On the boundless blue sea, the Royal Scarborough is patrolling its territory like a lion.
This second-class warship belonging to the British Navy has a displacement of 2,000 tons, 90 cannons and nearly 700 sailors. It is a terrifying existence like a giant in the Caribbean Sea.
Every once in a while, the Scarborough will sail out of the port on a regular basis. According to the order of the Ministry of the Navy, it will maintain the order of several nearby sea trade routes. Wherever it passes, all the pirates will flee.
In fact, the mere hearing of Scarborough's name was enough to send chills down the spine of even the mightiest of pirates.
Therefore, the Scarborough actually encounters very few battles every time it sails out of the port, unless you count the unilateral beating and fleeing in embarrassment on the opposite side.
Captain Elmer is sitting on the deck now, sipping red wine while 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, "To the southwest, we found an armed merchant ship!"
Elmer frowned, with a look of displeasure on his face.
Hearing this, the first officer walked quickly to the ship's side, took the copper binoculars, looked at it for a while and said, "The French flag is hung on the mast. The draft is very deep, and the speed is only about three knots. It must have pulled a lot of cargo."
At this time, Captain Elmer finally put down the red wine in his hand and walked over slowly.
Europe is now in the midst of the Wars of the Spanish Crown, where a new Grand Alliance, including Great Britain, unites against France and its allies in order to prevent the Bourbons from annexing Spain.
At this time, the French armed merchant ship was bumped into by the Scarborough, and it could only be blamed for its bad luck.
Elmer glanced at the sailors on the deck. Seeing that everyone was looking at him with longing eyes, he smiled slightly and said, "If this is a gift from God, why should we refuse it?"
All the sailors immediately cheered when they heard this. Waiting for the Ministry of the Navy to pay their wages, the big guys have long starved to death. Extra spoils like this are the only motivation to support them to go to sea. This kind of thing has long been taken for granted, and a little soup is very satisfying.
With the captain speaking, the Scarborough immediately began to adjust its course, heading towards the "unlucky" armed merchant ship, and at the same time opened the muzzle, revealing the densely packed black barrels inside, like a shark exposed cut his teeth.
Although the war was about to start, the atmosphere on the deck was generally relaxed, and the violinist in charge of the performance was still performing dutifully.
The difference in firepower between the two sides is huge, and there is no suspense at all in this battle. If they are familiar with each other, they should surrender soon and give up the goods. If Elmer is in a good mood, he may be able to spare the lives of the people on board.
The sailors of the Scarborough were all immersed in the joy of receiving extra money, only one midshipman on board was a little worried, he said to Elmer, "Sir, is it a little too simple, our route is not What a 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. Take it easy, Burnett, we are on the Scarborough, in this sea area We have no natural enemies."
...
Unlike the happy atmosphere on the Scarborough, 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, and Orff's prestige on the ship has soared by the incident of Goodwin's betrayal. Now even if there are still people who are dissatisfied with him, they dare not reveal it at all. come out.
However, even in such a state, when Orff said that to obtain the fifth treasure map, he had to seize the Royal Scarborough first, even the most enthusiastic pirates would find it difficult to continue to stand by him. support him.
Because this has nothing to do with courage, it is already completely crazy.
All pirates operating in the Caribbean Sea know that the Scarborough cannot be touched. Although there is no explicit prohibition, pirates generally choose to avoid the navy. It is already a very risky move to attack the navy's supply ship before, and Sea Lion also paid a tragic 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 the command is proper, the heroic combat can be won, but the Scarborough... that is a completely different matter son.
The oldest gunner on the ship was the first to say, "The number of artillery equipped on the Scarborough is three times that of ours, and they are more powerful and farther than ours. 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 is fired, we will completely fall apart. Mr. Orff, I have always trusted your leadership, but this time I Objections must be made, because such behavior is simply 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 frontal battle, we definitely have no chance, so our only hope is to take the board. "
"On board? I know we have recruited a lot of good players this time, but even including the cooks, ship doctors and other technical personnel, we only have 173 people at full strength. How are we going to fight 700 people? And the most important thing is Ess With the firepower of the Caberley, we are afraid that we will be sunk before reaching it." Owen, the boatswain, also questioned.
"Yes, you're right, that's how it is under normal circumstances." Olf paused, "Unless we don't have to approach the Scarborough, but let it approach us.".
"How can this be?!"
"Of course it is impossible when the black sails are hoisted. Once the Scarborough discovers that we are pirates, the only option is to fire. But if we can convince them that we are just a merchant ship, the situation will be different. No one has trouble 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 pulled a boatload of porcelain to sell in New York. We stopped it halfway and moved the porcelain to New York. Come aboard, fly the French flag, and wait for the Scarborough on her way."