Chapter 7 Chapter 2 Light Cruiser Giant Sword ①-4

The old man didn't leave the deck, he was observing everything, his face was expressionless. Boisbertello approached him and said: "Sir, the preparations are done. We now hold fast to our graves, and we will not let go. We will either be captives of the enemy's ship or the rocks, or surrender to the enemy, or sink on the rocks. There is no other choice, There is but one way out, death. Better to fight than to be shipwrecked, and better to be killed than to be drowned. As for death, I prefer fire to water. Death, however, is our business, not yours. You are the one chosen by the princes for an important mission: to command the war in the Vendée. Without you, the monarchy would be lost, so you must live. Our honor demands that we stay here, and your honor lies in leaving Here. You will leave this ship, General. I will give you a man and a boat. It is not impossible to detour to the coast of France, because it is not yet daylight, and the waves are high and the sea is dark. You will get out of danger. Sometimes, To escape is to win."

The old man nodded solemnly, agreeing calmly. The Count of Boisberteau raised his voice and exclaimed: "Soldiers, sailors." All movement stopped.All the people, from all over the ship, turned their heads towards the captain. The captain continued: "This man among us represents the king. He is entrusted to us and we are supposed to protect him. He is the man the French royal family needs. He will replace the prince at the head of the Vendée, at least we hope so. He is an important officer , was to land in France with us, and now he must leave us to land alone. To save the mind is to save everything."

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" the whole staff shouted. The captain continued: "He will be in great danger. Landing is no easy task. The boat must not be too small, otherwise it will not be able to withstand the huge waves, nor too large, otherwise it will not be able to hide from the enemy's fleet. It is necessary to find a safe place to land, preferably It's at Fougères, not near Coutances. I need a strong sailor, good rower and swimmer. He must be a native, familiar with the waters. It's still dark and the boat can leave the ship not to be noticed by the enemy. Besides, the smoke will soon rise and completely cover the boat. The boat is light and will not run aground. The leopard is caught, but Ketch slips away. We have no way out, but he has .The small boat is drawn with the wing, and the enemy ship cannot be seen. And, during this time, we will play with the enemy here, right?"

"Yes! Yes! Shout out to everyone in the factory. "Don't waste a minute," said the captain. "Anyone volunteer?" In the dark a sailor stepped out of the ranks and said: "I" A few minutes later, a small boat called a traffic boat, reserved for the captain, left the ship.There were two people on the boat, the elderly passenger at the stern and the "voluntary" sailor at the bow.It was still dark.The sailors followed the captain's instructions, rowed vigorously, and headed for Manguier Reef.There is no other way out. Some provisions had been thrown into the boat before this, a bag of hard biscuits, a large piece of smoked ox tongue, and a large bucket of fresh water.

When the traffic boat left the big ship, La Vieuxville, who was still smiling freely facing the abyss, leaned over the stern post of the rudder cabin to bid farewell to the small boat, and said with a sneer: "The faster you escape, the faster you drown." "Sir," said the helmsman, "stop joking." With the quick technique, the small boat is already quite far away from the big ship.The helmsman hastened the boat away with the wind and waves, and it heaved and pitched in the dark, hidden by the crest of the turbulent waves. There is an inexplicable gloomy waiting on the sea.

Suddenly, out of the vast and tumultuous silence of the ocean, a voice rose, amplified by the megaphone as if by the bronze masks of ancient tragedies, almost superhuman. It was Captain Boisberteau talking. "King's sailors," he cried, "now hoist the white flag to the mainmast. We shall see the sun rise for the last time." A cannon fire from the cruiser. "Long live the King!" cried the whole crew. Then came another great cry from the horizon, distant and indistinct, but audible: "Long live the Republic!" Then three hundred thunderclaps roared over the deep ocean.

The battle begins. The sea was filled with smoke and flames flickered. The shells fell into the water and splashed the water column, stirring up waves in all directions. The Great Sword began to spray flames at the eight enemy ships.The enemy ships in a semicircle around it also fired their shells.The horizon burned, much like a volcano erupting in the sea.The huge blood shadow of war swayed in the wind, and the ships appeared and disappeared like ghosts.The black outline of the Great Sword can be seen in front of this red back curtain. On top of the mainmast is a fleur-de-lis flag. The two people in the boat were silent.

The triangular shoal of Manguire Reef is composed of triangular shell reefs on the seabed, and its area is larger than the entire Jersey Island.It is submerged by sea water, and its highest point is a high platform exposed to the water during high tide, connected to it are six giant five in the northeast direction, and the boulders are arranged in a straight line, like a broken giant wall.There is a gorge between the high platform and the six reefs, and only boats with a very shallow draft can pass through it.Beyond the gorge is the sea. The rowing sailors steered their boats into the gorge, and Manguire reef separated the battle from the boats.The boat glides deftly in the narrow waterway, weaving among the reefs on the left and right.Now the reef hid the battle, and the light on the horizon and the fury of the gunfire began to fade away as the boat moved further and further away.Still, the gunfire went on, and the Greatsword fought on, firing her hundred and ninety-one broadsides to the end.

Soon the boat was in free water, out of the reef, out of battle, out of range of shells. Gradually, the undulating sea began to brighten. The light band that was suddenly covered by the darkness became wider and wider. Water splashes of various shapes scattered into beams of light, and dots of white light fluctuated on the rolling sea.Its daybreak. The skiff escaped the enemy, but the most difficult part lay ahead.It survived the bombardment, but not the shipwreck.It is just a small ship on the sea, without deck, without sail, without mast, without compass, but with a pair of oars; in the face of the ocean and the storm, it is like a particle at the mercy of giants.

At this moment, in the vastness and silence, the sailor sitting in the bow lifted his face, which was pale in the morning light, and staring intently at the man in the stern, he said: "The man you shot dead is my brother."