The pirate fleet sailed among the islands dotted with the West Indies, and Chen Shouxu spent the first Christmas and New Year's Day of the era on board, and thanks to the abundant captures, the captain served rum and bread openly on the festive season.

The pirates continued to plunder the small trading ships that sailed along the coast, and it was a simple battle.

Chen Shouxu commanded the Banshee to stop a sloop, and the fleet of three gunboats frightened the small boat on the other side. As is customary, the Banshee rolled out the broadside cannons.

This is a surrender? Don't struggle to resist it. Looking at the white flags raised and the sails lowered by the merchant ships, Chen Shouxuan sneered.

"Leave them alone, shoot them at the bow." Chen Shouxu ordered the gunners on the deck.

It's called a process. The merchant ship surrendered too quickly, but Chen Shouxuan still planned to complete the procedure.

Perhaps it was because the gunner's skills were itchy and he wanted to practice his hands, Chen Shouxu saw seven or eight gunners gathered around the gun carriage in front of the gun, discussed with each other for a while, kept fine-tuning the height and direction of the gun car, and finally finished aiming, and one of the guys lit the gun door. Chen Shouxu saw the cannonball grazing the bow of the merchant ship and flying into the sea, almost hitting the opponent's wavebreaker.

Some of the gunners around the front guns lamented and some laughed, and the guys who fired the guns took off their hats and began to collect money. They're gambling.

The Banshee's shelling frightened the people on the merchant ship, and immediately someone in the owner's costume rushed to the bulwark and shouted at Chen Shouxu, "We have already surrendered, why do we still fire." ”

The two ships were so close that they didn't need a telescope to tell each other's anxious looks.

Chen Shouxu also shouted back, "I prefer to shoot cannons." The gunners let out a strange laugh.

"Is the owner familiar with the waters around here?" Chen Shouxu asked.

"Very familiar."

"Ask the owner to row a small boat to the ship." Chen Shouxu's tone was very polite, but the content was unquestionable.

The captain of the merchant ship had no choice but to get into the dinghy and lean to the side of the Banshee.

Chen Shouxu asked the sailors to pull the owner onto deck, and then lowered the longboat of the Banshee, and sent 10 sailors to the trophies.

The Mary also sailed to the side of the Banshee and came to rest, and William came.

Chen Shouxu stood on the stern tower and looked at the captives at his feet.

"What do you call the shipowner?"

"Thomas. Bill. "A typical English name.

"You're English?" Sterling was a little shocked, "Why is the Spanish flag flying?" ”

"Yorkshire, England." Captain Bill sneered, "You are also an English ship with a Dutch flag, is it strange that I am employed by the Spaniards?" "The pirates' daily conversations were in a strange mixture of English, French, and Dutch, and the Banshee's English was clear to Captain Bill.

England is now ruled by Charles I of the Stuarts, which had remained largely at peace since England's defeat to Spain 10 years earlier, and did not continue to take part in the Thirty Years' War, which was in full swing on the continent. England's relations with Spain at this stage were not bad, Charles I was not averse to Catholicism, and his queen was a Catholic from France. The king's ambiguity in his beliefs, which now made England very uneasy, was no longer a turbulent undercurrent in 1639, and this antagonism could be felt even in the distant West Indies. After England ended the war, many of the unemployed English captains accepted employment from the Dutch, Swedish, and German alliances of Protestant princes. That's what Grover is. Unexpectedly, in the West Indies, he actually met an English captain who was hired by Spain.

Sterling turned to look for the captain, and William walked up to Chen Shouxu's side, "We need that Rose, we have grabbed a bit of a lot of things recently, and the size of the Rose is just the right size for a warehouse." ”

"It's up to the captain to decide."

Captain Grover hurried to the deck, and now he let Sterling and Chen Shouxu take command of all these daily boat grabbing tasks, and only stepped forward when there was a need to fight to solve the problem.

