Iron Power And Sorcerer

Iron Power And Sorcerer Chapter 73

2021-01-23

Chapter 73 Gaming Tables
What is the most important quality for a gambler?
Some would say "luck", others would say "win and go" wisdom.

But a real gambler will only lose because of bad luck, not because of good luck. If they win, they will only consider themselves capable.

As for "win and go"? This kind of person is not even a qualified gambler. A real gambler will put the winnings back into the bet until he loses thoroughly.

Gamblers think that the most important ability at the table is to grasp the opportunity. Brilliant gamblers can seize the fleeting opportunity, and at the same time have the courage to press the entire gambling capital in one breath. To be the winner takes all pot.

As one of the Taniria Federation's rigging masters, Frank Drake may be a hopeless gambler, but even his foes have the opportunity for him the ability to applaud.

And tonight's fighter is extremely rare.

The galley warships, which account for half of the main warships of the Veneta fleet, are resting in the harbor. There are only eleven galleons and a few small galleons outside the harbor anchorage, and twenty-one ships carrying Merchant ship for soldiers of the army.

To the east of the anchorage of Lighthouse Harbor are reefs and sandbars that stretch for more than ten nautical miles. Unless the navigator knows this dangerous water well, the entire fleet will be in danger of being wiped out once it enters.

At this moment, a strong northwesterly wind is blowing from the sea. The tide turns, the evening tide rushes to the coast, and it gets dark again. Drake's fleet came with the northwesterly wind and firmly gained the upper hand, just at the right time and place.

And the revenge fleet will be blown to the east by the wind and waves to the Sea Territory, once driven there, without Drake's fleet, the sea will let the Veneta learn her. Danger.

Army officers like Winters knew nothing about it, and they heard the drums of war on the ships, all the sailors preparing for battle in an orderly manner, only to feel their blood boiled and wanted to go big.

But naval officers-especially high-level officers in the class of captains, they know the Sea Territory and know the power of nature better.

The survival of the entire fleet is now tied to Vice Admiral Nareshaw. All the captains are sweating in the palms of their hands. I hope the Vice Admiral is not rhetoric but is really confident.

On the deck of the Vengeance Fleet's flagship Glory, everyone gradually quieted down and turned their attention to the forecastle, where the fleet's top commander was located.

And Lieutenant Admiral Nareshaw on the bow floor didn't show any expression on his face. He just held the ship's side firmly with both hands and ordered without looking back: "Mr. Karaman?"

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"Yes, sir." The first officer stood at attention reflexively.

"Send my orders to ships, with Glory as the lead. Set course due north, pull anchor and set off!"

"Yes! Sir!"

"I heard the lieutenant general's order!" Chief Officer Karaman yelled at the deck: "Put the boat down! Set the course to true north! Raise the jib! Move fast!"

The otherwise silent deck was revived by Nareshaw's orders.

The bosun blew his whistle, and the sharp whistles were short and long. This time, even the sailors who didn't hear the chief mate's order understood the meaning of the whistle.

The signal lights at the stern are lit, sending commands to the entire fleet by turning on and off regularly.

A dozen or so sailors nimbly climbed up the line along the line and hooked up to the pulley block. Sailors on deck work with a common purpose, with several pitching jibs raised between the masts.

Winters knew the sail, and the first mate on the Skua taught him that with this jib, the boat could sail against the wind.

But he couldn't understand what the sailors were doing next. Two more boats were put on the sea from the side of the ship, and the deck crew was busy tying ropes between the bowsprit and the boats.

"What's this doing?" Winters asked Cage, puzzled.

"The tonnage of the warship is large, and it must be anchored against the wind to be safe." Cage explained: "But when lifting the anchor, you must first adjust the direction of the hull with a small boat, otherwise it will be carried by the wind."

"Row! Boys! Row hard!" shouted the full-faced bosun.

The sailors on the boat swung their oars vigorously, pulling the hull of the Glory gradually to the north side, roughly half a right angle to the wind.

Twelve sailors pushed the winch hard, their faces grim, their muscles tense, their bodies almost leaning on the deck. With the sound of sour teeth, the anchor that was sunk on the seabed was slowly lifted up.

