Chapter 415: Pirates of the Caribbean - The End of the Water Monster

[Update 7000 words, make up for it a little.]

In the name of fighting piracy, the North American Command of the Chinese Empire formed the Sixth Fleet of the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire, also known as the Atlantic Fleet of the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire.

The actions of the Imperial Chinese Navy were always stimulating the European powers, but they always got the news half a year or even a year later. When they learned exactly that the Chinese Empire had established the Atlantic Fleet, the Chinese Empire's Atlantic Fleet had already appeared on the surface of the Atlantic.

Although the Chinese Empire formed the Atlantic Fleet, the Chinese Empire did not want to overprovoke the European powers, so the activities of the Royal Navy's Atlantic Fleet were limited to the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, as well as the Atlantic coast of the North American colonies of the Chinese Empire.

The Imperial Admiralty first incorporated the most advanced all-steel battleship, the Eagle-class battleship, into the Atlantic Fleet.

The Xiangying-class battleship is the first steel-hulled combat ship of the Imperial Chinese Navy, and the first battleship, the Xiangying, has been in service for three and a half years, and has undergone strict sea trials and inspections, becoming the most advanced warship of the Imperial Chinese Navy. Although its firepower output is not as good as that of the Sky Dome class first-class battleship, its actual combat ability is no worse than that of the Sky Dome class. In many military exercises of the Imperial Chinese Navy, the outstanding performance of the Xiangying class won the praise of the officers and men of the navy.

The Xiangying is in good service condition, so the Royal Navy's Tianjin Shipyard can rest assured when it builds the remaining four ships. The Admiralty was imminent in forming the Atlantic Fleet, so the shipyard was asked to abandon the changes to the four Falcon-class combat ships under construction. With no changes made, and after overtime work, the remaining four Falcon-class combat ships were completed three months ahead of schedule and delivered to the Royal Navy on time.

As the assault combat ships of the Royal Navy, after the completion of the first five ships, the Imperial Admiralty once again approved the construction of the remaining five ships, Xiangwu, Xiangtian, Xiangao, Xiangyi, and Xiangfei.

These five combat ships will be completed around the seventeenth year of Shenwu, just in time for the completion of the formation of the Invincible Armada of the Chinese Empire, and will be integrated into the main fleet of the Royal Navy to build the Invincible Armada of the Imperial Chinese Navy.

Including the Xiangying, the five combat ships "Xiangfeng", "Xiangyi", "Xianghong", and "Xiangbo" were the first to sail for the Atlantic Ocean and became the main force of the Royal Navy's Atlantic Fleet.

After the arrival of the five Falcon-class combat ships in the Gulf of Mexico, the North American Naval Command of the Chinese Empire divided them into two subfleets, which were deployed at Wikiste Naval Base in the east of the Gulf of Mexico estuary and at Naval Base Juarez in the west.

These two naval bases are located on both sides of the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico, sandwiched between the Spanish island of Cuba, like the two pincers of a giant crab, stuck in the Gulf of Mexico, turning the Gulf of Mexico into the inner bay of the Chinese Empire.

Among them, the Vykist Naval Base in the east is equipped with three Falcon-class combat ships, namely the Eagle, the Xiangfeng, and the Xiangyi, as well as 33 old Dolphin-class cruisers, Exocet-class frigates, and three Sea Sparrow-class fast communication ships specially used for communications.

Similarly, two combat ships, "Xianghong" and "Xiangbo", as well as twenty-eight old cruisers and frigates, including two Sea Sparrow-class fast communication ships, are deployed in the Juarez naval base.

On the surface, the Sixth Fleet of the Imperial Chinese Navy did not have any strong combat power and did not become an opponent of European navies. But in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, the Sixth Fleet is already strong enough.

The navies of the European powers did not dare to act as pirates in a blatant manner, so it was impossible for their large warships to clash with the imperial Chinese navy. The pirate ships that the Imperial Chinese Navy had to deal with were basically cruisers and frigates, at most some Spanish pirates had relatively large warships, but there were few, and five Falcon-class battleships were enough to deal with them.

