In late autumn, the waves on the Talon Sea are rough, like a pair of giant hands, stirring and rolling the silvery white waves.
On this rough sea, a fleet of slender ships was sailing. The leading warship rode the wind and waves and headed rapidly towards the Gulf of Kislev. The leading bow split the huge waves and bumped on the wide blue sea.
Forward.
Its sails were raised high, and a direwolf roaring up to the sky was painted on the huge black sail. Under the wide sail, a group of barbarian warriors wearing simple leather armor and holding spears and battle axes were cheering.
Drinking strong wine.
Yes, they were marauders. Norscan pirates.
The abundant supplies and wealth led them here. The leader of the plunderers stood at the bow of the ship, holding the cable with one hand——
"Brothers, the time has come to release our nature. Don't forget who we are, where we come from, and where we are going. We are the plunderers of the ocean and the destroyers of the continent. Go ahead and rob, kill and plunder to your heart's content,
In addition to medicines, other materials are looted as much as possible. The soldiers of the empire are as weak as chickens. They only dare to hide behind their armor and shoot and fire. We will teach them the power of swords and axes and kill them like sheep!"
Holding the cable, Celta spoke loudly and roared like a wild beast. Soon, hundreds of predators on the deck also roared like wild beasts in response to their leader.
The three pirate warships were like ghosts, traveling quickly on the wide sea. Soon, their target appeared. It was an imperial transport ship. There was no regular navy escort, and there was only one single ship, which was a merchant ship.
Since the establishment of a regular navy in Kislev, there have been few northern pirate activities in this area. Therefore, over time, merchant ships coming from the empire are no longer equipped with frigates. In order to save costs, merchants have not even seen mercenary warships.
.
Recently, due to the epidemic, the number of caravans heading to Erengrad has increased.
No one would have thought that in this seemingly calm sea area, there was a strong murderous intention hidden.
Soon, the clouds and fog dissipated. When the imperial merchant ship discovered the barbarian marauder fleet, the pirate warship was already very close to the merchant ship.
Selta held a long-handled battle ax in one hand and the rope on the bow with the other, shouting loudly and ordering the Snow Wolf to move forward at full speed.
Not equipped with heavy artillery, the tactics of Norscan pirates have always been to maneuver, board quickly, and win in hand-to-hand combat. Heavy warships will be equipped with collision dragon heads, travel at high speed, ram the opponent's hull, and win. The empire's naval battles often use
Intensive artillery strikes to win.
Two different civilizations with different tactics have been fighting in this sea area for thousands of years. Now, it is happening again without getting tired of it.
In the biting sea breeze, the Snow Wolf's inflated sails were like the messenger of death, sailing towards the sailing imperial merchant ship at high speed.
The merchant ship seemed to want to escape at first, but after a while, it chose to fight. Because the imperial merchant ship loaded with various goods could not run fast at all, like a beer barrel filled with lead weights, rolling with difficulty on the vast ocean.
To the plunderers, the huge cabins were beer barrels filled with gold and silver treasures. They had not been so eager for wealth for a long time.
The Snow Wolf rode the wind and waves and charged head-on towards the imperial merchant ship. The two auxiliary ships quickly circled around, like three sharp swords spread out on three sides on the huge sea.
The imperial merchant ships were the first to fire their artillery. Even though there were no regular naval escorts or mercenary gunboats, large imperial merchant ships had been equipped with heavy artillery for a long time. This was almost a tradition, giving them a certain degree of protection even when they were alone.
Self-defense capability. But there are not many cannons, only a few are equipped. At the beginning, each imperial merchant ship was equipped with at least twenty naval battle cannons. As the predators gradually disappeared in the Gulf, the number of cannons installed on merchant ships increased.
The less. Because every less naval battle gun means more goods can be loaded. For businessmen, these are money...
Now, having never thought about pirates attacking offshore, they could only regret not installing a few more cannons before setting sail.
The marauder warships are rapidly approaching.
A loud rumble sounded on the upper deck of the merchant ship, which was the deafening sound of the cannon being ejected from the chamber.
The gunner, who had undergone simple training, covered his ears while operating nervously.
A cannonball hit the surroundings of the Snow Wolf, splashing up water columns several meters high. The seawater splashed onto the hull, and the splashing water splashed on the predators, which further intensified the excitement of these barbarian warriors.
