I Am Louis XIV

Now let's go back to the wider sea.

Of course, it is impossible for a fleet of thirty-five Calais ships to sail in a long and thin line. Generally speaking, unarmed merchant ships are arranged in two or three columns, and armed merchant ships are interspersed on both sides of them, which is why In the beginning, the mixed fleet of the British needed to cut them separately—the Dutchman Van Basten, like the pirate Gort and Cunningham, did not notice any problems at the beginning. His flagship "Wilhelm the Silent" hoisted a yellow flag to show that he was following the plan.

He watched the "Charles I" chasing the two armed merchant ships, and the other two ironclad ships began to circle the merchant fleet, like wolves flocking sheep together. The armed merchant ships continued to fire, but nothing happened. What kind of damage could it cause to the ironclad ship? His eyes reluctantly lingered on the black-gray ironclad ship for a while before he had no choice but to move away.

At this time, there was already a large distance between those unarmed merchant ships and the armed merchant ships, which was large enough for the Dutch fleet to cut into it. After the death of General Iter, the light faded. After the defeat, part of the ships of the Dutch fleet were divided up by the French and the British, and some were taken away by the Dutch government-in-exile, but that was a very small part.

The ships driven by the Dutch fleet today are all those merchant ships that were sailing abroad at that time and did not return to the port.

But this is not a problem for Van Basten. Although the Dutch are called sea coachmen, and even defeated Spain, the former maritime overlord, they did not rely solely on the number and tonnage of ships—— The flagship "Seven Provinces" of the invincible general Reuter is just a third-tier battleship with double decks and 80 cannons. They have always relied on their courage, wisdom and rich sailing experience.

Although the ships of the Dutch are not as good as the British or the French, the precious legacy left by Leyter is suitable for today's situation, and it will also allow the Dutch to raise their proud heads high in front of the British——Netherlands The small tonnage and low center of gravity of the ship are destined to be more flexible at sea than those large ships with three decks. After merchant ships lose power due to artillery and collisions, they will swarm up. The tactics that haven't changed, jumping close to the merchant ship and fighting in close combat - if it's just a battle, the general may send an arson ship to reduce losses, but since they came for wealth... this method is naturally not advisable.

"A merchant ship has entered the Bay of St. Malo," reported his first mate. "Captain Gott is in pursuit."

"Let him go," said van Basten. "Keep an eye on our ship and keep Gott's men away."

"These Frenchmen are lucky to meet us!" said the first mate. Once the battle was over, Van Basten not only did not allow his crew to bully and abuse those sailors and merchants, but he would also give them money for those poor sailors who could not pay the ransom. Several small sampans, let them row away by themselves. Of course, if they encounter sharks or storms unfortunately, it is also their bad luck.

Gott's subordinates are going to let these people "walk the springboard".

Cunningham and the British ironclad ships are obviously not what Van Basten is qualified to care about, while Gott is not what Van Baster is willing to care about. He once again paid attention to the status of armed merchant ships and ironclad ships. Some armed merchant ships Running away, some are still swimming outside, seeming to want to break through the blockade of the ironclad ships and rush into the merchant fleet. Van Basten ordered the use of arson ships-these arson ships were not made by Gott when he was struggling in St. Malo Bay. Not a fake, but a type of real combat ship.

The Dutch's arson ships are also divided into two types, one is loaded with dry firewood and oil like the substitute made by Gott, and the sailors paddle close to the enemy ship, and then fix it on the enemy ship with a grapple. There is a small door leading to the secret passage of the cabin. A sampan is tied near the waterline. After the enemy ship is hooked, the sailors board the sampan to escape from the dangerous area, and the last sailor to leave the arsonist ship is responsible for lighting the fire.

The other kind is more dangerous. Instead of wood, it is loaded with barrels of gunpowder. There is no doubt that they are more powerful, but it is conceivable that when this small boat full of dangerous goods is flying in the sky While sailing in mid-air... any shell that lands on a ship, even just a flaming scrap of sail or mast, will send the ship and its occupants to hell.

However, Van Basten's ideas fit wonderfully with the pirate Gott at that time. He only drove the first type, and let it ignite in advance, rushing towards the armed merchant ships trying to approach them, only hoping to drive them away instead of driving them away. They sank—he remembered why they had come, and the warrant Cunningham had promised them.

Today only three kings have the power to build ironclad fleets for themselves and their country, Louis XIV of France, Charles II of England, and Leopold I of the Holy Roman Empire. The country can only devote itself to building one or two ironclad ships as the king's royal ships or flagships. If the Dutch still own the Netherlands, it may be possible, but they only have one in the extremely cold New Netherlands and the Caribbean islands. The lingering government-in-exile.

Of course, it is impossible for such a government to obtain such a large amount of black iron and coal, and there is nowhere to smelt and assemble them. Their only way is to buy ironclad ships from the British or Austrians with the only wealth they have.

Some people in the government-in-exile objected that they do not need an ironclad ship that cannot be used to change the situation. Instead, they should shift their attention from the sea to the land. The French king is busy with the succession war and cannot afford to take care of the colonies. At that time, the Netherlands was rebuilt in America on the basis of New Netherland.

But they must have never seen ironclad ships sailing and fighting at sea with their own eyes.

It was a shock that cannot be described in words. Anyone who still has blood in his chest will desperately want to get such a ship, even if the Netherlands did not have a three-deck first-class battleship until the eve of its destruction. . However, not only Van Basten, many Dutch people are imagining that if in that battle that determined the fate of the Netherlands, the Netherlands can also have as many giant warships as Britain and France, then the development of things will be different. Will it be the exact opposite?

