Although the port of Tortuga was in a mess, the necessary equipment was not lacking.
With the efforts of hundreds of people and four steam cranes, it took three days for the one-eyed pirate's men to load all the goods on Feng Chou's list onto the ship.
After Feng Chou paid the balance, the two merchant ships sailed out of the port of Tortuga under the eyes of the one-eyed pirate.
After leaving the port of Tortuga, the old captain continued to lead the ship. Three days later, they arrived at the port of Rozburg.
The island where Rozburg was located was located on the north side of the ocean, near the eastern edge of the archipelago.
Reston Island where Rozburg was located was a large island with an area of about four thousand square kilometers. Its area was considered the largest in the archipelago.
With the support of the major forces of the northern continent, the Reston family, a wealthy merchant family of the Meredith Kingdom, opened up an earl's domain on the central plain of the island to supply Rozburg with food, vegetables, and other supplies.
The major forces of the northern continent stationed a joint fleet in Rozburg, but this fleet could only maintain the security around Reston Island, and could not radiate too far into the sea.
As for the farms located in the interior of Reston Island, there was no need to worry about their safety. On one hand, the pirates had no interest in crops. On the other hand, once the pirates landed, they were no match for the regular army, let alone attack the noble's castle far away from the coast.
In this archipelago, there were two fortresses like Rozburg. One was located on the eastern edge of the archipelago, and the other was located on the southern edge of the archipelago.
Along the way, Feng Chou and the others did not have a smooth journey. They encountered two or three groups of pirates on the way, but these pirates were all sailing sailboats. When they saw the Pioneer Knight and the Warrior, not only did they not dare to intercept, but they also stayed far away.
Rozburg was a fortified port. This port was located in a bay in the north of Reston Island. This bay was formed by a small mountain range inserted into the sea. The entire bay was embraced by this mountain range, and Rozburg was located at the top of the mountain range.
The entire Rozburg was built according to the mountain range. It was built into a long and narrow castle. On the hillside on both sides of the castle, there were hundreds of large cannons. These cannons were all built with alchemy cement and were extremely sturdy. It was said that there was a troop transport channel inside the cannons that led to the castle.
Port Ross is located at the foot of the inner side of Fort Ross.
Although Tortuga Port could replenish fresh water, it couldn't replenish food and vegetables. In fact, Tortuga itself was in dire need of these two things.
Therefore, Feng Chou had to come to Ross Port again.
Under the command of the Ross Port navigator, the Pioneer Knight and the Warrior passed through the narrow bay with turrets on both sides and entered the bay.
This was a narrow bay that was five to six kilometers wide and more than ten kilometers long. On one side of the bay was the coastal shoal of Reston Island, and on the other side was Rozburg Mountain, which was inserted into the sea. At the foot of Rozburg Mountain was an excellent harbor that was ten kilometers long.
The hillside of Rozburg Hill facing the inner side of the harbor was also filled with cannons, no less than the outer side. The entire harbor was within the range of these huge shore-based cannons!
At the foot of Fort Ross Mountain, the area next to the harbor has been cleared out of a flat area up to one kilometer wide. This area is the commercial area of Ross Port.
Feng Chou stood on the high bridge and could see that there was a large castle about ten kilometers inland from the commercial area of Ross Port.
Under the guidance of the navigator, the two merchant ships were moored at the large berth in the middle of the harbor.
After paying a lot of mooring taxes and fees, the port's administrative staff was sent away and the two captains quickly arranged for people to purchase food and vegetables.
The two merchant ships stayed in Rozburg Port for only one day and set sail early the next morning.
This time when they left Rozburg, without Feng Chou's instructions, the two captains started the steam engine almost at the same time and galloped towards the east at full speed.
Without activating the weapon system, the two merchant ships could reach a speed of 26 knots just by relying on the power of magic. Coupled with the speed of the ocean currents, the speed of the ships could even exceed 30 knots. After activating the steam engine, the speed increased steadily. When the steam engine was overloaded, it finally reached a speed of 42 knots!
At this speed, the two giant merchant ships actually ran out of the feeling of speedboats, dragging long white waves behind the merchant ships. Fortunately, it took a lot of time for the steam engine to warm up to full power. At this time, the two ships were far enough from Rozburg, otherwise, they would be scared out of their wits.
The old captain told Feng Chou that at this speed, even if the pirates were staring at them, they would never be able to intercept them.
However, less than half an hour after the old captain said this, a fleet of ships appeared in front of them.
It was a fleet of seven large magic-powered steam-powered hybrid ships. The fleet lined up in a straight line and headed straight for the Pioneer Knight and the Warrior.
