CH 199

WARNING: This chapter does not mince words about what happens when a normal human being gets directly hit by a cannonball. In general, every time Flora goes to war, expect little to no censorship about how horrific it gets.

In the waters near Goslant Island, we were exchanging information after rendezvousing with the caravel fleet that had been a day ahead of us.

“They were there after all,” one of the messengers said. “We’ve finally found them. Visvy is the base of the Hollant pirates.”

It seems that the caravel fleet had already confirmed Hollant ships anchored at the Port of Visvy. This was verified with telescopes from their crow’s nest. Now there’s no doubt about it.

Assuming that they would go out to the ocean someday, I instructed the trial manufacture of a telescope after the glass lenses became ready. The structure of the telescope itself is not that difficult, so even I can give instructions. The problem is how much you can adjust it so that the image is properly formed and how much you can magnify the view. It is created by the research team through repeated trial and error. That’s not my job.

In addition to telescopes, we are also developing a compass to improve our navigation skills. It took a lot of ingenuity to make it all-weather so that it wouldn’t lose its bearing even if it was tossed by waves. I still don’t know how accurate it is when the ship rocks, but it’s much better than nothing.

They’re trying to improve their navigation skills by developing sextants and other things, but they’re still immature in making tools, and even if they have them in the first place, the crew will need the skills to use them. I’m not a sailor, so I can’t give them detailed instructions. The limit is to teach the tools and knowledge that I know vaguely and half-heartedly.

Moving on. If you look at the wide sea, you can see the horizon. You can’t see the ocean beyond the horizon because the planet is round. Since the planet is round, you can only see from the height you are looking at to the point where the curve forms the horizon. So what should you do if you want to see farther?

I can’t think of an answer. The higher you look, the farther you can see. However, no matter how hard you try, you can only see half the circumference of the earth from a distance. You can’t see the other side of a planet just by looking at it from one side.

Our ship assumes such a thing and makes the height of the watchtower of the mast as high as possible. Of course, no matter how far you can theoretically see, you know the limits of what you can see with the naked eye. That is why we are also developing a telescope. If you climb to the crow’s nest and look through a telescope, you can unilaterally know your opponent from a distance where they can’t get a visual on you, in turn.

As far as we investigated, we confirmed 8 Hollant pirate ships anchored in the Port of Visvy. There may be other pirate ships sailing right now, but for the time being, we’ll have to assume there are 8 ships here.

“If possible, I’d like to settle things while they’re moored at the port…” I said.

If they are stationary, it is easy to attack them unilaterally. It would be great if we could inflict enough damage to the ships’ hulls before they were ready to sail.

Of course, if you fight in the port, the port will also suffer damage. However, the owner of the said port is hiding pirate ships. I didn’t know if we would cause collateral damage. Besides, it wouldn’t be a bad thing to show off our power in front of them. However…….

“If we approach Visvy now and attack, it will be night. If we’re to attack, tomorrow is better…” Schwartz said.

“You’ve got a point…” I said. “We can only hope that the pirates won’t set sail tomorrow.”

This place is a little far from Visvy. If we go to the port now and start fighting, there is a high possibility that we won’t be able to settle it by the time the sun goes down. In that case, the pirates could escape from Visvy under cover of the night. Even if they escape, Goslant is an island, so there’s no place to escape to, but daytime would be good for wiping it all out.

It would be most comfortable if the pirates hadn’t set sail before we headed off to attack Visvy tomorrow. You can either sink them all in the bay or catch any escaping pirates. If we set sail before we reach Visvy, it will become a naval battle on the open sea, and it will be more troublesome.

“These guys haven’t blockaded Lubek or attacked trading ships,” I said. “It’s about time they started their activities, so I don’t know when they’ll set sail.”

That is the question. Considering their activity cycle, it wouldn’t be strange to leave today or tomorrow. However, since it’s not realistic to start from here now, we’ll have to wait until dawn in hopes that they won’t move.

