Thunder rumbled in the distance. It was said to be the sound of the cannons fired by the Norton Family's Northsea Fleet.
Captain Fodders listened to the shouts and shouts coming from the surrounding ships. He suppressed his fear and uneasiness until he found that there was nothing wrong with the ships around him. They were still maintaining a good order and formation. Only then did he slowly calm down.
As the captain of a large armed merchant ship with a full load of 100,000 kilograms, Fodders' only pride was this merchant ship called the Mermaid's Song. From his grandfather to his father, to himself, three generations of hard work and sacrifice on the sea finally allowed his family to own a complete armed merchant ship that belonged to them. To Captain Fodders, on the sea, on the Mermaid's Song, he was the only king and lord.
However, as the owner of the Mermaid's Song, Captain Fodders did not dare to disobey the orders of the Chikder Merchant Union. When he received the order to join a large fleet formed by the Chikder Merchant Union to transport a batch of supplies to Hidden Gold Bay, he did not dare to object at all. After all, the Chikder Merchant Union was the overlord of the southern seas. If he offended them, the Mermaid's Song might not be able to move an inch on the sea.
As a navigator who had lived on the sea for three generations, Captain Fodders naturally had his own connections and sources of information. In the tavern, he quickly found out why the Chikder Merchant Union had organized such a large transport fleet. It was said that the Invincible Fleet of the Commerce Union had started a war with the Norton Family's Northsea Fleet. The Invincible Fleet seemed to have suffered a great loss, and even the port of Erniba was burned to ashes by the Northsea Fleet.
It was said that during the winter, most of the ships that had been commissioned to transport supplies to Hidden Gold Bay had fallen into the hands of the Norton Family. For example, the Eimer, the Dragonfly, the Molin, and the Mordor, which were large, armed merchant ships similar to the Song of the Flying Fish, had all been seized. Furthermore, the Norton Family's North Sea Fleet had a bronze cannon that was even more powerful than the legendary cannons of the dwarves. Its long-range attacks were invincible, and it could easily destroy a ship …
The reason why Cheekde's Merchant Association had organized such a large transport fleet was to prevent the loss of supplies. Everyone knew that the Commerce Federation and the Andinac Kingdom were engaged in a cruel and bloody battle in the Mana Hill Plain. The well-informed crew members and sailors on the sea watched with pity as the soldiers who were recruited from the south were transported to Hidden Gold Bay by sea and thrown into the bottomless pit of flesh and blood that was the Mana Hill Plain.
To the Commerce Federation, the sea routes were their lifeline in maintaining the frontlines. Thus, it was only natural for them to form a large transport fleet and have two sub-fleets of the Invincible Fleet escort it. This would remove the threat of the Norton Family's North Sea Fleet, and at the same time, it would also let the doubtful navigators know that although the Invincible Fleet had suffered some losses in the battle with the North Sea Fleet, the Invincible Fleet was still the ruler of the southern seas.
Captain Fodders was one such doubter. He had always suspected that this journey was not as leisurely as the officials of the Invincible Fleet had claimed, but was instead full of danger. The reason was simple. On the night before the fleet set off, the Norton Family's North Sea Fleet suddenly appeared outside the harbor and launched another night attack.
Captain Fodders was very glad that his Mermaid's Song, as a large ocean-going armed merchant ship, was arranged in the innermost part of the harbor due to its large cargo capacity, and not at the outermost part of the harbor like those unlucky medium-sized cargo ships. That night, the sky was filled with flames and the sound of cannons. Had it not been for the quick response of the Invincible Fleet's small, rapid-impact battleships, who rushed to the rescue immediately, the Invincible Fleet might have been caught in a huge fire that night.
Captain Fodders still remembered that noisy and fiery night clearly. Because of this night attack, the Invincible Fleet had to delay their departure by seven days. Although the upper echelons of the Invincible Fleet had issued a gag order forbidding the crew and sailors of the fleet from discussing the night attack, Captain Fodders and the Invincible Fleet still learned from the drunken crew and sailors in the tavern that the night attack had caused the Trade Federation and the Invincible Fleet to suffer heavy losses. The Trade Federation had lost more than 50 medium-sized transport ships that were lined up on the periphery, while the Invincible Fleet had lost more than 20 large and medium-sized armed battleships and more than 30 rapid-impact battleships. The enemy had escaped unscathed.
Perhaps it was the unexpected night attack of the Norton Family's fleet that finally woke up the arrogant commanders of the Invincible Fleet. Seven days later, before the departure, Captain Fodders received the arrangements and the voyage plan. He was surprised to find that the transport fleet was not sailing on the traditional sea route, but along the coastline to Hidden Gold Bay.
