Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology-Chapter 1192: WWI: Battle of the Atlantic (7)

Finally, after making a decision in his heart, Edward commanded with a firm tone. "This is a good chance, use those torpedoes."

Deputy Commander John De Witt was taken aback. "But sir, those torpedoes are not too accurate, not to mention they are very unreliable as well. There is a chance of them exploding before even reaching the target, or it is also possible that they would not explode at all. And on top of all that, there are only a few dozen torpedoes equipped on the Sovereign Class. Are you sure you want to use this weapon so early in the battle?"

"I’m aware of it, but it can’t be helped. We’ll never get another opportunity, an opportunity to be so close to the metal ships of the Bharatiya Empire."

"Besides," his eyes sharpened, "if the target is in close range, the need for accuracy is reduced to a minimum, and the problems with its reliability can be ignored to some extent."

"Whether using it so early or so late in the battle is irrelevant. All that matters is whether they can inflict devastating damage on the enemy, and since there is a high chance that they can," ’hopefully they can take down a few full metal battleships,’ he thought, "Wasting them all is not a problem."

John De Witt thought about what the admiral said for a moment, and he felt like it made sense, so without another question, he quickly relayed the message throughout the fleet.

Time quickly passed, and the two fleets were only a few metres apart.

Soon, the Bharatiya fleet plunged headfirst into the European fleet at high speed, and in what felt like a blur, the entire fleet disappeared.

The sounds of cannonballs immediately intensified. The machine guns went off, the rotary cannons blasted projectiles into the enemy ships, the mortars and the missile launchers dominated the air.

The Bharatiya fleet was like an angry boar, destroying all life in its path, but the Europeans were not completely helpless. With the orders of the admiral arriving several minutes prior, they had some time to prepare, so all the guns were pointed towards the parted line at the centre of their fleet and kept bombarding with everything they had.

"Torpedo alert!!!!"

A sailor on the Ramachandra Class battleship cried out as he saw a black cylindrical object moving towards them at a very high speed.

"Brace for impact and quickly evacuate the quarters close to the hull."

"Boom!"

The explosion shook the Ramachandra Class battleship, but it did not sink, nor did it tilt. The only way you could tell that something had gone wrong was due to the speed of the battleship suddenly reducing by a lot.

"Captain, the hull seems to be punctured. Water is flooding in."

"Seal off the compartment quickly and have the engine run at maximum throttle."

"But, sir, we are already on the edge of recommended operating conditions. Going past this line is dangerous."

The captain yelled impatiently, "I am aware of it, but we cannot afford to slow down now. If our momentum is reduced, the momentum of the warships in the rear will also be reduced, increasing the number of casualties. So it doesn’t matter if the engine has to be scrapped after the battle, just push it to 60,000 khanda metres." 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

’Gulp!’

"Yes, sir!"

The speed of the ship began to pick up once again, with the sound of the engine almost feeling like the cries of a wounded beast.

But the European torpedoes did not injure only one ship. Several warships were hit, some Ramachandra Class battleships, while others were Delhi Class battleships. Unfortunately, a few Delhi-class battleships began to tilt dangerously and soon began to submerge. The lucky crew members got on the lifeboats and survived, while the unlucky ones were taken down to the ocean along with the battleships they fought on.

Thankfully, the number of torpedoes the Europeans released was limited.

Admiral Yashvardhan gritted his teeth with hatred, but he endured. He knew the Europeans had torpedoes. He also anticipated that they might use it during the charge, but despite knowing this, he stuck with his strategy, since he was confident that the battleships of the Bharatiya Empire could make it out alive and fight on. As for the Delhi Class battleships that were unfortunately struck and had to sink to the ocean, that was the risk he was willing to take for another one of his plans he had thought of to work.

Yashvardhan held on to the railing tightly, even as the ship swayed side to side, being bombarded by artillery shells once in a while. "Not yet, not yet, a little forward, a little bit more...." He kept muttering, his eyes bloodshot.

"Now!! Release the torpedoes!!!!" He roared with all his might, as if the rage which he had accumulated finally had a place to vent.

