Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 146 Navy and Pirates ([-])

Several hapless British gunners fell down howling.

Captain Morris watched with a livid face when two 8-pound gun carriages were smashed and the gunners suffered heavy casualties.Compared with the luxurious firepower of the 12 cannons on each side of the ship by the people on the east coast, there are only 5 cannons on the side of the ship on their own side, and the caliber is pitifully small.The largest cannon is only a 12-pound cast iron cannon, and the other four are all 8-pound, 6-pound and the like, which is very disadvantageous for shooting, let alone two of which have been abolished now...

Captain Morris was also a ruthless man who had been in the Caribbean for many years and robbed many Spanish merchant ships. Later, he took advantage of the king's amnesty to return to England with the wealth he had accumulated over the years, and established a relationship between the colony and the mainland through some old relationships. tobacco trade.

The three-masted galenic ship Prosperity and part of the sugar it carried were now the bulk of his possessions, and he could not afford to lose the ship.Therefore, at the critical moment, he also went all out, pulled out his flintlock pistol, and rushed to the deck with the first officer, second officer and other officers.

Under the roar of the navigator, the sailors in the wheelhouse pushed the control bar vigorously, and the "Prosperity" clumsily approached the "Red Trout"; the sailors on the deck tried their best to control the rotation of the boom, but they were quickly caught by the opposite side. The dense shells caused heavy casualties.

"Idiot! Go up! Go up!" The boatswain roared loudly on the deck. The distance between the two ships was only 60 meters, but the guns fired by the people on the east bank were too fast, and the dense pieces of broken iron Fighting with steel balls made it impossible to stand on the deck.The sailors who controlled the yard had already lost 20 people, the sails lost control, and the distance between the two ships, which was already close, widened again.

Morris patted the deck of the ship bitterly. The number and rate of fire of the artillery on this gunboat that drilled out of nowhere were amazing.Within 10 minutes of this short exchange of fire, two artillery pieces on his own ship were destroyed, nearly 30 sailors were killed and injured, and even two officers were injured.

With so many cannons, how can Nima hold it?Aren't you afraid that the center of gravity is too high and capsized? !Captain Morris roared with grief and anger in his heart.All the sailors and crew on board were less than 40 people, and it seemed that they were chilled by the continuous rounds of precise and violent artillery fire from the enemy.God, let them meet the "Lemon" behind, Captain Morris sighed in his heart, they are all old brothers who have been with him for many years, so many casualties today, what a loss!

However, his bad luck was not over yet. Under the command of Captain Chen Tumu, the gunboat "Beagle" which followed the "Red Trout" once again plowed the deck of "Prosperity" with ten guns on the port side. Several sailors were injured.What made Captain Morris even more terrified was that the second and third floors of the stern building were hit by as many as a dozen iron bullets in a row, and both the external building and the internal decoration were completely destroyed.At this moment, he couldn't help but feel extremely thankful that he didn't stay inside but went to the deck to direct the battle. At the same time, he also prayed for the fate of the second officer and the navigator who remained in the bridge.

The figure of the "Prosperity" was gradually engulfed by the thick fog.

Guo Zili was standing on the bridge, his binoculars had long been thrown aside, the visibility was so poor, it didn't make much difference whether he had binoculars or not.Taking advantage of the advantage, the opponent's three ships were easily left behind by their own side.Moreover, after the previous exchange of fire, he has probably figured out the enemy's firepower.Each ship has about 10-14 cannons, which is less than half of its own.With such poor firepower, Guo Zili was wondering if he should go back and compete with them.

Forget it, the opponent has many ships and many people.Visibility at sea is so poor, and they were within [-] meters when they found each other. At this time, it would be no fun if someone blocked them and jumped up to kill them.Every sailor on my ship is a precious naval seed, and it is a pity to die here for nothing.

Then, let's take advantage of this thick fog to retreat, and find the main fleet as soon as possible.While Guo Zili was deep in thought, the first mate Ding Wei's voice came over with a little panic: "Boat! There are two ships ahead! They fired!"

"What?!" Guo Zili was taken aback.As soon as the words fell, I saw several shells roaring on the sea in front of the right and smashing hard on the deck of the "Red Trout" over a short distance of [-] meters. Two army soldiers holding flintlock rifles to help in the battle were hit by wood chips hurt.

The ship's doctor and two ambulancemen hurried up with the medicine box to rescue him. Fortunately, the wound was not serious.The wounds of the two Army soldiers were washed with alcohol and a hemostatic bandage was applied, and they were mostly fine.While cursing, the two lightly wounded pushed away the ship doctor who asked them to rest in the bilge, and insisted on staying on the deck to fight.

A few masts appeared faintly on the sea ahead, and the St. George's cross flag was hoisted on one of the ships.

