Chapter 45: The Final Battle (Part 1)

  The Inferno of the twin-masted Flying Fish class, its cabin is divided into two layers, the upper layer is the gun room and the sailor's room, and the lower layer is the storage room, the captain's room and the first mate's room.

  Tang Jie's three-masted Lion Eagle class warship, due to its larger hull, was divided into upper, middle and lower decks. The upper deck had the sailors' quarters, the main cabin, the measurement room, and the gunroom. The middle deck had the captain's quarters, the first mate's quarters, the combat room, the staff room, the sailors' quarters, and the gunroom. The lower deck was used for storage rooms that held large amounts of fresh water and food, as well as a lumber room that stored wooden materials for emergency repairs.

  Tang Jie's boat had a huge hole in the bottom, and seawater was pouring into the ship. In just a moment, the lowest cabin became an underwater world.

  Tang Jie slid down the stairs and saw that all around him were food and wooden barrels filled with fresh water and rum, while the sailors were holding planks of wood from the carpentry room and rushing madly towards the leak!

  Bill caught sight of Tong Jie's figure at a glance, and his heart was determined. He walked over with his two legs in the water above his knees, saying loudly: "Captain, the current is too fast, we can't block it!"

  Tang Jie's heart was burning with anxiety, but his face didn't show it at all. He had a stern expression and quickly scanned the cabin, shouting loudly: "I'll block this gap, the rest of you sailors hurry up and bail out the water here!"

  At his command, some sailors who were desperately blocking the gap with wooden boards suddenly let out a sigh of relief, and they rushed to grab the floating wooden buckets, starting to frantically scoop up water, then passed them on to the second layer of sailors in a relay manner.

  Tang Jie stared at the half-meter diameter hole, seawater pouring in endlessly, his heart racing with cold air. He gritted his teeth, sank to both knees, and plunged into the water with a loud splash, stabilizing his body before slowly moving towards the gap.

  The water in the gap rushed with great force, and ordinary sailors could not stand still in such a rapid current. Tang Jie relied on his solid horse stance and waist strength to forcibly pounce on the gap, and as soon as he took a breath, he felt the cold and salty seawater hit him like a heavy fist, almost knocking him out!

  "Give me the plank!!" Tang Jie stood in the gap, against the surging seawater, his whole body soaked, and shouted back.

  Bill handed over a neatly cut rectangular spruce wood strip to Tang Jie.

  This kind of elm is hard and has excellent toughness, many sailors like to use this wooden board to patch the holes that appear on the sea boat, almost every ship has a reserve of this wooden board for emergencies.

  "Ship's nail!!" Tang Jie took over the oak stick and stretched out one hand towards Bill.

  "Where's the ship?" Bill bellowed, turning his head.

  The sailors were taken aback!

  Tang Jie stood in the torrent, every second fighting against the powerful impact of the water flow. Seeing this situation, he was anxious and angry: "Hurry up and find the anchor, you bastards! Do you want to wait for the boat to sink?"

  "Here! Here!" The sailors were in a flurry, and at last found the ship's nails in the wood-room, and flew to Tong Dajie's side.

  Tang Jie took over the thumb-thick, two-inch-long boat nail, biting two in his mouth, and with both hands placed the oak board horizontally on the left side of the gap. He turned his head back, facing the direction where there was no water flow, took a deep breath, propped up the oak board with one hand, and quickly removed the boat nails from his mouth with the other hand, trying to press the boat nail onto the wooden board!

  But he had just loosened one hand when a tremendous force came, hitting the oak board in his hand, and immediately sent this piece of wood flying out!

  Bill stood by in horror and shouted: "Hurry up and help the captain hold the plank!"

  Two sturdy sailors immediately brought another board and handed it to Tang Jie. After Tang Jie covered the leftmost part of the leak with the board, they pressed down on it from top to bottom at once!

  Tang Jie suddenly opened one hand, just taking out a boat nail from his mouth, and suddenly thought of something, shouting vaguely at Bill: "Hammer, where's the hammer?"

  Tang Jie had a boat nail in his mouth, so he spoke unclearly. Bill was stunned for a moment, and when Tang Jie glared at him with eyes that were almost split open, making a fierce punching motion, he finally understood!

  Bill hastily scanned the cabin, only to find that the entire lower deck was knee-deep in seawater, with all sorts of dried and salted food and wooden barrels floating around, even the woodshed was like this, for a moment, where could he find an iron hammer?

  Tang Jie saw Bill's expression, his heart tightened, he let out a loud roar, and suddenly didn't need the iron hammer, his whole body bursting with energy, one fist emitting dazzling golden light, shining on this rivet, and punched down!

  This fist, swelling with Dou Qi, had once beaten to death a third-grade Magic Swordsman wearing thick heavy armor. It wasn't an iron hammer, but it was even harder and more terrifying than an iron hammer!

  This nail was smashed in by Tang Jie with one strike, instantly sinking entirely into the wooden plank!

  Tang Jie punched at the other end of the plank, and it was firmly nailed over the gap!

