"That's like... A pirate ship? ”

Gus had already rushed to the mainmast's mast and could see the silhouette of the dark shadow.

The Golden Deer opened the shirl, pulled the swivel to turn the foremast into a schooner, and completed the attitude adjustment of "starboard wind - near-windward sailing".

Against the wind.

The huge black shadow on the opposite side rode the cold current along the nearby ice field, and the two sides quickly met each other.

Byron was also able to see that the black shadow that seemed to have experienced a terrible slaughter and exuded a strong smell of blood was actually a pirate ship.

The ship flying the black pirate flag maintained a kind of "sailboat braking".

The sails on the foremast and the mainmast open in opposite directions, and the mainmast creates thrust in the opposite direction to brake the sailboat.

There is no need to anchor, and the relative wind can be stationary, allowing the sailboat to drift slowly with the wind direction and currents.

When there is an emergency, you can quickly adjust the sail angle to the wind with the turn truss to restore maneuverability, and put into battle as soon as possible.

Looking at it like this, it looks like it was killed by an unknown enemy before the crew reacted and turned into combat mode.

"This is the [Rainbow] that suddenly left the port in a hurry with more than a dozen privateers and the best 'henchman' candidate yesterday!"

When the distance was close enough to see the somewhat broken pirate flag, Byron couldn't help but be surprised.

The [Logbook] in his eyes clearly recorded the information of every ship he had seen.

Just glanced at the rainbow pirate flag on the mast, and immediately recognized the identity of the ship.

It was just a moment when they could clearly observe each other.

The [Rainbow] privateer on the opposite side suddenly "woke up" like a frightened beast.

The sails that opened in reverse instantly returned to their original positions, holding back the fifth-level wind blowing from the north, and rushing towards the [Golden Deer].

No signal was sent or the slightest intention of communication.

There wasn't even a normal raid by a pirate ship, and the pirates shouted excitedly.

What's even more bizarre is that when the ship moves, the surrounding mist also moves, as if the fog came from the ship in the first place.

Clang! Clang! Clang! ...

The second mate on the mast immediately sounded the alarm.

Byron then gave the order:

"Level 1 combat readiness! All crew members immediately went to combat duty! ”

The opponent's ship is in the favorable wind direction upwind, and theirs is exactly in the downwind.

How similar is this to the original [Maneater] vs. [Severe]?

And this time, there is no wind change to save the scene, and the upwind [Rainbow] is also assisted by ocean currents, which can at least increase the speed of one more section.

The advantage of the Rainbow is even greater than that of the Stern.

But the crew members who had experienced the original battle on the [Golden Deer] were not afraid at this time, and there was only excitement in their eyes.

This privateer is just a pirate ship converted from a small armed merchant ship, and it is not much better than the original [Maneater].

Even if this state of affairs seems a little strange now, they firmly believe that they will be the victorious!

Driving the world's fastest three-masted sailing ship, they will be hunted down?

It's a joke.

Byron also calmly ordered:

"Order: Gain the upper hand, maneuver against the wind, and give me a windwind around the Rainbow."

There is no doubt that "seizing the upper hand" is the only way to fight single-ship duels and fleet battles in the sail era.

It's easier to attack the opponent below the waterline, the wind adds to the range of the projectiles, the powerful mobility created by the wake... Lots of benefits everyone wants.

In the past, only the full-sail [Maneater] with a cross-sail could not be grabbed, but now the [Golden Deer] equipped with two huge longitudinal sails has no problem.

"The sail cable is long, sail to three compass points in the west of north, sail close to the wind, let it see what is the world's first!"

The sail can be attached to the wind 30-40 degrees, and the sail can only be attached to 60 degrees, and then cooperate with its own title special effects.

The current [Golden Deer] is like a group of light cavalry fighting a group of hoplites.

There is sufficient mobility to support the strong tactics of "the enemy advances and we retreat, the enemy retreats and we pursue, the enemy is stationed and disturbs us, and the enemy is tired and we fight".

"Yes!"

