Munitions Empire

"Commander!" an officer who had been closely watching the approaching torpedo warned, "We might not be able to dodge it!"

He saw that the white wake was already alarmingly close, almost forming a ninety-degree angle with their massive vessel. No matter how they tried to turn now, they could no longer avoid the torpedo's assault.

Navies around the world mostly followed the Great Tang Navy's construction standards, hence the prevalent use of "Commander" over "sir".

This differed vastly from many countries' armies, where it was quite common to address commanders as "sir" in some nations.

"Damn it..." He picked up the binoculars again and saw that the white wake was very near; the duty officer cursed under his breath but couldn't issue any more orders.

They had already missed the best chance to evade, and it was now almost certain that the torpedo would hit the warship.

"Brace for impact! Secure everything around you!" In the unavoidable situation, the duty officer could only issue orders.

"Brace for impact! Torpedo collision imminent! Torpedo collision imminent!" the officer with the microphone repeated the duty officer's commands non-stop.

As time ticked by, the white wake eventually connected with the warship's side, and a massive explosion suddenly lifted the waves, severing the massive battleship in half.

Suddenly, everyone felt a tremendous vibration under their feet as if a giant had lifted the ground and then slammed it back onto the sea surface.

Everyone was thrown to the floor, disoriented by the blast. Even though they were prepared for the impact, the violent shaking that followed made everyone realize they had underestimated the torpedo's power.

The thick steel plates of the hull couldn't withstand the multiplied tearing force from below the water, twisting, deforming, and being completely punctured.

Cold sea water rushed into the compromised cabins below the waterline, swiftly engulfing everything inside.

The sailors inside those cabins didn't even manage to cry for help as most of them had already died in the explosion.

There might have been survivors in nearby cabins, but they, too, were lost to the darkness brought by the sea water, dying swiftly and cleanly.

The cabins that had been torn open by the shockwave began to take on water; sailors who had just managed to get up staggered around in the waist-deep cold sea water, trying to make their way to safer areas.

"Water is flooding in! Water is flooding in!" someone helped close the waterproof gates in the corridor while loudly cautioning his comrades, "This side is closed off! This side is closed off!"

With his shouting, the deliberately designed one-way gates were shut, isolating everything on the other side.

Of course, there were other exits to escape through, but only if one could get there before all spaces were filled with sea water.

Having just risen from the ground, the duty officer immediately began directing the damage control personnel to inspect the extent of the leakage. Given the severity of the explosion, the damage to the warship was undoubtedly severe, and he urgently needed to stop the inflow to keep the warship afloat.

"Hurry! Go check the leakages! Fast!" he ordered the damage control officer while continuing to shout, "Keep the warship at cruising speed! Keep turning!"

This whole protocol was something he had learned from the Great Tang Military Academy; he was a promising student, and every Empire Navy was in dire need of such talent.

Although he couldn't serve as the main officer after studying in the Tang Country, serving as an executive officer was still very promising, a fact well known to all.

"Assess the damage! Check the ammunition storage! If it's risky, flood the ammunition storage immediately!" he moved to the chart table and had someone bring over the structural blueprints of the warship, "Fast! Bring over the blueprints! Calculate the warship's reserve buoyancy! Quickly figure out the total amount of water intake!"

While he was speaking, the captain, who appeared to be in his fifties, entered the bridge. His naval uniform was slightly dirty, evidently from a fall on his way there.

Upon entering, he inquired about everything that had happened and took over the subsequent command. However, the duty officer had organized things well, and he didn't change any orders.

The cruiser that had just been making way was hit by a torpedo and was now tilting sideways, looking extremely flustered.

Clearly, it wasn't just a single torpedo attack; at least up to now, two torpedoes had hit their targets, causing massive damage to the allied fleet.

"Windless 1 is sending a message that they have dodged a torpedo and are speeding away from this area... they wish... they wish us good luck," the communications officer reported to the newly positioned captain with a telegram in hand.

"Thank you for their blessings... Additionally, please inform the fleet commander... we need help." The captain glanced at the cruiser capsizing beside them and instructed the communications officer.

"Taking in too much water, speed has dropped to 20 kilometers... We can't keep up with the fleet's pace anymore." An officer, likely having bashed his nose, said in a nasal voice with a bruised face.

