Pirate Kingship-Chapter 732 - 481: Fury of the Seas: Line Tactics vs Boarding Tactics

The cannon battle of the Treasure Fleet was completely powerless.

Most importantly, when the Seventh Fleet appeared on this battleground, they immediately seized the advantageous position.

As the sea breeze swept through the hundreds of masts among the thirty warships, it was immediately churned into a chaotic wake by the complex rigging systems.

The over 200 meters long wake had long enveloped the entire Treasure Fleet within it.

These tall ship decks, resembling a large Garen with their giant sails, immediately received a physical debuff.

This turbulent zone of about 200 meters was precisely the effective combat range of the muzzle-loading smoothbore cannon.

When the cannons fired their most accurate flat shots, the projectiles would descend by 2 meters after flying 200 meters and 7 meters after flying 400 meters, nearly the total height of two to three cannon decks of an entire warship.

Therefore, such straight-line shooting could only occur within 200 to 400 meters, with the smaller the ship, the closer the distance.

Within this range.

The cannons of the Treasure Fleet at the leeward position experienced shortened range, with their vision obscured by the smoke from both sides' battle, and their hulls below the waterline exposed and more likely to be sunk.

After losing maneuverability, they could only passively take blows, unable to catch up or escape, plunging into a predicament.

"Fire again!"

"Reload, fire again!"

The sailors of the Seventh Fleet, of pirate origin, paid no heed to the opponent's feeble cannon fire, remaining unfazed even when an occasional cannonball struck the ship causing casualties.

They simply followed the usual drill manuals, putting all their effort into unleashing one round of scorching barrage after another against the enemy.

The Treasure Fleet could only rely on the protection of the "Great Wall of the Sea," launching round after round of counterattack against the headwind.

At this moment, the naval battle occurring here had become a microcosm of the conflict between new and old technological paths.

The larger Garen, with less powerful and shorter-range cannons, represented the strongest "Boarding Tactics" of the old era.

In contrast, the Heavy Cruiser, with more refined cannons and faster speed, represented the strongest "Line Tactics" of the present era.

Previously, this "strongest" claim was merely self-assertion.

Now was the perfect opportunity to engage in a real battle to determine who among the nations was the true leader of the Navy.

In the Fury of the Seas, the victor becomes the king!

Five minutes had just passed since the engagement of both sides.

Boom!

With a loud explosion, the "Great Wall of the Sea," already weakened to the extreme, suddenly shattered.

The iron-colored light fragments burst everywhere like corroded rust, affecting the fleet's most fragile rigging, causing varying degrees of damage.

In the next moment, a 24-pound heavy shell from the Seventh Fleet happened to hit below the waterline of one of the escort warships, creating a massive hole.

The waves surged, continuously pouring into the ship's cabin.

Even as the sailors frantically worked the pumps and the carpenters rushed to patch the hole, the ship had no choice but to withdraw from the battle sequence.

And this was just the beginning.

Without the protection of the Great Wall of the Sea, the Treasure Fleet became like the naked swimmer exposed after the tide receded.

They were suffering bitterly from the Seventh Fleet's fierce firepower.

"Today's kill rewards are doubled, and high-level exchange privileges are open.

I will not be stingy with the meritorious." Byron's words were like a shot of adrenaline for everyone, keeping them in the fight despite being lightly injured; no one could stop them from changing their fate.

"Line Tactics" is essentially a maritime version of a firing squad, testing not only skills but also courage, akin to an alternative slap contest.

Within a limited time, it's all attack and no defense until one side can no longer bear it and withdraws from the battlefield. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

In the close-quarter gunfire, the Seventh Fleet, with its more powerful firepower, resembled a middleweight boxing champion, but the seemingly taller Treasure Fleet could only be considered a lightweight ordinary contender.

Especially with the 30 32-pound cannons on the lower gun deck and 26 42-pound carronades on the upper deck of The Golden Deer, totaling a projectile weight of 2052 pounds, the Ox City across from them was beginning to wonder if they were facing a battleship.

Wooh——!

Fleet Commander Beast Nemesis Wickliffe tilted his head to dodge a 42-pound cannonball that flew past his ear.

He watched helplessly as it crushed the rigging leader who had been his trusted aide for many years, without being able to stop it.

His eyes instantly filled with blood, and he shouted to his sister:

"Katerina, we can't go on like this.

Use your ability to send the fleet across; cannon battles are not our forte. I want to engage them in boarding combat!"

"Yes!"

The Debo Siblings had already realized that in conventional warfare, Hightins' adept Line Tactics were indeed a significant counter to Castilia's large Garen.

But where equipment and tactics were lacking, the supernatural made up the difference.

Katerina took out a transparent crystal bottle from the Storage Miracle Object, filled with clear liquid and numerous white crystals continuously crystallizing.

This was precisely a Second Level Holy Relic: Storm Bottle:

"Initially, it was a widely used maritime tool. Besides alchemical potions inside, it also included the dust of a Storm Elf, capable of accurately predicting weather changes.

If the liquid is very clear, it indicates sunny weather; if the liquid is murky and sometimes precipitates, then the weather will be cloudy like the solution.

If suspended sediment and murky liquid coexist, it indicates a storm will arrive; if crystals precipitate at the bottom of the cup, it indicates frost; if there are spiral patterns at the top, it indicates wind..."

In its transformation into a Sacred Relic, it gained an additional ability to manipulate weather in reverse.