Dispatch Duty (4)
The moment the ship was spotted, the Horned Whale erupted into commotion.
"All hands to battle stations! Bring out your weapons!"
"This is a live engagement! Get your heads straight!"
"Uwaaaah…."
It hadn't been long since they'd even started training, and now they were being told it was real combat?
"Splendid! We can make the most of this final training exercise! HAHAHA!"
"They're merchants! What are you planning to do to merchants?"
Watching Yi Sun-woo treat even this as training, Haile wanted to talk him out of it.
How long had these soldiers even been training? And he was calling this actual combat?
"Any merchant sailing up from these southern waters is already a pirate by definition. Remember this well: pirate, navy, merchant — all three are the same word. Especially when it comes to those backward European savages."
This admiral had already done the math. There was no way a fleet that size belonged in African waters, and no way Arabian merchants would be sailing this route.
It had to be European ships, creeping north with their hands out.
"That land is not theirs. They've already begun the invasion, haven't they? Wasn't the whole point of building your navy to guard your own waters?"
"Well… yes."
Haile too had hated the way passing European ships and Arabian merchants pillaged the coastline at every opportunity.
"It will make fine live experience."
"But there are twenty-three of them! That's far too many!"
Haile understood Yi Sun-woo's reasoning, but come on — the gap in numbers was simply too large.
Worse still, he could not allow the navy, barely a sprouting seed, to be broken here.
"Nineteen years ago, as a gunnery chief, I fought a thousand ships with a single vessel."
"Gasp…."
Haile thought it impossible. There were limits to exaggeration — a thousand ships? He took it for bragging.
That is, he would have — had he not seen the man's eyes, burning with deadly seriousness.
"That day I learned: fight for your life, and you can win anything. Every one of those Europeans who came to kill us is dead now."
"Hurk…."
If it were purely up to his own judgment, he would have turned the fleet around right there. He only hadn't because he feared they'd lose the fight anyway.
"They're still just trainees! Think this over once more. It's far too dangerous!"
Haile clenched his teeth and spoke up, half expecting he'd have to wrestle Yi Sun-woo to stop him.
"Which is exactly why we must do it. And we have every chance of victory."
"What?"
At the word victory, Haile's eyes went round.
"Those ships don't carry many cannons. They rely on speed to run down prizes and flee from any enemy they can't handle."
True enough. Dutch ships were already lunging forward, eager to capture them.
"We, on the other hand, will open fire the moment they enter range. And the wind is against them."
"Doesn't the headwind slow us down too? Isn't that bad for us?"
He couldn't understand why the admiral was pleased that a headwind was slowing them against faster ships.
"It gives us one advantage. The gunsmoke clears that much faster."
"Hm?"
Behind this exchange between the two admirals, the soldiers were running around in absolute chaos.
"Draw your personal arms and raise the shields! Move it! Your lives depend on this!"
"Hiiiek!"
The trainees felt like their minds were leaving their bodies.
They'd come out for training, and suddenly they were headed into live combat. A life-or-death live combat, no less.
"Steady! You only need to do exactly what you learned in training!"
"Don't be scared!"
Under the instructors' encouragement, the soldiers slung their muskets over their backs and stuffed ammunition into their pockets.
Then they set up shields across the deck and scrambled below to haul up cannonballs, a mad flurry of activity.
「CLATTER-CRASH」
"Heads up! Even if you fall flat on your face, you guard those cannonballs with your lives!"
"Yes, sir!"
It was chaotic, but the training had not been in vain — preparations were coming together.
"Don't you dare be afraid! The Horned Whale is strong — and so are you! Remember every drop of sweat you've shed to get here!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Uwaaah! Do you know how much training I've put in!"
"That's right!"
The trainees felt a little cheated. They'd endured hell just to board this ship, and to get shot down by some random rabble after coming all this way — they couldn't bear to imagine it.
And seeing the instructors brimming with confidence somehow made it feel like losing was simply not an option.
The Dutch fleet was rather flustered themselves. The smaller force was the one approaching them?
