Black Corporation: Joseon

Chapter 777

Chapter 777: A disaster brought on by oneself…. (12)

The pirates were able to target the caravel thanks to the tactics of the English fleet, or rather, the tactics of the European navies of this period.

The tactics of European navies during this period did not change except that the main weapon was changed to cannons.

It was a common battle for the Navy’s warships to mix in a disorderly manner and engage in a fierce battle.

Karak was created to ensure victory in this naval battle. The high forecastle and stern looked like a castle floating on the sea. Until then, it was not easy to pilot a carrack using a typical caravel or dhow.

Rather, if you tried to get close to attack, you were likely to suffer a fatal blow from the attacks pouring in from the forecastle and stern.

That’s why the pirates rushed to target the caravel.

The caravels targeted by pirates made evasive maneuvers around the Karak-class battleships ‘Golden Blow’ and ‘Golden Mary’.

The goal was to lure pirate ships between two ships with overwhelmingly superior firepower.

This was, after all, a traditional tactic.

As a result, even though the pirates used their brains, a traditional melee broke out.

If the commanders of the Imperial Navy had seen this, they would have cursed right away.

“You idiots who don’t even know how to form a battle line! “It’s a waste of time!”

* * *

It has been quite a long time since the Imperial Navy formed a basic tactic in naval battles.

It was at the end of the Goryeo Dynasty that artillery was introduced and the idea of mounting it on ships and firing it began.

At first, all they had to do was push the front lines equipped with artillery into a small formation or block the gun ports and then engage in an artillery battle.

But what broke this mold was, of course, the scent.

Hyang, who improved the previously used artillery into more powerful artillery, proposed the Panokseon, a bombardment battle line equipped with these artillery pieces.

Until then, if artillery was mounted on ships whenever possible, the Panokseon was a battle line built to properly operate artillery.

Therefore, King Sejong and the navy began to gradually introduce panokseon. It was thanks to Gyeongjang that the Joseon Dynasty’s lifestyle became affluent.

The scent continued to be sprayed with MSG.

“Should we just end with mounting artillery? “Shouldn’t we form a proper formation?”

“Formation?”

“At sea? “Is that possible?”

Hyang gave a firm reply to the naval commanders who reacted negatively.

“We have to make it possible! “They are all the same Panokseon, so we just need to train a little more.”

If you exclude the problem that many naval soldiers suffered because of the ‘just a little more’, Hyang’s suggestion was a great help in improving the naval power.

By forming various formations such as a straight line, a long line, and a crane wing, the naval force became several times stronger. This was because it became possible to concentrate firepower.

And following the Panokseon, challenger-class fronts and sea emergency-class fronts were deployed in large quantities, and the Joseon Navy and then the Imperial Navy entered the era of full-fledged ships of the line.

As the saying goes, ‘challenge and response’ and ‘action and reaction’, neighboring countries, especially the Ming Dynasty, responded actively to these changes.

Additional large-scale battle lines such as the Great Cloak Ship were built, and line-of-sight tactics were introduced to the navy.

In response to this, Hyang created a battle-line crushing ship called the ‘Assault Return Line’. And in response to this, Ming created the ‘Two-Headed Flame Dragon’, but only lost a huge amount of money and precious lives.

* * *

The reason Europe had not yet applied this battleship tactic was largely due to two reasons.

The first and biggest reason was the issue of funding.

Building cannons, ships to mount cannons, and raising crews to handle the ships all required a lot of money.

Starting with Portugal and Spain, an increasing number of countries were realizing that controlling the sea was profitable, but land and agriculture were still the center of the economy of most European countries.

For many European countries, cannons were still merely weapons for siege warfare.

The second reason was the absence of information.

Portuguese ships traveling between Suez and Mokpo’s trading port did not see the imperial navy properly forming a battle line.

When the battle with the Ming took place, they were stranded in the southwest or Tsushima Island for safety. During the voyage, I saw a battle between the pirates and the Imperial Navy, but all I saw were one or two Challenger-class ships or three or four sea emergency ships plowing the pirates to pieces.

Thanks to this, the concept of battleships and battle tactics had not yet emerged in European countries.

In the battle that now took place between the pirates and the English fleet, the English fleet formed a primitive battle line of two Karak ships. However, this was not an operation or tactic carried out by a properly trained navy, but merely an instinctive move by experienced captains based on experience.

It was obvious that if things continued like this, it would take a lot of time and blood for the European navies to perfect their battle line tactics.

* * *

“Whoa~.”

After the battle with the pirates, the captains and crew, including Captain Brow, sighed with exhausted faces.

The captain and crew fought desperately to repel the persistent attacks of pirates.

The pirate ships that came into the attack range of the two Karak ships while pursuing the lured caravel while making evasive maneuvers were attacked intensively and destroyed.

Longbowmen positioned on the high forecastle and stern fired arrows with the famous ‘English longbow’, and musketeers also fired long guns.

The pirates who were relatively lower fell down covered in blood from arrows and bullets, and the sails and deck were ignited by the fire arrows that were fired, turning them into a ball of fire.

