Galactic Empire in New World

Part 4 Chapter 3 Sea Battle of Quila

On the same day,

16.00

Sea off the Kingdom of Quila, near the borders of the Kingdom of Lauria

The 10 Cosmos-class ships from the Principality of Qua Toyne finally arrived at the border sea between the Kungdom of Quila and the Kingdom of Lauria. The ships sailed as fast as possible using both sail and engine power. The military of the Principality of Qua Toyne has considered the low range of the Cosmos class ships using steam power by building many resupply points along the coastline of the Principality of Qua Toyne. The Kingdom of Quila did the same.

Arriving at the meeting point, the ships from the Principality of Qua Toyne were supplied by ships from the Kingdom of Quila. They also met a fleet from the Kingdom of Quila of 9 modern Cosmos class ships and 30 ancient warships that had been armed with modern weapons. These 50 ships will try to intercept the warships of the Kingdom of Lauria when the warships have entered the territory of the Kingdom of Quila.

A Cosmos class ship from the Kingdom of Quila has been assigned to carry out a reconnaissance mission against the movement of the Kingdom of Lauria's fleet. The radar from the ship showed that the Kingdom of Lauria's fleet had crossed the border between the Kingdom of Lauria and the Kingdom of Quila. The ship then trailed the fleet out of sight, but still within radar range.

All ships from the Principality of Qua Toyne and the Kingdom of Quila hid near the shore and rested all their crew, except for a few people who acted as watchmen. The fleets of the Principality of Qua Toyne and the Kingdom of Quila were given an update on the movements of the fleets of the Kingdom of Lauria by the ship trailing them.

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22.00
Near midnight on new moon.

That night, the fleets of the Principality of Qua Toyne and the Kingdom of Quila began moving towards the fleets of the Kingdom of Lauria. The extremely dark, moonless night conditions allowed them to approach the Kingdom of Lauria's fleet undetected. The fleet then split into two; all 19 modern Cosmos-class ships joined in one task force, and the second task force consisted of 30 ancient warships led by the Cosmos-class ship that had followed the Kingdom of Lauria fleet this afternoon, so that the second task force could get information from the radar owned by the Cosmos-class ship that was the leader of the task force. Because it was night, the fleet of the Kingdom of Lauria moved slowly, only 3-4 knots. The two task forces formed a simple formation, using a single line of ships. The cosmos class fleet moved across the path of the Kingdom of Lautia's ships to starboard, which resulted in crossing the 'T' of the ships of the Kingdom of Lauria, while the ancient ships moved in the opposite direction from the ships. The ships of the Kingdom of Lauria remain aligned with the fleet of the Kingdom of Lauria on the left side.

Suddenly, all the ships from the Principality of Qua Toyne and the Kingdom of Quila fired flares at the ships from the Kingdom of Lauria from a distance of 3 km. As a result, the ships of the Kingdom of Lauria were illuminated by these flares. In a few seconds, the rangefinder devices of the Principality of Qua Toyne and the Kingdom of Quila had obtained the distance between the ships of the Principality of Qua Toyne and the Kingdom of Quila and the Kingdom of Lauria's ships in the center of the formation. All of the Cosmos class ships started firing their 105mm cannons at the ships in the center of the fleet formation of the Kingdom of Lauria. Within moments, a number of ships from the Kindom of Lauria were hit and started to catch fire. Some were hit in the gunpowder warehouse and exploded, causing the ship to catch fire and sink. In total, there were 18 ships that caught fire but were still afloat, and 4 exploded and sank, leaving only the burning rubble. As a result, the formation of the Kingdom of Lauria's fleet of ships became illuminated by the flames of the burning ships, so the surrounding sea became brightly lit.

The ships from the Principality of Qua Toyne and the Kingdom of Quila could easily aim at the ships from the Kingdom of Lauria because they were illuminated by the light from the burning ships. On the other hand, the ships from the Kingdom of Lauria could not see ships from the Principality of Qua Toyne and the Kingdom of Quila. The result of the attack was horrific. The attacks were like fighting from only one side; the cannons of the Principality of Qua Toyne and the Kingdom of Quila's ships fired continuously and sank or damaged the ships of the Kingdom of Lauria one after another. Although not all of the shots hit, using an optical rangefinder that is quite good and can be used at night causes every 5 shots to have at least one bullet hit the target. The bullets from the 40mm cannons from the ancient ships weren't strong enough to do major damage, but the use of HEI (High Explosive – Incendiary) shells from those 40mm cannons caused massive fires on the wooden ships of the Kingdom of Lauria.

The admiral in command of the Kingdom of Lauria's fleet looked confused after being awakened from his slumber. There was nothing to see in the dark of night and only the ships of his fleet were illuminated by the many burning ships. Only occasional flashes of cannons were seen firing in the distance, which were often followed by explosions on the ships of the Kingdom of Lauria. The admiral was very confused because the flash seemed far, far beyond the range of the magic cannons and arrows that his ships had. How do the ships belonging to the Kingdom of Lauria defend themselves against attacks?

First, the admiral ordered all ships to randomly fire magic cannons into the darkness at the farthest distance. However, no results were obtained. No enemy warships were hit by magic canon fire from the warships of the Kingdom of Lauria.

Finally, the admiral in charge of the fleet of the Kingdom of Lauria decided to retreat. He ordered each ship to take a different direction while turning around and sailing at full speed back to the borders of the Kingdom of Lauria. But before the order was sent through the magic communicator, the admiral's ship was hit by fire from the enemy ship, and the ship was badly burned. As a result, the order was never transmitted to the other ships in the fleet.
The ships from the Kingdom of Lauria's fleet became even more confused by the loss of the command ship. Each ship is trying to save itself and trying to return to the borders of the Kingdom of Lauria. Coincidentally, the effect was the same as that of the Admiral wanted.

Although the ships of the Kingdom of Lauria began to disperse to save themselves, the position of the 2 task forces of the Principality of Qua Toyne and the Kingdom of Quila that split on both sides of the Kingdom of Lauria's fleet caused almost all ships that tried to escape to face the ships of the Principality of Qua Toyne and the Kingdom of Quila. As a result, there was a massacre of ships from the Kingdom of Lauria.

In just one hour, the number of ships from the Kingdom of Lauria was reduced to just 40, and all of them sailed at high speed towards the back border, but the ships from the Principality of Qua Toyne and the Kingdom of Quila continued to give chase, and as a result, at dawn, only four remaining ships managed to escape beyond the radar range of the Principality of Qua Toyne and the Kingdom of Quila.

The naval war at night between the Principality of Qua Toyne and the Kingdom of Quila and the Kingdom of Lauria ended in absolute victory for the Principality of Qua Toyne and the Kingdom of Quila. No ships from the Principality of Qua Toyne or the Kingdom of Quila were damaged. The ships from the Principality of Qua Toyne and the Kingdom of Quila went back right away and docked to get more supplies and ammunition.