Thomas, the chief of the cable, immediately instructed the sailors to adjust the sails to the wind at the best possible angle through the ship's dense white moving cables.

The [Rainbow] located in the direction of ten o'clock also clearly understood the intention of the [Golden Deer], and according to inertial thinking, pulled its own sail to the limit.

A tactical move of "downwind tuning" was used, and the wind also began to go against the wind.

The Rainbow was 5 nautical miles to the northwest, circling upwind at a 60° angle, and at the same time approaching the Golden Deer.

The Golden Deer is also windy at an angle of about 35° (11.25° at a compass point).

The two pirate ships before the battle were like two leaves dancing together in the wind, zigzag, zigzag, getting closer and closer.

It is an eternal truth that whoever has good windward maneuverability will be able to seize the upper hand.

The [Rainbow] also gradually realized that the situation was wrong, and his wind efficiency could not be compared to the [Golden Deer] of the same size?!

As if he didn't want to die, he turned again, trying to borrow the sail to speed up towards the [Golden Deer].

"Grab the 'T' for me! Burst its ass! ”

The Golden Deer was not afraid at all, and cut west with extreme dexterity and grazed its stern.

"The cannon cannon is loaded with solid shells, and the Caron cannon is loaded with shotgun barrels.

Target the aft building, shoot sequentially from front to back.

Three, two, one.... Fire! ”

When the distance was closer to within 200 meters, Byron decisively ordered all long-range cannons to fire.

"Fire!"

The first mate and the gunners shouted together, and the roar resounded throughout the ship.

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! ....

Orange-red cannon flames flickered one after another.

The seven six-pounder guns on the port side opened fire one after another, and one after the other, the red-hot cast-iron shells burrowed into the towering stern of the Rainbow.

Whether it is a merchant ship or a warship, the tail of them is all officers' bedrooms, or large living quarters composed of cabins and balconies.

These delicate and fragile "glass curtain walls" are not much stronger than a layer of window paper in the face of a salvo of naval guns.

The spherical projectiles that passed through the stern of the ship could not be stopped at all.

All bouncing and screaming flew over the entire gun deck of the privateer, front and back, shattering everything here.

Or hit the deck and beams to shoot out a rain of dead fragments.

That's the beauty of grabbing the "T" word.

As the "horizontal", he used the side of his own artillery to face the stern or bow of the ship that was unarmed and weakly defended.

Easily deal tons of damage and hit the soul with one shot!

The smell of blood from the privateer became more and more intense, making the man-eating sharks lurking in the sea uncontrollable.

It's just that the people on the [Golden Deer] were far from hearing a few voices, but instead heard a sharp chirp coming from the cabin.

"Continuing to reload, we will circle the upwind side of the enemy ship and fire another 'T' salvo at the bow of the enemy ship."

Byron waved his hand.

To have the advantage of mobility is to be capricious capital.

The advantage of maneuver allowed him to take risks and adopt more dangerous tactics, which in turn led to overwhelming battle results.

The significance of sea trials is not only to test the performance of the ship, but also to find out a set of combat plans suitable for the ship.

Future "Tudor melees" will take into account "long-range" artillery battles beyond 200 meters, but will pay more attention to short-range artillery battles of about 100 meters.

This 32-pounder Caron cannon at a range has absolute gun fire dominance.

However, the Rainbow is not exactly a target to be rubbed by, and although it is slow, it has a smaller turning radius.

Successfully dodged the bad luck and let his windward side side face the [Golden Deer].

When he staggered past within a hundred meters of close range, Byron, who was holding the hole card in his hand and was not afraid, had a cold look in his eyes and shouted an order to the artillery crew:

"Caron gun, prepare me to sweep the open deck of the enemy ship! Three, two..."

At the same time that the flintlock igniter in the gunner's hand had already fallen on the pool of Caron's gunpowder.

On the opposite deck, a figure in prison uniform, whose eyes had been replaced by blood-colored silver coins, also waved his hand.

Boom boom...

Billowing smoke rises.

But instead of normal shells, the six guns on the open deck of the Rainbow fired six oversized parasites... Whale lice!