Chapter 404: Protracted War
This great battle concluded after lasting half a day.
Ultimately, there was no decisive result.
Both sides ended the war with thousands of casualties.
In naval battles, Byrnndi World actually had more advantage than Sengoku.
If Sengoku didn't react in time, a handful of pebbles Byrnndi World casually threw out could cause devastating damage to the Marine fleet.
The casualties weren't considered heavy.
In fact, this level of losses was relatively normal, even considered quite intense.
For pirates and marine elite who possessed Haki, injuries were the most common outcome.
Moreover, boarding battles were often the final resort when ammunition ran out.
Even if pirate ships and warships were destroyed, their lives were rarely threatened.
Pirates and Marines who could brave The Great Sea—which one didn't have excellent swimming ability?
In the New World, for example, wars where thousands or tens of thousands sacrificed themselves in a single battle were only a minority situation.
That was under circumstances of an absolute strength gap, and it was land battle.
Even the Marines suffering tens of thousands of casualties was caused by continuous war lasting several months.
Otherwise, even with the military strength of the Flying Pirates, how long could it last?
After half a day of great battle, with artillery flying everywhere, both sides' firepower could be said to be exhausted.
Even Sengoku didn't want to continue, preparing to go to a nearby Marine Base for supply, constantly wearing down the strength of the Byrnndi Pirates.
The Great Sea was the battlefield for him and Byrnndi World.
Of course, there was also a main reason: it was difficult for him to restrain the Byrnndi Pirates.
World didn't have the same reservations as Newgate using the Tremor-Tremor Fruit when attacking, having to worry about injuring his own people.
Even in a head-on confrontation, he couldn't do anything to World.
Speed was World's advantage; he could leave the battlefield at any time.
Conversely, it was Sengoku who had reservations, worrying that World would attack other marines.
This forced him into a passive position; the initiative was in World's hands.
"We cannot engage in large-scale chaos.
We must disperse as much as possible and make the entire sea area the battlefield.
"
Returning to the Temporary Operations Base, Sengoku adjusted the war deployment and his war strategy against the Byrnndi Pirates.
"But if we do that, the Byrnndi Pirates will affect more islands and residents," a general said worriedly.
"We also have to consider the war issue.
If this great battle continues, if that guy Byrnndi World loses patience, I won't be able to restrain him," Sengoku said.
"When he makes a move against you, we can say we are certain to lose.
"
Sengoku shook his head.
A direct head-on confrontation could indeed prevent the Byrnndi Pirates from diverting energy to plunder.
But for the Marines, it could basically be declared a defeat.
"Contact Various Factions, make good use of the intelligence advantage.
I will keep an eye on that guy World.
Losses are unavoidable.
As long as we stop the numerous pirate ships of the Byrnndi Pirates before they make a move, we can reduce losses.
"
"What we need to do now is to clip the wings of the Byrnndi Pirates.
Once the military strength of the Byrnndi Pirates is reduced to a certain degree, we can initiate the final war.
"
For Sengoku, World was the key to the Byrnndi Pirates.
What he needed to do was not defeat Byrnndi World, but to completely capture Byrnndi World.
For this, a certain amount of time and price could be paid.
Before that, the strength of the Byrnndi Pirates needed to be dealt with first.
To be honest, defeating Byrnndi World was a very difficult matter.
Even including Garp, it was the same.
If World wanted to run, who could catch him?
Although he currently had Borsalino, a Glint-Glint Fruit ability user, by his side.
However, their current weak strength couldn't even injure Byrnndi World.
However, in the war, both of them had excellent performances, dealing with many pirates.
Having these two young monsters also filled Sengoku with confidence for this battle.
In this war, the two of them would definitely achieve significant growth.
The Marines' armaments could receive supply.
The Byrnndi Pirates also had their own way of restoring ammunition, which was to plunder, going to various islands, especially plundering some Chaotic Islands and Lawless Islands.
After retreating, the Byrnndi Pirates had another great battle with the Marines three days later.
Afterwards, the various pirate ships scattered, plundering treasure on various islands in the Four Seas.
Wherever the strength of the Byrnndi Pirates extended, all sea trade was completely cut off.
The Marines who received the intelligence also dispatched warships to deal with the pirate ships and affiliated pirate ships of the Byrnndi Pirates.
Both sides engaged in war over a wider area, and chaos began to spread throughout the entire West Blue.
The overall economy and the Underworld of the West Blue were severely affected.
Because the active range of the Byrnndi Pirates was still expanding.
Nearly twenty thousand strong pirates from the New World were constantly destroying the local order of the West Blue.
In the beginning, many islands suffered invasion by the Byrnndi Pirates, suffering heavy losses.
As the Marines began to specifically countermeasure the pirate ships of the Byrnndi Pirates, this situation significantly decreased.
Just like Sengoku led warships closely following the Byrnndi Pirates' main ship, keeping surveillance on Byrnndi World.
With the collection of intelligence, the various pirate ships of the Byrnndi Pirates were subjected to surveillance by marine warships.
Stronger cadres and pirates all had specific strongmen for match-up.
The operations of the Byrnndi Pirates were severely interfered with, making it difficult for them to act recklessly.
Every time a pirate ship wanted to take action, or even before that, navy warships would approach, and both sides would engage in intense firepower clash.
Sometimes some pirate ships would fight while retreating, not wanting a head-on confrontation with the Marines.
And sometimes, when tempers flared, both sides would directly engage in fierce fighting on The Great Sea.
Pirate ships and navy warships collided with each other, engaging in primitive boarding battles, not easily evacuating without leaving behind some corpses.
Borsalino and Sakazuki started to make a name for themselves in this battle.
Perhaps their reputation in the North Blue wasn't small, but in the entire world, they were still just rookies with little reputation.
The most active was Borsalino, relying on his extremely high mobility to move between various battlefields, using the Glint-Glint Fruit ability, constantly eliminating the pirates of the Byrnndi Pirates.
Sakazuki was also very outstanding, transforming into a terrifying ability like magma, with powerful lethality.
There were indeed few who could withstand it.
Many times, everyone, including the ship, was destroyed.
This was a protracted war; it would not end so easily.
(end of chapter)