Grover first saluted Captain Bill, "Hello, Dear Captain Bill. I don't rob the English ship, but the Spanish flag you fly has misled my people. ”

At this time, the sailors sent by Chen Shouxu had already boarded the Rose and began to rummage through boxes and cabinets to find the supplies needed.

Grover ordered, "Get them back at once, release Captain Bill, give him back the Rose, and we'll go." ”

"Captain Grover," William questioned, "we need the Rose as a warehouse." ”

"I'll grab another goddamn warehouse, but for now, my orders must be executed." Grover, who has always maintained a gentlemanly demeanor, even brought a scolding tone.

William looked at One-Eye and smiled.

"Captain, the sailors who went to the Rose said they found a lot of Spanish silver coins and rum in the cabin......"

Grover was furious, probably after a long time with pirates, the sailors on the ship had been a little presumptuous lately, and he didn't wait for One-Eye to finish, "Shut up, sailor." Wicks, drag him down, tie him to the mast and give him 12 lashes. ”

The captains of the Crown of England had the right to whip sailors up to 12 lashes without reporting, and Grover was furious and brought with him the habits of his navy.

No one dared to persuade him again, and Wicks asked the two sailors to take off one-eyed shirts. One-eyed's back is covered with criss-crossing scars, all of which are whip marks from his previous service in the Navy.

Wicks was a little unbearable, "Captain ......."

"Wicks, are you going to question my orders too?"

The sailor sighed and motioned for the sailor to continue.

One-eyed was tied to the mainmast, and the boatswain himself carried out the execution. Until the end of the 12 whipping, One-Eye remained silent and did not make a sound. Chen Shouxu saw the terrifying look in One-Eye's eyes with his back to the captain.

William didn't expect One-Eye to be whipped by Grover, but the 12 lashes on One-Eye's body seemed to be drawn into his heart. He said to Grover with a grim face, "Captain Grover, One-Eye's words are also true, you opened up the supply of drinks on Christmas and New Year's Day, and now the wine on the ship is drunk. Even if we return the Rose to Captain Bill, at least we can exchange some rum. ”

Grover, noticing the disapproving looks of the sailors on deck, said to Bill, "I'll trade cane sugar for your rum for double the market price." ”

Naturally, Bir did not dare and would not refuse, and the deal was actually earned by him.

The pirates freed the English captain, got the rum and left in a hurry.

According to the information he received from Captain Bill before leaving, there was a 30-gun Spanish cruiser stationed in Puerto Ponce, and Grover did not want to get in trouble and sent the fleet east at full speed to distance itself from Puerto Rico as soon as possible.

Chen Shouxu and One-Eye had always been on good terms, and he was powerless to stop the captain's orders, so he had to come to visit him with wine after the execution.

There were a number of sailors gathered around One-Eye, and he had great prestige among ordinary sailors.

"This old bastard still plays his role in the royal fleet." A sailor said in a resentful tone.

"Hey, he thought he was an officer under the glorious king." Some sailors imitated the king's appearance and made exaggerated gestures, which drew a lot of laughter.

There were also sailors who said resentfully, "Look at William, who is equally proficient in naval warfare, I don't think he is worse than our captain, but he only takes half of the spoils more than the sailors." Why did he take 14 times as much as us. The ones who jumped the gang with the Spanish cannon were us. ”

"He used us like cannon fodder."

Chen Shouxu pretended not to hear these discussions, and coughed a few times to remind the sailors.

When the sailors saw him coming, they all shut their mouths and said no more. Chen Shouxu felt embarrassed, left the rum, greeted One-eyed for a few words, and turned to leave.

Since the seizure of the Portuguese ship and the serious loss of personnel, Chen Shouxu felt that the atmosphere on the ship had changed somewhat. But the fundamental reason is that William's sailors have received more loot than they do. It's all the same desperate gang, but the income is different, and it's normal for the sailors to be dissatisfied.

Chen Shouxu had just been promoted to officer, and he was usually quite kind to people, and the sailors had not yet regarded him as an outsider. From an early age, he hated informers, so he had no intention of reporting to the captain. Go back to your cabin and fall asleep.