Two Hundred and Thirty-Six Arcs and Intersections

Late at night, on the sea 26 kilometers east of the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay...

At the helm of the Jackdaw, Bell carefully re-checked the weathervane, straightened the compass on the side of the handwheel, and then stood directly in front of the handwheel to take the helm position, so as to ensure that the weathervane, compass and sail surface could all stay in place. within their line of sight.

Everything is ready.

Lorraine glanced at the weathercock that was turning happily, and said casually: "I still prefer to watch the wind with a scarf, because once the boat moves, the rooster with its head rushing back and swaying from side to side will always It feels unreal to me and makes me want to smash it."

"That's why the Jazz said you wasted your talent."

Bell squatted down to check the knots, not only the dead line that was about to be used to save his life, but also the corresponding connection of the mizzen mast that would be darting up and down the top of his head in a moment.

"The assault distance is more than 20 kilometers long, wider than the mouth of the bay that is about to break through, and the coastline is out of sight for a long time, and it is still a night flight. Even if I personally steer the helm, this is the first experience in my life..."

"You can tidy it up and show it off to Miss Offee."

"Come on, she doesn't understand."

Lorraine shrugged: "So I will never fall in love with a landlubber in the future."

"You?" Bell smiled contemptuously, "Only you think that you still have the right to choose."

"Um?"

"It's okay." Bell saw the dancing chicken, "The wind is messed up."

The Jackdaw hoists.

First the towering mainsail in the middle, followed by the wide mizzen. The sailors controlled the sail surface to go in the opposite direction, trying not to expose the Jackdaw to excessive wind.

But even so, the Jackdaw drifted faster, gradually surpassing the current, and the bow of the ship raised waves breaking through the water.

Lorraine stood behind Bell, on the top deck of the poop, holding onto the railing tightly with both hands.

"The mainmast looks at Henna, the foremast looks at Pierce, the main schooner Kron, and the stern schooner king. The bow gun door is opened, and Acharin is in position. The front deck commands Katerina, and the quarter deck commands Bell, and takes position. The gun ports on both sides are ready for battle, the foremast, hoist the sails!"

"Hoist the foremast!" Katerina ordered loudly, and her clear female voice was especially obvious in the night sky, straight up to the sky.

The only sail of the Jackdaw was raised, the 26-meter-high mast, four independent sails, from bottom to top, from large to small.

Hanging in mid-air, the wind-catching sail between the foremast and the mainmast was untied by the sailors hanging on the cable, and then the bow rigging connecting the foremast and the bowsprit was also untied.

The snow-white sails swelled in the wind, and the sailors of the mainmast and mizzen worked together to drag the yard and pull the gaff.

full sail!

Lorraine suddenly felt a strong push back, and the Jackdaw rushed forward. As soon as Pu started, the speed quickly climbed from a floating state of less than 0.5 to nearly 6 knots, and continued to improve, improve!

"Course due west, wind speed 4, moderate wind. Jackdaw, mouth of Chesapeake Bay...break in!"

Bell's eyes were fixed on the compass, his hands were tightly clenched on the handwheel, he locked the weathercock with his peripheral vision, caught the slight tremor of the wind chicken right on the wind cup of Hulala, and rhythmically adjusted the direction of the ship at a very small angle.

The Jackdaw was almost always at the best wind-cutting angle, and the trajectory of the entire voyage was an uneven zigzag line, rather than a straight line or arc that looked beautiful and crisp.

The seemingly longer voyage is actually more efficient. Lorraine has already gone to the bow of the ship and entrusted the command of the entire rear deck to Bell.

And Bell lived up to his expectations. With the cooperation of Karen and Wang Ye, the two schooners and the rudder were combined into a whole with a certain degree of relaxation. Under the premise of the premise, it took less than 10 minutes to push the Jackdaw to the highest speed under the existing sail and wind conditions, 9 knots!

The front deck has temporarily entered a relatively stable period, and Katerina felt the wind, looking back at the back deck in shock.

"Captain, where did you pick up the monster... Is our helmsman a child of the wind?"

"The sea wind is the domain of Niord's office,

And Niord is my belief..." Lorraine smacked her mouth speechlessly, "Caterina, don't you think what you just said was a little rude? "

"I don't think so, because your god obviously likes Mr. Helmsman more than you."

Lorraine decided not to be as knowledgeable as a woman, even if that woman was a female knight.

He raised his arm and pointed at the dark sea.

"Bell was originally the helmsman of Shaq Drake's flagship. Although he failed to set foot on Bermuda's Long Beach due to various accidents, based on his understanding of Shaq, he still believed that we would encounter a blockade formation at the mouth of the bay."

