Chapter 27: Anchor Chain Snaps
On the galleon’s deck.
Jose shouted loudly: “Are you crazy? Raising the anchor while sailing, the sailboat will be torn apart by the anchor chain!”
Lin Qian ignored him and just stared at the crew members installing the winch.
On the winch, besides the anchor chain of the main rudder, there was also an arm-thick rope connected externally. That rope was guided by several sets of pulleys, leading all the way to the officer’s restaurant in the stern cabin.
At this time, Bai Langzai led five or six crew members out of the cargo hold, each hugging a heavy wooden bucket.
“Sixth Brother, the whale blubber and olive oil you wanted have been brought up.” Bai Langzai led the crew members and placed the wooden buckets on the deck.
Lin Qian ordered: “Melt these fats, put them in small barrels, and send them to the rudder cabin.”
“Good.”
“Helmsman, find a woman in the guest cabin.” A crew member dragged over a fair-skinned Spanish woman draped only in a bed sheet, with most of her body exposed.
The woman was initially quite frightened, but upon seeing Jose’s figure, she immediately started cursing loudly.
From the content of her curses, it could be known that this woman was a prostitute.
Jose had tricked her onto the ship, enjoyed her services, then refused to pay. He threatened that if she made a fuss, she would be discovered by the guards on the deck and sent to the gallows.
The woman could only swallow her humiliation and was forced to provide services again in exchange for a chance to get off the ship.
Unexpectedly, at the critical moment of the service, shouts of killing came from the deck. Jose immediately abandoned her and fled. She could only hide in the cabin and was thus discovered by Lin Qian’s crew members.
After hearing the woman’s accusation, Lin Qian cast a glance of contempt at Jose.
Jose defended himself: “I had just gone to the deck to check the situation and got caught. I didn’t mean to abandon you…”
“Damn liar! Despicable bastard!” The woman cursed endlessly. As she excitedly waved her arms, more and more uncovered areas became visible. If the situation weren’t so tense, probably many crew members would have stepped forward to comfort her thoroughly.
Lin Qian walked up to her: “Can you swim?”
The woman was stunned: “Yes, why? Ah—”
With a scream, the woman was pushed over the ship’s rail by Lin Qian.
The woman choked on several mouthfuls of seawater, struggled to swim to the shore, covered her vital parts with both arms, and cursed loudly at the ship.
Jose forced a smile: “I can swim too. No need for you to bother, I’ll jump myself.”
Lin Qian sneered: “You stay put.” Then he had his men lock Jose in the cabin.
At this time, Bai Langzai had used a torch to melt the fat in the small barrels. As per Lin Qian’s instructions, he mixed the whale blubber and olive oil in equal proportions and sent it to the officer’s restaurant.
As per Lin Qian’s instructions, two crew members were swinging hammers to strike a section of copper pipe in the rudder cabin. The copper pipe was pressed against the rudder lock, transmitting vibrations.
Their strikes were not very forceful but at a very high frequency. This was precisely the method for vibrating off rust.
After several hours of striking, a layer of rust had fallen to the ground.
It was midsummer now. The rudder cabin was airtight and sweltering. The two crew members had long since removed their upper garments and were drenched in sweat.
Before descending to the rudder cabin, Lin Qian also removed his upper garment, took the hot oil from Bai Langzai, carried it to the bottom of the rudder cabin, and had the two crew members brush the hot oil onto the nuts on both sides of the rudder lock.
After prolonged striking to remove rust, a tiny gap had formed between the nut and the cast iron rod, just enough for the oil to fill it via capillary action and serve as lubrication.
Seeing the hot oil applied, Lin Qian shouted outside the cabin: “Uncle Huang, is the wrench ready?”
Moments later, Mute Huang appeared at the rudder cabin entrance and lowered a wrench using rope.
The wrench was made of ironwood, crudely crafted and hastily made. Its shape perfectly matched the seven-sided nut on the right side of the rudder lock.
Lin Qian took the wrench, aligned it with the oiled nut, and pressed down hard with all his strength, but the nut didn’t budge.
