When the first ray of dawn fell, the roar of artillery also shattered the calm of the sea.
The first to fire was the spice ship Happiness in the distance, and their last hope was shattered when they saw the black flag raised by the opposite Jackdaw.
In order to ensure the safety of the cargo as much as possible, the Happiness chose a relatively unpopular route and did a good job of keeping the route confidential. It has been safe and sound since it left the port for more than a month, and it is about to sail through this pirate-infested area. Frequent dangerous areas, did not expect to fall short in the end.
After dawn, they were finally able to see the appearance of the Jackdaw on the opposite side. Although they had already made some psychological preparations, after confirming that the ship they had been dealing with all night was indeed a battleship, everyone's faces were still involuntary. There was a look of despair.
The tragedy that happened in Charleston two months ago has already spread among the colonies. Two governors and a senior naval officer died tragically on the same night. At the same time, the city of Charleston was also violently shelled. It was the most serious loss suffered in the New World. In addition, there were also rumors that the navy lost a frigate that night, but compared with what happened before, not many people paid attention.
Now seeing the Jackdaw in front of them, everyone on the Happiness can't help but think of this rumor.
There's nothing worse than meeting a bunch of pirates with a bunch of pirates in battleships.
However, men who can beg for food in this sea area are not cowards. They know that their side is at an absolute disadvantage in terms of firepower, but everyone is unwilling to bow their heads and admit defeat like this.
What's more, the value of the cargo on board was enough for them to fight for it once, so the twelve cannons on the Happiness launched an attack on the rushing Jackdaw without hesitation.
As a result, most of the shells in the first round of attack missed, and only one shot passed the side of the ship. A rookie gunner next to him suddenly became nervous, and asked the black-clothed figure not far away, "Captain, are we going to fight back?"
"Wait a little longer." Zhang Heng looked at the happiness number in the distance and shook his head.
Now that the Jackdaw has just sailed into the opponent's range, although it is theoretically possible to fire back, the hit rate will definitely not be too high, and the power of the shells will not be enough if it is too far away. With the firepower on the Jackdaw, as long as The distance is close enough to completely stun the target in one round, avoiding turning into a long tug-of-war.
However, in this way, it needs to withstand several waves of attacks from the opponent first, but given the strength of the Jackdaw, this is not too much trouble.
Soon, the second wave of Happiness's attack arrived. With the previous test firing, the landing point of the shells this time was obviously much more accurate. It can be seen that the gunners on the opposite side should also be very experienced. Three of the shells hit the side of the ship. Another one hit the sail, but there was no serious problem at all, and the pirates breathed a sigh of relief.
But the third wave of attack was not so pleasant. At this time, the Jackdaw was not far from the Happiness, and even the figure on the opposite side could be seen. It happened to fall on the part of the ship that was not protected by the iron sheet, and the sea water immediately poured into the cabin at the bottom. Seeing this, the carpenter on the ship immediately picked up his tools and rushed down to repair it.
At this time, the voices on the boat requesting to fire gradually increased. Even Billy couldn't help looking at Zhang Heng, but the latter still didn't say a word.
Although Zhang Heng has participated in many battles on the Sea Lion, this is the first time he has personally led a naval battle. It was different from the previous feeling. At that time, he basically only needed to protect himself, wait for the opportunity to deal with the nearby threats, and if he had spare energy, he would save some companions in distress by the way, which would be considered as overfulfilling the task.
Except for the need to pay attention to the situation on the field when snatching the Scarborough, most of the time his eyes are limited to places not far away, which is similar to his action mode in the Soviet-Finnish War, but now he Commanding an entire ship, what needs to be considered becomes how to win a battle with the least cost.
The firepower on the Jackdaw is undoubtedly far superior to that of the opposite Happiness, but the level of the gunners is just the opposite. This will be more obvious when shooting at long distances, but as the distance gets closer, the two sides can improve their accuracy. The gap will also be narrowed, after all, as long as you are close enough, it is difficult for a novice to miss.
That's why Zhang Heng chose to brave the gunfire and rush to the front of the Happiness, but when the fourth wave of attack landed on the deck, people began to be injured one after another. Zhang Heng himself was scratched by a piece of flying wood, but his face remained the same. Without any expression, he continued to hold the binoculars to observe the movement on the Happiness, until he saw the gunner on the opposite side quickly filling the shells into the barrel, preparing for the next salvo, and Zhang Heng finally issued a new order.
"Sail down and slow down, rudder to starboard."
The pirates waited for this sentence for too long. Hearing this, they immediately retracted the sails on the ship as fast as possible. The Jackdaw avoided a new round of attacks by suddenly slowing down. At the same time, the ship also swayed. In the end, it became a state parallel to the happiness number.
Although some sailboats of this era also carry bow and stern cannons, they are mostly used in emergencies. The firepower output mainly depends on the side cannons. Therefore, before launching an attack, you need to turn the hull sideways to the target. This is why Zhang Heng must let the Jackdaw get close enough to fight back.
Because once you enter the combat state, it is very difficult to adjust the distance.
The pirates had been unilaterally bombarded by the artillery fire from the Happiness before, and they had long been angry. When Zhang Heng gave the order, the gunners immediately responded with the most violent fire. The artillery on the ship fired together, although nearly half of the shells fell. into the water, but the rest caused a lot of damage to the happiness.
One of the 24-pound shells was lucky enough to hit the sub-mast of the Lucky, and the latter broke in response. It hit the deck and directly crushed two sailors to death. The sails above also covered three artillery pieces.
After seeing the power of the cannons on the Jackdaw, all the sailors on the Happiness were in a panic. Although some people were still trying to fight back, they were quickly overwhelmed by the overwhelming shells. If the gunners on the ship were to adjust the angle higher, the Bliss would suffer heavy damage after the second round of salvo.
The battle was almost as expected. After the two rounds of artillery fire, the opponent obviously realized that further fighting would only increase the casualties. Although he was still unwilling, he could only choose to surrender at the first moment.
Zhang Heng was not as excited as the others on board, because he knew that the most dangerous moment would come next. According to Karina's information, there were thirty sailors on board the Happiness, and what was even more troublesome was a group of hitchhikers. The number of naval cadets is about twenty, and they are all strong young men.
These people have surpassed the pirates on the Jackdaw in number.