Chapter 24: The Battleship Fires Its Cannons. Counterattack Begins
“Enemy ship is running parallel to us.”
Two hours had passed since then. The pirate ship had taken a distance of about 1 kilometer and began to run parallel to the flagship, Paraiso, along with two other vessels in a Single Column Formation. They seemed to be waving signal flags vigorously, but of course, we had no idea what they meant.
“What do you think that is?”
“Given the situation, I suspect they are urging us to surrender.”
As we continued to watch the flag-waving for about five minutes…
“…The enemy ship has opened fire.”
A slight shockwave was visible on the display. RINGO marked the fired cannonball.
“Mark. Initial velocity 382 m/s. No damage.”
Approximately three seconds later, the cannonball struck the surface of the sea, exploding with a violent splash. A towering column of water erupted.
“…That had quite a bit of power, didn’t it?”
“That was an explosive shell. It has power, but its accuracy seems poor. I couldn’t measure it precisely due to resolution issues, but the dispersion pattern is quite wide.”
RINGO calculated the cannon’s barrel from the footage and determined the enemy cannon’s approximate accuracy based on where the shell landed. Whether it was a coincidence or by design was still unclear, but it appeared to have landed significantly off-target from the barrel’s aim.
“If that shell were to hit below the draft line and explode properly, there’s a possibility the hull could break.”
“…That would be serious.”
“Yes, Ma’am. However, if the initial velocity is around 400 m/s, it can be easily intercepted by a 20mm machine gun.”
“…So, there’s no problem then.”
Currently, even the simplified Integrated Tactical System mounted on the Light Sailing Trader (LST) class vessels had the capability to intercept missiles traveling at supersonic speeds. Although there was some distance, with RINGO’s complete backup, cannonballs flying at slightly faster than the speed of sound posed no threat whatsoever.
“Shall we fire back?”
“Hmm… I’m not sure. Should we aim for a deliberately distant spot? If we want to gather combat data, provoking them might be the better option.”
“Yes. Then, I’ll aim for about 300 meters in front and fire.”
Following RINGO’s instructions, the bow turret of LST-1 Paraiso quickly took aim and fired. The cannonball struck the target area on the sea surface within a second. Thanks to the underwater detonation effect, it traveled about 30 meters below the surface before the fuse activated and exploded. A massive column of water erupted in the footage.
“Impact location is within the margin of error. No issues.”
The deck of the pirate ship suddenly became chaotic. Perhaps they hadn’t anticipated a counterattack, as several crew members could be seen shouting and pointing at us.
“Now, let’s see how they respond.”
“It’s hard to imagine they’ll flee, though.”
The enemy pirate ship was enormous, larger than three Light Sailing Traders (LST) combined. In fact, it was even longer than the large transport ship currently under construction. In this world, it would not be an exaggeration to call it a super battleship. Naturally, they probably had no intention of losing in combat.
“The enemy ship is changing course. It seems to be approaching us.”
“Are they planning to get within cannon range? As pirates, they likely won’t aim to sink us…”
Their objective should be to intimidate us with their cannons, enforce a ceasefire, and seize our cargo and crew. Sinking us would yield nothing and only waste their ammunition. However, if they felt their pride was wounded, there was a significant chance they might aim to sink us.
“It is estimated that we have about an hour until the enemy ship’s effective firing range.”
“Hmm, they’ve fired again.”
While it wasn’t a full broadside, several cannons on the enemy ship’s side opened fire.
“Target, eight guns. Mark. No damage.”
The fired cannonballs landed one after another, all falling well short of us. They were still far from their effective range.
“Prepare for anti-air combat. If they get within 300 meters, we might not be able to intercept in time. Shall we sink them?”
“Hmm… Capturing them would be a hassle with the treatment of prisoners and all…”
Sinking them would be easy. A couple of shots aimed below the draft line would likely send them to the depths in an instant. They probably had little to no watertight bulkheads, and I doubted they could manage any damage control. If we opened a breach, they would have no choice but to sink.
