The chubby man in the triangular hat should be the captain of the ship. He was standing by the side of the ship, holding a copper telescope, looking nervously at the enemy ship opposite him.
A young man beside him kept trying to persuade him. "Father, let's surrender. Our ship is not as fast as theirs, and the number of cannons we have is less than a third of theirs. There are only fifteen guns on the ship. There's no way we can fight this battle. While it's still not too late …"
The captain glanced at his son, then turned his head and shouted at the sailors behind him, "Where are the shells? Have the shells been delivered?!"
The old sailor nodded. "Waiting for your order, captain."
The captain looked back at the young man and gritted his teeth. "Gunners, get ready!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a cannonball hit a cannon that was in the middle of loading. The heavy metal barrel fell from the base and smashed into the bodies of the two cannoneers behind it. The two of them let out a blood-curdling screech before they stopped breathing.
At the same time, the three-masted sailboat with black sails accelerated and charged at them menacingly.
The captain commanded the gunners on the ship to return fire and shouted to encourage everyone, "Everyone, hold on! As long as we hurt them, let these bastards have a taste of our strength, they will give up on us and turn to the weaker prey!!! When we reach Boston, everyone will be given a bonus of six pounds! "
The sailors' morale, which was initially low, was reignited by the reward. When the enemy ship approached and entered the firing range, the fifteen guns on the ship began to fire decisively. However, it was obvious that they did not have enough time to practice. The trajectory of the bullets was crooked, and most of them landed on the side of the three-masted sailboat. Such an attack was like scratching an itch through the boots, and in return, the enemy fired back fiercely.
After a round of firing, another nine sailors fell on their side, and the morale of the crew finally collapsed. No matter how high the reward was, it was not as important as their own lives. The sailors began to throw down their weapons and flee. The captain knew that the situation was hopeless, and he stared blankly at everything in front of him until he turned his head and found his son lying on the deck.
The latter covered his chest with his hand, and blood seeped through the gaps between his fingers. The captain took off his triangular hat and knelt on the ground, holding his son in his arms with a blank look on his face.
Zhang Heng had already arrived at the captain's cabin. The moment he saw the three-masted sailboat, he already knew the outcome of the battle. Even if he joined the battle now, it would be useless.
The ship he was currently on was an ordinary British merchant ship. In order to carry as much cargo as possible and ensure profit, the ship was only equipped with eight 9-pounder light cannons, and there was not enough ammunition. On the other hand, the three-masted ship with black sails had at least 30 cannons. If it wasn't for the fact that he wanted to take down the ship as well, he would have been floating on the sea by now.
Therefore, instead of putting up a futile resistance, it was better to take this opportunity to do something meaningful.
Taking advantage of the chaos on the ship, Zhang Heng sneaked into the captain's cabin. In the past, this room would have been the most heavily guarded place on the ship, but now it was empty.
Zhang Heng ignored the valuable ornaments on the side. Even if he carried them with him, he wouldn't be able to keep them after the pirates boarded the ship. Zhang Heng quickly walked to the wooden table on the west side, pulled out three drawers in a row, and finally found what he was looking for.
— Logbook.
Basically, every ship had a logbook to record the date, wind direction, weather, and major events that happened that day. What Zhang Heng wanted to know the most was the exact time he was in and the basic situation on the ship. A logbook was undoubtedly the best choice.
He spread the logbook on the table, and three minutes later, there was a loud bang, and the ship suddenly shook violently.
Zhang Heng almost fell to the ground. When he regained his balance, he opened a small part of the curtains, and what he saw was a huge cannon muzzle.
Zhang Heng immediately closed the curtains, knowing that he didn't have much time left. Now that the two ships were joined together, it meant that they had entered the stage of a boarding battle. With the armed forces on the merchant ship, this battle wouldn't last long.
Fortunately, Zhang Heng was almost done with his investigation. It was now the year 1712, and if he remembered correctly, Spain went from prosperity to decline because of the War of Succession in 1701. England, through a series of treaties, acquired many of Spain's overseas colonies, becoming the new overlord of the sea. At the same time, this was also the era when pirates were the most active.
The merchant ship he was on originally planned to depart from London to Boston to be sold, and then bring back locally produced tobacco to England to be sold. In the end, when they were about to reach their destination, they unfortunately encountered a pirate attack. Seeing that he could not get rid of the other party, the captain, who had served in the Royal Navy, decided to bring out the spirit of a professional soldier and fight to the death to protect the goods and his own honor.
Judging from the screams coming from above, however, his plan didn't go well.
Other than that, Zhang Heng also found the location of New Providence on the nautical chart on the table. It was located in the north-central part of the Bahamas, and Nassau was a small town on the north coast of New Providence.
Zhang Heng wanted to continue reading, but he was running out of time. The pirates could come down from above at any time, and he knew that he couldn't stay here any longer. He put the log back into the drawer and quickly left the captain's cabin.
Initially, he planned to return to his residence, but he changed his mind halfway. Zhang Heng went to the kitchen first and hid the Lucky Rabbit's Foot, Hunter's Blessing, and Paris Arrow under a wooden plank. However, when he walked out of the kitchen, he bumped into two people.
One of them was running away, and the other was chasing after him.
Zhang Heng bumped into the man who was running away, and he fell to the ground. The man chasing after him was obviously not one of the ship's crew. He was holding a bloody axe in his hand, and when he looked at the fat man who was crying and crawling on the ground, a hint of bloodlust flashed in his eyes. When he saw Zhang Heng standing on the other side, not only did he not panic, but he also became even more excited.
What he didn't expect was that Zhang Heng was faster than him. Without hesitation, Zhang Heng did a karate side kick, sending the axe in the bald man's hand flying away.
However, the latter's fist was also fast. Zhang Heng raised his hand to block the punch, and his arm went numb from the impact. On the other hand, the bald man didn't seem to be hurt at all. Grinning, he pulled out the dagger from his waist.
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.
