British hegemon

Chapter 62: Gold Without Danger

Now that he had seen through the enemy's strengths and weaknesses, Roger was not about to let this easy prey slip away. "Turn around, hoist the sails, take off the oars, and give chase!"

Under the temporary captain's command, everyone worked together to pull the rigging and raise the square sail, while adjusting the direction of the fore and cerulean sails.

Changing course and adjusting the sails took a lot of time, and the two ships were getting further and further apart.

By the time the Seawolf was tracing a famous arc in pursuit of the Three Lions, the two ships had already separated by half a mile.

The Three Lions boat is small in size and uses both sails and oars, making it relatively fast.

The Seawolf was no pushover either. While the fore-and-aft sails weren't as effective as the square sails when sailing downwind, they still provided some assistance to the mainmast and square sails. With three oars on each side, the distance between them gradually closed.

However, the Three Lions were fleeing for their lives, and their sailors were more experienced, rowing their oars at breakneck speed.

The distance between the two sides fluctuated around half a mile. As masts began to appear on the horizon ahead, the temporary captain and Marne and others worried that an English fleet might be lying in ambush ahead. Even the most radical Olaf was considering retreating.

"Sir, perhaps we should give up. Even if we catch up soon, we won't have the strength to board. Besides, it might be an English trap," Marne advised, looking at the Three Lions ship that they couldn't catch up with and the unidentified ship in the distance.

The sea breeze, carrying a salty tang, rushed into his collar. Roger gripped the gunwale, his knuckles turning white from the effort. Though unwilling, he dared not be too reckless. "Tell the men to stop rowing. We're not going to chase them anymore."

Marne went down and loudly gave the order. Several men in the cabin, drenched in sweat, went up to the deck, lowered the sails, and prepared to adjust the course.

The group's spirits and energy had been greatly diminished.

They had all experienced or heard about Roger's bandit suppression efforts and knew that the greater the risk, the greater the reward.

Just as the temporary captain was pulling on the rudder to turn the ship, the young stable boy on the lookout at the top of the mast suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs, "The wind has changed! The northwest wind has turned into a northeast wind!"

Before the words were finished, the Seawolf slowly came to a stop, its originally bulging sails instantly deflated, and were then pulled by the force in the opposite direction, making them flutter loudly.

In the distance, the English Three Lions ship was being pulled away uncontrollably by the northeasterly wind, drifting away from the Galloway coast and heading southwest towards Ireland.

"Hey hey hey, it's veering off course! It's veering off course!" the bald man shouted excitedly, pointing at the veerging Three Lions ship.

Roger's gaze swept over the sail lines, then he looked up at the sky. The ducks that had flown away had been blown back. He decisively ordered, "Lower the square sails, raise the fore and aft sails!"

Roger's throat was sore from shouting, "Side away from the wind, take a shortcut and intercept it!"

The old fisherman quickly called to those around him, and they frantically climbed the mast and pulled in the ropes.

With the creaking sound of linen canvas rubbing against wooden poles, the triangular sail slowly unfurled, like the unfolding of a folded bird's wings.

The Seawolf drew a tricky arc on the sea, heading towards the Three Lions with the northeasterly wind on its left.

The Seawolf must take advantage of this northeasterly wind and catch up with the Three Lions as quickly as possible.

Otherwise, even if the Three Lions were blown to Ireland after dark, their own people wouldn't be able to board.

……

Half an hour later, the Seawolf caught up with the tail of the Three Lions again, and the distance between the two ships gradually closed to within a hundred paces.

At this point, the three-lion ship realized that it could not escape, and that going further southwest would only make its fate uncertain.

The Three Lions lowered their sails and ordered their longbowmen to fire arrows at the pursuing Seawolf.

Onboard the Seawolf, the crew, organized by Marne and Olaf, also engaged in a crossbow duel.

The distance was still far, and both sides were shooting based on probability; after several rounds, no one was injured.

"Wolves travel a thousand miles to eat meat, dogs travel a thousand miles to eat shit." Roger used this somewhat incongruous phrase to encourage those around him. "In a little while, Marne and Olaf will lead the way. Except for the captain and the old fisherman who will stay behind to steer the boat, the rest of you will board with me. I'll give half of what we get to the brave ones who board."

The crowd cheered loudly, taking out gangplanks, boarding hooks, and other equipment, and crouching by the ship's side to guard against arrows while waiting for the two ships to approach.

Just as the two ships came within thirty paces, a shout came from the Three Lions.

The voice, carried by the wind, was somewhat distorted and indistinct: "Don't chase... negotiate... pay the ransom..."

Roger repeated the message several times, then looked at the people around him with a puzzled expression: "What does this mean?"

Olaf, however, was experienced. "Sir, they want to pay to have their lives taken."

No sooner had he finished speaking than two men emerged from the starboard side of the Three Lions ship. One was carrying a small oak barrel, while the other scooped up a large pile of things that gleamed in the setting sun and poured them into the barrel.

A short while later, the oak barrel was thrown into the sea between the two boats, where it bobbed slightly.

"Is this a bribe?" Roger was quite surprised by the Englishman's blatant attempt to bribe the "bandits."

