Chapter 52

On the afternoon of May 10th, a Tuesday. In the South Atlantic, the west wind was blowing at a force of 5, and the temperature was 0 degrees Celsius.

Yunsheng No. 1 and the "East Coast Eagle" were still wandering like ghosts off the eastern coast of Tierra del Fuego. Yesterday, the "Galicia Flying Fish" had just delivered a batch of supplies and ammunition from the Falkland Islands and taken away a group of prisoners. These twenty or so prisoners were from a British ship that had been roaming near the Strait of Magellan, seemingly doing the same thing as the穿越者 (穿越者 can be translated as "time travelers" or "adventurers" depending on context, but it seems to refer to the main characters in this story, so I'll translate it as "adventurers"). Unfortunately, the ship was mistakenly identified as a Spanish vessel by Captain Wang Tietui of Yunsheng No. 1, and after a fierce barrage of cannon fire, the small three-masted sailing ship raised a white flag. When the receiving personnel boarded the ship, they discovered that they had mistakenly attacked their own, and the entire ship was severely damaged and slowly sinking. With no choice, they had to abandon the ship and transfer the prisoners to the "East Coast Eagle."

This was just a small episode in the hunting operation, though the tragic British men served as a footnote to it. At this moment, Yunsheng No. 1 had raised its main sail and foresail, and the main engine was shut off, with the ship drifting at a speed of 2 knots. The "East Coast Eagle" was patrolling the southeastern sea, and both ships were idly waiting for their prey to take the bait.

However, the roles of hunter and prey were not always so clear-cut. The lookout on Yunsheng No. 1, Naval Cadet Ji Wen, soon spotted a tall mast in the northeastern sea, followed by a second and a third...

"Three-masted sailing ship spotted in the northeast! Flying the flag of the Kingdom of Spain! Speed 5 knots!" Ji Wen pulled the signaling bell with all his might.

Upon receiving the report, Wang Tietui immediately ordered the main sail and foresail to be lowered, and the main engine began to warm up and start. At the same time, a red battle flag was raised. The "East Coast Eagle" also spotted the ship in the northern sea and immediately turned left to approach Yunsheng No. 1, forming a two-ship formation.

"That ship has raised a signal flag! Damn! She must have more ships!" Wang Tietui observed through his telescope. The weather was clear, and visibility was extremely high. Wang Tietui could see the Spanish ship's actions clearly. "She must be calling for her companions! Is the main engine ready?"

"What's the 'East Coast Eagle' doing? Why is she coming over now?" Xiao Bailang muttered, holding his telescope. He felt a bit uneasy. Usually, the Spanish ships came from the west, but this was the first time they encountered a ship from the north. Moreover, the ship's first reaction upon seeing Yunsheng No. 1 was not to turn and run but to raise a signal flag, which was an unusual behavior. The answer was becoming clear.

"Another three-masted sailing ship has appeared in the northeast! Repeat, another three-masted sailing ship has appeared in the northeast!" The diligent Ji Wen shouted from the mast, his voice in the midst of changing, clearly reaching the ears of everyone on deck.

"Damn! We've stirred up a hornet's nest! Quickly, raise the yellow signal flag to tell the 'East Coast Eagle' to get as far away as possible. There might be more ships behind, and she's too small to get involved in this." Wang Tietui shouted, feeling both excited and nervous at the sudden appearance of enemy ships.

"Old Wang, don't worry too much. Yunsheng No. 1's speed is hard for these sailing ships to catch up with. If we decide to leave, the Spanish won't be able to stop us," Xiao Bailang said with a smile. "Let's slowly increase our speed and see what happens."

The main engine of Yunsheng No. 1 gradually accelerated, and the ship was now traveling east at a speed of 4 knots. On the "East Coast Eagle," Lu Ming, upon seeing the yellow retreat signal flag raised by Yunsheng No. 1, immediately and decisively headed southwest at full speed.

Two more Spanish ships appeared in the northeast, one of which was a large four-masted sailing ship. The situation was becoming increasingly clear: this was definitely the main fleet of the Spanish.

"Damn, our actions have been discovered. The Spanish are definitely here to capture us," Wang Tietui muttered to himself. "I'll play along and see if there's a chance to slip through."

...

Diego Garcia held a monocular telescope and observed the large, towering ship in the southwest. After searching for so long, he had finally found the trail of these Tartars. This black-hulled ship must be the 2000-ton large warship of the Tartars, but the layout of the ship was really as poor as rumored. The grand buildings in the middle of the ship occupied a lot of valuable deck space, which would certainly limit the number of cannons that could be installed. Perhaps only 18-20 cannons, Captain Garcia speculated.

However, these were not the main points. The main point was that the ship had a mast but no sails, meaning it was not using wind power. How could it be moving so fast without wind power? Maybe there were a lot of rowers in the hold? Diego Garcia quickly dismissed this idea. It was impossible to sustain such a speed, and he saw no oars moving near the waterline through his telescope.

