Charleston was not going to be peaceful tonight.
Just half an hour ago, a hotel suddenly caught fire for no reason. The residents nearby worked together to put out the fire, but before they could celebrate, they heard another cannon blast.
A cannonball flew into the city and smashed through the roof of a house. That was just the beginning. Then, more cannonballs rained down on the city wall. Most of the people in the city were stunned. They thought it was a sudden attack by the French fleet, but the pride of the Royal Navy, the HMS Scarborough, was still anchored in the harbor of Charleston.
Instead of dealing with the biggest threat, the enemy wanted to clear out the cannons on the city wall. This action was undoubtedly neglecting the essentials, and they would inevitably pay a heavy price.
However, not long after that, the citizens of the city received an even more shocking news — the one who attacked Charleston was none other than the Scarborough Royal in the harbor.
This giant naval ship that had always played the role of the colony's guardian suddenly showed its fangs tonight. Without any warning, it launched an artillery attack on Charleston. The cannons on the city wall were the main targets. After the first round of attack, at least half of the cannons were destroyed.
At this time, the defenders in the city suddenly realized what was going on and began to mobilize their men in a panic, trying to organize a counterattack. But then, the second round of attack came, and the people on the city wall were immediately thrown into chaos.
It was not that the colony had never been attacked in the past, but most of the time, there were traces of enemy ships. When they saw the enemy ships from afar, they would be warned in advance, and everyone would be prepared. Tonight's attack was too sudden. Until now, the commander on the city wall did not know why the Scarborough would attack its own people like crazy.
The cannons lit up the night sky tonight. After a full five rounds of firing, a third of the city wall along the southeast coast of Charleston had collapsed. Only a few cannonballs landed in front of the Queen Anne's Revenge, and the splash did not even wet the hull.
After that, the Queen Anne's Revenge rested for a while, waiting for the cannons to cool down. At this time, Charleston's coastal defense was basically destroyed, and could no longer pose an effective threat. So, ten minutes later, the pirates on the ship began to fire freely into the city according to the original plan.
One by one, the cannonballs flew over the ruined city wall and landed on the streets, shops, and residences. The people immediately fell into panic and began to run in all directions.
The governor's mansion was located quite a distance from the coastline, so it was temporarily unaffected. However, the nobles and merchants inside did not look too good. They were all influential people in the New World. They had come to the governor's mansion to attend the wedding, but they did not expect this to happen.
It had been almost twenty minutes since the incident, but no one had been able to find out the reason for the Scarborough's attack. Everyone was worried about their shops and mansions in the city. They wanted to rush back immediately, but they were also worried that they might run into danger on the way back. The city was in a mess, and only the governor's mansion had forty guards, so it was considered the safest place.
Charleston's governor, Watt, was commanding the defense of the governor's mansion on the second floor. He had already received news that the cannons had been destroyed. Perhaps it was due to a lack of manpower, but the enemy did not immediately organize a landing. Watt did not let down his guard.
The people downstairs were fine, but upstairs were his family and Bellomonte. If anything happened to Bellomonte in his territory, Whitehall would not let him off the hook. Hence, he sent someone to inform the garrison to deploy another 20 guards.
After arranging everything, he heaved a sigh of relief.
On the other hand, Bellomont was calm from the beginning to the end. He even comforted Watt, "Don't worry. The biggest plantation owners in the mainland are my friends. They have a lot of private forces. I've already sent someone to look for them. I can borrow 200 men from them to help you overcome this crisis."
Watt was overjoyed. "That's great! I've just arrived in the New World, and there are many things I'm not familiar with. I'll need your help in the future. I've heard that Boston has developed rapidly under your management, especially when it comes to pirates. Your iron-blooded stance has been unanimously praised by the military. When I left London, everyone was talking about your achievements."
Bellomont smiled as he sipped his tea. This was indeed something he was most proud of.
Watt still wanted to say something, but at that moment, a guard knocked on the door. "Governor, the reinforcements from the garrison have arrived. They are now downstairs."
Watt was stunned. "Someone's here? So fast? I'll go down and take a look. "
After that, he excused himself from Watt and went downstairs. Sure enough, he saw twenty soldiers who had just arrived at the door. However, the officer leading them looked a little unfamiliar.
Watt became suspicious. He frowned and asked, "What's your name? Who's your commanding officer? Why have I never seen you before? "
The officer grinned. "You should have heard of my commanding officer's name. His name is Edward Teach, but people seem to prefer to call him Blackbeard. "
After that, he pulled out a short musket from his waist and pulled the trigger at Watt, who was only a step away from him.
The gunshot shocked everyone in the hall. When they saw the governor lying on the stairs, some of the female guests could not help but scream. The male guests were not any better. No one who came to the wedding would bring weapons. Facing a group of armed soldiers with their bare hands, everyone was left with only fear and despair.
Fortunately, the guards from the governor's mansion had arrived. They exchanged fire with the group of unknown soldiers, and both sides fought fiercely downstairs.
Almost at the same time, the door of the study on the second floor was pushed open. Two men dressed as guards walked in and said to the shocked Bellomonte, "Governor Watt has found out that the Scarborough has fallen into the hands of the pirates. They disguised themselves as the navy and attacked Charleston. Their target is you."
"Me?" Bellomonte was a little surprised.
"The situation is urgent. They are already downstairs and will come up soon. Governor Watt asked us to move you away immediately." After that, the two guards grabbed Bellomonte's arms.
"Wait, my daughter!" Bellomonte shouted.
"The sooner you leave here, the safer the people in this room will be. The carriage is ready. We will leave from the back door." After that, the two guards ignored the others in the room and dragged Bellomonte, who was still a little dizzy, down the stairs.
When Bellomonte saw the old carriage behind him, he finally realized that something was wrong. He wanted to struggle, but it was too late. The two guards, who were disguised as pirates, did not hold back and shoved him into the carriage violently.
Bellomonte knew that this was the most dangerous moment for him. He wanted to jump out of the carriage, but a saber was placed on his neck.
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