Chapter 416: Caribbean Bandits (1)

As the sun sets, the afterglow of the setting sun burns the entire surface of the sea.

Lin Kai led the rescue fleet all the way, and finally spotted the merchant fleet before dark.

At this time, the merchant fleet was already panicked, because they had already spotted the suspicious ship tailing, and they were worried that it was the pirate fleet.

The arrival of the Xiangying and Xiangfeng immediately reassured everyone on the merchant ship.

Seeing that the merchant fleet was fine, Lin Kai immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Subsequently, the Xiangfeng spotted two suspicious ships, which belonged to fast sloops, apparently not for business, but for pirates to reconnoitre.

Lin Kai quickly judged from experience that they were the eyes and ears of the pirates, and the large fleet of pirates must be nearby.

Lin Kai then ordered the Xiangfeng and Xiangying to approach the two sloops respectively, and prepared to find the pirate mothership along the vine.

Sure enough, when the Xiangying and Xiangfeng approached, the two suspicious schooners quickly turned around and left.

"Full Speed Pursuit"

Lin Kai further confirmed his judgment that the other party must be a pirate sentinel ship, and ordered the Xiangying and Xiangfeng to pursue with all their might.

On the sparkling sea, two pirate schooners fled westward, at a speed of about fifteen knots, and were able to advance faster than the average wind speed.

However, it will be difficult for warships from other countries to catch up with such fast schooners. But for the new Xiangying-class combat ships of the Imperial Chinese Navy, it is not a difficult task.

I saw that the sails of the Xiangying and Xiangfeng were full, and the huge hull of the ship was still able to break the waves and gallop at sea, and the speed was as fast as electricity, and the speed quickly soared to more than eighteen knots, and continued to increase.

After the two pirate schooners galleons had galloped west for half an hour, and as a rule of thumb they would not be pursued, they prepared to turn around and continue their pursuit.

However, at this moment, they suddenly found that the two warships of the Chinese Empire behind them had actually caught up.

Capable of catching up with the sloop, the pirates immediately panicked, hurriedly gave up their U-turn, and continued to flee for their lives.

The speed of the two Xiangying-class combat ships continued to soar, and soon reached the maximum speed of the design at twenty-one knots, then dropped back to twenty knots, and after half an hour, it dropped back to nineteen knots, and finally stabilized at about nineteen knots.

The sun had already sunk halfway into the sea, and the sea had turned dark red.

After an hour and a half of pursuit, two pirate schooners were overtaken.

"Raise the Battle Flag, Shoot Warning"

Lin Kai was secretly happy in his heart as he ordered. Once upon a time, he never dared to imagine that a 1,500-ton warship would be able to catch up with a fast schooner of less than 100 tons, and the world's maritime pattern would be broken because of this.

With a bang, the Eagle spat out tongues of fire from the left-hand No. 1 gun position, and a 150-millimeter shell flew out of the smoke and whistled towards the pirate schooner next to it.

There was a loud bang, and a column of water seven or eight meters high was stirred up on the sea next to the pirate schooner, and the waves quickly slapped towards the pirate ship.

"Stop the ship now"

On board the Soaring Eagle, an officer shouted to the pirates in French, Spanish and Chinese, the three major languages spoken in the world.

The pirates on the schooner obviously understood, but they tried to put up a last stand, not giving up their last hope of escape.

Moments later, the two pirate schooners fled in two directions, north and south.

Lin Kai had a black line on his forehead, and he ordered the Xiangying and Xiangfeng to prepare for the pursuit and sink them.

When the order was given, the Xiangying and Xiangfeng made sharp turns left and right, and the high bow instantly split the waves several meters high.

Knock knock

At the same time as the turn, the port side guns of the Xiangying opened fire in turn.

In an instant, the cannon roared and the smoke filled the air.

More than a dozen cannonballs roared and fired at one of the pirate schooners, instantly setting off huge columns of water, and the fragile schooners were instantly smashed to pieces, and several pirates on it were killed in the smoke.

At this time, several pirates on another pirate schooner saw the fate of their companions and immediately gave up the idea of escaping. In a hurry, he found a piece of white cloth, picked it up with a stick, and swayed it from side to side, signaling surrender.