At this time, Chen Jiao’s voice came from the rudder cabin entrance: “Helmsman, the right anchor has been retrieved, but the left anchor is stuck and can’t be raised. We must furl the sails and stop the ship, then send someone underwater to check.”
Lin Qian paused, checked the thread direction, confirmed the rotation was correct, and said to the two crew members: “You two press the wrench down together.”
Then he said to Chen Jiao: “Maintain original speed.”
Chen Jiao was slightly stunned, then nodded: “Good.”
Although he knew maintaining speed could at best capsize the galleon or at worst cause it to ship water and sink, ever since Lin Qian’s last voyage encountered a storm, Chen Jiao no longer dared question his orders.
Even if a reef lay ahead and Lin Qian ordered ramming it at full speed, Chen Jiao would not hesitate.
While speaking, the two ship workers pressed down on the wrench with all their might. The ironwood wrench handle emitted a faint sound of timber cracking.
But the bolt still didn’t budge.
Suddenly, the hull came to an abrupt stop as if hitting a reef. The three in the rudder cabin tumbled messily.
A teeth-grinding creak of timber came from the bow. The ship’s body gradually tilted left, the angle changing from 5 degrees to 15 degrees, then to 20 degrees.
The three in the rudder cabin slid leftward. The hot oil spilled everywhere. Fortunately, its temperature had dropped, merely scalding their skin red.
Just as the hull’s tilt approached 30 degrees, there was suddenly a boom like muffled thunder.
The hull instantly righted, then rocked a few times and leveled out.
The anchor chain broke.
On the deck, the crew members let out a cheer.
In the rudder cabin, the two crew members staggered to their feet. Seeing the nut, they exclaimed in surprise: “It turned!”
Then the two frantically twisted it downward with the wrench. With immense strength, they finally removed the right-side nut.
And that wrench broke in the middle and could no longer be used.
But there was no regret, because the left and right nuts had different shapes. This wrench had been designed for the right-side nut.
Moreover, due to the rudder lock’s special design, forcibly removing one side’s nut would cause the other side’s nut to embed into the wooden board and lock completely. At that point, even the original wrench couldn’t remove the left-side nut.
At this time, Chen Jiao’s voice came from the cabin entrance again: “Helmsman, there’s a shoal ahead. Going farther will ground us. We must turn immediately.”
……
On the port dock.
Alonso’s eyes nearly popped out. He had just witnessed the anchor chain snapping.
The anchor chain was a thick chain made of cast iron. Tearing it apart during a voyage would cause inestimable damage to the hull.
He never expected Lin Qian to be so audacious.
Because he hadn’t seen the galleon weigh anchor, Alonso had remained confident that Lin Qian couldn’t move the galleon, and thus had used mild tactics, not wanting to damage the galleon’s hull.
Unexpectedly, Lin Qian acted so recklessly, raising sails and anchor simultaneously, willing to risk destroying the ship and perishing to depart the port quickly.
Alonso could no longer stay calm. He set down the wine glass, stood up, and paced anxiously.
Now, hanging this band of pirates was secondary. Preserving the Manila galleon was paramount.
One must know, the galleon’s sailing month was approaching. Its cargo hold was already more than half full with precious goods such as raw silk, silk, porcelain, cloves, cinnamon, lacquerware, and pearls. The cargo value was nearly 500,000 pesos.
Equivalent to the Manila colony’s total output for a little over half a year.
If these were lost, not to mention the royal family’s reaction, the noble shareholders behind the Manila galleon wouldn’t spare him.
Also, don’t forget the Manila galleon itself was costly to build.
If this band of pirates, cornered, really scuttled the galleon.
The losses would balloon to astronomical figures.
Even selling all the Fahado family’s land, castles, and treasures wouldn’t suffice to compensate.
Alonso thought that if San Felipe or Fury were in the port, they could immediately board and fight alongside, and the situation wouldn’t be so passive.
Suddenly, he froze.
A question arose: Kidnapping Catherine, feigning an attack on Lingayen Bay, recruiting pirates, allying with the Dutch—were all these just to draw away Manila’s navy?
Lin Qian… had he begun planning the ship robbery upon first setting foot in Manila Port?
Had he… anticipated this very situation long ago?