The next morning, as we headed for Visvy at dawn, a caravel ship that had remained on guard there began to approach us. 8 ships, 4 caravels, and 4 galleons spent the night away from there, but 3 caravels remained in the waters near Visvy to keep an eye on it till morning. One of them is heading this way.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Right, it seems that the pirate ships have set sail,” Schwartz said.

It seems that signal flags were being waved in the worst possible pattern among the meanings we’d decided on. I can’t tell the details from the signal flags alone, but I can get a rough idea.

“Regardless, let’s hurry up,” I said.

I would be in trouble if the pirate ships escaped. We put the boats to full sail and rushed.

“I see them!” the lookout said. “It’s the pirate ships!”

It seems they’re setting out. I stare at the map while listening to detailed information.

“The enemy seems to be heading towards Lubek,” Schwartz said.

“Is that so……?” I said.

Goslant Island is sweet potato-shaped or teardrop-shaped, with a narrow north side and a round south side. The harbor of Visvy on the northwest side of it is not directly visible from the Kingdom of Ploiss, as Cien is on the south end and Lubek on the southwest end, so it’s hidden by the island’s landmass.

A pirate ship that departed from Visvy would be able to reach the coastal areas of Ploiss and Lubek if they headed south or southwest while bypassing the island. 3 pirate ships are sailing this time. It seems that the remaining 5 ships are still anchored at the port of Visvy. The 3 ships are already leaving the island.

“Let’s split the fleet after giving a blow to the sailing pirates,” I said.

I talk with Schwartz and the other naval officers about our fighting strategy. We’re approaching Goslant Island now from the southwest to the northeast. The caravel that was watching Visvy was watching from the northwest, out of the shadow of the island. However, we are approaching from the southwest using the cover of the island so that they won’t notice our approach.

If we change this route slightly to the east, we can engage in a counter-advance battle with the 3 pirate ships heading south. A naval advance battle is where both combatants are running in the same direction. In other words, a counter-advance battle involves both sides running in opposite directions and engaging as they pass each other.

“4 galleons and 5 caravels will launch a counter-advance assault in a battle line,” I said. “After passing, the fast caravels will turn around and pursue the remaining pirate ships and either capture or sink them. This will be a naval battle at sea. The Galleon Fleet that has passed through the port will proceed to the Port of Visvy and sink the rest of the pirate ships still anchored in the bay.”

Galleons are fast for their size. But it probably doesn’t have enough speed to turn around and catch up with a sailing pirate ship. I’m planning to damage the pirate ships in anti-ship battles, but I don’t know how much I can take away from them. That’s why I set the Caravel fleet into reverse, as they’re proven faster than the pirate ships, chase them down, and kill the stragglers.

They sense something is up once the galleons pass them and the sound of artillery fire reaches them, so as I said, the Galleon Fleet will approach the port of Visvy before the remaining pirate ships set sail and, if possible, sink them in the bay. It is not always possible to completely block them, so there is a possibility that the enemy will escape. If possible, I would like 2 caravel ships that have been monitoring since last night to cooperate, but I don’t have time to contact them. If you don’t make a decision now, you’ll let the enemy escape.

“………… We have no other choice,” Schwartz said.

“Then contact the other ships!” I yelled. “We’re out of leeway! This is a race against time!”

The 3 Hollant Ships had been the first pirates here in a long time, so they were leisurely crossing the Hulk Sea.

“Something feels ve~ry off,” a pirate muttered.

“You keep saying that before we’ve even seen anything,” another said.

“Haha…” a third laughed, “whatever the case, it’s only us or the Kamaal Alliance in a place like this, right?”

“That’s right, yeah.”

They didn’t have the motivation to keep watch, and they were just lazing around while lying down without checking their surroundings. The Kingdom of Ploiss should not have come this far. If they did, they could get into trouble with the Kamaal Alliance. Ploiss’s naval strength cannot compete with the Kamaal Alliance. Hence, they would never dare approach this place.

Of course, Goslant Island is not the territory of the Kamaal Alliance, but it is within the Kamaal Alliance’s sphere of influence. There can only be them or a Kamaal Alliance ship sailing in these waters. That’s why there weren’t any people around here who were vigilant in the sea near Goslant Island. This was a fatal factor, why they didn’t see the enemy approaching until it was too late.

