Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Chapter 177 – 73: Out of Control and Frenzy _2
In the past, when pirates on the Inner Sea attempted to join up with the Venetian navy, even if the pirates had a numerical advantage, as long as the navy holed up inside their ship towers, the pirates could do nothing about it.

Fortified within the sturdy ship towers, the Venetian navy could fight two or even three to one and defeat the pirates of the Inner Sea.

But now, the situation was completely reversed; the pirates were ensconced in the ship towers, while the navy was getting battered on deck.

Winters saw a spray of blood burst from Wilson’s neck, and despite the lead flying about, he rushed to the captain’s side. However, it was to no avail; the captain was already dead.

With the Centurion fallen, the command system of the hundredth squad had collapsed, and someone needed to step forward to replace Wilson.

Amongst the cacophony of musket fire, cannon fire, wails, and cries on the deck, where nothing could be made out clearly, a deafening voice drowned out all others.

“Attack the ship tower! Everyone attack the ship tower!”

For the first time, Winters used all his magic power to cast a spell amplifying his voice, bellowing, “Third legion to the aft! Sailors attack the bow!”

General Taylor was right! The most useful spell on the battlefield really was the amplifying spell!

Killing spells were of little effect in a battle of hundreds or thousands. How many could a spellcaster kill? Ten? A hundred? Five hundred? However, an amplifying spell could organize soldiers on a chaotic battlefield to kill for you.

“First hundred! Follow me up!” Bard roared as he grabbed two soldiers crouching behind barrels and charged toward the stern tower.

Andre, sword in hand, followed him, shouting, “Kill them!”

Winters repeated himself three times, having used all his magical power to amplify his voice for the first time, the intense phantom limb pain making him feel as if his body had been inflated like a skin bag three times.

He could barely stand, his hands shook uncontrollably, and his skin all over his body secreted sweat uncontrollably.

Fortunately, all the Venetians had already heard the three undeniable orders, and heard them very clearly. Sailors and soldiers needed someone to tell them what to do, and they heard Winters’ command.

At first, a few took the lead, but the majority followed the instructions. Sailors rushed toward the bow tower, the first hundred toward the stern tower.

“It’s sorcery! Witchcraft! Black magic!” An enraged Drake, grabbing the collar of the cannoneer beside him, shrieked hysterically; he had just witnessed the Venetian soldiers on the deck, who had been on the verge of a morale collapse, find their backbone again.

Drake pushed the cannoneer back to the cannon, “Fire the cannon! Fire! Kill those witches!”

Winters smashed his thigh hard with the handle of his knife, using the real physical pain to suppress the phantom limb pain. After regaining a semblance of lucidity, he got up and ran towards the stern tower.

At that moment, in the vicinity of the stern tower, the attack by the hundredth squad had met with frustration. The ship towers on warships were fortresses on the sea, and the soldiers of the hundredth squad, armed only with daggers, had no siege weapons.

Andre was banging on the ship tower’s door with another tall soldier, but the wooden door didn’t budge.

Meanwhile, on the second and third floors of the ship tower, people kept shooting down at the army soldiers with muskets. Bard had no idea from which corpse he had snatched a matchlock gun and was struggling to load it.

“Stop banging! It won’t open! They must have barricaded it inside!” Winters grabbed Andre.

“Then what do we do? Do you hold me up and I climb through the second-floor window?” Andre asked, not knowing what else to do.

“Looking to die? The pirates would chop off your hand the moment you climb the muzzle!”

“Well, what the hell do we do?” Andre was completely out of options.

Winters thought hard about the structure of The Glorious. This ship was a warship seized by the pirates, and its structure must be much like The Glorious’. “Find the entrance to the ship’s hold! The hold and the ship tower are connected!”

“Sir! Over here!” a soldier shouted, “It won’t open—it’s been blocked from the inside.”

Winters strode over; on the deck was a square entrance about a meter and a half on each side, with a wooden board firmly propped against it, sealing off the ship’s hold entrance.@@novelbin@@

“Anyone weighing over 160 pounds, get on! Hurry!” Winters stood on the board covering the hold entrance, pulling Andre up as well, while other tall and sturdy soldiers were also hauled onto the board by him.

Bard, leading a few soldiers who knew how to use muskets, suppressed the shooters above, covering Winters and the others.

“Follow my count of one and two, everyone jump together! Jump hard, jump high!” The situation was urgent and Winters couldn’t afford to explain. He shouted the order, “When I say two, jump!”

“One, two!” The men jumped at different times, and the board creaked.

Understanding Winters’ intention, Andre sternly scolded, “Whoever XX doesn’t jump in sync, I’ll kill you!”

“One, two!” The board groaned in pain, and it seemed like there were sounds of snapping from below as well.

“One, two!” The men’s jumps became more coordinated, almost landing simultaneously.

“One, two!” With a loud crash, the board and the beams supporting it from below snapped altogether, and everyone standing on the board fell into the hold.

“Ah! Ah! My arm!” One of the soldiers cried out in pain.

There was no time to check his injury, as Winters got up and looked inside the hold.

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The pirate gunners on the lower gun deck, hearing noises from the hold entrance, approached confusedly; suddenly, they saw six or seven soldiers fall from above and were stunned.