Page:Robert William Cole - The Struggle for Empire; A Story of the Year 2236 (1900).djvu/217

Rh wise shot about, but they were very few; for all the captains used such tactics as kept them well away from the enemy's ships, so that they could use their destroying apparatus without receiving much damage themselves.

In a few hours the Sirian fleet was destroyed, only a few ships escaping. Then the Anglo-Saxon ships made straight for Kairet, but the news of their arrival had already preceded them, and a fleet was being concentrated close to that planet to oppose them. In a few days they arrived at Kairet, and a furious battle commenced, in which the Anglo-Saxons suffered heavily. The Sirian ships fought with obstinate bravery, and pierced their assailants in many places before they were hurled to the ground. But, in spite of their bravery, they could not withstand the terrible Electro-Ednogen apparatus, and their fleet gradually dwindled away, until its remains were dispersed and chased all over the planet by the cruisers. Then the