"What a bunch of"

Lin Kai scolded, although he was very unhappy, but if he wanted to find the news about the pirate mothership, he had to spare their lives.

It's just that the Xiangying just fired more than a dozen shells, and it only sank a broken schooner, which made people feel very uneconomical.

Four pirates were tied up and overwhelmed on the deck of the Flying Eagle, Lin Kai sat in a chair, wiping his saber with a rag, and next to the interpreter and several officers were raiding the pirates.

The question is very simple, Lin Kai just wants to know how many pirate ships there are, how many people, and who the leader is.

When the four pirates were caught, they knew their situation. In the Caribbean, pirates who were caught were essentially sent to the gallows to be executed, so they chose to remain silent.

However, Lin Kai was impatient, and he warned the pirates that if they did not answer his questions, they would be thrown into the sea to feed the sharks.

Several pirates knew they were dead, but if they were eaten alive by sharks, they were horrified by the taste.

Lin Kai did what he said, swinging his saber and slashing off the arm of one of the pirates, then tying him up and throwing him out into the sea, waiting for the sharks to come and eat them.

The remaining three pirates were so frightened that they peed their pants, they had never seen a ruthless officer, but they had never seen an officer of the cruel rank like Lin Kai. In great fear, one of the pirates confessed.

The pirate fleet consisted of three large ships, and the guns were in the category of cruisers, each with about 40 guns. The pirate leader was a British-born Getter, with more than 700 men, based in the British Jamaican colony of Morant Bay, registered as a trading company.

In the past, it was very easy for Gatet to rob passing merchant ships in the Caribbean, but after the Chinese Empire took control of Mexico and the Atlantic Fleet intervened in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, the pirate gang led by Gater fished for three days and dried nets for two days.

Dogs are in a hurry to jump over the wall and bite people, let alone pirates?

Gate, who was warned by the British West India Company, to stop operating in the Caribbean for the time being, in order to prevent being defeated by the Chinese Empire. But Gate, unable to resist it, learned that a merchant fleet was carrying precious goods from the Chinese Empire to Europe, so he decided to move on the periphery, before the caravan left the Caribbean and crossed the North Atlantic.

In this way, Gater secretly sailed out of the Caribbean with his three pirate ships, quietly following the fleet, ready to wait for an opportunity.

After listening to the pirate's confession, Lin Kai already had a plan in his heart. At present, the North American Naval Command of the Chinese Empire is suffering from the collusion between the navies and pirates of various European countries, and cannot attack them. Now that he has mastered the nest of the pirate gang in British Jamaica, and has a registered company, he will have an excuse to threaten the British West India Company and open a gap from the British, so as to fight the Caribbean pirates in an all-out way.

Seeing that the sun was about to sink into the sea, Lin Kai immediately asked the pirate to be his guide, and the battleship headed for the pirate mothership more than ten nautical miles away.

When the last rays of sunlight disappeared from the sea, the Eagle was the first to spot the pirate mothership, the Phillip, Gate's ship.

The three pirate ships are slowly moving forward in the agreed sea, waiting for the sentinel ships sent out to report the news. To the left and right of the Philip are the Manig and the Julton.

However, what they were waiting for was two naval combat ships of the Chinese Empire.

Captain Philip's room, Gate, having dinner with several pirate leaders. Everyone was in high spirits, as if they were already waiting for the night to come, and even more longing for the scene of looting large sums of money.

While everyone was shouting, a little minion suddenly ran in in a panic.

"Oh no, Captain, I found that two Chinese warships are rapidly approaching our side"

Gatt was drinking when he choked and coughed for a while.

Soon, the pirates woke up. Gate, too, realized that something was wrong, and led the pirates to the outer deck.

At this time, the pirates on the deck were terrified, and the natural nervousness and fear of thieves encountering soldiers was unavoidable.

Gatt took the monocular from a minion's hand, looked at it, and was startled.

In the telescope, two huge warships are speeding through the waves, and the unique flying scissor bow is very different from the warships of other countries. Naturally, Gate's judgment was affirmed by his subordinates, and this warship was only available in the Imperial Chinese Navy.

