Chapter 25: Suppression (3 Minutes)
“The destruction of the mast and paddle wheel has been successful.”
Naturally, the crew of the enemy ship was in a state of chaos. Although gunfire continued to erupt, the gunners on deck were scrambling to escape the collapsing mast, while men who appeared to be commanders shouted frantically on the deck.
“I’ve switched the ammunition for the 150mm smoothbore cannon to armor-piercing shells.”
“…Going for penetration?”
“Yes. Using explosive shells would cause too much collateral damage.”
Next, the target was the enemy’s broadside cannons. Perhaps due to the brilliance of the previous bombardment, they were still firing. It was highly likely they were unaware of the turmoil on deck.
“I’ll destroy the cannons and take out the enemy commanders with precision shots.”
Normally, sniping with main cannons or autocannons would be impossible. However, with the specially crafted barrel and shells from RINGO, combined with its overwhelming computational power, incredibly precise shooting was achievable. Armor-piercing shells were unleashed at a rate of 45 rounds per minute, striking the protruding cannon barrels on the enemy ship’s side one after another. Additionally, the 20mm autocannon fired intermittently, obliterating the men commanding on the deck.
The 150mm smoothbore cannon’s shell struck directly, shattering the enemy ship’s cannon into countless fragments, scattering debris all around. Naturally, the crew members caught in the blast were instantly killed, their bodies possibly disintegrated and flung away by the shockwave. The shell flew almost horizontally into the hull, destroying the cannon and piercing through to the other side.
“Oh!”
In the footage, the bow side of the ship erupted in a massive explosion.
“It seems to have triggered an explosion.”
Perhaps they were in the process of loading, or there were shells nearby. The upper structure burst apart in a shower of debris.
“Quite the spectacle… Will it sink?”
“Well, if it does, then it does. We’ll just have to accept it.”
“You certainly have a way of saying things.”
Amidst their conversation, the enemy ship was thrown into disarray, having lost its cannons and commanders. With one side’s cannons destroyed, the 150mm smoothbore cannon ceased fire.
“Now then…”
The large sailing ship had all its masts broken, cannons destroyed, and drive wheels incapacitated.
“For demonstration purposes, we will fold the sails and proceed under powered navigation.”
Now, it was necessary to drive the surviving crew off the ship. To do this, they decided to approach under powered navigation while using intimidation fire to drive them away.
The Communicator Androids swiftly climbed the masts, operating the winches to roll up the sails. Their speed was, of course, beyond what any human could achieve. It was confirmed that the enemy crew had noticed and began pointing and shouting in alarm.
“They really move well, don’t they?”
“Indeed, they do.”
With light-footed agility, the Communicator Androids hopped around atop the masts. Within mere minutes, all three ships had their sails furled. The diesel engines roared to life, and the paddle wheels began to churn against the water’s surface. As the ship accelerated and turned, the hull rocked violently, while the Communicator Androids skillfully used ropes and ladders to descend from the masts. They were already close enough—within a few hundred meters—that their movements were likely clear to the enemy ship. Perhaps sensing the danger, several crew members began to untie the ropes of the secured boats. More joined in as they realized what was happening, and the ship erupted into chaos.
“…How are they going to lower those?”
“Normally, they would use ropes to lower them. But let’s give them some time.”
The three Light Sailing Traders (LSTs) slowly approached the drifting large sailing ship, their paddle wheels churning. The crew was in a frenzy, seemingly unable to coordinate as the capable officers had all been turned into meat chunks by RINGO’s sniping.
“Oh, someone jumped!”
“That’s quite a height; I hope they’re okay.”
Men began to leap into the sea one after another, without using ropes or ladders to board the boats. About four boats were lowered, quickly filling up with fleeing pirates.
“Will everyone fit?”
“It seems likely.”
