Zhang Heng switched the British army knife from his injured right hand to his left, blocking the enemy's two consecutive slashes. At the same time, the recoil forced him to take two steps back. The sailor on the other side saw that Zhang Heng's stamina was exhausted after a long battle, and he could not help but be overjoyed. Without further ado, he slashed at Zhang Heng's chest. There was nothing fancy about this slash, and it was purely a matter of strength. Surprisingly, Zhang Heng did not retreat this time.
Instead, he charged at Zhang Heng. The two swords clashed, and the sailor on the naval supply ship felt a huge force coming from between his thumb and index finger. His arm was swept away by the force, and a look of horror appeared on his face. The next moment, Zhang Heng's British army knife was already at his neck. "It's over."
There was a look of disappointment in the sailor's eyes. In the end, he could only throw away his weapon and surrender.
Zhang Heng looked around. The battle on the deck was coming to an end, and the guards who were still resisting were basically forced into a corner. It was only a matter of time before they were defeated. Only the captain was still occupying the captain's cabin, but it was only a matter of time before he was eliminated.
This was the third tough battle they had experienced in just two months. Although they still won, they had suffered heavy losses. Owen had already begun to replenish his manpower from the captives.
In this era, the treatment of regular naval sailors was miserable. Take the Royal Navy for example. Their monthly salary was only about one pound, which was equivalent to half of the gatekeeper's salary and a quarter of the carpenter's salary. And they could not get all of the money. The comptroller and officers on the ship would deduct part of it. Other than that, the date of payment was not fixed, and almost none of them were paid on a monthly basis. The strangest thing was a certain cruiser in the Far East waters. It only paid off once every 22 years, and in the end, the navy refused to pay the money.
These sailors did not have a good life after they went ashore. When the warship returned to the home port for renovation, the officers could only receive half of their salary, and the sailors at the bottom of the hierarchy were left to fend for themselves. And that was not the worst part. Sometimes, to prevent the sailors from going ashore, the navy would transfer them to other warships before they even entered the port, and they would continue to receive their salary in IOU.
In comparison, the treatment that pirates enjoyed was simply heaven. Everyone earned money together and ate meat together. There were also very few cases of captains deducting the crew's share.
It had been almost nine months since Zhang Heng entered this quest. In the beginning, he was forced to join the Sea Lion in order to survive. After that, he was forced to enter the world of pirates because of the main quest. Now, he had a better understanding of Nassau and the pirates who lived on it. He had to look at the historical background of that time. There was a reason why pirates ran rampant in the 17th and 18th centuries.
At the beginning of the Age of Discovery, it was difficult to distinguish the difference between explorers, colonists, and pirates. As the European countries fell into chaos, in order to compete for sea power, they created the infamous privateering license, which completely opened Pandora's box. From the perspective of modern people, these things might seem inconceivable.
Suppose you were a merchant in this era, shipping a ship of goods to a colony to sell. Halfway through, someone from another country would rob you. There was no way you could get it back through legal diplomatic means. Usually, countries would give you a privateering license, encouraging you to rob back your losses from others.
Other than that, many wealthy merchants and nobles would sponsor some captains with potential, helping them get a privateering license. They would then let them go out to sea to plunder, and they would then come back to share the spoils. The advantage of doing this was that they could use their greatest power to attack other countries' maritime forces. At the same time, without increasing the country's budget, they could also have an unorganized navy. Once war broke out, these privateers would also join the battle.
If you robbed enough, you could even get an audience with the royal family, and even be made a noble, becoming a national hero. Henry Morgan was the best example. He was the pirate king of the Caribbean from 1665 to 1670, and later became the governor of Jamaica.
In fact, it wasn't just the civilians. In order to earn extra money, the royal fleet would also go out to plunder to appease the sailors who couldn't get paid. There were brokers at the port who were responsible for converting the spoils of war into cash. Of course, most of the money would eventually flow into the pockets of the officers, and the sailors at the bottom would receive very little.
Frazer once told Zhang Heng in the tavern, "Do you know what's the difference between us and those guys? They have a privateering license, but we don't. So we're the hated pirates, and they're the heroes. This is the law of the world. "
…
Zhang Heng put away his saber. With the sound of an explosion under his feet, the last part of the ship was breached. The captain of the naval supply ship was killed, and the remaining sailors surrendered their weapons. The ship's doctor was busy treating the wounded, and the bookkeeper was counting the cargo in the cabin.
The pirates suffered a lot of casualties too. That was why no one wanted to fight the navy. Even if it was just a supply ship, the firepower on board was impressive. Compared to the price they had to pay, the profit they could get from robbing a naval supply ship was pitiful.
After a fierce battle, 17 people died on the Sea Lion, and many of them were injured. Miraculously, however, their morale was not affected, especially when the helmsman, Orff, appeared in front of them with a small piece of bloody treasure map. The pirates looked even more excited.
"Without a doubt, we're one step closer to our final goal, gentlemen!" The helmsman cheered.
According to Orff, Kidd's financial report was hidden on an uninhabited island in the Caribbean Sea. Before he died, he drew a treasure map. However, the treasure map was eventually divided into six parts, and they fell into the hands of those who participated in the arrest and trial. Now, the Sea Lion was looking for the whereabouts of these treasure maps. Including the one they had just obtained, they had already obtained four of them. Indeed, victory was in sight.
After that, Owen walked up to the helmsman. "Mr. Orff, can I have a word with you?"
The latter nodded, and the two of them walked to the stern. "I don't know if you've noticed that we've lost a lot of men recently." The boatswain looked worried.
"So, how's the recruitment going?" Orff nodded.
"You know that we can't fill all the vacancies with these guys, right? They're the navy after all. If we recruit too many of them at once, we'll have to think about getting our throats slit while we're sleeping."
"Then, what do you suggest?"
"We've been out for two and a half months. I suggest we go back to Nassau to resupply," Owen said.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
