xymnovel Chapter 111 Not Greedy for Small Gains
Chapter 111 Not Greedy for Small Gains
Chapter 111 Not Greedy for Small Gains
"The arrow landed on the sea outside the starboard side," Earl (note) reported the location to the "sailor."
The sailor was not in a hurry. He lit the tinder again, glanced at the direction the flag on the mainmast was fluttering, and then moved slightly to aim at the left front of the merchant ship ahead.
swoosh~
Another arrow, trailing a fiery tail, flew into the sky.
The parabola struck the deck of the Three Lions flag ship.
"Hit!" Young horseman Igor exclaimed excitedly.
"Failed to hit the wool bag, useless." The "sailor" remained calm, and sure enough, the rocket that hit the enemy ship's deck had no effect whatsoever.
"Connor, let someone else row, and you go shoot the rockets." Roger saw that there was only one archer launching rockets, so he immediately told Connor, the hunter who was rowing, to join in.
With the addition of Connor, a hunter by training, the Seawolf's "firepower" increased dramatically, and the two of them fired more than a dozen arrows in no time.
The rockets did not set the entire merchant ship ablaze as one might imagine. In fact, three out of the dozen or so arrows hit the wool piled on the ship, but only two managed to start a small fire, which was quickly extinguished by the people on the enemy ship.
Here, the enemy is definitely not a wooden target standing there waiting to be slaughtered.
While Connor and "Sailor" were launching rockets, Roger, realizing what was happening, led Earl and the others to the ship's tower to fire crossbows at the enemy ship.
Facing headwinds and undulating waves at a distance of about a hundred paces, "Sailor" and Connor were only passable marksmen, but Roger and the others could only get lucky.
However, with five crossbows and nearly a hundred arrows, such a rain of arrows could always cause considerable disruption to the enemy ships.
As a result, under the cover of the random shooting of crossbow bolts, the rocket that Connor shot at a bag of wool on the enemy ship could not be extinguished in time, and the flames had already risen up.
The three-lion flag ship suddenly slowed down because some of the guards and crew who were rowing had to be diverted to extinguish the flames rising on the deck.
Seeing the enemy ships slow down, Roger immediately ordered a halt to rocket launching and personally joined the pursuit with his oars.
Several sacks of burning wool on the Three Lions flag ship were pushed into the sea, and the flames on the ship were gradually extinguished. However, the Seawolf had taken advantage of this gap to close the distance between the two ships to within fifty paces, and the two sides could even hear each other's shouts.
The three-lion flag ships had also realized the situation and that it was unlikely they could escape by creating distance. So they simply stopped rowing, and everyone picked up their weapons and waited for boarding action.
The crew of the Seawolf adjusted their mindset, and the sergeants who had been rowing the ship handed over their oars to the sailors. They raised the gangplank again in preparation for boarding, while the archers on the tower were redeployed to provide as much cover and long-range firepower as possible during boarding action.
With a resounding crash of hulls colliding, the Seawolf's ram rammed into the port side of the Three Lions-flagged ship. Arrows from the ship's stern tower rained down on the Seawolf, while the Seawolf fired from two positions on its stern tower. The narrow airspace between the two ships was filled with a constant barrage of arrows.
At that distance, it was difficult not to hit the target, and both sides began to suffer sporadic casualties.
Two muffled thuds came from the Three Lions flag boat, and a fisherman on the Seawolf who hadn't managed to hide his backside fell down as well.
This couldn't go on. Roger, hunched over under the side plank, holding a small round shield in his left hand and a battle axe in his right, stood up and used the round shield to shield himself while glancing at the enemy ship. Immediately, two arrows struck the round shield.
She crouched down, turned around, and looked up. "Ponytail, push them down!"
Earl with the ponytail responded and called over Connor, who was shooting arrows, to immediately rise up and fire arrows at the enemy ship's towers.
Just as Earl with the ponytail was exchanging arrows, Roger stood up again, used his round shield to block the front, and called for Marne and Olaf to set up a springboard.
