They can work together with "Ship Maneuvering Tactics," breaking the enemy down into scattered pieces and dragging them into the battlefield we’re best at.
They can also rely on their full heavy-gun configuration to act as battleships, going head?to?head with the fleet of any country.
And the special ability [Unrestricted Wolfpack] can construct an exclusive wolfpack network across the entire Interdiction Cruiser Fleet; beyond communications, it can also remotely summon companions within a certain range to provide fire support.
Taking itself as the anchor point, it teleports other friendly ships within a 500?kilometer radius to its side, forming a tightly organized, bloodthirsty wolfpack.
Now that’s what you call poking the wolf den—hit one, two more come; hit two, four more show up....
If some country discovers a single Heavy Cruiser on its own maritime transport line, that means countless heavy cruisers could appear at any time...crawling all over its home.
Heavy cruisers fewer than a hundred; at a hundred, none can stand against us!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!...
It was like a wolfpack being summoned by the howl of the lead wolf.
Centered on the already crippled Pearl Bay, one murderous Heavy Cruiser after another descended onto the sea.
When they saw the first Heavy Cruiser appear, although they were surprised by the North Sea Empire’s reaction speed and this method of long?range projected support, they still didn’t take it seriously.
They figured this was just an isolated case; with their force composition, lightly mauling two or three heavy cruisers was no problem.
But when the second one appeared, their attitude became much more cautious.
By the time the third, the fourth...the thirty?first appeared, a chill had already shot up from the soles of their feet to the crown of their heads.
Hiss—
Steam Battleships, just like the original sail battleships, have extremely weak self?sustaining ability; before a "sea wall" of supply points is established, they’re not suited for operating too far from home waters.
For long?term patrolling of the sea border and cutting the enemy’s blue?water supply lines, Heavy Cruisers are still the Navy’s one and only choice.
So even though they’d already begun building Dreadnought Level steam battleships, the heavy?cruiser shipbuilding program had never stopped.
Back during the war to strike The Stolen Country, they already had a full 52 ships.
By now, most of the original Treasure Fleet has been refitted into Heavy Cruisers by cutting down their decks.
Adding in the newly built warships, the total number of warships in the "Interdiction Cruiser Fleet" has already exceeded eighty!
The ones that showed up here are all the heavy cruisers within a 500?kilometer radius, with the main force coming from the Navy base at Pirate City Black Sails Harbor.
You could only say the Invincible Fleet picked a poor spot for its ambush; launching an attack inside the coverage range of [Unrestricted Wolfpack] is hardly any different from directly attacking a naval port.
Byron, through the Raven’s eyes, took everything in at a glance.
"As long as I use [Unrestricted Wolfpack] to scatter my Interdiction Cruiser Fleet across the First Circulation Zone, the Sapphire Sea, and the Celestial Orbital Belt, I can clamp down tight on the throats of transport between the Silver Continent and the colonies.
Even if the Pope artificially draws a ’Church Meridian’ and lets the Pyrenees Empire share the West Hemisphere with me, what damn good does that do?
I control the sea wall on the main routes, so I can turn every Orthodox Alliance merchant ship into a one?way trip.
From there I’ll manipulate the international market, influence the political leanings of every country’s factional interest groups, and in the form of a ’non?violent revolution’ determine the rise and fall of one nation, or many nations.
Control the maritime chokepoints, and that’s equivalent to controlling world trade!
Control world trade, and that’s equivalent to seizing world hegemony!
Seize world hegemony, and that’s equivalent to crowning myself the Maritime Hegemon!
Then, by the same method, I’ll seize control of the Second Circulation Belt and the Third Ring Current Zone.
By that time, I’ll be the uncrowned king of the entire Echidna Triangle, the one and only supreme being over the Dragon Court, the Hundred Beasts Paradise, and the Corridor of Truth!
Now my campaign will have its righteous banner."
On the flagship opposite, the "Human?shaped Gun Platform" Franco Bampton looked at the reverse encirclement forming before his eyes and couldn’t stop his body from trembling.
"What is going on? Why didn’t the intelligence ever say that Heavy Cruisers had this kind of concentration ability?"
None of the officers around him could answer that question.
In the end, what answered him was the furious roar of thirty?one Heavy Cruisers, with their twin gun decks: thirty 32?pound cannons, twenty?six 42?pound Carronades, for a grand total of 1,736 heavy guns!