“He-Hey! What is that ship? Whose is it?” a pirate yelled.

“When did they get so close!? What was the lookout doing?”

“I haven’t even seen them before… and… aren’t they pretty big?”

As they were heading almost southward, they noticed a large number of ships approaching from the southwest to the northeast and panicked. It’s hard to recognize the size because they’re in the middle of the wide sea with nothing to reference for scale, but they get the feeling that the ships of this approaching fleet are quite large.

“Yeah… I don’t like this… they’re huge!” a pirate said. “And besides that, they’re fast!”

“How many ships do they have? Whose are these?!”

“9 enemy ships! An eagle on a tri-color flag! Who flies those?!”

“What’s it matter?! Anyway, they’re an enemy! Prepare for battle!”

They ring the bell and ready themselves to fight in a hurry. But the enemy did not wait. They could finally understand the size of the enemy ships approaching them.

“You’ve got to be kidding… how did they get so large…?”

“Who the hell makes something this ridiculous?!”

“Cut the rudder! Use the ram…”

When the enemy fleet approached them steadily, they waited for an opportunity to make a hole in the hull with a ram, as they were in single-side formation. No matter how big the opponent is, if there is a hole in the bottom of the ship, it will sink. If they were to come alongside and engage in hand-to-hand combat, they would be at a disadvantage because of their smaller crews, but it would be difficult for them to maneuver around such hulking opponents. They were waiting for a momentary gap to bust a hole in their hulls, and keep them from running alongside to board.

However, the enemy did not appear to be aiming to come near them. They’re just trying to pass them by.

They don’t understand the meaning. What are they going to do other than take advantage of the huge hull and ram or come alongside and let their crew do the damage by boarding them?

“Huh? What’s going on?”

At that moment, the side windows of the enemy’s huge ships opened, and they noticed that something like an unfamiliar tube was peeking out of them. The Hollant pirates had no idea what they were. And then…….

Don! Don…! Don…! Do-do-don!

There was an ear-piercing roar, then pillars of fire, and as clouds of smoke blew out, they could see something flying toward them.

The sailors of the Haltekamp were running as the lead ship and could not understand what had happened. It’s something they’d never seen before. There is no way to predict what kind of tragedy it will bring to them. As the Haltekamp was struck by the first salvo, its hull became like a honeycomb, holes near the draft and in the bottom of the ship quickly began to flood, causing the vessel to rapidly list.

Many of the sailors who were supposed to respond to the flooding were hit by the cannonballs and became a sea of minced meat and blood splattered here and there, and no one could administer first aid to them.

The sailors of the Sievard running second saw what happened and broke ranks in a panic. But the enemies passing by show no mercy. The Sievard’s hull got punched full of holes, too, cannonballs raining from the enemy ships as they spewed fire one after another and aimed for their ships. In addition, her mast broke and her deck was in chaos, losing most of her ability to gain speed and her rudder to turn.

Even the Windhond running at the tail end was unable to sail properly, both on deck and inside the ship, cannonballs poured down one after another before anyone knew what was going on.

Just once… just once, when they passed each other, the 3 ships of the Kingdom of Hollant were completely unable to fight or were sunk.

“Wha… what the hell is this… WHAT THE HELL IS GOING OOONNN….!?”

The few lucky survivors on the deck of the Windhond saw hell. The hull was full of holes. So many of their friends had become little more than smears of gore. And then…

“The enemy’s 5 trailing ships have turned around! They’re chasing us! They’re fast! We can’t shake them off!”

“It’s… it’s all over…”

Among the enemy ships that had passed them once, 5 relatively smaller ships were chasing them, turning around as a fleet as if they were one. Just from that movement, they could clearly see the difference in skill between them.

The Hollant Kingdom’s ship had holes in its hull, flooding in its lower decks, broken masts, and has lost most of its crew, it’s not yet sunk but can’t even move properly. If they were hit by that same attack again, everything would sink for certain.

The survivors who realized this had completely lost the will to fight.