Chapter 579 - 72: Desperate Charge
Flames rose with thick smoke on the sea, igniting a massive torch.
The soaring dust and gray sky contrasted each other, reminding the captains of the two armed merchant ships of Hell from the Bible.
"Full sails, move at full speed!"
Without needing the captain’s orders, the sailors instinctively maneuvered the sails.
At this moment, they were more agile than ever, even if they ran so fast they tripped on the deck and broke their scalps, bloodied faces didn’t stop them from quickly climbing up again—
They knew that at such times, any delay could cost them their lives.
Yet the enemy ships filled them with despair; even if the wind strained their sails to the brink of tearing, the distance between them continued to shrink.
Closer and closer, the sailors could clearly see the shining metal sheen on the enemy ship’s hull, and the heavy cannon on the deck turning their direction.
The worst they feared actually happened.
Accompanied by another thunderous explosion of gunpowder, the dark cannon barrels spewed out heavy cannonballs; their wooden sailboats were as fragile as paper, with any hit punching huge holes in the ship’s sides.
The cannonballs didn’t stop within the cabin, where they passed like plows, destroying everything in their path, be it the internal support structures or wooden floorboards; breaking or blasting into fragments, the mere splintering wood could wound the gunners and loaders inside the cabin.
"This is an unbeatable monster!"
Every sailor thought so.
At this moment, even though the fastest Iron Heart had entered the armed merchant ship’s range, the sailors couldn’t muster a single thought of resistance.
In the side cabin, the gunners in charge of the cannons feared enemy cannonballs hitting them so much they abandoned their posts, running to the deck to help the sail handlers.
...
In the captain’s cabin, the once confident captain held the Bible, constantly drawing crosses over his chest, praying for God’s blessing.
He couldn’t have dreamed that a seemingly guaranteed "easy win" would turn out like this.
"Why are there ships that can move without sails?
Why don’t steel-made ships sink?
Why do their cannons have such long, accurate ranges?"
Numerous questions surged through the captain’s mind, but he had no answers; he only knew that these people were certainly not pirates.
Even from their brief encounter, he could tell the enemy ship’s gunners were absolutely well-trained, their grasp of distance was very precise, and their cannon firing accuracy was high.
Moreover, the enemy ship wasn’t aiming to capture vessels; the cannonballs they fired seemed intent on sinking the ships—it was a thankless task, not something pirates would do.
"Monidez, that fool, he must have fallen into Kilian’s trap!"
His brain raced, recalling the details of the whole affair, and the captain finally realized this was Kilian’s setup from the start!
Though he didn’t know how Kilian discovered this mysterious, frighteningly powerful force.
What was clear was that Kilian’s "performance" this time was intended to lure Monidez to send fleets here, then suffer a great loss.
Unfortunately, he and two other familiar old mates were the rabbits in Kilian’s trap, sent as sacrifices by Monidez unexpectedly.
"Damn it!"
Spitting in anger, listening to the chaotic footsteps on deck, the captain gritted his teeth, finally putting down the Bible and no longer avoiding, stepping out of the captain’s cabin to resume his responsibilities.
No matter what, all the sailors on this ship were his old subordinates who had followed him for years, even if they were in an absolute plight, he had to find a way to keep everyone alive.
Even in death, they must at least die together.
...
With the captain’s command, the chaos on the ship was finally brought under control.
The sailors who needed to manage sails managed sails, those who needed to keep watch kept watch, those who needed to steer steered...
Or they repaired the ship, scooping seawater from the cabin and pouring it out, desperately trying to keep the ship from sinking at sea while continuing to flee far away.
To avoid the tragedy that happened on another ship, the captain ordered all gunpowder barrels moved out of the cabin and thrown into the sea.
Shooting back at the enemy was futile.
At this point, their only option was to flee, even if it meant emptying the ship of all goods, including ballast.
Having witnessed the tragic fate of the other ship, the captain misunderstood Sunday’s intentions.
He thought those two steel ships harbored hostility, intent on killing them all at sea, not knowing the explosive shells igniting the gunpowder barrels was just an accident.
Sunday’s aim was to intimidate them into surrendering, not to kill them.
...
Unlike this captain who fled desperately, another armed merchant ship captain chose a more aggressive and fierce approach—
He ordered the sailors to lower all small boats and fast boats with oars from the ship, then selected the bravest and most skilled sailors at shooting and swordsmanship.
Unable to match cannon fire, he intended to do the opposite, emulating pirates, taking advantage of the enemy ships chasing them, directly closing in with fast boats, then engaging in close combat.
No one expected to be driven to this point before departure, hence the ship didn’t have much equipment for boarding combat.
Seeing urgency in battle, the captain personally led the team, lowered the fast boat with boarding hooks, carrying matchlock guns and his beloved curved saber, shouted out the battle cries in high spirits, charging at the nearest Iron Heart.