Firing Squad

Chapter 41: Firing Squad

With a bang, a white blossom suddenly burst from the Marine, spraying across the Marines' canvas sails. He fell toward the deck like a shot-down bird and crashed onto it, splashing blood everywhere.

"Sniper! It's a sniper!"

"Damn it, everyone stay alert! Prepare the cannons!" Iska watched as he was carried into the cabin, panic rising within her. This was no longer the time to think about the Spade Pirates. She needed to focus on the pirate crew before her.

"Report! It's the Cutlass Pirates. Their captain, Cutlass William, has a bounty of around fifty million Beli, but they have a large force—more than two hundred fighters."

The intelligence officer immediately reported to Iska.

"Two hundred? It's fine. Our fighting strength is greater! Fire the cannons! Sink them!" Seeing that the shells had been loaded, Iska drew her Marine saber without hesitation and pointed it at the Cutlass Pirates.

Boom! Boom! Boom! A continuous barrage of cannon fire erupted at once.

With the cannons of this era and the rolling sea, accuracy was painfully unreliable. Cannons could inflict damage within five hundred meters, but Marine regulations still required firing within three hundred meters because accuracy was simply too difficult to control. In truth, she had given the order too late. Marine protocol allowed two rounds of firing at three hundred meters, but at two hundred meters, they could only fire once.

After one volley, they would have to prepare to board.

In fact, most Marines did not follow that rule too strictly—because at sea, Marines were always chasing pirates around.

And the Marines usually fired as many rounds as they wanted.

But now, not only had the enemy not fled, they were slowly approaching them instead. They clearly meant no good. The coming boarding battle was unavoidable.

The Marines rubbed their fists together, eager for battle. They were not afraid of boarding pirates—though most of them were little more than cannon fodder on the open sea.

Sure enough, the cannon fire was unreliable. Of the ten cannons on one side, only two shells hit. One merely tore through the enemy's sail and flew far away. Only one exploded at the enemy's bow, blasting countless splinters into the air.

The shattered wood and sharp splinters flew everywhere. Even Ace instinctively ducked his head, yet he saw that not a single pirate standing on the deck wavered.

"Impressive..." Even Michael, the teacher, had to admire the pirates' discipline. He had no idea what these pirates had gone through, but discipline that kept them still even in the face of death was enough to surpass most people in this world.

Several pirates had been struck by the exploding splinters, blood streaming from their arms and bodies, yet they gritted their teeth without making a sound.

Clearly, if they so much as moved, they would suffer something even more terrifying and painful.

"Fire!" Leo shouted when the two sides drew within a hundred meters.

The ten cannons had long since been moved to this side, fully loaded with powder. The shells shot out at once. This time, four of the ten struck home, slamming solidly into the enemy's hull.

Four large holes were immediately blasted into the warship's outer hull. It swayed unsteadily, as though it might sink at any moment.

But four holes in the side of a ship were nowhere near enough to destroy a warship. Moreover, this ship sat very high in the water. To sink it with this level of firepower would likely take at least three or four volleys. And with Devil Fruit users blocking the shots, someone like Luffy could make however many cannons they fired completely meaningless.

That was why few people used cannon fire as their main source of fighting strength. Most used it only as support.

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

Everyone firmly believed that.

No one believed in the strength of foot soldiers. No one believed in the strength of the weak. No one believed in the strength of the masses.

But today, Leo would change that.

"Close in! Don't be afraid!" Cannonballs that did not explode on the deck were meaningless. Blasting a few holes in the hull did not affect the Marines' combat strength at all.

Even now, the Marines had gathered the gunners from below onto the deck. A pirate crew with a fifty-million-Beli bounty was not an enemy they could handle by splitting their forces.

All the Marines waited in formation on deck, planks raised high. Their ship was still about a man's length from the enemy's. Though their firepower was stronger, both their carrying capacity and size were inferior to the enemy's.

This was not a disadvantage. First, Marine ships could sail very fast. Second, they held great advantages whether fleeing or pursuing in naval battles. Finally, in large-scale naval combat, the Marines could pack more warships and troops into a small area. That was entirely different from the pirates' practice of treating one ship as one fortress.

As the two ships gradually drew closer, the silence aboard the enemy vessel became even more unsettling. But Iska gritted her teeth, raised her saber, and charged forward at the head of the assault.

More than a dozen men raised three enormous planks and laid them across the enemy's rail. Yet no one came to destroy the planks or stop them. The silence was terrifying.

The Marines followed Iska in a disorderly rush, gripping guns, blades, and swords. But the moment they climbed onto the enemy's rail, they were stunned by the sight before them.

More than a hundred pirates stood in neat ranks, arranged by height, build, and size. They held rows upon rows of muskets. The first row crouched halfway, while the second row aimed at them.

Sixteen muskets made the Marines' limbs go cold. The firepower of sixteen muskets formed a wall. In the next instant, countless bloody blossoms erupted from their bodies, and the seven or eight Marines who had just boarded fell to the deck.

Perhaps they were dead. Perhaps they were only wounded. But that was unimportant.

More Marines continued to rush up from behind, but the sixteen men put away their guns and walked to the rear without looking back.

One Marine who had not yet died struggled to his feet. He watched another sixteen men step forward and take the previous group's positions. They crouched, raised their guns, and aimed without hesitation at the second wave of Marines rushing aboard. In less than a second, they completed a second volley...

The line behind them seemed to have no end. The sixteen men walked to the rear again, and another sixteen stepped out, aiming at the third wave of Marines rushing aboard...

"No! No!" Iska had already been wounded and knocked to the ground by the first volley.

Tears streamed down her face as she cried out, "Don't come up here anymore!"

"Stop slaughtering my subordinates!!"

That was right. This was nothing more than a slaughter.

PS: Second update. It still ended up being delayed until one in the morning.