Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Chapter 1347 – Destruction of the House of Tudor
The English Straits split the House of Tudor off from the European continent. It connected the Atlantic and the North Sea and was 560 kilometers long and 240 kilometers wide. At its most narrow point, the straits were merely 34 kilometers wide.
In reality, two countries built an underwater tunnel here called the Channel Tunnel.
As the English Straits were a part of the North Atlantic, it was a strategic point connecting European continents since ancient times. Many naval battles and military altercations happened there.
Two divisions of the House of Tudor’s Emperor Squadron were housed here.
Defending the English Straits was akin to protecting the ocean lifeline of the House of Tudor, allowing them to advance and retreat in European matters.
Due to the recent changes to the European battlefield, the House of Tudor had intended to withdraw its troops and make defending their homeland the top priority.
At such a time, the patrol of the Emperor Squadron on the English Straits was a lot stricter.
However, an accident still happened.
4th month, 1st day, morning, two divisions of the Atlantic Squadron that had been fully equipped with iron armored warships sneak attacked the English Straits and started a large-scale naval war.
This was the first battle between the Atlantic Squadron and the Emperor Squadron.
In terms of numbers, naval battle skills, and seafaring skills, the two squadrons were at around the same level. The one leading the House of Tudor Emperor Squadron was a historical general famed for his naval battles, Nelson.
They were basically at the same level.
The Atlantic Squadron was strong in terms of their weapons and equipment.
After the equipment update, the Atlantic Squadron had already formed a battle system with the iron armored warships, fighter jets, and magic powered submarines, showing the structure of carriers in the future.
In comparison, due to a lack of resources and labor, half of the House of Tudor squadron still consisted of Man O’ war type warships and not the more advanced iron armored warships.
This was easy to understand.
Even with Great Xia’s all out industrialization ability, it still took them a year to completely change the equipment of the Pacific Squadron. For the House of Tudor squadron to have made such progress was already quite amazing.
In terms of weapons and equipment, the Great Xia Atlantic Squadron had a crushing advantage.
As a result, the House of Tudor squadron did not make a statement after Great Xia gained the control of the Mediterranean once again.
They lacked the confidence to interfere.
The naval battle went as expected. Facing the Atlantic Squadron’s sneak attack, the well-trained House of Tudor Emperor Squadron commanded deftly by Nelson was still defeated after six hours of battle.
The dangers and spectacular parts of the battle could not be described in words.
The destruction of the Emperor Squadron was like an eye-catching signal bullet that streaked thorough the European night sky; the influence it had on the European situation was unimaginable.
In truth, the aftereffects had already begun to fester.
That afternoon, under the cover of the Atlantic Squadron, Zeng Guofan ordered the Specter legion corps to disembark on House of Tudor soil. They headed right for the Capital City – Avic Fort.
To the current House of Tudor, the 300 thousand Specter legion corps troops was simply fatal.
Due to their lack of population, the House of Tudor only had 400 thousand even at their peak.
After accounting for the failure in Africa, the troops they sent to the European battlefield, and the Ottoman Dynasty’s invasion, the number of troops that they could employ numbered at only 250 thousand despite two rounds of conscription.
As for the newbies that were just recruited, they were not worth mentioning.
To make matters worse, 120 thousand, which was nearly half of their troops, were still on the European battlefield, doing blind work for Silver Hand in Europe.
Consequently, the House of Tudor only had a pitiful 130 thousand troops on home soil. Even if one counted the garrison forces and newbies as well, their overall numbers could not reach 200 thousand.
This was a really sad number that revealed the House of Tudor’s fatal weakness.
Although these 130 thousand troops were well-equipped and well-trained, they were unable to handle the invading Ottoman Dynasty army and the Great Xia Army at the same time.
A huge storm was sweeping toward the House of Tudor.
Small land, lack of strategic depth, low population, alone in the ocean…
In this game world that lacked technological bottlenecks, not to mention the House of Tudor replicating the British Empire’s majesty, but just defending their own land depended on others.
Otherwise, William would not have sold everything he could and gritted his teeth to attack the Ottoman Dynasty.
Only by ensuring the safety of Europe could the House of Tudor be safe.
Unfortunately, the weak House of Tudor that only had limited numbers could not direct the European battlefield and could only sway along with the wind.
William probably did not know that the 120 thousand troops he had in the European battlefield had been sacrificed by Henry to the Ottoman Dynasty as a gift.
Tragic!
Under the Black Snake Guards’ investigation, the House of Tudor’s weakness was openly revealed before Ouyang Shuo, which led to the creation of the steel forging operation.
The House of Tudor was Great Xia’s best stepping board to influencing Europe.
If Great Xia could occupy it, the meaning would be far more significant than simply gaining yet another overseas land. The strategic meaning was also greater.
