Chapter 235

The entrance to Portsmouth Harbor is narrow, less than 300 meters wide.

The harbor itself is vast, with waters stretching six kilometers long and three kilometers wide, sufficient to accommodate giant vessels the size of modern aircraft carriers.

Consequently, this harbor year-round houses more than two-thirds of the British Navy's ships.

Among them is the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier, which has just completed its first sea trial.

However, today marks the day the carrier departs for the Red Sea following maintenance.

Although a light rain falls, navy soldiers and an honor guard beating small drums remain in the harbor, conducting a farewell ceremony.

This is a British tradition.

A Lieutenant General of the Royal Navy delivers a passionate speech.

"The Imperial Royal Navy boasts a history of unparalleled glory... We once defeated the invincible fleet of the Dutch,

and in both World War I and World War II, we crushed the arrogant Hans Empire... Now, facing the scum from DWS who slaughtered our compatriots,

what shall we do, brave soldiers of the Royal Navy...."

Although every navy soldier knows this is nothing but clichéd mobilization rhetoric,

they still puff out their chests wildly and roar loudly:

"Blood for blood!!"

The Royal Navy Lieutenant General appears extremely satisfied.

"Very good...."

However, what he does not know is that phones within the base are already ringing incessantly.

Yet, because the soldiers responsible for communications have all gone to listen to the Lieutenant General's speech, no one is answering.

Furthermore, soldiers inside the base are prohibited by regulations from carrying mobile phones or other communication devices.

Therefore, simply no one knows what is happening.

Instead, aboard some ships, some soldiers are repairing equipment, while others have closed hatches and are lying down to sleep.

Some are conversing with one another.

In short, these ships alone house at least a thousand navy personnel.

Just as the Lieutenant General continues his endless exposition,

someone in the crowd seems to hear something and strangely lifts their head.

Next, they witness a scene that fills them with utter terror.

Dozens of missiles, spewing tail flames, are rushing rapidly toward the base...

A comrade nearby, curious why their companion is trembling all over, follows the other's gaze,

and the next moment, they too are completely stunned, just like their companion.

"...Great lads of the Royal Navy, now is the time for you to conquer the seas...."

The Lieutenant General continues his speech, spittle flying everywhere, gesturing wildly.

But when he looks out at the audience, he feels slightly puzzled; why are the navy lads before him all lifting their heads to look at him?

Most importantly, why do these lads all wear expressions of terror?

"Am I so frightening?" The Lieutenant General still does not understand.

Until a soldier screams in panic: "Oh, God, it's missiles, massive numbers of missiles, enemy attack... enemy attack...!"

Hearing this, the Lieutenant General immediately turns to look behind him.

He sees countless missiles in the sky, trailing long plumes of smoke, rushing rapidly toward the naval base.

Seeing this scene, the Lieutenant General's eyes bulge instantly, completely unable to believe it.

Yet how fast missiles travel means that even from dozens of kilometers away, they arrive in the blink of an eye.

"General...!"

Seeing the Lieutenant General frozen in shock, one of his subordinate officers immediately tackles him to the ground.

The next moment, the missiles strike the base.

Instantly, boom, boom, boom! Countless explosions ring out,

followed by balls of fire soaring into the sky.

In just one wave of attacks, some ships docked in the harbor sustain damage.

Even the base itself suffers a terrifying missile baptism.

At this moment, the Lieutenant General, knocked to the ground, has even lost his military cap, with shards of rock scattered over his body,

his entire appearance utterly disheveled and wretched.

Lying prone on the ground, he watches the base billowing with thick smoke, finding it simply unbelievable.

The great John Bull has actually been attacked.

Who is it? Who has such audacity...

Do they not fear all-out war with us John Bulls?

One must remember that we John Bulls are also a nuclear power; although our nuclear arsenal cannot compare to that of the Ugly States or Mao Xiong,

it is still sufficient to engage in a nuclear war with any other nation.

Under such circumstances, which nation would dare attack a naval base of us John Bulls?

This point, the Lieutenant General simply cannot comprehend.

However, soon he has no time to think about this.

Enemy missiles fall from the sky like rain, continuously shooting down.

In an instant, thick smoke billows everywhere throughout the entire base.

Because the battle arrived so suddenly, the Portsmouth Naval Base can be said to have made absolutely no combat preparations.

The high-speed cannons on the warships, capable of intercepting missiles, had no time to fire at all.

For instance, the John Bull Type 45 destroyers docked in the harbor were equipped with the 20mm "Vulcan Phalanx" 6-barrel MK15 Close-In Weapon System.

However, no one had ever expected the base to come under attack.

Thus, it was only after the missile bombardment had lasted for several minutes that the shipboard cannons began to slowly activate.

By then, however, the entire Portsmouth Naval Base was already engulfed in thick, rolling smoke.

"Oh, God!"

Many British sailors who had been resting were instantly awakened by the explosions; the tremendous blasts from the ships sent shivers of terror through them.

They had no idea what was happening outside.

However, they were acutely aware that water was rapidly flooding into their compartments.

Yet when they tried to open the sealed hatches, they discovered to their horror that the doors would not budge.

It turned out the hatches had become warped due to the missile strikes.

Consequently, it was extremely difficult for the crew to force the doors open.

Witnessing this, the sailors fell into despair; they tried every method imaginable to break the circular glass ports on the hatches and call for help from outside.

But this glass seemed to be made in the Dragon Nation; it simply could not be shattered.

Meanwhile, the flooding in the compartments grew increasingly severe.

In less than half a minute, the compartment was completely filled with seawater.

All the sailors pressed themselves against the ceiling of the compartment, desperately gasping for the last remnants of air.

Just then, another violent explosion rang out, blasting a huge hole in the ship's deck.

The blast happened to crack the ceiling of the compartment.

Immediately, those sailors frantically reached their hands out, shouting loudly with mouths constantly filling with seawater:

Instantly, those crew members frantically reached out their hands, their mouths constantly filling with seawater as they shouted loudly:

But the soldiers on this warship were all fleeing for their lives; even if a passing soldier saw those pleading hands reaching out,

he would only pause for a moment before moving on.

He knew that without cutting tools or similar equipment, there was absolutely no way he could rescue those trapped soldiers.

Only one fate awaited these people.

Soon, those hands reaching out for help went still.

Nothing remained but solitary, outstretched hands.

Meanwhile, the HMS S-31 "Revenge" was also sinking rapidly.

This ship had begun construction in 1993, was launched in 1998, and entered service in 1999.

This ship began construction in 1993, was launched in 1998, and entered service in 1999.