Naval Battle in the Reef Zone 4 (Conclusion)

Right under the noses of the Red Hemp Family fleet, the stranded noble fleet suffered a massacre at the hands of the Northern Alliance Army fleet.

Under the command of Captain Jack and Blox, the southward fleet flew in both flanks and directly surrounded the noble fleet that had already been trapped in the Reef Zone.

They then sailed in neat parallel formation, each ship pushing all its ballistae to one side of the ship's side. These ballistae were the latest masterpieces from the Mesopotamian Arsenal.

After improvements, this Bed Crossbow can now be loaded with three bolts at a time, and a sight and scale have been added to the crossbow body, greatly improving its accuracy.

Under the concentrated fire of several ships, the decks of the outermost noble fleets were covered with crossbow bolts like hedgehogs in a very short time.

The crossbow bolts were incredibly powerful, piercing through the sailors who were hit. In fact, because they had initially positioned themselves very close together to guard against a boarding maneuver by the southward-bound fleet, several sailors were killed in one go by the crossbow bolts.

Even Captain Jack and his crew hadn't expected such a good result. Although they had tested it before leaving, they had never tried the effect of a fleet firing in unison. Despite the instability of the ship due to the wind and waves, the crossbow bolts were too thick to be blown away by the wind like ordinary arrows.

Seeing how effective the crossbow bolts were, Captain Jack immediately ordered the entire fleet to move closer to the Reef Zone to minimize the distance from the enemy ships and make the shooting more accurate.

By this time, the noble fleet was already at its limit, especially the outer ships, which had just been the primary targets of the attack.

The entire deck was riddled with crossbow bolts. The bolts were so powerful that they left a hole in a person's body. Even those hiding behind the ship's side could be hit by bolts that pierced through the wooden planks. Some sailors were even shot in the limbs, with their arms and legs being severed by the bolts.

The flagship of the Yellow Celery Family was just one of the first ships attacked. It was hit by concentrated fire from six ships. After five rounds of salvo, the entire ship was hit by more than 500 crossbow bolts.

After the volley ended, the entire deck of the Yellow Celery Family flagship was a scene of devastation, littered with corpses and limbs. The survivors hid behind the masts and cabins to avoid being hit by crossbow bolts.

Baron Russell crouched at the back of the cabin, clutching his head. He was still terrified by the rain of arrows. The captain of Huang Qin's flagship was right next to him, his head blown off by a crossbow bolt, his brains and blood splattering all over Baron Russell.

Baron Russell dared not move an inch. Even though the Captain of the Guard beside him kept advising him to hide in the cabin and be safe, he shook his head and dared not. He believed that as soon as he showed his face, he would be shot to death by crossbow bolts.

No matter how the Captain of the Guard tried to persuade him, it was to no avail. So he asked, "Your Excellency, there is actually another way. Why don't we just surrender? That way we won't be attacked anymore."

The Captain of the Guard thought that Baron Russell would refuse first, after all, he was the nobleman who was most enthusiastic about participating in the war to wipe out the Northern Alliance Army Fleet before the war, otherwise he would not have boarded the ship and joined the battle.

But to everyone's surprise, Baron Russell immediately agreed to the Captain of the Guard's surrender proposal. "Yes, I can surrender. If I surrender, will I be able to survive?"

Baron Russell, panting heavily, hugged the Captain of the Guard asked, "My lord, as long as we surrender, they shouldn't attack us anymore. After all, they're not pirates."

"Okay, surrender now! The sooner the better. Make them stop attacking immediately. I'll agree to any conditions."

After obtaining Baron Russell's permission, the Captain of the Guard, along with two sailors, found a large white cloth, climbed up the mast, and unfurled it.

By this time, it had started to rain at sea. In order to ensure that the white flag could be unfurled, the men clung to the mast in the rain, not daring to move.

Soon the Northern Alliance Army Fleet spotted the ship flying the white flag. One ship approached and, at a distance of ten meters, shouted at the ship, "If you surrender, everyone come out and stand on the deck and hand over all your weapons."