Upon learning of the establishment of the Atlantic Fleet of the Chinese Empire, pirate gangs from various countries in the Caribbean Sea hesitated for a while. During this time, they chose to wait and see what happened, to see what to do next for the Atlantic Fleet of the Imperial Chinese Navy, and then to make a judgment that was in line with their own interests.

At first, the pirates of various countries did not want to be the first to be the first birds, although they received information from their respective governments that the Atlantic Fleet of the Chinese Empire was basically composed of cruisers and frigates, and was not very threatening.

But they had suffered a loss on the Sea Sparrow-class fast communication ships of the Chinese Empire, and they had no way to deal with the all-steel hull communication ships. Now, there are five more Xiangying-class combat ships in the Atlantic Fleet of the Chinese Empire, and in the eyes of the pirates, these five combat ships cannot be defeated no matter what.

But there was always a bird to come out of, and Dutch pirates made a living from robbery, and the Dutch were very dependent on overseas trade. With the rise of the Chinese Empire, its trading fleet spread all over the world, robbing the Dutch of their jobs, so the Dutch trade income was not as good as year by year, and the hatred of the Chinese Empire was already very high.

Now, the Imperial Chinese Atlantic Fleet has just been formed, and it has reached out to the Caribbean, where the core interests of the Dutch in the Americas are located. New and old hatreds accumulated, and the Dutch West India Company finally couldn't help it, and secretly instructed Dutch pirates to come out to hunt for prey.

In the Caribbean region, the main prey of the Dutch was Spanish merchant ships. Because the surrounding area of the Caribbean Sea is basically a Spanish colony, the number of treasure ships of the Spaniards is less, but there are still many merchant ships.

However, as the Chinese Empire sent a large number of frigates into the Caribbean to escort Chinese ships. Since pirates rarely provoked the Chinese Imperial Navy, over time, many foreign merchant ships also chose to join the Chinese merchant fleet, and only needed to pay a certain escort fee.

There were fewer and fewer merchant ships walking alone, and the pirates' fat and oil and water were also greatly reduced, and the pirate ships that had been roaming in the waters near the pirate's den gradually traveled far away, running to the sea areas outside the range of the escort formation, waiting to hunt their prey.

Under the blue sky, the sunny Caribbean Sea looks particularly charming.

A snow-white battleship broke through the waves, like a flying fish shuttling and jumping in the sea.

She is the Xiangyi, the most advanced combat ship of the Atlantic Fleet of the Imperial Chinese Navy.

The Caribbean Sea is always sunny most of the time, the sun is shining, and the waves are no more than half a meter high, which for naval warships are more beautiful than enjoying on vacation.

The Caribbean Sea is beautiful mainly because it is surrounded by the Central American peninsula, the Cuban archipelago, and a series of ring-shaped islands, forming a pearl necklace that is not affected by the fluctuations of the deep Atlantic Ocean, so most of the weather is very charming. The Caribbean Sea was later known as a home and holiday destination, but at this time it was a paradise for pirates.

The Soar made a routine patrol in the Caribbean Sea, sailing to the British Virgin Islands in the southeastern Caribbean, which is said to be a frequent haunt of pirates.

After the establishment of the Atlantic Fleet of the Imperial Chinese Navy, it has always wanted to establish its authority in the Caribbean Sea, so as to deter pirates and show off the maritime strength of the Chinese Empire.

But the Caribbean pirates always seem to be denied a chance, and it has been more than two months since the naval warships of the Chinese Empire entered the Caribbean, and they have not even encountered a single pirate ship.

The Falcon-class battleship is an all-steel hull and returns to the base every few months for routine maintenance, mainly to clean up the weeds tangled under the hull to prevent it from corroding.

The Eagle and the Wind had already returned to the Vykites base, but the Soar was escorted by a merchant fleet to Portuguese Brazil and did not return together.

