In the Mid-Autumn Festival of September, a hurricane landed in the Bahamas, setting off huge waves. During this time, two hurricanes hit the northern Caribbean Sea in succession, and news of heavy damage in Cuba and other places reached Curacao through the passing merchant ships.

Curacao is far from the path of the hurricane, and the sea is calm. The humid air brought by the hurricane also affected the area, and it was rainy for several days. Tiny raindrops fell on the roofs and dripped down the eaves, gently knocking on the stone slabs on the street. In the middle of the street is a canal in which rainwater collects and flows to the sea. Delicate two-storey buildings line the streets, palm trees sway gently in front of the houses, and the European-style architecture is combined with this exotic flora.

There's a mermaid bar on the street, and the bustling crowd inside is a far cry from the quiet outside. Due to the temporary disruption of routes between North and South America, merchant ships anchored at Willemstad to wait for the bad weather to pass. Sailors who have nothing to do gather in the harbor are always in the bars that sailors love, with fresh vegetables, fresh beer, and enthusiastic dancing girls.

Two young Mestizo women were vigorously dancing their slender waists on stage, their exposed lower abdomen flat and their thighs round. The fine beads of sweat were full of athletic energy, and the occasional proud breasts exposed during the dance drew the screams of the sailors from time to time. The seductive flesh makes the air gradually warmer, and the veil that covers the face adds to the mystery.

Just when the heat reaches the tipping point where it is about to get out of control, the music stops abruptly and the woman exits with a bewitching figure. The sailors were dissatisfied, but no one dared to make trouble in the bar. sat back in twos and threes, scolded the boss softly, lowered his head and picked up the inferior beer in front of him, and drank it all. This is the only drink that most sailors consume at the bar.

With the help of alcohol, the sailors exchanged news with each other. The topic of conversation lately is always inseparable from hurricanes in the Northern Caribbean. It's not just the power of nature that was born on the west coast of Africa and swept across the Atlantic. The conversation focused more on a man-made hurricane unleashed by the Spanish privateer against the Pirates of the Caribbean.

A sailor pretended to be mysterious and said to his drinking partner, "Hey, you know what? The Cuban gang of West Bank occupied the island of Tortuga. ”

"Are you serious? It was the stronghold of the Baken pirates. ”

Looking at the surprised look on the face of the wine companion, a sense of superiority spontaneously arose in the sailor's heart, "You are so closed. This happened last month, just before the hurricane made landfall. ”

"God, it's unbelievable. Tortuga is home to 1,000 murderous barbecuers, and on the top of the hill overlooking the harbor there is a fortress called the pigeon cage. ”

The sailor scoffed, "The pigeon cages have been completely torn down, and the bodies of the murderous barbecuers you are talking about are hanging on the beach swings in Tortuga." ”

"You must be talking nonsense, when did the Spaniards have such power in Cuba."

"What are you lying to. Four or five famous captains of the barbecue were killed in battle or hanged in Havana, and their bodies were chained and hung in the port of Havana, where the crows were fed. ”

"Tell me, then, how did the Spaniards capture Tortuga?"

"This ......," the sailor thought for a moment, and then quickly said with glowing eyes, "the Spaniards sent several battleships from the mainland and rushed directly into the harbor of Tortuga and fired thousands of shells at the Roast Pirates!" The port was bleeding. ”

The wine companion's eyes looked suspicious.

There was a soft sneer from their neighbouring table, but the sailors who were in the mood did not notice.

It was a table near the window, and two people seated were wearing round hats and dressed like merchants. It was Chen Shouxu and Maiden.

The open window brought in fresh air, and Chen Shouxu said to Maiden, "You can still laugh." ”

Maiden still couldn't help laughing, "Spain has more than 60 battleships in total, his enemy has more than 80 battleships in the Dutch Navy, and France has dozens more. Do you think they might have sent this kind of powerful weapon to the New World to fight pirates?

Chen Shouxu didn't think it was funny, "It doesn't matter if there are battleships or not, the important thing is that the results they say are true." The Spaniards bloodied Tortuga. ”

Maiden's finger tapped on the table, "You know that sometimes in naval battles, fortuitous factors can play a big role, such as foggy weather......"

