Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

As soon as the words had left his mouth, Winters felt someone grab his left leg, and Bard was tackled to the ground by three oarsmen. At that moment, another pirate charged at him from the front.

The last bit of pity in Winters' heart for these oarsmen was crushed by rage. He too became ferocious, switching his dagger from his right hand to his left, and viciously stabbed it into the neck of the oarsman holding his leg.

He reminded himself that he was on a battlefield, and this time he didn't just stab down, he mimicked Major General Layton's move—a stab, followed by a brutal twist.

An irreparable, destructive wound appeared on the oarsman's neck right away, his artery and tendons directly pierced and shredded. In agony, the oarsman covered the wound and let go of Winters' left leg.

With his leg free, Winters sidestepped, dodging the straight thrust from the pirate. The next move was completed instinctively by his swordsmanship training, first using the blade to block and knock the opponent's scimitar off course.

But this time, he didn't chop at the man's arm; instead, he thrust into the pirate's soft abdomen. Again, a stab and a twist. When he pulled out the scimitar, its curved blade created an even larger opening. That one strike took away the pirate's ability to move.

He didn't bother with the eviscerated pirate any longer and turned to help Bard. By this time, Bard was already pinned to the ground by three oarsmen. One oarsman was desperately trying to pry Bard's fingers open to seize his knife, but Bard was holding on tightly. Unable to pry the knife free, the oarsman moved to bite.

Winters took two steps to Bard's side, plunging his knife fiercely into the neck of the oarsman attempting to bite, killing him instantly.

The other two oarsmen were struggling with Bard. Fearing that using his Longsword might hurt Bard, Winters drove his dagger into the back of an oarsman's neck and, with a punch, drove it through, neatly dispatching the two oarsmen.

He pulled Bard up from the ground, and the oarsmen no longer dared to meet the gaze of the officer who had just killed three men, hanging their heads in submission. Not a single oarsman was spurred to attack the two by the pirates any longer.

Seeing reinforcements arriving, the major general no longer led Andre forward. They had numerous wounds, but sheer momentum had carried them this far. Now, with reinforcements, there was no need for a reckless attack, so the major general started a defensive retreat with Andre.

Winters and Bard advanced, while the major general and Andre fell back; finally, the four of them regrouped, confronting the pirates.

At this time, sounds of clashing blades came from behind the pirates, signaling that the pirates on deck had also been defeated. The major general and his men had fought from the stern into the cabin, while the ensigns were attacking from the entrance at the bow of the ship. Now, it was the pirates' turn to be caught in a pincer attack.

"Surrender! Or I'll kill you all!" The major general, like death incarnate, devoid of any mercy or compassion, suddenly started his psychological warfare, but the dripping blood from his two blades and his blood-stained uniform didn't seem very persuasive.

"Surrender my ass! Do you think we'll live if we surrender?" The pirate leader who had earlier spurred on his men to fight, shouted in despair, "If we surrender, this butcher will kill us all! This butcher is an officer; capture him, use him as a hostage, then we can live!"

By the end of his speech, the leader was crying, kicking and beating the other pirates like a shrew: "Go on! Capture him, and we can live! We can live..."

"Trash! Truly disgusting!" The major general looked contemptuously at the blustering pirate leader, pointing his sword at the man: "Even if you surrender, I would still kill you! Listen up, everyone, I'll only kill this one. If you don't want to die, throw down your weapons and surrender!"

On this side, Winters, Bard, and Andre silently faced off against the pirates. Meanwhile, more and more army ensigns leaped down from the entrance to the cabin. The pirates, trapped in the cabin, had nowhere to run and were at a dead end.

Winters watched as the pirates, uncertain and looking at each other helplessly, seemed to want to surrender, but no one dared to be the first to drop their weapon.

"Drop your weapons!" The major general commanded with another loud shout.

One by one, two by two, the pirates began dropping their weapons one after another, declaring the end of the brief but bloody melee.

——————Dividing Line——————

On the deck of the Good Luck, pirates who had surrendered were tightly tied up, kneeling in an orderly row.

Surrounding them were a flock of fledgling ensigns who had just tasted blood for the first time, holding their knives and watching fiercely.

One by one, pirate corpses and those on the brink of death were dragged out from the deck and cabin and neatly placed in front of the surrendered pirates.

Major General Layton sat heroically on a wooden barrel that had been dragged over, while Major Moritz, bolstered by alcohol, was stitching up his wounds.

There was no one on the ship thick-skinned enough to dare use a fishhook for suturing, so it fell to this man, who became indiscriminate once drunk.

Even though the instructor had said swordsmanship was a sport, it turned out to be somewhat useful, as at least the ensigns knew how to avoid being stabbed in the vital chest and abdominal area.

The injured ensigns mostly suffered wounds on their limbs, and if they didn't develop severe inflammation or fever in the following days, they would survive. Otherwise, they would die.

In an age without antibiotics and tetanus vaccines, survival from an injury entirely depended on the severity, physical condition, and luck.

Impatient from waiting, Major General Layton stood up with his sabre as soon as all the dead and dying pirates had been dragged out and approached the captured pirates.

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