Galen, Portugal, should now be called the Long River. Under the bombardment of the Changshui, the middle mast of the foremast, the upper mast of the mainmast, and the crossbows were also damaged. Fortunately, the Changshui was bombarded by the downwind position, and all the sail ropes were destroyed, but the hull of the ship was not hit. The pirates instructed their captives to simply repair a few damaged parts of the bulwarks of the open deck, and barely erected a few sails with spare timber.

The crew of the Storm removed the guns and metal parts from the Revenge, removed usable ammunition and canvas, and set the Revenge's hull on fire.

Collingwood, who lost his ship, transferred to the Long Water. The pirates lined up on the gangway of the Long Water, holding on to the ropes on the gangway, and using their solemn bodies as handrails for Collingwood to board the ship.

Standing on the side of the ship, Chen Shouxu reached out to pick up Collingwood, and the moment Collingwood stepped onto the deck of the Long Water, the musician played "La Victoire est à Nous!" (Victory Belongs to Us).

Chen Shouxu smiled, "They greet you like they greet the admiral of the naval fleet. ”

Collingwood was a little ashamed, "I'm sorry I lost a boat. ”

"But you've given us the Long River!" In this rousing military music from the Napoleonic era, Chen Shouxu took off his captain's hat, "Long live Victory, long live Captain Collingwood!" ”

"Hooray! Banzai! Following the rhythm of Le Dian and Chen Shouxu waving their military hats, the pirates shouted long live.

Collingwood looked excited, the wine of victory was so sweet.

Chen Shouxu and Collingwood entered the stern, and he looked at Collingwood's injured arm, "I've let Sterling take over the Long River. You will first serve as my first mate on the Changshui, and when your injuries are healed, we will get another big ship, and you will continue to be the captain. ”

"Yes, Captain Orderly. Where do we go next? ”

"The Long River needs further repairs and we have to leave Jamaica." There were charts on the table, and Chen Shouxu poked his finger at the table outside Hispaniola Island, "Here, where the charts are not marked, there is a hidden bay. ”

Chen remembers that after the battle with the Portuguese Yahat ship last year, William offered a hidden anchorage not far away, and he wrote down the latitude and longitude of the anchorage.

The Long Water piloted, the Long River staggered to follow, and the fleet slowly approached its destination. The channel at the entrance was too narrow, and as before, the battleship folded its sails and lowered the longboat. Sailors towed the ships into the harbor with paddle boats.

The fleet sailed over the reef that sheltered the bay, and the sailors were surprised to find that there was already a three-masted battleship in the bay. There was a commotion on the ship, and now the Changshui itself has no power, and many sailors are still paddling on the longboat, driving in the narrow channel in a very awkward position.

Collingwood held the telescope in one hand, "Carelessly, we should send a small boat to scout the bay first." Fortunately, the battleship did not raise its sails either. ”

The more Chen Shouxu looked at this ship, the more familiar he became, and he suddenly smiled, "This is an old acquaintance's ship." ”

There are still 23 people still alive on the team that the Storm took over from the Banshee earlier, and now they are all in higher positions, and they will all be in the post. No one recognized the sailors on deck.

Rhaegar was a little unsure, "Is it the Raphael and Captain Marmont?" ”

"The crown and skull flag decorated with irises, that's him." Chen Shouxu nodded, and ordered Elliot, the fire controller of the open-air deck gun, to "Load the gunpowder and fire a salute 12 times." ”

The Raphael was riddled with bullet holes, its masts and rigging were damaged, and the hull was full of signs of battle. Blood scabbed over the hull, dappling the yellow paintwork. The Raphael probably didn't expect to encounter outsiders at this hidden anchorage, and there were a few sailors on deck who rushed to the gun emplacement. The Changshui is heavier than the Raphael, and the difference in strength is already a bit large, and when the shadow of the Changhe appears from behind the Changshui, the pirates on the Raphael are about to collapse. Two Galen battleships, they simply did not have any chances. When the third ship, the Tempest, was revealed, the Raphael's pirates were in despair.

