Chapter 210 Paralysis

The Swordfish was seriously damaged in this round of bombardment, but taking advantage of this opportunity, the Jackdaw on the other side finally completed its turn and got rid of the dilemma of being beaten unilaterally.

All the gun ports on the side of the ship had been opened long ago, and the gunners were already in place. Following Zhang Heng's order, the Jackdaw finally began to fight back.

After the first two successful plunders at sea, plus the killing of more than 200 people in Wilton in one night after returning to Hong Kong, the Jackdaw became an unparalleled success in Nassau, which also brought great enthusiasm for subsequent recruitment. Great convenience.

As long as Zhang Heng is willing, he can directly expand the crew of the Jackdaw to the limit of 200 people in half a day, but this is meaningless. With the increase in personnel, the profits each person will get every time he goes to sea to rob. will decrease. Compared to a simple increase in the number of people, Zhang Heng is more concerned about the quality of the sailors he recruits.

Therefore, every time the Jackdaw returns to the island, the recruitment threshold will be greatly improved compared to the last time. Now the level of gunners on the ship is completely different from that on the first voyage. In addition, the Jackdaw itself is a battleship, and the firepower configuration is also different. It was quite outstanding. Once the cannon was fired, it immediately attracted the attention of the three Spanish sailing ships on the opposite side.

However, at this time, the Spanish commander still focused his main attention on the Swordfish. The hull of the latter was seriously damaged. It was the best time to take down the opponent in one go. It would be too much to give up at this time and let the opponent run away. It's a pity, not to mention changing the target and readjusting the launch angle and distance.

Therefore, the three Spanish sailing ships temporarily ignored the Jackdaw on the other side and prepared to concentrate their firepower to take down the Swordfish first.

At this time, Brooke was obviously aware of the opponent's tactical intentions, and decisively abandoned the original plan. Although the Swordfish had already aimed its broadside at the Spanish treasure ship, it did not fire its guns, but continued to hold the rudder full port, preparing to Turn around and run away.

The Swordfish was in a very awkward situation during the last round of fire. The hull was severely damaged and part of the power was lost. Fortunately, the mainmast was still there, and Brooke's response was timely enough to complete the U-turn despite the gunfire, and was in time for the next round of gunfire. Start retreating before arrival.

His excellent helming skills were also revealed at this time. The three Spanish sailing ships conducted two more rounds of shelling, but this time the Swordfish avoided most of the shells with its coquettish sailing trajectory, but the Spanish command The officer reacted quickly and realized his opponent's cunning, so he immediately changed his strategy and adopted a covering strike.

This time, no matter how good Brooke's steering skills were, it was useless. The stern of the ship was hit by four cannonballs. However, the Swordfish still did not sink, and at the cost, it quickly distanced itself from the three Spanish sailing ships.

On the other side, the Jackdaw's artillery fire became more and more fierce. Zhang Heng chose a frigate as the attack target. This time he did not retain his strength. The gunners on the ship had accumulated a lot of energy after being bombarded for so long. With anger in his belly, he immediately jumped into the battle after receiving the order to fire.

The main gunner took aim and lit the match. As the shells came out smoothly, the secondary gunner immediately filled the next ammunition. The smoke from the gun muzzle filled the sea. After two rounds of shelling, the deck of the frigate was also in a mess, and the hull was in a mess. It was also blasted with several large holes by 24-pound cannons, but fortunately they were all above the water level, so there was no danger of sinking for the time being.

But if this continues, the latter will not be able to hold on for long. The captain on the ship has begun to send a request for help to the commander on the main ship.

The Spanish commander looked at the swaying Swordfish in the distance, with a look of reluctance flashing in his eyes. The opponent was obviously at the end of his strength. He only needed two more rounds of attacks to take down this cunning opponent, and then drop it again. By overshooting another pirate ship, this group of nasty bandits can be captured and wiped out.

There was nothing wrong with the plan itself, but he didn't expect the Jackdaw's firepower to be so strong. Even if he could kill these two pirate ships, he might have to pay for a frigate.

He did not want to bear such a price, so he used a semaphore to notify the other two ships to change their targets, preparing to abandon the Swordfish and use the Jackdaw as an attack target.

But at this time, Zhang Heng had also completed his strategic goal, turned the rudder, and steered the Jackdaw out of the battle. However, he temporarily changed the direction of retreat and did not lead the target to Parrot Island as originally planned.

"Captain?" Billy had a look of confusion on his face.

"This time the opponent's commander is very powerful. We only have two ships but we dare to attack them. If we all escape to Parrot Island, it will definitely make him suspicious."

"But what if they come after us?"

"The probability of this happening is very small. The Swordfish's damage was much more serious than ours, and it lost two masts and its speed was severely damaged. If you were them, which ship would you choose to chase?"

As if to confirm what Zhang Heng said, the three Spanish sailing ships also quickly made a choice and turned around. Sure enough, they gave up on the Jackdaw, which was retreating in the other direction, and instead pursued the Swordfish.

The Spanish commander was very angry. He had been in charge of this line for more than ten years. In these ten years, no pirate had ever dared to take the initiative to provoke them. If this group of people were allowed to escape without paying any cost, That would be too cheap for the other party.

The Swordfish was once the fastest three-masted sailing ship in this area. However, in the current condition of the hull, it can only reach less than half of its usual speed, and the place where they fought is still quite a distance from Parrot Island. In the past, Brooke would not have He kept this distance in mind, but now he just felt that every minute was extremely long.

Seeing the three Spanish sailing ships getting closer to his ship, Brooke could not get rid of them. Sweat gradually formed on his forehead. The bow of one of the warships was almost touching the stern of the Swordfish. , but at this moment, the Jackdaw, which was fleeing to the other side, turned back. The chief gunner on the ship controlled the bow gun, harassing the warship at the front, and gave the Swordfish a chance to breathe.

Brooke directed the crew to throw almost all the unnecessary heavy objects on the boat into the water, which finally increased the speed of the Swordfish by half a knot.

It was this half-knot speed that saved the life of the Swordfish at the critical moment. The Spanish commander also became angry at this time. Zhang Heng's previous escape in another direction paralyzed him to a great extent. In previous encounters, He would subconsciously be wary of terrain such as islands where the view was blocked, but at this time, his eyes were red with blood. Seeing that he was about to sink the Swordfish, he had no time to think too much.

Well, sorry, it’s just one update today.