Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology-Chapter 1194: WWI: Battle of the Atlantic (9)

The two battle groups forming a pincer formation were like wounded beasts, putting up a fierce resistance. Out of the 550 warships the fleet had, only four hundred or so remained, albeit suffering from varying degrees of damage. Among the surviving ships, the full metal battleships were the ones that bore the heaviest toll, with their armour being severely battered after absorbing almost all the firepower of the European fleet. Yet despite the punishment they received, the Ramachandra Class and the Maharaja Ramachandra Class battleships were hard to kill, still operational and capable of resistance.

The Delhi class battleships were not subjected to as direct a punishment as the full metal battleships were, but they were hardly better off. After all, they were facing a fleet with twice their number of battleships, and as a result, they suffered serious damage, especially since they lacked the full-metal armour that protected the Ramachandra Class and the Maharaja Ramachandra Class.

However, despite losing so many warships, Yashvardhan was not panicked at all, since their losses hurt him, but the Europeans, his enemy, who were supposed to be happy, were not happy in the least. After all, the price to take down 100 or so of his warships and damage the remaining ones was over 400 European warships. What kind of statistic is this? In order to take down a single warship and damage a few more, four warships had to be consumed, along with hundreds of artillery shells, thousands of sailors, and hundreds of naval officers. Yashvardhan felt as if he was in Edward’s situation, he would be contemplating how to write his suicide note.

The order to form a pincer formation to launch another charge caused uncertainty and panic among the sailors and officers of the Bharatiya fleet. Although the charging tactic caused the most amount of damage to the enemy, it also caused a lot of damage to themselves.

If the fleet were fully operational, they wouldn’t hesitate, but now that their fleet was damaged to varying degrees, they were not too sure if the battleships could hold on.

However, most of the sailors, despite being unsure, still followed through, but voices of dissatisfaction were vaguely heard in some ships, and all of it was quickly suppressed by the senior military leaders who followed the orders of the admiral without hesitation.

The Delhi-class battleships that were in relatively good condition formed the outer wall, the full-metal battleships formed the inner wall, and the rest of the warships occupied the space in the middle.

This was a helpless choice. If Yashvardhan had a better option, he would still choose to use the Maharaja Ramachandra class battleship as the spearhead of the charge, but those battleships had already been riddled with too many dents and holes. Taking any more punishment might mean that their offensive abilities would also collapse, so he used the Delhi class battleships as the meatshields, and the full metal Maharaja Ramachandra class and the Ramachandra class battleships as the turrets and damage dealers from within the formation.

The formation was set. The sails were unfurled once again, the Jalaputra class steam engines roared to life, and the steam turbines let out a large amount of exhaust gas, like a water dragon breathing out mist, pushing the battleships and the fleet enclosed around them forward at great speeds.

"Boom."

"Boom."

"Boom."

Earth-shaking explosions were heard, and the most intense bombardment of the war commenced. The Bharatiya artillery tore apart the European warships in a single shot, while the concentrated firepower of the Europeans ate away at the remaining defensive capabilities of the Delhi class battleships one at a time. As the charging warships went further and further, the damage it dealt increased by several magnitudes, causing dozens of European warships to be destroyed and start sinking every moment, but several warships of the Bharatiya Empire were being besieged and destroyed one at a time as well.

In this situation, Yashvardhan used the torpedoes once again. When he reached the central part of the European fleet, numerous explosions sounded throughout the surroundings, taking down dozens of British and Spanish battleships, but unfortunately, due to the European warships stationed perpendicular to the path of their charge, the surface area that was exposed was only its front, so the number of warships that were hit was not as numerous as the first time. But still, over 50 warships were immediately destroyed due to their hulls being blasted apart.

"Damn it!" Edward Russell cursed under his breath. If he could obtain a few hundred torpedoes right now, he would even be willing to exchange them for 40 to 50 warships. What the cursed Bharatiyas could do, he could do as well, but unfortunately, he did not have the torpedoes, making him passively get beaten without having the ability to fight back.

"Fall in and give chase," in the end, he could only roar, trying his best to eliminate the Bharatiya fleet. But where could it be that easy?

