From Robinson Crusoe

Chapter 255 A Desperate Charge

Flames and thick smoke ignited a giant torch on the sea.

The billowing smoke and dust contrasted sharply with the gray sky, reminding the captains of the two armed merchant ships of the biblical concept of hell.

"Full sails, full speed ahead!"

Without the captain giving orders, the sailors manipulated the sails by instinct.

At this moment, they were more agile than ever. Even when they tripped and fell on the boat because they were running too fast and didn't look down, scraping their scalp and getting blood all over their faces, they quickly got up as if nothing had happened.

They knew that in a situation like this, if they were even a little slow, they would lose their lives.

However, the enemy ships always put them in despair, even as their sails billowed in the wind and nearly burst, the distance between them continued to shrink.

Closer and closer they got, and the sailors could clearly see the gleaming metallic sheen on the enemy ship's hull and the heavy cannons that had been turned around on the deck.

Their worst fears came true.

With another loud explosion of explosives, heavy shells spewed from the dark muzzles of the cannons. Their wooden sailboats were as fragile as paper; once hit, a large hole would appear in the hull.

After the shells entered the ship's hold, they did not stop. Wherever they passed, it was as if they had been plowed. Whether it was the ship's internal supporting structure or the wooden floor, they were either broken or blown into pieces. Even the splinters of wood could injure the gunners and loaders inside the hold.

"This is an invincible monster!"

Every sailor thought so.

At this moment, even though the fastest ship, the Iron Heart, had entered the firing range of the armed merchant ship, the sailors had no will to resist.

Inside the broadside cabin, the gunners responsible for operating the cannons, fearing that enemy shells would hit them, had even left their posts and run onto the deck to help the sailors control the sails.

……

In the captain's cabin, the captain, who had been so confident not long ago, held a Bible and kept making the sign of the cross on his chest, praying for God's protection.

He never dreamed that a seemingly sure-fire victory would turn into this.

Why are there ships in the world that can move forward without sails?

Why don't ships made of steel sink?
Why are their cannons so far-reaching and so accurate?

Countless questions flooded the captain's mind. He didn't know the answers; he only knew that this group of people were definitely not pirates.

From the brief encounter, he could tell that the enemy ship's gunners were definitely rigorously trained; they were very sensitive to distance and their shelling accuracy was very high.

Moreover, the enemy ships did not aim to capture the ships; the shells they fired were almost entirely intended to sink them. How could pirates do such a thankless task?

"That idiot Monidez, he must have fallen for Killian's trick!"

With his mind racing, recalling the details of the whole incident, the captain finally realized that this was all Killian's trap!

Although it is unknown how Kylian discovered this mysterious and terrifyingly powerful force.

But one thing is certain: his "performance" this time was intended to lure Monidez into sending a fleet here, so that he could suffer a heavy loss.

Unfortunately, he and two other familiar old buddies were the rabbits in Killian's trap, victims sent out by Monidez by accident.

"Oh shit!"

Spitting hard, listening to the chaotic footsteps on the deck, the captain gritted his teeth, finally put down the Bible, stopped running away, and walked out of the captain's cabin to take on his responsibilities again.

Regardless, the sailors on this ship were his old subordinates who had followed him for many years. Even in dire straits, he had to find a way to keep them alive.

Even if we die, at least we should die together.

……

With the captain's command, the chaotic situation on board was finally brought under control.

The sailors took charge of the sails, looked out for the sailors, and steered the ship as needed...

Or they might repair the hull, scoop seawater from the hold and dump it outwards, doing everything they could to keep the ship from sinking at sea while continuing to flee into the distance.

To prevent a tragedy similar to that of another ship, the captain ordered all the gunpowder barrels to be removed from the hold and thrown into the sea.

They couldn't outshoot the enemy no matter what.

At this point, all they could do was escape, even if it meant emptying the ship of all its supplies and ballast.

Having witnessed the tragic fate of another ship, the captain misunderstood the meaning of Sunday.

He thought the two steel ships were hostile to them and wanted to kill them all at sea, but he didn't expect that the explosion of the explosive bomb that triggered the gunpowder barrel was just an accident.

The purpose of Sunday was to intimidate them and make them surrender, not to kill them.

