Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 25: Gang Jumping
Captain Gold, his hand on the scimitar at his waist, was gazing at the three-masted fast ship in the distance from the bow of his ship.

The fat captain of the Skua said that on the Inland Sea, "merchant ships with malicious intentions are pirates, and pirates who honestly sail are merchant ships," but this time he was wrong. Because robbery was not Captain Gold's hobby; "Lucky" Gold was a full-time pirate on the Inland Sea, specializing in the promising profession of maritime robbery.

Gold earned the nickname "Good Luck" because Lady Luck always seemed to be smiling on him.

Many pirate ships were captured by the Allied Navy, but he always managed to escape. When faced with tough prey, the pirates who survived the bloody battle were all wounded, but he always emerged unscathed.

The sailors all said: "Bullets avoid Lucky Gold." Rumors also circulated quietly in the cabins: Lucky Gold had made a deal with the devil, and evil black magic was protecting him.

However, Gold was indeed always very lucky, and he even named his ship "Good Luck".

Just like this time, if the wind hadn't stopped, the Lucky Star, a galley, would have had no chance of catching up with the three-masted fast ship ahead. But the wind just stopped, so no matter how many sails that ship had, it could only be at the mercy of the Lucky Star.

Gold saw that after he raised the black and red flag, the small boat in front of him had lowered its naval ensign and raised a white flag.

The fact that the enemy was so easily frightened into surrendering was largely due to the large cannon displayed on the bow of the Lucky Ship. This large-caliber stone-throwing cannon was Captain Gold's prized possession, which he acquired by chance and at a high price.

No one on the Lucky Star knew how to use this cannon, but fortunately, it was never needed in actual combat. As long as it was loaded with gunpowder and stone projectiles and fired, even the toughest prey would surrender obediently upon hearing the cannon's roar.

A large-caliber catapult can extinguish any merchant ship's illusions of boarding maneuvering.

The merchant ship opposite raised the Venetia naval ensign, but didn't it still cower at the sight of cannon fire? As for that naval ensign, Gold didn't care.

He knew the true strength of the navies of the allied nations and that many merchant ships were registered under their names. The weaker and less capable a merchant ship was of protecting itself, the more likely it was to register with the navies of various countries, pay some protection money, and exchange its flag for a naval ensign.

A naval ensign might scare away an armed merchant ship with malicious intent, but it wouldn't frighten Good Luck Gold.

On this inland sea, ships come and go. How could I not dare to rob you just because you fly the Venetia Navy flag? Besides, in this vast ocean, even if I rob you, would the Venetia Navy know? Even if they did know, what could they do to me?
Moreover, this time, Good Fortune Gold was specifically after the naval ensign. Three masts, a light vessel, under the name of the Venetta Navy, appearing here at this time—all the intelligence corroborated it perfectly. Yes, it was this ship!
Seeing that the other side had raised the white flag and lowered the sails to surrender, Captain Gold's mouth was practically splitting into a wide grin. He was overjoyed: "We've struck it rich! We've struck it rich this time!"

Gold couldn't wait to get on the ship ahead. The Lucky Star seemed like a snail's pace to him, and the Great Fortune, so close yet so far, was driving him crazy. He called out to his first mate, "Are the rowers trying to die? Not putting in any effort? Rowing so slowly? Go make them row harder!"

Upon hearing Gold's words, the first mate picked up his whip and went down to the open deck, where he began to whip the poor rowers on the lower deck.

Like the Skua, the Lucky has two decks, but both of the Lucky's decks are above the waterline.

In reality, rather than saying that the Lucky Star, a flat-bottomed bathtub boat, has two decks, it would be more accurate to say that the Lucky Star was built on the basis of a single-deck flat-bottomed boat, with an illegal superstructure built running from front to back to serve as an open deck.

The oarsmen of the Lucky Star were placed on the second deck, with one foot chained to the oar, leaving them no room to turn and only able to row.

The oarsmen weren't pirates on the Good Fortune; no free man would want to be an oarsman. The oarsmen were sailors from merchant ships that had been robbed by Good Fortune Gold.

The cargo was stolen, the ship was sold, and the sailors sold some of it, leaving some to row on the Good Fortune.

The oarsmen were strapped to iron, and they ate, drank, relieved themselves, and slept all by the oars. Even when the pirates came ashore to rest, the oarsmen were not released.

Poor food, poor sleep, and immense work pressure. Even a strong, healthy man couldn't endure this kind of environment for long.

Fortunately, new victims always come to take their place. The rowers are like replaceable parts on the Lucky Star, and they need to be replaced every now and then.

For oarsmen, there were only two paths: die by the oars, or find a way to become pirates.

The Lucky Star had ten rows of oars, each with two oarsmen, for a total of forty oarsmen. These forty oarsmen, plus the fifty-odd pirates, made up the entire crew of the Lucky Star.

A crew of less than 100 was clearly too bulky for a ship as small as the Good Fortune. As a result, the Good Fortune had very poor endurance and had to dock for supplies and rest every one or two days at sea.

