The return of the pirate fleet to port was exactly the same as Duncan's assumptions.

At the same time that the pirate fleet appeared in sight, General Hall gave the order to attack.

According to the order from the flag on General Hall's flagship, all the warships split into two and circled towards the flanks and backs of the pirate fleet, which had not yet figured out the situation, while dozens of merchant ships behind the warships rushed towards the pirate fleet at full speed.

At this time, the disadvantages of the lack of unified command of the water thieves were once again revealed.

The flag of the city-state of Leoni hoisted on the ship rushing on the opposite side made the water thieves understand that they were attacked, but the water thieves reacted differently, fiercely wanted to rush up to meet the enemy, calmly felt that they should form a formation to deal with it, and the timid wanted to retreat and slip away.

The water thieves were unable to move in unison, and before the actual battle took place, they tossed their ranks apart.

The battleships that first went around the flank of the pirate fleet did not rush to engage the enemy, like a pack of hunting wolves, cruising around the perimeter of the pirate fleet, using the bed crossbows carried by the warships to harass the pirate fleet from a distance, and only when they found that a pirate ship broke away from the group alone and tried to escape, they would take advantage of the speed advantage of the warship and outflank it in groups of three or five to completely strangle it in a broadside battle.

In this era of poor long-range attacks, broadside warfare is actually the only way to completely defeat the enemy in water warfare, and the bed crossbows carried on the warship are far more psychologically suppressive than practical.

The low rate of fire, poor accuracy, and minimal damage to the hull made the bed crossbow only an aid in water warfare.

Due to the lack of high-end combat power, the Lucas private fleet commanded by Duncan only cruised on the outermost outermost part of the pirate fleet, occasionally firing a huge crossbow bolt nearly two meters long to shoot at the peripheral pirate ships.

Most of the crossbow bolts were nailed to the hull of the ship needlessly, and some even fell into the lake, and only a very few crossbow bolts hit the water thieves on the enemy ship, but it was the terrible damage caused by these very few crossbow arrows that brought great psychological pressure to the water thieves.

The deterrent of bed crossbows was relative, as most of the pirate ships and armed merchant ships were also equipped with bed crossbows, although the Third Fleet ships were more dispersed due to the smaller number of ships. The water thieves shoot crossbow arrows with a lower chance of hitting.

In general, bed crossbow shooting, in a water battle, can only be considered an appetizer, to win the battle. It also needs to rely on dangerous broadside battles.

The charge of the merchant troop transport ships carried by the coalition forces was very resolute and fast, and in just a few minutes, the troop merchant ships rushed into the fleet of pirates like a pack of wild boars.

The brutal battle of the broadside ensued.

Due to the narrow space on the ship and the complex terrain. At the same time, in order to prevent falling into the water, most sailors are only equipped with light leather armor, and also because of the narrow terrain and no room to maneuver, the battle between sailors is particularly cruel, and the casualty rate is exceptionally high.

However, for this problem, the space soldiers have long been prepared, and a water walking spell scroll can solve it.

In this way, the MT-class space soldiers in heavy armor have become a nightmare for water thieves.

This group of thieves was sent by Captain Saxon to transport the Goldenfish. Most of them drove armed merchant ships.

The bands of water thieves who don't even have warships are either weak enough, or like the blood wolf water bandits, they mainly focus on smuggling, and no matter which one they are, their combat effectiveness is insufficient.

Among the more than thirty troop-transporting merchant ships rushed up by the city-state alliance, almost every one of them carried four or five space soldiers, and almost all of those who dared to enter the E-difficulty space were strong men with E-strength. Such power, for a pirate ship with only one or two Chosen Warriors on board. Almost irresistible, the shape on the battlefield soon appeared one-sided.

The water thieves who had not yet made contact with the coalition troop carriers finally gave up their plans to resist head-on, and fled in panic as the ships scattered.

More than 30 armed merchant ships scattered and fled, and the more than 20 warships under General Hall could not stop them all. In fact, except for the four assault warships that each stopped an armed merchant ship and launched a broadside battle, none of the remaining dozen or so thief hunter warships approached the armed merchant ships that were desperately fleeing, and the sailors on the thief warships did not have an advantage over the armed merchant ships of the water thieves in terms of combat effectiveness. Once the attack is forcibly blocked, the casualties will inevitably be uncontrollable.

At this time, General Hall gave a rather wise order.

He ordered all the thief ships to abandon the attack on the fleeing pirates, return to the rear, pick up the space soldiers who were helpless to watch the pirates flee from the troop transport merchant ship, and then use the speed advantage of the thief ship to pursue the armed merchant ships.

Duncan, who had taken over the command of the other man's fleet in place of Bai Qi, immediately understood the meaning of this order as soon as he saw it.

If it is usual, let the thief hunter ship return to pick up people, and then catch up, I am afraid that the distance between the two sides has been stretched to kilometers, even if the thief ship has a certain speed advantage, it will not be able to catch up with the other party before the oars run out of body.