"Sir, they are just merchant ships on duty, this is not unusual." Marne had obviously done this kind of thing before, but it was unclear whether it was bribery or accepting bribes.

After throwing away the empty bucket, and seeing that there was no violent reaction from the Seawolf, the Three Lions extended four pairs of wooden oars from its cabin and frantically rowed towards Galloway.

"Sir, we've already paid... so why don't we just let it go?" Olaf asked.

Roger watched the sunset gradually approach the horizon, then glanced at the surroundings as it darkened. "Back to the course, go and retrieve that barrel."

Roger's first maritime trade trip was marred by a harmless incident that brought him a "bribe" worth approximately two pounds.

Everyone just put in the effort and sweated, without even having the chance to bleed from jumping on the board, so they were really embarrassed to share half of the "spoils of war".

Finally, Roger took out fifteen shillings and distributed them to everyone, even the fishermen from Ram Rush received five silver pennies.

While everyone was extremely excited, they also gained more confidence, realizing that even the so-called English army could flee at the first sign of trouble.

Although this time they weren't facing a proper Scottish army, who would care? Anyway, the whole Isle of Arran would be filled with the heroic deeds of Lord Roger in defeating the English fleet.

……

As the sun gradually set below the horizon, the sea began to ripple, and the wind direction shifted between favorable and unfavorable. In order to get out of this relatively narrow sea area as soon as possible, everyone on the Seawolf was divided into three groups and took turns rowing, which increased the ship's speed considerably.

Around 11 p.m., the Seawolf finally crossed the strait, but encountered waves and strange winds. The experienced temporary captain decisively ordered the ship to head towards the coastline. Luckily, guided by a faint lighthouse, they managed to sneak into a safe harbor in the dark.

With high winds and rough seas, and without the guidance of stars and moonlight, the Seawolf dared not risk going any further.

Roger then arranged for guard duty to be carried out in shifts, ordered the sails to be lowered and anchor to be dropped, and instructed everyone to rest quietly for the night to recharge their energy. The sailors and crew members not on guard duty all took refuge in the cabins below deck, where they could shelter from the wind and rain, to rest.

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Roger's door was knocked on by the temporary captain.

The interim captain reported that the Seawolf was currently anchored in a safe harbor on Copeland Island, outside Belfast Harbour.

This area is already Irish territory, but apart from Carrickfergus Castle, there is no English influence in other areas, so there is not much risk as long as one does not land on the island and expose oneself.

In Roger's time, Carrickfergus was merely a satellite city of Belfast, but now the roles are reversed: Carrickfergus is an important gateway to Ulster, while Belfast is just a small port town in its early stages.

Roger then inquired in detail about Carrick Fergus and Belfast.

According to Olaf and the temporary captain, Carrickfergus is one of the most important fortified castles in northern Ireland, with nearly a thousand soldiers and civilians, and is heavily fortified.

Belfast, near the castle and bordering the harbor, primarily develops port transportation and shipbuilding. The port has two shipyards and three small docks, and at least one-third of the merchant ships and fishing boats sailing in the northern seas are produced here.

The Seawolf was hiding on Copeland Island, which was only seventeen miles from Belfast Harbour. However, that harbor was too close to Carrickfergus, which was controlled by the English. It would be very dangerous to rush in without the help of local forces, so Roger gave up his plan to visit Belfast.

Before dawn, Roger had already ordered the Seawolf to continue its voyage. It needed to leave the area before being discovered to avoid causing unnecessary trouble.

Navigation technology and instruments in this era were still in a relatively primitive state; astronomical instruments, compasses, sextants, and astronomical clocks were all unavailable.

Roger's ship had a navigation instrument called the "Jacob's Rod" in the stern, but it was said that only the slain pirate leader Ulf knew how to use it. Roger guessed that it probably used the sun or stars to measure direction, but its practicality in the weather-changing, cloudy and rainy Nordic waters was questionable.

Limited by navigation technology, most seagoing ship captains rely on experience to identify sea routes, so seagoing ships generally try to stay close to the coastline.

For this reason, the Seawolf was more cautious on its voyage after leaving Copeland.

This is the Irish Sea, where merchant ships shuttle between England and Ireland in great numbers. Although most of these merchant ships are also of the Kirk type, their size is far greater than that of the Seawolf.

While sailing through the waters between the Isle of Man and Kiloch, the ship encountered an English merchant ship that was eighty feet long, twice the size of the Seawolf. Faced with such a maritime behemoth, the Seawolf had no choice but to obediently detour and avoid it.

Moreover, once they reached the southern coast of Ireland, the English navy was no longer as weak as it was in the north. The Royal Navy had not yet been formally established, but a semi-professional English navy was slowly taking shape, and they had an absolute advantage at least against one or two dilapidated pirate ships.

However, as mentioned before, the main purpose of the English warships was to establish maritime dominance over the Irish and a maritime blockade against the Scots. Their aim was to suppress smuggling and dissent, and they generally did not want to provoke pirates, these hungry and ruthless forces.

The Seawolf's pirate flag was renowned in the northern seas, with merchant ships of all sizes having to detour around it, and even patrolling English ships daring not to provoke it. However, this was not the northern seas, and few people knew the special significance of the Seawolf flag.