"Hold on!!! Stay at your post!!" Billy ran back and forth on the deck and shouted, "Where's the ammunition? When will the next batch of ammunition be delivered?"
"On the way, we'll be there soon, Mr. Billy." A short sailor ran over sweating profusely, dragging two boxes of ammunition.
"Mr. Billy, two more cannons have been knocked out, and three gunners have been wounded." Another reported.
"Let the backup staff come on top immediately."
As soon as Billy finished speaking, less than half a meter away from him, a cannonball pierced through the hull and hit the short sailor delivering the cannonball. The latter's arm was completely shattered, and he fell to the ground crying howling.
"Send him to Vincent, quick! The others keep firing."
Hearing this, someone immediately dragged the injured down, but the people nearby seemed to be used to this scene, and no one was distracted by it. Most of the recruits on the Jackdaw were experienced sailors. Fighting almost all the time, even rookies have matured now.
"Damn it, their artillery is more powerful than ours. If only those 24-pound guns were still there." A gunner wiped the blood from his face unwillingly.
"Keep working harder, kill them and get the gold back!"
To say that the busiest person on the Jackdaw is the ship doctor Vincent. The young ship doctor who once dreamed of becoming a botanist has now fully entered his role. The ship's infirmary is full of wounded , There were not enough beds for a long time, people were lying on the table and on the ground, and blood was flowing everywhere.
Fortunately, Vincent had already made preparations and sprinkled the fine sand collected from the beach on the ground, which solved the problem of slippery soles. He had just finished dealing with a pirate who had been shot in the hip, when he saw a short sailor with a wounded arm being carried in. Vincent checked briefly and found that the bones in the opponent's arm had been completely shattered, so the amputation was the only option. .
He took out a piece of wood for the latter to bite, and then someone held down the injured sailor's hands and feet, while Vincent himself took out the wooden saw used for sawing wood, and was about to do it when he remembered Zhang Heng's advice, The wood saw was baked on the candle.
Taking advantage of this time, he removed the wooden stick, let the injured sailor drink a few sips of rum, and then raised the wooden saw, "I'll do it when I'm ready."
The countermeasure discussed by Zhang Heng, Billy and others worked. The Musketeers that Walden has always relied on failed to play a sufficient role this time. Instead, they were suppressed by the Jackdaws. Walden is now in the You can't even lift your head up on the boat.
But his expression was still calm. Even though the Musketeers had suffered more than half of their casualties, he never gave the order to retreat, because the Kent had always firmly gained the upper hand in the artillery fire.
This has nothing to do with courage or gunner's skills, it is purely a difference in firepower. The Jackdaw and the Kent are warships of the same model, and their firepower configuration is similar, but due to lack of ammunition, Zhang Heng had no choice but to put the 24-pound gun on board. The gun was replaced with a 12-pound gun, so there was a gap with the Kent.
In fact, the performance of the gunners on the Jackdaw has far exceeded Walden's expectations, even compared with the well-trained Royal Navy.
"We won't be able to hold on if this continues." Billy found Zhang Heng on the deck and said worriedly.
The latter killed another musketeer in a red shirt, and glanced at Anne, "Get ready to execute the backup plan."
"Is this... possible?" Billy was still skeptical.
"We have already killed two-thirds of the Musketeers. The chance of success is still very high, but I need someone to cover me." Zhang Heng said.
"Six people enough?"
"Two is enough, more is useless." Zhang Heng said while sending someone to the captain's cabin to take out his weapon bag. There were four rifled guns in it. Since the rifled gun he got from Barr, After playing an important role in snatching the Scarborough, Zhang Heng realized the strategic value of the rifled gun. However, he was still under Blackbeard at that time, and he was not in a hurry to equip two more. Only then did I buy three more from the arms dealer.
This time it finally came in handy.
Zhang Heng walked over to the side of the ship and set up one of them. In fact, at such a distance, he also has a good aim with a smoothbore gun, but if he wants to hit every shot without fail, the rifled gun is undoubtedly more reliable. He aimed at the rudder and was steering. Sailors, "follow my order and approach the Kent."
The actions of the Jackdaw did not escape Walden's eyes. Although he was not afraid of the boarding battle, he had no reason to give up the advantage he had gained so hard, so he ordered the helmsman to follow suit.
But as soon as his words fell, the helmsman fell headlong to the ground.
Walden frowned, but he didn't pay much attention to it. This kind of accident could happen at any time during the battle. Chris, the first mate, immediately arranged for a replacement, but that guy just took over the rudder. He also stepped into the footsteps of the unlucky ghost before.
"Captain, someone is targeting our sailor at the helm!" Chris was shocked and angry.
Walden snorted coldly, "What are you afraid of? There must be only one person on the other side. Use a human wall to block the front. We only need to hold on for a while and we can sink them."
When Chris received the order, he immediately called a few sailors around him. The faces of the people whose names were called were not very good, but they had followed Walden for quite a while, and they knew what would happen if they disobeyed the latter's orders. To put it bluntly, Being a human wall does not necessarily mean death, but if you run away at this time, your end will definitely be worse than being a human wall.
So they still bite the bullet and surrounded the rudder and the third sailor who went to the helm. As a result, this time Zhang Heng first killed the guy who was acting as a human wall outside, and then killed the guy inside with the fastest speed. sailor.
The superb marksmanship on the opposite side made everyone terrified. Chris urged for a long time, but the fourth sailor was still dawdling in place.
However, Zhang Heng's position on the other side was also exposed, and he was covered by fierce firepower. The sailor who was covering him and the sailor who filled the ammunition for him were both shot, but he had bought enough time for the Jackdaw , the distance between the two ships was less than ten meters.
And Zhang Heng also took advantage of the chaos to change to another place, and continued to harass the opposite ship with the reloaded rifle until the two ships were almost completely attached to each other. He got on the gangway and rushed to the opposite deck with the vanguard braved the rain of bullets.