"Lord Alfred, you guessed it, the Hell God is really coming!" Blakeney's eyes were starry and he looked at Xu Mo in admiration.

"Hehe, Gerhardt and I have always treated the Vestelos as a battleship, but we didn't expect that in the eyes of the Hell God, we were nothing more than a pirate ship. English seafarers have always thought very highly of themselves, and it is strange that Clifford can endure this breath and not catch up after being beaten by a pirate ship, and the hull of the ship has not suffered major damage! Hedram said with a smile.

"Yes, if we had just hit the Hell God with a solid bullet, we would only have one chance. Unless the main mast of the Hell God is broken by luck in the dense fog, if the hull is seriously damaged, Clifford will definitely not turn around from the sea fog and chase after him, and will definitely return to repair the hull first, and then go north to find us! Gerhardt added in an excellent mood.

Seeing everyone happily talking about the artillery battle just now, Xu Mo couldn't help but sigh that these people were really nervous. Although the round of shotguns just now caused the Hell God to lose a lot of personnel, it had very little impact on its artillery strength, and they were still in a weak position, but the gap was narrowed a little.

"Your Excellency, the Hell God is still chasing after the ass, shouldn't you give us other battle orders!" Xu Mo reminded expressionlessly.

"Hahaha, Alfred, go and rest, before nightfall, there is nothing left, and the Hell God can't catch up with us for the time being! Keep up your stamina, the real battle hasn't started yet! Hedram laughed happily.

Xu Mo's eyes flashed, and he nodded thoughtfully, Hedram had once said to him that under certain conditions, the speed advantage of the Hell God would be negated, and now that condition had been achieved.

The Hell God and the Vestelos are two completely different types of warships, and the Hell God was designed for long-range artillery combat from the beginning of its construction. The hull is wide, the front and rear thickness is symmetrical, the center of gravity is relatively low, and it can remain stable on the sea surface with strong winds and waves, so that the hit rate of shelling will be relatively high, and at the same time it is a pure cross-sail battleship, the hull is streamlined, as long as it is upwind, the speed is extremely fast, and the only drawback is that the steering is not flexible enough.

The Vistelos is a slender, thick galleys with a transverse oars on the lower deck that can extend out of the hull, allowing for a certain speed when there is no wind or headwind. Its nose is equipped with ramming angles, because the bow is relatively sharp and the steering is flexible, but in strong winds and waves, the stability is not enough, and the hit rate of natural shelling is relatively low, and this design is actually more conducive to broadside combat.

However, Xu Mo proposed to Hedlam to bombard the deck of the Hell God with a shotgun, on the one hand, to provoke Clifford, and on the other hand, to see that the current course is a headwind, and the Hell God's biggest speed advantage is negated. Unless the wind direction changes, the initiative in the battle is now equal.

If the Vistellos doesn't want to fight, then it can continue to maintain its current course, the Hell God can't catch up in a short time, and if the Hell God doesn't want to fight, then as long as it turns around, the Vesteros can't catch up. Before the next battle, there was really nothing Xu Mo to do, and the rest was a contest between the navigators of the two sides.

……

In the darkness, Xu Mo slowly opened his eyes, and one rolled over and got out of the hammock, the cabin was very quiet, only some sailors on duty made a slight snoring sound in the hammock. Xu Mo cautiously bypassed them and climbed to the upper deck. The cool sea breeze blew in his face, which made him feel shaken and completely eliminated the residual sleepiness.

It was a dark night when it was completely dark, the moon was hiding behind the dark clouds. The silhouette of the Hell God was no longer visible on the sea, only the dim headlights that faintly penetrated from the rear, indicating that it was still following the Vestelos.

Xu Mo looked around on the deck and found that there were many people gathered on the back deck of the ship, and Hedram and other officers were also there. Xu Mo smiled, stepped on the wooden ladder, and wanted to climb to the back deck, when suddenly a strong sea breeze blew his eyes involuntarily, and then he seemed to think of something, and his face suddenly changed greatly.

"Admiral!" Xu Mo hurriedly climbed onto the bridge on the back deck and found Hedram, "Sea Breeze ......"

"Hehe, Alfred, it looks like you've noticed a change in the direction of the wind." Hedlam smiled and said, "In the summer of the northern ocean, because of the northward movement of the warm air stream and the southward movement of the cold current, the wind direction on the ocean will change constantly with the ebb and flow of these two air currents, and it is difficult to predict the wind direction of the next moment, but it doesn't matter now." ”

"Whew!" A loud roar came from the air, getting closer and closer.

"Bang!" A few dozen meters behind the Vistellos made a huge splash.

