393. Survival of the fittest
Paul Lacas spat out a mouthful of blood, raised his right hand to wipe the corner of his mouth, and stood up against the bulkhead. Gritted his teeth and glanced at the British fleet in the distance, and spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva in hatred.
Karagunis's voice came from the side: "Are you alright?" Brothers. ”
Paul Callas spat out a bloody spit, hammered the bulkhead of the ship hard, and said angrily: "We have been fighting at sea for so many years, and we have always been the only ones who have pressed others to fight, when will it be the turn of others to press us to fight?"
Karagunis thought clearly, he smiled and said, "Maybe you are too arrogant on weekdays and offend God!"
Paul Callas muttered, "I do like to smoke cigars, and I don't have a good temper, ah, it's not a sin to drink, how can I provoke God so much?"
As he spoke, he gently grabbed the green stone pendant hanging from his chest, stared at the enemy in the distance, and said, "Now that the terrible rain has stopped, even if I have any sins, I have atoned for anything, then it is my turn to take back what they owe me!" Right! ”
Karagunis listened attentively and smiled, "Listen! Charge Signal! Your wish can be fulfilled! My friend! ”
Paul Callas grinned cruelly and roared, "Charge! Tear all the enemies to pieces! ”
"Roar!" The sailors shouted! After being pressed and rubbed for so long in the continuous rain, all the sailors held their breath. Compared to the weather turning sunny and the enemy appearing in front of you, there is no reason not to pursue and take revenge!
The Spanish fleet began to fight back with all its might, like an angry lion, eager to swallow the enemy in front of it in one gulp!
Braving a hail of bullets, they pounced on the British fleet, hoping to fight the victory with a proud white-knuckle battle! In their hearts, as long as it is a head-on battle, the Spaniards will definitely not lose!
This is the pride that has been passed down for decades, and it is also the pride that the Chosen One bestows on all its subjects!
The situation began to reverse, and the dense Spanish ships began to charge, while the British ships were clearly showing a tendency to retreat. In this way, the morale of the Spaniards was even stronger, and the long-term depression and the resentment of many of their companions who were swept away by the storm were all swept away, and only the thought of winning the enemy was left in their hearts!
The Spaniards were absolutely brave and fearless, even if the enemy fire in front of them was intense, they still moved forward!
Paul Lacas's ship, the Cassano, rushed to the front, and they stared at one of the enemy's North Sea schooners rushing towards it, which had broken the Cassanou's second mast as the ship had fired the hardest.
"As long as you rush up and fight with a white knuckle, I will tear them all apart with my own hands! Then throw it into the sea to feed the fish! Paul Lacas's hateful words.
He urged his sailors to speed up! Hasten! Hasten! Do everything possible to catch up with enemy ships! "Whoosh"! A cannonball stuck to Paul Lacas's cheek and went away, and the wind rubbed against his face with a hot pain! But that still didn't give him the slightest idea of retreating.
Gradually, however, Paul Lacas realized that something was wrong, the ship in front of him was fast and slow, and the pace of the other party's speed and slowness was exactly the same as that of his own ship!
In other words, the other party can be fast if they want to be fast, and they can be slow if they want to be slow, and they are completely in control of the rhythm! And his own ship is the side of the kite - in the process of chasing, his flagship mainmast is about to be broken!
Have you been tricked? Paul Lacas's inner anger was even stronger, he drew his sword, slammed it on the bow deck, and shouted hoarsely: "Speed! Give me a desperate row! Catch up with the boat ahead for me! Catch up with it! ”
But no matter how hard they tried, the distance between the two ships was always around four hundred meters! The Spaniards could only stare dryly as the British warships tilted their shells one by one over their heads, but there was nothing they could do about them.
Probably Paul Lacas's shouting was too loud to be heard by the ship in front, only to see that the ship suddenly accelerated, threw the Cassano some distance away, completely crossed the hull in a short time, and poured all the artillery fire on the Cassano of Paul Lacas, with all the guns of the whole ship!
The sudden intensification of artillery fire made the Spaniards completely unable to react! Paul Lacas only saw the rain of cannonballs coming towards his ship, except for a few shells that were too small at a small angle and ricocheted, and the other shells were wrapped in the whistling wind and hit his own hull heavily!
"Boom!" There was a loud bang behind him, and the entire hull was trembling violently! Paul Lacas, frightened, turned his head suddenly, and then found in agony that the main mast was broken!
Just as he was roaring hoarsely and putting on the sail, the enemy's second round of artillery fire hit him again! Only an unpleasant sound was heard, and the keel of the Cassano was hit head-on by a shell, and it was immediately fractured and suddenly broken in two!
The broken belly of the ship began to tilt, the bow and stern of the ship began to sink first, and the sailors desperately jumped into the water in the ensuing artillery fire, trying to find a way to survive, but they did not see the desperate Paul Lacas standing on the third mast of the sinking Cassano, looking at the enemy ship ahead with a miserable face.
