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On the calm sea, a broken sail Galen slowly approached Angra de Marsírdi Heroísmo at a speed of less than two knots, the Spanish flag on the mast shattered to the point of being unrecognizable.

The lookouts of the two American light cruisers, which were conducting formation tactical exercises more than 10 nautical miles away from the harbor, curiously discovered the tragic situation of the European sail Galen, and with the consent of Captain Sun Yang, the commander-in-chief of the formation, Bai Jun commanded the Vostok light cruiser to approach.

An hour later, the Vostok light cruiser brought back exciting good news. It was good news, but it was a truly unfortunate experience for the people on the European sailboat.

Two Spanish merchant ships from the Caribbean encountered a group of pirates about 100 nautical miles to the south, and one merchant ship was entangled on the spot after its mast was broken. The other, after a period of resistance, abandoned its companions and fled north, intending to call the Portuguese garrison in Porto Sangra de la Marísmo in the Azores.

Soon, Bai Jun boarded the flagship light cruiser Liberty, intending to encourage Sun Yang to agree to pursue the pirate ship south, and find an actual combat target for this ocean-going combat training.

Everyone looked at the chart, and soon Bai Jun began to work extremely professionally on the chart, while Interim Lieutenant Andrew quietly added some details on the side.

"A pirate ship of several hundred tons has only experienced a naval battle, and it will be somewhat damaged, and the voyage is about 100 nautical miles every 24 hours. Now, even if we slip away on the spot, we won't escape this range for five days, all we need to do is find a search area within this range! ”

Bai Jun said. The ruler and compass in my hand never stopped.

First the coordinates of the flagship Liberty were marked, then about 100 nautical miles to the south marked the location of the incident, and then with the place of the incident as the center, a circle with a radius of 100 nautical miles appeared on the map, and the Azores Herosmo Heroísmo was just on the northern edge of the circle, and the area of the circle reached 100,000 square kilometers. The center of the circle remains unchanged, and the radius is extended outward by another 100 nautical miles. Again a circle. Then continue the extension...... Finally, draw five circles with the same center, like a target ring. The outermost circle is even close to the European continent.

"Bai Jun. Are we looking for a small pirate ship in such a large area? All they have to do is turn a corner, and we'll run for nothing. ”

Looking at the circle after circle, even the outermost circle has been stained with European land. Sun Yang's brows furrowed slightly.

"Andrew, if you were a pirate captain, which direction would you choose to break away after capturing the battle?" The first mate of the Liberty, Zhou Kemin, also had a small friendship with Andrew when he was in Europe, and maintained the utmost respect for the European officer with rich maritime experience.

"Judging from the map, it is certainly impossible for the pirates to go north to the Azores, and the probability of returning directly east to the European continent is also very low. Both to the west and south were routes to the New World, and it was even less likely to sail to the New World after a naval battle. So, only the southeast direction was the most in line with their escape, to the Moroccan port of Essaouira. It was one of the pirates' paradise in North Africa, and their loot could be easily disposed of. ”

The port of Essaouira, located in Morocco on the Atlantic coast of North Africa, has been a traditional Atlantic-oriented den for North African pirates since the 15th century. It was also nominally a vassal of the Ottoman Empire.

Hearing the first mate of the Dongfang say this, everyone's eyes immediately fell on a small island in the southeast direction. Madeira, Portugal, is just within the outermost circle.

"The Portuguese in Madeira are very weak, and I think this is the most likely place for them to go first, to resupply them there and then continue to flee to Essaouira!" Zhou Kemin was the first to react this time.

"So, Lieutenant. You mean, we can search in the direction of Madeira? ”

Captain Sun Yang, who was chasing the ducks on the shelves, was a little hesitant at this time, although he had been the acting captain for several months, but now he had to personally direct an operation to pursue pirates, which made him feel mysterious in his heart.

"It can only be said that that direction is the most likely." Lieutenant Andrew nodded matter-of-factly.

