"What's the big deal with losing 200 ships? We'll be getting new fleets because of that"
FLEETS! DO! NOT! WORK! THAT! WAY!
A ship without a skilled crew is useless for anything other than training a new crew. A ship without any crew at all is useless outside of scrapping it for materials.
After a loss like that they want to do a campaign? It's one thing if it's a crusade with help from the Middle, but a military campaign solely from the South seems absurd, especially after losing a king.