Perhaps the Tartars had invented a new ship propulsion system, Diego Garcia speculated. Unlike devout believers who called the ship a devil's ship, he did not believe in anything. He only believed in the truth and knowledge he possessed. The Tartars seemed to have another small warship fleeing to the southwest, but it didn't matter. Once the large ship was dealt with, eliminating the small ship would be easy.

"Raise the signal flag, prepare for battle. All ships maintain formation and use broadside cannons to engage the enemy," Captain Diego Garcia estimated the speed and direction of the enemy ship and felt confident that they could intercept and force it into battle.

The "Cádiz Rock" warship made a wide turn and approached Yunsheng No. 1 from the northeast, followed by the "Bison" and the "Araucanian Conqueror." Meanwhile, the "Countess Alfonso" that first spotted Yunsheng No. 1 raised auxiliary sails and charged at full speed toward Yunsheng No. 1, with the distance between them decreasing rapidly. On the other side, the "Glory," "Inquisitor," and "Bishop of Lima" were also rushing to encircle Yunsheng No. 1 from the left.

"Damn, they have big appetites," Wang Tietui muttered, his hand holding the telescope trembling slightly. This was a real battle, and the enemy's strength was formidable, far beyond the small ships he had previously bullied. He needed to be cautious, Wang Tietui warned himself. The enemy's cannons could kill.

"Turn! Increase speed! Head east at 8 knots. Damn, let's stretch out and disrupt the Spanish formation. Try to buy more time for the 'East Coast Eagle' to escape," Wang Tietui ordered.

The Spanish warships could also sail at impressive speeds in favorable winds, generally reaching 8 knots or more, with some ships even reaching 10-11 knots. Yunsheng No. 1, traveling at 8 knots, narrowly avoided the right encirclement led by the "Cádiz Rock," with the closest distance being less than 1500 meters, almost within the maximum range of the cannons.

"Damn, that was close! I underestimated the speed of these sailing ships. Turn northeast, and see if they can maintain such a speed against the wind! Han, increase speed to 10 knots, and don't worry about fuel consumption. I want to see if we can take a bite out of these Spanish and give the 'East Coast Eagle' more time to escape," Wang Tietui wiped the sweat from his forehead and said angrily.

The main engine of Yunsheng No. 1 quickly accelerated, and the ship turned north, drawing a beautiful arc and charging straight toward the Spanish supply ships and armed sailing ships that were lagging behind. These Spanish armed sailing ships did not have the high speed of 8-10 knots like the main warships; their average speed was 4 knots, and they were slowly trailing behind. Faced with Yunsheng No. 1, which had quickly broken away from the main fleet and charged over, they panicked and turned toward the coast.

Yunsheng No. 1 approached an armed sailing ship, and the 8 side cannons, which were already prepared, fired almost simultaneously. The whistling cannonballs turned the left side of the armed sailing ship into a mess. The enemy's counterattack was weak, with only a few small-caliber cannons on the left deck firing a few shots at Yunsheng No. 1, causing no significant damage.

The two ships were about to pass each other, and the gunners on Yunsheng No. 1 took advantage of the opportunity to fire another round. This time, they thoroughly plowed the enemy's left deck, scattering grape shot that killed all the sailors still standing, and a chain shot even broke the enemy's aft mast.

"Awesome!" Xiao Bailang waved his arm vigorously, excitedly.

"Turn northeast! Maintain 10 knots! The Spanish main warships have turned around. Let's test their strength, but be careful and maintain a safe distance. Don't get caught in their encirclement," Wang Tietui said, slightly excited. The previous round of cannon fire had dispelled his tension and anxiety, and now he was eager to use his high speed and the advantage of not needing to consider wind direction to play with the Spanish.

At this moment, the Spanish armed sailing ships and supply ships were all sailing close to the coastline, while the seven main warships had completed their turn and were gathering in a relatively loose formation, sailing north against the wind.

Soon, Yunsheng No. 1, with the wind at its back, accelerated to nearly 12 knots and quickly approached the "Araucanian Conqueror," a three-masted sailing ship at the outer edge of the Spanish fleet. The "Araucanian Conqueror," with a displacement of 600 tons, was equipped with 28 bronze cannons, mostly 6-pound, 8-pound, and 12-pound guns, as well as two 18-pound guns, making it a formidable opponent.

The side cannons on Yunsheng No. 1 began firing a large number of iron balls as soon as they entered range. Although the hit rate was pitifully low, a few lucky shots managed to hit the enemy ship, causing damage. At this distance, the enemy's cannons could not reach Yunsheng No. 1, leaving them to suffer without retaliation, which was extremely frustrating.

The distance between the two ships quickly closed to within a thousand meters. By this time, Yunsheng No. 1 had fired three rounds of cannon fire, while the "Araucanian Conqueror" had just fired its first round: most of the cannonballs fell into the sea, but one 18-pound cannonball hit the tall cabin of Yunsheng No. 1, shattering one of the windows.

"Damn, the 18-pound cannon is so powerful! No! Turn left, maintain distance!" Wang Tietui was startled and quickly ordered, "Stay out of the range of the enemy's cannons and keep them at bay. It's getting dark, and we'll retreat when it's dark!"

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