On ordinary galleys, sailors also serve as oarsmen. But on the Lucky Star, with its free human-like animals, the pirates naturally no longer wanted to act as oarsmen; they wanted to save their energy for possible hand-to-hand combat.

The Lucky Star came within a few hull lengths of the Skua, and Captain Gold commanded the Lucky Star to circle the Skua in a show of defiance.

Not only to deter the enemy, but also because Captain Gold cautiously wanted to get a closer look at the small boat:
The fattest guy must be the captain; no sailor could have that much flesh, and he's wearing the best clothes too. He's standing awkwardly at the bow, constantly wiping his sweat.

Captain Gold laughed heartily, "This fat man can't be sold; he must stay on the Lucky Star and row until he dies."

The remaining seven or eight men on deck were typical sailors, dressed in tattered clothes, their exposed skin tanned and cracked by the sun. Two years ago, Good Luck Gold was also such a miserable sailor, but now he was a hunter.

There must be more than just these few sailors on this ship; surely some are hiding in dark corners, praying they'll escape. No need to rush; we can find them all slowly. In this vast ocean, no one can escape.

The Lucky Star put away the oars on the side closest to the Skua, and the pirates threw iron hooks with ropes toward the Skua while making strange noises to scare the sailors on board.

The iron hooks gripped the hull of the Skuas, and the distance between the two ships was gradually closed. Four gangplanks with iron hooks extended towards the Skuas and were firmly attached to the hull.

It's done! These gangplanks have iron hooks on both sides. Once hooked, they're extremely difficult to let go. The Skua is now firmly connected to the Lucky Star by these gangplanks, and even if the fat captain regrets it now, there's no escaping it.

A dozen impatient pirates rushed onto the deck of the Skua before Gold could give the order, which greatly annoyed Good Luck Gold.

The system of pirates in the Inland Seas was quite democratic to some extent. The captain had no special privileges other than a small private room, and could even be voted off the ship by the sailors.

The rule of robbery is that all spoils must be divided equally, but the pirates who rush onto the prey's ship first will definitely be able to steal more loose silver coins.

So every time the gangplank was put up, the pirates would rush on in a frenzy, and Gold couldn't control them. If he used harsh methods, he could be slit in the throat and "driven off the ship" by the pirates that very night.

“The morale is too low, it’s hard to lead the team.” Gold sighed, shaking his head, and walked toward the Skuas.

The Skuas was greeted by a piercing whistle instead of good fortune. The Skuas tore off its sheepskin disguise, and the fat sheep in the eyes of the pirates revealed its sharp teeth and claws. A large group of young men in military uniforms, armed with sharp weapons, rushed out of the Skuas's forecastle, sterncastle, and cabins.

------Dividing line------

Major General Layton slammed his whistle down, fulfilling his promise to be the "first to board."

The major general roared, "Follow me!" and then jumped off the stern deck, landing on the open deck of the Lucky Star. The moment the burly man landed, the entire ship shook.

The warrant officers mostly used one-handed weapons with makeshift shields made from wooden planks, while the major general held his own sword in his left hand and a sailor's dagger in his right. Upon landing, he delivered a heavy slash to the pirate's neck, the brutal blow severing half the neck diagonally, the curved tip of the dagger causing secondary damage as it recoiled.

The major general, having withdrawn his scimitar, ignored the poor man whose neck had been severed in half, and, covered in freshly splattered blood, continued his ferocious slaughter of the remaining pirates who were still in shock.

Inspired by the major general's fierce demeanor, Andrei and several warrant officers roared and followed him onto the deck of the Lucky Star.

Major Moritz sighed helplessly, then picked up his sword and jumped from the bow of the ship.

The major's original plan was to first ambush and eliminate the pirates who boarded the ship, then use rotary cannons and muskets to weaken the pirates remaining on the enemy ship, and finally board and wipe out the remaining enemies.

But since the top leader jumped ship, he had no choice but to follow suit.

------Dividing line------

On the top deck of the stern, Winters and two artillery lieutenants worked together to mount the rotary cannon onto the ship's side. The three of them had been lying prone on the deck, concealing themselves with barrels and burlap sacks.

The reason it's called a rotary cannon is because it's mounted on a support and can rotate up, down, left, and right to adjust the firing angle.

Below the iron frame is an iron rod. There are holes drilled during the ship's construction. By inserting the iron rod into the holes, the rotating cannon can be mounted on the ship's side.

The Skuas has a lower freeboard than the Lucky Star, which is a disadvantage. But don't forget, the Skuas also has a superstructure.

In boarding maneuvers, the ship with the higher deck has the advantage. For example, from the top deck of the Skuas, one can have a clear view of the Lucky's open deck.

As the saying goes, "higher ground to shoot down low ground, and to kill idiots," the Jaguar's long-range firepower is positioned high, allowing it to fire at the Fortune with ease.

