Chapter 24: Lights Out
Lingayen Bay, sea surface five nautical miles to the northwest.
Fury’s lookout pointed to the distance and shouted: “Firelight! Firelight spotted in the direction of Lingayen Bay!”
Fury’s Captain was awakened from sleep by the First Mate, hurriedly walked to the foredeck in pajamas, took the telescope from the soldier’s hand, and gazed toward the southeast.
Only to see at the pitch-black horizon, a faint orange-red glow.
“Wake the sailors, weigh anchor and hoist sail, set course southeast, full speed to Lingayen Bay!” The Captain put down the telescope and ordered.
The First Mate took a breath and blew the whistle, then shouted loudly: “All hands up, sail cable team unfurl the sails, tighten the sail locks, prepare to set sail.”
On the cannon deck, sleeping crew members were woken by the loud-voiced boatswain, jumped off their hammocks one after another, stowed the hammocks at the fastest speed, rushed onto the deck holding the hammocks, and placed the folded hammocks in the net bags by the ship’s rail.
Then they ran to their respective posts.
In the middle of the deck, by the anchor winch, sailors formed a circle and slowly turned the winch under the boatswain’s chant.
The flagman went to the stern and, through lights, issued the order to set sail to the sister ships Golden Lion and Silver Wolf.
Sailors skillfully climbed the shrouds, mounted the yard, released the canvas rolls, and lowered the main sail.
In the darkness, the sailors moved freely more than twenty meters above the deck like agile monkeys.
The navigator reported loudly: “Wind from southwest, moderate speed!”
The First Mate ordered: “Course southeast, starboard into the wind, tighten port sail latch!”
“Port sail latch tightened!” The sailors repeated loudly.
One hour later, the anchor winch turned fully, and the boatswain shouted: “Anchor weighed!”
First Mate: “Ready to set sail, ship underway!”
Fury’s Captain ordered: “Too dark, remind Golden Lion and Silver Wolf to light ship lanterns, maintain distance to avoid collision.”
“Yes, Captain!” The flagman acknowledged, then ran to the stern and shouted loudly to relay the order.
Forty minutes later, the three warships had sailed past Bolinao Peninsula, with Lingayen Bay right ahead.
A disposable wooden watchtower stood on the peninsula mountains like a blazing torch, illuminating the peninsula’s rocks red.
In Lingayen Bay to the east of the peninsula, large patches of ship lanterns were surging toward the beach.
“Enemy ship lights spotted! Dead ahead… approximately two thousand to three thousand paces.” The lookout shouted.
The sea surface was too dark, making it hard to judge distance.
“Fury lead in line formation, left rudder, starboard engage enemy.” The Captain ordered.
“Left rudder!” The First Mate shouted loudly.
The flagman ran to the stern and shouted loudly to the other two ships to issue orders.
The three warships groped in the dark to form formation, laboriously lining up in a single line, maintaining southeast course, and gradually approaching the pirate fleet.
“Gunports open, gunners to positions!” The First Mate ordered to the cannon deck.
The master gunner on the cannon deck loudly repeated the order: “Gunports open, gunners to positions!”
Soon, gunports on the ship’s rail opened, cannons prepared for firing were pushed out the gunports, and the black muzzles pointed straight at the distant fleet’s ship lanterns.
“About a thousand paces!” The lookout shouted.
“Eight hundred paces!”
“Six hundred paces!”
No one on the deck spoke; everyone was waiting for the Captain’s order.
Fury’s Captain’s forehead dripped cold sweat; even at such close range, the telescope still could not make out the enemy ship’s hull.
They had formed an attack formation and sealed the bay entrance.
But the pirate fleet held the weather gage; once the pirates extinguished their ship lanterns and turned to charge back, the three Spanish warships would be forced into passive boarding combat.
No more waiting.
“Open fire!” The Captain put down the telescope and ordered gravely.
The order was passed level by level on the deck.
First Mate: “Open fire!”
Master Gunner: “Open fire!”
On the cannon deck, soldiers threaded the fuse onto a wooden rod, bringing the burning orange-red fuse head close to the gunpowder at the cannon’s vent.
“Hiss—” The gunpowder ignited.
Then with a boom, the cannon fired, and the cannon recoiled sharply backward.
Fury’s twenty-five starboard cannons fired in sequence, the huge recoil transmitted through the cannon towing ropes to the hull, causing Fury to list to port.
Then the sister ships Golden Lion and Silver Wolf’s cannons fired in turn.
Pitch-black night, unable to see shell splashes, only hearing cannonballs hitting water and the resulting water columns.
No sound of wooden boards splintering, no enemy screams.