As they exchanged casual remarks, she and RINGO observed the situation. By the time the Paraiso came alongside, the boats packed with pirates had already fled a considerable distance. They must have been rowing for their lives, as they were much farther away than RINGO had anticipated.
“Commencing transfer.”
Ropes were shot from the Paraiso and secured to the drifting pirate ship. Armed Communicator Androids began to board in droves.
“It seems there are survivors, so we will eliminate them.”
“I hope there are some valuable items left.”
Drones were sent in through the bow breach and upper access points. To avoid complications from any hidden survivors, they activated the biological radar to sweep through and subdue anyone they found.
“It looks like we can secure the cannons and shells. However, bringing them on board poses a risk of accidents, so the analysis will have to be conducted on this ship.”
“Do we have any drones we can use for analysis?”
“Yes, we can utilize general-purpose drones. If we sacrifice a few, we should be able to estimate their properties to some extent.”
“Hmm. If we can make up for it with the resources we seize, then I’m fine with that. It’s not like we have to analyze everything right away.”
The scanning drones were picking up a fair amount of metal responses in the cargo hold. RINGO calculated that this would cover the costs of the current battle (in terms of iron), and began to maneuver the three ships alongside the pirate vessel. Due to the significant size difference, they couldn’t simply transfer the cargo as is. They employed work drones to cut into the ship’s side.
“The watertight structure is so poorly done that unloading is easy.”
“Well, it’s wooden, so it floats anyway. That aspect is likely neglected.”
“That’s not necessarily true… At least, this ship’s watertight concept seems quite dubious.”
They created a rough opening and began to haul out the captured goods, prioritizing metal. The cannons appeared to be made of cast iron, and they continued to extract them one after another.
“I’m glad we had the drones on board.”
“Indeed.”
By the way, the Communicator Androids were not particularly adept at tasks like moving cargo. They were manufactured based on human models, so their strength did not exceed that of a human. It was best not to assign them heavy labor. If they were overworked, their muscle fibers could tear, rendering them unusable for several days. In other words, they would experience muscle soreness.
“Just recovering these cannons will yield a significant amount of resources. It might not be an exaggeration to call a battleship an iron mine.”
“Hehe, is that so? Still, we can’t actively attack them…”
Each cannon used several tons of iron. With around forty of them, it was possible that they would yield more iron ingots than what could be obtained from the current trade. In hindsight, it might have been a bit wasteful to have destroyed the cannons initially.
“It would be great if we could recover the iron used in the ship’s structure, but that seems quite difficult.”
“Well, it’s on the water.”
They couldn’t dismantle and recover it while drifting. They could only strip away what was feasible. If the ship had been equipped with a steam engine, the amount of iron would have increased further, but unfortunately, the pirate ship appeared to be using some mysterious mechanism powered by magic.
“I’d like to analyze this magical engine if possible.”
“We’re not even sure if we can move it. Is it even recoverable in size?”
“No, it seems this size won’t fit.”
“Then we’ll dismantle it as much as we can for analysis and dispose of the rest.”
They sent in general-purpose drones to analyze the ship’s hull and magical engine. By the time they had loaded most of the recoverable metal, night had fully fallen. The Communicator Androids were nearing the end of their workday. They needed sufficient food and sleep to be operational the next day. However, the drones could continue to operate at full capacity while charging. They planned to complete as much analysis as possible during the night and set sail for the Port Town of Terek the following morning. The enemy ship would be dealt with through demolition, as it was deemed too risky to let it drift anywhere.
“Leave the rest to me.”
“Yes, Commander.”
While RINGO used drones to analyze the enemy ship, the Communicator Androids quickly prepared her for bed. They undressed her, dressed her in nightwear, styled her hair, and laid her down in bed. It was a complete princess treatment.
By the way, when she was awake, she would often voice her discontent if they interfered too much, but when she looked sleepy, she was almost entirely compliant. RINGO had learned this. Moving forward, it planned to take advantage of such moments to provide care.
“Good night.”
“…Good night.”