I, transformed into a vampire girl, sparked the Industrial Revolution.

Chapter 73 Operation Overlord — ． ． ． －－

12.1 Bonus Chapter for Rich Guy's Donation (7/4)

The Church's fleet finally assembled and launched an attack on the First Task Force, but Alice ordered her to hold the bow firmly. With the combined output of the entire fleet, the Church was still unable to launch a counterattack against the First Task Force after two hours, at 0753.

"Whose ship is that? Damn it! What country do those tricolor flags belong to? How dare they?"

The captain of the Glorious Goddess pulled at his hair. Those terrifying ships were not much larger than the Glorious Goddess. The largest ones were only the size of third-rate battleships, with few cannons and low freeboard. Such ships seemed to be used only as harassment warships.

Now, these warships are attacking from outside the range of their cannons. Each of their shots can deal a devastating blow to a battleship. They sail freely even without wind, without raising their sails.

What kind of monster is that?

Now, they can only gamble that their firepower is insufficient to destroy the church's fleet outside of range; they can only use their ships and their lives to bridge the distance between them.

Hoping for this, he prayed to the goddess for hope—

"Order: Type 90 fire support ship, launch one salvo of rockets, target: enemy fleet flagship!"

The Type 90 fire support ship was equipped with a multi-launcher Hale rocket launcher. The Hilla Machine-Building Plant designed a launcher that could pitch and rotate. The tubular launcher was called "Alice's Organ" by the sailors.

The gunner quickly adjusted the elevation of the launcher. Unlike the early Congreve rockets, the Hale rockets were closer to modern rockets. They were smaller, had a stronger explosive charge, and a longer range. The cast iron body served as a source of pre-fragmented material, while the granular black powder filling had a large explosive yield.

"Ready!"

"emission!"

Due to the principle of rockets, the Type 90 fire support ship equipped with Hale rockets did not install large-caliber naval guns. In addition to the Hale rockets, it was equipped with Hotchkiss cannons and two 75mm Dahlgren cannons. After loading, the deck personnel immediately left the foredeck - the two rocket launchers would spew out huge amounts of thick smoke, making the air environment of the entire foredeck extremely dangerous.

Iron trees and silver flowers bloomed from the sea, and countless meteorites fell from the sky. This scene alone broke the church's sailors' defenses. Several ships disobeyed orders and fled the harbor to sail south. They did not hesitate to attack even a Type 90 escort ship.

In an instant, rockets trailed thick smoke as they rained down, covering a wide area and continuously hitting church ships, causing them to sink into the water. The rockets used by the navy were not firecrackers; upon impact, they roared and tore apart the hulls of church ships, killing sailors on the upper decks and leaving behind raging flames or a violent secondary explosion.

Yug Lat looked at the church ships in the distance from the Flying Cloud. He knew that his fleet had the advantage, but he did not expect it to be so overwhelming. The church ships were basically powerless to fight back. The Glory Goddess was hit by multiple shots. One of the two second-class battleships of the Screen Guard was burning fiercely and broke away from the formation. The other ship was hit in the bow, the foremast tilted, and the speed dropped rapidly.

"Enemy fleet spotted—2 o'clock direction of our fleet! 2 nautical miles!"

Alice raised her binoculars and looked—it was the Church's second fleet. This was the scenario she had anticipated. She had summoned Yog Latto. The primary objective of the first task force was to sink the Church's fleet and destroy its naval power, including its support fleet.

Intelligence isn't always accurate, and an unplanned support fleet had already been incorporated into the contingency plan. Yug Lat immediately ordered: the "Flying Cloud" to lead half of the level 90 escort ships to intercept the church's support fleet.

The signal flags were attached to the mooring lines, and Alice could feel the boilers roaring and pressurizing again. The propeller at the stern sped up, quickly causing the Flying Cloud to break away from the formation.

"Three second-class battleships and four third-class battleships!"

Alice ordered a ceasefire, cleaned the gun barrels, and prepared for naval battle. The Flying Cloud carried double the ammunition, and now had half of its original amount left, which was the standard ammunition quantity.

The boatswain distributed hot tea, navy biscuits, and energy bars. The high oil and sugar content relieved the sailors' fatigue. Alice also took the opportunity to eat half a bar, which was sticky and sweet.

The Church was clearly spurred on by the departure of the regular fleet, and a support fleet appeared. The Church's fleet was huge, and it originally used mages and ballistae, but now it was fully equipped with cannons. Everyone wanted to show their power after the new weapons were deployed, but unfortunately, Alice, the inventor of cannons in this world, was here.

Since the squadron led by the Flying Cloud only had four level 90 ships, Alice didn't bother with any tactical arrangements. She simply ordered the signal to be given: "Advance in single column formation."

With the boiler pressurized, the speed of 11 knots struck fear into the hearts of all potential challengers in this sea area. Moreover, Alice was traveling against the wind, while the church's support forces could only manage a speed of six knots with the wind at their backs.

The enemy fleet adopted a V-formation, which appeared to be huge and invincible, with sails standing like a white forest on a brown hill. However, their ships and cannons were actually positioned on the broadsides. Alice immediately ordered the ships to seize advantageous positions.

"25 degrees! Left turn! Forward three steps!"

"Yes! Turn left at 25 degrees, then proceed three steps!"

The Feiyun and the church ships spotted each other, but at this distance, the church support fleet obviously could not turn and its firing range was far from sufficient. The Feiyun immediately adjusted its course, forming a T-shaped formation with the enemy fleet.

At a distance of 3390 meters, which is not the current distance for artillery combat, Alice personally supervised the operation and explained the tactical details.

"Don't panic! The enemy fleet's artillery and speed are inferior to ours. Use your skills and aim carefully!"

The two sides closed the distance again to 2700 meters. The church captain knew that it was impossible to effectively hit the enemy at this distance, but Alice knew that her fleet not only had rifled cannons, but was also equipped with primitive fire control technology. She was prepared to continue to use her technological advantage to launch a cannon battle.

Since the end of the shelling, a brief silence has kept the sailors on edge. The firing control of the Flying Cloud whirred with calculations. Alice's expression was grave as the two sides drew ever closer.

"Grenade launch!"

A soft yet firm female voice rang out, and the gunnery officers took orders, shouting even louder. Then, a thunderclap broke the silence, and the Feiyun hoisted the "free fire" signal flag. The Type 90 escort ships behind it immediately launched a barrage of fire at the enemy.

Water columns shot into the sky, and thick white smoke billowed from the fleet. The church had no firing positions, but ships immediately began to turn and attempt to retaliate.

The initial hit rate was abysmal. The cannon was reloaded, the fire controller calculated new data based on the water jet, the gunner issued the data, and the gunners adjusted the cannon.

Boom——