Continental Warriors Yoo Ma

Life on board is extremely difficult, and many spellcasters cannot bear it.

In fact, not only the mage on board, but also the other personnel on the Rouen are also highly equipped.Except for the captain Andre, from senior officers to "technical arms" such as doctors, cooks, carpenters, blacksmiths, sewing workers, gunners, priests, and the lowest-level sailors, they are all experienced members.

Except that the other party spoke English and it was difficult to communicate, Andre couldn't fault it at all.

In addition, after the ship was rebuilt, it was equipped with a total of 52 artillery pieces of different calibers, large and small. The Rouen, which can be called the strongest battleship of this era, gave Andre an unprecedented confidence.

Leading a group of elite subordinates and commanding an invincible warship across the blue sea—is there anything more romantic than this for a man who has dealt with the sea since childhood?

Andre felt that what happened recently was like a dream.

Because of the efficient work of Vera, Garmon, Oli Longbeard and others, the renovation project of the former England fleet was completed fourteen days ahead of schedule.

The remodeled Normandy fleet arrived in the port of Marseille half a month ago.Ma Youfu immediately assigned Andre a task: go to Sicily to buy food.

Sicily was already rich in grain, and it was also a transit point for Maghreb grain to be sold to Europe. Although the price was higher than that of Egypt, the supply was still sufficient to meet the needs of a large number of crusaders.

Ma Youfu made this decision because he received a message from Valentina.The well-informed unbelievers told Ma Youfu that the Genoa fleet was attacked by the Mulholland fleet on the way home, and suffered heavy losses, and was stationed on the island of Malta to rest.

Ma Youfu knew that this was not just a simple attack, and there was a major intelligence failure behind the "leakage of the return route".If the whereabouts of the Genoa fleet is known to everyone, then the beast that will attack this big fat pig must not be the Mulholland fleet.

The Genoese fleet, which has lost all its galley warships, is likely to face enemies including the famous Sons of Salt Mist Pirates, and even Earl Noctis' Undead Fleet.

In order to ensure the food supply, Ma Youfu decided to make another preparation and go to Sicily to buy another batch of wheat.If the Genoa fleet returns safely, then everyone will be happy.The big deal is that the batch of grain brought back by the Normandy Fleet just needs to make less money.If the Genoa fleet really encountered an accident, there would also be Sicily's food support, and the crusaders who were starving for food would not be in chaos due to lack of food.

Sending the Normandy fleet directly to meet the Genoese is another option.

But why did Youfu Ma do such a thankless thing?

Chapter 390 VI

Although Genoa is now considered an ally, the two sides only cooperated because of the threat of undead pirates.Genoa is actually quite wary of France.

In 1396, in order to resist the military threat of the Principality of Milan to Genoa, the Republic awarded the then French King Charles VI the title of "Defender of the Autonomous City" in an attempt to use the power of France to stop the invaders.Unexpectedly, this move led the wolf into the house, causing Genoa to be ruled by France for more than ten years.

Therefore, the nobles of Genoa were quite vigilant against the forces from France.

If Ma Youfu took the initiative to send a fleet to escort the Genoese, maybe the other party would be grateful on the surface, but he would still have doubts in his heart, worried that the Marquis of La Manche, who was in full swing, would have any thoughts about the wealthy republic.

Rather than doing such a thankless thing, it is better to talk about business.If the Genoa fleet can successfully return under the heavy attack of pirates, it will naturally be purchased at the previously negotiated price.If something really happened on the way, causing the Genoa fleet to suffer heavy losses... wouldn't that just give Ma Youfu a chance to intervene in the political situation of the Republic?

Andre from the Doria family is such a ready-made key.

So, in fact, the Genoese are very reasonable to be wary of Ma Youfu.

But many things in this world are not based on reason, but on strength.If Genoa has been hit one after another, the country is in decline, and there are many internal and external crises, isn't it natural for it to be infiltrated by foreign forces?

Andre Doria was still a passionate young navigator at this time, a professional soldier whose mind was full of battleships and ship artillery, so he didn't know about Ma Youfu's calculations.