At this moment, the Changshui fired its broadside guns, and there were no shells in sight of the gunsmoke. The Changshui sent a longboat to the Raphael, and Rhaegar was sent to liaise with the Raphael as Chen Shouxu's messenger.

After Chen Shouxu commanded the fleet to pass through the channel, he chose another deep-water area to anchor.

Rhaegar returned, bringing with him the situation of the Raphael, "Captain, the Raphael looks like it has gone through a terrible battle. There were only more than 40 sailors left on board. A lot of people get drunk. ”

"See Marmont?"

"Yes, Captain Marmont is in a bad state right now."

Chen Shouxu had many questions he wanted to know the answers to, so he arranged for Collingwood to stay behind and command the fleet, and took a dozen people to board the Raphael in a longboat.

As Rhaegar said, the sailors of the Raphael were ragged and haggard, drunk on deck and talking nonsense. Chen Shouxu walked straight into the captain's cabin in the stern, where Marmont sat in a chair, his head wrapped in gauze, his beard skewed, and a wine bottle with only a little residual liquid left in his hand.

Marmont held the sailing table and struggled to stand up, he looked Chen Shouxu up and down several times, "I can't imagine it, I haven't seen you for more than half a year, and you have really become the captain." You brought that fleet outside? ”

"It's my fleet. I brought them back to fight the Spaniards. ”

Marmont wiped his face with his hands, cheered up and said, "What a powerful fleet. Unfortunately, if you had arrived a few days earlier, it would have been a different story. ”

"Tell me what's going on."

Marmont laughed miserably, "Defeated." As you can see, we suffered a terrible defeat. ”

"Speak slowly." Chen Shouxu poured a glass of water and handed it to Marmont.

Marmont drank the water from his glass and said slowly, "You should have heard about Tortuga Island?" ”

Chen Shouxu nodded.

"After the Battle of Tortuga, Bellamy took in many of the escaped Bakenians. The pirates of the Caribbean had never suffered such a crushing defeat, and Bellamy decided to take revenge. He led all the ships that could be assembled in the Bahamas at that time, including his Brecht and my Raphael, and five sloops, a total of more than 600 men, to attack the port of Sama, the base of Chiron. ”

"There are more than 600 pirates hungry for revenge, so why did you lose so badly?"

"Chiron was prepared, and we didn't capture his batteries during the night. Bellamy was not willing to be defeated, and we were still on the offensive after the sun rose. In the end, it was really impossible to attack, and it took too long to retreat. When the sailors finished boarding, Chiron's cruiser was killed. ”

"You fought an artillery battle at sea?"

"Yes. The formation of the Spaniards is too well maintained, and I am not under the French Navy, so I really can't win. The Brecht was destroyed, and Bellamy's fate is now unknown. Even if he hadn't been killed, he probably wouldn't have escaped being hanged. It took my best efforts to command the Raphael to escape, and the route back to the Blue Harbor had been cut off by that time, and I had to retreat east. This bay in William is the most secret anchorage in the vicinity, and I am resting here. ”

"Yes, I was about to ask you. Where did William go? Didn't he command the Raphael. ”

"After we parted, William said he felt indebted to me and gave me the Raphael. He himself chose another sloop for himself, and he also took part in this battle. After the fleet was scattered, I don't know where he is now. "But William is an old fox, and no one in the Bahamas is better at avoiding danger than him, and I think he will be fine, and he must be drunk in some secret port." ”

"The Banshee isn't with you?"

