Munitions Empire

Just as the sailors of the Shireck Navy were desperately trying to save their warship, which was engulfed in thick smoke and fierce flames, someone peered through the billowing black smoke to see groups of Stukas approaching from a distance.

"Planes! Planes!" an officer shouted, pointing at the sky to alert his companions, but most of them were helpless against the threat.

Helpless, their few Maxim machine guns, some of which had been destroyed, hardly had any ammunition left.

These machine guns were originally installed on the warships, not for anti-aircraft combat. Their purpose had been to deal with small enemy boats that got too close.

In fact, one could say that the use of these machine guns for suppressing mutinies among the sailors was far greater than their anti-aircraft function.

So the ammunition reserves for these machine guns were not plentiful at all, but which gun hadn't fired off several thousand rounds during the previous anti-aircraft combat?

"Bang!" A Shireck soldier armed with a rifle fired another shot into the sky, but at this time those terrifying planes hadn't even begun their dive.

No one bothered to stop him, for at this time, anyone who still had the courage to stand on deck and fire a rifle at the sky was already considered brave.

Many more were lost in confusion amidst the chaos, some were busy putting out the fire on deck, some were helping to carry the wounded, while others were being rallied by their officers to prepare for anti-aircraft combat.

At the machine gun emplacement, the machine gunner was busy replacing the boiling water in the machine gun's cooling tank: the gun had become so hot during the recent fighting that the water was scalding.

Through the rolling thick smoke, the gunner could see, up in the clouds, the bent wings of Stuka dive bombers directly plunging down, targeting the damaged warships on the periphery.

"Ammo belt! Ammo belt!" the gunner shouted loudly, urging his assistant to bring ammunition from the adjacent storage room.

All around his feet were spent cartridges; some rolled further away as the warship pitched and heaved, and some stopped next to dead bodies, their path blocked.
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Other cartridges, rolling along, were glued in place by fresh blood, trapped there, and slowly engulfed by the spreading pool of blood.

"Ratatat!" In the distance, a Butcher fighter jet, tasked with providing cover, began a diving strafing run, and its intense fire pierced through the flames, tore through the black smoke, and ripped through the crowd, clattering on the deck.

Then, in the despairing eyes of the Shireck sailors, the Butcher fighter burst through the thick smoke and roared overhead, causing everyone to instinctively shrink their necks.

Before they could even be relieved that they had survived the first round's less ferocious attack, a second Butcher fighter jet burst through the black smoke, surged over the flames, and rained a barrage of bullets on the "lambs" on deck.

Those poor souls, who had just been grateful to be alive, were now shattered and tossed about; the survivors finally remembered that they had the right to flee.

Consequently, a frenzy erupted on deck again: some, paralyzed with fear, rushed into nearby iron doors, trying to shrink away like turtles; others leaped straight over the railing into the sea to end it all.

After the two Butcher jets cleared the way with their strafing, a Stuka dive bomber arrived as expected, dropping a massive bomb on the portly midsection of the warship.

The bomb, as if by some cruel twist of fate, plunged directly into the warship's smokestack, and a few seconds later, a tremendous explosion broke the backbone of the ship.

The keel snapped, and the ship split open in the middle, with seawater ruthlessly tearing through and relentlessly invading every compartment.

The ends of the warship rose high while the broken midsection sank into the sea, surrounded by massive bubbles and churning up white foam.

The naval commander-in-chief of the Gobur Kingdom watched the broken warship not far away, his face turning deathly pale.

From that last assault, he could clearly feel that the enemy's coordination was becoming more refined. The bombing was more precise, and the attacks were more unrestrained.

With the exchange of experience, the pilots from the first round of attacks had informed the second round's bombers of certain points to note.

They warned their comrades to be aware of the few remaining machine gun positions on both sides, and reminded them of the positions most vulnerable to hits.

Of course, at the same time, the burning, smoking warships were moving slower, naturally increasing the success rate of the attacks.

In short, a damaged fleet under aerial assault was somewhat doomed. The entire fleet was shrouded in smoke and fire, looking even somewhat tragic.

Unfortunately, heroism is not good news for those who are in the midst of it. It often means they are at a disadvantage and are likely to die a heroic death.

Another two Stuka dive bombers rolled in the sky and swooped down, dropping two aerial bombs accurately onto the deck of a Shireck cruiser.

