Chapter 29: Ricochet
Half a shichen ago, in the galleon’s helm cabin.
The rudder lock with one side nut removed was stuck tightly in the stern frame, and the crew members were helpless.
No matter prying with iron bars or pulling with pliers, the rudder lock did not move an inch.
The galleon had been moored for nearly five months, and the rust inside the rudder lock had perfectly filled the gaps between it and the wood, making it seem like it had grown into the wood.
Lin Qian had two ship workers—one hammering fiercely on one side of the rudder lock with an iron hammer, the other nailing a pulley to the helm cabin wall.
This was a spare anchor chain pulley that Lin Qian had Jose and others retrieve from the cargo hold; its diameter was as thick as an arm, made of extremely solid material.
It could be fixed to the hull with multiple ship nails similar to expansion screws.
After securing the pulley, Lin Qian had someone fetch the rope that had long been placed in the captain’s cabin; one end of this rope was already fixed to the winch.
After sending the other end down, it passed over the pulley and was tied behind the nut on the left side of the rudder lock, allowing longitudinal pull to be converted to lateral force.
After the ship workers hammered strenuously, the rudder lock finally shifted a little to the left, just enough to tie the rope to it.
Then, Lin Qian left the helm cabin with the two ship workers.
After exiting the helm cabin, Lin Qian tugged the rope; the people at the other end understood and slowly turned the winch. The rope instantly went taut, emitting a scalp-numbing creak.
After the winch turned one revolution, the rope was taut like an iron rod and emitted faint white smoke.
Lin Qian then led the two ship workers back further, all the way to the corner of the officer’s restaurant, hiding behind a kitchen cabinet.
The force gathered on the rope at this point was probably three or four tons; if it snapped, the broken rope could whip a cow to death.
The winch continued turning, and Lin Qian could already hear the cracking pops of wooden boards splintering in the helm cabin. The sound grew louder until a loud snap rang out, and the tension on the rope instantly released.
The entire rope instantly coiled like a snake, white smoke filling the air.
Lin Qian had no time to check the rudder lock and instead rushed to the helm wheel in the stern cabin, shouting: “Hard to port! Change sails!”
Then, he used all his strength to turn the ship’s helm.
……
Ten minutes later, the galleon sailed away from the shoal, and the ship’s helm was centered.
A crew member went down to the helm cabin and moments later climbed up holding a solid cast iron rod.
The iron rod was covered in rust spots, threaded throughout its length, stained with quite a few wood chips; one side was tightly screwed with a heptagonal nut, the other side empty.
Seeing this culprit that had tormented the entire crew all night, the crew members let out excited cheers.
After the ship worker displayed the rudder lock, he wanted to throw it into the sea, but Lin Qian stopped him: “Put this thing in the captain’s cabin.”
The rudder lock was the best souvenir of this ship robbery operation, and Lin Qian planned to cherish it well.
“Boom! Boom! Boom…”
Cannon fire assaulted from the port side. Lin Qian followed the sound and saw the Holy Justice firing; thick white smoke from black powder explosions enveloped its entire hull.
“Third Brother, you came from the Divine Machine Battalion—do you know how to man cannons?” Lin Qian shouted loudly.
Lei Sanxiang: “I’ve used the tiger squatting cannon.”
“Go to the cannon deck and return fire!” Lin Qian ordered loudly, then said to Chen Jiao: “Find two anchor men to man the helm.”
On a Fuchuan ship, manning the helm is usually done by the captain himself, so the captain is called helmsman.
In these times, the ship’s helm lacks much labor-saving structure; the larger the ship, the more strength it takes to helm. The previous Fuchuan ship was around two hundred tons, which Lin Qian could still manage himself.
The Manila galleon’s tonnage was almost five or six times that of the three-masted Fuchuan ship; if not for Lin Qian’s persistent fitness training, he couldn’t have turned hard to port just now.
Now that the crisis was resolved, it was natural to change personnel, and one person wasn’t enough—two people were needed to cooperate on the helm.
Anchor men on Fuchuan ships handle raising and lowering the anchor and have the greatest strength, making them the most suitable choice.
Chen Jiao called two anchor men to take over helming from Lin Qian.
