Fleet Pursuit
On a ship of a noble fleet, a young officer brandished his longsword and shouted, "Full sails! The enemy is ahead! Chase after them and you'll be richly rewarded!"
At this moment, an old officer stopped him. "Young master, we are too far ahead. For safety reasons, please order the ships to slow down."
The old officer who was speaking had bronze skin, a face full of wrinkles, a typical Mediterranean hairstyle, and gray hair dotting his head; he looked like a seasoned old captain.
The young officer he had grabbed looked to be only seventeen or eighteen years old. His hair was styled very neatly, and his skin was fair. He was clearly a pampered nobleman.
He shook off the old officer's hand. "Captain Van Dyke, the enemy is fleeing frantically ahead. How can I, as the Totti of the honorable Red Hemp Family, follow the main force in such a cowardly manner!"
After saying that, Totti Red Hemp continued to give orders to the sailors, telling them to speed up, but at this moment he noticed that many of the sailors stopped what they were doing and looked at him.
Just as Young Master Totti was about to unleash his fury, Captain Van Dyke spoke up, "Young master, when the master went to war, he told me that war merits were not important, but that I must protect you, the heir of the Red Hemp Viscount. So I'm sorry, I cannot put you in danger."
"I personally built the entire Red Hemp Family's fleet; they obey only my orders, aside from the master's."
After Van Dyke finished speaking, he waved his hand, and the sailors immediately resumed their work, but the sails were partially lowered, and the ship's speed was reduced.
It quickly fell from the lead fleet to the very back, and the remaining 11 ships of the Red Hemp Territory also fell to the back along with the flagship.
Seeing this, Totti angrily said to the old captain, "Van Dyke, when I return to my territory, I will make sure my father teaches you a lesson."
After saying that, he stormed into the cabin and slammed the door shut.
Captain Van Dyke shook his head and chuckled at the sight. The First Mate ran over and asked with concern, "Boss, is this alright? You've offended the young master. Aren't you worried about being retaliated against later?"
"Don't worry, Viscount Boateng is not unreasonable. Besides, Young Master Totti just doesn't quite understand the dangers of war and the wickedness of people. He will understand when he grows up."
Besides, I never said we wouldn't fight. I told the men to stay behind and clear the minefield for them. With the strength of Red Hemp Territory, and with me, Van Dyke, even if those guys are eating meat, we'll get a share.
On the Old Wavebreaker, Sodoma watched as a portion of the noble fleet that was chasing behind suddenly broke away from the main group and fell behind.
"Could it be that someone has noticed something is wrong? No, we haven't even reached our destination yet. It would be bad if other noble fleets followed suit. I need to add fuel to the fire."
Sodoma immediately gave the order to bring out the things that had been prepared in advance. The sailors pushed some miscellaneous items out of the cabin and threw them into the sea from the stern and deck. They were mostly wooden boxes and barrels.
After everything was thrown away, the captain of the Wavebreaker ran over to Sodoma and reported, "Commander, everything has been thrown into the sea."
"Okay, let's speed things up a little more."
Because the decoy fleet at Sodoma had discarded its ballast, the ships had a shallow draft. Although they were much faster, they were prone to tilting due to instability, and in severe cases, they could even capsize.
So Sodoma temporarily obtained some wooden barrels and boxes filled with sand as counterweight. Now the entire fleet was not far from the reef sea of its destination, and there were no waves at sea, so it was a good time to discard these counterweights and increase the speed of the fleet.
On the other hand, it also made the noble fleet behind them think that they were abandoning cargo and increasing their speed to escape, thus lowering their guard.
Sure enough, after Sodoma and his men took this action, the noble fleet reacted quickly, increasing their speed and many ships with side oars began to row at full speed to catch up.
Both sides continued to increase their ship speed, leaving Sonanda's Coastal Defense Fleet far behind.
Sodoma was happy to follow, but to keep up the act, he kept ordering his standard-bearers to slow down the noble fleet and wait for the Coastal Defense Fleet to arrive so they could pursue together.
As a result, the noble fleets ignored the orders and disobeyed commands. The captains and commanders of these noble fleets had received orders from their respective lords before setting sail, instructing them to fight bravely and make merit in this operation, and not to obey Viscount Sonanda.
These nobles believed that after the end of the Civil War, Count Black and Great Oak Territory would certainly be unwelcome in the duchy, and the Grand Duke would continue to suppress them.
This Civil War is their chance to shine. The more merits they accumulate, the greater their chances of gaining the Grand Duke's favor in the future, and they might even have a chance to replace the Great Oak Family's position in the Eastern Region.
In order to gain merit, those noble lords not only cooperated by sending out fleets, but also personally led their private armies to Victor's landing site to participate in the battle.