The "Jackal" was about to enter the battle, and Wickham touched little Standon's head and said, "Little one, you don't want to stay in the officer's canteen later, can you go to the ammunition depot for a while?" ”

Although the captain's room and the officer's dining room are richly decorated, they basically do not have any protective capabilities. The tall, bright glass window, after being hit by a cannonball, only turned into countless deadly shards of glass, which flew in all directions towards the surrounding people, like a large shotgun fire. The ammunition compartment was different, there were thick oak planks for protection, and round shells could hardly penetrate it, so it would be safer for little Standon to stay there.

Little Stanton dissatisfiedly dodged Wickham's An Lushan claw, and pouted and said: "Brother Wickham, I told you that I am not a child, I am still Lord Margarny's squire, why don't you let me participate in the battle!" "In the end, it is a future hawk, little Stendon still has belligerent genes in his blood, and when he heard that the "Jackal" was about to enter the war, he immediately got ready to fight, completely forgetting that he was just a twelve-year-old kid.

"Little Standon! Now is not the time to be willful, and if you get to the deck, Major William and I will spare our energies to take care of you. Now your job is to keep yourself safe, you know? Wickham touched his forehead helplessly, he knew that the little guy had always wanted to gain the approval of the adults, but the cannonball was not long-sighted, and if something went wrong with Danton, he would ask him to explain to Baron Stanton.

Little Stanton was stunned for the first time when he saw Lin Zihan angry, and in his impression, Wickham had never been angry with him. After a while, little Stendon lowered his head and said in an aggrieved tone: "Brother Wickham, I know it's wrong. Don't worry, I'll be waiting for you in the ammunition bay. Brother Wickham, you have to be careful! ”

Wickham nodded in satisfaction, then put on his military hat, picked up his saber and went to the deck. Gang fights are bound to take place later, and the Marines will have to do it in the future.

"Jackal" quickly waved the flag to the flagship of the fleet "Lion", reporting the situation to the supreme commander of the fleet, Colonel Aldrich. Within a moment, the "Lion" raised the command flag and ordered the "Encouragement" to respond to the situation, while the "Jackal" went up to rescue the British merchant ship that had been attacked by an unknown ship.

The lookout shouted from the mast below, "Mr. Captain, that unidentified ship is adjusting its course, and it seems to be trying to escape!" ”

"Are our warships ready?" Major Blair William turned around and looked at First Officer Thomas with a blank expression. Compared with Wickham's enthusiasm, Major William, who has experienced a lot of battles at sea, has long been able to remain unfazed.

First mate Thomas looked at the Marines lined up on the side of the deck, and then at the gunners on the gun emplacements who were ready to shoot, nodded heavily, and replied, "Mr. Captain, the soldiers are ready to teach those pirates who dare to offend the majesty of the United Kingdom!" ”

"Very good! Obey my orders, load all the guns with chain bullets, and give me the first round to knock off the sails of the enemy ships, and don't let our prey run away! When Major William saw that the pirate ship was turning in a hurry, he squinted and touched the sword at his waist, and the prey he was targeting had never run away!

The "Jackal" was a fast cruiser, and at this time it was in an upwind position, and its speed quickly soared to 8 knots, and it sailed all the way towards the enemy ship. At this time, the deck of the enemy ship was full of chickens and dogs, and under the command of the captain, the sailors shouted the trumpet to turn the ship, hoping to get away from the "jackal" that was speeding away.

However, it is a pity that it is not easy for this enemy ship, which looks relatively large in tonnage, to complete the steering quickly. After more than an hour, the fast cruiser "Jackal" approached 800 yards from the corsair, and a major battle could not be avoided.

This unidentified ship, knowing that there was no way to retreat today, was ready to break the cauldron and fight to the death with the "Jackal" that was approaching step by step! Boxes of shells were brought up from the bilge and then pried open by shirtless sailors. The Jumpers held their muskets, ready to kill and injure the gunners and gunners on each other's decks as the two ships approached.

When the "Jackal" was getting closer and closer to the enemy ship, and both sides could see each other's faces, Major William's expression changed and his face became serious. Wickham, who was standing next to him, soon noticed the captain's discoloration, so he asked worriedly, "What's the matter, Major William?" ”

"Damn, it's not a pirate, it's the French Navy!" Blair William was depressed, just like he thought he had married Fan Bingbing before entering the cave room, and then he lifted the hijab only to find that Nima was actually Sister Feng! Wickham fixed his eyes and saw that on the other deck was a French Marine Corps in full uniform! It's a lot of fun now, this is a regular army, not a damn ragtag pirate, this annihilation war that was supposed to be easy and freehand suddenly became depressed.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "When entering a distance of five hundred yards, twelve large and small guns on the port side of this French ** ship took the lead in bombarding! The solid bullets fired by the 18-pounder cannon and the 12-pounder cannon immediately knocked the "Jackal" into sawdust. The scorching shot put, with an unstoppable momentum, tore at the flesh and blood of the sailors and marines of the "Jackal".

