Chapter 77: Burst Barrels and Chain Detonation

Lin Qian had no time to react before a column of water shot up off the Santa Ana's port side.

The shot had fallen more than three hundred paces short of the Santa Ana — wildly off target by any measure.

Lin Qian's heart settled somewhat. Even a trained gunner would only hit a ship at sea about ten percent of the time, let alone these sea bandits who did not even know how to use a cannon.

In this era, artillerymen were a first-rate technical branch of the military.

When the Great Ming bought red barbarian cannons in history, they brought Portuguese instructors along all the way to Beijing.

Using cannon was something that, without someone to teach you, you truly could not learn on your own.

At that moment, more cannon fire rang out from the ship-city, and the broad sea within five li of the Santa Ana erupted with splashes where shells plunged down.

After one round of bombardment, the ship-city fell silent.

The Santa Ana's guns thundered without cease. The ship-city was riddled with holes, and the sea was thick with dust and gunsmoke.

"Helmsman." A voice came from behind Lin Qian.

Lin Qian turned around. It was Scholar Zhou and José. The two were gasping for breath, soaked through, their clothes clinging to their bodies, making them look gaunt.

Lin Qian stepped forward and examined both their hands. Seeing they were intact, he finally relaxed and said, "Good that you're back."

Scholar Zhou choked up: "I failed the helmsman's trust... I..."

Lin Qian waved him off: "The enemy is upon us. Save this for later. Where was the silver that was taken put? Where did they stack the firearms and gunpowder?"

Scholar Zhou was about to speak when suddenly flashes of light lit up from the ship-city's direction, followed by the rumble of cannon fire. He shouted, "Helmsman, be careful!"

In an instant, columns of water burst up around the Santa Ana, and spray scattered down like heavy rain, drenching the entire deck.

This time the shots had clearly landed closer than before.

Lin Qian thought to himself, these pirates learn fast — he had rather underestimated them.

Scholar Zhou and José slowly straightened their backs. Seeing Lin Qian facing them, spine erect, not a trace of fear on his face, they could not help but feel admiration. Infected by his bearing, they too straightened their own backs a little more.

Suddenly, a tremendous boom came from the ship-city. The sound pierced the clouds and shook the sea itself. Even from far away, one could feel the blast wave, and the water was churned into surging waves.

Lin Qian's heart trembled at the explosion, but he held his composure, not showing the slightest alarm. He merely turned calmly, pulled out his telescope, and looked toward the ship-city.

The ship-city had been blown into five pieces. Great fires blazed at the cracks, and thick black smoke churned upward, nearly forming a small mushroom cloud.

Countless splinters of wood shot out from the mushroom cloud, burning with fire, trailing long black smoke tails as they flew in every direction.

Within ten li all around, a rain of wooden planks fell.

The pirates' cannon had burst — and judging by the force of the explosion, the rest of their gunpowder had detonated along with it.

"Clang!"

A plank half a man's height crashed onto the Santa Ana's deck, burning with great flames. It smashed a hole in the deck, though fortunately it hit no one.

The crew used sand and earth they had prepared beforehand to extinguish the fire, then together lifted the plank and threw it into the sea.

Scholar Zhou's legs went weak, and he stared dumbstruck at the scene.

Lin Qian lowered his telescope and said, "I know where the gunpowder is now. What about the silver?"

Scholar Zhou steadied himself and pointed at Li Kuiqi's flagship: "It's all on that ship."

By now Li Kuiqi's flagship had already broken away from the ship-city and was rallying toward the fleet at the southeast corner of the lagoon.

The remaining ships that had not managed to escape the ship-city were mostly engulfed in flames. Pirates on the wreckage of the ship-city jumped into the sea to save themselves.

Others launched small boats and fled in all directions out of the lagoon.

In an instant, the ship-city scattered like a tree falling and its monkeys fleeing — dozens of small boats made their escape.

At this time, Bailangzai and his sister, along with their crew, had also come aboard.

Seeing this, Bai Qing said, "Helmsman, let me take some men and bring them back!"

Lin Qian: "Let them go. You've done great work — rest for a while."

Lin Qian commanded in a low voice: "Raise sail, heading southeast. When we reach three hundred paces from the enemy fleet, open fire!"

Chen Jiao shouted across the deck: "Heading southeast, wind from the northwest, port side running with the wind — raise sail!"