A week later, after the escort was over, the Xiangyi Tunnel returned to the Caribbean Sea, and as it sailed near the Granada Islands, it spotted a long column of black smoke rising in the distance.

"Report, three nautical miles to the southeast, is found suspected that a merchant ship has been attacked by pirates"

The captain of the Xiangyi is Colonel Shi Lang, and he is also the lowest rank among all the captains of the five Xiangying-class combat ships, and the others are at least at the rank of rear admiral, because the Xiangying-class combat ships are very expensive and have strong combat effectiveness, so the captains of the Xiangying-class combat ships are all at the rank of generals, showing dignity.

But Shi Lang was young, less than twenty-eight years old. According to the regulations on the promotion of ranks in the Imperial Navy, in peacetime there was no promotion to a general under the age of forty. But Shi Lang's father, Shi Daxuan, is old, and now serves as a staff officer in the Imperial Admiralty, coupled with the relationship of Huang Dahai, the governor of Taiwan, he was promoted to the captain of the Navy at a young age, and this time he became the captain of the Xiangyi by virtue of his relationship, which is very dazzling in the Atlantic Fleet of the Royal Navy.

However, although Shi Lang failed to catch up with the founding of the People's Republic of China and did not accumulate any combat exploits, he achieved excellent results during his studies at the Imperial Navy Officer Academy. Born in a naval family, he has more experience in sea life than ordinary people since he was a child, so his skills are still good. It's just that he was born a little late, and he didn't catch up with the time when the empire hired people.

"Combat Alert"

When Shi Lang heard the news, he immediately ordered a battle alert.

As the alarm bell rang over the Xiangyi, all the officers and men on board took their positions one after another, and entered the combat state a few minutes later.

"A British-flagged ship was spotted in the southeast, and it was tentatively determined that it was attacked by pirates, whether it was approaching"

The telescope of Slang Tong Guò observed the target ship, which was a little far away, and could not see the specific situation of the other party, except to see the thick black smoke emitting from the ship, and the crew and passengers waving the British flag in the smoke.

"Acceleration in the past"

The order was given, and the Xiangyi quickly turned to the left, lowering the fourth and fifth sails at the same time, and accelerated to the past.

Soon, the distance between the two sides was closer. About a nautical mile apart, observers on the mainmast tower suddenly spotted through high-powered binoculars that the hull of the British-flagged merchant ship had two gun deck firing ports. Although the cannon door was covered and smeared, under the observation of the high-powered telescope, the flaws were still exposed.

"The target ship was suspicious, two gun decks were found, about twenty gun doors and windows, and the people on the deck were dressed intricately, and no women were seen, unlike merchant ship passengers."

Shi Lang's expression tightened, and he secretly said that since this ship is a two-layer gun deck, it is definitely not a merchant ship, and it is likely to be a pirate.

"Combat readiness"

At the sound of an order, all the officers and men of the Xiangyi quickly entered the combat state. The artillerymen on the port side quickly loaded the ship's guns with propellants and shells, and they were in good order.

Shi Lang's judgment was correct, the ship moored opposite was indeed a pirate ship, the Water Demon.

The Water Demon is a group of Dutch pirates who are dressed as merchant ships attacked by pirates, and passing ships near Yin* come to their rescue. If a ship approaches a pirate ship, if it is a merchant ship, it will be captured by them, and if it is a warship, it will be destroyed by direct fire.

Disguised as a merchant ship that has been attacked, it is always pitiful, and even if it is a warship, it is very wary. HMS The Siren was a cruiser with fifty Westminster cannons, originally owned by the Dutch West India Company. Once you get close to the Water Monster, it will be difficult to survive the artillery fire at close range. As a result, the Siren pirate ship successfully robbed merchant ships in the Caribbean Sea many times, and even sank the Spanish frigates many times, and once even severely damaged a British cruiser, which became famous among Caribbean pirates. His captain, Hain, was the third most wanted man in the Caribbean, and the governor of Spain and Mexico offered a reward of 50,000 eagles for his arrest that year.