It was not impossible to sail along the coastline, but it would prolong the entire voyage. If they sailed by sea, they could reach Hidden Gold Bay in 21 days. However, if they sailed along the coastline, it would take at least a month or more than 40 days. After all, there was a large section of the coastline in the middle of the Titanic Mountains. There were no ports along the coast, only a few temporary landing points for water.
A large fleet of more than a thousand large, medium and small merchant ships and battleships could be said to be unprecedented in the history of Galinthea. Almost everyone thought that the fleet would sail majestically along the sea route with white sails covering the sky. This was a parade to show the majesty of the Invincible Fleet. Unexpectedly, the Invincible Fleet adopted the plan of sailing along the coastline. This was really shocking.
However, Captain Fodders and the other veterans of the sea thought that the commanders of the Invincible Fleet were very wise. The biggest advantage of sailing along the coastline was that the Invincible Fleet could avoid being attacked from both sides. The Invincible Fleet only needed to protect the periphery. It was impossible for the enemy to intervene between the coastline and the transport fleet to launch an attack. In that case, there was no need for the warships of the Invincible Fleet to take action. Any few merchant ships would either be stranded or trapped, because there was no room for maneuver.
The traditional sea route could indeed speed up the voyage and save time, but it was also faced with attacks from all directions. For the Invincible Fleet, it was very difficult to protect the transport fleet that was more than 10 nautical miles long. The commanders of the Invincible Fleet finally understood the power of the enemy North Sea Fleet after a night attack. Although there were only a dozen warships, the threat to the transport fleet was not much less than a sub-fleet …
Now, the two sub-fleets of the Invincible Fleet were not thinking about how to defeat the Norton Family's North Sea Fleet, but how to escort the transport fleet to Hidden Gold Bay. This was because the more than 800 transport ships were basically carrying all the military supplies and fodder that had been plundered from the seven southern provinces, as well as 100,000 forcibly conscripted new soldiers. To the Commerce Alliance, these supplies, fodder, and new soldiers were the key to ensuring that the Commerce Alliance could defeat the Andinac Kingdom. They were the most important guarantee of victory in this bloody battle.
Sailing along the coastline, the two sub-fleets of the Invincible Fleet and the armed fleet of the Chicant Chamber of Commerce did not need to be grouped together with the transport fleet. The transport fleet was inside, and the escort fleet was outside. Thus, if the Norton Family's North Sea Fleet launched another attack, they would first have to open a hole in the outer defense circle of the escort fleet before they could attack the transport fleet inside. At the same time, the biggest advantage was that if the transport fleet was attacked and suffered losses, then the transport ships that could not hold on could rush to the beach and save the supplies and reinforcements they were transporting. They would not have to sink helplessly like they did on the sea route …
This is the third time we've been attacked … Captain Fodders thought worriedly as he listened to the rumbling cannons in the distance.
Although it was safer to sail along the coastline, it was too slow. Traditional sea routes had undercurrents and favorable winds, but it was very difficult to have such convenient sailing conditions along the coast. The transport fleet, which stretched as far as the eye could see, was as slow as a snail. After 21 days of sailing, they had not even crossed half of the coastline of the Titanic Mountains. Instead, they were met with the third attack from the Norton Family's North Sea Fleet.
On the 14th day of sailing, the fleet was attacked again by the enemy fleet. It was still 14 cannon-firing warships. They fought with the escorting Invincible Fleet and the armed fleet of the Chicant Chamber of Commerce for two days and three nights. In the end, they probably ran out of ammunition and left again. The escorting Invincible Fleet and the armed fleet of the Chicant Chamber of Commerce lost a total of nearly 70 small rapid-impact warships and medium-sized warships, as well as seven large warships …
Captain Fodders' Mermaid's Song was assigned more than 10 crew members and sailors from the Invincible Fleet. In name, they were there to strengthen the defense of the transport ship. In reality, these crew members and sailors were rescued from the warships that had been sunk by the Norton Family's fleet. Because the warships were gone, they were arranged to be on the transport ship.
It only took Captain Fodders two days to familiarize himself with the crew members and sailors of the Invincible Fleet. After being entertained with delicious food and drinks, Captain Fodders quickly obtained detailed information about the battlefield from them.
"The commander of the North Sea Fleet is very cunning. Although he only has a dozen warships under his command, he never engages in close combat with us. He always fires cannons at us from 300 meters away. When we get close, he will raise his sails and run away. We can't chase too closely because we can't leave the group. Otherwise, we will be lured away by them and sink our warships.