At the order, the riggers scrambled up the masts and unfurled the sails.

The Santa Ana slowly got underway. Along its course, pirates in small boats paddled desperately to get out of the way.

Those who could not get clear in time were mostly shot dead by matchlock muskets, or crushed into the sea by the Santa Ana's bow.

"Boom!"

On the distant sea, a muffled thunder rolled in.

"Helmsman, looks like it's going to rain." Chen Jiao warned.

Lin Qian looked up. The sky was already thick with dark clouds, not a trace of sunlight to be seen. Though it was not yet noon, the sky was as dark as dusk.

Lin Qian looked through his telescope again at Li Kuiqi's fleet.

At the southeast corner of the lagoon, over a hundred vessels of various sizes had gathered, spaced apart from one another, their decks crowded with pirates.

Though they had suffered heavy casualties from the cannon fire and lost their powder magazine to the explosion, these pirates showed no sign of panic. Instead they formed up their ranks, looking very much ready to fight with their backs to the wall.

In fact, the pirates truly were fighting with their backs to the wall. The coral reefs around the lagoon could only let small boats pass. Li Kuiqi's fleet was mostly Fujian junks, along with Haicang ships and Cangshan ships — the smallest being sailboats — none of which could cross the coral reefs.

Lin Qian kept scanning with his telescope and finally spotted Li Kuiqi's flagship among the opposing fleet.

Li Kuiqi was standing on the deck, holding a ghost-head saber aloft, giving a speech to the pirates around him.

"One thousand paces to the enemy!" The lookout's voice came from the masthead.

The Santa Ana was running with the wind on her beam, moving at great speed. Before long, the lookout called out again: "Seven hundred paces to the enemy!"

"Boom!" Another muffled thunder rolled across the sky.

"Helmsman, they're moving!" Chen Jiao shouted, pointing at the fleet ahead.

The fleet raised their hard sails one after another and set a course north by west, charging straight toward the Santa Ana's line of travel.

Lin Qian immediately ordered: "Hard to port, heading northeast, starboard side to the enemy!"

Chen Jiao: "Hard to port, heading northeast, starboard side to the enemy!"

On the stern deck, two helmsmen spun the wheel rapidly while the sail handlers worked together to haul the lines and shift the sails.

On the gun deck, Lei Sanxiang bellowed: "All gunners, move to the starboard side... You donkey-brained idiot can't tell left from right, can you? This side is starboard!"

As Lei Sanxiang roared his orders, the starboard gun ports creaked open, and the heavy cannons, fully loaded, were slowly run out.

Lei Sanxiang leaned close to the gun port and saw Li Kuiqi's fleet driving straight at them like an arrow, no more than two hundred paces away.

The range and field of fire for the cannons were absolutely perfect!

Lei Sanxiang's palms itched with eagerness, but since he hadn't heard the helmsman's order, he could only force himself to hold back.

A moment later, Chen Hong's shout came from the deck above: "Fire!"

Lei Sanxiang immediately roared: "Let it fly!"

The gunners, one after another, touched their matchlocks to the touch holes, igniting the powder.

The flame raced down into the barrel, setting the packed charge alight—the air expanded in an instant, and the explosive force hurled the solid iron shot out of the bore.

In an instant, thick white smoke shrouded the gun ports.

Not bothering to check the results, Lei Sanxiang hurriedly ordered the gunners to keep reloading: "Wipe the embers clean from the bore, scrub out all the filth!"

"Watch your powder charges!"

"Pack the powder tight!"

"Don't forget the wadding!"

"Pour the priming powder into the touch hole carefully—any man whose gun doesn't fire will clean the bore with his own life!"

Under Lei Sanxiang's scolding, the gunners finished reloading one after another and ran the barrels back out through the ports.

Lei Sanxiang poked his head out and saw that of the fleet that had been charging in like a breaking wave, two great ships had already been reduced to drifting splinters on the sea, while the mangled remains of pirates floated on the surface, crushed beneath the bows of the ships behind.

The lead ship of the fleet was Li Kuiqi's own vessel—he stood on the deck holding a great saber high overhead, bristling with menace.

Rage surged in Lei Sanxiang's heart, and he shouted: "Let it fly!"

The cannons fired one after another, the gun ports choked with white smoke.

At the same time, the crack of matchlock muskets rang out from the upper deck.

Yahei

Pink Round

Pen