Matan’s Shooter - Chapter 257
Chapter 257
“Hoho, why aren’t those bastards playing today?”
“Right. Isn’t this crazy? Did they come here knowing that they’re going to die?”
“Leave it alone. It’s going well. We’re going to make a full-scale attack today, so it’s better that Fibiel came on their own.”
“Right, right. It’s annoying that it gets cramped when we get on land. They’re not planning to have a close-up battle are they?”
“They don’t have Ram Hwajeong to back them up so that shouldn’t be the case. For now, they are getting closer to us.”
The users on the deck looked at Fibiel’s fleet getting close to them. 4 nautical miles, 3.7 nautical miles, 3.5 nautical miles…….
“Are they really coming?”
“Hey, do they really want to fight like this?”
The Kraven users were puzzled. Are they really going to proceed with their plan knowing that they were going to lose? The voice of Kraven’s NPC Admiral spead softly among the users.
“Ready to fire the first shot.”
“Ready to fire the first shooooot-!”
“Put the gunpowder! Get ready! Get ready to fire!”
“Enchant! There might be shielding on the ship!”
“Move quickly!”
There was a gap in the movement between the Kraven users and the NPCs, and Fibiel forces finally moved.
“The Fibiel navy, make a quick turn! Hard Starboard Estimation! Estimated Starboard rout 80 degrees!”
“Admiral! The Fibiel army crossed the Culverin’s range-”
“It’s too late. It’s already too late to run away now! The leading fleet, pursue the Fibiel forces! Starboard 10 degrees! Pursue the enemy from 90 degrees direction! Starboard ready! Contact commander Drake! They can ambush the enemy while we are holding them back!”
“Understood! Boatswaiiiiiin-! Starboard! Starboard! Ready!”
“Ay, Ay, Sir!”
When Fibiel’s fleet made a sharp turn in an almost A-shape, they inevitably slowed down. What if Kraven narrowed the distance and attacked the players to port again? Fibiel’s ship, which was slow to propel, would not be able to get out of the Culverin’s range!
“Huh? Ohh? There- that, navigator-nim!”
The user positioned in the watchtower tilted his head.
“What is it?! What are they doing?”
“I think there’s a ship coming out of Fibiel over there? No, it’s slightly left.”
“Huh?”
“A ship……. I think they made a port turn rather than a starboard turn.”
“What are you talking about?”
The navigator player looked at the distant sea. Indeed, when all of Fibiel’s fleet made a sharp turn and turned to the right, a ship suddenly turned to the left.
“Huh? What are they doing?”
It was a particularly thin and slender boat compared to the other ships.
“What should we do?”
“……For now, let’s contact the fleet behind us. We just have to listen to what the admiral says.”
“Okay, understood.”
“Continue to observe the main unit.”
“Yes!”
The watchtower user and the navigator user nodded their heads. Just like that, they had no time to pay attention to such a crazy ship with inexperienced navigators when everything is about to ‘end’ in Dike Beach.
“It’s coming! Kraven’s Battle Fleet Starboard in action! They are trying to catch the main forces from behind!”
“What is their speed? Navigator! What is their speed?”
“E-even if there’s wind- We still need more time!”
“They are approaching rapidly! The distance is rapidly decreasing!”
“A-admiral!”
Hearing the shouts of users and NPCs, the navigator approached the admiral of Fibiel’s second fleet. But the admiral only shook his head, clenching his teeth until his gums bled.
“We have to go this way.”
“B-but they will catch up! Even if we barely escape this time, how many times will we have to do this in the future-”
“This is the strategy the commander risked his life for. Are you afraid when we are within so many fleets?”
“T-thats, no…”
****
“Me too.”
“Yes?”
“It’s annoying that I can’t be the spearhead of this strategy that required to risk the commander’s life.”
The 2nd fleet admiral squeezed his voice as if he was about to spit out blood.
As Leeha had already observed, the admirals and the commander of Fibiel’s navy were close to each other.
It could be said that Naval Commander Burke’s popularity was high.
Therefore, the NPC admirals were compelled to agree to this operation that endangered Burke, and they could only lament that their strength was weaker than Kraven’s.
“Kraven ahead-! The fleet equipped with Culverine is breaking port! The distance is 3.1, no, 3.2 nautical miles-!”
“It’s coming! The enemy’s first shot is coming! Ready your maneuvers to dodge! Helmsman!”
“Ready!”
“Evasive-”
Boom, boom, boo, boo, boom-! Far away in the sea where the sound of waves, the sea breeze, and all kinds of shouts to stir the ships are raging.
The lightest but heaviest noise was heard in the ears of the Fibiel Navy.
“-Boooong! Evasive maneuver!”
“It’s hide-and-seek with our lives on the line from now on! If we survive until sunset today, it’s our victory! Tell this to all the ships of the 1st and 2nd fleet!”
“What should I tell them admiral!”
“Survive! Carry out starboard!”
Starboooooooard!
Hwaaaaa-
At the command of the admiral, the helmsman broke the rudder to starboard.
The whistling sound of the devil of the sea tickled their ears in an instant.
Baaang, baaaang, baaang!
“Uwaaah!”
Huge cannonballs flew in the sky and fell near the Fibiel ships, creating a huge shock wave.
“Don’t be afraid, do what you have to do! It’s the maximum range anyway, so the accuracy is low!”
It was just that. The first shot was from 6,000m away, which was the Culverin’s maximum range.
Although there were about 300 Fibiel ships, only two or three were hit. Only a part of the upper decks was damaged.
It wasn’t the cannons that frightened the Fibiel naval forces.
It was the fact that they have already reached the ‘shooting range’. And once they start the running race, it would be hard to get rid of the Kraven ships.
