on their own. Good luck. After breaking the signal himself, he fought to resist the siege of the four Ironclad warships for nearly an hour, ending with the explosion of the warship sinking under the sea. The remaining eight Ironclad warships chased the fleeing Windsurfer for nearly three hours, capturing a large number of convoys until the day darkened.

The Battle of the Sea on St. Rusk Island, the first formal large-scale naval battle between the Ironclad and Windsurfer fleets in the French world, marked a new chapter in the naval pattern of the fleet that has remained unchanged for nearly a millennium. Traditional methods of naval warfare, such as artillery bombing, jumping gangs and throwing barges, are about to be eliminated, while new methods of naval warfare are still being explored.

Undoubtedly, however, the emergence of overseas autonomous Ironclad warships meant that traditional wind and sail warships had fallen behind. The kingdom of Hicks' naval fleet, among the coastal nations of the Farea continent, is described as a powerful maritime elite, but in the Battle of the Sea of Santa Rusk, they took advantage of the number of one hundred and seventeen sailboats, which resulted in the overflowing of 20 Ironclad warships and fewer than one sub-fleet fleet fleeing back to their waters.

This naval battle has had a profound impact on the coastal countries of the Farea continent, which have invested heavily in the development of Ironclad warships. The simple thing is to cover the sailboat with iron or copper armor, and the complicated thing is to acquire various steam and fire engines from overseas autonomous territories and try to transform them into marine steam engines. And the most common is sending agents, lurking in overseas autonomous territories, trying to get Ironclad warships, trains and new weapon production drawings...

For the Ironclad fleet, access to the St. Rusk Island naval battle was not easy, especially with almost two thirds of the casualties of deck and bridge fighters, and traumatized every Ironclad warship in the entire fleet. Nor did the Hicks kingdom produce vegetarian projectiles and flamethrowers, the two near-captured Ironclad warships, suffer the most. The new ship guns on the deck and bridge were all scrapped, and the hull shell was cracked due to the impact, so it could be said that it became an abandoned ship with only the shell left. It was good that the ship's steam engine could still function properly and keep up with the speed of the fleet.

The fleet governor, General Muried, was also wounded and he was almost blown to the sky by a bomb thrower. Fortunately, his deputy fell on the floor with a quick eye cuddle, paying only for the fracture of his right hand and the injury to his left leg. Nevertheless, the battles of the St. Rusk Island naval battle and the results of the Ironclad fleet were also abundant, destroying more than seventy sail warships of the Neptune fleet, pursuing 21 sail warships and capturing nearly a hundred pelagic carriers loaded with all kinds of armaments.

After the war, the Ironclad fleet searched and rescued more than 4,000 sailors and crew of the Kingdom of Hicks. At the same time, there is an interlude where the Ironclad fleet consumes all the black stone fuel it carries. Forced to do so, General Muried ordered to board St. Rusk Island, cut large quantities of pine oil from the island, fuel it with pine wood, and return the Ironclad fleet to Florida Harbor with the captured vessels...