The two charging Bharatiya fleets were like searing hot swords of doom, cutting through all obstacles and leaving behind destruction wherever they went. The outer walls of the path the Bharatiya fleet took were completely obliterated. By the time the Bharatiya fleet broke through the European fleet and came out from behind, over 200 European warships had been destroyed, leaving the Europeans with only around 500 warships, a far cry from their original 1200 warships. But this risky manoeuvre did cost the Bharatiya fleet dearly. They had around 400 warships before the charge, but they now had only around 300. In order to take down the 200 European warships, they themselves lost 100 of them.

The ratio of the number of European warships required to take down a single Bharatiya warship had gotten much worse. But it could not be helped. At the beginning of the battle, it was the Ramachandra class and the Maharaja Ramachandra class that absorbed the vast amount of damage, giving protection to the other warships.

But now, with the Delhi class battleships taking the place and role of the Maharaja Ramachandra class and the Ramachandra class battleships, the amount of damage subjected to the other frigates and clippers increased by a lot, which naturally led to more losses. Unfortunately, if he did not make this decision and continued to use the defensive tactic, the Europeans would have targeted their ships one at a time and ended them all until they no longer exist.

Now, at least he earned the opportunity to take a breath.

"Rescue everyone that can be rescued and retreat to the coast," he ordered.

The battle had been short, but it had been intense, with numerous strategies and tactics playing out. The Bharatiya fleet started strong at the start, but attrition and going up against a numerically superior fleet caused the damage to stack up and make the empire’s fleet’s battle effectiveness reduce as the battle went on. Right now, if he could hold on longer and wait until the reinforcements arrive, he could win, but after fighting for so long, he understood the mindset of Edward Russell, his opponent. If he was not mistaken, Edward would not give up, he would definitely try his best to eliminate his entire fleet, even if he had to pay a heavier price than he did thus far.

So Yashvardhan planned to retreat back to the coast and make use of the coastal defences to make up for the loss of power and endure until the reinforcements arrived.

Edward Russell, looking at the Bharatiya fleet that seemed to be retreating towards the coast, looked ugly. "Damn assholes," he cursed.

He had a vague feeling that he had already lost the opportunity to completely wipe out the Bharatiya Atlantic Fleet, but he was unwilling. He had gone through so much; victory was right around the corner. How could he give up?

He still had more than five hundred warships under his command, while the enemy had only around three hundred left. If he were facing three hundred Bharatiya warships at their peak, he might still hesitate, but the situation was different now. The Bharatiya ships were battered, their combat capability having fallen sharply. His own five hundred ships, remnants of a fleet that once numbered over twelve hundred, had not suffered comparable losses. Their fighting strength remained largely intact, and he believed he still had the ability to challenge the Bharatiyas.

"Let’s give chase."

"Most of their warships are damaged; this is the best opportunity to wipe them out." He ordered.

Deputy Commander John De Witt did not say anything anymore and directly relayed his orders.

The strength of his fleet had weakened, but his personal power only grew as the battle went on. Sometimes deliberately, sometimes not, he assigned officers from factions that opposed him to the most dangerous tasks. Because of this, many of them died, including the Spanish senior commander, the Italian commander, and even the Portuguese senior commander.

The only people left with any influence to challenge his position were the French senior commander and the logistics chief, but neither concerned him. The logistics chief belonged to the faction of Deputy Commander Sir John De Witt, whose fate was now tied to his own. As for the French commander, he was injured and lacked both the energy and the supporters to oppose him. Besides, everything had happened so quickly that even if he had the ability, there was no opportunity for him to act.

Soon, the European Fleet turned around and gave chase to the Bharatiya fleet that was retreating towards the coast.

However, suddenly a sailor burst into the command quarters and whispered something into the ears of Deputy Commander John De Witt, and soon his expression turned ugly.

"Sir! The reconnaissance vessels informed that 12 Maharaja Ramachandra class battleships have appeared on the horizon."

Edward Russell was shocked. "What!!!" he exclaimed.

"How is it possible? Did we not just receive the intelligence that it would take a few more days for the reinforcements to arrive? How can they be here so quickly?"

He was in disbelief and wanted to see the truth with his own eyes, so without hesitation, he took the telescope, climbed to the highest point of the battleship, and peered into the distant south.

Looking at the silhouettes of silver metallic battleships gleaming like the scales of an azure dragon, his eyes widened in disbelief.

’Just how is it possible?’