The sound of the impact even drowned out the noise of the raging fires, followed by the ammunition magazines on the warship starting to detonate.

First, the aft main gun's magazine exploded, followed by the forward main gun's magazine. The continuous explosions sent the smoke-billowing warship to its end, leaving only its masts and debris above the water surface a few seconds later.

This was already the ninth Shireck cruiser sunk today, including the flagship of the fleet that carried the Gobur Navy's Commander-in-Chief and the Shireck commander.

As for destroyers, less than half had survived the recent carpet-bombing, and several more had been sinking on the way, plus the ones just sunk... now only nine remained.

In other words, the Tang Army's bombers had sunk nine Shireck cruisers and twenty-one destroyers in a series of air raids.

The entire fleet had already lost more than half its strength, and the remaining six cruisers and nine destroyers were all badly damaged. In fact, the whole fleet was not far from being annihilated.

The Navy, indeed, is an arm of service that can lose all its possessions in a morning. By nightfall, this Shireck surprise attack fleet was almost certain to meet its complete demise here.

The Gobur Kingdom's Navy Commander-in-Chief withdrew his gaze of despair and looked at the Shireck commander with a bandage still on his forehead, asking solemnly, "Do you have any last words? If so, send them out quickly."

Along the way, they had sent out many partial telegrams, including detailed ones that described the appearance of enemy aircraft, ones reminding the Shireck Consortium to enhance anti-aircraft firepower on warships, and others calling for improved horizontal armor protection and damage control capabilities.

After all, as a technical bureaucrat, the Shireck commander may not be quite suitable, but as a mercenary of a weapons group, he indeed showed his professional side.

"Order all remaining warships to destroy their codebooks," said the Shireck commander, afraid that the Great Tang Kingdom might capture some warships and reveal Shireck's codes. He closed his eyes and spoke.

"You are braver and more formidable than I imagined," sighed the Gobur Navy's Commander-in-Chief, then ordered the new captain beside him, "Send the message, let all warships destroy the codebooks, destroy the radios..."

The former captain of this cruiser had passed away from grievous wounds, and now the executive officer acted as the captain. Upon hearing the order, he immediately set out to execute it.

After sending out several telegrams reporting the fleet's losses and the likely catastrophic outcome, the Shireck commander dispatched his personal last words.

Afterwards, the officers on the bridge, taking advantage of their position and duties, also sent out some telegrams to handle their personal affairs. After the last person tearfully troubled the radio operator, the Gobur Navy Commander-in-Chief sent out his own personal last words.

As for the common soldiers, sailors... they did not have the privilege of writing any last words. Not far behind the bridge, the radio operator removed his headset, and with the executive officer, they ignited the codebook at the corner of the external iron staircase and watched as it turned to ashes.

At that moment, another cruiser not far from them suddenly exploded violently. Without being attacked again, it became a ball of fire and disappeared into the sea.

The dazzling fire illuminated the faces of everyone on the deck of the flagship. They stared blankly at the distant warship being devoured by flames, unable to even register an expression.

Just a minute ago, they had managed to extinguish a major fire at the bow. As damage control personnel with little experience and severely understaffed, they had actually done quite well.

But clearly, not everyone had their abilities. The peers aboard that distant cruiser had failed, the ammunition magazine had detonated, and there wouldn't be many survivors on that warship.

There were some that didn't explode. Some destroyers sank as severe water ingress caused their bows or sterns to submerge while sailing.

Other warships had a severe list, with one side of their hulls already submerged in water, the incline getting so severe it was hard to stand steady.

Such warships were actually quite fortunate; at least their crews had a chance to abandon ship.

However, the attack continued, and those remaining Shireck warships kept trying to escape by every means possible. Even a three-legged gazelle would attempt a few strides when chased by a leopard; no one gives up the struggle at the brink of death.

But, as it happens, sometimes the struggle is truly futile. Another warship was sunk, and the number of Shireck warships remaining on the sea was now very few.

The remaining Stuka dive bombers seemed to lose patience; they swooped down together, like vultures, feasting upon the remaining warships.

The Gobur Navy's Commander-in-Chief closed his eyes, and then the bridge he was on was engulfed in an explosion. All fell silent, and in the end, this fleet simply could not accomplish their mission.