"Where we are now, about 600 nautical miles from the Madras Islands, and about 500 nautical miles from Madeira where the pirates committed the robbery, the pirates have at least 400 nautical miles left to sail if you count the day's escape. They still have to sail for about 4 days, and we are chasing at full speed, and even if we can't have a full tailwind, the speed will not be lower than 10 knots, and if the direction is correct, we can be at the front of their course in two days! Let's search here and maybe we'll find the target! ”

Bai Jun pointed to the chart and quickly calculated the time of the pursuit and the final search range, and the officers in the captain's room were all excited.

"How? Do a vote this time, Sun Yang? Why don't I take the Vostok alone? Bai Jun threw away his pencil and stood up straight, and the young captain who had lowered Sun Yang's head by half was looking at the face of the commander-in-chief of the ocean-going training formation with a semi-provocative smile at this time.

, look down on me? Just do it!

Sun Yang read the meaning in the other party's eyes at a glance, and the youthful vigor came up on the spot. Flushed, he punched the chart. The order was given, and all the naval officers in the room stood upright.

Let the immortal European sail merchant ship carry two letters to the Azorean Governor Garcia and the Consulate General, Sun Yang brought an "eyewitness" to identify the target, and then half an hour later, the deck bells of the third level of combat readiness were sounded on both American light cruisers.

The beautiful flying clipper warship made a beautiful arc on the surface of the sea towards the Portuguese territory of Madeira, a few hundred nautical miles to the southeast. A total of 136 officers and men of the two warships knew that they were going to face a real battle this time, and that it was a cat-and-mouse anti-piracy war.

Aemond was a French pirate who, ever since receiving a privateering mandate from the King of France, has been a pirate captain who has made several voyages between Africa and the Caribbean. The ships of Spain, the Netherlands, England, and Portugal were all on his list of loots.

A week ago. His Black Bat disguised himself as a French merchant ship and entered the Porto de Marísmo de Azores (Azores), but the biggest fat was not something he had the courage to touch, and from his years of pirate experience, the smell released by those two strange American ** ships was extremely dangerous.

In the end, he chose to avoid the risk and left Angra Sangra de Sansírío to head south, ready to go to the Caribbean to make a profit. As a result, only one day after leaving the port, he met two Spanish merchant ships from the Caribbean.

The results of the naval battle were quite satisfactory, except for partial damage to the sails and broken aftermast. The damage to his men was slight, but the gains were enormous, and one was captured. The other ship was damaged and fled. Knowing that a small Portuguese fleet was stationed in Angra Sansíri, a day's flight to the north, Emond decisively chose the southeast route, preparing to stop in Madeira before heading to Morocco to sell the stolen goods.

Since dawn, Aemond has always had a bad feeling, always making him keep looking back to the west and northwest, and those two beautiful ** ships with a little special bow appear in his mind.

It's been almost three days now, and there are less than two days left to reach the Portuguese archipelago of Madeira, where it will be a few days to make a few repairs and enjoy the spoils of war in the North African port of Essaouira. The thought of the bewitching North African prostitutes there made Aemond feel hot all over, and for a moment he put aside the feeling of unease that had always caused him a little unease.

"5 nautical miles to the north. Spot a white ship with a speed of about 10 knots! ”

"Four nautical miles to the northwest, there's also a white ship, oh my God, at least 12 knots!"

The lookout on the mainmast exclaimed. Aemond recovered from his momentary stupor, and his face turned pale. But he was fierce by nature, and in an instant, he returned to normal, and pulled out the scimitar from his waist.

"Prepare for battle! The shitty American ** ship actually caught up! ”.

The Liberty and Vostok had arrived in the nearby waters more than half a day ahead of schedule, and then the two ships launched a search about 10 nautical miles apart. Finally, six hours later, two light cruisers spotted the pirate ship with a broken backmast almost simultaneously.

