Seeing that the warships of the two sides were about to join the ship, Marin gave an order to let the ships sail towards the east. In this direction, the speed of the Marlin fleet is the fastest...
Then, the pirates' first attempt to get on board failed...
But at the same time, none of Marin's 16 naval guns hit the hull of the enemy ship, and only one shell tore a triangle sail of the enemy ship. Soon, one of the enemy's pirate ships was left behind due to damaged sails and reduced maneuverability, and was busy replacing the spare sails...
After that, like two knights charging too far, the fleets of both sides adjusted their directions again. The goal of the pirate fleet is to get close to Marin's fleet, and then fight on board. And Marin's goal is to keep the distance between the two sides, not too close, so as not to be successfully caught by the other side. But it can't be too far away, otherwise the artillery will be completely inaccurate...
Fortunately, Marin's ship was about the same speed as the pirate's ship. If it is replaced by an old-fashioned carrack sailing ship, there is a high possibility that it will be overtaken by pirates...
In the following time, the fleets of both sides circled the sea. The pirates just couldn't catch up with Marin's fleet, and Marin's gunners just couldn't catch up...
Gradually, Marin's patience was running out. At the same time, the anger in his heart was aroused...
Marin can be regarded as a somewhat wretched person, but at the same time, he is also a somewhat passionate person. Under normal circumstances, he would not charge recklessly. However, when he hits the real fire, he will abandon those thoughts of self-protection and fight hard.
After spending half a day in circles with the pirate ship, the passionate factor in Marin's heart was finally ignited:
"Order, get closer to the pirates for another 300 meters, and we will fire at a distance of 200 meters!"
"Lord Earl, please think again! This is too dangerous!" Captain Kidd advised.
"What danger can there be? Isn't there still a distance of 200 meters?"
"My lord, this distance is not so precise to control. If you are not careful, the distance between the two sides may be within 100 meters. The other party seems to have a bow and arrow on the ship. If you hurt your lord, it will be bad!" These Moorish pirates , did carry some bows and arrows, and it was a heavy infantry bow. If it is projected, it is really possible to shoot a distance of more than 200 meters.
"That's easy, Garland, take out my plate armor. I want to put on the plate armor and stand on the deck to command the battle. All other guards should wear breastplate armor!"
Seeing that Marin himself is not afraid, as his guard, how can he be afraid? Therefore, Marin and 50 guards all boarded the deck to prevent the enemy from jumping off the ship to help...
After reaching a distance of 200 meters, the hit rate of the naval guns was greatly improved. Some shells also began to fall towards the enemy ship. Marin discovered through the telescope that several pirates were injured by an iron ball shell. Even, Marin saw that an unlucky pirate had his head bloodily taken away by the iron ball shell...
At this time, the pirates also played real fire. They couldn't catch up with each other for a long time, which made them feel angry. So, the pirate leader "One-eyed Ali" who was soaking in the front flagship shouted:
"Go paddling, take out the spare oars, we must catch up with the Europeans!" After finishing speaking, "One-eyed Ali" took a paddle himself, and ran to help paddling...
The pirates on the deck saw that the boss was paddling himself, so they went to the cabin to take out the spare oars, and went to the side to paddle...
Then, under Marin's surprised eyes, the speed of the Arabian sailing ship in the front suddenly increased, and it rushed towards the 2501 ship in the front...
But the 2501 ship is still maintaining the original speed, the distance between the two sides is only 200 meters, the two ships are likely to meet...
"Go to the cabin and take out the muskets and ammunition, and everyone is ready to fire!" Marin ordered the 50 guards around him. These guards are all elites carefully selected by Schwartz and Kohler. Not only are they strong in fighting, but they can also use firearms. If the production of wind-up guns was not too low, they would have brought wind-up guns. It's just that because of the shortage, I used the Mushkot firearm...
Half an hour later, the distance between the two ships was reduced to 50 meters. At this time, the Moorish pirates were still shooting with bows and arrows on the deck. But at the same time, Marin and his guards also began to use the mushket firearms to fight back...
"Whoosh..." The Moor's bow and arrow began to fall from the sky. However, because the Moorish pirates used too much effort to paddle before, their archery became a little soft. On Marin's deck, only two unlucky sailors were shot. As for him and his guards, because they were wearing plate armor, they almost ignored each other's bows and arrows. And Marin's guards used matchlock guns, and they began to cause casualties to each other one after another...
Of course, at this distance, the most advantageous thing is the artillery. The distance of 50 meters is already very close. At this time, the old gunners on the ship were finally able to aim easily...
The eight 12-pound guns on the 2501 were aimed at the side of the approaching Moorish pirate ship...
