Chapter 153

When the first ray of dawn fell, the roar of artillery also broke the calm of the sea.

The first gun was the distant spice ship happiness. When they saw the black flag on the opposite jackdaw, their last hope was shattered.

In order to ensure the safety of the cargo as much as possible, the happiness chose a relatively unpopular route and did a good job in keeping the route secret. It has been safe for more than a month since it left Hong Kong. It seems that it is going to drive through the most frequent dangerous area of pirates, but it didn't expect that it will fall short in the end.

After daybreak, they can finally see the face of the Jackdaw. Although they have a certain psychological preparation, when they confirm that the ship they have been working with for a night is indeed a warship, a look of despair still appears on everyone's face.

The tragedy that happened in Charleston two months ago had already spread among the colonies. Two governors and a senior general of the Navy died on the same night. Meanwhile, Charleston city was also heavily shelled. This is probably the most serious loss that the Empire has suffered in the new world in recent years. In addition, it is also said that the Navy lost one of its weapons that night Frigates, but compared with what happened before, there are not many people who pay attention to them.

Now, seeing the Jackdaw in front of us, the people on the happiness can't help thinking of this rumor.

Even worse than meeting a group of pirates is meeting a group of pirates in warships.

However, the men who can beg for food in this sea area are not cowards. They know that their own side is in an absolute disadvantage in firepower, but they are unwilling to bow down and admit defeat.

What's more, the value of the cargo on board was enough to make them fight for it once, so the twelve guns on the happiness launched an attack on the rushing jackdaw without hesitation.

As a result, most of the shells failed in the first round of attack. Only one shot flew by the side of the ship. A new gunner next to him became nervous and asked the figure in black not far away, "Captain, do we want to fight back?"

"Wait a minute." Zhang Heng looked at the happiness in the distance and shook his head.

Now the Jackdaw has just entered the range of the other side. Although it can fire back in theory, the hit rate will not be too high, and if it is too far away, the power of the shell will not be enough. With the firepower of the jackdaw, as long as it is close enough, it can hit the target in a round and avoid becoming a long tug of war.

But in this way, you need to bear several waves of attack from the other side first, but with the firmness of jackdaw, it's not too much trouble.

Soon, the second wave of attack of the happiness was coming. With the previous test firing, the impact point of the shells was obviously much more accurate this time. It can be seen that the Gunners on the opposite side should also be very experienced. Three of the shells hit the side of the ship, and another one hit the sails. It didn't matter, so many pirates were relieved.

But the third wave of attack was not so easy. At this time, the Jackdaw was not far away from the happiness, and even could see the figure on the opposite side. The shell from the sky hit several holes on the deck, and another one just landed on the ship where there was no iron protection. The sea water immediately poured into the bottom cabin, and the carpenter on the ship immediately hugged it Pick up the tools and rush down to repair them.

At this time, the voice of the request to fire gradually increased, even Billy couldn't help looking at Zhang Heng, but the latter still didn't say a word.

Although Zhang Heng had participated in many battles on the sea lion, it was the first time that he personally led a naval battle. He didn't feel the same as before. At that time, he basically just needed to protect himself, wait for the opportunity to solve the threat nearby, and if he had spare power, he could save some companions in distress, even if he overfulfilled the task.

In addition to paying attention to the situation on the field when seizing the Scarborough, most of the time his vision was limited to the place nearby, which was similar to his mode of action in the Sufen war. But now he was commanding a whole ship, and what he needed to think about was how to win a battle with the minimum cost.

The firepower of jackdaw is far more than that of happiness, but the gunner's level is just the opposite. This will be more obvious when shooting from a long distance. However, with the distance getting closer, the difference in accuracy between the two sides will be narrowed. After all, as long as they are close enough, they are novices, and it is difficult to miss.

Therefore, Zhang Heng chose to rush to the happiness in front of the gunfire, but when the fourth wave of attack fell down, some people began to be injured on the deck. Zhang Heng himself was also scratched by a piece of flying wood, but his face was still expressionless. He continued to hold the telescope to observe the movement of the happiness, until he saw the opposite gunner quickly fill the barrel with shells Zhang Heng finally issued a new order to prepare for the next volley.

"Lower sail, slow down, full right rudder."

The pirates had been waiting for this sentence for a long time. Hearing the words, they immediately put up the sails of the ship with the fastest speed. The Jackdaw avoided a new round of attack by suddenly slowing down. At the same time, the ship also swung, and finally became parallel to the happiness.

Although some sailboats in this era can also carry bow and stern guns, they are mostly used in emergency, and the firepower output mainly depends on side guns. Therefore, before launching an attack, they need to turn the hull to the target, which is why Zhang Heng must let Hanya drive close enough to fight back.Because once in the state of engagement, it is very difficult to adjust the distance again.

The pirates had been unilaterally bombed by the gunfire on the Xingfu before, and they had already accumulated a lot of anger. When Zhang Heng gave an order, the Gunners immediately gave the most fierce counter attack to the opposite side. The guns on the ship opened fire together. Although nearly half of the shells fell into the water, the rest caused a lot of damage to the Xingfu.

One of the 24 pound shells fortunately hit the vice mast of the happiness. The latter broke off and hit the deck, killing two sailors. The sails on it covered three guns.

After seeing the power of the cannons on the jackdaw, the sailors on the happiness had been in a panic at this time. Although some people were still fighting back, they were soon submerged by the overwhelming shells. If Zhang Heng hadn't specially told the Gunners on the ship to raise the angle, he was afraid that the happiness would be seriously damaged after the second round of volley.

The battle was almost as expected. After two rounds of gunfire, the opposite side obviously realized that fighting any more would only increase casualties. Although they were still unwilling, they could only surrender at the first time.

Zhang Heng was not as excited as the others on the ship, because he knew that the next moment was the most dangerous one. According to Karina's information, there were 30 sailors on board the happiness, and what's more, there were a group of Navy cadets, about 20 of whom were strong young people.

These people together have surpassed the pirates on the Jackdaw.

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