On the morning of Wednesday, April 23, 1544, the English-flagged privateer fleet made its way smoothly outside the port of the Hawkins family, south of Plymouth. Before the fleet could anchor, news of the return of the Hawkins patriarch from the ocean spread throughout almost all of Plymouth town.

Although the Hawkins family had sailed many times to and from Plymouth to the Portuguese colony of Sumu in Brazil and engaged in overseas trade, the significance of this return from the ocean was very significant. Because, everybody believes in a superficial truth.

The ostensible fact is that Captain Hawkins sailed to the Spanish colonies in the Americas and the Caribbean, opening up trade between England and the Spanish colonies. In fact, the vast majority of the public did not know the true purpose of the voyage, except for city officials, city councilors, a few local businessmen, and a few members of the Hawkins family.

The Nemesis dropped anchor and slowly anchored at the dockside. Although it has been at several ports for a short time in recent months, this time it may be for a long time. As soon as the ship docked, almost all the crew members had their hearts firmly in their stomachs, and now they had at least a year to think about whether they could return to their hometowns.

When Boatswain Brady Hawkins stood on the open deck and saw the people, houses and streets of his familiar hometown, the sunny, big boyish personality of his body was immediately revealed. He longed to rush to the dock and stand on the road of his hometown and shout, hugging his boy playmates he had known for a long time, even if he was thrown into the sea by the laughter of his playmates.

Thankfully, he remembered his position aboard the Nemesis. While talking excitedly and loudly with the sailors, he commanded the sailors to lift out all kinds of valuable goods and weapons and equipment in the cabin. When the cargo piled on the open deck increased, he did not bother to drink some ale to replenish his strength, and hurried to the dock to find a free freight wagon.

His cousin John still had a hard time accepting the fact that he was a trainee sailor, but he had at least begun to adjust some of his emotions and thoughts that had deteriorated. While adjusting, he still did not forget that one of his duties was the maintenance and maintenance of the boat. He took the initiative to find the carpenters, blacksmiths, and seamstresses in the lower cabins, and instructed them to immediately begin the work of repairing and repairing the ship.

Commander Fast, on the other hand, stood in the aisle of the gun deck, looking around with regret at the 14 bronze front-loading guns placed on each gun mount on both sides. Later, he went to the bow and stern gun emplacements to inspect the four wrought iron wrought wrought rear-loading guns.

When he returned to the aisle of the gun deck, he found that the gunners had not left the deck. Haha smiled and stepped forward and patted the gunner's shoulder, gently squeezed the gunner's arm with his fist, and said with a smile, "Guys, we're back in England, don't you want to go ashore?" ”

The gunner Hall, who was sitting on the deck, stood up and glanced at him, "Fast, do you think we still have a chance to come back and use these guns?" ”

With the exception of some of the gunners who worked for the Hawkins family, the rest of the gunners became a little restless at the thought of going back to the Duke's Court to live a life with little to do. Hall's companion Miller looked at the artillery that had been with him for six months with reluctance, sighed and seemed to say to everyone, "I'm used to the days when I heard the sound of artillery and smelled the strong smell of gunpowder. Now, going back to the north, I can't touch these artillery pieces anymore. ”

Fast glanced at the other people's expressions, and seemed to agree with Willis Miller's words, and he knew that everyone was nostalgic for this tense and exciting gunner life. However, he believed that he and others would not easily give up his position as a guard at the Duke's Court of Richmond.

Compared to the position of gunner, the position of the ducal palace is indeed much less exciting and the moment of celebration of the victory in battle. However, serving in the ducal palace is at least not life-threatening, and it does not require a long period of adrift on the surface of the sea, facing the boundless ocean all day long. In terms of life, the position of the ducal palace is still very tempting.

Fast crossed his hands on his hips and glanced at everyone, "You fools, although we can't touch the artillery in the future, we can still hold arquebuses all day long!" Guys, we're His Highness's musketeers! ”

Saying this, many people smiled again on their faces, and shouted, "Fast is right, we will also use arquebuses, and we have the most powerful weapons in all of Europe!" ”

"When you get back to the north, you must let the others see my arquebus, my gun can kill a knight with one shot!"

"Brother, Your Highness doesn't need us to go to battle, where are we going to shoot and kill the knight?"

"Well, without a knight to fight, we can hunt for His Highness, kill a rabbit with one shot, kill a wild boar with one shot, hahaha......!"

At this time, Hall remembered what Isabel said about the Naval Infantry Regiment, and hurriedly shouted at the others, "Brothers, don't forget that we are still musketeers of the Naval Infantry Regiment!" Your Excellency said that the naval infantry regiment is the infantry that sets off with the ship and lands for battle! ”

"Alright, brothers, let's go ashore." Fast hurriedly beckoned to the gunners.

"Commander, we... What to do? James Short, the gunner who had previously asked Isabel about the honorarium, still has no information about whether he and others will be able to play for the Duke of Richmond. Seeing that everyone was about to part ways, he hurriedly asked.

Fast turned around and glanced at the civilian gunner, looked up and down and smiled, "You and others still need to get His Highness's permission to work for him. ”

Although James Short never understood why Fast and the others used "His Highness" to address the nobleman living in the north, he still felt a little timid when he thought that he was going to meet the nobleman. When following Fast and the others towards the stairs in front of the aisle, he hesitated and asked, "Brother, I remember the captain said, let's fight for His Majesty and the Queen?!" ”

What even Isabel herself is not sure of, and Fast, who is just a guard, cannot tell many convincing facts. As he walked, he looked at each other and said vaguely, "You and the others can follow us first, and Your Excellency will think of a way." ”

By this time, the senior crew of the fleet had already gone ashore in advance to be congratulated by local officials, parliamentarians, and large merchants.