We will send small boats ashore, and if anyone tries to stop us, we will not cease our attack.

The Captain of the Guard walked to the ship's hull number and answered loudly, "Please rest assured, sir, our baron is on board. We have decided to surrender and will not go back on our word. In addition, we have already sent orders to the other three ships in our territory, and they will surrender soon as well. Please send someone to take over as soon as possible."

Sure enough, just a few minutes later, the other three ships of the Yellow Celery Family, which had received the flag signal, also raised white flags.

Seeing this example, the first ships to be attacked raised white flags. Those without white cloth used white shirts or even white underwear instead. On one ship belonging to the Blacklin family, more than a dozen pairs of underwear were neatly hung.

Even the inboard and forward fleets that had not been attacked began to surrender, including those facing the decoy fleet head-on.

Sodoma and his men had already captured six ships. Seeing this scene and the miserable state of the ships behind, the other ships in the vanguard surrendered one after another.

At this point, most of the noble fleets had lost their fighting capacity and will to fight. The task left to Sodoma and his men was simply to send sailors to board the enemy ships, collect their weapons, and take over the vessels.

Those tough nuts could be handed over to Blox and Captain Jack's Bed Crossbow fleet. Meanwhile, the storm began to subside, and the Northern Alliance Army fleet dispatched small boats to receive the surrendered ships.

By this time, the Red Hemp Territory Fleet had sailed far ahead and witnessed the entire naval battle, from the initial pursuit to the subsequent runaway of the entire fleet into the trap, and finally the brutal massacre.

Everyone, including Totti, was grateful for Captain Van Dyke's decisive action, as his immediate retreat allowed them to escape unscathed.

Totti approached Captain Van Dyke, who was busy at work, and bowed to apologize. "I'm sorry, Captain Van Dyke. I was indeed too reckless before. I didn't know you had thought things through. If it weren't for your decisive retreat, our Red Hemp Territory fleet might have been completely wiped out by now."

When Totti looked up at Van Dyke's face, he suddenly realized that Captain Van Dyke was even more depressed than before, as if a close relative had passed away. Totti wondered if he had said something wrong.

Just as Totti was puzzled and about to ask, the lookout on the mast suddenly shouted, "It's the Great Oak Territory's fleet! They've finally caught up!"

Totti quickly realized what was happening. "Quickly, Captain Van Dyke, send out flags immediately to notify the fleet in Great Oak Territory to retreat. The battle on the front lines is beyond saving; going there now will only cause unnecessary casualties."

However, Captain Van Dyke remained unmoved, standing there with a tense expression, picking up his binoculars and looking in the direction of the Great Oak Territory, as the lookout had pointed out.

Seeing that Captain Van Dyke remained motionless, Totti had no choice but to give the order himself. Soon, a flag bearer stood at the bow and signaled to the fleet in Great Oak Territory, instructing them to turn immediately.

But what Totti found strange was that the flag signals had been given three times, yet the ships of the Great Oak Territory remained completely unmoved, simply heading straight ahead with their bows facing them.

Fortunately, the wind and waves had mostly subsided, leaving only a light drizzle. The ships had slowed down, and there were still a few minutes before the two sides rendezvoused. Totti instructed the flag bearers to continue sending signals, confident that the Great Oak Territory would see them.

But just then, Totti noticed that his boat was starting to turn. He turned around and saw that Captain Van Dyke was at the helm.

"Why turn back? Aren't we retreating with the fleet from Great Oak Territory?"

"I'm going to take you and our family's fleet home, young master. I've promised Lord Boateng!"

"But the war isn't over yet. Even if the enemy is strong, with our two fleets combined, we'll still have at least 80 ships. With Sunset City at our backs, we might be able to fight the enemy!"

Van Dyke suddenly grinned and pointed at the fleet of Great Oak Territory, saying, "Our enemies are powerful, but their enemies may not be so!"