Lin Qian had no time to massage his sore arms and strode quickly to the port side, taking out the telescope to peer at the Holy Justice.
With Lei Sanxiang’s counterfire, the Holy Justice didn’t dare approach and kept about five hundred meters distance, exchanging shots with the galleon.
Laughably, after several passionate rounds of exchanging fire, the cannonball splashes were all over the place, with neither side hitting.
Among Lin Qian’s men who could use cannons, only the former Divine Machine Battalion soldier Lei Sanxiang, resulting in seriously insufficient ammunition volume.
Meanwhile, the Holy Justice—who knows what wrong medicine they took—fired all cannonballs into the sky, with very few landing between the two ships.
It seemed the main purpose of firing was just to hear the bang.
Seeing that the Holy Justice was temporarily not a threat, Lin Qian ordered: “Unfurl all sails, full speed out of the bay!”
“Understood.” Chen Jiao acknowledged, then directed the sailors to climb the rigging to the yards and unfurl the sails.
Lin Qian looked up at the mainmast piercing straight into the sky; the rope men on the middle yard were already the size of palms, and those on the top yard were like grains of rice.
At such a terrifying height, climbing up with no protection and operating ropes on the yard was indeed not something ordinary people could do.
Lin Qian had anticipated this, so when having Chen Jiao recruit crew members, he emphasized selecting those who had worked on Spanish ships.
The rope men now climbing up and down were precisely these newly recruited crew members.
Thinking of this, Lin Qian walked to the right main anchor winch at the bow, reached into the anchor chain to grope around, then pulled out a copper wire.
The section of anchor chain wrapped by the copper wire showed significantly more rust than other areas.
This copper wire was tied on by Bai Langzai when moored at Manila Port, using kelp as cover at the time; now the kelp had fallen off, but the copper wire remained securely tied.（Chapter 11）
To prevent rust from hindering further reaction, Lin Qian also had Bai Langzai apply vinegar to the anchor chain every few days, creating an acidic environment to corrode the rust and continuously expose fresh cast iron surface.
It was precisely this galvanic corrosion method that allowed the port anchor chain to be snapped easily.
Although the starboard anchor chain didn’t break, the copper wire wrapping showed severe corrosion and greatly reduced strength; it must be replaced and repaired after docking.
At this point, Lin Qian had completed the plan’s third step, successfully hijacking the galleon!
The galleon had only one anchor chain and stern wooden boards damaged; the whole ship was basically intact—a very smooth operation.
Of course, this was premised on the Holy Justice maintaining an impressive 0% hit rate during the subsequent sea chase.
“Helmsman!” a crew member shouted. “The Franchi cannon ship has stopped.”
Lin Qian pulled out the telescope and indeed saw the Holy Justice furling sails, its speed slowly dropping.
Although its hit rate was impressive (low) and its cannons small-caliber—even a hundred hits couldn’t stop the galleon from sailing—it shouldn’t give up the chase so quickly.
Lin Qian scanned the surrounding sea surface and spotted a two-masted lateen-rigged merchant ship heading toward the Holy Justice. Its deck was crowded with Spaniards in red-and-yellow uniforms, and a signalman stood at the bow signaling with flags.
Even toes could guess it: the merchant ship carried a high-ranking Spaniard, whose status was at least higher than the Holy Justice’s captain.
Lin Qian smiled: “Port half rudder!”
Chen Jiao relayed the order. The two burly helmsmen turned the rudder with effort, and the galleon gradually turned left, creating a good firing arc for Lei Sanxiang.
From the cannon deck came Lei Sanxiang’s arrogant laughter: “Hahaha, Thief Turtle, eat grandpa’s cannon!”
“Boom!” A cannon shot rang out.
On the distant sea, water splashed off the Holy Justice’s starboard bow.
It was a pity to miss, but there was no helping it—the hit rate of shipboard cannons was like that.
But immediately after, water splashed off the Holy Justice’s starboard quarter.
It was a ricochet!
The cannonball hit the water at high speed and low angle, skipping like stones and bouncing across the sea surface.
Judging by the two splashes, the cannonball was heading straight for that merchant ship!