"Coincidentally, Earl Galvez's information also mentioned the blockade formation. The Lion, Conqueror, and Invigorate take turns serving as flagships, with two subordinate ships, one is an ordinary fifth-tier ship, and the other is usually a Baltimore Breeze ship. Ge, that is, a warship-type frigate with wing sails and a maximum speed of 12 knots."

"We can't know in advance where they will set the blockade, but fortunately the mouth of the bay is wide enough, even if it is only two kilometers, we can try to avoid the terrible third-tier ships and destroyers with better firepower than us."

"The only trouble is the military high-speed ship. Once we are entangled with her, we will die miserably."

There was no joy or anger on Katerina's face. She said softly, "Escaping is a specialty of pirates. Although the top speed is only 0.5 knots off, I will let her know the difference between a high-speed military ship and a high-speed robber ship."

"Then leave it to you."

...

break in! break in!

An hour and a half later, the galloping Jackdaw finally crossed the 26 kilometers from the starting point to the mouth of the bay, and approached the wide Chesapeake Bay from near the center line.

In order to hide their whereabouts, there were no lights on the ship, and all sailors ran and moved under the moonlight.

But today's moonlight is bright and clear, and the visibility on the unobstructed sea can barely touch three kilometers.

Good lighting conditions gave the Jackdaw more room to avoid, and on the other hand, it also increased the possibility of her being discovered and increased the risk of encounters.

Fortunately, misfortunes depend on each other. Before officially breaking through the blockade formation, the people on board did not dare to take it lightly.

Routine notification.

"Northwest, 12 kilometers from Cape Charles!"

"Southwest, 11 kilometers from Cape Henry!"

The voices of Pierce and Henna came from overhead one after another. Lorraine used a compass to draw two arcs on the chart.

Resting his cheeks, he guessed the location of the blockading fleet, and by the way, guessed the flagship of the formation, and the possibility of encountering the Lion.

This incident may sound a little ridiculous.

Once the size of the fleet reaches a certain level, the administrative affairs that need to be decided by the admiral will increase sharply. The admiral of the large fleet will often reduce or even give up daily navigation tasks to free up time for handling chores.

It is the normal rhythm of the British admirals to run around the major stations like Sir Parker, and the working status of the flagships operating independently.

But Lorraine knew that Shaq had never been good at handling affairs.

Whether it's clerical or social, his desire to control regardless of the occasion will always mess everything up. Only being on a boat can he have a moment of comfort.

Even many years ago, when he was transferred to the logistics department during the promotion process, he often went to other people's boats to occupy the magpie's nest on the grounds of checking the consumption of supplies.

The captains handed over the letter of complaint to their home, and Elijah had to transfer him back to the field to calm the public anger and satisfy Shaq's wish by the way.

Therefore, people like Shaq will never give up the patrol mission. No matter how busy the chores are, no matter how tight the schedule is, he will stay on board when the Lion sails, commanding the small team visible to the naked eye, and looking forward to the crew A moment of joy for the bladed opponent.

"I'm also looking forward to it, Shaq... If you can chop off your head, you won't have to worry about those boring things anymore..." Lorraine laughed self-deprecatingly.

This wish is impossible to achieve.

Not to mention that the Jackdaw simply does not have the ability to take on board the Lion, even if he is asked to do his best to make a plan, from the perspective of the chamber of commerce, Lorraine must avoid confrontation with the Royal Navy as much as possible.

Fighting is a hotbed of hatred. Once the hatred is solidified, Edward Kenway will become a time bomb in the arms of the Drake Chamber of Commerce, and one day it will blow Lorraine and his Chamber of Commerce to pieces.

"It's really a boring delusion..."

Lorraine shook her head, trying to get rid of those unrealistic thoughts, when she suddenly heard Henna's voice.

"Ship lights 7 kilometers northwest, ten o'clock direction, relative speed 3.5!"

7 km? ten o'clock?

Lorraine woke up suddenly, and marked it on the chart as fast as possible.

A semicircle is centered at the intersection of the two arcs just now, covering the entire mouth of the bay and part of the bay. There is a dazzling intersection at the ten o'clock direction of the center of the circle. It does not come from the blockade formation that cannot be predicted, but from the pure black The perfect circular trajectory of...

"Tch! No. 6 Patrol Formation? Good luck!"

Lorraine depressedly pushed away the chart and stood up.

In the current situation, if we continue to break into the center line, we will swagger across the front of the No. 6 formation at a very close distance.

This behavior is tantamount to provocation and will definitely cause the No. 6 formation to rebound.

It's not that the Jackdaw can't get rid of them, but that doing so will greatly increase the risk of being flanked when the location of the blockade formation is unknown.

Avoidance is certain, and you can't go to Cape Charles in the north. The only choice is Cape Henry in the south.

only……

Lorraine immediately became irritable.

"Bell, dodge to the left and avoid the trouble in front of you first. Hannah continues to follow the light, and Pierce observes the front. Everyone! Level 1 alert!"