After the heavy artillery completed the salvo, the French Navy did not stop firing, some three-pounder guns were loaded with shotguns, aimed directly at the deck of the British ** ship, and fired fiercely, and the dense shotguns instantly knocked down a large number of sailors and marines! The "Jackal", which had been hit even harder, was in shambles, and the deck was full of severed limbs and stumps, like a Shura hell.

Wickham only felt the heat on his face hurt, and when he reached out and touched his cheek, he realized that his face was covered with blood at some point. Although Wickham's bloody face looked a little terrifying, it wasn't deeply wounded, and he was only scratched by the sawdust flying around.

But Wickham was frightened by this brutal artillery battle, and hurriedly shouted to Major William: "Major William, why don't we open fire, so we are very passive!" ”

Blair William was no better, his left arm was hit by a sharp piece of wood, and his beautiful officer's uniform was now stained with blood. I saw him spit out a mouthful of saliva, hold his injured arm and reply, "These damn Frenchmen! Lieutenant Wickham, it's not time to open fire, and when we're three hundred yards away, I'm going to make these Frenchmen look good!" ”

The shipborne artillery of this era was unsatisfactory in terms of both power and range. In order to increase the accuracy and lethality of the British Royal Navy, it would generally wait for the enemy ship to come close enough before firing its guns. It is really by relying on this spirit of not being afraid of death to put bayonets on the cannons that the British Royal Navy will repeatedly defeat strong enemies and become the new maritime hegemon of Europe.

The distance between the two warships slowly approached with the artillery battle, and finally reached a distance of three hundred yards, and with the hysterical command of the first mate Thomas, the guns on the right side of the British ** ship made a loud roar! This round of salvo was terrifying, and more than a dozen hot shells quickly came out of the chamber and slammed into the warships of the French Navy!

Because of the proximity, the force of this salvo was very huge, causing a lot of casualties to the French. Wickham even saw a projectile hit a three-pounder gun on the open deck of the French ship, and several unlucky French gunners immediately fell to the bloody deck with a wail.

Then the two warships fired at each other at close range, and in less than fifteen minutes, the deck of the Jackal had become a purgatory on earth. Scarlet blood covered the deck, so much so that the sailors had to sprinkle fine sand on it to prevent slipping. Every salvo of artillery from the opponent will make Wickham terrified, and the brutality of naval battles is more than twice as cruel as that on land, and this scene of firing with cannons is really shocking!

Wickham was about to reach the stairs when he tripped over a warm corpse. Wickham held back the tumbling in his stomach, and when he looked back, he realized that the body on the fallen deck was none other than Captain Thomas, the first mate, who had just been directing the battle. He was hit in the chest by several shotshots, killing him in one hit!

“**！” Wickham pulled a canvas and silently covered the officer who was still laughing with everyone in the officer's cafeteria, which was also the last respect for the warrior.

"You fools! Lean up, lean up! The boatswain roared from the deck, and after several rounds of firing between the two ships was less than fifty yards, and soon a terrible battle of broadside was about to break out! The marines and sailors on the French ** ship were also ready for broadside battles, and they prepared the weapons of this jumping gang in close combat.

At this moment, a sarcastic smile appeared on the corner of Major William's mouth, and he ordered like a call from death: "All three-pounder guns, scatterfire salvo!" ”

As his order was given, the two three-pounder guns on the deck, which had been covered with canvas, were quickly stripped of their jackets by the sailors. "Boom! Rumble! Countless steel balls and iron nails spun at high speed, sweeping towards the densely packed French jumping helpers, and in an instant, nearly twenty people fell screaming. The French did not expect that the British army would still have such a hand, and they were immediately blinded, and for a while they did not jump on the deck of the "Jackal" for the first time.

Wickham knew that at this time, everyone had no way to retreat, but to fight! Wickham pulled out his loaded short gun and strode to starboard.

Bert's military uniform was black and yellow from the smoke of the fire, and he looked very embarrassed. But at this time, he didn't care so much, clenched the saber in his hand, and shouted to the soldiers of the Marine Corps: "Fire, let me beat these damn French guys back into the stomachs of the French pussies!" ”

At this moment, the opposing marines and sailors also opened fire, and the soldiers on both sides fell like wheat harvesting. Wickham was bleeding from his heart as he opened fire, these were the troops he had single-handedly assembled, and none of them had suffered such great losses in the battle against the Moxies, and now in just half an hour, more than twenty people had been killed and wounded.

There was a "bang", and amid the shouting and gunfire, the two ships were firmly close together. The sound was like a signal to charge, and when they heard it, the sailors and soldiers on both sides jumped over each other's decks, and for a time the front-loading smoothbore guns that were inconvenient to reload became burning sticks, and the cold weapons became the masters of the battlefield again.