Chapter 152 - First Battle At Sea (1/2)

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The moment the sun rose, the boom of cannons firing broke the ocean’s silence. The one that fired first was the merchant vessel called the Happiness. However, they lost whatever hope they had when they saw the Jackdaw raising its black flag. To make sure that the cargo on their s.h.i.+p was safe from plunder, they had deliberately chosen a less popular s.h.i.+pping line to travel on and was mum about their route so far.

Their voyage was smooth for about a month, with no encounters of any pirates whatsoever. Just when they thought that they were out of the red, the Jackdaw spotted them. Alas, their effort was all but wasted.

With help from the sunlight, they could finally see the true form of the Jackdaw. Some of the crew instantly knew that they were going to lose the battle, losing their last straw of hope once they confirmed that the s.h.i.+p in pursuit of them was indeed a battles.h.i.+p. The unfortunate incident in Charleston was now widespread amongst the colonies. Two governor-generals and a high-ranking officer were killed on that night. At the same time, the entire Charleston suffered the relentless attacks from cannons. This could be one of the most severe incidents happening in the New World. There were even hushed whispers that the navy lost a corvette that night as well.

As compared to what happened in Charleston, few paid much attention to the corvette. When the merchant s.h.i.+p’s crew saw the Jackdaw, they started to realize that this s.h.i.+p could actually be the lost navy corvette. Undoubtedly, the combination of pirates and a heavily armed corvette had the merchant s.h.i.+p’s crew believing that this might genuinely be the end of thier road.

That said, those who decided to commit their careers to the ocean were no cowards. Though they knew that they could not outgun the Jackdaw, they would instead take their chances and try to defeat it regardless. After all, the s.h.i.+p’s cargo was valuable enough for them to protect it with their lives.

Unfortunately, most of their shots missed their targets with only one cannonball managing to fly pa.s.s the gunwale. Pumped up with adrenalin, the newly recruited cannoneers were eager to return fire.

“Captain, do we attack now?!”

“Hold your horses for a little while more.”

Now that Jackdaw had entered the Happiness’ effective range, they should be able to return fire. However, accuracy wouldn’t be that great, where the cannons would lose their effectivity once they were too far away from their targets. If the distance was right, though, the Jackdaw could easily destroy a merchant s.h.i.+p with one volley of shots. This could prevent them from turning the battle into an endless exchange of fire. Before getting closer to them, the Jackdaw had to endure the attacks from their enemy. The good thing was that it should be strong enough to do so.

Soon, the Happiness was poised to launch the second wave of attacks. This time, their experienced cannoneers managed to land a few accurate shots on the Jackdaw. Three cannonb.a.l.l.s landed on the gunwale, and another landed on the mainsail. Fortunately, this did little to damage the vessel, allowing her pirates a little room for relief.

The third wave of cannonb.a.l.l.s were incoming. This time, the Jackdaw had gotten really close to the Happiness. Their offense had managed to put a few holes on Jackdaw’s deck, however, with a cannonball managing to find its way to a spot unprotected by iron plates. Seconds later, seawater started to gush into a cabin that was located at the lowest deck of the Jackdaw. Immediately, the carpenter grabbed his tools and started to fix the leak.

At that moment, more and more of the Jackdaw’s crew urged Zhang Heng to return fire. Even Billy could not help but stare at his captain. Still, he did not say a single word. Zhang Heng had partic.i.p.ated in quite several battles while he was serving on the Sea Lion. This was his very first time orchestrating his own battle. Back then, he simply needed to protect himself and eliminate all enemies that got close to him, and once his flanks were clear, he could lend a hand to his allies as well.