……

Unlike the captain of this ship who only sought to escape, the captain of another armed merchant ship chose a more radical and reckless approach—

He ordered the sailors to lower all the small sampans and fast boats propelled by oars, and then selected the sailors who were the bravest in battle and were good at both marksmanship and swordsmanship.

Unable to win in a direct artillery duel, he decided to take the opposite approach, emulating the pirates by using a fast boat to close in while the enemy ships were in pursuit, and then engaging in hand-to-hand combat.

Before setting off, no one expected to be forced into this situation, so the ship did not prepare much equipment needed for the boarding operation.

With the battle urgent, the captain personally led the team, launching the fast boat and the grappling hooks for boarding maneuvers, and carrying matchlock guns and his beloved scimitar, charging towards the nearest Ironheart with high morale and shouting slogans in unison.

……

The three armed merchant ships were each busy in their own way, but the Iron Heart and Steel Bone ships were in perfect order.

Seafarers only need to stay at their posts and perform at the same level as in their usual training.

To be precise, they didn't even need to perform exceptionally well, nor were they particularly busy or tense, unlike during military exercises. They simply used three salvos to rout the enemy, leaving them utterly helpless.

Apart from the gunners and the sailors responsible for observation, the rest of the sailors simply waited for victory.

The armed merchant ships' intention to engage in boarding action was quickly reported to Sunday by the observers. Realizing the ferocity of the enemy, Sunday decisively ordered a counterattack.

The sailors, who had been itching to get their hands on the ship, immediately took out their rifles from the equipment room, approached the ship's side, aimed at the sea, and waited for the enemy to approach.

The Ironheart's deck railings were constructed from blocks of thin steel plates. While such plates would be ineffective in modern warfare, they served as an impenetrable "wall of sighs" against arquebus fire in the 17th century.

Of course, in actual combat, the steel plate was not needed at all, because the matchlock gun could not reach targets beyond its range.

……

To boost morale, the captain took the lead and sang a work song. His fast boat was in the lead and was about to meet the huge steel ship first.

Even sailors during the Age of Exploration who weren't pirates were somewhat familiar with the basics of boarding combat. Now, their merchant ships couldn't provide artillery support, and the enemy could attack them from higher ground. In this disadvantageous situation, they had to use their arquebuses for cover before risking throwing out their grappling hooks to board the ship.

Everyone knew they were very likely to die on the way to the charge, but listening to the pirate song sung in the captain's rough voice, a flame of courage was ignited in everyone's heart.

However, only when the equipment level is similar and the tactics are equal can courage determine who wins.

Clearly, these sailors did not have an advantage in any way.

On Sunday, watching the enemy rushing towards him, rowing in unison, I remembered an idiom I had taught him a few days earlier on Saturday—

"The mantis' arm blocks the car."

"Aim, fire!"

With just two calm commands, the sailors, who were already prepared, raised their guns and launched an attack on the enemy that had entered their firing range.

Before the sailors on the speedboat could even load their arquebuses to provide cover, bullets rained down on them.

The sea was calm, and the sturdy deck of the Iron Heart provided the sailors with an excellent firing platform, allowing the superior accuracy of the Chen rifle to be demonstrated once again.

The fast boat that had been leading the way was riddled with holes in an instant. The captain and sailors' rousing shouts came to an abrupt halt. Only a blood-stained wooden boat slowly poured into the sea and gradually sank.

The speedboats following closely behind the captain suffered fewer attacks, but also sustained varying degrees of casualties.

Seeing their "captain's ship" completely destroyed, they all stopped rowing and turned back in an attempt to return to the armed merchant ship.

Although their boat had been damaged, at least it provided them with shelter instead of leaving them to languish at sea as live targets.

The sailors, who had waited a long time for their chance to fire their guns, were not about to let the enemy escape right under their noses.

They did not stop fighting voluntarily until a ceasefire order was issued on Sunday.

The chorus of gunfire transformed into sparser drumbeats, and the sailors on the speedboat fell one after another as if summoned by the King of Hell.

The Ironheart continued its relentless pursuit, its gleaming hull casting a shadow that had long since enveloped them.

Just as the sailors who had miraculously survived on the ship were all plunged into despair, a loud and hoarse voice suddenly came from the Ironheart.

