Chapter 44

What can make Carmen so urgent can only be bad news.

At a high-class ball in Bilbao, she heard a surprising information.

Jose of France and Kalma chamber of Commerce, Yodel chamber of Commerce of the Netherlands and erera chamber of Commerce of Spain officially signed an alliance agreement. They are ready to set up a hunting ground in the waters of Cantabrian and completely expel the enemies of the kingdom out of the French coast with British businessmen as the target.

It's very important. Carmen didn't inform Lorraine for the first time, but spent more than a month to confirm the authenticity of the information. The result... Is not optimistic.

The information is true.

These four chambers of commerce are old-fashioned offshore privateer chambers of Commerce, each with more than 20 merchant ships. Each of them is a behemoth for the Drake chamber of Commerce.

They have formed an alliance and held secret meetings in France for many times.

The Drake chamber of Commerce was there for two lives. Carmen tried his best and still knew nothing about the key information such as the start time, duration and fleet size of the hunt.

The enemy is dark, I am clear, the enemy is strong, I am weak, the enemy is numerous, I am few

Looking at such an urgent letter, Lorraine couldn't help falling into meditation.

He asked himself, can Spain give up?

No.

Spain is the only country in Europe that has a broad and mature overseas colony and does not have a sufficient domestic demand market because of the economic depression.

She is the core place for the chamber of Commerce to obtain cheap new world and Asian and African commodities. The related profits account for 70% of the total profits of the chamber of Commerce. If she doesn't want to become mediocre, Lorraine has no reason to give up.

Can the Cantabrian route be abandoned?

The answer... Seems to be No.

Cantabrian route is the only land and sea route from Britain to Spain. Without it, Lorraine can only choose the Celtic Sea.

Although the Celtic Sea is adjacent to the Cantabrian sea area, their hydrological environment is quite different.

It is already part of the Atlantic Ocean.

With deep water and high waves, it reaches Cape barres in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula.

If Lorraine chooses this deep-water route, it means that every time he goes to Bilbao, he has to make a huge circle, which will greatly affect the logistics efficiency of the chamber of Commerce.

Moreover, this is not the only price that the chamber of Commerce needs to pay.

The Kirk type with wide bottom is not suitable for deep-water environment. Under that hydrological condition, the ship will overturn at any time.

Only give up the Kirk type.

But when the Kirk model was abandoned at once, the chamber of commerce could not find enough transportation capacity to maintain the demand for profit growth.

Lucky grass can never leave the second fleet.

The calm of the North Sea benefits from the deterrence of the lucky grass. The trade rashly transferred her out. Lorraine may not be able to hold the route of Spain, but will lose even the stable but low-yield North sea route.

What should I do?

He took a long test all night until the sun rose the next day.

Miss Carmen Xavier:

We have received your letter and hope to continue to inquire.

I will be at sea and watch it change.

Your friend, Lorraine Jonathan Drake

……

The chamber of Commerce declared a state of war.

Lorraine cancelled the rotation leave of all sailors and sailors at the first time.

When he went to Plymouth, he bought eight nine pound guns for 2800 pounds and replaced the six pound medium gun on the lucky grass to arm the Artemis beauty and the Beverly merchant.

On the other hand, the number of sailors of the butterfly flower was increased from 20 at the bottom to 120 to ensure that its powerful firepower could be brought into full play.

The first fleet took a rush attitude.

The Spanish branch did its best to collect goods, and the three ships frequently crossed the Cantabrian route with an average frequency of once a week, which unexpectedly led to a sharp rise in profits in August, far exceeding previous estimates.

After all, it was just a surprise.

In the third week, when the first fleet left the port of chihon and drove 120 kilometers west of Baylor Island, France, pierce finally found the smoke of battle.

"Brother! There is a naval battle at two o'clock, ten kilometers away!"

Lorraine jumped up from the deck: "transfer the flagship cargo to the ship, butterfly flower, light, fast forward!"

Ten kilometers is about 5.5 nautical miles. Under the condition of incomplete headwind, the butterfly left two fully loaded Kirks and quietly approached the battlefield from the downwind only more than an hour later.

The thick smoke floating on the sea gave Lorraine the greatest cover.

Neither side of the battle found the butterfly. Lorraine stood on the front mast's auxiliary Observatory and held up his telescope to observe the battlefield.

The battle was about two kilometers away from them. Even against the wind, the butterfly was sure to enter the attack position within 15 minutes.

Lorraine observed nine ships.

The attacked side hung the flag of the British Chamber of Commerce, which was a unicorn.

They have four ships, two Kirks are slowly sinking in the fire, and two mixed sail scuoners are trying to flee south, but Lorraine can't see the possibility of success.

Because the attackers are much stronger than them.

Their flagship was a brigantin gunship of the same class as the butterfly, with its guns fully open and flanking.

There are four scuna sails under his command, only one of which is temporarily anchored due to fire, and the other three draw an arc on the sea to cross the British ship to form a clip.

Lorraine jumped down the cable and the sailors gathered around.

"Pierce, I need you to go back to the port and report the position of the enemy's flagship at any time."

"Haina, go around the upper air outlet from the west, cut in from the bow of the enemy ship and seize the T-head. They are in the middle of the battle and do not have a lookout, so you only need to control the distance at the present two kilometers."

"Ramos, get your Gunners ready. We'll fire on both sides."

"Karen, drum up your sails, top speed."

"Noah... Let the sailors know that fate has chosen us."

He went to the bow, looked at the sailors and, with a cry, removed the tarpaulin from the harpoon gun.

"I see a great opportunity..." he said. "The flag of the chamber of commerce is high! The butterfly flower, go to war!"

Following Lorraine's orders, the butterfly raised a huge sail.

The bow inclined sail and wind catching sail, and the longitudinal sail of the main mast bulge to the maximum at the same time. The slender hull draws a huge arc on the calm sea, crosses the wind belt, retrogrades from the crosswind and enters the downwind position.

The deck was busy.

A six pound gun was pushed out of the bow chamber and placed on both sides at the same distance. The guns on both sides of the gun deck were fully open.

Ammunition was loaded, ignited and compacted, and the black barrel protruded out of the porthole.

At the back of the hull, there were five sailors on each side of the gun. Everyone was absorbed and eager.

Pierce reported the position of the enemy's flagship for the last time. Lorraine asked him to fix himself, then took a deep breath and sat in the launching position of the harpoon gun.

Lorraine shouted, "left rudder 15 degrees! Full sail! Grab the wind!"

"Left rudder 15 degrees! Full sail! Grab the wind!"

"Full sail! Grab the wind!"

"Grab the wind!"