Chen Shouxu's eyes drifted to the bell tower at the corner of the street, "I don't like this feeling of being out of control. Failure is not a problem, we need to know why they failed. ”

Maiden comforted Chen Shouxu, "Don't worry, that's why we're here." ”

The bell rang in the distance, and Chen Shouxu stood up, "The appointed time is up, let's go upstairs." ”

Maiden sighed and walked with Chen Shouxu through the crowd to the other end of the bar. Two sturdy black slaves crossed their hands and blocked the staircase.

Chen Shouxu handed over a piece of paper, "I came to find your boss and have already made an appointment with him." ”

The black slave took the piece of paper, saw the skeleton depicted on it stepping on two heads, nodded, and turned to make way of the passage.

Chen Shouxu and Maiden ascend a narrow staircase to the second floor, which is very different from the first floor. On both sides are private rooms, with windows facing the street or the manor behind the house. Some people were sitting in the boxes sipping fine wines, exchanging things for each other, goods or information.

Walking down the hallway to the end, the servant opened the door. It's an open room with windows on both sides that allow air to flow through. Away from the lobby of the bar, thick wooden walls and ornate tapestries block out the noise of sailors.

A tall middle-aged man stood up and greeted him. He wears a hat with red feathers, a crimson waistcoat and trousers, and a golden cross hanging from his chest. Noticeably, his left calf has disappeared and has been replaced by a wooden prosthetic leg.

"Welcome, Captain Orderly, Mr. Maiden, please be seated."

"Thank you, Captain Morgan." The middle-aged man in front of him was once a legendary Pirate of the Caribbean. After retiring, he settled on the Dutch island with gold and silver, opened this bar, and also controlled the underground forces on the island.

"Captain Orderly, this is what you need." Morgan handed over a stack of papers.

Chen Shouxu couldn't wait to open it, looking at it carefully.

"What do you want to drink? I still have some wine here. ”

"Single malt, thank you."

"Okay. I won't drink with the two of you. Morgan poured two glasses of wine and poured himself a glass of lemonade. When Captain Morgan was still at sea, he had a reputation for not drinking. This is a rare example among pirates, where a pirate captain who didn't drink alcohol retired and opened a bar.

There are a lot of contents in the document, and Chen Shouxu reads it very slowly. Morgan and Maiden sipped their drinks until Chen Shouxu spoke, "This Castilian nobleman named Chiron is very capable. ”

After retiring from the army, Morgan used his extensive network to gather intelligence on various forces in the Caribbean. The content of Chen Shouxu's Chinese copy is the information about Chiron compiled by Morgan through various channels.

"The last nobles of Castile. Aren't they best known for having more napkins on the table and fewer plates? Spain has a population of 7 million, and the last nobles have 500,000. "There's a joke about a town in Spain that openly displays signs in front of the government that Castile nobles, monks, and dogs are not allowed. ”

Chen Shouxu handed the intelligence document to Maiden, "Look at this, this Chiron may not be the last nobleman you remember, this is a young, energetic and determined Spanish soldier. ”

Morgan laughed, "He used the same method as you did to loot Venezuela." From beginning to end, Chiron claims to destroy the Blue Harbor of the Bahamas. No one expected that his first target after setting sail was Tortuga. ”

Chen Shouxu said, "It's not strange to think of it. In terms of combat effectiveness, there were 1,000 pirates in Tortuga, and although more than half of them were always out hunting, they also had a fortress. Chiron had three cruisers, two sloops, and a total of only more than 600 people and five ships. As is the general rule, the Bahamas should be captured first, and then Tortuga will be attacked when the strength has grown. ”

Maiden didn't look as detailed as Chen Shouxu, and the speed was very fast, "Captain Montbas is unlucky, the hunt was successful, but on the way back to port, he was blown by turbulence to Chiron's fleet. He also identified Chiron's flagship Estellea as a Portuguese sugar carrier, and was defeated in an artillery battle. ”

