Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

On the deck of The Glorious, Kalaman's first mate pleaded anxiously with Admiral Nalesho, "General, please take refuge on the Siren; leave this to me."

Nalesho's facial muscles twitched slightly as he shook his head.

"You are the commander of the fleet, your duty is to direct the entire fleet, not to share the fate of the flagship."

Nalesho said through clenched teeth, "I didn't expect Mr. Drake to come up with such a large scale of fireships, it was my oversight. Such a number of ships couldn't possibly have been gathered at the last moment, he must have been preparing from long ago... but since I dared to sit at this gambling table, I also have my stake."

Kalaman's first mate, sweating profusely with urgency, said, "Now is not the time to be thinking about gambling... "

Suddenly, the sound of war drums thundered over the sea.

Nalesho let out a manic laugh of turning the tables. He laughed hysterically like a gambler who, left with just one silver coin, had hit a thirty-six fold on the roulette. Pointing crazily toward the southwest part of the sea, he exclaimed, "My stake is here! Hahaha, my stake has arrived! Signal the fleet, lower the square sails, steer west, break through the fireships, and head straight for the enemy!"

From the southwest, accompanied by the earth-shaking sound of war drums, twelve paddle sail warships burst forth from the Lighthouse Harbor.

"Push harder! Beat it with all your might! Row with all your strength! Let everyone know, Spire has arrived!" Captain Spire, standing at the bow of the Golden Lion, drew his sword and roared, "All hands! At my command! Three cheers!"

"Huzzah!"

"Huzzah!"

"Huzzah!"

The sailors on deck roared along with the captain, each shout louder than the last.

When the captains of the other paddle sail warships heard the battle cry from the Golden Lion, they issued the same order.

For a moment, cries of valor broke through the skies as the twelve paddle sail warships charged with formidable momentum toward the flank of Tanilia's fleet.

The wind was not in their favor, but it didn't matter, for the paddle sail warships were not using any sails at the time.

The waves were against them too, but that also didn't matter, because the paddle sail warships had oars.

The oars on both sides of the paddle sail ships, like the wings of a bird, ceaselessly flapped on the water's surface, slapping the waves with each stroke.

The Golden Lion's first mate personally took up the drumsticks, using all his strength to beat the large drum of the size of a round table, dictating the rhythm of the rowers' strokes. Armed with a whip, the second mate and officers patrolled below decks, severely punishing any rower who dared to slack off at this moment.

Three paddle sail warships split off from the charging line and headed for the three large fireships on the left flank.

As they neared the fireships, the drum beat on the paddle sail ships abruptly changed to a rapid sequence.

The rowers, hearing the drumbeat, thrust their oars into the water and held them firmly in place, increasing the resistance of the ship and causing a sudden deceleration. When close enough to the fireship, the sailors at the bow strenuously threw grappling hooks.

Then, the drumbeat on the paddle sail ships changed again, this time to a slow rhythm at half beat.

Upon hearing the drumbeat, the oarsmen began to row in reverse. Accompanied by the splashing oars, the galley slowly backed up, dragging the fire ship to one side.

The entire process was smooth and swift, leaving Winters aboard The Glorious dumbfounded; he had never imagined that cumbersome galleys could perform maneuvers as agile and delicate as horsemanship.

Rear Admiral Nalesho also revealed his trump card.

Indeed, galleys were not suited for long voyages or combat on the high seas amid fierce winds and waves. However, this anchorage outside the lighthouse harbor was the perfect place for them to show their prowess.

The Confederation's spies saw the galleys anchored in the harbor, with the oarsmen remaining on board and the sailors going ashore to rest. They assumed that these warships could not be readied for battle in a hurry and would need several hours to regroup.

Little did they know that the sailors had strictly camped according to their assigned warships, prohibiting any personnel movement. In case of an emergency, they could quickly assemble and board by ship.

All of this was not only to give the sailors rest but more importantly, to feign weakness and unpreparedness to the enemy, creating an opportunity for Drake.

In Drake's view, Nalesho had only ten warships at his disposal. If he could defeat these ten ships, the twelve galleys in the harbor could not escape either.

The remaining troop transports would be like meat on the chopping block, ready to be eaten as desired.

These two dozen or so warships were Vineta's last assets; by devouring this fleet, the Inner Sea would belong to the Tanilians. Without ships, the Venetians' dreams of crossing the sea for an expedition would be mere wishful thinking.

Rear Admiral Nalesho never believed that just transporting the army to the islands was enough; he never considered himself a mere transporter. His core strategic idea had never changed—it was encapsulated in the phrase "fleet decisive battle."

The mere existence of the Tanilian fleet was a threat to the Venetians. In Nalesho's opinion, a decisive fleet battle was necessary to resolve the issue. Rather than chasing the shadows of the Tanilian fleet across the sea, it was better to find a way to make them come to him. Stay connected via empire

The viper had now slithered out of its nest, coiling around his arm, but it had to be killed.

"Captain, what do we do?" asked Drake's first mate, panic-stricken.

"What's there to fear? Even with a few more galleys, we still have no fewer ships than they do," Drake kicked a chair flying: "Raise the flag! Vineta's main force is now being tugged by the fire ship; let's deal with these galleys first, then we'll turn to Nalesho!"

Drake drew his cutlass, walked to the edge of the forecastle, and looking at the sailors in disarray on deck, he roared: "What's there to fear? Our ships are still more numerous than theirs! If you're scared now, your descendants will become slaves to the Venetians! For freedom! For gold! Tonight, I'll lead you to earn more money than you could in a lifetime!"

The morale of the sailors aboard the "Revenge" had nearly collapsed with the appearance of the galleys, but spurred on by Drake's words, they found their fighting spirit reignited, returning to their stations with eyes blazing and shouting.

Sailing ships can't go directly into the wind, but they can sail at a sharp angle with the wind direction.

The wind blew from the northwest; The Glorious had initially sailed north for a distance before, upon receiving Rear Admiral Nalesho's orders, the helmsman put all his strength into pushing the rudder in the opposite direction.

With inertia, The Glorious turned ninety degrees into the wind, heading westward with its bow aimed straight at Drake's flagship.

In the chaos, it was difficult to pass the orders to all the ships, but The Glorious's actions served as the best command—this was the significance of a flagship.

Seeing the flagship turning to charge into the center of the enemy's formation, the other warships also turned their bows. They no longer avoided the fire ships but instead charged through the flames toward the Tanilian fleet.