"Boom boom boom—" a salvo shot past, and three naval guns "hit the target". On the Moorish pirate ship, sawdust flew across and injured the pirate.
"What's going on?" "One-eyed Ali" ran over from the other side in a panic and asked.
"Boss, our ship has been shot! It seems that the artillery on the other ship is very powerful, and the iron ball is quite big!" said a pirate.
"Heavy artillery? Could it be that the opponent's ship is a warship? But, this shape looks like a merchant ship..." "One-eyed Ali" was a little confused...
He is very familiar with Portuguese and Spanish ships. As a leading brother who has been robbing Spanish and Portuguese merchant ships for 20 years, he can tell at a glance whether the other party's ship is a merchant ship or a warship.
Generally speaking, warships have high towers, more artillery, and soldiers on the deck. However, these two ships did not have many people and not many artillery pieces. The ship building is only at the tail, obviously it is a merchant ship...
While he was still wondering, more shells poured over...
"Boom boom boom—" several 12-pound iron balls hit the boat. This time, two pirates were killed on the spot. One of them died so badly that he was directly smashed into meatloaf...
The pirates finally started to get scared, and "One-Eyed Ali" ordered an immediate U-turn. He also noticed that the gunners on the opponent's ship couldn't hit their heads well, and they couldn't hit them at a long distance.
However, it was too late. The gunners on No. 2501 seemed to have found the feeling, and the more they hit, the more smoothly they hit, and the shells "hit the target" frequently. Then, the pirate ship "One-eyed Ali" led by "One-eyed Ali" was shot several times while turning...
When the "One-eyed Ali" completed its turn and began to flee, a shell just hit the battered deck, and then penetrated the side of the ship that had just been bombarded, breaking a big hole...
Suddenly, sea water began to flood in...
"Oops, our boat is flooded! Go and plug the leak!"
However, what makes them desperate is yet to come. Before, No. 2501 and "One-Eyed Ali" faced off head-on. No. 2502 was blocked behind and did not dare to fire, for fear of accidentally injuring Marin on No. 2501. But when the "One-Eyed Ali" turned around, No. 2502 also took the opportunity to rush out from the side and began to bombard the "One-Eyed Ali" frantically.
At a distance of tens of meters, the veteran gunners are still very reliable. Therefore, under the salvo of the 16 broadside guns of the two ships, the "One-eyed Ali", which was originally not thick enough, couldn't stand it even more.
The "One-Eyed Ali" is a classic medieval war ship, which only considers the possibility of collision. Therefore, the bow part is very strong and crashworthy. But the thickness of the sidewall is average. Because, when these ships were designed, the problem of being bombarded was never considered...
Then, under the shocked eyes of the pirates on the three pirate ships behind, the "One-eyed Ali" was smashed to the side, began to flood a lot, and began to sink...
In desperation, the one-eyed Ali, the pirate leader, had to abandon the ship and get on a small boat, fleeing to other pirate ships. At the same time, the three pirate ships also began to release small boats to rescue those pirates who fell into the water...
Marlin immediately found an opportunity to let the two ships bombard the three pirate ships indiscriminately...
However, the other three ships were a little far away from Marin's ship. The gunners under Marin are not yet used to long-distance shelling. Therefore, the hit rate is very low. In the end, the three pirate ships were hit hard a few times. Although they were damaged, they were not serious.
In this way, the three pirate ships fled towards Morocco in a panic...
Marin wanted to give chase, but with the jib sails, his ship was no faster than the pirate ship. And the sails were hoisted, and the wind was not smooth (the pirates fled in the southeast, not the northeast), in short, it was difficult to catch up. Even if it catches up, it will be close to the coast of Morocco. If a bunch of Moorish pirate ships suddenly appeared, they would not be able to escape. In the end, Marin gave up the pursuit and continued southward to the Canary Islands according to the original plan...
This naval battle can be regarded as the first time in Europe to rely mainly on the power of artillery fire to attack enemy ships. Through naval battles, Marin also discovered many problems. For example, naval battles also require courage. If Marin had approached the ship earlier and approached the enemy ship in a concentrated volley, victory might have been established long ago. Of course, that is also dangerous. Because, if the sailors on the ship were picked up, it would be very dangerous. Even Marin himself may be hacked to death by the enemy.
Therefore, Marin believes that if there are enough musketeers and grenadiers on board to prevent the enemy from jumping off the ship and hacking people, he can approach the bomb with heavy artillery with confidence. And, the closer you get, the more powerful the shelling will be...
In short, in the case of using Musketeers to block the enemy's jumping ship gang, using a large number of heavy artillery and getting close to the bomb will easily bring a devastating blow to the enemy ship. The era of artillery has come, and the boarding battle will gradually withdraw from the stage of history until it is completely replaced...