However, today Hayne seems to be a little unlucky, and he actually ran into the warship Xiangyi, which is much more than he expected.

Originally, Haine, like other pirates, did not dare to be a bird after learning that the Atlantic Fleet of the Imperial Chinese Navy was stationed in the Caribbean Sea, and stayed honestly. The wealth they have robbed over the years is enough for them to squander for a long time.

The all-steel warships of the Chinese Empire were cruising in the Caribbean, and Hayne knew he could not afford to mess with them. A few days ago, I heard that these warships had returned to the base, so Hain boldly came out to hunt.

"Oh no, the boss is a warship of the Chinese Empire"

On the mast, a pirate dressed as a tourist shouted a loud announcement, and the pirates below suddenly became nervous.

"Damn"

Hain spat hard and scolded, "What's wrong with this one?" After waiting for a long time, I didn't see a fat sheep coming, but a wolf came over."

One of the minions suddenly said, "Boss, this boat looks like a shark"

"Shut up"

Hain gave him a burst of flop, picking up his rusty, worn-out monoculars and looking at the Xiangyi.

I saw that the high bow of the battleship Xiangyi cut the sea like scissors, and the waves rolled, and it was predictable that its speed was very fast.

"Damn" Hain couldn't help but complain, "The Chinese can actually build such a perverted warship, once our ship is targeted, it can't run away at all"

"Then let's fight it"

Beat? Is it strange that you can beat it?

Hain shook his head, the other party's hull was steel-hulled, and it was difficult for the shells to penetrate it, and even if it did, it would not be very destructive. On the other hand, the opponent's artillery is higher than its own, and the water demon is bound to suffer a big loss.

"Now pray they don't find out that we are pirates, and later we just need to say that the ship is repaired and send them away"

This is Hayne's method, if it is a Spanish warship, it is estimated that he can be deceived. However, the warships of the Chinese Empire are equipped with such high-powered telescopes, and they have already discovered the suspiciousness of the Water Demon, and it is impossible to hide.

Soon, the Xiangyi approached and slowed down, and both sides were very nervous, especially the pirates on the Water Demon, who were now pretending to be passengers and had ghosts in their hearts, and they couldn't be more nervous.

On the deck of the Xiangyi, an Imperial Chinese officer shouted with a reel horn.

"We are from the Atlantic Fleet of the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire, and we found smoke coming out of your ship, and we don't know what happened"

Hayne walked to the side of the ship and replied, "We are a British merchant ship, and we stopped the ship to put out the fire because the restaurant staff accidentally caused a fire"

"I see, do you need help? We, the Imperial Chinese Navy, are the most helpful military in the world."

Hearing this, a row of black lines rose on his forehead, but he replied with a smile: "No, we have solved the problem, and we are about to leave, thank you for coming."

A lot of questions were asked, and Hayne was careful to answer.

The conversation between the two sides seemed very normal, and the pirates on Hayne's side thought it was seamless enough to get through. But on the Xiangyi, Shi Lang answered a series of answers from the other party, further concluding that it was a pirate and not a merchant ship in front of him.

"In that case, let's go first"

The conversation ended, and the Xiangyi turned around to leave.

As the Xiangyi turned left and the starboard side faced the Water Demon, Shi Lang gave the order to attack.

"Open the gun"

The order was given, and thirty 150-mm naval guns of the six-year Shenmu on the starboard side opened fire one after another.

Knock knock

A dull cannon roared, and heavy shells with a diameter of one hundred and thirty millimeters shot out of the barrel, wrapped in long white smoke, and fired at the Pirate Ship the Water Monster.

The sudden change suddenly frightened all the pirates, including the pirate leader Haien, who could not have imagined that the officers and men of the Chinese Imperial Navy, who were still smiling and talking just now, would start to move the next moment. They can't figure it out, their acting skills are not bad, where is the flaw?

However, they barely had time to think, the Xiangyi was only about three hundred meters away from the Water Demon, and the cannonballs were disemboweling faster than the sound, and when they heard the cannon, the cannonballs were already whistling.