In the Southern Continent, there were not only goblins, a race that was proficient in building steam ships, but also tieflings and high elves that could build magic warships. Naturally, there were people who had long combined magic warships and steam engines. Magic propulsion was used for routine cruising, while steam engines were used for acceleration during wartime.
In this era, the speed of a warship almost determined half of the victory. If one side's speed was much higher than the other, then the faster side could easily seize the advantageous position of the other side's T-shaped head and lock in the victory.
In the early days of the southern continent's trade routes, the magic merchant ships of the northern continent suffered many losses from these hybrid pirate ships. Captain Haddock fell under the hybrid pirate ship of the Blackwater pirates.
In the past twenty years, with the leaking of the goblins' steam propulsion technology, some magic merchant ships that took the risk of taking the southern sea route would do everything possible to install steam auxiliary propulsion.
In fact, as early as twenty years ago, the Church of Sea and the Church of Commerce had done everything possible to obtain the goblins' steam propulsion technology. They even used alchemy to improve it. In the Kingdom of Meredith, Tyron City, and the Eastern Islands, there were alchemy shipyards with steam propulsion technology that had existed for many years. It was just that people who did not take the southern sea route rarely paid attention to this technology.
Steam auxiliary propulsion was not practical in places outside the southern sea route. Compared to the clean, cheap, and lightweight magic propulsion, steam propulsion had too many shortcomings. If it was not for the fact that they had no other choice, no one would install steam propulsion on a ship that already had magic propulsion.
Only the more backward sailing ships would take the initiative to install steam propulsion on themselves.
The old captain, Drake, was able to return safely from three trips to the southern continent because he was piloting a merchant ship that was powered by a mixture of magic and steam propulsion.
The old captain felt as if he had been slapped in the face. His entire face turned green.
He quickly went up to the observation deck in front of the bridge and carefully observed with his binoculars.
After a moment, he walked back to the command room. His face was slightly better. He said to Feng Chou, "They shouldn't be targeting us. The two ships in front are fleeing merchant ships. The four ships behind are pirate ships. They should have encountered us by accident."
Feng Chou nodded and said, "It's better to be safe than sorry. Activate the weapons system. The two ships will cross each other at a safe distance in a straight line!"
The old captain nodded and agreed with Feng Chou's order. He turned back and signaled the signaller to send a signal to the Warrior.
After the Warrior received the order, it adjusted its course and followed behind the Pioneer Knight.
The Pioneer Knight and the Warrior activated their weapons system one after another. The speed of the two ships quickly decreased to thirty-four knots before stabilizing again. This speed was not much different from that of a magic merchant ship that was equipped with a goblin-style steam engine.
The distance between the two sides quickly shrank. The two merchant ships on the opposite side sent out signals for help.
The old captain looked at Feng Chou. Feng Chou thought for a moment and said, "Signal them to go first. We'll intercept the pirate ships behind them."
The old captain said, "Boss, are you really going to save them?
That's not a good idea. "
Feng Chou said, "This way, we can test them first. If they obediently cross each other's path, we'll let them go. If they dare to do anything else, we'll immediately fire without hesitation."
"After we let them go, we'll still maintain a safe distance of five hundred meters from the pirates behind us. If the pirates continue to chase and don't do anything strange, we'll retreat at full speed. If they do anything strange, we'll fire without hesitation."
The old captain and Haddock had both tested the cannons of the Warrior before, so he knew that the cannons on the two merchant ships not only had a large caliber and a long range, but they were also equipped with high-grade alchemy cannons. They could maintain excellent accuracy at a distance of five hundred meters beyond the range of ordinary cannons.
Ordinary ship-borne cannons in this era, without the help of alchemy cannons, could only have a relatively accurate range of 100 meters. Beyond that, the accuracy would rapidly decrease. Even magic cannons with alchemy cannons could only have an accurate range of 300 meters. Five hundred meters was indeed a relatively safe distance.
However, the cannons on Feng Chou's ship were not only larger caliber and equipped with alchemy cannons, but Qiankun Pagoda had also secretly equipped the cannons with stabilizing platforms to resist the shaking of the hull. This increased the accuracy of the cannons to a range of 1,000 meters. However, Feng Chou only let the crew test firing at a range of 500 meters. He also told them that this was because his alchemy cannons were of a higher grade.
So after listening to Feng Chou's order, the old captain immediately understood his intentions. He nodded with appreciation and gave the order to the crew.
After receiving the flag signal, the two merchant ships obediently passed by Feng Chou. Even if the two merchant ships knew that they were unwilling to help them, they could only pray that they could attract the pirates behind them, or at least lead some of them away.
It was not known if the pirate ships behind heard the prayers of the fleeing merchant ships. When the Pioneer Knight and the Warrior were about to pass by the pirate ships, the four pirate ships turned at the same time and outflanked the Pioneer Knight and the Warrior.