"Are they still closing in?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Are they insane? Or are they a Dutch ship?"
For a moment the admiral considered whether it might be friendly forces departing from another port, but the odds were nil.
This fleet was the very first to set sail in search of India and Asia.
"We'll just have to go seize them!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Do they intend to capture us?"
The admiral, who had ordered preparations for boarding combat, began to feel an uneasy prickle. The enemy could open fire at any moment.
But there was nothing to be done. They were too poor to bring many cannons — and if they lost a ship or two but seized expensive gunpowder and cannons in return, wasn't that a net gain?
"Full speed ahead, all ships!"
"Charge!"
"Go!"
The twenty-three Dutch ships, spread loosely across the water, began turning their bows toward the Horned Whale.
Minutes of closing in later, the distance had shrunk to where the enemy was visible to the naked eye.
"Are they still coming at us?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Hmmm…."
The enemy's boundless confidence made him a little uneasy, but he'd been at sea long enough — he decided to trust his gut.
"The enemy ship is turning broadside!"
"They mean to bombard us! All ships, prepare for incoming fire!"
A ship showing its flank mid-approach meant one thing: cannons. Whether Daehan or Europe, broadside fire was the norm.
「KU-BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM」
"What! They're firing already?"
"Get down!"
Far in the distance, the Horned Whale belched smoke as its cannons opened up.
「SPLASH SPLASH」
"BUHAHAHA!"
Naturally, the first salvo plunged into the water and sank without a trace.
But riding the wind gave the Dutch speed and an advantage of their own — and the headwind that blew their smoke away just as quickly was an advantage for the Horned Whale too.
「KU-BOOM BOOM」
"What? Already?"
Breech-loading cannons let the Horned Whale fire shot after rapid shot.
「SPLASH SPLASH」
"Uh-oh…."
"They're getting closer and closer?"
"So what do you want to do about it? We've come this far — we keep going!"
"He's right!"
There was no turning tail now.
They had plunder to show for the voyage, but it fell far short of covering the cost of building these ships. They had their own desperate circumstances — they needed to earn back at least part of that money.
Not for the crews, mind. For the captains and the admiral.
「KU-KU-BOOM」
"Huh? What's all that noise?"
After a few wild ranging shots, the firing had shifted to full broadsides, all at once.
「WHIIIIINE」
"What is that sound?"
Something ominous reached the sailors' ears.
「CRACK-BOOM CRACK CRUNCH SPLASH」
"Gah!"
"We've been hit!"
Along with the sound of shells hitting water came the unmistakable crunch of cannonballs slamming into decks and hulls.
The ships had closed considerably, and the trainees, fighting for their lives, were already landing hits.
And as always, Daehan favored explosive shells.
「KU-KA-BOOM KA-BOOM」
Among the sailors who had begun to relax, the shells that had lodged in their ships detonated after a short delay.
"Gah! What the hell! Why is the ship exploding!"
"The Mariner's been hit!"
The sailors watching a ship blow apart right beside them were stunned.
They'd seen cannonballs fall — but ships exploding?
"No way…!"
"Isn't that a Daehan warship!?"
Even these men had heard the fearsome reputation of Daehan's navy.
Tales of exploding shells and ironclad ships.
"But that one has sails, doesn't it?"
"Doesn't it?"
But the early days when Horned Whales briefly patrolled these waters had passed, and only Whale Sharks and Blue Sharks now frequented Pyeong-an Naru — so their memories were hazy at best.
"They just got lucky hits! CHARGE!"
"Keep going!"
Whether the Dutch pirates were confused or not, the cannons kept firing.
"Their reload speed is piss-fast!"
"Damn it all!"
「KU-KA-BOOM BOOM」
As the distance shrank, the hits only multiplied. Two or three salvos were enough to erase a ship entirely.
「KURURURU」
"Another one's gone under!"
"Is this really okay?"
"And what, you want to turn back now? They'd love to see us run!"
"God damn it!"
The Dutch sailors felt like they'd been cursed by a demon.
