Chapter 126 03.0125: "Armed Preparation"

Even though the caliber was only 1/5 of the Mars IV macro cannon, it was still quite large. The huge shell, several dozen meters in diameter, smashed into the hull of the Indefatigable.

Horatio and Farida could see the blasphemous symbol on the projectile through the peripheral camera screenshots displayed on the console.

"Prepare to resist bombardment!" Horatio shouted into the sound array system.

The crew on the shallow deck began to run towards anything that could serve as cover.

The rusty scarlet shells tore through the outer steel plates, and the crew members who were hit by the shells were engulfed in flames in an instant, turning into a pool of blood on the deck.

Collapsed debris continued to fall from the top, most of which were caught by the anti-fall net and no one was injured.

Some shells got stuck in the deeper armored core and failed to detonate.

These solid and sacred steels blessed by the God of All Machines successfully blocked the aftermath of the explosion and protected the crew on the armored command platform and gun deck.

The No. 4 gun bay under Horatio's command was hit by two bullets, and the No. 2 gun bay was hit by one bullet.

The huge explosion and the mess on the screen made Farida cover her mouth in shock. She looked at Horatio in panic and stammered, "What should we do now?"

"Watch this." Horatio demonstrated to Farida.

He communicated efficiently and briefly with the candidate officers of other departments through the sound array.

The damage control team immediately sprayed water foam mixed with fire extinguishing fluid towards the fire. After the fire was extinguished, the alternate officer of the engineering department commanded the technical monks to split into two groups. One group checked the condition of the macro cannon, and the other group began to weld and repair the damaged parts.

"The artillery crew reports the damage!" Horatio said to the two warrant officer gunners again.

After a brief statistics, they gave their answers one after another.

"3 crew members were killed or wounded in the No. 46 macro gun group on the port side, and the gun was intact!"

"The No. 4 macro gun crew on the port side suffered 102 casualties, and the gun was intact! But we need to recruit some contract workers, as some were killed by falling debris."

Horatio quickly reported the casualty figures to the macro gun officer, who consolidated the figures and passed them on to the captain of the operations department. He also mobilized reserve crew members and contract workers for each gun group to ensure that the two macro guns could continue to engage in subsequent operations with the highest efficiency.

"Report the damage." Captain Peru asked seriously.

"The port macro cannon group suffered minor casualties, but the macro cannon is intact. The port lance group suffered minor casualties, and the No. 1 lance was slightly damaged and is under repair." The captain of the operations department only reported the situations that the captain needed to pay attention to, and omitted the casualty figures.

"The deck structure was slightly damaged and casualties were minor."

"The power cabin is intact and in good condition."

"All four of our macro cannons hit the target, and the enemy ship's void shield is at least half overloaded!"

"Increase the firing rate! Captain, keep as much distance as possible from the enemy ship. We are too close."

"Yes! Keep distance! From the enemy ship!" The helmsman began to show off his superb steering skills, avoiding the murder-class S-shaped twisting shooting.

"Combat Order: Firing Rate Priority"

Horatio watched the instructions pop up on the console.

"Start the automatic tractor!" Horatio gave the order.

The gun crew is equipped with automatic tractors. These huge mechanical arms will carry shells by themselves, but it is very troublesome to maintain them after each use, and it is easy to cause "machine soul displeasure", so they will not be opened for a long time. Generally, they are only opened when the distance between the two ships is close, and they pursue explosive firing rate.

In this situation, Horatio did not need to make precise calculations. He only needed to ensure that the gun crew could hit the enemy ship at the fastest speed and with basic accuracy.

With a roar of angry macrocannons, the Indefatigable destroyed the only remaining void shield of the Murder-class cruiser with only three salvos.

"Their void shields have dissipated! Open fire! Let us bring the Emperor's punishment upon them!"

Farida became more and more proficient. Not only was she able to complete the tasks assigned to her by Horatio quickly, she was even sent by Horatio to try to command the No. 4 gun group.

With an excellent education, she understood things quickly. She mastered almost all the processes just by looking and trying.

[This little girl is quite smart.]
Horatio reviewed all her operations and found no mistakes, so he gave her room to perform with confidence.