He faithfully performed the task assigned by Ma Youfu.After the Normandy fleet arrived in Palermo, Sicily, it purchased a large amount of grain, salted fish, wine and other food, and then set off for Naples, where it continued to purchase a batch of grain.Subsequently, the fully loaded fleet sailed north from Naples along the west coast of the Apennine Peninsula, preparing to return to Marseille.

In order to guard against the possible undead fleet, Andre has strict requirements on all ships in the fleet along the way, and prepares for combat.

Who knows that the undead did not meet, but received a distress message from the Genoa fleet.

About 10 minutes later, the ship mage located the opponent's position, which was in the northeast direction, with a distance of more than 20 nautical miles.

Andre was already very satisfied with getting the general direction.He immediately ordered the fleet to line up in two columns and head to the northeast, and at the same time let the hot air balloon launch reconnaissance and expand the observation range.

Since the Battle of Paris showed its practical value, Ma Youfu has always wanted to equip the hot air balloon, a weapon that can greatly improve the army's vision, in the naval fleet.

However, how to fly a hot air balloon on a sailboat with many masts is a big problem.

Later, after many considerations and experiments, Ma Youfu finally came up with a feasible plan: one or several ships in the fleet were used to tow flat boats specially designed to carry and fly hot air balloons.

This kind of flat boat, which usually has no power and can be driven by oars when necessary, may be regarded as a medieval aircraft carrier.

In the Normandy fleet returning from Sicily this time, Andre specially left a caravel sailboat empty, so that it would have enough power to tow the flatboat and maintain the same speed as the fleet.

Facts have proved how important it is to be cautious about earning hundreds of livres less than ensuring combat effectiveness.

After receiving the order from the commander of the fleet, the hot air balloon team immediately boarded the flat boat from the caravel sailboat in a small boat, and then started the release of the hot air balloon.

An hour later, the hot air balloon carrying the observers flew to an altitude of 400 meters under the traction of three ropes.

Soon, news came from the hot air balloon that a large fleet with a total of nearly a hundred ships was approaching.

With the information provided by the hot air balloon, the Normandy fleet successfully blocked the Sons of Salt Mist pirate group, which had returned with a full load, on the only way to go south.

By the time Strozzi discovered this mighty fleet of ten new Carrack galleons, he had lost his chance of escape.His twenty pirate ships could run away, but there was no way for those cumbersome Kirk ships.

Unless he is willing to spit out the fat that has been eaten to his mouth, otherwise this battle will be inevitable.

"Captain, how are we going to fight this battle?" The pirates who had just won a big victory, their morale was high, and they were eager to fight a real battle to calm the warlike blood in their bodies.

The powerful Genoa fleet has been tricked by their own side. In the minds of these ordinary pirates, the Sons of Salt Mist are invincible at sea!

However, compared with his confident subordinates, Strozzi is not blindly confident.

At this time, the distance between the two sides has been shortened to four kilometers, and both sides can clearly see the specific situation of the other party's ships.He found that the shape of the ships of the Genoese fleet flying the St. George's cross was very different from the common ships. Increased height makes the boat more flexible.

In addition, Strozzi also discovered that the opponent's ship has opened many gun ports on both sides. Roughly counting, there are at least twenty on one side.

"What the hell are the Genoese doing? Why are they arranging a lot of firepower on the side?" Strozzi couldn't figure out this counter-intuitive design for a while.

In addition, he mistook the Normandy fleet for the Genoese fleet, which was also a mistake.

The flag of the red cross on a white background representing St. George the Dragon Slayer has always been the national flag of the Republic of Genoa.During the Third Crusade, the crusader ships transporting Richard the Lionheart to the Middle East carried this flag.As a result, after Richard the Lionheart captured Acre, he learned that the nearby place where St. George slayed the dragon was nearby, so he regarded St. George as his asylum.Then, St. George became the patron saint of England, and the famous St. George's cross flag became the symbol of England.