Pirates weren’t stupid either. They attempted to pilot the ship by blocking the caravans that were trying to escape, and the caravans changed direction to avoid the pirate ships that blocked their path.

As a result of the cruel battle that took place, the damage to the English fleet was considerable.

“‘Golden Wind’ is a sinking disaster, and ‘Golden Rose’ is a major disaster. “Other ships can sail without any problems with just a little bit of repair.”

“Oh my… Tsk!”

Captain Brow, dumbfounded by his subordinate’s report, looked back at the clan leader.

“What should I do? Shall we return to London?”

“What should I do?”

“It might be a good idea to go back, regroup, and start again. However, since the main ships, Golden Blow and Golden Mary, are still alive and well, it is okay to continue sailing.”

“Hmm…”

Hearing Captain Brow’s words, the clan leader stroked his chin and looked at Captain Brow. In response to the unspoken question, Captain Brow added:

“In the case of the former, it is good because you can prepare well and start again. But we need to get at least two new ships and new crews. “This means significant additional spending will be required.”

“It’s an additional expense…”

The CEO looked troubled at Captain Brow’s words. Even now, there was a lot of talk among clan members due to spending exceeding expectations.

In this situation, if the clan returned empty-handed and said additional spending was needed, there was a very high possibility that the clan would disband or go bankrupt.

“What are the pros and cons of the latter?”

“The advantage is that many new sailors and slaves have become more experienced through this battle. Since the main ships, Golden Blow and Golden Mary, are still alive and well, there is no major problem with long-distance sailing itself. The downside is that we do not have enough power to fight a battle like this one again.”

“Do you think the pirates will attack again?”

“If you go as far as the Azores, there won’t be any pirates.”

“Hmm…”

The clan leader, who was worried about Captain Brow’s words, came up with a mediation plan.

“Let’s gather the captains and agree on their opinions.”

“Of course.”

After a while, the captains of the surviving ships arrived in boats and boarded the Golden Blow.

“Who is the captain of the Golden Rose?”

“Captain Sanchez is dead. The same goes for the vice-captain.”

The navigator from the Golden Rose announced the death of the captain and vice-captain. After hearing the news, Captain Brow whetted his appetite.

“Tsk. “We were fun friends, but it’s a shame.”

The Spanish captain, who was chatty but always cheerful, and Captain Brough, who was saddened by the death of his vice-captain, soon got to the point.

After hearing Captain Brough’s words, the captains soon agreed to ‘continue the voyage’.

-When we left, there were many competitors who had finished preparing. If you go back, you may fall behind your competitors. Let us continue our voyage.

“If that is your conclusion, let us proceed with the voyage. Then…”

With the decision to resume sailing, the fleet’s crew and captain began maintenance in the middle of the sea.

The crew, food, gunpowder, and other goods were taken out of the destroyed Golden Rose and transferred to other ships, and the bodies of sailors who died during the battle were transferred to the Golden Rose from other ships.

“What should we do with the injured slaves?”

After being questioned, Captain Brough made a cruel decision.

“Slaves who are seriously injured beyond recovery should be moved to the Golden Rose.”

“…All right.”

In this way, severely injured slaves were moved to the Golden Rose. None of the sailors complained about Captain Brough’s decision. This was because they knew full well that there was no hope with the poor medical facilities and standards of the fleet.

When the work was finished, the longbowmen of the fleet fired flaming arrows at the Golden Rose.

Thanks to having sprayed oil in advance, the Golden Rose soon became a ball of fire, and the crew of the fleet prayed in silence as they watched the fire.

* * *

After completing maintenance, the fleet continued sailing towards the Azores Islands.

The fleet arrived in the Azores and immediately began supplying supplies.

While supplying the necessary food and supplies to the fleet, Captain Brough faced a difficult situation.

“Are you going to disembark?”

“Yes, Captain.”

“why?”

“It’s scary.”

Captain Brow looked perplexed at the words of the young sailor who had not lost his breast fat yet.

‘It’s not that I don’t understand, but…’

I became a sailor at a young age with a yearning for the outside world and a sense of adventure, but it was clear that I realized the cruel reality after the last battle.

“Hmm…”

Captain Brow thought for a moment and then made a decision.

“Disembarkation is permitted. “I’ll calculate your salary for getting here.”

“thank you!”

“However, since the contract has been broken, we will base it on half of the promised salary.”

“Thank you anyway!”

Similar situations occurred on other ships, and the fleet eventually had to recruit new sailors and slaves.

* * *

After completing supplies and manpower in the Azores, the English fleet departed again toward the west.

When the voyage, which continued silently toward the direction of the setting sun, exceeded ten days, the fleet once again faced a crisis.

“disease?”

Captain Thomas’ expression became fierce after receiving his subordinate’s report. The first things you didn’t want to experience while sailing were pirates and disease.

“What disease is it?”

“It looks like smallpox…”

Captain Thomas’ face turned white at the sailor’s answer.