Van Basten, who was immersed in memories, was suddenly awakened by a burst of cheers.

The Dutch ship closest to him, the "Leuyt", yes, it was named after the great Dutch general, it was an Indian ship, originally an armed After the merchant ship was converted into a battleship, it not only changed its name but also added 20 cannons, that is to say, a large three-masted ship with 50 cannons, according to the Dutch shipbuilding style, the stern is perpendicular to the water, and the windows around the The guard plate is a curved copper plate, which can also be said to be a thin layer of armor.

Its figurehead is the statue of St. Nicholas, the patron saint of sailors. The Dutch are not used to painting such statues, but because it is newly made, it is still a piece of golden oak, which looks very beautiful.

The crew of the "Luyter" couldn't wait to jump onto the gangplank—although nails were driven into the deck of the merchant ship at the end of the long and narrow gangplank, there was still a big difference in height between the two ships, as well as waves caused by waves. The shaking and tremors of the sea, the crew of the other party are also desperately trying to pull out the nails and push the gangway into the sea-but no matter what kind of danger, they cannot resist the temptation of wealth.

Although the goods on the ship were to be sent to London or New Netherland, all the private property of the merchant sailors belonged to the victors—this is also an asset that should not be underestimated, after all, the sailors regard the ship as their home , all valuables are carried with you and not stored somewhere where they may be seen and stolen - and don't think that sailors are poor, and there are sailors' private cabins on merchant ships, which are full of their smuggled goods. Here comes the good stuff.

As soon as the merchant sailors saw that the crew of the "Leuth" had jumped onto the plank and rushed towards them, they gave up in a panic, got into the cabin in a hurry, and closed the door tightly, but everyone knew This is not even called a cornered beast. Once the Dutch took control of the ship, they still had to crawl out of the cabin obediently.

"Be careful!" exclaimed a former privateer crew member. Privateer is an elegant name. He was also a pirate before. They arrived without hindrance, which made him vigilant.

"Are they all under the cabin?" another crew member called.

"Lock them up," yelled a man beside him, "and let them sink here with the ship when we get all the cargo out!" Laughing, he pulled out the dagger, cut off the rope that fixed the cowhide, and opened the cowhide, and there were neatly piled wine barrels underneath, which made him subconsciously say "hey".

There's no sailor who doesn't like wine, any wine. Rum, wine, beer... as long as it is wine, they like it, but it is not something a normal-headed seaman would do to put wine barrels on the deck-although the owner of the cargo ship has always been greedy for profit and can carry more Some goods will be carried more, but sailing on the sea, the waves are rough, and the ship is bumping constantly even when the sea is calm, so on the deck, even if you want to carry goods, it is light and easy to fix things such as wool , but...wine?

In a storm, a barrel freed from its shackles is no more than a cannonball.

"Maybe it's paint." A crew member said, he subconsciously inserted a knife into the wine barrel, and he was a little careful when pulling it out, as if he was ready to receive the drink, but he shook his head immediately, and a message came from his hand. It didn't feel right—like being stuck in something hard and irregular, maybe a nut, or even a more expensive spice? His heart beat wildly at the thought of this.

Holding the knife, he stood on tiptoe, ready to pick off the lid on the barrel.

Just then, the explosion happened.

Unlike the roar of artillery, or the deflagration of arsonist ships, the explosions from their side can even be called tiny, even negligible compared with the former two, but this is exactly what the designers expected - small and intense explosion.

There is not much gunpowder hidden in the wine barrel, maybe only a thick tube as long as the forearm, but outside the gunpowder, there are countless small stones, iron pieces and broken glass. The huge energy that the gunpowder explodes suddenly in a small space In an instant, they were sprayed like a torrential rain, passing through the decayed wooden barrel, and their power was not inferior to the bullets of muskets-these special "bullets" easily penetrated the flesh and blood, killing each living one by one. Man becomes a crimson sieve.

The lucky ones died instantly, while the unlucky ones got sprayed more or less half their body, a face, or an arm, or a leg, depending on where they were standing when the explosion happened. The sharp instruments either penetrated through relatively weak places such as the cheeks, or were deeply embedded in the thick flesh. They not only brought harm, but also brought fear and pain.

No one could even hear the explosion coming from this merchant ship as the guns roared all around, but Van Basten had been watching each merchant ship in turn with a telescope, and he might have noticed it after a few minutes When he got to the wrong place, after quickly focusing, he immediately saw a bloody crew member. The latter couldn't see Van Basten, and Van Basten couldn't hear him, but the man was indeed yelling :"Help!"

Van Basten's heart was seized immediately, and his back felt cold. He quickly moved the binoculars to search for other people, and at the same time loudly ordered the people around him to call the first officer. When the first officer came, he gave the binoculars to At the same time, he ordered the soldiers to hoist the white flag. Whenever they saw this flag, the Dutch ships knew that they were to retreat quickly.

But when van Basten took the telescope back and anxiously awaited the results, the results were dismal. Although he made judgments and decisions as soon as he found something wrong, most of the Dutch crew members had already jumped onto the deck of the merchant ship and believed that the battle was settled, and the opponent was just a piece of fish on the chopping board, at their mercy—only a few People, they've all worked on privateers, and they know it's not going to be that simple--but the previous success has paralyzed most of the crew, and after they've been shot and killed by small bursting pellets, the sailors who had been hiding, No, it should be said that soldiers also appeared. Their weapons are far superior to those of the Dutch, with far range and great power, and can even penetrate the partitions of the cabin to cause damage.

When the white flag was flying high, there were already several ships with different guests. These so-called unarmed merchant ships were like lambs with their fangs open, swallowing several Dutch ships in one gulp.