As if his voice was a key to an ancient weapon of mass destruction, hundreds of torpedoes were fired from the Bharatiya warships, both Ramachandra Class and the Delhi Class. The manufacturing technology of torpedoes had come a long way in the Bharatiya Empire, so more battleships could now equip them.

The Bharatiya Empire had already partially completed what the Europeans had set out to achieve, to equip each and every battleship of the European Union with the swords that cannot be defended, called the torpedoes.

Like a pod of orcas, torpedoes spread out from the Bharatiya battleships in both directions at incredible speeds. As these black underwater projectiles made contact with enemy hulls, explosions thundered, water shot high into the air, and European battleships suddenly crumbled.

Screams and shouts filled the region, and chaos, along with desperation, had taken hold of the sailors who had formed the front against the charging Bharatiya vessels.

Looking at over 50 to 60 battleships and heavy frigates in the central region, all of a sudden tilted dangerously and began to sink, all within a few minutes, Edward was devastated, but more importantly, he was enraged.

"Did I not order the ships on the outer layer of the path we left to turn inward, to angle themselves toward the path, and reduce the surface area exposed to the Bharatiya fleet?"

His nerves were bulging, and his eyes were like those of a demon. "Which bastard is responsible for this? Ha? Who?????"

Vice Commander John De Witt was completely silent. He knew there were a lot of senior officers within the fleet who were not too happy with Edward Russell being the admiral of the navy, but even if they did not agree with his methods, sabotaging the fleet, even if unintentional, was too much.

Even John became angry, because, being a deputy commander, he would be affected by this incident as well.

"I will investigate this matter thoroughly and give you a suitable answer, sir, but please, we are in a critical situation. Give us your orders."

Admiral Edward was still irritated, but in the end, he suppressed the rage he felt and began to think rationally again.

The torpedo attack of the Bharatiya Navy caused a devastating blow to the European fleet, but the Bharatiya fleet was not having a good time either; they still had the advantage.

He quickly formulated a countermeasure.

"Have the ships at the rear widen even more and form a suppressive net of firepower against the bastards coming in from the centre."

"Let’s create a kill zone and kill them all," a blood thirsty light appeared in his eyes.

John De Witt no longer hesitated and immediately signalled the communications officer to send up the communication flares.

Admiral Yashvardhan saw movements of the European fleet at the rear of the path from a distance, and he understood what the Europeans were up to. His expression turned sombre. He knew the situation was dangerous. Most of the warships were damaged to varying degrees. Although they still had a lot of offensive ability, it was not too much.

However, he was not panicked.

"Quickly form a triangular pincer formation. Battleships in good condition form the outer layer. Relatively non-damaged battleships form the first layer. Non-damaged frigates and clippers form the third layer, and the rest of the ships form the inner layer, responsible for the firepower output."

"Also, drop the crude oil. Let’s split these bastards, giving them no way to recombine their fleet at the rear, lest they try to stop our fleet from recombining."

Everything happened quickly. The formation of the charging Bharatiya fleet began to change in real time, and as they moved forward, they left thick black liquid flowing behind.

The bombardment of the European fleet was intense. The firepower was nothing like Yashvardhan had ever experienced before, but somehow they pulled through.

And before Edward could think of what to do next, a wall of fire rolled up into the sky, burning all the ships that had come into contact with it at the rear, prompting him to immediately halt his next move and wait until the fire calmed down. After all, the fire not only appeared at the central path where the fleet had split, but also at the sides where the two left and right battle groups of the Bharatiya Navy combined into one, cutting off the European fleet from catching up with the Bharatiya fleet.

The first major engagement came to an end, and both sides tacitly paused. They needed time to recuperate and to reassess their strategies. It was at this moment that two pieces of news reached the admirals of the two warring navies, one good and one bad. What was good news for the admiral of the Bharatiya fleet was bad news for the European fleet, and what was bad news for the European fleet was, naturally, good news for the Bharatiya fleet.

The news was as follows. First, the Atlantic Fleet of the European Union was advancing south, rapidly approaching the area where the battle was taking place. Second, a Bharatiya fleet composed of twelve Maharaja Ramachandra Class battleships, twenty-four Ramachandra Class battleships, and sixty Delhi Class battleships was also arriving in the same region at full speed.