The voice was in Spanish, and it sounded somewhat muffled and strange, not like a human voice.

But at this point, the sailors didn't care whether the voice was human or not; all they knew was that the voice said they wouldn't die if they dropped their guns, put their hands on their heads, and surrendered.

Faced with certain death and a sliver of hope for survival, all the sailors made the same choice—

They threw the muskets on their backs into the sea, then, ignoring the repairs to the leaks in the boat, covered their heads with their hands.

Fortunately, the enemy wasn't like pirates who liked to go back on their word. After everyone covered their heads, they indeed stopped shooting, and even the large ship stopped and ceased its pursuit.

……

On Sunday, he hung a megaphone that continuously played Spanish "surrender announcements" on the wall and ordered the sailors to throw down ropes to pull the surrendered enemy ships onto the boat.

This "magical device" that can record and amplify human voices is called a loudspeaker, and Chen Zhou gave it to him a few days ago.

They had long anticipated that the Spanish armed merchant ships would be easily defeated and would inevitably collapse; the only question was how quickly they would collapse.

Therefore, Chen Zhou specifically asked a Spaniard in prison to record this conversation.

Seeing that one enemy ship had been sunk, another had fled in panic, and yet another had fought desperately but suffered heavy casualties, Sunday felt it was time to take out the megaphone and persuade them to surrender.

As he expected, the enemy surrendered en masse.

……

The loudspeaker was still broadcasting surrender appeals, while the Ironheart, recovering Spanish sailors submerged in the sea, turned back towards the sunken armed merchant ship—

There were also some Spanish sailors who had narrowly escaped the disaster, clinging to planks and floating at sea, and the ship planned to take them aboard on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Steelbone passed by the Ironheart, continuing its pursuit of the sole survivor.

……

From afar, the lookouts on the ship had already seen the tragic state of their companions. They knew that even if they rushed to the enemy ship, they would not be able to defeat it, so they urged the sailors on the ship to work harder to bail water, repair the ship, and control the sails.

However, the speed of a sailboat is minimally affected by human effort; if the wind direction is wrong, even if they work themselves to the bone, the speed cannot be increased.

What's even more disheartening is that, precisely at this critical juncture, the wind gradually weakened, and their boat speed not only failed to increase but actually decreased significantly.

The Steelbone, with its mottled hull made of a mix of wood and metal, drew ever closer, the roar of its steam engines reaching the sailors' ears and shaking their already fragile hearts.

……

"Surrender, Captain..."

The lookout witnessed the fate of the sailors on another sailing ship that had failed in their boarding maneuver. Seeing that the steel ship had not abandoned them at sea but instead threw down ropes to rescue them, he felt as if he had suddenly seen a glimmer of hope in his despair.

He cautiously tried to persuade the captain, his eyes fixed on the long sword at the captain's waist, afraid that the captain would get angry and cut him with it.

The captain stood on the ship's railing, gazing at the sails that had become smooth due to the weakening wind, his large brown beard trembling slightly.

He did not draw his longsword, but simply sighed deeply, and then announced to all the sailors—

"We surrender!"

The sailors knew they could not escape the enemy's pursuit, but laying down their weapons would make them lambs to the slaughter.

Some obeyed the order, some hesitated, and some clamored and voiced their objections.

In the brief moment that the sailors stopped working, the Steelbone drew closer.

With the distance reduced to less than 100 meters, all the sailors could see the long-barreled heavy guns facing them on the deck of the Steelbone, as well as the enemy waiting in formation beside the guns.

Recalling the nightmarish artillery attack not long ago, those die-hards finally gave up arguing with their comrades and gave up their last struggle.

On the bright side, at least they were luckier than those who were burned to death or shot to death. In any case, they were still alive, and even if they were to become slaves to the enemy, they still had hope of survival.

Having fallen to such a state, being alive is the best outcome; what else is there to hope for?
Under the captain's leadership, all the sailors laid down their weapons and gathered at the edge of the ship's side, waiting for the enemy on the steel ship to take them away.

……

This naval battle, initiated by the islanders, ended abruptly in less than an hour.

The Steelbone and Ironheart ships won a complete victory without even scratching the steel plates of their hulls, not to mention the casualties among the crew.

(End of this chapter)