The two ships were side by side, and two gangplanks with iron hooks reached the other ship's side as the waves rose and fell. Olaf, who was good at naval warfare, was the first to jump onto the gangplank, and then jumped over the ship's side and onto the enemy ship's deck. He was immediately surrounded and attacked by three enemy ship guards.
Just as Olaf was about to be overwhelmed by the mob and driven to the ship's side, Marne dodged three arrows and jumped onto the enemy ship.
With the addition of Sergeant Marne, who had extensive combat experience, Olaf immediately regained his footing, and the two of them drew away the four guards.
Taking advantage of the moment when the enemy's main force was distracted, Roger followed the special "sailor" and wobbled across the enemy ship's side from the gangplank, joining the melee.
When the big guy Donald crossed the enemy ship's side from the Seawolf, the situation was basically clear.
Just then, one of the guards who was shooting arrows from the stern tower of the Three Lions Flag ship suddenly picked up the thick-backed single sword beside him and slashed wildly at his "comrade" next to him, instantly killing several sailors.
The crossbow cover on the Three Lions Flag ship's tower was immediately destroyed, and Earl with ponytail, Sigurd the black dog, Connor, and others put down their crossbows, jumped down from the tower, and boarded the enemy ship via the gangplank.
The group hacked and slashed wildly.
From the moment the two ships collided until the last sailor on the Three Lions flag ship cried out in agony before dying, the entire boarding action lasted no more than five minutes.
With Marne, Olaf, Donald, and the "Sailors" as his main force, Roger barely encountered any enemies in this naval battle. His greatest contribution was using his round shield to block arrows from the ship's towers. His greatest danger came from the occasional arrows flying from the ship's towers.
"Marne and Olaf will finish off the enemy."
"The girl with the ponytail is leading a search of the cabins. Be careful not to get stabbed in the back by a hidden enemy."
Roger turned around and saw that the big man Donald was bleeding from his waist. He quickly checked the injury, tore off a piece of Donald's skirt and pressed it against the wound, shouting, "The rest of you, quickly stop the bleeding of the injured!"
"Don't kill me, I'm one of us, one of us!" Several pleas for mercy came from the stern tower of the three-lion flag ship.
While Ma En was finishing off the man on the ship's tower, he held his sword to the man's neck and leaned over to report to Roger, who was tearing off pieces of wool to stop the bleeding of the big man Donald on the deck, "Sir, this guy says he's one of us."
Roger understood why the arrows from the tower had suddenly stopped. He continued what he was doing, "Ask him where the cargo money is on the ship, and have him take you there."
Not long after, Marne led Bald Neil out of the hold and carried out a foul-smelling wooden barrel filled with salted fish.
Bald Neil excitedly reached into the pickled fish and pulled out a handful of drool-covered silver coins from the bottom. "Sir, there are silver coins at the bottom."
It's clear that the people on the ship hid it in a hurry.
Roger glanced at the "one of his own," who was staring at the smoked fish in the barrel, its eyes gleaming with gold, clearly having received some kind of promise beforehand.
"Buddy, he's one of yours. He's yours now." Roger whispered to the "sailor" behind him who was wiping the blood-dripping dagger. His purpose in following him was to ensure that Roger could eliminate the threat completely without leaving a trace. Since that was the case, there was no need for his own man to do such a dirty job of betraying his benefactor.
The "sailor" nodded, walked over to his "own man" and whispered a few words to him. Clearly, the two knew each other. The "own man" reluctantly left the wooden barrel containing the smoked fish, followed the "sailor" into the cabin, and closed the door.
Less than half a minute later, a tearing sound of a sharp knife entering flesh and a muffled thud as tables and chairs were overturned came from inside the cabin. Bald Neil and his men immediately became alert and were about to go in to check when Marn stopped them.
A moment later, the stern hatch opened, and the short "sailor" silently stepped out, wiping the short sword-dagger against his elbow.
Inside the cabin, the "one of our own" lay lifeless in a pool of blood.
"No wonder he has such a large family fortune." Roger secretly admired his uncle Jeffrey's methods.