There were no trademark rights or intellectual property rights at the time, and the Genoese could do nothing about the shameless theft of the English.In later generations, with the decline of Genoa and the prosperity of the British Empire, the impression that "the flag of St. George's cross represents England" was widely accepted around the world, and an absurd drama was staged in which a copycat replaced the genuine one.

The Italians also fought with the British for this, but it ended without a problem.

After a brief reorganization, the English navy bought by Ma Youfu is still mainly composed of Englishmen, supplemented by a small number of French and Italians.

Fortunately, there are many officers who can speak French, so communication is not a problem, and there will be no poor communication like the Austro-Hungarian army in later generations.

In order to take care of the morale of the English sailors, Ma Youfu specially allowed the fleet to fly the St. George's cross flag.Anyway, you Lionheart can steal the flag of Genoa, why can't I Ma Youfu?

Although he mistook the opponent's identity and didn't understand why the opposite battleship placed a large number of artillery on the side, Strozzi still decided to meet the opponent.

Ten Arabian galleys, seven carravels, three carraks, against ten carraks and twenty carravels, the advantage is mine!

Strozzi is so confident, not because he is possessed by Principal Kaishen, but because he has absolute confidence in the Seagod power he possesses.

The mana obtained by sacrificing hundreds of captives is enough for him to create five vortexes, which is enough to cause heavy losses to the enemy fleet, and then its morale collapses.

Strozzi ordered the fleet to line up and head forward.As for the Kirk boats behind, don't pay attention to them at all, just follow them obediently.Those Genoese were already frightened by Strozzi's extraordinary strength, and they didn't dare to think of resistance at all.

When the distance between the two sides was close to one kilometer, the two columns of the Normandy fleet began to turn eastward. , Due to the influence of the westerly wind, the ship will tilt to the right, while the cannons on the port side, facing the enemy, will be lifted upwards.In this way, the artillery has a longer range, and the gun windows on the lower deck will not suffer from the disaster of seawater intrusion.

It was the first time for Andre to command such a huge fleet, and it was also the first time to apply the sea column tactics that were only on paper before to actual combat.After the distance between the two sides was shortened to one kilometer, he began to fight according to the process of "long-range artillery battle-close-range artillery battle-board battle".

The 32-pound heavy guns arranged on the lower decks of each battleship, as well as the 36-pound mortars at the bow, fired first.

The naval gunners of English origin were not yet as proficient at handling the new guns as their Normandy army artillery counterparts.Even many of them were archers or ballista and trebuchet operators in the past, and they had never been in contact with artillery, such as "spraying demon fire".

In addition to practicing artillery skills, Ma Youfu also had to worry about their mental health, and arranged a large number of military priests to enlighten them at all times, emphasizing that gunpowder weapons are the grace of the seven saints, not the creation of devils or evil gods.

The Normandy fleet's first bombardment all missed, but Strozzi was still taken aback.

He didn't expect the firepower deployed by the local fleet to be so powerful, so dense, and with such a long range.

It was only the heavy artillery that fired for the first time. If the distance got closer, the artillery of all sizes and calibers on the enemy ship would fire at once... Strozzi looked at the densely packed gun ports on the opposite battleship and shuddered in his heart.

Fortunately, this son of salt mist travels across the sea, never relying too much on the strength of ships and guns.His trump card is the mighty power of the sea god.Therefore, facing the overwhelming disadvantage of his own fleet in terms of combat power at this time, he decided to use extraordinary power to reverse the situation of the battle.

Chapter 390 The Seventh Unexpected Result

Strozzi had to cast the god-given spell, and the distance couldn't be too far, so even though he knew that the firepower on the other side was amazing, he still ordered to approach the enemy fleet.

When the two sides approached about 500 meters, the Normandy fleet opened fire again.

This time, from the 32-pound heavy naval gun placed on the lower deck to the six-pound light naval gun placed on the upper deck, all roared.

However, this is still not the most ideal sea combat distance in the age of sails. In addition, the Normandy gunners are not very skilled, so they did not achieve much results.

But there was still a slower galley warship attached to the rear, which was hit by dozens of shells.

