Pirate Kingship

Officers at all levels on the cruiser [Severe] issued orders one by one to the entire ship.

"Everyone enter combat positions!"

"Reef the mainsail and prepare for gunfire. Clear the exposed deck of all flammable materials."

"The lower artillery deck dismantles the living facilities and enters combat status."

A group of lieutenants and alternate officers in neat military uniforms, surrounded by Lieutenant Colonel Harold and Baron Adonis, walked to the command position on the aft deck.

Everyone looked at the pirate ship not far ahead with unkind expressions.

"Damn pirates can run so well? The battle should have ended half an hour ago.

When I catch them, I will crush the bones of these bastards one by one! "

This is what most of them think.

You know, the first time the throne was decided a few days ago.

Many cruisers of the Channel Fleet were tasked with blocking the coastal waters and recovering all the property of Lancaster and his vassals.

In addition to the [Stern], there are many sixth- and fifth-level cruisers in the fleet that perform the same mission.

They are all competitors.

If you take one more bite, I will have to take one less bite!

It was originally expected to catch up with the [Man-eating Shark] within 2 hours.

But I don’t know what went wrong in the middle. They started chasing at 1:35 pm and continued until about 4 pm before finally entering within the one kilometer artillery range.

It also made a group of navy pursuers very excited.

The fifth-level ship [Stern] is 39 meters long and has a capacity of 200 people.

There is a front-to-back artillery deck equipped with 20 12-pound guns, and an open-air deck equipped with 12 6-pound guns, for a total of 32 guns.

Both the personnel and the firepower are enough to easily crush the opponent.

They had never paid attention to the opponent's mere pirate ship, and at this time, they had thrown all tactics behind them.

I just want to use the most direct and violent force to let these damn pirates understand who the master of this sea is!

"Order, reload!"

Under the leadership of the gunner, the gun crews on the upper and lower decks completed the loading of all the artillery on both sides of the ship as quickly as possible.

The artillery was pushed out of the muzzle using an artillery cart.

Of course, for large mobile artillery platforms at sea such as sailing battleships.

Although the artillery range can reach one kilometer, the real effective range is actually only one to two hundred meters.

Until the sailors of the two sailboats could see each other's faces clearly.

Captain Harold suddenly waved his gilded command knife:

"Port side ready for salvo, three, two, one, fire!"

boom! boom! boom! boom!

White smoke rose into the sky, and orange-red gunfire suddenly illuminated the sea.

Sixteen blazing cast-iron cannonballs made a piercing roar in the air and flew toward the "Man-Eating Shark".

A large part fell into the water due to the bumps of the waves, causing huge white waves.

Only a few of them hit the pirate ship hard.

At such a close distance, the shells smashed through the oak hull on the side, carrying countless wooden fragments and bouncing across a large lower deck.

Fortunately, the lower level of the pirate ship is the cargo hold and living area, and there are no combatants.

However, one of the shells happened to hit the edge of the open deck, a 6-pound bronze cannon that had not had time to counterattack.

Crush the wooden artillery carriage holding the artillery into pieces!

A ton-heavy bronze barrel immediately rolled left and right on the deck like an out-of-control wild horse, severely crushing the lower bodies of the two gunners.

The screams echoed throughout the ship.

"Ahhhhhhhh"

Fortunately, after Byron's [Spiritual] awakening, his five senses and even the sense of crisis bound to the sixth sense were particularly keen, so he pounced to one side in advance.

Not only did he avoid the shells and splattered wood chips, but he also avoided the heavy cannon rolling randomly.

He grabbed a piece of "rigging anti-friction sheet" on the deck, which was made of cotton wool fabric and had extremely strong friction.

With a clever move, he threw it far away and stopped the cannon that had turned blood red from continuing to wreak havoc.

Several brave pirate gunners hurriedly swarmed up and tied it up again with a few thick ropes, and then restrained the "wild horse".

But without the gun mount, the artillery could no longer be used in this battle.

The two sailboats continued to approach under the strong wind.

Taking advantage of the opportunity for the opponent to reload ammunition, captain Salman's eyes burst out with a scarlet blood light full of wildness and murderous intent, and finally waved his machete and roared:

"Fire!"

Just like the popular tactic of queuing to kill in this era.

Due to the loading efficiency of the front-loading smoothbore cannon, there is only one salvo opportunity that threatens the most. The closer you are, the higher the hit rate and the stronger the lethality!