What made Aemond laugh and cry was that the fast-moving U.S. ** ship seemed to be very afraid of approaching, and actually launched an artillery bombardment at a distance of 800 yards.

In the 17th century, naval artillery warfare basically did not exceed 300 yards in terms of naval artillery performance, and the English, who had "psychological problems", usually chose to fire within 200 yards.

Fire from 800 yards away? Even if the theoretical range is sufficient, only God can guarantee a hit.

The Vostok circled around the front of the corsair and began to turn against the wind, quickly reducing its speed to 5 knots, but ostensibly already occupied the so-called T-shaped position. Before sailing, the naval guns, which had been equipped with the latest simple liquid and gas brakes, adjusted their angles and aimed at the corsair 800 yards away, at a distance where the 90mm guns could be aimed and fired almost in a direct manner.

The Vostok opened fire first, and the inflated muzzle flame was red and white, and the roar rolled like thunder. The alternate firing of the ship's guns made the hull shake slightly, and all the officers and men of the artillery crew nervously loaded and fired according to the artillery drill, and then adjusted the angle of artillery firing.

Aemond was thundered again, because he found that his opponent's accuracy was as bad as he had imagined, the undulating waves made every whistling cannonball miss, and from the telescope, the opponent only had four cannons, but the speed of the shelling made him a little broken, almost more than four rounds per minute!

Such a rate of fire and the effect of the fire strike of the guide zhì are almost equivalent to the firepower of 48 guns on one side of a Europe's most powerful sail battleship! And it's the kind of battleship that has a speed of more than 10 knots per hour!

The Liberty also pursued the Black Bat to a parallel position on the port side, began to lower the sails, reduced its speed to 6 knots, and then launched a salvo about 600 yards.

In this way, the two American light cruisers were extremely "afraid of death" and vented a large number of shells from the maximum distance of the corsair's counterattack.

"Bang!"

On the Vostok, the bow gun barrel was hit again, and a large ball of flame erupted from the gun muzzle, and then the gun barrel was slowly reset under the action of the brake, and a gunner pulled the gun latch, and the hot brass cartridge that was still smoking fell on the deck.

The officers and men of the artillery crews on the two battleships frantically completed tactical actions such as loading, locking, and shelling with almost all kinds of weird screams, and the brass shells that had withdrawn were piled up with gun emplacements.

Almost parallel routes. Five full minutes had passed since the shelling, and an average of 20 shells had been fired from each gun, but the pirate ship was still unharmed, much to the frustration of Captain Sun Yang of the Liberty.

"! Can't you be reliable?! ”

"But sir, it's too far away!"

As the distance approached, Vostok also had to turn again, losing the opportunity to continue shelling. Bai Jun, the acting captain of the Dongfang, was so angry that he cursed at this time.

Suddenly, a cloud of red and black flames rose on the Black Bat, and a 90-mm high-explosive shell fired from the Liberty finally burrowed diagonally into the Black Bat's body. Blasting the port side of the Black Bat into a massive burning breach, from which various burning fragments flew out, and there was even a pirate corpse burning all over its body.

The Liberty included Acting Captain Sun Yang. There was a burst of jubilation, and the first mate Zhou Kemin even blew a whistle.

Captain Aemond was on the verge of crying at this time, the ship had just laughed at the various incompetent pirates of the other side, and at this time he was messing around on the deck like an ant on the verge of disaster, and he had not fired a single shot yet.

The shelling was still going on mercilessly, and the Liberty lowered its sails again to keep the other side within its best shelling range, and one hit shot of the shit luck made the officers and men of the four naval guns seem to find a feeling, and the shells are getting closer and closer to the target.

A minute later. Another shell hit the bow of the Black Bat, which shattered into burning coals in the explosion, and the bow mast had already been blown into the sky by the storm of the explosion. The Black Bat's speed began to decrease to less than three knots.