However, if we sank them, we would gain nothing. While we could obtain combat data, to be honest, it had lost much of its appeal.
“Given their size, towing them would be impossible, and our best bet would be to conduct an internal investigation to acquire spoils.”
It appeared they were equipped with something resembling lifeboats. The crew could be packed into those and cast adrift. Given the proximity to the shore, they might be lucky enough to survive.
“Right. Let’s destroy their rudder and masts to force a surrender.”
“Yes, Ma’am. Shall we execute that immediately?”
“…Hmm. Let’s conduct a drill for the interception system first. We’ll close in to 500 meters and begin intercepting their cannonballs.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
With RINGO at the helm, we slightly adjusted our course toward the enemy ship. Our sailing speed was nearly the same, and we gradually closed the distance.
“The enemy ship has fired. Mark. No damage.”
The trajectory of the newly fired cannonball was instantly analyzed, and the impact location was displayed. One shot was close enough to be concerning, but it posed no significant threat, so we did not change our course. The cannonball struck the surface and exploded, sending a spray of water up near LST-3. Undeterred, the three LSTs pressed on.
“The enemy ship has fired. Mark. Close proximity, possibly a direct hit. Intercept.”
At the same time as the mark, two 20mm machine guns on LST-3 opened fire. A barrage of 3,000 rounds per minute erupted from both the bow and stern.
“Intercept successful.”
In the air, several rounds pierced the cannonball, causing it to explode.
“…We failed to neutralize it; the explosive detonated. We cannot determine the type of explosive the enemy is using.”
“Is it even possible to identify the type of explosive?”
“Yes. It is possible to infer to some extent based on the explosion characteristics and the type of smoke produced. The enemy ship has fired. Mark. No damage.”
RINGO slowed the moment of the cannonball’s explosion on the monitor for her to understand better. The footage showed a round cannonball being approached by a rain of 20mm machine gun bullets from the front to the back, and then a direct hit. The bullets sliced through the cannonball, splitting it in half.
“The enemy ship has fired. Mark. No damage. It seems the cannonballs themselves are quite fragile. However, they do not explode immediately after being penetrated. Mark, no damage. Mark, no damage. It seems the enemy ship is not conducting coordinated fire, so I will not report further from here on.”
“Understood. Intercept as needed. …Hmm, the explosions happen quite a while after.”
“Yes. Moreover, it seems they explode simultaneously, rather than each cannonball exploding independently. At least with the equipment carried by the First Trade Fleet, the synchronization is at a level where we cannot observe any time lag.”
In the footage, the cannonball collapsed and then exploded. Notably, there was no observable smoke, and it appeared as if the explosion occurred immediately.
“It may be that they are not using gunpowder as a base material.”
“Hmm… If that’s the case, could it be some kind of magic?”
“We cannot rule out that possibility.”
Amidst the rising columns of water, the three ships advanced. Soon, the distance to the enemy ship would be 500 meters. While accurately intercepting the occasional near-miss, RINGO continued to analyze the enemy cannonballs.
“It seems we could intercept the 150mm smoothbore cannonballs as well.”
The bow cannon of LST-1 fired, and the cannonball struck the enemy’s projectile directly. The enemy’s cannonball was too soft, allowing ours to pass right through. After a brief moment, the enemy cannonball exploded.
“…It seems it would be faster to capture and investigate them. Enemy ship, distance 500 meters. Commencing cannon fire.”
The objective of the battle was to incapacitate and capture the enemy ship. Ideally, we wanted to recover metal resources. If possible, we also aimed to understand the enemy ship’s power source and the functionality of their cannonballs. Thus, our targets were their propulsion and command systems.
The four cannonballs from the 150mm smoothbore cannons, fired simultaneously, reached their target in one second. They struck the base of the four masts, exploding upon impact. Additionally, one of the 20mm machine guns rained cannonballs down on the base of the masts, shattering them. Another machine gun targeted the rear paddle wheel, carefully dismantling the upper part to minimize damage to the internal mechanisms.