"Boom!" Just as he finished speaking, a distant cruiser was also hit. The explosion from the torpedo soared high into the air, nearly snapping the cruiser in two.

"Has the boiler room taken on water?" The captain, after only a glance at the explosion, showed no concern for the lives on that warship. He turned his head and asked the officer on duty.

"The damage control commander just went down there; no news has come back yet, sorry, I can't confirm the situation," the young duty officer immediately responded.

"No need to apologize, you've done well." The captain comforted his own executive officer, who had just been on duty, and then continued to ask, "What do you think the situation is now?"

"The torpedo approached from the starboard side, which means the enemy's submarine is on the starboard... We are moving full speed to port, moving away from the enemy ships." The executive officer answered the captain's question without hesitation. "According to the intelligence we have, the enemy's submarines should not be able to catch up with us... We just need to watch the sea at our stern, make sure no torpedoes come up and damage our rudder or propeller, and we can get away."

"Hmm, that's a good idea! His Majesty The Emperor entrusted this warship to me, hoping I would bring it back. Although it's damaged, it's better than sinking here." The seasoned captain nodded, agreeing with his executive officer's judgment.

Even though their warship was damaged and slowing down, it was unlikely that submarines could catch up to them. So even though they were wounded and damaged, it wasn't a big problem.

After all, they were on a battleship, which could withstand damage far better than those fragile cruisers.

The two cruisers that were hit were now almost completely capsized. That's the price of insufficient tonnage and protection!

"South Bay 1 has sent a telegram, they're asking what's happening with the submarines?" The communications officer walked back in; many countries' warships were sending telegrams, asking each other about the attack.

There were dozens of warships here; the ones at the far end hadn't even seen the explosion and were still completely confused.

But soon, these uninformed warships understood the situation, as a battleship at the core of the fleet, the Eternal Winter 1, was soon hit by a torpedo and burst into flames.

It wasn't an exaggeration; even from two or three kilometers away, you could still see the enormous battleship of the Ice Cold Empire billowing with thick smoke.

It was struggling to turn, attempting to avoid further potential attacks, as with a battleship's size, a single torpedo was unlikely to cause substantial damage.

This was fundamentally different from the damage caused by shells or missiles, as torpedoes don't cause penetrative injuries. The primary damage from torpedoes comes from the oscillating blast in the liquid, rupturing the ship's body mainly from the explosion within the water, rather than breaking through and exploding again inside.

Thus, the principle meant that torpedo attacks caused flooding, not sympathetic detonation—massive flooding could even immediately suppress any sympathetic detonation, even if the torpedo hit the ammunition depot, it would not trigger it.

With the battleship's massive size in the equation, unless there's a sympathetic detonation, flooding alone was unlikely to sink such a large ship quickly.

Thus, a torpedo could severely damage a battleship but was unlikely to sink it. These damaged battleships would immediately run, heading back for repairs.

This was the case for the Ice Cold Empire's Eternal Winter 1, as well as for the recently hit Dorne's No Winter 2 battleship.

Just as everyone was tensely scanning the sea surface, fearing another attack, a ship loaded with food and fuel was hit.

A torpedo, narrowly missed by a cruiser, struck this unfortunate supply ship directly, splitting the civilian vessel into two.

This unarmored ship was not as sturdy as a warship; it was immediately broken in two by the column of water created by the explosion, and upon falling back into the sea, it suffered secondary damage.

Sinking even faster than the two previously hit cruisers, within just a few minutes, only the masts of the supply ship were left visible on the surface of the water.

Subsequently, this so-called joint fleet began to flee disorderly toward the distance. In the chaos, even two cruisers collided, one sinking the other…

The remaining warships were also damaged by torpedoes, including one of Gobur's battleships. But as the saying goes, "Every man for himself," the fleeing ships didn't look back, abandoning their wounded comrades entirely.

Due to the attacks on the joint fleet and the heavy losses incurred, countries immediately sent telegrams to their envoys who were far away in Tang Country negotiating peace, ordering them to sign a treaty with Tang Country as soon as possible to prevent irrevocable damage to their fleets.

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Sorry, two chapters offered today. The Year of the Dragon Spirit update will be postponed to tomorrow.