The hot cannonball hit the Water Monster, and the hull of the ship was shattered in an instant, and the wood was scattered, sparks shot everywhere, and green smoke filled the air.

The cannonballs hit the hull from the side, but the strong penetrating force brought a stronger shock wave, directly lifting and knocking down the pirates on the deck, causing huge casualties.

Cannonballs came one after another, and the port side of the water monster was smashed into a hornet's nest in an instant. More than a dozen huge holes were connected to form large openings, and as the waves rolled, a large amount of seawater poured in.

The Xiangyi shelled at such a close range, and the kinetic energy of the shells of the Shenwu cannon was unusually large, and many of them should have become close-range shells, but after being shot into the seawater, they were able to hit the hull of the Water Demon under the waterline, and caused the waterline to break and open a long opening.

The waterline belt is related to the entire hull, and once it is broken or broken, it will lead to a large amount of seawater pouring in, and the Water Demon will instantly tilt to the left, which will intensify the inflow of seawater from the port side.

Hain was dizzy by the shock, and was swept away by the air waves several times when he got up. The whole body was hit by flying debris, his head was broken and bleeding, his face was gray, and his clothes instantly turned into beggar's clothes.

"Shoot back"

Hain shouted loudly, but there was no movement. It turned out that he ordered the hidden gunners not to go off, which provoked the Imperial Chinese Navy. Now it is self-tied, and under the sudden attack of the Imperial Chinese Navy, the gun deck that was taken care of was destroyed at the first time.

At this time, there was a sea of fire in the two gun decks, and the pirates were scrambling to run away and dodge, where did they still have the heart to fight back.

After all, pirates are not the navy, and it is okay to bully and bully unarmed civilians in peacetime, but once they encounter the navy, and then they are in a passive situation, they will immediately become a mess of scattered sand, no different from ordinary people.

The cannon roared, and the smoke of gunpowder filled the air.

The entire Water Demon was shrouded in smoke and flames, and the ship was in shambles, wailing and countless corpses.

Hayne knew that the Water Demon was finished, and took advantage of the end of the first round of shelling of the Xiangyi and the short time before the second round of shelling, he quickly climbed to starboard and jumped into the sea.

After Hayne jumped into the sea, the hull of the Water Demon had begun to tilt significantly. Immediately after, the second round of shelling of the Xiangyi began, and the port side of the Water Demon was shattered in an instant, and quickly leaned to the left and began to sink at a visible speed.

Hain didn't care about anything else, for fear of being sucked into the bottom of the sea by the whirlpool of the shipwreck, and swam desperately out.

Soon, the Xiangyi stopped shelling and circled around the Water Monster. The sailors on board took the long hook and began to capture the pirates in the sea.

Hain wanted to run, but he was unlucky, and was soon caught under the detection of the high-powered telescopes of the Xiangyi scouts.

Including Hayne, a total of thirty-three pirates were captured. After a surprise interrogation, Shi Lang was overjoyed when he learned that Haien had been arrested.

The pirate ship sank quickly, and Shi Lang didn't have time to scavenge the things on the pirate ship, and learned from Hain that there were still a lot of valuable things on the ship, which made Shi Lang feel a little regretful.

However, the sinking of the Water Demon pirate ship and the capture of Haine, a wanted criminal, Shi Lang and all the officers and soldiers of the Xiangyi are all credited.

After walking around the neighborhood, Shi Lang saw that he had found nothing else, so he ordered a triumphant victory.

At the same time as the Xiangyi won its first victory in the Caribbean, a fleet of two large merchant ships and four medium-sized merchant ships was sailing from west to east near the Gulf of Mexico in the northern Caribbean.

The six merchant ships flew the flags of three countries, namely the Chinese Empire, the United Kingdom, and Norway.

Not far from the merchant fleet was another patrol fleet, which was part of the Colonial Coast Guard of the Chinese Empire and was responsible for patrolling and deporting the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, escorting the fleet safely out of the waters controlled by the Chinese Empire.