Having secured the arquebus, one artillery warrant officer held the breech and aimed the cannon at the enemy, while another artillery warrant officer swiftly grabbed a breechblock and stuffed it into the breech chamber of the rotary cannon, then drove in a wooden wedge to secure it. Gunpowder was then poured into the ignition port.

While the two artillery warrant officers were busy, Winters had only one responsibility: to make sure the fuse didn't go out.

There were no salt-soaked matchlock ropes on the ship, so they had to use hemp rope broken up to make matchlocks. The problem was that hemp rope burned very quickly when upside down, but went out on its own when burned upright.

Winters now resembled Prometheus, the fire-stealer, carefully tending to the small flame in his hand by blowing on it and adjusting the angle.

"Alright! Start the fire!" the loader warrant officer urged repeatedly.

Without an ignition rod, Winters simply used his hand to hold the match cord and light the gunpowder. He didn't know when to pull his hand away, and the gas propelled the lead, causing gunpowder to spray out of the ignition nozzle, resulting in several more burns on his hands, but Winters gritted his teeth and didn't utter a sound.

"Boom!" Accompanied by a puff of smoke and a loud bang, six or seven lead bullets shot out from the rotating cannon muzzle, blasting towards the pirates on the Lucky Star. The battle was too chaotic to see how many pirates were hit, but some were crying out in pain.

The two artillery warrant officers seemed quite dissatisfied with the effectiveness of the shelling.

Artillery of this era did not have a depression angle, because the shell was smaller than the diameter of the cannon barrel, so when the cannon tilted down, the shell would roll straight out.

Unable to find matching shells in the rush, the warrant officers used rifle bullets as cannonballs. They wrapped them in burlap sacks to prevent the lead bullets from falling out when the cannon was pointed downwards.

The problem is that lead pellets are smaller than artillery shells and have poor gas-tightness, allowing propellant gases to escape through the gaps. This is why artillerymen use wooden stock when using grapeshot.

But where could they find a wooden support in such a hurry? There wasn't even time to carve wood on the spot, so they had to bite the bullet and proceed. Naturally, the power of the rotating cannon was greatly reduced, and it didn't have the effect of sweeping away a whole area with one shot, as they had imagined.

"Keep going! Don't stop." The gunner, a warrant officer, halted the ongoing damage assessment. Something is better than nothing; even if it's just a bang, it's still a huge deterrent to the enemy.

After cleaning the cannon barrel, a new breechblock was installed. Winters lit the cannon again, and sparks hissed as they burned into the breechblock, but only a wisp of smoke came out.

The rotating cannon didn't roar; its sound was more like a muffled fart.

Mute?

The loader warrant officer remained unmoved, immediately knocked off the wooden wedge, and replaced it with a new gun.

I tried to light it again, but there was still no reaction.

"(Swearing)! This stingy captain, the gunpowder must have been sitting unused for too long and separated!" The loader warrant officer gave a friendly greeting to the fat captain's entire family, but his hands didn't stop moving as he replaced the gun with another one.

I lit it again, and this time it made a sound.

The twelve bullets were quickly used up, with only five firing and the remaining seven all going off as duds.

The loader warrant officer was so angry about the alarming rate of duds that he cursed and swore. The gunner warrant officer, however, didn't say a word. He picked up the matchlock gun that was lying to the side and handed it to Winters and the loader warrant officer.

Winters stood on high ground, with a clear view of the situation. The shouts of battle had ceased, replaced only by the dull thuds of blades piercing flesh and screams of agony. The pirates who had jumped onto the Skuas's deck had all been dealt with; the crowded deck of the Skuas no longer showed the pirates' filthy hair, only the clean heads of the warrant officers.

The combined land and sea forces aboard the Skua were storming the deck of the Lucky Star, and even three of the four passengers who had initially been uncooperative were now fighting the pirates on the front lines with weapons. However, the space was cramped, and only a few people at the very front of both sides were fighting desperately, while the rest could only push and shove from behind.

Meanwhile, pirates were pouring out of the hatch at the bow of the Lucky Star, and the initial ambush on the deck turned into a bloody tug-of-war where each man took turns slashing and hacking.

Winters watched as Andrei followed the enraged Major General as he rushed into the cabin through the stern hatch of the Lucky Star.

His heart tightened. Judging from the situation, there were obviously a large number of pirates in the cabin. If the major general and Andrei went in, they would definitely be in grave danger.

Winters and Andrei were originally just fellow countrymen who weren't very close, but these past few days, with Winters injured on the ship, Andrei had taken good care of him. Regardless of what Andrei thought, Winters had at least come to regard this loud-voiced fellow as a friend.

Seeing that Andrei had entered dangerous territory, Winters had no choice but to stay in the safe place and provide support with his musket.

He threw down his gun, and amidst the artillery warrant officer's shout of "Hey? What are you doing?", he leaped down and landed on the stern deck of the Lucky Star. Gritting his teeth, he followed Andrei's route and rushed into the Lucky Star's cabin.

(End of this chapter)