Night lay like heavy, ink-black velvet over the rolling sea.
The Second Revenge Fleet's contingent of one hundred and fifty armed merchant ships lay like scattered pieces on a black chessboard, quietly shifting formation beneath the faint light of the moon and stars as they made their final preparations for battle.
Eliunor stood at the rail, leaning out to study the movements and positions of the surrounding ships. After a long while, he turned to Shanghai Pirate King beside him and spoke bluntly.
"I don't quite understand your formation."
Shanghai Pirate King looked puzzled and glanced over the surrounding waters.
"What don't you understand? Isn't my fleet's formation simple enough?"
"You're treating naval warfare like a land battle, and ships like moving fortresses or city walls."
Eliunor pointed at the ships adjusting their positions, his brow slightly furrowed. His tone held the bewilderment and resignation of a scholar confronted with a glaring error.
"Look over there. Three ships side by side, trying to form a defensive line?
And those ships on the flanks trying to encircle the enemy... sir, the sea isn't a plain, and ships aren't infantry formations."
Shanghai Pirate King folded his arms, quite confident in his arrangements.
"Concentrate firepower, establish local superiority, circle around the flanks. What's wrong with that?
Land battles, sea battles-the principles are the same, aren't they?"
Eliunor sighed softly, looking as though he were teaching a clever but stubborn student.
"The sea is constantly moving, and the wind constantly changing. To a seasoned naval commander, a formation this tightly packed looks like nothing more than a flock of ducks huddled together, waiting to be shot."
He raised a hand and pointed toward the direction of a current barely visible in the distant darkness.
"When arranging your fleet, you've ignored the most fundamental factors: