Chapter 174 – 71 Sea Battle_3
Captain Wilson of Kongtai’er’s 100-man squad also exchanged a look with three warrant officers. Winters and Bard picked up the trembling, chanting soldiers from the ground. Andre was even more brutal; whenever he saw soldiers praying with their weapons dropped, he struck their faces hard with his fists.
As the navy and army were busy regrouping their morale, The Glorious closed in on the fire ship. The sails, dried out by the heatwave, caught fire from the sparks rising with the hot air even before touching the fire ship.
The sailors, shouting aloud, rushed towards the bow, throwing sea water prepared in advance onto the burning sails. Read full story at NoveI★Fire.net
“Pour water on the sails quickly! Don’t stop!” the boatswain screamed at the top of his lungs.
“The 100-man squad! On my command, assist the navy with water retrieval!” At Wilson’s order, the three warrant officers and all the soldiers set to work fetching water. The ship was already stocked with stacks of empty buckets, which just needed to be lowered into the sea with ropes to draw water up.
The Glorious plunged into the inferno, smashing headlong into a sampan. Accompanied by the grating sound of breaking wood, the burning sampan was crushed into the sea by The Glorious, leaving only a few charred planks behind.
The sailors at the bow let out a cry of joy.
But soon after, no one could laugh anymore.
The fire ships, which had sidled up to The Glorious from the bow, had not been swept under the ship; instead, after hitting The Glorious, they clung tight to its hull, not moving an inch even when slapped by the waves.
The bows of these fire ships were half buried with one-foot-long sharp iron nails so that once they hit a warship, the nails would penetrate the hull, firmly fixing the fire ships to the warship.
The Glorious hit three fire ships in succession, its resistance greatly increased with the burden of three ships, causing her speed to falter.
A smell of charred wood drifted through the air, and terrifying crackling and popping sounds came from below the bow. It was unclear whether it was the sound of the sampans burning or if The Glorious’s hull had caught fire.
First Mate Kalaman sprinted to the stern, no longer caring to use honorifics: “Midshipman Cage! Take men down with you!”
Cage saluted and, without a moment’s hesitation, tied a rope around his waist. The sailors beside him, disregarding rank and status, picked up buckets of water and drenched him from head to toe.
After getting soaked, Cage led a dozen sailors down the ropes at the bow and scooped up sea water with their buckets to douse the flames on the sampans. The guns at The Glorious’s bow had also been moved, and the sailors leaned out of the gun ports to pour water onto the fire ships.
Following the lead of The Glorious, three other forward ships also broke through the wall of fire, attacking the Tanilia fleet with the fire ships stuck on them.
The sea wall made of fierce flames and wood was forcibly breached, and the ships behind decisively turned and passed through the opening at this “maritime impasse.”
“General! The fire at the bow can’t be put out! We can barely keep it under control,” reported First Mate Kalaman, gasping for breath.
“If it can’t be extinguished, then it can’t be extinguished! Even if it’s the fires of hell, it will take time to consume my ship completely,” Nalesho said, his face flushed with excitement, gripping Antonio’s arm. “General Serviati, The Glorious may not make it, but there’s a new ship right in front of us.”
The Navy Rear Admiral pointed to Drake’s flagship: “The Vengeance is right before us, The Glorious is gone, we’ll seize Drake’s flagship for ourselves!”
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“The Vengeance has lowered all sails, General! Drake seems to be running away!”
“No, Drake won’t run, and neither will I!” Nalesho sneered. “Do you think a gambler would leave the table to cut his losses? No, they wouldn’t. A gambler would bet everything he has left to turn the tide! We and Drake have both put all our chips down, winner takes all! Raise the flag of no return! All hands prepare to board!”
A giant red triangular flag was hoisted up the mast of The Glorious.