Our commander set up several traps and even used the transport ship to deliberately expose a flaw in the defense circle, hoping to lure the enemy fleet to attack the transport ship. Then, he would surround the enemy and engage in close combat with them to destroy them. However, the enemy fleet's commander did not fall for the trap. It was as if he did not see the transport ship in front of him and only cared about our escorting fleet.
The enemy's cannons are very powerful and have a very long range. The iron bullets fired from more than 300 meters away are as big as the mouth of a bowl. I served on a large armed warship, the Squid. At that time, our ship didn't move very fast, and there were three small rapid-impact warships and a medium-sized armed warship in between us. The enemy's four warships fired their cannons at us at the same time. A fiery red iron bullet penetrated the ship's wall, which was more than ten centimeters thick, and directly hit the coiled ropes on the deck. Then, it started burning, and the fire spread along the ropes to the sails. Soon, our warships were like torches, and it was too late to save them … "
The boatswain named Sheerah was a little drunk. He was talking about the experience of his ship and the strength of the enemy. Fortunately, he was on the merchant ship of the Mermaid's Song. If he was still with the Invincible Fleet, he would have been tied to the mast and whipped.
However, Fodders knew that he was telling the truth. The rope used to raise and lower the sails on the deck was greased to prevent it from being corroded by seawater. These things were most afraid of fire. Normally, when a ship was attacked by fire in a naval battle, there would be special guards to put out the flames as soon as possible. The Squid was so far away from the enemy that it probably did not think of this. That was why it was so tragic.
"Can't our Invincible Fleet destroy a dozen warships of the Norton family with so many warships? Even if they have super long-range cannons, we have so many warships. They won't be able to attack us all … "Captain Fodders asked.
The boatswain Sheerah burped. "You … You don't know, but the enemy's warships are too slippery. Their warships have a lot of advantages over all of our warships in terms of operating performance and the use of sails. They are even faster than us. If we chase them, they will lure us out of the Sunshine Waters and into the deep sea, where they will destroy our warships. Last time, we sent more than 20 warships, but only three returned.
Our small rapid-impact warships can be a big threat to them. Last time, it was the small rapid-impact warships that drove them away. But now, their methods of dealing with the rapid-impact warships are too cruel. I told you that the iron pellets fired by their cannons are as big as the mouth of a bowl, but, but they have an even smaller pellet that is made up of many iron beads the size of a finger. They can fire nearly a hundred pellets in one shot, and a dozen can cover a large area.
In the past, they used to use bowl-sized iron pellets to hit the rapid-impact warships, and they missed six or seven times out of ten. But now, they are using those iron pellets, and they are letting the rapid-impact warships get close to them. When they reached a distance of fifty to sixty meters, they fired their cannons at the small battleship. The small battleship was covered in blood and flesh. If they weren't dead, they were injured. There weren't many survivors. It was a nightmare. "
From that day on, Captain Fodders began to worry about the outcome of this voyage. Although the Invincible Fleet and the Chicant Merchant Union still had four to five hundred warships, if the Norton family's North Sea Fleet continued to harass them, who knew how many warships would reach Hidden Gold Bay? If the Invincible Fleet was destroyed, what would happen to their merchant ships that were full of supplies? Should they continue to advance, or should they turn back and flee?
From the bottom of his heart, Captain Fodders was inclined to turn back and flee. The war between the Trade Union and the Andinac Kingdom had nothing to do with him. Protecting his family's only merchant ship was the most important thing. But the Trade Union now occupied seven important ports on the Golden Coastline, and even the Chigda Kingdom was its ally. If he fled back to the Trade Union, he and his ship would not be able to escape …
There had been 21 days between the first and second night attacks, but now there were only seven days between the third and second attack. An experienced captain like Captain Fodders could easily estimate that the enemy must have a supply base or a powerful fleet ready to intercept the transport fleet. Perhaps a large-scale battle was waiting for the Invincible Fleet, and the Norton family's fleet would decide who was the real ruler of the sea.
Captain Fodders did not care who was the ruler of the sea. After all, he was just an independent merchant ship captain. All he had to do was obediently pay a fee to the victors and obtain the permission of the merchant ships. Hearing the rumbling cannons in the distance, Captain Fodders touched the white linen in his pocket gloomily. If the Invincible Fleet was defeated, he would hang the white linen on the mast. He would rather surrender than let his merchant ship sink …
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