Chapter 130 : The Bomber’s Debut
Chapter 130: The Bomber’s Debut
At this moment, inside the flagship of the United Fleet sailing across the sea, dozens of ship commanders were seated together for the final strategic review.
Before them lay a massive map — the result of the joint efforts between airships, sailors, and the intelligence department.
The survey and mapping of the seas surrounding the Seris Federation had reached an extremely high level of precision.
At the same time, on the large central table stood an enormous sand table model for their operational use.
“According to intelligence reports, the Church currently has roughly 470 vessels stationed in the Paria waters.”
“Among them, one four-deck super battleship — the Light of the Goddess — equipped with about 30 magitech cannons and 110 muzzle-loading cannons, with a full-load displacement of 5,000 tons. The number of crew is unknown, but estimated to be around a thousand.”
“There are two first-class battleships with 90 guns on three decks, ten second-class 90-gun battleships, fifty-seven third-class 74-gun battleships, and over a hundred smaller warships armed with 16–25 cannons, along with a great number of medium and large troop and supply ships.”
The expressions in the conference room varied.
One man raised his hand and asked, “What’s their average sailing speed?”
The staff officer paused suspiciously and replied: 『...6–15 knots...』
Someone couldn’t help but laugh.
“Six knots? Isn’t that basically crawling on the sea?”
『The Light of the Goddess is more of a symbolic presence — serving as a flagship for the believers’ faith. So, its speed doesn’t really matter...?』
“Pfft—”
“Hahaha—”
That uncertain explanation set off a wave of laughter throughout the room, lightening the atmosphere.
“All right, all right!”
Admiral Doolittle clapped his hands to stop the laughter and said sternly:
“Though we outmatch them in both speed and attack range, we must not underestimate our enemy. Their firepower is still overwhelmingly strong. If we take too many direct hits, you all know perfectly well what that means.”
“This operation is of utmost importance. Her Majesty places great hopes on us. We must not grow complacent. For every wave of troop transports that fails to land at Paria Port, more of our comrades in the Army will lose their lives.”
Upon hearing this, everyone’s expressions turned serious: 『We understand, General!』
Coparac Port, Kingdom of Paria
The harbor was unusually lively.
Countless slaves and laborers, under the shouting of foremen and overseers, unloaded cargo from one ship after another.
At the same time, batches of soldiers wearing mechanical bodies disembarked from transport ships in formation.
On the water, numerous sailing ships floated, waiting in line to dock.
The same bustling scene played out at another gnome naval port.
To balance deployment, the Church had divided its Invincible Fleet into two groups, each responsible for guarding one port, while the Light of the Goddess cruised nearby in the Coparac waters.
As Coparac was closer to the Federation, many feared their neighbors across the sea.
As the Church’s symbol of prestige, the sheer size of the Light of the Goddess greatly boosted public morale.
Just as everyone was busy at work, a low rumbling came faintly from the distant horizon.
An overseer, after cracking his whip across the back of a sluggish slave, irritably looked up.
“TMD, it’s raining again? Always slowing— huh?! What’s that?!”
His startled cry made those around him jump.
Many followed his gaze to see countless black dots appearing on the horizon — growing larger with every second.
The rumbling grew louder and louder.
【Attention, entering target zone. Descend flight altitude to 1000.】
【Roger.】
Dense formations of four-engine biplane bombers lowered their altitude in sequence.
Inside the cabins, bombardiers used hydraulic levers to open the bomb bays, revealing four horizontally mounted 250㎏ TNT bombs.
【All units, enter attack position!】
【Bombing ready!】
As the release buttons were pressed, four bombs dropped freely from each belly.
The planes behind followed in turn, sealing their bomb bays and quickly climbing upward.
【Payload released. Begin rapid ascent!】
To take off with these heavy bombs, the transport planes carried no weapons.
If the enemy had any anti-air defenses, they would’ve been sitting ducks.
More than fifty steel eagles flew over the harbor, dropping their “little gifts.” As the confused onlookers watched, bomb after bomb hit the ground, triggering their fuses.
“Boom! Boom! Boom—!”
Violent and concentrated flashes of fire erupted near the port, clouds of smoke shooting skyward, mixed with massive sprays of blood mist.
Countless soldiers and civilians ran and screamed in panic, desperate to avoid the explosions that could strike anywhere.
Many ships moored at the docks were pierced by falling bombs, detonating within and triggering catastrophic chain explosions.
Each 250㎏ bomb carved a crater nearly fifty meters wide, with lethal fragments and shockwaves reaching a radius of up to 300 meters.
When the formation finally flew off, the harbor fell eerily silent.
Survivors, covered in dust and blood, staggered to their feet — staring blankly at the once-bustling docks, now as silent as death.
Moments later came the inhuman wails and cries of the wounded.
Some bombed ships still burned, occasionally exploding again as they slowly sank beneath the waves.
This round of low-altitude bombing hadn’t completely leveled the harbor, but it rendered it unusable — and more importantly, dealt a devastating blow to the enemy’s morale.
Then, another distant rumble echoed from the sky.
The survivors, recognizing the sound, trembled violently and ran frantically for their lives.
However, this new wave of bombers didn’t waste their payload on the already-ruined port.
Instead, they dove toward the warship formations out at sea — stationary targets, easy prey.
Some ships tried to flee, but raising anchors and sails took time — time the Seris Federation Air Force would never give them.
Terrified Church sailors, in their panic, fired their cannons wildly, even hitting several of their own ships.
This bombing run achieved only moderate results — as expected.
At such altitudes, factors like wind speed and direction greatly affected accuracy.
The Federation’s bombers were still in the era of “pray-your-loader-has-good-luck.”
But the Air Force wasn’t the main focus.
The bombers’ assault had been a carefully pre-planned component of a broader strategic operation.
The Navy’s high-speed fleet had already entered Coparac waters.
All units switched to combat readiness over radio.
Huge piles of coal were fed into boilers; triple-expansion steam engines roared at full power, driving the propellers as thick black smoke trailed upward in long diagonal plumes.
Every ship’s cannons were loaded and ready.
Against the Church’s wooden fleet, the Federation Navy had mostly armed itself with high-explosive and shrapnel shells, keeping only a small reserve of armor-piercing rounds.
Air reconnaissance airships and sextants re-confirmed bearings, while specialists at the ships’ optical rangefinders began their work.