One full broadside, zero hits.
This was very common in naval combat at the time.
Cannon accuracy was inherently limited, and firing from a pitching ship made it worse; in most cases, gunners just roughly aimed the muzzle at the enemy ship, and whether it hit was up to God’s will.
In most cases, the main purpose of the first salvo was to adjust cannon angles.
“Clear barrels… prepare to load!” The master gunner ordered loudly, “Open fire.”
At the command, Fury’s starboard gunports flashed with firelight, the dense cannonade echoing through the entire bay, followed by the sound of solid shot cannonballs splashing in the distance.
Immediately after, the two sister ships fired in turn, unsurprisingly with only water splashes.
The distant ship lanterns were unaffected, still crawling toward the beach at turtle speed.
Could this be a ghost fleet?
“Clear barrels… prepare to load!” The master gunner shouted.
“Wait!” Fury’s Captain said.
“Cease fire!” The First Mate relayed.
“Cease fire!” The master gunner repeated the order.
Silence fell over the sea surface; only the whistling wind could be heard nearby.
Fury’s Captain frowned; even if the last two salvos missed, the pirates should have reacted—either scattering to flee or extinguishing ship lanterns. Why no response?
“Right rudder, go over and take a look.” The Captain ordered.
Ten minutes later, Fury led the two sister ships into the “pirate fleet.”
The sea surface had no ships at all; floating on it were clusters of torches, each torch inserted into bamboo rafts made from coconut shells.
The bamboo rafts were connected by wooden sticks and rope, towed by sampans with simple triangular sails, dragging across the sea surface.
“Damn pirates, we’ve been tricked.” Fury’s Captain punched the ship’s rail.
For the crew members, they did not care about being tricked; as long as they did not have to fight the pirates, it was good.
Just as the crew relaxed their vigilance, the lookout suddenly shouted: “Port rear, enemy ship lights spotted!”
“Again?” The First Mate was furious.
“No!” Fury’s Captain said in a low voice; the distant enemy ship lights were denser and layered on the sea surface, clearly not bamboo rafts made from coconut shells.
Lights like that must belong to a big ship.
“Cannons load, battle stations!” The Captain ordered.
As the enemy ship approached, the Captain could faintly see its hull outline in the telescope.
“Extinguish lights!” The Captain ordered.
As officers relayed the order level by level, the three warships’ lights gradually went out, blending into the dark sea surface.
……
In the distance, Nuestra Señora del Rosario’s Captain puzzledly put down the telescope.
In his view, the three warships’ ship lanterns gradually extinguished, leaving only the large patches of sampan lanterns drifting on the sea.
“Captain, shall we prepare for battle?” Nuestra Señora del Rosario’s First Mate asked.
At night on the sea, two fleets meeting with one extinguishing lights was definitely a danger signal.
Nuestra Señora del Rosario and San Juan had been anchored nearby; an hour ago, hearing gunfire, they sailed over to investigate.
But the gunfire was brief and suspicious, possibly a misfire.
Thus, despite the opponent’s clear hostility, out of caution, he dared not open fire rashly.
The Captain shook his head: “Approach closer first, then inquire with lights.”
Ten minutes of sailing later, Nuestra Señora del Rosario completely lost track of the opponent.
“See anything?” The First Mate asked the lookout.
From the mainmast watchtower dozens of meters up, the lookout scanned around but saw no trace of big ships anywhere, so replied: “Aside from ship lanterns on sampans, darkness all around, sir.”
Boom! Boom! Boom…
At that moment, red flashes appeared on the distant sea to Nuestra Señora del Rosario’s starboard, followed by huge cannon roars.
“Enemy ship firing!” The First Mate shouted urgently.
Immediately after, enormous water columns erupted dozens of paces from Nuestra Señora del Rosario’s starboard, raining down and soaking the crew on deck thoroughly.
“It’s the Dutch!” Someone among the crew said in extreme panic, voicing their judgment.
“Prepare to fire!” Amid the rain curtain, Nuestra Señora del Rosario’s Captain gripped his hat with one hand and the ship’s rail with the other, ordering loudly.
“Prepare to fire!” The First Mate and master gunner repeated the order.
Soon, Nuestra Señora del Rosario’s starboard gunports opened, and cannons were run out.
Red flashes lit up again on the distant sea surface.
Amid splashing water, one cannonball hit Nuestra Señora del Rosario’s deck, sending wood chips flying and blood mist spraying; a sailor’s upper body turned to pulp, leaving only his legs rolling to the deck edge.
The Captain gritted his teeth and squeezed out: “Aim at the enemy cannon flashes, open fire!”
