"Is this why you asked me to recruit ten people who can speak French on the island?"
"Yes, we will keep thirty people on the deck, disguised as sailors on merchant ships. Well, try to choose people who don't look so fierce and are thinner. The remaining people will stay in the secret mezzanine below the deck, oh yes. Yes, there are also artillery pieces. There are too many artillery pieces on the ship, so let’s throw away half of them.”
"Are you serious? Leaving only a dozen cannons to deal with the most powerful British warships in the Caribbean?"
"Believe me, there is no difference between sixteen cannons and thirty-two cannons when facing the Scarbury." Orff shrugged and looked around, "Any more questions?"
"Even if we do what you said and luckily deceive the people on the Scarbury into believing that we are a French merchant ship and successfully connect, we are still at an absolute disadvantage in terms of manpower." Zhang Heng, who was silent, also spoke.
"Good question. We all know that there are 700 people on the Scarbury, but this number is actually watered down. Captain Elmer comes from a noble family and his lifestyle is very luxurious. This is true even on the Scarbury. There was no change at all. He spent money to hire musicians, separate cooks, and attendants... a lot of miscellaneous people to accompany him to relieve his boredom. These people have no fighting ability. Coupled with the original logistics on the ship, they can really fight. There should only be 600 people."
"To paraphrase what you said before, I don't see any difference between 600 people and 700 people?" Owen said.
"I haven't finished speaking yet. The situation in Marbella is tense. At the beginning of this year, the Admiralty recruited a group of experienced sailors from the New World. Now about two-thirds of the Scarborough crew are They are new recruits. Most of them are fishermen and farmers in the colony. They have only experienced a short training period of one or two months. Their fighting skills are very average. As long as we can defeat them in the first round of attacks, there is a high probability that they will be completely defeated afterwards, so we The real enemy is only those 200 veterans. Now we are all real men on this ship. One-on-one, I don’t believe you will lose to anyone.”
Orff's last words successfully inspired the blood of many people, but there were still very few people who responded.
The key is that the Scarbury has a good reputation and has always been a nightmare for pirates near the Caribbean. The thought of challenging such a behemoth makes the morale that was finally raised drop again.
Orff clapped his hands, "Gentlemen, I know what you are worried about. I have said from the beginning that this is not an easy journey. The treasure will not come to us on its own initiative. There is no doubt that we will experience something along the way." There are grinds, there are challenges, but as long as everyone works together…”
Owen couldn't help but interrupt him, "Challenging the Scarbury is not a test. The danger of this matter is too high. Even if every link in the process is correct, it is still unknown whether we can win it. , you said that the treasure map should be kept secret. We have been obeying your orders unconditionally for so long, but I'm afraid it won't work this time. If you want us to agree to this, at least tell us why we are doing this. "
Owen's words resonated with the pirates, and Orff could only nod his head when he saw the general trend, "Well, anyway, we are very close to the target, and we can almost tell you. I got the fifth copy of the exact news. The treasure map is in the hands of Count Bellomont."
"Count Belomont? The Count Belomont who was the Governor of New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire?"
At first, there were some pirates who didn’t know what this name meant. After hearing this sentence, they couldn’t help but take a breath. If there was a list of the most powerful people in the New World, Belo Monte would definitely be the one. One of the few people at the forefront, there is almost no chance of the treasure map being retrieved in the hands of such a big shot.
"Yes, he was also the one who personally sent Kidd to the gallows. A large part of Kidd's relics fell into his hands after his death, not just the fifth treasure map, but also those related to the sixth treasure map. Clues, in other words, as long as we catch him, we will almost be able to find the treasure." Orff then threw out another chip, "And his own value is no less than a treasure. If we can successfully catch him, He conservatively estimates that he can ask for a ransom of 400,000 pounds."
This number made everyone's breathing become heavier. After all, Kidd's treasure was still a little far away, but the ransom was close at hand.
However, it was Orff's last words that really played a decisive role, "Belomonte will leave his territory in a month and a half and go to Charleston to attend his young daughter's wedding. That is our best chance to win." Scarbury, we can blockade the port of Charleston and go ashore directly to arrest people.”
…………
"I must have been crazy to vote in favor." Malvern's hand holding the potato peeler kept shaking. "We are dead, right? The cannons on the Scarbury will tear us all into pieces." Splinters, or those sailors come up and chop us right up, God, I should have listened to your vote against it.”
"It's useless. Even if you count your vote, we are still far away from vetoing this action." Zhang Heng said while holding a spoon, but he was still calm. If he could decide the direction of the matter, he would definitely not want to get to this point. However, Orff is now in charge of the Sea Lion, and the latter is wary of him. Zhang Heng has been keeping a low profile during these days on the ship. Although he voted against it, except for a casual mention to Malvin, he did not Not discouraging anyone.
There is no point in complaining at this point. Only by taking down the Scarbury crew can we survive.
Zhang Heng and Marvin were selected into a group of disguised merchant ship crews because their looks were not so ferocious, and now they are the cooks on this "French merchant ship".
Zhang Heng took off his black clothes and temporarily gave them to the ambush soldiers in the mezzanine for safekeeping along with his weapons. However, just to be on the safe side, he still kept a dagger for self-defense. The dagger was hidden in the pot of potatoes at Malvin's feet. subcutaneous.
After a while, footsteps were heard outside the door, and Griffin, the bookkeeper, ran down from the deck, "The Scarbury has taken the bait and is heading this way. Mr. Orff asked me to inform you to prepare." , don’t show off your flaws.”
He had obviously never experienced this kind of thing before, and he seemed very nervous, even stammering a bit when he spoke. However, considering the roles they played now, this was a normal reaction when encountering a British warship.
