Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology-Chapter 1189: WWI: Battle of the Atlantic (4)

Looking at the light frigates and Clippers spearheading the fleet, moving in an unpredictable yet somewhat structured pattern, Edward Russell nodded in satisfaction. This was the same tactic he used against the Bharatiya Mediterranean fleet two years ago, in order to fight against the Bharatiya naval vessels, which had a longer range and destructive capabilities than their own.

When he deployed this tactic over two years ago, although the plan did work for its intended purpose, to absorb and buffer the shelling of the Bharatiya Mediterranean fleet before their own battleships reached a position where their range would allow them to counterattack, it ultimately backfired due to one of the major flaws of the tactic.

Although small and agile targets made it much harder to hit for the enemy, it also meant that there wasn’t much coordination, nurturing a disaster. Due to this, in the war two years ago, more ships got wrecked due to running into each other than due to the shelling of the enemy. Most people think he did not know, but he knew that many people within the circle disparaged the idea, denigrated his concept, and even dismissed him as nothing but a lucky guy.

But he knew. He remembered all their words. It enraged him deeply. He, who had never known defeat, who was the object of appreciation and worship, finally tasted the pain of being a helpless man, unable to escape his circumstances.

He should have given up studying the tactic he had developed, a tactic that had failed miserably, but the nobility did not call the Russells "iron-headed lunatics" for nothing. Stubbornness ran through his blood. He did not want to abandon his strategy. He wanted to prove everyone who looked down on him wrong. He wanted to reclaim his pride, and so he continued to develop it.

He made various changes, with many things, and finally, he came up with a new strategy, built on the corpse of the old one. He was so confident in the new strategy that he even named it himself, "Chained non-linear formation," a formation which appears to be a chaotic mess of ships moving from one place to another, as if they were wild horses, untamed by anyone, galloping on the grassland in absolute freedom.

But in reality, the horses were all tied with invisible chains, through the form of how far they are allowed to run and in what direction they are allowed to run. His formation followed a similar principle.

The light warships that were leading the fleet were divided into five invisible rooms, where none of the ships from one room could jump to the other room without explicit orders. Each room has its own movement patterns and rules, and the rules are changed every once in a while by the captain commanding the whole room through a flag and a firework, making sure that the enemy does not decipher the pattern and hit their warships after anticipating the next position of a certain ship.

’Hehe’

As he expected, the Bharatiyas did not attack, even though they were already within the range of Bharatiya artillery.

"HaHa"

He won, his idea succeeded in countering the sword of the Bharatiya Empire, the sword that is the Bharatiya naval guns that devastated the initial stages of any battle, no matter who won or lost, of the European navy whenever the two sides fought.

His face finally saw the reappearance of a smile, a genuine smile, a smile of pride he had lost over two years ago. He felt a complex mix of emotions trying to overwhelm him. Anticipation to bask in the admiration of the nobles who had once looked down on him, satisfaction seeing the sunken faces of his rivals, ecstasy basking in the admiration of the masses, and many more, but in the end, he suppressed it all, and only left pride to remain.

People say, "You have to find what you lost in the place you lost it," so he finally did. He finally found his broken piece of pride. He no longer had to bow his head even in the face of the Bharatiya Empire, the Empire that got him so close to death that he had nightmares of it for the last two years.

"BOOM!"

At that moment, a loud explosion, or rather a series of explosions superimposed on one another, resounded throughout the battlefield like a lion’s roar. Looking at the horizon, his eyes widened, and his expression froze. Like the messengers of Armageddon, hundreds, no, several hundreds of projectiles shot up into the sky from the Bharatiya fleet. The projectiles pierced through the atmosphere like there was no resistance at all, but in the end their noses lowered and shot right at the warships spearheading his fleet.

"Wha...Why?"

It was as if someone had clenched the broken pride he had attached to his soul with a vice grip and brutally torn it apart, as if they wanted to show him how cruel of a mistress reality is, leaving him unable to utter a word.

Two hours ago

Admiral Yashvardhan Keshav Pandapani suddenly woke up from his stupor. It might have been a long time for him, but for others, he only stood still for a few minutes, and as soon as he recovered, he looked at Rear Admiral Krishna Nambiar with a violent and maniacal glint in his eyes.

"Krishna, tell me, is there a way to make the main batteries of the Delhi-class battleships go past their limits?"

"Can their ranges be increased to reach the frontal warships of the enemy?"

Krishnan Nambiar’s eyes widened, and the other officers standing on the bow were no different. They all looked at the admiral with their eyes wide open and their brows furrowed. ’What is this guy thinking?’ they thought.

Krishna’s mouth was agape, but feeling the burning gaze of the admiral, he quickly came to his senses and thought about the question.

"Theoretically, it is possible, sir. We simply have to increase the volume of the explosive used to propel the projectile, but I hope you understand that by using this method, the life of the barrel will be greatly reduced and increases the danger of malfunction, or even, in rare cases, carries a risk of explosion. Secondly, the accuracy of the projectile would be cut short drastically, bringing its accuracy closer to those first-generation, rudimentary naval guns we used over a decade ago."

The tone he answered in was a little pessimistic. But he intentionally used such a tone in the hopes of persuading the admiral not do something irrational, but despite the clear hint, the admiral did not look bothered at all. Instead, his eyes became even bright and the smile became wider.

"Perfect," the Admiral said.

"The disadvantages you mentioned are not concerning. On the other hand, the plan can really work." He clenched his fist and looked ahead. Seeing the Admiral’s fist trembling, everyone understood that the admiral could not contain his excitement.

However, instead of being excited with him, since he seemed to have figured out a way to handle the first step of this battle, they all looked worried. According to what the admiral asked before, his plan definitely involves overloading the batteries of the Delhi-class battleship, and it made them uneasy.

Maybe Yashvardhan felt the officers’ uneasiness and worry as well. He turned around with an intriguing smile, "Can a small boat tame a stormy sea?"

"The Greeks say that a stormy sea is Poseidon’s anger."

"So let’s unleash Poseidon’s anger onto them."

"Since we can’t use the batteries of the Ramachandra class and Maharaja Ramachandra class, let’s use the battery of the Delhi class. They are cheaper and easier to replenish. Since we cannot guarantee the accuracy of the shots, there is no need for accuracy at all. Just aim at the front of the enemy’s fleet, make the sea turbulent, use explosive rounds, and have all the battleships engage in the salvo. Ha. Make them unable to steer their ships, Capsize those pesky ships from the explosions alone."

"Anyway, the end of this battle will be determined very soon. There is no need to consider the lifespan of the barrels and all that nonsense. Victory is all that matters."

"Now, go, all rear admirals and vice admirals, relay my orders. All Delhi class battleships fire at the frontal warships of the enemy at once."

The bow of the ship was silent for a long time, only the waves crashing onto the hull and the common sound of the battleships moving forward being heard, until eventually someone shouted, "Yes, Admiral Sir." It was Krishna Nambiar, and after him, voices resounded one after another, their shouts getting louder and louder, as if they were trying to show how fired up and determined they were in order to follow the orders through.

And so, two hours later, the roar of the Bharatiya fleet that resounded throughout the northwestern shores of Africa was heard.

The war to destruction, the war where only one could reign victorious, finally kicked off with a bang, or rather, a thousand bangs.