Chapter 313 Little Shrimp
Qin Mo shot an arrow that hit an enemy ship a thousand paces away, revealing the enemy's true strength. His powerful archery skills surprised not only the cultivators of the Holy Temple but also the enemy.
Several enemy ships, which were originally charging straight at the temple's ships, immediately parted to the sides after seeing the ship in front of them suddenly burst into flames. The sails of the burning enemy ship were ignited by Qin Mo's arrows, which slowed it down significantly, causing it to fall behind.
"Qin Mo, you must shoot a few more enemy ships, or we'll be surrounded." Holson glanced at Saint Heatherine, who hadn't come out, and began to act as the commander.
Qin Mo gave him a cold glance, and her chilling gaze made him tense up, shutting his mouth in silence.
“Kelly, you have the most seniority now, so you should take command!” Qin Mo put away her longbow and stood to Kelly’s side, giving the opportunity to the girl who was determined to become a countess.
Kelly entered the temple to cultivate at a very young age and was known as one of the three geniuses of the inner temple along with Bashir and Qu Huan. Her seniority and prestige were far superior to Holson's. As soon as Qin Mo said this, everyone looked at her.
"I...I've never commanded a naval battle before!" Kelly said nervously to Qin Mo in a low voice.
"We're just helping the crew fight. We don't need to worry about steering the ship. We just need to wait for the orcs to get close and then kill them." Qin Mo said casually, making the other two male cultivators roll their eyes. How could orcs be so weak, waiting for you to kill them?
"We'll split into two groups, positioned on the port and starboard sides, waiting for the enemy to approach. We'll try our best to prevent them from boarding successfully." Kelly quickly assigned the men and then went to ask the captain for information.
“Lady Kelly, the enemy should have five ships. Four of them are now flanking us from the left and right. We are in great danger... If that powerful figure from before had made another move, the pressure on us would have been less.”
The Clarke is an armed merchant ship with an over-equipped crew and a seasoned veteran captain. However, even they were terrified when faced with five warships carrying orc warriors. If they hadn't known that a powerful figure was on board, they might have given up hope.
"Qin Mo, what do you think?"
Kelly turned to ask Qin Mo, after all, what the captain said made a lot of sense. The other side had many ships and people. If the people from all four ships rushed over at once, it was hard to say whether a hundred or so crew members and six cultivators could hold them off. If the Holy Maiden had to take action in the end, it would really make them look incompetent.
“Kelly, aren’t you afraid I’ll scare them away? You have to make your own judgments instead of just listening to other people’s opinions.”
Qin Mo said helplessly that she had asked Kelly to take command, but Kelly kept asking her questions. Holson and the other two male cultivators were clearly getting impatient, which was obviously detrimental to the upcoming battle. The commander had to appear firm and decisive, even if she was actually panicking and at a loss inside.
Kelly realized this as well and immediately assigned tasks: "Holson and Gray, go to the starboard side; Xu Luo and Ellie, go to the port side; Qin Mo and I will provide support. Everyone, don't panic. Each of you, one ship, prepare for a fight."
Everyone responded readily, spreading out their positions and waiting quietly for the enemy ship to board. Kelly took a deep breath, secretly glancing at Qin Mo at the bow of the ship, inwardly annoyed at her own poor performance.
Orcs don't know how to build ships, and even if they manage to, they're practically no different from rafts. Therefore, enemy ships in the Baltic Sea are usually Rakshasa ships, and they rarely provoke the Temple's warships. However, warships carrying orcs are frequently used to harass the Temple's transport fleets; this was the type Qin Mo and her group encountered.
"General Muge, the enemy hasn't turned around. Are they stupid?"
On the enemy ship at the very front, the Rakshasa captain was puzzled to find that the Karak sailing ship had not turned and was still slowly sailing north against the crosswind. He couldn't help but ask the orc general on the ship.
Mug, with his pair of blue fangs, glanced at the captain and said in a deep voice, "They have a sharpshooter on board, so this is clearly not an ordinary transport ship. They might be waiting for us to storm it! Heh!"
Orcs generally treat Rakshasa as lackeys and subordinates, but things are a bit better in the Baltic Sea. This is because orcs don't know how to operate ships, and transport ships often carry valuable goods, so the two are more like accomplices in robbery.
The Russian captain, watching the approaching Karak ship, licked his lips and said, "If it doesn't turn around by the end, I can ram it and make a big hole in it. General Mug, you'd better be quick and get the cargo over before their ship sinks."
Mughsen said, "We'll just focus on fighting. You need to make sure we get to the enemy ship quickly. I don't want that guy Ruhr to get there before us again."
The Russian captain nodded firmly and shouted to his men that they must turn at the last moment, aiming their bow at the side of the target ship so that the underwater ram could penetrate the cargo ship's hold, leaving it with no way to escape.
"Prepare bows and arrows, axes, and prepare to turn."
The temple's carracks were also bustling with activity. The captain was very experienced. He didn't turn ahead of time because it wouldn't be very effective against four or five enemy ships. Even if he changed course with the wind, he would be surrounded by enemy ships before he could regain speed.
The only solution now is to suddenly turn around when the two sides are about to make contact, and try to pass by the enemy ship.
Qin Mo nodded to himself upon hearing the captain's order. Under these circumstances, it was the right decision. He had already discerned that the enemy ship was a standard paddle-driven sailing vessel. Such ships have a very high burst speed over short distances, but their speed would decrease significantly once the rowers' stamina dropped.
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