Less than a day had passed since the last battle, and the Jackdaw was once again engaged in intense pre-war preparations, but the crew did not have any complaints.
The main reason is that the pirates were too aggrieved in the previous battle. Most people were in a state of confusion. They didn't know what happened. They were caught and beaten by the navy who suddenly appeared in front of them. It's not weaker than the opponent, but it happens that it has no power to fight back.
Such a way of defeat is unacceptable to everyone.
Therefore, when Zhang Heng said that he wanted to take revenge on the other party and grab enough fresh water and food to go back to Nassau, everyone immediately broke free from their depression and rekindled their fighting spirit. In addition, Zhang Heng had turned the tide several times before. The trust and admiration of Tang's crew has reached him, and now his orders will no longer be questioned.
The sailors all mobilized and dismantled all the cannons on the ship as quickly as possible, leaving only one stern cannon. In addition, the food in the cabin, the remaining fresh water and all other things that could be dismantled were also removed. They were all moved to the island, and in the end Zhang Heng only left twenty sailors, which was almost the smallest manpower that could maintain the normal sailing of the Jackdaw.
The cabin of the new Jackdaw was empty, and there was nothing left except food and fresh water for half a day, but in exchange for it, the waterline dropped sharply.
...
The target came faster than expected. The Jackdaw had only left the island less than two hours before the watchman saw the dark shadow of the ship in the distance.
Zhang Heng's previous speculation was correct. This time the navy obviously wanted to wipe them all out, but Walden was not satisfied with killing five pirate ships. With a huge advantage, there was still a ship of pirates that could escape from his nose. Running away, this is something he can't accept no matter what.
Therefore, after the storm passed, he immediately dispatched men to hunt down the Jackdaw.
But Zhang Heng met an old acquaintance near Coral Island this time, the Miranda, one of the two armed ships that chased him for the first time, and the latter was also the armed ship that persisted until the end, but after all, it was too strong because of the wind and waves. Do not choose to return.
Although Walden didn't say anything, as Captain Ford, he has always been worried about it. This is the first time in the years he has been a pirate hunter that a prey has been delivered to his mouth and slipped away.
Therefore, he and his Miranda resolutely joined the hunting team. Ford desperately hoped to win the Jackdaw to justify himself and prove that he was still one of the best pirate hunters in this sea area.
However, because the search was scattered and each ship chose a direction, Ford actually didn't report much hope, but what he didn't expect was that the goddess of luck really favored him again.
After discovering the Jackdaw, Ford immediately ordered the crew on board to enter a state of combat readiness. This time he vowed not to let the prey escape again.
At the same time, Zhang Heng also saw the menacing Miranda, put down the binoculars in his hand after a while, and said to the sailor on board, "According to the plan."
After the Miranda chased for a certain distance, Ford noticed that the Jackdaw began to put down its topsail to speed up, as if trying to escape, but the effect was limited. , but for some reason it was not patched.
However, this explained why they encountered the Jackdaw ahead of time. Originally, according to Ford's calculations, they would have to catch up with the Jackdaw within a day at the earliest.
Now that the two sides met in advance, it gave Ford a surprise. The latter did not intend to waste his brain cells thinking about what happened on the Jackdaw. Anyway, as long as he took this opportunity to sink the Jackdaw, everything would be resolved. .
Since Ford dared to do the job of a pirate hunter, his Miranda is naturally a first-class clipper, which is not far from the Jackdaw itself. Now that the speed of the Jackdaw cannot be increased, that is the role of the Miranda. it's time.
The two sides launched a new round of competition on the sea, and the man at the helm of the opposite ship was also very good. Ford had noticed this in the previous match at the harbor, and this time the performance of the opposite side was also very good, but both sides There is a natural gap in speed, so the distance between the two ships is also getting closer at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Standing on the bow of the ship, Ford could clearly see the busy figures on the deck of the Jackdaw without the help of a telescope, and he could feel the blood in his heart start to boil.
Like most pirate hunters, Ford also came from the navy, and was later employed as a captain of a merchant ship for a period of time, and also made a lot of money, but unlike those peers who became pirate hunters because they were robbed, Ford was the captain of a merchant ship It was never robbed by pirates.
He will become a pirate hunter purely because of the adventurous blood flowing in his bones. In addition to bounty and honor, what he is doing now can remind him of the wonderful experience of hunting in the woods with his father when he was a child. Yong, the feeling of enjoying the harvest afterwards is something I couldn't experience at all when I was the captain of a merchant ship.
But at this moment, the first mate beside him reminded, "Captain Ford, I found an island ahead."
"Um?"
"From the nautical chart, it should be a small uninhabited island called Coral Island," the first officer hesitated, "Do you think they escaped here on purpose?"
"For what?" Ford raised an eyebrow.
The first mate was dumbfounded. After all, the pirates had just ambushed the Spanish treasure ship on Parrot Island. He was instinctively wary when he saw the small island. But after thinking about it, the current Jackdaw has no capital to ambush. They had already destroyed five of the six pirate ships, and only one ship, the Jackdaw, escaped by chance. Even if they wanted to ambush, they didn't have any companions to cooperate.
But the first officer thought of another question, "This area is marked as dangerous on the nautical chart, and there are many hidden reefs nearby. Could they be trying to lure us to run aground on the reefs?"
Ford frowned, "This possibility... They don't have time to explore here, unless there are people on their boat who are very familiar with this area, otherwise they will take more risks than us if they rush into the reef area, but we don't have to Play your luck with them, tell the helmsman to follow them and only go where they go, so that if you hit the rocks they'll hit the rocks first."
Ford paused, then snorted coldly, "They used the storm to get rid of us before, and this time they tried to scare us away with the reef, do you really think we are only that timid? If they run away again this time Then we don’t have to do this business anymore.”