The distance between the two ships was only about 800 kilometers, and the void shields of both sides were losing energy. The only defense at this time was the armor of the hull, and the battle turned from boxing to a brutal bayonet fight.

Each shell and beam of light spear energy was like a sharp knife piercing into the ship's hull. Horatio ordered the gun crew to focus on the enemy's macro-cannon array and fire fiercely. A single shot of the huge Mars-type macro-cannon shell could cut off an enemy's small-caliber turret and tear apart the surrounding cabins.

Light beams gushed out, shells flew, ship wreckage was scattered everywhere, and crew members from both sides were constantly sucked into the dark void and suffocated to death.

No one can take care of those unfortunate guys. If there are not enough people, they will be supplemented by people from the standby crew. Once the war machine starts, an individual is just a small screw for the operation of the machine, and there are more than 100,000 such screws.

The blood floated in midair, forming beautiful, perfect spheres, but was quickly smashed into pieces by the running damage control team and crew, all of whom were too busy to handle.

Even the close-in secondary guns of both sides joined in the fire on the broken decks of the enemy ships. The fierce exchange of fire was much more fierce than that of more than a dozen artillery regiments of the Imperial Guard combined.

This opened Farida's eyes. All the battles she had seen were nothing but small skirmishes in the void cruiser-level shooting.

She was witnessing and experiencing the brutality and horror of the greatest war in human history.

The heavy double-barreled Light Lance cannon on the bow of the Murder-class ship fired over. This was the most ferocious and vicious weapon on this class of battleships. A round of salvos was more powerful than the damage caused by four Imperial Light Lance turrets.

The blinding scarlet energy shook the Indefatigable, and drew a terrifying 'smiley face' just below the bridge.

"Report the situation!"

"Eight large crew cabins and one contract worker area were pierced. Thanks to the Emperor, all the crew members are now at their battle positions, and the only casualties are a few hundred people who are sick and resting. But more than a thousand contract workers in one section were all killed." The captain of the service department reported.

"Our ship caused serious damage to the enemy ship. Six of their starboard cannons were destroyed! The power supply system was also damaged!" The lieutenant of the lookout department reported happily.

"Report!" the navigation officer suddenly shouted, "The enemy ship suddenly accelerated!"

"Emergency evasion! Captain, rudder hard left! Power department, engines at maximum thrust!"

"Full left! Emergency evasive maneuver!"

In the void, the Murder-class cruiser suddenly overloaded its engine and rushed towards the Indefatigable.

The Indefatigable turned quickly, and its plasma engine emitted a larger and more brilliant golden light.

Inside the second macro cannon array on the port side.

"Fire!" Horatio shouted the order, his voice a little hoarse.

Two shells flew towards another huge gun turret of the enemy ship that was firing.

The dazzling golden light produced by the explosion reflected in Horatio's eyes. The previous salvo ignited the ready ammunition in the enemy ship's turret.

The shooting of these Khorne cultists was not accurate, and they blindly relied on fierce firepower to make up for their shortcomings, but they obviously forgot to close the fire door.

The flames from the two macro-cannon explosions quickly rushed into the propellant chamber, and the chain explosions they triggered overturned about 260 square meters of the ship's hull, destroying everything below, including another turret.

A fire of nearly 1,000 degrees Celsius broke out in the enemy ship's gun room, and many people were scalded to death because they didn't understand the situation.

The enemy ship's damage control team forcibly closed the doors of nearby cabins and cut off the oxygen supply. Many cultists could not escape and could only wait to be burned to charcoal by the approaching fire or to be poisoned to death by the toxic gases produced by the burning.

Horatio seemed to be able to hear the cultists' miserable screams. Nothing could purify these evil spirits better than fire.

"It's all retribution." Horatio snorted expressionlessly.

These cultists will pay the most painful price here today for what they did in Abyssal Port, and he will personally avenge his fallen comrades and murdered civilians.

"All cabins! Arm and prepare!" The voice of the Lord Captain came from the loudspeaker.

"Horatio, what is armed readiness?"

"The enemy ship is preparing to board."

Horatio explained to Farida briefly and quickly, then used the loudspeaker to shout to the two gun bays:
"All naval forces in the artillery fort are on duty immediately and ready to fight back!"

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(End of this chapter)