Starting from London, we crossed the Atlantic Ocean, passed through Newfoundland, went south, crossed the Bahamas, and arrived in the Caribbean. The entire voyage took eight days.
Along the way, the fleet ran rampant and was occasionally targeted by pirates. When the pirates saw the tonnage of the Zhonghua and the hundreds of cannons, they would forget their unrealistic plans.
Smooth winds and rivers sailed all the way to the Caribbean, where there were more pirates and they were even crazier.
"Captain, we've been targeted again. This is the fourth group of people today. These pirates are so enthusiastic. Do they think they can rob us?" Standing on the deck, Old Bart was steering the helm while constantly using his monocular.
The telescope looks into the distance.
Wang Xu put down his wine glass, picked up his telescope, and looked at the sea in the distance.
As soon as I caught sight, two medium-sized ships without flags were following the Flower Planting in the surrounding waters, hanging a few nautical miles away.
The captain on the other side's ship was also looking out with a telescope, saying something to his subordinates from time to time.
"There are so many pirates here!" Wang Xu knew with just one glance that there was a pirate ship on the other side.
There are obvious differences between merchant ships and pirate ships. The former has mostly cargo warehouses, while the latter has more artillery.
The two medium-sized ships following them had too many cannons on board. Each ship had more than thirty guns, which seriously exceeded the standards for medium-sized ships.
An average medium-sized ship usually only has a dozen cannons, and any more will affect its speed and loading capacity. Only medium-sized pirate ships that do not need to sail far and only rely on robbery for a living will improve all cabins into artillery rooms, so that medium-sized ships can
Pirate ships have firepower comparable to that of large merchant ships.
"Activate the deck cannon and sink them!" Wang Xu held up the telescope and ordered without looking back.
The next second, the 32 cannons on the deck were all pushed out by the gunners, aiming at the pirate ships on the left and right.
Aim, load, and light the fuse.
Boom boom boom!!!
From Wang Xu's position, he could clearly see the arc of the shells streaking across the sky, turning into black dots and receding away.
In an instant, countless water splashes exploded on both sides of the pirate ship. The one on the left was unlucky enough to be hit in the stern by a cannonball.
Accompanied by the scene of wood flying around and pirates screaming, the pirate ship looked like a piece of bread that had been bitten, with clear gaps appearing on the hull.
"Fight back, fight back quickly!"
"No, they use 24-pound cannons. Our largest artillery is only 4-pounders, so it can't hit them at all."
The larger the ship, the more powerful the artillery that can be equipped. Wang Xu's Zhonghua is a second-class sailing battleship with a maximum caliber that can be equipped with a 32-pound cannon.
Although the pirate ship has been modified, it cannot disguise itself. It is just a medium-sized ship design.
Not to mention the 32-pound cannon, even the 12-pounder cannon will shatter its deck, and you will be done with it once it is fired.
"It's like shooting a turkey, they will regret following us."
The cannon roared loudly, and the gunners on the deck cheered.
After three rounds of artillery fire, the thick smoke dissipated, leaving only the wreckage of the ship on the sea. Even to the death, these pirates were unable to enter the range of their own artillery. The Zhonghua was overturned without even touching a hair.
In this sea area.
"Keep going, target Aruba, take two days off after arriving in Hong Kong!" Wang Xu took back the telescope with a sneer on his lips.
When the sailors heard that they could have a holiday, they waved their hats and cheered. No one cared about the pirates who were wiped out, because in the Age of Discovery, the ocean itself was a place where the weak and the strong preyed on each other. If they died, they could only blame themselves for not being strong enough. They were afraid of death and went to the farms to squeeze in.
Milk is ready
Aruba Islands
"Reporting to the captain, we have arrived at the Aruba Islands. In another twenty minutes, we will enter the Aruba harbor."
Aruba is a large island connected to dozens of surrounding islands, collectively known as the Aruba Islands.
Wang Xu stood on the deck, eating washed cherries and listening to Zakro's report.
As you can see, on the surrounding small islands, there are many fishermen out to sea for fishing, and many merchant ships are gathering here.
Among the many ships, the Zhonghua is the largest. When traveling in the sea, it is like the difference between a heavy truck and a private car.
Many of the islanders, as well as sailors from other ships, stood on the deck or on land, craning their necks to look at the Flower Plant.
Wang Xu's sailors enjoyed the feeling of being watched. They held their chests and heads high and pretended to be busy, but in fact they were already laughing in their hearts.
"In the Age of Discovery, barbarism and elegance coexisted, artillery and truth intertwined!" Wang Xu looked at the island in front of him, and after seeing five people hanging on the tree and dried into skeletons, he whispered this sentence
talk.
These five unlucky guys are pirates, and they are the worst pirates ever caught by the navy.
Why Wang Xu knew it was because there was a wooden sign more than two meters long under the big tree with the skeleton hanging on it.
The sign clearly states that this is the fate of being a pirate. Please think clearly before acting, otherwise you will be the one who is hanged.
"Lower the sails, stow the cannons, we are entering the harbor!"
Along with the shouts, the sailors lowered the sail to half and covered the cannon with waterproof tarpaulin.
These are the rules for entering the port. If you don't do this, the two shore guns in the harbor will fire and treat the ships in the port as pirates.
These rules cannot be found in textbooks. They belong to the consensus between the shipowner and the harbor. By covering the cannon, he expressed that he had no idea about the harbor.
"Lower the anchor, furl the sails completely, work harder, guys, we are about to go ashore." Following the orders, the Planting Flowers slowly approached the harbor.
As the first port of the Great Eagle Empire in the Caribbean, Aruba Port is very prosperous.
Wang Xu stood on the deck and looked up. Hundreds of merchant ships were docked at the port, with five naval warships stationed on both sides.
Of these five naval battleships, four are three-gallon galleons equipped with 56 guns, and one is a sailing battleship equipped with 100 guns.
This kind of firepower equipment, whether it is suppressing the natives or exterminating pirates, can ensure that the Great Eagle Empire has the Caribbean under its control.
"There are at least hundreds of naval guns on the shore, plus five naval warships. As long as there is no large-scale attack by naval fleets from other countries, the port of Aruba is as stable as Mount Tai. A small Caribbean Sea has such a powerful force.
Not to mention the London headquarters fleet and the East India Company's fleet, no wonder the second-tier sailing battleships dare to sell them."
Looking at the Aruba harbor in front of him, Wang Xu was even more curious about what an invincible fleet that could suppress the Royal Navy would look like.
Before he could continue thinking, a scream suddenly came from the sky.
When he looked up, he saw a woman in white flying down from the cliff and suddenly fell into the sea.
"What happened? He committed suicide?" Wang Xu looked at the cliff. This is the cliff at the entrance of the port, and above it is the port's coastal artillery position.
Dozens of figures were standing on top looking down. Wang Xu vaguely heard what they were shouting amidst the sound of the waves.
The sound of the waves was so loud that after listening for a while, I couldn't hear what these people were saying.
Wang Xu stood on the bow of the boat and looked into the sea. He did not see the woman in white emerging from the water, so he said: "Save her up!"
Plop!!!
Upon hearing the order, several sailors jumped into the water and swam towards the sinking point.
Wang Xu held up a telescope and watched. Just as his sailors were about to approach, a figure approached at a faster speed.
The next moment, the figure overtook his sailor and suddenly dived into the sea.
Ten seconds later, the figure of the woman in white resurfaced, along with a man wearing a headscarf and a mustache on his chin.