One of the pirate leaders suddenly said: "It looks like the Sea Sparrow-class fast communication ship of the Chinese Empire"

"No," Gate's opinion was immediately rejected, and said, "I've seen their communications ship, which is similar to the bow of the warship in front of me, but the warship in front of me is definitely several times larger than the communication ship. ”

Then, after observing the height of the two warships splitting the waves, he suddenly became nervous.

"What the hell is this? How fast is it? ”

A statement woke up all the pirates, who judged that the speed of a ship was calculated by the size and height of the waves split by the bow of the ship.

"Could it be that this is the latest Eagle-class combat ship of the Chinese Imperial Atlantic Fleet, which has been rumored in recent months?"

"It's supposed to be them"

Gate's heart sank to the bottom, he had received news from the British Jamaican colonial government, but he had not seen it with his own eyes. Now that he was sure of his judgment, he knew that the problem was strict.

"Captain, what are we going to do?"

The pirates were nervous, not knowing what the captain would do.

"What else? Run."

Gatt roared in displeasure, punching and kicking his men to run away with all sails.

The three pirate ships urgently fully sailed and headed south.

Here, the Xiangying and Xiangfeng pursued the three pirate ships with all their might. The two sides are chasing after me, although the speed of the three pirate ships is fast, but the speed on Lin Kai's side is even faster, seeing that the distance between the two sides is getting closer and closer, Captain Gate on the Philip is getting more and more nervous.

"Speed Up"

Gate's face was calm, but his heart was extremely nervous.

Gater commanded the pirate fleet to flee frantically, but the warships of the Chinese Empire behind him could not be shaken off, and they were getting closer and closer.

"We haven't robbed merchant ships yet, so they don't need to chase them like this."

The pirate leaders next to him were also speechless, this was the first time they had seen such a dedicated navy.

Gateway exerted his strength to take out all his life's seafaring experience and technology, in order to get rid of the warships of the Chinese Empire that were in hot pursuit. However, no matter how experienced he is, he seems to be futile in the face of absolute strength, and he can't get rid of the other party.

"Damn, what the hell is this?"

Gatter was so angry that he had been chased for his life by government warships before, but he had never encountered such a situation.

Of course, Gatet also understood that it was not a technical problem with the Imperial Chinese Navy, but that their warships were far faster than his corsairs.

After about half an hour of entangled in this, it became darker and darker, but Gate's joy was great, because once it was dark in the night, he still had a way to escape.

On the Xiangying, Lin Kai also noticed the change in the sky, so he ordered a full-speed pursuit while ordering artillery fire to be prepared.

Of the three corsairs, the Philip was the fastest, followed by the Monig and the slowest was the Julton. Therefore, the Yulton will be the first pirate ship to be overtaken.

Twenty minutes later, the Eagle and the Wind approached the Ulton.

The pirates aboard the Ulton were the most frightened, and when they saw the approaching warships of the Chinese Empire, they opened fire first.

As the first shell was fired from the port side of the Ulton, a dozen guns on the port side opened fire one after another. Suddenly, the shells roared, columns of water were lifted on the sea, gunpowder smoke billowed out, and the battle between the two sides also began.

Here, the adjutant next to Lin Kai said coldly: "A pirate is a pirate, it's okay to scare the common people, but when you run into a regular navy, you're already scared."

Lin Kai nodded, noncommittal, and immediately ordered an artillery attack.

After the sound of gunfire, that is, after Yulton fired, the battleship Xiangying was the first to launch a counterattack.

Suddenly, the starboard side of the Soaring Eagle opened heavy fire. The sound of the cannon was like thunder, and in the evening night, the cannon fire shone like a beating fire spirit.

Shells whistled and fired at the Ulton, causing a rain of smoke and rain in an instant, and a column of water swelled on the surface of the sea, which boiled in an instant.

As soon as the battle began, the pirates immediately sensed a strong message of danger. There have been battles with the Spanish Navy before, but the gap between the two sides is too obvious in comparison. Obviously, the Imperial Chinese Navy was much stronger, and the firepower of the warships was very strong.

Gate, who had a deep study of the firepower of the ship's guns, noticed that when the starboard guns of the Xiangying opened fire, the muzzle flame was very large, and the smoke column spewed out more than ten meters long, and the tall water column waves caused by the impact point of the shells all hinted at the powerful firepower of the warship.