The Vostok made a big circle on the surface of the sea, and finally adjusted its direction and caught up again from the starboard side of the Black Bat. But this time. Instead of firing, the Vostok accelerated, getting closer and closer to its opponents.

The Vostok's frantic acceleration approached so frantically that Sun Yang on the Liberty a few hundred yards away from the port side of the Black Bat was startled, and the Liberty was forced to stop shelling in order to prevent the missed shells from accidentally injuring friendly ships. Then the officers and men of the ship quietly watched as the Vostok approached the starboard side of the Black Bat at a speed of 8 knots.

"Don't fire! Come closer! Pull to within 200 yards! ”

Seeing that the Liberty had opened the meat twice in a row, Bai Jun on the Dongfang was already red-eyed at this time. How can the Liberty, which is full of morally corrupt citizens, fight better than its own Vostok?!

"I'll it! Zhou Kemin, immediately send a flag to the Dongfang and let Bai Jun keep his distance! Seeing that his companion seemed to be red-eyed and planned to fight the bayonet at close range, Sun Yang was so frightened that he shouted again and again.

It seems that the friendly ship did not intend to obey the order at all, and the Vostok, which had accelerated to 10 knots, galloped into the parallel line of the opponent from the right rear of the Black Bat, and the distance was less than 150 yards, maybe even 100 yards! The starboard side of the Black Bat was still intact, but the pirates had broken down and left their gun emplacements to hug their heads.

The four naval guns fired alternately at breakneck speed, and three of the four shells hit the Black Bat. However, at a distance of 100 yards, wrought iron shells instantly pierced through the oak hull and into the body of the Black Bat, and then exploded one after another a few tenths of a second.

The explosion occurred on the Black Bat's gun deck, and the flames and heat that swelled like an invisible broom swept from the Chase Deck from head to tail, igniting all the powder kegs.

An even crazier explosion took place on the Black Bat, and the entire sailboat was lifted from the bottom of the ship as if it had been lifted from the bottom of the ship by some tremendous force, and almost jumped out of the sea. The violent explosion tore the Black Bat into several large pieces from the inside out, and large sections of the broken and burning wooden structure flew into the sky in the storm set off by the explosion, countless corpse fragments fell from the sky like rain, and a blasted bronze cannon even almost smashed the Vostok.

"God, we must have hit their powder magazine!"

Lieutenant Andrew, who was forced to go crazy with Acting Captain Bai Jun, was staring blankly at the hellish scene in front of him, and kept drawing crosses on his chest.

On the Freedom, the officers and sailors of the navy who were still complacent before opened their mouths wide at this time, especially Sun Yang, who almost couldn't believe his eyes. And a certain Spanish merchant who served as an "eyewitness" next to him even grabbed the cross and muttered to himself, his whole body shaking like chaff.

The entire naval battle lasted less than 30 minutes, and the result of the raging was that the pirate ship Black Bat and its crew were blown to debris, and no one was spared. In total, the two American light cruisers fired more than 200 shells, which accounted for 20% of the total ammunition carried this time.

On March 18, 1622, the light cruisers Liberty and Vostok returned to Porto Heromas, the Azores, and the officers and men who went ashore to relax all had strange expressions, especially the officers and men of the Liberty, who stared at the people of the Vostok in silence.

From the mouths of the Spanish merchants who survived the disaster, the Portuguese governor Garcia, and all the European merchants stationed in Porto Heroísmo learned about the American fleet's crackdown on pirates. When the "eyewitness" who had the honor of following the Liberty described how the U.S. ** ship pursued the pirates and the whole battle, many people turned pale.

The brutal destruction of an entire pirate ship by the Vostok light cruiser terrified some European captains who had also committed piracy. As was customary, the Spanish merchants paid a bounty on pirate crusades, most of which was sent to the American ship by Governor Garcia.

After a few more days, the sail galen flotilla led by Captain Adelaide's "Goblin" finally arrived belatedly and entered Angra Herosísmo, including two ships from COSCO International Trading Company. (To be continued)

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