When the anchor left the seabed, the whole ship jerked forward. Originally, the anchor and the sail were tug-of-war, but the anchor suddenly let go, and the sailboat began to accelerate slowly with the entire hull.

"Lieutenant General will take us to the north and avoid the reef to the east." Cage swallowed nervously: "This is too dangerous...it is too dangerous..."

p>

"Where is the danger?"

Cage pointed to the sails that were blown up by the wind and said, "The wind and the waves are taking us eastward, and we can't figure out the direction at all at night. It's quite possible that we thought we were heading north, but we were getting closer and closer to the east. The Glory is the guiding ship, and if the Glory is heading the wrong way, it will bring the entire fleet to desperation."

What is Nareshaw's plan, Winters doesn't know. But he has carefully studied the raid on Haidong Port. Taniria's commander attacked the east and west twice in a row, concentrating superior forces in part to defeat the defenders of the port one by one. And he didn't want to fight, he tore off a piece of meat and left, leaving the Veneta Army who came to support it.

Such wonderful battles are rare even in military school textbooks. And the man who commanded this battle is now leading his fleet to attack the Glory, will he give the Veneta fleet a chance?
While the Vengeance fleet was anxiously pulling anchor and sailing, the Northwest-to-sea Taniria fleet had entered within a kilometer of the Veneta fleet, while the Glory's anchor had not yet been pulled out of the water. come up.

The silhouettes of the ships of Tanilla became clear, with the five mighty ships in the center and the other lesser ships on either side. Unlike Brightly Lit's Veneta fleet, the ships under Drake's command did not even have star lights, and more than twenty Hessen's warships moved towards Veneta's revenge fleet in a roughly crescent shape.

Cage counted the ships of the Tanirians: "I counted twenty-one. The five large ships should be the ones we robbed in Haidong Harbor. It's just arming the merchant ship."

"We have more than 40 ships, and they only have more than 20. If you can't beat this, your navy will be disbanded as soon as possible." Andre Carefree said .

"It's not like that." Cage shook the head: "The galleys are now docked to rest, and those troop carriers are not useful. Not forty to twenty, but ten to twenty-one .Our warships are of higher quality, but the wind direction and environment are not in our favor, if we can catch up we may have a chance of winning..."

Winters interrupted Cage, pointing to the other party's ship and asking : "Why don't they light the lights?"

"To stay hidden," Cage replied.

"Obviously we've already found them!"

"This..." Cage was also a little confused, he looked at the enemy fleet that was getting closer, and suddenly complexion greatly changed: "No...no! Is there something in front of the big ship?"

The roar of Lieutenant General Nareshaw also came from the bow: "There is no time to pull the anchor, Cut down the anchor line! Order the ships to cut the anchor line! The captain of the sail takes your men to the mast! Put all the sails down!"

Winters also saw the Tanirian warship What's the shadow in front:
It's dinghies and sampans, lots of dinghies and sampans.

When you are far away, the projections of these small boats overlap with the projections of the big boats, and you can't see them clearly until you get close.

The large ships in the middle of Taniria's fleet suddenly folded their sails, but the speed of six ships on each flank remained undiminished.

"Blow the horn to inform the port! Let the Caravel sailboat pass by..." Lieutenant General Nareshaw's tone was hurried, losing his original calmness.

On the sea facing Northwest, first a little fire star lights up, and then the whole sea surface is full of fire. These boats and sampans, which were filled with asphalt, firewood, wheat straw, and temporarily installed masts and sails, were all set ablaze, and the originally dark sea was illuminated red by the fire, like hell.

On the flanks of the Taniria fleet, the six large ships that came out of the fleet also burst into flames one after another. The six flaming ships were full of flames, and the small arson ships formed a wall of fire at sea. Driven by high winds and waves, firmly and relentlessly moved towards the Veneta fleet drifting.

Taneria's warship, half-sail lowered, followed at a moderate pace behind this sea wall of fire.

"The Tanirians are really [sailor's swear words] crazy! [Swear words] use big ships as arson boats!" Cage looked grim and scolded: "The most precious thing in the sea is the boat! It's a boat...

..."

The Glory fired three horns in succession, and the ships were no longer concerned with the order and direction of their actions.