"Fuck! Brit!" Guo Zili and Ding Wei cursed almost at the same time.

Now things are in trouble!There are three British ships on the side and rear, and two British ships in front. God knows what else is hidden in the surrounding thick fog. Could it be that he ran into the British fleet?No, these look like merchant ships, not warships.

At this time, Guo Zili really misses the battleship "August 66th" that has lost contact. If this large battleship with [-] guns is in this battle, then he is confident that these British ships will be destroyed. Send them all to the bottom of the sea.

But... Alas, Guo Zili sighed heavily. It is unlucky for people to drink cold water and get stuffed between their teeth. Who would have thought that they would encounter strong winds and fog continuously all night, and then meet the British dramatically in the fog and then... Firefight.

"Army musketeers get ready for battle, spearmen and grenadiers put on armor!" Guo Zili ordered, "Navigation chief, full right rudder, go upwind, bypass the left side of the British, and try to get out of the battle."

It's all at this time, it's useless to think too much, let's get through it first and then talk.As soon as Guo Zili gave an order, the middle and low-ranking officers who had been standing on the bridge all dispersed and went to the deck to command.

The two British armed merchant ships were already very close at this time, and the loud roars and rude curses of the sailors on the other ship could be clearly heard.

"Boom! Boom!" The artillery on both sides fired at each other.Since the British ships faced the enemy with their bows, and each of them had only ten cannons, which added up to less than one on this side, the British suffered a lot in the artillery battle.However, things always happen unexpectedly.

"Captain, the sail of the 'Beagle' has been broken by chain bombs!" the lookout shouted hoarsely.

Guo Zili was startled, the speed of the sail would decrease if the sail surface was broken, and it would be dangerous at this time.

The "Beagle" is a medium-sized battleship with a small displacement, equipped with 24 guns of various types. damaged.The two sheet riggings were also cut by the shells, and the wind area of ​​the sail surface was also reduced a lot. In short, her ship's speed dropped to 2 knots.

"Turn around! Don't leave the 'Beagle' behind! Navigator, turn the rudder to port, everyone get on deck, beat the British guy hard for me, and cover the brothers on the 'Beagle' to break through!" Guo Zili He had a deep friendship with Chen Tumu, and if he turned around and left at this moment, he might be able to use the fog to escape, but the "Beagle" was doomed, and his conscience could not allow him to issue such an order.More importantly, maybe Chen Tumu and others will be captured by the British, and many things related to the secrets of the time travel may not be able to be concealed.

Therefore, he could not leave the "Beagle" for public or private purposes.

The "Red Trout"'s 2 bow guns, 2 stern guns, and 12 starboard guns fired fiercely at a British ship approaching starboard, while the 12 port guns leaned straight ahead on the "Beagle" A British ship opened fire, trying to relieve Chen Tumu's side.The smoke from the artillery fire lingered for a long time, and for a while, the visibility on the sea became increasingly low.

The 400-ton British armed merchant ship "Warrior" slammed into the port side of the "Beagle" heavily after suffering several rounds of shells, and the two ships were close together.The British sailors cheered and hooked the ship's side of the "Beagle" with a hook, and then the first wave of jumping helpers, under the cover of the musketeers on the deck, with light swords pinned to their waists, followed the gap between the two ships. The rope net crawled over.Behind them, more British sailors quickly followed under the command of the officers.

On the "Beagle", Chen Tumu looked at the scene in front of him with a pale face.In the past few sea battles, I have always used my advantages in the range, speed and accuracy of artillery to bully the enemy at sea. Unexpectedly, now that there is a heavy fog, my ship will let the enemy rely on help!

This is how to do?Chen Tumu, who encountered this situation for the first time, was a little confused.

"Spearman on top!" Seeing that Chen Tumu didn't pass on the order for a long time, Ensign John Ston became a little anxious, and soon he ignored the order from the captain. This English man in his 30s was wearing a chest Armor, with a saber pinned to his waist and a loaded flintlock pistol in his right hand, rushed directly to the deck to direct the battle.

More than 20 sailors wore breastplates and gauntlets, and held up 3-meter spears and stabbed fiercely at the British sailors who crawled over.The British sailors were stuck between the rope nets and could not move. Five or six of them were stabbed by spears and fell into the sea screaming.

"Bang! Bang!" The matchlock gunners on the deck of the British ship fired a salvo. The curved steel armor on the spearman's body could not stop the musket fire at such a close range, and many spearmen were knocked down on the deck. superior.

"Five platoons of fire! Get ready... Let it go!" As the commander's sharp copper whistle blew, a temporary whistle army accompanying the navy also fired a round of volleys.

In the past few days, relatives got married and went back to their hometown to help, and they have been updating by saving manuscripts.Starting today, let’s resume updating every day first, let’s save some manuscripts first.thanks for your support.

(End of this chapter)