BXBX NOVEL Chapter 181: Battle of Surat [1]
Fernando looked at the port standing on the crow\'s nest on the highest mast of the ship. He got an overview of the port from a distance. He could barely make out the tiny distances from a distance.
The port city was evacuated by the Marathas so it was desolate and no sign of people were found.
Fernando noticed that there were no soldiers near the dock and port. There were no ships ready to defend the port.
"Did they leave the port alone for our taking and put up a barricade outside the port city?" He mumbled.
That was the best strategy that the Marathas could use in this situation. The Portuguese would just take them out with their cannons from a distance. He looked out at the port with an intriguing expression, taking in the salty breeze.
He was convinced that taking the Port of Surat was going to be a child\'s play at this point.
The ships moved ahead in neatly spread-out formations, with the two Carracks leading the charges.
Fernando sighed as he got down from the crow\'s nest. "We didn\'t even have to bring out the Carracks if they were going to run away after seeing our ships!"
The vice commander commented with a smile. "Those guys are no match for us anyway, right commander?"
"AHAHA, yeah but let\'s just focus on taking the port as quickly as possible. I don\'t want to waste my time on these things."
The ships moved closer and closer to the port. Fernando could now make things out with his eyes. He didn\'t see any catapults or trebuchets in the port.
\'Did they take it out?\' He thought. \'Well, they might use it to defend against the land army, I guess.\'
The port didn\'t even have a single soldier in sight as the ships were just 500 meters away. Suddenly, at the corner of his eyes, Fernando noticed the soldiers coming out from behind the buildings, pushing catapults and trebuchets.
There were many catapults hidden under the cover of the buildings.
The Marathas hid them to lure the ships into the range of the catapults, as they have limited range compared to the cannons.
"Catapults? HAHAHA, look at them trying to defend against our ships!" laughed the vice commander.
"Let them try, AHAHHA," Fernando joined in with him as he wanted to see the last struggle of the Marathas before they take the port.
Tens of iron shells flew into the air as the Maratha cut the catapults loose. It was sparking in the air.
Fernanda smirked, as the most damage an iron shell from the catapults could do was to damage the exterior of their ships. Even the third-rate ships could handle the iron shells for a long time before they became significantly damaged.
*BOOM*
*BOOM*
*BOOM*
*BOOM*
His ears rang as debris flew in the air from the carrack beside him. The iron shell landed right on the swivel cannons. He turned to face the other carrack.
The side of the ship was blown off. Tens of soldiers were charred to crisp by the explosion. The shells exploded right on the cannons on the ship, igniting the gunpowder stored and it exploded, severely damaging the ship.
*BOOM*
*BOOM*
*BOOM*
The sound of explosions mingled in the sea as the third-rate ships were struck with a chain of iron shells. Some had missed their mark but damaged the ship due to the sheer force of the explosion.
\'Huh? What is that? Explosions?\' His mind went blank.
Screams of agony could be heard as the soldiers jumped into the water from the sinking ships. So many died by the first chain of catapults. Everyone was frozen by the sudden explosion. No one knew what had happened. Experience tales at m v|l e\'-NovelBin.net
The Marathas began loading up the catapults for the next shots. Fernando broke from the daze.
"Regroup and prepare to fire on the catapults." He roared.
The soldiers moved despite being injured to fire the cannons.
"These damn bastards." He muttered. "Fire."
The cannons roared to life, launching their shells onto the loaded catapult. The fuse grenade exploded along with the catapult. It threw the soldiers standing near by into the air.
The Maratha commander ordered a quick retreat behind the buildings. The second chain of cannon shots didn\'t do much damage as the buildings stood in between them. They damaged the buildings with the shells.
Some buildings fell in the process and the catapults were exposed. They were also taken out by the volley of fire.
The damage on the second-rate ships was extensive due to the explosion of the cannons. The fire spread and the soldiers had to jump into the sea.
The carrack had sunk along with a couple of the third-rate ships.
Fernando\'s woes didn\'t end yet. The Marathas still had an ace up their sleeve. Small sloops entered the fray from behind. They came out after seeing the explosion on the ships. They had some grenades and three members at point.
Their main purpose was to sink the already damaged ships.
The Portuguese attention was on the catapults. They use the opening to come close to the third-rate ships and chucked fuse grenades on to the hull, injuring many Portuguese in the process.
Some of them aimed for the cannons igniting the gunpowder in the process. The jarring booms echoed through the sea as Fernando watched his formation fall into pieces. His mind was blank, as he didn\'t know what to do in the situation.
The hull and side of his carrack were also damaged. He looked around frantically for any way out of this.
The Maratha brought their catapults out of the cover again. They were helpless despite having superior artillery. Their over compliant nature helped Marathas to damage them.
They were ready to die with the catapults.
Meanwhile, their ships were damaged badly. Their crew were struggling in the water, gripping on the debris from the ship to stay afloat.
Fernando had to accept the grim reality.
He lost the battle.