There was no time to lift the anchor, and the anchor cable was cut directly. The sailors climbed up the mast and let down all the sails, eager to tie their handkerchiefs to the masts.

The wall of fire was approaching aggressively, and the three light sailboats arranged in the outer circle of the fleet not only did not avoid them, but raised red flags and posted them on their own initiative.

They sailed to the right flank of the wall of fire, and the sailors, enduring the scorching heat, moved towards the three large fireboats on the right flank and threw hook lines originally intended for boarding operations.

After the iron hooks bit the fireboat's side, the three Caravel sailboats immediately adjusted their jibs and tried to take the fireboat to the north sea, delaying the fleet. The hook was scalding hot by the flames, and the rope first smoked and burned. The sailors wet the line with sea water and threw more hooks.

Of course, the Tanirians would not watch these small boats sabotage their plans. The bow guns of the Tanirian warships immediately fired at several small boats.

Sawdust flew across the Caravel's sailboat, and shells plowed one after another blood ditch on the boat. However, the brave Veneta sailors gritted their teeth and desperately dragged the three fire ships away from their original course.

Lieutenant Admiral Nareshaw held onto the side of the ship and looked at the sea, with blue veins in his hands.

The three fireboats on the right flank have been towed away, but the other three fireboats on the left flank and the small boat in the middle still rammed straight into the Veneta fleet. The escort ships have done their best, but the huge and slow fleet is still within the fire ship's route, and the distance is getting shorter and shorter, only less than 100 meters.

Judgment Day for Veneta's Vengeance Fleet has come and is inevitable.

Upstairs on the bow of the warship in the center of the Taniria fleet, Captain Frank Drake looked at the huge and majestic Glory in the distance.

He looked at the Glory's forecastle, and he knew Nareshaw must be there.

"Mr. Nareshaw, I've shown my cards, now it's up to you." Drake muttered to himself.

On the deck of the Glory, First Officer Karaman anxiously asked Lieutenant General Nareshaw: "General, please go to the Siren for a while, leave it to me here."

Nareshaw's facial muscles twitched slightly, shock the head.

"You are the commander of the fleet, your duty is to command the entire fleet, not to coexist with the flagship."

Nareshaw said gnashing teeth: "I didn't expect it. It was my fault that Mr. Drake was able to come up with such a large-scale arson boat. So many boats are impossible to collect temporarily, he must have been preparing for it a long time ago... But since I dare to go to this gambling table, I also have Your own capital."

Deputy Klarman brow beaded with sweat anxiously: "It's already this time, don't worry about the gaming table..."

Suddenly, The rumbling sound of war drums came from the sea.

Nareshaw let out a wild laugh, like a gambler who had only the last Silver Coin left but bet thirty-six times the roulette wheel, he pointed to the southwest side of the sea and went crazy Said: "My bet is up! Hahaha, Laozi's bet is up! Order the fleet, lower the sails, sail west, break through the fireboat, and take the enemy straight!"

On the southwest side of the sea, accompanied by With the thundering sound of war drums, twelve galley warships rushed out of the lighthouse port.

"Strike hard! Knock hard! Row hard! Let everyone know that Speyer is here!" Captain Speyer roared while standing on the bow of the Golden Lion, drawing a battle blade: "All It's all there! Listen to me! Three cheers!"

"Huzzah!"

"Huzzah!"

"Huzzah!"

The sailors on deck roared in unison with the captain, each roaring louder than the other.

Other galley captains heard the Golden Lion's battle cry and gave the same order.

For a while, the shouts on the sea broke through the sky, and the twelve galleys rushed towards the flanks of the Tanirian fleet in an astonishing imposing manner.

The wind is against them, but it doesn't matter, the galley is now without any sails.

The waves are not good for them either, but that doesn't matter, because galleys have oars.

The oars on the two wings of the galley are like the two wings of a bird, flapping continuously on the water, slapping the water.

The first mate of the Golden Lion personally took the drumstick and used all his strength to beat the drum, which was as big as a round table, and controlled the rhythm of the oarsmen's front and rear paddles. Second mates and officers with whips patrolled the lower decks, severely punishing any rower who dared to be lazy at this time.

The three galley warships were separated from the charging line and sailed to the three large fire ships on the left flank.

As they approached the fireboat, the galley's drum beat changed into a series of fast drums.

