For the next three months, from June to August, the entire Hawkins family and Isabel Walton, as well as a dozen or so young men from the North she brought with her, were in a busy state of preparing for the overseas voyage.

As the patriarch of the family, Plymouth's celebrity and city councillor, Captain Hawkins, was a commendably discreet navigator. He values the crew's loyalty to him and his family. Using attractive high rewards, promising to distribute loot, allowing the crew to make private transactions, etc., the crew members of each ship are desperate to follow him on overseas adventures.

Not only the loyalty of the crew is valued, but also the problems encountered during overseas voyages are also highly valued. First of all, it is necessary to ensure that each ship is well stocked with ale, wine, cured meats, cured fish, salt, cheese and other food, and that live livestock are loaded to improve the ship's diet. Second, prepare tools and items such as barrels, shovels, compasses, ballast, pulleys, ropes, and rat poison.

In addition to the good sailors, the personnel of each ship included priests, carpenters and blacksmiths who repaired the ships, seamstresses who made and repaired ropes and canvas, ship doctors and barbers, cooks, divers, and artillery commanders. This brings the total number of crew members to each armed merchant ship on this voyage with 36 crew members.

Isabel Walton, a noble lady from the north, supported and approved of the captain's every preparation. However, when it comes to food rationing, she suggested that plenty of vegetables, fruits and pickled fruits should be loaded. At least from the perspective of life at sea, which she is familiar with, eating more vegetables and fruits can effectively prevent the development of sepsis.

While everyone is fully preparing for the voyage, the transformation of 4 armed merchant ships is also intensifying. In accordance with the firepower of Henry VIII's "Mary Rose", each ship had a lower hull wall panel under the open deck and a gun deck, with a corresponding number of gun holes on the side of the ship.

In terms of artillery, each ship had seven falcons equipped with four-wheeled gun mounts on each broadside gun deck. The Falcon is a medium-sized bronze front-loading gun, which can fire not only spherical iron cannonballs, but also spherical stone projectiles and "swarm cannons". This type of artillery was often used in surface battles, with the Venetian merchant fleet loading falcons to defend against pirates, and the Spanish armada sometimes using replicas of their own guns. The colonists moved their ship-borne falcon cannons from ships to land for land warfare, and often placed them in colonial forts to protect the colony from harassment or resistance from the local natives.

In addition, the wrought iron swing loader was still used for the two gun emplacements at the bow and stern gun emplacements. Gyroguns belong to the family of small-caliber guns, which are mainly installed in the bow and stern of ships to make up for the areas that cannot be covered by the broadside guns. As a result, each ship was equipped with 18 guns, as well as a large number of shells and barrels of black powder.

In terms of the supervision of munitions, the dozen or so duke's palace guards brought by Isabel who did not know how to work as a boat came in handy. Standing on the gun deck of the Galen ship she bought, Isabel looked solemnly at the dozen or so guards in front of her, "Baldwin, you and the others must take care of the artillery, shells, and gunpowder, do you understand?" ”

Baldwin looked at her seriously and nodded, "Yes, Your Excellency. Over the past few months, my brothers and I have been getting acquainted with the use and maintenance of various types of artillery. ”

Isabel nodded, and when she looked at Fast on Baldwin's side, she saw that the other seemed to have something to say. After allowing the other party to speak, Fast pondered and asked, "Your Excellency, if we want to go ashore to fight, should we also go?" ”

"Yes, except for the priests, carpenters, blacksmiths, and seaweers, you and the sailors shall go ashore as sergeants to fight or capture black slaves."

"Your Excellency, how much money can you earn by capturing a black slave?"

Under the influence of Plymouth's strong business atmosphere, Baldwin, Fast and a dozen other guards from the north thought about money the most. I used to live in the castle of the Duke of Richmond, Yorkshire, and lived a life without worrying about food and clothing every day, without thinking about how to spend my money.

However, when I came to Plymouth, I found that everything cost money. Especially with those young, beautiful wind and dust girls, they spend more money. Coupled with the promise Isabel had made to them, they hoped that this overseas voyage would bring them great fortune.

Isabel glanced at everyone's eagerness for money, and said slowly, "Well, it costs about £10 to transport a slave from the coast of Africa to the Americas, but you can get £70 to £80 worth of goods. Moreover, this money does not include the looting of the Portuguese and Spanish treasures. ”

Everyone's first reaction when they heard this call was to jump on the spot a few times in excitement. They believed Isabel herself, but were somewhat skeptical that what she was saying was not the truth. Because the money earned by selling a black slave is so much that it is unimaginable. Isabel looked at the silent crowd and smiled softly, "I know, you can't believe it's true. It doesn't matter, you just have to do your duty, and it's not too late to thank me when you get the money. ”

All the guards laughed, and a question came to Fast's mind, "Your Excellency, what if the black slave dies after sailing on the sea for such a long time?" We all know that life on board is hard. ”

Isabel walked over to a falcon cannon mounted on a four-wheeled gun mount on the right, patted the bronze cannon lightly, and looked up at the guards again, "I know that some of the black slaves will die during the transport. However, as long as it is not more than half. ”

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The night before departure, Captain Hawkins and his brother Richard, along with the other two privateer captains, gathered again in the parlor with Isabel. Except for Richard, who stayed, the rest of the people present were all captains who were going to set sail the next day. Captain Hawkins raised his glass and toasted the others, "Captains, I wish you all the best on tomorrow's voyage. ”

After everyone had taken a sip of their drink, Captain Hawkins smiled at Isabel, "Miss, I also wish your 'Nemesis' a victorious return. ”

Isabel named her privateer the Nemesis for no particular purpose, she just liked the name. Holding a glass of wine, he nodded to the captain with a smile on his face, "Captain, I believe that all the privateers will be intact and return to Plymouth with a large amount of gold and silver treasures." ”

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