"It's the shelling of the Hell God! Did it catch up? Xu Mo was shocked.

"Yes, it was about three miles away from us during the day, and then we pulled it away for nearly a mile. But as the evening begins, the wind begins to change, and our bilge paddlers are almost exhausted, and they must rest for a while. Gerhardt said lightly.

"By now, the Hell God had chased us only a mile or so away, reaching the limit of the bow gun's range. But this shelling is purely by luck, you don't have to worry! Hedram said with a smile.

"By luck, we can send shells from a mile away a few dozen meters from our tail rudder on a dark night!" Xu Mo's eyes widened in disbelief, "No matter how strong the gunners in England are, this kind of artillery fighting technology is too terrifying, no, this is no longer a technology, these gunners shouldn't have a pair of owl eyes!" ”

"Hahaha, Lord Alfred, you are so cute, have you forgotten how you found that armed merchant ship last time?" Charlie laughed on the side.

"It's the stern light!" Xu Mo's eyes lit up and he understood, "Then why don't you ...... it?"

Xu Mo was about to say to turn off the stern lights, when he suddenly found that the group of officers in front of him were all looking at him with a playful look on their faces, and suddenly lowered their faces and said, "You guys are playing me!" ”

"Hehe, Alfred, look over there!" Gerhardt smiled and pointed to the sea at the stern of the boat.

Xu Mo took a few steps forward, leaning on the stern side of the ship, and saw that behind the Vistellos, a sailor's dinghy on a battleship was connected with a cable. Now a thick log was erected in the middle of the dinghy, and in the upper part of the log was a slightly thinner crossbar. There is an oil lamp at the top of the log and at each end of the bar, and a piece of hemp cloth is tied to the log and the bar to serve as a sail for the dinghy.

The oil lamps had not yet been lit, and two sailors were climbing the log-made miniature mast on the dinghy, and with Hedlam's gesture, the stern lights on the Vistelos were extinguished in turn, and the sailors on the two dinghys also lit the oil lamps on the dinghy. In the dim light of the sea, from a distance, the dinghy's three oil lamps were no different from the stern lights on the Vistelos.

The two sailors quickly swam back to the Vistelos along the cable, and were immediately warmed up by someone who brought them rum and blankets. Despite the fact that it was summer, the waters of the northern sea were still freezing to the bone, and in just a few minutes, the two sailors were already shivering and their lips were blue.

"The whole ship is silent, the port side is fully open, the mainsail is in front of it, and the top sail is open!" Hudlam quickly ordered.

In the darkness of the night, the Vistellos, like a ghost, quietly turned its rudder to the left side of the course, opening up with the dinghy with its camouflaged stern lights. Xu Mo watched the dinghy drift away gradually, and the light of the three oil lamps on the boat loomed in the darkness.

"Your Excellency Admiral, you and Your Excellency Gelhardt go to rest, I just woke up, let me come to watch the night at night!" Xu Mo said with a smile.

"That's not going to work, Alfred, tonight is the most crucial battle between me and Clifford!" Hedram smiled and patted Xu Mo on the shoulder.

"Tonight is the most critical battle?" Xu Mo was confused, but Hedram didn't explain to him anymore, but walked off the bridge on the back deck and went to take the helm himself.

Xu Mo shrugged his shoulders, stopped asking, turned his head to look, and found that all the officers had returned to their posts, and even Gerhardt had entered the captain's room. With a stomach full of questions, Xu Mo entered the captain's room, wanting to talk to Gelhardt about what the most critical battle was, but found that he was looking at a photo in his hand.

"Is this your family?" Xu Mo quietly came to Gerhardt's back and looked at the photo in his hand. Gerhardt is pictured in a admiral's uniform with an ornate cross-sword at his waist and a sweet-looking young woman holding an infant baby girl in her hands.

"Alfred, how do you walk like a ghost!" Gerhardt was startled, turned around and said expressionlessly, "It's my wife and daughter." ”

"Can you show me?" Xu Mo smiled and stretched out his hand.

"Okay!" Gerhardt hesitated for a moment and put the photo in Xu Mo's hand.

"Your wife is beautiful and your daughter is lovely!" Xu Mo said with a smile, then frowned, and stared at a corner of the photo tightly, "Why haven't I seen you wearing this cross sword!" ”

"Thank you!" Gerhardt showed a rare expression of tenderness, looking at the family in the photo, "Oh, that saber was lost by me in a naval battle, but unfortunately, it is a good sword, a treasure handed down by our family, called the double-edged sword." I've been looking for a long time, but I've never been able to find it. ”

"yes, that's a pity!" A gleam flashed in Xu Mo's eyes, and he returned the photo to Gerhardt.