He didn't seem to be aware that he was sinking, maybe it was not only his flagship that was sinking, but also his ambitions, and his arrogance in martial arts Paul Lacas did not believe in this fact, it felt like a dream, a nightmare that could not be woken up!
It wasn't until the icy waters submerged his ankles, calves, thighs, and waist that Paul Lacas suddenly came to his senses - because he heard the cries of his best friend Calagounis on the ship next to him!
Immediately a rough cable was thrown over, and Paul Lacas, without thinking about it, grabbed the cable and swam quickly to the "Royal Blade" where Calagounis was located, along with the pull of the cable!
"Come on!" Calagounis's voice came overhead, and Paolo Lacas jumped up with the cable, and immediately saw Calagounis's anxious and excited face!
A warm current wells up in Paul's heart that he hasn't lost yet! You still have a chance!
Thinking of this, he stretched out his right hand upwards as best he could, and the Karagunis above immediately reached out and grabbed it hard, and the two of them worked together to pull Paul Lakas onto the deck of the Royal Blade!
"Hey! Fortunately, my friend! Want to get on a boat? Calagounis appeared to be injured on his left arm, still oozing blood slightly, but he still smiled and joked to Paul Lacas.
Paul Lacas slapped his good brother on the arm, regaining his courage and confidence, and the two decided, temporarily avoiding the enemy's edge, to attack an armed merchant ship in front of the right.
The merchant ship seemed to have broken rudder and was spinning in place. Of course, the two of them will not let go of this opportunity - the Royal Blade is like a sharp axe, slashing at the British ship that has lost its mobility!
It's closer! Throw ropes, board boards, and board in one go! The quality of the Spanish sailors is evident!
They shouted and rushed aboard the armed British merchant ships, met with minimal resistance!
This is a converted civilian ship, and the people on it are not regular British sailors, but recruited militiamen!
After receiving a frontal attack from the Spanish Navy, the already unskilled helmsman swerved in a hurry, but the force was too strong and too fast, and the steering stick of the rudder was broken at once! So there was such a tragedy.
After the Spaniards boarded the ship, it took less than fifteen minutes to take full control of the armed merchant ship. Paolo Lacas triumphantly walked up to the deck, wiped the blood from his face, and said excitedly to Karagunis, who was wiping his saber on his shoes: "Next, who are we going to fight?" ”
Unexpectedly, Karagunis's reaction was very calm, even a little low: "Paul, I think something is wrong!" ”
Paul Lacas frowned and asked, "What's wrong?" ”
Karagunis said in a deep voice: "The formation of the British is too scattered! No, not scattered, but this group of battleships that we are currently entangled...... It seems to have been abandoned! ”
Paul Lacas's reaction was just that, and he couldn't help but be dumbfounded when he looked up. After a long time, he said in a hoarse voice, "Maybe it's just a coincidence!" Or, the British, in front, fled in a hurry......"
Speaking of this, even he couldn't believe his own words, so he could only swallow his spit with difficulty, and said to Karagunis: "The British are not so cruel! After all...... These are their own people! ”
Karagunis looked at the British fleet in the distance in despair, and said with a long sigh: "I'm afraid things are the worst!" My friend, we're afraid we're going to end here! ”
Paul Lakas and Karagunis looked at the British fleet in the distance, and the sudden flames seemed to come from hell, and suddenly burst into a thin line of fire, raining in their direction!
Finished! Paul Lacas's heart says that it is a salvo of full fire from all enemy ships! After these guys had distanced themselves, they moored the ships without any scruples, all the barrels facing their own direction, using a small number of armed merchant ships as bait, and unleashing all the fire at all costs, regardless of whether they were enemies or enemies!
The brothers looked at each other in despair - at such a distance, under such an intensity of firepower, they simply had no room and space to maneuver!
A barrage of cannonballs pierced the port side of the Royal Blade, and a large amount of seawater began to pour into the hull, and the entire hull began to tilt, and soon sank under the cannonball attack that followed! It never floated again......
This time the storm was even more terrifying than the previous predators! Although the storm is violent, it is only an extreme natural phenomenon after all, and its destructive power at a certain point is limited.
And the British artillery fire was precisely covering the Spanish fleet! Although many Spanish ships broke through the barrier and continued to bravely charge at the British fleet, they could not change the outcome of being wiped out!
The Spanish ships covered in artillery fire were like dominoes, starting the process of destruction from front to back!
This is the destruction of old technology by new technology! This is the destruction of the old by the new forces, and this is the destruction of the old ideas by the new ideas! This destruction was indistinguishable for the Spaniards, the difference was only in the precedence, the number and the proportion.
The fierce battle lasted a whole day! On this day, most of the lives of the Spanish Navy, which has maintained maritime supremacy for decades, were killed!
The efforts of generations of Spaniards were in vain on this day!
This is the choice of the times and reality, this is the law of survival and inferiority!
Until three days later, countless pieces of wood and iron were still floating on the surface of the English Channel. And the Spanish flag wrapped on it looks so sad and tragic......