Chapter 173 – 71 Naval Battle_2
The tall ship’s superstructure was like a wall to the galleys, with the Tanilia raining shots down on the galley from on high. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel fire.net
On the crowded decks of the galleys, the Venetian sailors had no protection and nowhere to hide, only able to return fire with muskets and crossbows amidst enemy lead.
The deck became a battleground, and the sailors became musketeers, as a duel of projectile weapons unfolded upon the high seas.
The Venetian captains all knew that their only hope of victory was boarding. To continue this fight, morale on the galleys would surely collapse first.
Officers on the galleys urged the rowers to row furiously, trying to approach the enemy’s large ships from the front, where the firepower was weakest.
Meanwhile, the Tanilia tall ships tried to maintain their distance as much as possible, bombarding the galleys with the cannons mounted along their sides.
A Tanilia armed merchantman was caught off guard and ensnared by grappling hooks thrown by the White Eagle. The Venetian sailors pulled hard on the ropes, drawing the vessels ever nearer.
The hooks bit deep into the hull and couldn’t be dislodged. The Tanilia sailors tried to cut the ropes, only to discover that behind the hooks trailed two-meter-long chains.
The Venetians, to prevent their grappling hooks from being cut, had replaced the two meters of rope behind the hooks with riveted chains.
A brave sailor climbed the chain, intending to cut the rope behind it, but as soon as he showed his head, he was shot dead by a musketeer from the White Eagle. Other Tanilia sailors hacked frantically at the bulwarks, trying to chop off the iron hooks and the railings together.
But it was too late; the boarding plank from the bow of the White Eagle was lowered, its hook biting into the merchantman’s side, locking the two ships together.
A piercing whistle blew, and the Venetian sailors charged onto the merchantman, initiating a gruesome melee.
At the same time, on the western side of the battlefield, a galley was being attacked by three Tanilia ships.
The Venetian galleys were at a disadvantage not only in their design but also in their numbers.
The cannons on the sides of the tall ships roared and snarled, sending one cannonball after another flying out of their barrels, splintering the galley with wood shards and sending flesh flying.
The captain and first mate of this galley had both died, and the remaining junior officers were unable to reorganize the sailors amidst the chaos.
The living stacked corpses into a wall, with only a few brave souls continuing to fire back.
The rowers ceased following orders and sought any tool they could to unshackle the chains binding them.
Some jumped into the sea, intent on abandoning ship, but the people on the big ships showed no mercy, shooting at them with muskets relentlessly.
Outside the Lighthouse Port, a bloody and fierce melee raged. Amid the smoke produced by burning gunpowder, the sounds of gunfire and battle cries were intermixed, with limbs, bodies, and wooden debris floating everywhere on the sea. Discover hidden content at empire
Spire had no interest in those armed merchantmen, only warships were worthy adversaries for the Golden Lion. The sea glowed red with fire, and in the night, the silhouette of a tall warship was especially distinct.
A few armed merchantmen fired at the Golden Lion, but Spire paid them no heed.
He immediately ordered the Golden Lion to change course, leveraging the galley’s powerful close-range maneuverability, to find a path through the chaotic battlefield and pounce on that tall warship.
The lookout on the Revenge noted the galley rapidly approaching, and Drake immediately ordered a turn to the southeast, dropping full sails, ready to meet the enemy with the right broadside.
The cannons thundered, a dozen cannonballs flying towards the Golden Lion.
Wails of agony arose from the ship, but the Golden Lion simply beat the drums louder, and its speed somehow increased even more.
At the same time, on another side of the battlefield.
No one could have imagined Nalesho recklessly leading the charge through the fireships, not Tanilia, and certainly not the Venetian navy.
The small ship carrying flames rode the wind, pulling up a firewall between the two fleets.
A normal captain at the sight would steer clear of the fireship, sailing southeast first, then circling back to the battlefield when a safe distance had been established.
This was also the original plan, to force the Vineta Fleet towards the dangerous waters to the east using the fireships, with their own fleet in pursuit to eliminate any escapees.
Even if an unexpected twelve galleys sallied out from Lighthouse Port, the Vineta Fleet would still be driven towards the shallows under fire, while Drake would pick them off one by one—the galleys first, then strangling the Vineta’s main force ships that might escape from the deadly waters, if they could.
But Nalesho was not normal, and he was also the biggest gambler in the Venetian navy. He chose the shortest route, aiming directly for Drake’s flagship, the Revenge.
The roaring blaze was frightening, but it was even more terrifying to see someone marching into the inferno willingly. From a dozen meters away, everyone on the deck of the Glorious felt the scorching heat wave.
“This is hell! We’re going to hell!”
On the deck, some prayed fervently, while others knelt, mumbling profanities.
“Get back to work, you cowards!” the surly boatswain blew his whistle, slapping and prodding the praying sailors back to their posts with slaps and sticks: “Never see you praying at other times! What’s the use of feigning piety now, you dogshit! Just do your job! Old Nick never loses!”