The artillery battle at sea is not only a duel of equipment and artillery skills, but also a fierce collision of courage.

And personal bravery is not worth mentioning under the power of artillery.

boom! boom! boom! boom!

The momentum of the seven 6-pound guns is indeed much weaker than the opponent's 12-pound guns.

Relying on a higher hit rate to barely regain a victory.

A cannonball, like a divine help, happened to break a sling on the foremast of the Severity that hung the sail yard.

The topsail, which had been shortened by 50%, and the heavy yard fell heavily together.

Killing personnel is secondary. The key is that [Stern] loses less than half of its mobility, which is absolutely irreparable in a short period of time.

"Well done! The artillery crew that fired the cannon will be rewarded with two additional barrels of rum after the battle!"

There was cheering on the pirate ship.

It was this shot that increased their possibility of escape.

The next moment, the [Man-eating Shark], which was in the leeward position, was submerged in the smoke rising from the cannon fire from both sides.

But Byron, who was born in the Royal Naval Academy, knows best the current situation of both parties.

"Occupying the upper hand will firmly occupy the tactical advantage. Even if the cruiser loses some of its maneuverability, it is still not difficult to block the [Man-Eater Shark].

A boarding battle is certainly inevitable. "

What does it mean to have the upper hand?

This is the [Stern Number] at this time!

During battleship combat, there is a tactical action that is equivalent to the starting position of martial arts called - wind rush.

Whoever can have the upper hand in the battle, that is, attack from the direction where the wind blows, will have all the advantages in the battle.

Intuitively, it is easier to use a parabola to hit the underwater hull of the opponent downwind, and the thick smoke fired by the artillery will also be blown downwind.

The fundamental reason is that as long as you have the upper hand, you have the "tactical mobility" to chase and escape.

Because when the wind blows over the warships on the windward side, it will be disturbed by the masts and sails of the warships.

Just like a rock standing in a large river, when water flows through it, it will form a large and chaotic "wake".

The length of the turbulent zone extending to leeward can generally reach four to five times the height of the battleship's sail, which is about 200 meters.

During the artillery battle, the leeward warship happened to be in the turbulence caused by the upwind warship, causing a significant reduction in the maneuverability of the leeward warship.

In other words, the upwind battleship will receive a mobility buff, and the leeward battleship will receive a mobility debuff.

If there had not been a sudden change in the wind, the leeward warship trapped in the wind turbulence would not have been able to escape even if it wanted to.

The actual development of the battle situation was exactly as Byron expected.

After several more rounds of free fire from the gunners, the [Stern], which was already very close to the [Man-eating Shark], turned the steering wheel and rammed hard towards the pirate ship.

"Take the ship——!"

"Marines, throw the rope!"

More than a dozen iron hooks tied with thick ropes were thrown over by the navy soldiers, and they were firmly hooked on the bulwarks of the "Man-Eating Shark".

At the same time, the sail yard on the ship, which could accommodate dozens of people standing side by side, was already stretched over the two warships.

Many impatient sailors put their sailors' swords in their mouths, grabbed the ropes tied to the sail yards, and swung over like spiders.

Obviously, it is different from what many people imagine.

In the naval battles of this era, artillery was not the decisive force, and it was far less powerful than the future "God of War".

Unless a parabolic trajectory can be used, it happens to hit the ammunition magazine located below the waterline, causing the entire ship to explode.

Otherwise, relying on these solid cast iron knots, even if you make a wooden ship into a honeycomb, you may not be able to sink it.

The side battle is the real deal that can determine the outcome of the battle.

Some military experts from various countries even call naval battles sea siege warfare. The Marines on board are the key to victory or defeat!

Precept Six of the Ten Commandments of Pirates: [Those who delay the opportunity to fight will die! 】

After the pirates lined up to launch a volley of musketry and welcomed the navy with a storm of red-hot lead bullets, the bloody hand-to-hand combat officially began.

"I am invincible!"

"Kill! Leave no pirates alone!"

Amidst the hail of bullets, a burly naval lieutenant wearing silver chain mail and holding a sharp boarding ax jumped over the bulwark from the Severe.

Like a whirlwind, he pounced towards Byron, who was already waiting at the edge of the deck.

At this time, there are still ten minutes before the celestial changes perceived by [Weather Intuition]!