On the boundless blue sea, the Royal Scarbury is patrolling its territory like a lion.
This second-class battleship belonging to the British Navy has a displacement of 2,000 tons, 90 cannons and nearly 700 sailors. It is as terrifying as a giant in the Caribbean.
Every once in a while, the Scarbury would cruise out of the harbor regularly, and in accordance with the orders of the Admiralty, it would maintain the order of several nearby maritime trade routes. Pirates would escape wherever it passed.
In fact, just hearing the name Scarbury is enough to make even the most powerful pirates tremble with fear.
Therefore, the Scarbury actually encountered very few battles every time it sailed out of the port, unless you include the unilateral attack on the other side and the embarrassment of fleeing.
Captain Elmer is now sitting on the deck, sipping red wine and listening to the musicians playing the violin.
As a result, he was interrupted not long after he was immersed in the music. The watchman above his head suddenly shouted, "An armed merchant ship was discovered in the southwest!"
Elmer frowned, a look of displeasure on his face.
After hearing this, the first mate quickly walked to the side of the ship, took the copper telescope, looked at it for a while and said, "The French flag is hanging on the mast. The draft is very deep. The speed is only about three knots. It should be pulling a lot of cargo."
At this time, Captain Elmer finally put down the red wine in his hand and walked over slowly.
Now Europe is in the midst of the War of the Spanish Crown. In order to prevent the Bourbons from annexing Spain, a new grand alliance, including Britain, has united against France and its allies. The two sides are at war.
At this time, the French armed merchant ship was encountered by the Scarbury. It can only be blamed on its bad luck.
Elmer glanced at the sailors on the deck and saw that the eyes of everyone looking at him were full of desire. He smiled slightly and said, "If this is a gift given to us by God, then why reject it?"
All the sailors cheered when they heard this. Waiting for the Admiralty to pay their wages, everyone has long since starved to death. Extra loot like this is the only motivation to support them in going to sea. Even if most of it falls into the pockets of Elmer and the Admiral, everyone is still interested in it. I have long been accustomed to this kind of thing, and I am very satisfied with a little soup.
After the captain spoke, the Scarbury immediately began to adjust its course and sailed towards the "unlucky" armed merchant ship. At the same time, it opened the muzzle, revealing the dense black gun barrels inside, just like a shark revealing cut his own sharp teeth.
Although the war was about to break out, the atmosphere on the deck was generally relaxed, and the violinist in charge was still performing diligently.
There was a huge disparity in firepower between the two sides. There was no suspense in this battle. If the other side knew what was going on, they would surrender soon and give up the cargo. In this way, if Elmer was in a good mood, he might be able to spare the lives of the people on the ship.
The sailors of the Scarbury were all immersed in the joy of receiving extra money. Only an officer cadet on the ship was slightly worried. He said to Elmer, "Sir, is it a bit too simple? Our route is not What’s the secret, why do French merchant ships dare to show up at this time?”
As a result, he was interrupted by his colleagues before he finished speaking, "No conspiracy can be effective in the face of absolute power. Relax, Burnett, we are on the Scarbury, in this sea area." We have no natural enemies.”
…………
Unlike the joyful atmosphere on the Scarbury, the pirates on the Sea Lion were generally silent because they were about to face the biggest battle in their lives.
It has been half a month since they left Nassau. Thanks to Goodwin's betrayal, Orff's prestige on the ship has increased significantly. Now even those who are dissatisfied with him dare not reveal it at all. come out.
However, in this state, when Orff said that in order to get the fifth treasure map, he needed to capture the Royal Scarbury first, even the most enthusiastic pirate about treasure hunting would find it difficult to stand on his side. Bian supported him.
Because this has nothing to do with courage, it's completely crazy.
All pirates operating in the Caribbean know that the Scarbury cannot be touched. Although there is no explicit prohibition, pirates generally choose to avoid the navy. Attacking the navy's supply ship before was already a very risky move, and The Sea Lion also paid a heavy price for this.
For the sake of Kidd's treasure, everyone reluctantly accepted the action at that time, and the firepower of the supply ship was almost the same as that of the Sea Lion. As long as it was commanded properly and the battle was heroic, it could be won, but the Scarbury... that was a completely different story. It's over.
The most senior gunner on the ship was the first to speak, "The number of artillery equipped on the Scarbury is three times that of ours, and they are more powerful and have a farther range than us. This battle is impossible to fight. Let alone It is said that the strength of our hull is far inferior to that of a warship. As long as one salvo fires, we will be completely broken up. Mr. Orff, I have always trusted your leadership, but this time I Opposition must be raised because this kind of behavior is simply inviting death.”
His words were also supported by the vast majority of pirates.
Orff had to raise his voice, "Gentlemen, I agree with you. We are indeed at a disadvantage in terms of firepower. In a head-on battle, we definitely have no chance, so our only hope is to pick up the ship. "
"Taking the ship? I know we have recruited a lot of good people this time, but even if we include technical personnel such as cooks and ship doctors, we only have 173 people at full strength. How can we fight with 700 people? And the most important thing is that with With the firepower of the Cabaret, I'm afraid we will be sunk before we even get close to it." Boatswain Owen also questioned.
"Yes, you are right. It is like this under normal circumstances." Orf paused, "Unless we don't have to approach the Scarbury, but let it approach us."
"How can this be?!"
"Of course it is impossible to raise the black sail. Once the Scarbury discovers that we are pirates, the only option is to fire. But if we can make them believe that we are just a merchant ship, the situation will be different. No one can get along with a boatload of porcelain, right?"
Orff swept away the things on the table and laid out the nautical chart. "I got news on the island that a Dutch merchant ship had brought a ship of porcelain and planned to sell it in New York. We stopped it on the way and moved the porcelain. Get on board, hoist the French flag, and wait for the Scarbury on her course."