Two large merchant ships in the merchant fleet belonged to the North American Trading Company of the Chinese Empire, and they were loaded with large quantities of fine porcelain, silk and satin, and tea from China. Due to the outbreak of war in North and East Africa, the Suez Canal and the Red Sea area were not peaceful, so the cargo was shipped from Hangzhou, across the Pacific Ocean to the Mexican colonies, and then transported by land to the Gulf of Mexico, and then loaded onto Europe.

The flotilla departed from the port of Pass, sailed safely out of the Gulf of Mexico under the protection of the patrol, and then headed north along the east coast of North America.

After entering the North Atlantic, the Coast Patrol of the Chinese Empire returned home.

In the North Atlantic, the only Bermuda sea with a harsh climate due to the scarcity of islands makes it rarely visited by pirates.

However, on the patrol's way back, a Sea Sparrow communications ship spotted a convoy of pirate ships heading towards the North Atlantic, apparently following the caravan.

The news quickly reached the returning patrol, but the patrol was part of the Coast Guard and had its own mission, that is, it was not allowed to leave the territorial waters of the Chinese Empire, and it was within the purview of the Royal Navy to carry out tasks on the high seas.

The patrol then returned, but a communications ship was dispatched to quickly notify the nearest Royal Navy base to send reinforcements.

The nearest is the Vykist Naval Base, and when the base learned of the situation, it quickly dispatched the two ships Xiangying and Xiangfeng, which were anchored in the harbor to rest, to the North Atlantic to expel the pirates, because these two warships were the fastest.

The rescue fleet, commanded by the captain of the Flying Eagle, Lin Kai, quickly sailed out of Port Vekist and headed north to rescue.

The Falcon-class combat ships were extremely fast, and with the help of the North Atlantic trade winds, their speed quickly soared to eighteen and a half knots.

The graceful scissor-style bow splits through the sea several meters high*, and the battleship breaks the waves in a super-wind mode.

In the command tower under the bridge, Lin Kai held a cylindrical magnifying glass and slowly moved on the chart.

The nautical charts made of oilskin paper are not large, only one square meter in size, but they show the islands and shipping routes of the entire North Atlantic, as well as the latitude and longitude of each region, the name, nationality and even the naval bases of other countries.

The communications staff officer next to him reported the time and place of the discovery of the pirate fleet, as well as the course speed of the merchant fleet and the pirate ship, while the bridge staff officer held a triangular ruler and a pencil to connect the merchant ships, pirates and rescue fleets in a straight line on the chart, and then calculated the time, distance and speed according to the scale.

The merchant fleet was moving along the coastline, with a curved course and a slower speed, averaging about six knots. The pirates target the merchant fleet, and in order not to startle the snake and scare away the merchant fleet, the pirates will choose to quietly follow and wait for the opportunity to attack. The rescue fleet was almost three times as fast as theirs, so although it was far away, it didn't take long to catch up.

Most of the time, pirates attack during the day, but when they encounter armed merchant ships, they are mostly concentrated in the second half of the night. The reason for this is that the pirates are afraid that if an artillery battle breaks out, they will destroy the cargo and even sink the merchant ship. At the same time, the pirates did not have many naval guns, and the replenishment of shells and gunpowder was strictly limited, so it was best to do without artillery, and the pirates liked to sneakily board the ship and engage in hand-to-hand combat.

Based on these factors, Lin Kai believed that the merchant fleet would not be in danger for the time being, and that he had the opportunity to disrupt the pirates' operations before they could do so.

The sea breeze is howling, and the sails are blowing. The two Falcon-class battleships broke the waves, and the white clouds in the blue sky were quickly left behind.

In the evening, the rescue fleet entered the Bermuda Sea in the North Atlantic, and according to the itinerary and speed, Lin Kai knew that he was not far from the pirates, so he ordered the sentries to brace themselves and make sure to detect them before the enemy. A