The watchman's shout woke up many people, and the pirates rushed out of the sailor's cabin one after another, and some of them ran up bare-legged before they even had time to put on their clothes.

And Anne and Zhang Heng were already standing on the deck, the latter holding a copper telescope, looking at the dark shadow in the distance.

"How?" Billy's tone was a little nervous.

"Visibility is too low to see the details, and I can't be sure if it's the ship." Zhang Heng said, and at the same time handed the telescope in his hand to the helmsman on the side.

The weather was not good tonight, and there was almost no starlight overhead, so it was a miracle that the lookout could spot each other, but it was impossible to get more information.

There are still almost four hours before dawn, Zhang Heng does not plan to take risks, one is because of the current vision, firing the cannon is basically gambling on luck, even the best gunner may not be able to hit one of the ten cannons, there is no need to waste the shells in vain, after all, it is all money, in addition, at this time, if the war really accidentally sinks the opposite side, the black light is blind but the goods cannot be transported to the ship in time, so he said, "Follow it first, be careful not to enter the other party's range." ”

Billy and the others had no objection to this, if there was no problem with the news of the businesswoman, the spice ship only had a dozen 6-pounder and 9-pounder guns, which were far inferior to the Jackdaw in terms of firepower, there was no need to storm in the middle of the night, it was safer to wait until daytime, after all, it had been chasing for so long, and there was no hurry at this time.

Zhang Hengjia sent lookouts, in pairs, rotating once an hour, to keep an eye on the ship not far away, while the rest of the people let them continue to go back to rest and prepare for the big battle after dawn.

However, at this time, the vast majority of pirates have no sleep, floating on the sea for more than a month, the pessimistic atmosphere on the ship is getting stronger and stronger, many people are ready to return empty-handed, but they are about to give up when they see hope again, but they can't help but suffer from gains and losses, back to the hammock after many pirates tossing and turning and can't sleep, simply take out weapons to do maintenance.

After about a quarter of an hour or so, the lookout on the opposite side should have also spotted the Jackdaw behind him, and the ship suddenly began to accelerate, Billy and the others were not surprised, you must know that the Jackdaw has not raised the black flag yet, and the sight is so bad, not only can they not see the situation on the ship in front of them, but the other party should not be able to figure out where they are coming from.

And it was in such a situation that the other side resolutely made the decision to run away, which only illustrates one problem - that is, there is absolutely something of great value on that ship, if not spices, then it will be something else.

The people who were still on the deck couldn't help but be shocked when they saw this.

After escaping for a while, the ship found that the distance between it and the uninvited guests behind it was not only not widening, but still shrinking.

At this time, they could probably see that it was a battleship chasing them behind, and they were only armed merchant ships, and they were full of cargo, and the maximum speed was only 4 to 5 knots, so it was impossible to escape, so they simply gritted their teeth and lowered the speed of the ship again, and at the same time turned the hull of the ship with full rudder left, exposing all the side guns, and preparing to make a last stand.

In a normal fight, this armed merchant ship would definitely not be the opponent of the battleship behind, but now the night has become their best cover, and no one can see who clearly at this time, it is all about luck, if a cannonball falls directly into the powder magazine on the opposite side, the battle situation can be reversed immediately.

The people on the ship knew very well that this was their last chance, and once the sun rose, there would be no suspense about the outcome of the victory, but when they didn't expect it, the battleship saw them slow down and then slow down with them, cruising around very cunningly, like a shark smelling blood, and was not in a hurry to attack.

Seeing that time was passing little by little, the situation of the merchant ships became more and more passive, and they couldn't escape if they wanted to fight, and the mood of everyone on board became more and more desperate.

At the same time, the Jackdaw is also making final preparations for the upcoming big battle, the sailor in charge of the helm strictly implements the captain's orders, maneuvering the Jackdaw firmly bites the prey in front of it, wandering 1 nautical mile away from the other party, and the merchant ship on the opposite side tentatively shoots a few shots, but unfortunately he can't even find where the shells finally landed, and finally had no choice but to stop.

The two sides were at a stalemate until the sky turned white, and Zhang Heng finally determined through the telescope that this was the spice ship they were looking for.

From the size of the other party's ship, to the flag hoisted, and the number of guns on the ship, all of which were similar to the information provided by the businesswoman, all the pirates on the ship couldn't help but cheer after receiving the news, sweeping away the previous anxiety and confusion.

After so many days of suffering and waiting, the fruits of the harvest were finally reaped, and the morale on board the Jackdaw was rising at a rate visible to the naked eye.

Zhang Heng stood at the bow of the ship and checked the battle plan with Billy, Anne and the others for the last time.

“…… We first carried out two rounds of artillery fire, targeting their masts and decks, with the aim of depowering their ships and killing as many people as possible, taking care not to damage their hull structure, if the spices in the hold were soaked in water, they would not be sold at a good price, and when the other side could not bear the artillery fire and surrendered, we would let the Jackdaw approach and organize the men to board the ship......"

After speaking, Zhang Heng looked at Karina on the side again, and the businesswoman's wine had also woken up at this time, but probably recalling what happened in the captain's room before made her head a little confused, she vaguely remembered that she seemed to talk about a lot of messy things last night, and she couldn't help but feel worried in her heart, I don't know if this will cause any bad impact in the other party's heart.

However, then the latter said to her, "Your identity is more sensitive, so let's go to the captain's room first, and remember to close the window so as not to be seen by the other side." ”

Zhang Heng also needs the businesswoman to help him sell the loot to the ports of the colony, the latter is already very risky to board the Jackdaw and show up in front of the pirates, and this move is enough to prove the sincerity of her cooperation, but if it is seen by the merchants who come and go later, there is no need, the other party directly pokes the things that met her to the customs, and then she has no other way to choose except to really become a pirate.

Karina obviously understood this, so she didn't insist on anything, thanked her, and walked off the deck.

When everything was ready, Zhang Heng nodded at Billy, "Get the gunner in place, let's start." ”