With the enemy in plain sight and both fleets sailing straight at each other, they needed only about ten minutes to close to boarding range.
The problem was that with every single minute that passed, one or two more ships went down.
「KU-BOOM BOOM」
"Damn it all… how many of us are going to make it there alive?"
Shadow began to fall across the Dutch sailors' faces. Whatever debts their captains owed, the sailors' own lives came first.
"We're finished…."
The captains and the admiral, unlike their crews, felt it would be better to simply die on the spot.
The voyage had already paid for itself the moment two ships were lost.
Fewer sailors meant smaller payouts, in a twisted way an advantage — but the ships kept sinking, and by the time anyone came to their senses, only eleven remained.
「KU-KA-BOOM」
"No! Get our cannons out, now! Bring up the cannons! Hurry!"
If they wanted to survive at all, they had to get their guns out and either sink that ship or cut down its crew — anything.
"Get those cannons up! Move!"
"Turn the ships broadside!"
"Prepare to fire!"
By the time they scrambled below, loaded their guns, and rammed them into the gun ports, another two ships had vanished.
"Damn it all!"
Only the furious screams of the captains spread out over the sea.
Where, exactly, had it all gone wrong…?
"The seven remaining ships are running out their guns on the broadside!"
"Careful now, everyone!"
"Take cover!"
「KU-BOOM BOOM」
Through this brief naval engagement, the trainees were becoming seasoned marines.
No matter how much you drilled on paper and in exercises, one taste of real combat taught more than all of it.
「BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM」
"Incoming! Everyone down!"
"Take cover!"
From the moment the distant guns were heard, there was a short window before the shots arrived. Hide anywhere at all, and your odds of living shot up.
Sailors raised their shields and flattened themselves against the deck.
「KA-RA-BOOM」
And down came a deluge of shot, hammering the Horned Whale's flanks and their shields.
"Uwaaaah!"
"Keep your heads lower!"
Here was the funny thing about naval warfare: while Daehan fired its guns to sink ships outright, most navies fired scatter shot instead.
Maim the enemy crew, render the ship defenseless, capture it intact, plunder its cargo — sinking the prize was a loss. So they shredded flesh, not hulls.
「RAT-TAT-TAT」
"It's raining lead!"
"Been a while since I've seen this!"
The shrinking target meant more shots found their mark, but none could punch through the Horned Whale's hardened flanks — the iron balls simply ricocheted off in every direction.
And Daehan's marines laughed at the spectacle, delighted.
While the Ethiopian navy watched them and felt slightly ill.
"What are you gawking at! Fire, now!"
"We're this close — shouldn't you be shooting muskets too, you idiots!"
The moment the trainees froze up, the instructors' tirade came flying at them.
"Anyone who wants to swim all the way home, feel free to keep standing around! I'll personally toss the lot of you overboard!"
"Gah!"
The trainees' senses snapped sharply back.
These were exactly the kind of men who would toss you overboard and then throw you a rope afterward, weren't they?
「KA-BOOM BOOM」
"Hurry those reloads! Sink them before another shot comes our way, will you!"
"Fire!"
「KA-KA-KA-BOOM」
The Dutch ships let loose with their cannons. Only five ships remained.
「RAT-TAT-TAT」
"Gah! What the—!"
"The ship's fine!"
The Dutch cannonballs had done no more than splinter a railing and some ornamentation on the Horned Whale. Not one had pierced her hull.
"We're done for…."
"Shouldn't we run, even now?"
"Run how?"
「KA-KA-BOOM」
To these men, the roar of the Horned Whale's guns sounded like the herald of death. The Dutch sailors' faces were contorted beyond recognition.
With only a handful of ships left and every chance to flee long since missed, the Dutch fleet became the Ethiopian navy's live-fire training targets, sinking one by one into the deep dark sea.
Only a scattered few survivors clung to drifting debris, swimming for the distant shore.
"We won!"
"WOO! We did it! We won!"
"We survived!"
Their ears rang with cheering — sounds whose meaning they didn't know, but whose joy was unmistakable.
"Damn it all…."