If it was actually like that?
“Get ready for the second shot! It’s going to get real from now on! You must get out of the way!”
“You have to speed up before the second shot comes! Mass, tie the mass rope!”
They will see real hell soon enough.
The admiral of the 2nd fleet, who was entrusted to command the 1st fleet in the place of commander Burke, watched as a ship moved away.
A ship as thin but as fast as a sailfish.
“Commander-nim…”
“Wah, this is amazing……. You got it right again.”
“That’s what I said. Those ignorant bastards shoot artillery out of instinct. Even at a distance that cannot be calculated, it is like that.”
The one ship that separated was Burke’s ship, the Sailfish. Leeha admired Kraven’s artillery fire from the stern of the ship
‘At 6,000m, no matter how many times they shoot, will they be able to hit anything?’
The most important thing was to measure the distance and angle. The first shot wasn’t about shooting to hit.
‘Is there any achievement for that? No, in the first place, you have to aim and shoot at a specific individual target to get acknowledged, why wouldn’t they consider shooting at a group of soldiers like that as an achievement? Anyway, this is great.’
In the midst of that, Leeha once again admired the capabilities of the Kraven Navy while thinking about his achievements.
‘Cough, I have made a very dangerous strategy.’ Leeha thought……
He regretted it a little, thinking that he might have made a huge mistake.
“So, what about you?”
“Yes?”
“Can you do it?”
“Of course. As the commander said
……. Because we can only do it today, while there’s a knife at our neck.”
“It’s crazy. I agreed to it- but this is still too crazy.”
“You wanted to do something even crazier.”
“Hmm.”
Burke couldn’t help but nod his head. Comparing Drake’s fleet to Kraven’s most powerful fleet, it’s clear that their first plan was bound to fail.
“The rear fleet has found us! A few galleons are heading towards us!”
“It’s okay if it’s a galleon, they only have a cannon anyway.”
“Did you say that Culverin is only in battleships?”
“It’s Kraven’s precious pony. They could not supply it to ordinary fleets and can only put it on the Admiral’s ships and the Admiral’s escort ships.”
“That’s great. Go closer!”
Leeha shouted. The navigator took turns between looking at Burke and Leeha.
“G-get closer?”
“Yep! Approach them with caution. Most importantly, full speed ahead.”
“Understood! Full speed ahead! Full speed ahead!”
At the navigator’s words, the Sailfish accelerated. The acceleration was fast enough to make Leeha stumble for a moment.
The fact that the Sailfish could achieve this level of acceleration was a testament to the ability of the Sailfish and its crew to handle the vessel.
“The enemy galleon has increased its speed! It is turning toward the main ship!”
“Distance?”
“About 4 nautical miles!”
“Which fleet?”
“Checking the flag- Two morning stars crossed! It is Kraven’s 3rd Fleet!”
Burke nodded as he heard the voice from the watchtower.
“Good.”
“Is that good?”
“He is the most ignorant and inflexible guy of the Kraven pirates. All he knows is to do what he had learned.”
“Then…”
“He must have forgotten Drake’s instructions already. That guy must be thinking ‘Don’t let the enemy catch you from the back’.”
Burke chuckled. Leeha listened to his words as he put a bullet into the Black Bass.
“It sounds like he’s the perfect first target.”
“Isn’t it the type of idiot who dies in the war first.”
“I’ll get ready.”
“Then we’re going in.”
“Yes.”
Leeha went next to the player and took a seat, then looked to the right.
When he leaned his upper body a little in front of the ship, there was nothing but an open sea. There were no covers like trees or rocks in the sea. There was no terrain or elevation.
In other words, you could see the limits of your vision. At the far right of the Sailfish, Kraven’s fleet was advancing. Where Fibiel’s ship is running away, and the Kraven’s ships chasing after them.
During the movement of the Kraven ships lined up in two rows, only a few ships of the fleet closest to the view from the starboard of the sailfish on the far right of the back row, based on the direction of movement, are concerned about this.
Even Kraven knew that if a ship caught up to them from behind, it wouldn’t do any damage. They were also confident that a ship from about 4 nautical miles away would not be able to catch up to them.
‘In other words, we have to make use of that carelessness. Drake isn’t the enemy right now. Just the normal admirals. Just as there’s a time difference between Burke and his admirals, there should be a time difference in Kraven as well.’
Leeha wrapped a lifeline around his waist and carefully sat down.
When he turned his head to look at Burke, the captain of the Sailfish and Fibiel’s naval commander, he was approaching the helm.
“I will steer.”
“T-the commander-in-chief will pilot directly?”
“That’s right. You need to be a madman to do crazy things.”
He couldn’t deny it anyway. The helmsman immediately gave way to Burke. Burke grabbed the helm of the Sailfish that was bigger than him.
“Kuhaha! Okay, the handle is nice, it feels very good to steer! Everyone, hard starboard!”
“H-Hard Starboard……?”
“I won’t say it twice from now on! Anyone who repeats my instruction will get summary judgement!”
The captain and naval commander. There was no one who spoke or objected to that single cry.
If a country has a king, and a ship has a captain. Then his words were the law. The sailors started running around with pale faces.
“Hard Starboard ready-! You have to make a sharp turn to starboard!”
“Mass, get the mass first! It should be windy!”
The waterline is shallow now! Be especially careful sailors!
There was tension among the sailors. Hard starboard? With this wind and speed, they were making a sharp turn! The sail will overturn!
Besides, they can’t steer the sails as they normally would. Throwing a lot of things for speed, the ship was not fully submerged in the water. If they steered sharply, the ship may topple over rather than overturn the sail.
(To be continued…)