It didn't take into account that the hull of the defensive artillery was pierced instantly.The solid iron ball shells carried a lot of wood debris and powerful impact, and opened a bloody path in the oarsmen's cabin. Both the oarsmen and the free oarsmen suffered heavy losses.

The captain of the pirate ship originally did not order the oars to be rowed at this time for the purpose of saving the physical strength of the oarsmen.He planned to increase the speed to the maximum when he was 200 meters away from the enemy ship, grab the enemy's unavoidable gap, charge directly up, attack with the ram angle of the bow, and then start a gang battle.

This is a naval warfare method that has been used in the Mediterranean for 2000 years, and it is still valid in this quasi-artillery era.

It's just that the captain doesn't know that the enemy he faces is a warship that has entered the artillery era ahead of time.

In addition to the shelling of the hull, numerous oarsmen were killed and injured, and the main mast of this galley warship was also hit by two chain bombs one after another.This new type of shell, which appeared for the first time in this era, is an iron chain connecting two iron balls.After this kind of shell is fired, it will spin at a high speed, like a sharp saw blade, easily destroying the sails and masts.

Under the bombardment of the chain bullets, the main mast broke with a loud "crack——" sound.

After the bombardment, the galley lost most of its mobility and could only be reduced to a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

The second round of bombardment by the Normandy fleet paralyzed an enemy ship, which was a surprise.It's just that Andre is not very satisfied with his own results.Because the target he ordered to focus fire on was the largest carrack galleon in the pirate fleet.Judging from the flags hoisted by the opponent, it should be the ship of the Son of Salt Mist.

It's a pity that the whole body of the battleship was painted white, and its defense power was extremely high. After the hull was eaten by several 32-pound shells, it was still unscathed.

What Andre didn't know was that the shell of Strozzi's ship, the Poseidon Trident, was not painted with paint, but with a layer of salt.

This special salt layer containing the power of the sea god is like a layer of special armor. It can not only defend against long-range attacks such as artillery, stone throwing, and crossbow, but also has strong resistance to flames or other types of elemental energy.

Under the blessing of Poseidon, Strozzi's favorite ship may not have the powerful firepower of the Normandy fleet, but its protection is definitely rare in the world.

However, no matter how strong the defense is, it cannot withstand continuous violent blows.

Andre on the Rouen is still implementing the combat plan step by step. The two columns have surrounded the pirate fleet like pincers, and will soon reach the optimal combat distance of 300 meters.

At this time, Strozzi on the Seagod Trident was staring excitedly at the approaching enemy ship.

At this time, he had already seen clearly that there were other flags hanging on the opposing battleship beside the sail with the Red Cross of St. Andrew painted on it.

There is a golden iris flag on a blue background representing the French royal family, and there is also the flag of the Marquis of La Manche.

"It's actually the Serisian fleet? Where did he get so many ships?" Strozzi asked suspiciously, glanced at the traces of English that remained on the opposite ship's side after being shoveled off, and suddenly understood, "So it was from Bought from England."

After knowing that the fleet on the opposite side belonged to Ma Youfu, Strozzi had no plans to stop making peace.

The two sides only reached an agreement on dealing with undead pirates. As for other times, of course it depends on whose fist is bigger.

"It just happened to make Ma Youfu's fleet suffer a little loss. He made me suffer so long in the swamp, how can I do it without a gift in return? By the way, it also made the Sirisian realize that in order to defeat the undead pirates, You must rely on my strength!"

Strozzi stood at the bow of the ship, with the sea breeze blowing on his face, full of vigor, as if he could destroy everything with a snap of his fingers.

He raised the golden trident, pointed at the Rouen in the distance, and began to call for the power of the sea god to descend in ancient Greek.

Soon, the trident was entangled with huge magic power again, and then accompanied by Strozzi's thoughts, it blasted into the water near the Rouen.

But this time, what Strozzi expected: the huge vortex created by the Seagod's power suddenly appeared, and then swallowed the enemy ship like a sea beast's giant mouth, it didn't happen.