On the blue sea, the Royal Scarborough is patrolling its territory like a lion.

With a displacement of 2,000 tons, 90 cannons and nearly 700 sailors, this second-class battleship belonging to the British Navy is a terrifying presence like a giant in the Caribbean.

At regular intervals, the Scarborough would make regular cruises, maintaining order on several nearby maritime trade routes on orders from the Admiralty, and pirates fled wherever it passed.

In fact, just hearing the name Scarborough is enough to send the fear out of even the most powerful pirates.

As a result, the Scarborough actually encounters very few battles each time it sails out of port, unless you count the unilateral beating and fleeing from the other side.

Captain Elmer is now sitting on the deck, sipping wine and listening to the musicians play the violin.

As a result, he was interrupted not long after he was immersed in the music, and the lookout above his head suddenly shouted, "Southwest direction, an armed merchant ship has been found!" ”

Elmer frowned, a look of displeasure on his face.

Hearing this, the first mate walked quickly to the side of the ship, took the copper binoculars, looked at it for a while, and said, "The French flag is hanging on the mast, the draft is very deep, and the speed is only about three knots, so it should have pulled a lot of cargo." ”

Captain Elmer finally put down the red wine in his hand and walked over slowly.

Europe was now in the midst of the War for the Spanish Throne, and the new Grand Alliance, including Great Britain, was at war with France and its allies in order to prevent the Bourbons from annexing Spain.

At this time, the French armed merchant ship was run into by the Scarborough, and its bad luck can only be blamed.

Elmer glanced at the sailors on deck, and when he saw that everyone was looking at him with longing in their eyes, he smiled slightly, and said, "If this is a gift from God, then why refuse it." ”

When all the sailors heard this, they all cheered. Waiting for the Admiralty to pay their salaries, the big guys would have starved to death a long time ago, and extra loot like this was the only motivation to support them to go to sea, even if the big heads ended up in the pockets of Elmer and the Admiral, but everyone had long been accustomed to this kind of thing, and a little soup was very satisfying.

With the captain's words, the Scarborough immediately began to adjust its course and sailed towards the "unlucky" armed merchant ship, and at the same time opened the muzzle, revealing the dense black barrels inside, like a shark showing its sharp teeth.

Although the war is about to start, the atmosphere on the deck is generally relaxed, and the violinists in charge of the performances are still performing dutifully.

The difference in firepower between the two sides is huge, and there is no suspense in this battle at all, if the other side knows each other, they should soon surrender and give up the goods, so that Elmer may be able to spare the lives of the people on board if he is in a good mood.

The sailors of the Scarborough were all immersed in the joy of receiving extra money, and only one of the officer candidates on board was a little worried, and he said to Elmer, "Sir, is it a little too simple, our route is not a secret, why do French merchant ships dare to appear at this time?" ”

As a result, before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by his colleague, "No conspiracy can take effect in the face of absolute power, take it easy, Burnett, we are on the Scarborough, and we have no natural enemies in this sea." ”

…………

Unlike the joyous atmosphere on the Scarborough, the pirates on the Sea Lion were generally silent as they faced the biggest battle of their lives.

Half a month had passed since they left Nassau, and Orff's prestige on the ship had skyrocketed by Goodwin's betrayal, and now even those who were dissatisfied with him did not dare to reveal it.

However, it was in this state that when Orff said that he needed to capture the Royal Scarborough first to get the fifth treasure map, it would be difficult for even the most fanatical pirates to continue to support him.

Because it's not about courage, it's already completely insane.

All pirates operating in the Caribbean know that the Scarborough cannot be touched, and although there is no explicit ban, pirate activities generally choose to avoid the navy, and attacking the navy's supply ships has been a very risky move before, and the sea lion has paid a terrible price for it.

For the sake of Kidd's treasure, everyone reluctantly accepted the action at that time, and the firepower of the supply ship was almost the same as that of the Sea Lion, as long as it was properly commanded, the battle could be won bravely, but the Scarborough ...... That's another story entirely.

The oldest gunner on board was the first to speak, "The Scarborough is armed with three times as many guns as we are, and it is more powerful and has a longer range than ours, so this battle cannot be fought at all." Not to mention that our hull is far less solid than that of a warship, and we will fall apart with just one salvo, and we will fall apart completely, Mr. Orff, I have always trusted your leadership, but this time I must object, because this kind of behavior is simply sending us to death. ”

His words were also supported by the vast majority of pirates.

Orff had to raise his voice, "Gentlemen, I agree with you, we are indeed at a disadvantage in terms of firepower, and we certainly don't have any chance in a head-to-head engagement, so our only hope is to take the broadside." ”

"Broadside? I know we've recruited a lot of good guys this time, but even if you count the cooks and ship doctors, we're only 173 people at full strength, so how can we fight 700 people? And the most important thing is that with the firepower of the Scarborough, we are afraid that we will be sunk before we can get close. Boatswain Owen also questioned.

"Yes, you're right, that's the way it is under normal circumstances." Orff paused, "Unless we don't have to approach the Scarborough, but let it approach us." ”。

"How is this possible?!"

"Of course it's impossible to raise the black sails, and once the Scarborough finds out that we are pirates, there is only one option, but if we can convince them that we are just a merchant ship, the situation will be different, no one will be able to get along with a shipload of porcelain, will it?"

Orff swept the contents off the table and laid out the nautical charts, "I received news on the island that a Dutch merchant ship had a shipload of porcelain to be sold in New York, and we stopped it on the way, loaded it onto the ship, and hoisted it under the French flag, and waited for it on the course of the Scarborough. ”