"The key is not the wind direction and identification errors, turbulence can occur at any time, and it is difficult to accurately identify a merchant ship or warship at sea," Chen said. We can all encounter these problems, and the key is that the pirates of the Barbecue Gang have made another mess in the battle. The artillery battle could not be fought, but what did they vote on when they were still capable of fighting the broadside battle, and the result of the vote was to retreat, but in the end they did not run away under the continuous shelling of the Spaniards. Lack of discipline was the reason for Montbas' downfall. ”

Maiden looked up and asked, "Both of you are captains, I have a doubt, doesn't the captain have command in battle, why do you vote?" “

Morgan sighed, "The captain of the Roast Gang pirates has full command in battle. But this command came at a cost, the captain could forcibly disobey the will of the majority of the sailors in battle, but usually in this case the captain was removed after the battle. The sailor only remembers that you refuted the arrogance of the crowd, and did not assume that you had saved everyone. There have been many examples of this in the past. The captain's personality charm, luck and wrist may not be able to save his life if he is a little worse. Montebas will vote in the battle with this in mind. “

Morgan, who had been a pirate captain for many years and had a wealth of combat experience, simply laid out the battlefield situation on the table with a glass and a pen, "Chiron separated the fleet and opened a chain of cruisers on the route to Tortuga, keeping a visual distance from each other. He did not rush to attack the port, but patiently waited for the prey to crash into itself. The Bakkyans fought bravely, but I have never seen them carry out a plan without infighting. ”

"After Montbas's death, the other two ships of his fleet seemed to have fallen into a state of despair, drinking all night and being easily defeated in the battle the next day."

Chen Shouxu shook his head, "Poor pirates have the strongest fighting power, and pirates who have returned from plunder have the least will to fight. ”

"Crushing Montebas's fleet, Chiron has grown in strength. He offered pardon in exchange for the surrender of some captured pirates. Led by a pirate who had changed his court, Chiron landed outside the port of Tortuga and attacked the pirate base camp at night. ”

Morgan lamented, "Beat the Bakenians the way the Bakenians did." ”

Chen Shouxu said, "The tactics are not particularly brilliant, they won with patience and determination. ”

Maiden closed the report, "Then Chiron's next target is Blue Harbor?" ”

Morgan nodded, "Yes." But don't worry too much, Chiron's fleet was hit by a hurricane after returning to port, and although I don't know how big the damage is, it shouldn't be possible to attack the Bahamas anytime soon. And his seizures in Tortuga were quite large, and it took some time to digest the spoils. ”

"Well, we have good news and bad news, the good news is that the Bahamas still have time to prepare, and the bad news is that they will have to face a much more powerful Spanish encirclement fleet." ”

Morgan chuckled, "Mr. Maiden is absolutely right. I have news for you that I have just gotten to tell you that the Banshee has been found. Just before the hurricane, they passed through Tortuga and headed northwest, looking like they were supposed to be back at the Blue Harbor. ”

Chen Shouxu stood up and put down a bag full of silver coins, "Thank you Captain Morgan for your information, I still have something to do, so I won't bother." ”

After saying hello, Chen Shouxu quickly went downstairs and left the bar. Chen Shouxu's footsteps were very fast, and the raindrops fell on his body, as if he didn't notice it.

Maiden followed, "The Banshee has broken into the war zone, and now the situation in the Bahamas is also dangerous, are you really going to go back?" ”

Chen Shouxu turned around, and the raindrops fell down his hair and face, "I swore to be loyal to that ship and the brothers on board. ”

Maiden put away his usual banter expression, "Understood. I will support you. How long will it take for the Changshui to be repaired? ”

"The hull repair has been completed, and now only the work of modifying the sail is left, and it will take another ten days at the current pace. But we still have to wait for the arrival of the cannons that Litmanning sold to us. We now have only 12-pounder and 8-pounder guns to fight against the Spanish fleet, and Litmanin's 24-pounder guns are what we desperately need. ”

"I'll ask my friend to urge the Governor again. What about the Storm and the Revenge? ”

"The bottom of the ship has been cleared, and the minor refit of the Vengeance has begun, and it will definitely be completed before the Long Water."

The two men arrived at the harbor, where a combat Galen was moored by the trestle. Several whale oil lamps illuminate the majestic hull, and on the verandah at the stern of the ship are written two Chinese characters for "Changshui".