But now the situation is different, the pirate fleet returning from afar has gone through a whole morning of hard work, and before they have time to eat lunch, the body of the oarsman has already reached the limit, even if they are allowed to run a kilometer or two first, I am afraid that it will be difficult to escape the pursuit of the thief ship that has the advantage of speed.

Duncan immediately and without hesitation, he ordered Acting Captain Bode and Lenka to return to pick up the soldiers on the Coalition troop transport ship in two thief hunter ships converted from water thief ships, according to General Hall's orders.

Of course, the troop carriers did not stay where they were, and they also approached the thief hunters according to General Hall's command.

When the thief hunter and troop transports approached, they did not stop.

The thief hunter made a semi-circular trajectory around the troop carrier, catching up with the troop carrier from behind, and after the two ships were side-by-side, the space soldiers and some brave and strong indigenous warriors jumped onto the thief ship, and then, the thief hunter ship was at full speed, splitting the waves, and chasing after the fleeing armed merchant ship.

The two thief hunters piloted by Bode and Lenka, who were the least combative, were sent back to pick up the men, and Duncan also commanded the Dawn and Roundup to participate in the hunt.

This water battle lasted less than an hour, and the more than 40 armed merchant ships of the water pirates only escaped seven or eight searches......

Just as Duncan had guessed, the oars on the fleeing armed warships were quickly exhausted.

At this time, the sailors on the armed merchant ship had only two choices, first, the sailors replaced the oars slaves and continued to escape, and the second was to turn back and fight to the death.

On the surface, it seems that it is a good idea to replace the oarsman with the oar, but in reality there are not many water thieves who are willing to do so.

First of all, the oarsman rowing is not completely unskillful, a mature oarsman knows how to row more effortlessly, how to persist longer in this high-intensity labor, and how to row faster.

Experienced pulp slaves are even able to cooperate with the captain's orders to make the ship's turning more agile and make the ship brake.

A team of experienced pulp slaves is fully capable of making the ship faster and more agile.

Therefore, the replacement of the oars slave by the sailor will inevitably reduce the speed of the ship, and once the sailor runs out of body while paddling, and does not get rid of the pursuit of the enemy, he is really a lamb to the slaughter.

Perseverance is the most basic condition for becoming a Chosen Warrior, and most of the Chosen Warriors who can choose to become a water thief are unruly, and most pirate captains choose the former in the face of the choice of fighting to the death or resigning themselves to fate.

Without hesitation, the cunning Duncan gave up the armed merchant ships that had turned around and prepared to fight desperately, and chased after several merchant ships that continued to flee, and he also ordered not to chase too fast......

Before the sun went down, all the pursuing ships returned to the port with their booty in tow.

Duncan's results were unexpectedly rich, with both the Dawn and the Roundup each towing two armed merchant ships behind them.

The combat power of Roundup and Quinine cannot be measured by ordinary Chosen Warriors, and after breaking away from the large army, Bai Qi and Adrian don't mind fighting.

All the water thieves on the four captured armed merchant ships, except for the oars, were executed, on the orders of General Hall.

At a time when the orc army could attack at any time, it was indeed an unwise choice to keep the captives, anyway, according to the laws of the city-state, once the water thieves were caught, they would be hanged without exception.

There was no need for them to do anything, and the sailors were willing to cut off the heads of the water thieves.

The blood attracted a large number of predators in the water, and the vertical fins of the black fish pierced the surface of the water, and the scalps of the people who watched it were numb, but fortunately these predators were not interested in wooden boats, but if someone fell overboard, they would have to ask for a blessing.

Back at the port, the Space Soldiers and their men returned to shore, while General Hall and his men remained on the ship, which was their home for the sailors.

Neither Bai Qi nor his men landed ashore and mixed in with General Hall's fleet.

The casualties among the sailors on the Aurora and Roundup were very minor, only a few of the soldiers were wounded by the opposing side's dying counterattack while slaying the exhausted water thieves, and the only one who died was an unlucky fellow who was so excited during the overboard battle that he fell off the boat and was caught by a black fish with a large mouth......

The casualties of the sailors on the two ships led by Bode and Gund were much greater.

These two guys are far less smart than Duncan, carrying a few space soldiers and a ship of pirate armed merchant ships that have turned the bow of the ship to fight to the death.

The space soldiers have no interest in protecting the indigenous warriors, not to mention that these indigenous warriors are not their own subordinates, after a bloody battle, more than half of the sailors on the two ships were killed and wounded, and even Lenka was not lightly injured.

This result made the sailors on both ships very unhappy with Bode and Gunde.

In order to appease the sailors, Bai Qi not only promised a high pension, but also had to remove Bode and Gunde from their positions as acting captains, transfer them back to the Dawn, and then the sailors themselves elected the acting captains of the two ships.

Originally, the sailors wanted Duncan to take over the position of acting captain of a warship, but Duncan firmly refused to leave the Aurora.

The Army soldiers who remained on shore soon brought large quantities of hot bread and grilled fish to each ship, much to the displeasure of the sailors, who were not supplied with ale. (To be continued.) )xh118R1052