Queuing for Execution

With a "bang," the Marine suddenly bloomed like a snowflake, scattering across the Marine's canvas, and he fell onto the deck like a falling bird, hitting the deck and instantly splashing a pool of blood.

"Sniper! It's a sniper!"

"Damn it, everyone be on guard, prepare to fire!" Iska watched him being carried into the cabin, feeling a bit flustered. It was no longer the time to think about the Spade Pirates; now was the time to focus on the pirate crew in front of them.

"Report, it's the Cutlass Pirates. Their captain, Cutlass William, has a bounty of around fifty million, but they have a large number of people, with a fighting strength of over two hundred."

The intelligence officer immediately reported to Iska.

"Two hundred people, no problem, our combat power is stronger! Fire, sink them!" Seeing that the cannons were loaded, Iska didn't hesitate to draw her Marine sword and shouted at the Cutlass Pirates.

"Bang bang bang..." Continuous cannon fire erupted instantly.

The accuracy of the cannons of this era, combined with the ocean's waves, was truly touching. The cannons had lethality within five hundred meters, but the Marine regulations stipulated within three hundred meters because accuracy was too difficult to control. She had actually ordered them to fire late, because Marine regulations allowed for two rounds of firing within three hundred meters, but within two hundred meters, only one round could be fired.

After firing one round, they would have to prepare for boarding.

In fact, most Marines didn't adhere to such regulations – because at sea, Marines were always chasing pirates.

And Marines always wanted to fire as many rounds as they could.

But now, the opponent had not only not run but was slowly approaching them, clearly with ill intentions. Boarding combat was now unavoidable.

The Marines were all eager, not afraid of boarding combat with pirates – even though most of them were cannon fodder on the sea.

The cannonballs indeed proved unreliable. Of the ten cannons on one side, only two hit. One of them broke the opponent's canvas and flew far away, while only one exploded at the bow of the opposite ship, kicking up countless broken pieces of wood.

The wood chips and splinters that were blown away flew everywhere. Even Ace instinctively flinched, but he saw that not a single pirate standing upright on the deck wavered.

"Amazing..." Even Teacher Michael had to admire the pirates' discipline. He had no idea what these pirates had gone through, but this discipline of not moving even if they died was enough to surpass most people in this world.

A few pirates were hit by the flying wood splinters, their arms and bodies bleeding profusely, but they gritted their teeth and made no sound.

Clearly, if they moved, they would face even more terrifying and painful treatment.

"Fire!" When the two sides approached within one hundred meters, Leo shouted loudly.

The ten cannons had already been moved to this side, fully loaded, and the cannonballs were fired instantly. This time, four out of ten cannonballs hit, striking the opponent's hull squarely.

Instantly, four large holes were blasted open in the hull of the enemy warship. It swayed precariously, as if about to sink.

However, four holes on the side of the hull were far from enough to destroy a warship. Coupled with the ship's very high waterline, it would likely take at least three or four rounds of bombardment to sink this ship with such firepower. Furthermore, with the obstruction of Devil Fruit users, like Luffy, no amount of cannon fire would be effective.

So, most of the time, cannons were rarely used as the primary combat force; they were mostly used for support.

After all, this was a world that valued individual combat strength.

Everyone believed this.

No one believed in the strength of ordinary soldiers, no one believed in the strength of the weak, no one believed in the strength of the masses.

But today, Leo was going to change that.

"Close in! Don't be afraid!" Cannonballs that didn't explode on the deck were meaningless. Just opening a few large holes in the hull didn't affect the Marines' combat effectiveness.

Because even now, the Marines had already mobilized the gunners from below. A pirate crew with a bounty of fifty million Belly was not something they could handle by dividing their forces.

All the Marines stood ready on the deck, their wooden planks raised high. Their ship was still about one person's distance away from the opponent. Although their firepower was stronger, they were smaller than the opponent in terms of troop capacity and size.

This was not a disadvantage. Firstly, Marine ships could move very fast. Secondly, they had advantages in both running and chasing during sea battles. Finally, in group sea battles, Marines could fit more warships and troops in a small area, which was completely different from the pirates' approach of treating each ship as a fortress.

As the two ships gradually approached, the silence of the opposite ship made them even more uneasy. But Iska gritted her teeth, raised her sword, and charged forward.

Three huge wooden planks were lifted by a dozen people and placed on the opponent's ship's railings. But no one came to try to destroy or block the planks; instead, it was eerily quiet.

The Marines, wielding guns and swords haphazardly, followed Iska's footsteps. However, as soon as they boarded the opponent's ship, they were stunned by the scene before them.

Over a hundred pirates stood in neat rows, arranged by height, build, and appearance. They held rows of muskets, with the first rank squatting on the ground and the second rank aiming at them.

Sixteen muskets, forming a wall-like barrage, almost in the next second, countless blood flowers appeared on their bodies. Seven or eight Marines who had just boarded instantly fell to the ground.

Perhaps they were dead, perhaps just injured, but it didn't matter.

Marines were still continuously charging from behind them, but these sixteen people put away their guns and walked backward without looking back.

A Marine who was not yet dead struggled to get up and watched another sixteen people walk forward, taking their previous positions. They squatted and raised their guns again, unhesitatingly aiming at the second wave of Marines charging forward. In less than a second, they completed their second volley...

The line of people behind them seemed endless. As these sixteen people walked back again, another sixteen people came out, aiming at the third wave of Marines charging forward...

"No! No!" Iska was injured and fell to the ground under the first volley of muskets.

At this moment, tears streaming down her face, she cried out loudly, "Stop sending my subordinates to their deaths!"

"Stop slaughtering my subordinates!!"

That's right, this was nothing short of a massacre.

PS: Second update, ended up dragging until 1 AM.