Chapter 122 Battle to the Death 3
Using the tilt of the ship's hull caused by the waves, the Hope's second round of shelling hit the pirate ship near the waterline, causing its bottom tank to begin to flood.
“Long live!” The Hope cheered and continued to prepare for the third round of bombardment.
The pirate ship at the head was in mourning, and the captain shouted: "Plug the leaks!"
The people in the bottom cabin tried their best to plug the loopholes in the cabin, but as the Arda navy first With the sound of three rounds of artillery, it was clear that the work could no longer be completed.
As the seawater poured in, the opening in the waterline became larger and larger, and there was more and more water in the bottom tank.
The captain went down to see the situation personally and found that the situation was irreversible. Hope was extremely lucky, and the third round of bombardment hit near the waterline again.
The pirate captain looked unwilling, glared at the Hope hatefully, and gave an order helplessly: Send a signal to nearby ships, we must abandon this ship.
......
The encounter of the leading pirate ship caused chaos in the ships behind. Garden looked incredulous, "What is going on?"
Before even touching the enemy's fleet, one of the ships on our side was destroyed.
He held up a large loudspeaker and shouted: "Speed up, speed up! Get up and jump on their ship!"
The pirate leader believed that no matter what the Arda navy had With his bizarre long-range attack methods, as long as a boarding battle begins, his warriors can kill the opponent in a very short time, and the battle will be as easy as annexing other pirate groups.
The second pirate ship approached the leading ship that was about to sink, and the pirates on the first ship jumped on.
The Hope immediately opened fire on the pirate ship that came to the rescue. Unfortunately, only one shot hit the upper deck this time.
Although only one shell hit, it still caused great results. The shell took away the lives of several pirates and destroyed the not-so-thick mast.
The Hope's outstanding performance successfully attracted a lot of hatred, and the following three pirate ships pounced on him.
Navy Commander Austin, who personally directed the operation, put down his telescope and issued an order to the messenger: "Inform all ships to support the Hope, but try not to affect the performance of the artillery on the Hope."
Here Under Dao's order, other naval warships sped up and outflanked the pirate ships.
"Replace with grape bombs!" "Prepare the swing cannon! Ahem!"
Seeing the enemy ship approaching, the gunnery officer on the Hope issued orders repeatedly. The deck was filled with thick smoke and the pungent smell of burning gunpowder, which made him cough repeatedly.
“Ah!” Just as the gunnery officer was trying to observe the enemy ship’s form through the smoke, a heart-rending scream suddenly came from beside him. It turned out that the gunnery crew members did not respond in panic. After the barrel was cleaned, a new gunpowder bag was stuffed into it. The remaining fire in the barrel ignited the newly loaded gunpowder and sprayed it on the face of the loader.
Everyone, including the gunnery officer, encountered this kind of accident for the first time. They hurriedly dragged the injured loader aside to check his injury.
"What are you doing? Get back to the gun position and prepare to fire!"
Captain Quick noticed the situation here, and he immediately asked someone to drag the wounded to the cabin. Go, order the gunners to return to their posts immediately, and sternly instruct them: "Strictly follow the artillery firing procedures."
The gunners quickly took up their positions. At this time, the nearest pirate ship was approaching a little more than 10 meters away. The gunnery officer shouted: "Fire!" Four 6-pound cannons and two revolving cannons fired deadly grapeshot, and a burst of metal The storm hits the pirate ship.
The pirates who were preparing to join the battle only saw a dark thing flying towards them quickly, and then a large number of people on the deck fell instantly.
A tragedy unfolded on the deck. Everyone on the pirate ship was turned upside down, and even many holes were punched in the hull. Screams and groans filled the entire deck.
"My arm! My arm!" A pirate looked at his right arm with horror on his face. This arm was directly penetrated by a projectile just now. Now it has nothing but pain. perception.
Because of the effect of the mysterious drug he just took, his heartbeat was faster than usual, and the blood in his body was flowing faster than usual. This caused the wound on his arm to spurt out blood, literally spraying out. .
"No...no...don't do this..." The fear of death suppressed the severe pain in his right arm. The pirate was talking nonsense in a panic while covering it tightly with his trembling left hand. The wound was to no avail. No matter how hard he tried to cover it, blood still spurted out from between his fingers.
Soon, his brain began to feel dizzy, his vision began to turn black, and his body became unsteady. A wave hit and the ship shook slightly. The pirate fell to the deck with a plop and never got up again.
There were many people on the deck who encountered the same situation as him, but those with more serious injuries were all bleeding. In the end, their moans and wailings gradually became quieter, and there were no more people. breath.
"Get down! Everyone get down!" Among the remaining lucky ones who were not injured, they cleverly reminded their companions loudly to lie down on the deck to avoid the bombardment of the Alda Navy.
The two remaining pirate ships that rushed towards the Hope suddenly slowed down when they saw the miserable state of their companions in front, as if they were afraid that they would suffer the same fate.
The brain that was so feverish due to the effects of the drug was suddenly poured a basin of cold water called reality. The captains of the two ships quickly became calm and carefully considered whether to take the risk of provoking the monster ship. Boat.
“What are they doing?” Garden judged the hesitation of the two ships in front, and his face became extremely ferocious.
“Don’t they know? The other side has powerful long-range attacks, and if you stop, you can only be beaten passively!”
He stomped his feet on the deck bitterly, maybe he was under the influence of alcohol. Due to the medication, he lost his usual calmness and felt agitated whenever he encountered a sudden situation that was not in line with his expectations and not beneficial to him.
The leader next to him suggested with red eyes: "Chief Garden, these new recruits are just unreliable. Let's go up ourselves, kill all the blue-striped dogs, and then slowly deal with this gang of young men."
The four ships at the front come from three small gangs that have recently been annexed by the Loach Gang or have come to join them. In order to test their loyalty and combat power, this operation was arranged at the front. After all, even if they are the main force of the navy, After leaving, I guess some troops will be left to guard the old place, and some miscellaneous soldiers will still be needed to serve as the vanguard.
Unexpectedly, we bumped into the main force of the navy.
Garden clenched his fist hard and hit the mast hard. The mast of the galley, which was not thick, was shaken by his blow.
“That’s it! While the strange ship is attracted by the trash in front, let’s attack those paddle boats.”
The six pirate ships adjusted their direction slightly and rushed towards other ships of the navy.
Thanks to the book friend "Never Ending" for the reward!
(End of this chapter)