Chapter 352: Execution at Sea 2

The goblins emerging from the city streets were not as the public imagined - individually cowardly and fearful, and collectively a mob. Instead, they were like trained soldiers who had a clear plan of advance and retreat, and did not flee in panic when faced with an invincible enemy. Although their level was still very poor in Harrison's eyes, they had greatly subverted the traditional image of goblins.

The goblin army - let's call it an "army" for the time being - did not hold scraps of copper and iron, but real swords, and some were even equipped with leather armor.

It was obvious that this wave of goblins was cannon fodder released by the pirates, deliberately used to disgust and consume the kingdom's army. The real main force of the pirates must still be lurking in the dark, waiting for the kingdom's army to relax and strike a fatal blow. Harrison would never believe that a group of goblins alone could cross the sea to land in Aldo, annihilate the kingdom's navy in one fell swoop, and occupy Xigang. Moreover, the intelligence collected before did not mention the appearance of goblins. The pirates were all normal humans.

Humph! You want to ambush us in secret? That's wishful thinking. We have our own backup plan.

Thinking of this, Harrison ordered the officer beside him: "Raise two more smoke columns! Let our friendly forces start attacking the port."

The officer left quickly after receiving the order.

...

In the dock area, the galleys have untied the ropes, and the decks are full of pirates holding swords, ready to go.

After listening to the report of a minion, the pirate leader Zod, a capable general under Edward, smiled and said to Nathan standing beside him: "Master Mage, the kingdom army has received our little gift. Should we go and deal with those Northwest folks? The brothers who went out on patrol said they are waiting outside."

They have already detected that there is a fleet outside the port monitoring the West Port. From the shape of the ship, it can be judged that it is the Northwest Fleet that has recently arrived.

"Of course, Captain Zod." Nathan nodded with a smile: "You are in command here."

He turned his head and looked at the city where the sound of fighting came from. "Sir Harrison, our gift is more than this. In the days to come, the shadow of the gift will accompany you for a long time."

Pirate leader Zod waved his hand: "Go to sea! Go meet the people from the northwest bay!"

The rumbling sound of war drums sounded, and the rowers paddled hard with the drums, urging the warships to the sea.

...

"Two more smoke columns rose!"

"The kingdom's army is requesting our support!"

On the towering mast of the Unicorn, the lookout shouted to the deck.

Tirpitz raised the telescope and observed the direction of West Harbor for a while.

Before he made a decision, the lookout shouted again: "A fleet came out of the West Port! There is a skull flag on it!"

"Notify the entire fleet, the target is the pirate fleet in the southeast!" Tirpitz also found the movement from the telescope, he no longer considered, and quickly issued an order.

A series of small flags of different colors and shapes were hung on the mast. This was a new flag communication method improved to cooperate with linear tactics. Through flags, Tirpitz's orders were quickly conveyed to each warship.

The fleet was located in the northwest of the port at this time, and Tirpitz ordered the fleet to move towards the West Port.

...

The pirates had a total of 18 ships, and they tacitly arranged in an inverted V shape, which was convenient for both horizontal and double-lane columns. The flagship that Zod and Nathan were riding was located in the hollow position of the V shape to control the overall situation. They also had a simple set of flag signals for command.

The tip of the V formation pointed to the northwest fleet in the distance. Although the wind direction was unfavorable, the fleet slowly approached the opponent under the propulsion of the human engine.

At this time, at the bow of the pirate flagship, Nathan's eyes were wide open, staring straight to the northwest, seemingly in a daze, but if you look closely at his eyes, you will find that his pupils are slightly flickering.

Pirate leader Zod rubbed his hands beside him and asked cautiously: "Master Mage, what is the situation of the enemy?"

Nathan closed his eyes and panted slightly, as if he had just jogged for a while.

After his breath stabilized, he opened his eyes and said, "There are 6 sailing boats in front and 6 paddle boats in the back. They are lined up in a line and heading towards Xigang."

"Horizontal formation?"

"The kind that is connected head to tail... should it be a column?"

There are basically two types of naval warfare tactics in this era: one is ramming, using the huge ram installed in front of the warship to target the fragile side waterline of the enemy ship, and destroy the hull and keel through ramming, causing it to take in water and sink or lose the ability to sail. The flexibility brought by the use of oars allows the warship to carry out precise ramming, and after the collision, it can quickly retreat to avoid being dragged and sunk by the damaged enemy ship; the second is boarding, using the side of one's own ship to approach the side of the enemy ship, hook the enemy ship with a grappling rope before contact, and then put up a gangplank, and the sailors use the gangplank to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy.

No mistake, one sentence, one post, one content, one book, one bar, one 6, one book, one bar!

At this time, naval battles usually started in the form of ramming and ended in the form of boarding. When the ships of both sides approach each other but cannot collide, or one side takes action to avoid a collision at the last moment, or a collision occurs but the other side is not damaged, the two sides are very close to each other and must fight in a boarding battle to decide the winner.

In order to deploy troops and make more of their own ships collide with enemy ships, the fleet is usually arranged in one or more rows, and rushes towards the enemy in parallel during combat. This is a test of the skills of sailors or oarsmen. If the two adjacent ships are too close, their oars will trip each other. If they are too far away, the enemy ship will break into the gap between the two ships.

As for the long snake-like column, it is generally used for long-distance sailing.

"Haha! These idiots!" Pirate leader Zod laughed.

"Are they waiting to be cut in two by this formation? They probably still think we are still hiding in the port."

"Oh, right!" Zod slapped his forehead, "They don't have the magical skills of you and Lord Edward that can see thousands of miles away. This powerful force is really useful in the endless sea."

Nathan smiled and asked: "So, Captain Zod, have you thought of a strategy to deal with the enemy?"

"Of course!" Zod said contemptuously, "I will go around their side, then attack their middle, cut their fleet in half, sink those paddle boats first, and then deal with those slow sailing boats. The maneuverability of the boats without rowers must be very poor."

"It doesn't matter if you don't have those 6 paddle boats, but I will present those 6 sailing boats to Lord Edward as trophies."