"Fire!"
"Fire! Free fire!"
The captain's hoarse shouts kept coming from the deck of the imperial merchant ship. The sailors were so nervous that they even dropped the cannonballs and rolled them aside.
Other crew members also helped carry the shells, and the gunner was dripping with cold sweat.
Another round of artillery salvoes, this time, the shells almost hit the advancing Snow Wolf. The shells roared past the heads of the Marauder warriors, leaving a long string of gliding sounds, and finally landed on the sea behind the battleship.
Above, there was also a string of water splashing into the sky.
After a brief period of silence, the predator pirates roared louder and louder, like wild beasts, keeping a close eye on their prey.
Ho ho ho…
Dong dong dong...
Roars, drums, and the sound of oars slapping the water rang out. When they were very close to the imperial merchant ship, the plundering pirates on board picked up the oars in their hands and rowed hard, with the help of wind and human power.
The overlap allows the warship to sprint faster.
However, it is not for ramming. The Snow Wolf's bow is not equipped with a heavy ramming dragon. It is just for driving away. Just like a pack of wolves driving away sheep, it disrupts the target's planning steps and implements its own tactical plan.
The heavy crossbow arrows were loaded, and the crossbowmen operated them with familiarity. A wave of heavy crossbow arrows roared towards the imperial merchant ship. Although it was primitive, it was fatal at a very close distance.
Without thermal weapons, the heavy crossbow flew straight towards the sailing Imperial merchant ship. Without enough time to avoid it, a large hole was directly penetrated in the lower cabin of the merchant ship. A huge impact sound was accompanied by a crackling sound, and countless wood chips exploded from the hull.
, shooting the sailors inside and breaking a whole row of beer barrels. Soon, the Snow Wolf set up a second crossbow. And the speed remained unchanged, heading straight towards the imperial merchant ship.
The imperial merchant ship swerved in panic to avoid a head-on collision with this crazy pirate ship. Even though the size and weight of the pirate ship were far less than that of the merchant ship, anything traveling fast was lethal, and the imperial sailors knew this.
The truth is, hurriedly avoid it.
However, this played into the opponent's hands. Like a sheep being led into a trap, just as the imperial merchant ship was avoiding the ramming attack, two predator pirate ships were already flying from both wings, tightly clamping down on the imperial merchant ship like two pairs of pliers.
Bite in the middle.
No need to think too much, the captain also knows that the pirates want to board the ship and rob it... Boarding battle is the most common tactic used by northern pirates. Whether they use crossbows or dragon heads to attack, the merchant ship will eventually be damaged and sunk. In this way, the plunderers
Then you can't grab any goods. If you board the ship, kill the crew, and capture the ship, you can grab all the goods on the ship. This is the pirates' favorite and best tactic.
At this moment, facing the pursuit and interception of three Norscan warships, the imperial captain could not think of a better way to deal with it. He was like a sheep trapped in a trap, surrounded by three hungry wolves.
When the three battleships moved forward side by side, the predators began a crazy sea battle. Hooked ropes flew towards the imperial merchant ships from all directions like the tentacles of a sea monster.
Even though the crew on the merchant ship tried their best to cut off the ropes, they still had too few people to fight. Most of them were civilians without combat training. They were already frightened in front of the beast-like predator pirates.
Some were so frightened when they saw the blood pouring on the deck that they hid in the corner and cried for their parents. Some jumped directly into the sea to escape. But the hope of survival after jumping was even slimmer.
More than three hundred Norscan pirates just continued to crawl towards the hull of the opposite shore along the hook rope.
Sporadic gunfire sounds continued on the sea. An imperial gunner was adjusting the muzzle of his gun and was about to shoot at the pirate ship on the opposite side. Suddenly, a flying ax flew over and struck him directly on the forehead.
!That’s Celta’s throwing ax!
"Ho, ho, ho..."
There were not too many orders, and the sound of instructions was gradually covered by increasingly louder war cries, and brutality and killing were staged on this calm sea.
Two hours later, the imperial merchant ship was already filled with blood-covered Norscan raiders.
Before he had time to beg for mercy, the captain of the merchant ship was directly caught by Celta and thrown into the sea...
He came to the bottom cabin filled with cargo and shouted loudly to his men——
"All medical supplies are transported to the port of Elengrad, and other goods are moved back to the tribe!"