"When we set sail, the Banshee wasn't in Blue Harbor." Marmont patted his forehead, "Chatfield, do you remember?" Former captain of the Banshee. I finally saw that his ship had been taken over by the Spaniards, and it seemed that no one had escaped. ”

Chen Shouxu was a little embarrassed, there were many acquaintances on Chatfield's ship, "Then how many of you escaped in the end?" ”

"I don't know, how many schooners have successfully evacuated. It should be less than half, two or three hundred people at most. ”

"So, Blue Harbor is empty right now? Chiron could attack the Bahamas at any moment. ”

"Blueport is hopeless. It was now like a beautiful woman naked in front of the Spaniards, without the power to resist. ”

Chen Shouxu looked at Marmont and said in a sincere tone, "I'm going to Blue Harbor to fight the Spaniards, Captain Marmont, I need your help." ”

Marmont laughed miserably, "You still want to fight Chiron?" He's stronger now than he was when he attacked Tortuga. ”

Chen Shouxu stood up, "Captain Marmont." Chiron is an enemy we must defeat. It's better to play in the Bahamas than anywhere else, at least, that's our home turf. ”

"I wanted to help you too, but as you can see, I just had a mutiny. Although I suppressed it, there were now only about 40 sailors left on board. Chiron is about to attack the Bahamas, and we don't have time to replenish our manpower. ”

"I'm short on men, but I've just captured a slave ship with a few hundred black slaves on board, and we can pick people from there."

"What's the use of the newly arrived black slaves? The language barrier and the fact that they were not trained to sail. ”

Chen Shouxu said, "Captain Marmont, please be positive. You are an old captain and if you want to continue fighting the Spaniards, you should set an example for others. These black slaves were all prisoners of war in tribal warfare, and many were once warriors. Although they don't know how to sail, we can reallocate the manpower on the four ships, and transfer skilled sailors to important combat positions, so that these newcomers can fill those auxiliary positions. ”

"Maybe it works, but it's still hard for us to beat Chiron."

"I don't know if I can win, but I know it's man-made."

Chen Shouxu's attitude infected Marmont, and his eyes regained some brilliance, "Okay, you're right, it's nothing if we old people work hard. Marmont stood up in his chair, "So, where do we start?" ”

"Repair the ship first, at most a week, we will repair two battleships."

"What if I need ship materials for repairs?"

"Make a list of the necessary supplies first, and if there is no one in the fleet, I will go to sea with the Tempest to replenish it. It may be that Chiron has won several battles in a row, and the pirates of the Caribbean are now gone, and there are many merchant ships passing and passing on the main channel of the Windward Strait outside. ”

"You're going to go back quickly."

"Four days at most."

Marmont stretched out his right hand, "All right, Your Excellency My Commander. Next, I obey your commands. ”

Leaving the Raphael, Chen Shouxu convened a meeting of fleet commanders to assign all the work. He brought in Titch and put him in charge of pacifying and selecting black slaves.

"We are facing a battle right away, and now the fleet is understaffed, so this time the model of voluntary recruitment can no longer be used. Only those who were willing to join us were given the same food rations as sailors. For the others, the fleet will not take them, and will leave them in this harbor. ”

Titch had no opinion, he was completely obedient to Chen Shouxu.

When available, the sailor's food was a pot of paste made from a mix of salted meat, salted fish, dried peas, oats, and possibly fresh vegetables. That's all the cooks on the ship, they are all former pirates with broken legs and hands, and cooks are one of the few positions they can do on the ship. Although this is extremely unpalatable, it is actually not bad for nutrition. It's much better than nibbling on those maggot biscuits and cheese during intense work at sea.

The black slaves were tortured by the inhumane treatment of transatlantic voyages, and this kind of mushy suited them well. The blacks who were able to survive this hellish journey were not in bad health, and as long as they were given basic treatment, they could recover a lot in a week.

Chen Shouxu left the work in the harbor to Stirling and Marmont, and he led the Changshui and the Tempest out of the harbor overnight, and the fleet needed the masts of the merchant ships. He was glad that neither the mainmast nor the foremast of the Long River nor the Raphael had been damaged, but that the midmast and upper mast had been replaced, and that it might still be too late.