"It's all heavy artillery, how is that possible?"

Gate's head was several times bigger, he knew that the Chinese Empire's Xiangying-class combat ships were steel-hulled cruisers, so he didn't expect their shells to be able to threaten each other, so he chose to run away. But now that he saw the intensity of his gunfire, Gated knew that if they were greeted by such gunfire, their wooden-hulled cruiser would hardly survive.

In terms of speed, firepower, and protection, Gate's pirate ships are unmatched.

With a loud bang, a cannonball landed on the side of the Philip, stirring up a huge column of water, and the sea shot down, instantly drenching Gate into a soup chicken, and at the same time sobering Gate to his senses.

"What's going on?"

Gate woke up suddenly, and a small minion ran up to him, shouting, "Starboard side is attacked by enemy ships"

It turned out that Gate had been looking at the Xiangying behind the port side, but he didn't pay attention to the Xiangfeng on the other side. While the Eagle approached the Ulton, the Soaring Wind on the other side continued to move at full speed and did not open fire until it approached the starboard side of the Philip.

The shell just now was the Xiangfeng's more projectile, and in Getter's stunned effort, the first round of firepower salvo of the Xiangfeng had begun.

Knock knock

Thirty naval guns on the port side of the Xiangfeng opened fire one after another, and the shells whistled and fired at the enemy ship, and the Philip was immediately severely damaged. The hot shells tore through the Philip's protection, and in an instant splinters of wood flew and sparks shot out and filled the air with green smoke.

Gatt didn't stand still, and was hit in the back by the debris wrapped in the air waves, and immediately stumbled and stumbled a few steps and fell to the deck.

Several of the surrounding pirate leaders and minions were also very wolf-like, and they all hid in the corners, holding their heads to avoid the debris flying in all directions.

As soon as Getter remembered, another shell landed beside him, shattering a large hole in the deck, and the fragments caused serious injuries to Gat's body in many places, and the loud noise immediately stunned Gat, only to see him roll his eyes and immediately pass out.

Philip's coma caused Philip to panic, and the rest of the pirate leaders did not have Gat's ability, and their minds were already frightened by the shelling, and they just shouted and ran.

The Philip fled on its own, and the other two pirate ships were left without command, so the three pirate ships went their own way. However, they hit by mistake, and their escape was in line with the scattered breakthrough in the tactics of the soldiers.

There were only two warships in the Chinese Empire, while there were three corsairs, and once they dispersed and broke through, one corsair would leave the battlefield. If it is already dark today, and it will be dark in less than half an hour, then there will be a chance to escape.

Sure enough, the Eagle stared at the Ulton, the Wind slammed into the Philip, and the Manig in the middle took the opportunity to escape and sail away from the battlefield.

Lin Kai watched the Manige escape, frowned, and hurriedly ordered the second ship to step up the attack.

The sky was getting darker, the sea was full of cannon roars, and thick smoke billowed out. The artillery fire loomed in the gray smoke of gunpowder, like lightning and thunder.

The Eagle bombarded the Soaring Eagle for forty minutes, and although the Soaring Eagle tried her best to avoid the Eagle shells, it was still heavily damaged, and the entire corsair caught fire in all directions, resulting in heavy casualties.

Just after seven o'clock, the Ulton had been battered and scarred. Three minutes later, the Eagle accelerated again, seized the "T" position of the Ulton, fired a salvo of starboard fire, and several shells hit the port side waterline of the Ulton at the same time, instantly tearing a hole several meters wide on its port side, and the sea water poured into it fiercely, and the Ulton quickly leaned to the left and sank rapidly.

At the same time, the Xiangfeng was also carrying out the heaviest bombardment of the Philip, and the sinking of the Philip was almost a foregone conclusion.

Lin Kai knew that looking at the world today, it would be difficult for the ships of various countries to escape as long as they were targeted by the Xiangying-class combat ships. Lin Kai then ordered the Xiangfeng to continue attacking the Philip until it sank it, while Lin Kai directed the Xiangying to pursue the fleeing Monaco north.

However, by this time, the sky had become dark, and the ships on the sea could no longer be seen from 500 meters away. The Manige had long since disappeared into the darkness, and Lin Kai had to rely on his judgment to pursue it. A