First, with the House of Tudor’s territory as a stepping board, Great Xia could control the English Straits and consequently the North Sea.
With that, the exports of the European dynasties would basically be controlled by Great Xia. Since they relied on Atlantic Ocean trade, they would be locked down by Great Xia without any room to move.
Even the Dawson Dynasty that lied opposite of the Atlantic would have to listen to Great Xia.
The Atlantic trade rules would be rewritten and would be based on Great Xia’s procedures.
Secondly, the House of Tudor could threaten the European continent at any time.
Out of the five continents, Great Xia’s influence in Europe was the weakest. However, gaining the House of Tudor would allow them to make up for this weakness. Great Xia would stretch into all five continents, making the whole world a chess game.
Such temptation was something Ouyang Shuo could not reject.
The steel forging operation had a prerequisite: they could not attract the animosity of the European dynasties.
If the European dynasties opposed Great Xia’s invasion of the House of Tudor, the Specter legion corps would be unable to conquer the House of Tudor in a short amount of time given their ability.
Even without the participation of the Ottoman Dynasty, if the five Silver Hand dynasties in Europe were still at their peak, Great Xia would not have dared to invade the House of Tudor.
That would incur the wrath of everyone.
Now, the Spain Dynasty had been destroyed, and the Gaule Dynasty had betrayed them. Silver Hand was the weakest they had ever been in the Europe Continent. As a result, Great Xia had the chance to fire this fatal blow.
If they were any later, the attack would not work either.
If the Ottoman Dynasty was allowed to digest the Gaule Dynasty, they could counterattack the Romanov Dynasty. After their strength grew, would they allow Great Xia to take down the House of Tudor?
Perhaps from Manstein’s perspective, the House of Tudor was already in the bag.
Hence, Ouyang Shuo had praised the Black Snake Guards’ intel work. It was this crucial intel that allowed Great Xia to find the most suitable chance to launch the most fatal blow.
For their victory in the war of the House of Tudor, intel took the most merit.
…
4th month, 2nd day, House of Tudor, Avic Fort.
Within the king reading room, the atmosphere was terrifying. It was like the air had frozen, making it difficult for one to breathe.
The face of House of Tudor King William was totally green. He sat on his chair like a piece of wood. Something like this was common when a person faced a desperate situation.
This proved that the current William had no way out.
The day that the Emperor Squadron was crushed, William summoned a five country meeting to request for help from the organization. William knew the situation that he was facing, and the House of Tudor could not stand up to such a crisis.
Awkwardly for William, apart from the Dawson Dynasty, no one else was willing to help.
The Dawson Dynasty was an ocean away. Even if Jack was willing and sent out an army, everything would have ended by the time they rushed over.
The part that infuriated William was that when he brought up the idea of withdrawing his troops from the European continent, Henry had resolutely opposed it. He said that the European battlefield was at a crucial stage, and they definitely could not withdraw the troops at this moment.
“We are about to be destroyed; why would we care about the European battlefield?”
The usually gentlemanly William scolded out.
At the sight of this, Henry could only nod his head and agree. However, his eyes were shining, showing that his words did not match what he was thinking.
In truth, after learning about Great Xia’s invasion of the House of Tudor, Henry and Manstein were so furious that they wanted to scold someone. This pair of schemers did not expect such a change to occur right when they were about to claim the fruit of their labor.
The invasion of Great Xia had messed up both of their plans.
Helplessly, they could only speed up their steps. First, they would eat up the House of Tudor army and the Spain army before discussing their counterattack against the Romanov Dynasty.
If not, they could lose on all sides.
As for the House of Tudor, they could only let it go and allow Great Xia to benefit.
William’s heart turned cold!
The next morning, William tried to contact the European army commander to give the withdrawal order. Shocking to him, the communication compass failed to connect. Evidently, something big had happened.
Following which, William tried to contact a few of the generals but was unable to. He did not give up and tried to contact Henry. However, Henry had already put him on the blacklist.
“It’s over!”
Even if William was a fool, he would know that the Gaule Dynasty was up to something.
However, unbeknownst to him, the Gaule army had surrounded the House of Tudor camp last night, and the 120 thousand army caught unprepared and unarmed became prisoners.
The Spain army was disarmed as well.
The Europe continent would soon welcome an unprecedented change. Amidst all of this, the House of Tudor played the pitiful role of a weakling, a chess piece that was abandoned.
“Brother, you need to pull yourself together.”
When Annie saw that, her face was not as bright as before. It was filled with much worry.
“Pull myself together?”
William put on an expression of self-ridicule.
“Things have already reached such a stage. How can I pull myself together? Let them do what they want!” William decided to admit defeat.
Annie anxiously said, “Even if we cannot win, you have to get the best possible outcome for our family. Do not let Great Xia swallow us whole.”