  The sailors in the lower hold were stunned, followed by a burst of cheers and applause, and they actively handed over the wooden boards in their hands to Tang Jie. Tang Jie painted the gourd according to the pattern, quickly nailing one piece after another of the wooden board onto the gap!

  As he nailed the last plank, the force of the water flow also reached its peak. Tang Jie and the sailors were all tilted into the water, with half their heads in the water and half in the air, using all their might to push the plank bit by bit towards the gap!

  Tang Jie led the sailors in a loud roar, unleashing a fierce howl that only the most bloodthirsty men could produce!

  Tang Jie's body arched into a trembling arc, his rugged and angular rock-like muscles soaked in seawater, exuding a strong masculine aura!

  The sailors shouted and put the last piece of wood in place, Tang Jie immediately took a deep breath, placed the nail on the board, and punched it down like a cannonball, then another punch came from below!

  The gap has been filled!

  The sailors narrowly escaped death and burst into wild cheers, they looked at Tang Jie with the most fervent and reverent eyes, looking at this captain who was much younger than them!

  That black-haired man has completely conquered them with that one move!

  Tang Jie didn't have time to enjoy this kind of king-like worship, he hadn't even caught his breath when he heard Nia shouting loudly on the deck: "Captain Tang Jie, there are enemy ships approaching from both port and starboard, shall we open fire?"

  Tang Jie flew to the stairs, turned his head and roared at Bill: "Bill, take the guys into the gun cabin quickly! A few sailors can stay here to bail out water!"

  He swiftly climbed up the deck, while Bill led most of the sailors back into the gunroom, tensely preparing for the next round of cannon fire!

  Due to the previous counterfire from the sinking of the USS Vincennes and the USS Blue in Death Valley, some gun positions in the turret had been blown away, the cylindrical cannons were tilted and lying on the ground, rolling with the ship's movement, emitting a dull rumbling sound. Some sailors who were killed by shells lay in pools of blood, the turret was filled with thick smoke and the smell of blood!

  Bill, with his rich experience in sea battles, saw the blood and severed limbs on the ground without changing his expression, directing the sailors to rush into the gun cabin to replenish the cannons with gunpowder and shells.

  Tang Jie went up to the deck and saw that Niya had already turned the ship sideways, successfully seizing the "one" in the horizontal position of the "T"-shaped naval warfare tactic. The cannons on the warship were all facing the Xixi Sea Defense Army pursuing from behind.

  "Captain Tung, which one should we take down first?" Nia stood on the helm platform, her body leaning forward, anxiously shouting at Tung.

  Tang Jie looked back and saw that there were still as many as eight warships behind them, divided into two sides, chasing after them. The "Hell" was not far from their rear, with flames burning at the stern and thick smoke billowing out, its damage much more severe than theirs!

  "Nina, signal to Captain Barlow that we'll concentrate our firepower on the first warship on the right side for now!" Tong Jie gave a swift order and rushed to the helm, replacing Nina.

  The Hell's Messenger received his flag signal and quickly made adjustments. The two sea vessels, under the control of Tong Jie and Ba Er, drew a beautiful arc on the surface of the water, swiftly circling to the right side of the warship, still firmly grasping the most advantageous position in the naval battle!

  The Hellas and Tung Chee's warships, with their hulls parallel to each other, dozens of cannons aimed at the Xixis' naval defense ships, let out a unified roar!

  A burst of torrential rain-like cannon fire!

  These naval ships of the coastal defense forces were cleverly exploited by the pirates from the very beginning, taking advantage of their complacency. After Tang Jie broke out of the Death Strait, they pressed down on them with an overwhelming force, never allowing them to turn around and counterattack with the broadside cannons.

  It's like two boxers on the boxing ring, one boxer always circles around the other and punches heavily at the opponent's waist and abdomen with both fists, while the beaten boxer can't keep up with the opponent's pace from the start, not only gets hit everywhere but also can't effectively land a punch on the opponent!

  Tang Jie gripped the steering wheel tightly, his eyes fixed intently on the enemy ship on the surface of the sea. At this moment, every pore on his body was open, and every nerve was magnified to the extreme, so sensitive that as soon as the hull made even the slightest movement, he could immediately perceive it and make precise manipulations through the steering wheel!

  He knew that at this moment, any slight negligence and mistake would lead to a complete defeat, and everyone on the boat would die here!

  Under the super-long swing of Tang Jie and with the assistance of Master Wu, this three-masted Lionheart-class sea vessel came alive like a nimble assassin, always appearing in the most unbearable position for its opponent, seizing the opponent's throat first, then delivering the fatal blow!

  "Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!"

  Another deafening cannon shot!

  Under the joint attack of the Hell's Gate and Tong Jie's warship, the nearest three-masted vulture-class battleship instantly turned into a fireball!

  But before the pirates could even cheer, the remaining seven warships took advantage of Tang Jie and his men concentrating their firepower to sink one warship, and turned all their ships sideways!

  Tang Jie looked at the seven warships sideways, and the dense cannons simultaneously pushed out of the gun cabins, he was shocked to the point where the hairs on his back stood upright!

  Second watch, who is the great hero helping me deal with the noble guest today?

  It's really a waste, thank you so much, I'll make a small explosion tomorrow to express gratitude.