The oarsmen, hearing the drums, plunged the oars below the surface and held them firmly. The drag of the galley increased and it suddenly slowed down. When they got close enough to the fireboat, the sailors at the bow threw the hook with all their might.

Then the drum beat of the galley changed again to a half-beat slow drum.

After hearing the drum beat, the paddlers began to paddle backwards. As the oars rolled over, the galley began to slowly back up, and the fireboat was dragged aside.

The whole process was so smooth and swift that Winters aboard the Glory was stunned, who had never imagined that a hulking galley could perform as agile and delicate movements as equestrian.

Admiral Nareshaw also showed his cards.

The galley warship is indeed not suitable for long-distance expeditions, and it is not suitable for fighting in the open sea with high winds and waves. But this anchorage outside Lighthouse Harbor is a good place for them to show their talents.

The Confederate spies saw the galleys parked in the harbour, the oarsmen on board, and the sailors ashore to rest. They thought that these warships could not fight in a hurry, and it would take at least a few hours to regroup.

Little do they know that the sailors camped separately in strict accordance with their respective warships and prohibited the movement of any personnel. Once there is an emergency, you can quickly assemble and board the ship according to the ship.

All of this is not only to let the sailors rest, but more importantly, to show the enemy's weakness and unpreparedness, and to create a fighter plane for Drake.

In Drake's view, Nareshaw had only ten warships available. If these ten ships can be defeated, the twelve galleys in the harbor will not be able to escape.

The rest of the troop carrier is the meat on the chopping board, eat whatever you want.

These two dozen warships are Veneta's last family property. After eating this fleet, the inland sea is the world of the Tanirians. Without the ship, the Veneta people want to go on an expedition across the sea is just wishful thinking.

And Lieutenant General Nareshaw never thought that as long as the army was sent to the archipelago, he never thought of himself as a transport team, and his core strategic thinking had never changed. ".

The mere existence of the Tanirian fleet is a threat to the Veneta, and in Nareshaw's view, a fleet battle will be necessary to resolve the problem. Instead of chasing the shadows of Taniria's fleet at sea, find a way for them to come to you.

The poisonous snake has now climbed out of the nest and wrapped itself around its arm, but it has to be killed.

"Captain, what should I do?" asked Drake's first mate, lost one's head out of fear.

"What are you afraid of? Even if there are more galleys, our warships are no less than them." Drake kicked the chair: "Raise the flag! The main force of Veneta is now being towed by the arson boat. Now, let's deal with these galleys first, and then we'll deal with Nareshaw!"

Drake drew his machete, walked to the edge of the forecastle, and watched the sailors angrily tangled up on the deck. roared: "What are you afraid of? We still have more ships than them! Fear now, in the future your descendants will become slaves of the Veneta! For freedom! For gold! Tonight I will bring you the money you will never earn in your life. !"

The sailors of the "Vengeance" were on the verge of collapse due to the appearance of the galley warship, but with the encouragement of Drake, they rekindled their fighting spirit and shouted with red eyes returned to his post.

The sailboat cannot go head-on against the wind, but it can keep an acute angle to the wind.

The wind was blowing from the northwest, and the Glory originally drove a distance north. After receiving the order of Lieutenant General Nareshaw, the helmsman used all one's strength and pushed the rudder stock to the opposite direction.

By inertia, the Glory turned ninety degrees against the wind and sea, turning into a west-facing course with the bow pointing directly at Drake's flagship.

It is difficult to pass orders to all ships in the chaos, but the actions of the Glory are the best orders, and that is what the flagship is for.

Other warships also turned their bows when they saw their flagships turn their heads towards the center of the enemy formation. Instead of avoiding the fire ship, he rushed towards the Taniria fleet against the fire sea.

That's right, the galley can not only row backwards, but also turn around in place
Thanks to the book friends who voted for the recommendation before, thanks to the book friend Yuan Hongjian for the recommendation vote, and thanks to the book friends San Province Thanks for the recommendation ticket of the book friend's writersblock, thank the book friend 20181013204343295 for the recommendation ticket, thank the book friend Ami for the recommendation ticket, thank the book friend for the "charging time" recommendation ticket, thank you all.

(end of this chapter)