Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 1139

1139. A Deadly Gift (4)

As the attack date promised by Spain approached, France also dispatched its fleet.

Approximately twenty 1st-rate battleships and dozens of smaller 2nd and 3rd-rate ships of the line set sail from ports all over France and headed out to sea. The sight of the French fleet gathering in the Bay of Biscay to form a battle formation was truly a spectacle.

Many painters flocked to capture the sight of the French fleet gathering, and Lorient enjoyed unprecedented prosperity as sailors from the fleet were granted shore leave. Painters who climbed the nearby hills to capture the assembled French fleet on canvas soon began to wonder.

“What are those small ships?”

Behind the large ships of the line, there were about forty or so small boats clustered together. They were small boats, at best capable of carrying about 10 to 20 people, with a single mast erected slightly forward of the hull and a long chimney rising behind it.

“Too many to be supply ships or dispatch boats, aren’t there?”

“What kind of work do those boats do?”

While the painters were questioning the mysterious boats, about twenty carriages were entering the French naval base in Lorient. The carriages, with windows barred by sturdy grates, were entering the base under the strict protection, or rather, surveillance, of the cavalry.

As the carriages came to a stop, armed soldiers rushed to surround them.

Soon, a group of soldiers ran to unlock the back doors of the carriages and shouted as they swung them open.

“Get out!”

At the soldiers’ command, a group of figures began to emerge from the carriages one by one. Covered in dirt and wearing tattered clothes, with unkempt beards and hair, they shielded their eyes from the bright Lorient sunlight.

Each of their raised hands was shackled with thick iron chains. Not only were they handcuffed, but their feet were also bound by thick iron chains, with heavy iron balls attached to the ends.

“Move it!”

The men who got out of the carriages were escorted by the soldiers to the prison located deep inside the base.

Clang!

As the bars of the prison door slammed shut, the officer standing in front of it spoke to those trapped inside.

“You have volunteered for this operation. Let me reiterate, if you succeed in your assigned mission, you will be pardoned and freed, and you will also receive a reward of five gold livres [an old unit of French currency].”

At the officer’s words, one of the prisoners raised his voice.

“Will you really keep your promise?”

In response to the prisoner’s question, the officer unfolded a scroll he was carrying and showed it to the prisoner.

“This is an official document recording His Majesty the King’s promise. Do not doubt the promise.”

After the officer finished speaking, no more prisoners asked questions.

“Any other questions?”

“……”

When the prisoners answered with silence, the officer turned and ordered the guards.

“Give the prisoners their meal.”

“Yes, sir.”

Soon after, food began to be distributed to the prisoners.

The prisoners’ gazes were complex as they looked at the plates filled with meat and bread.

* * *

The development of the assault boat was successful, but the developers and naval commanders discovered another problem.

“If operated properly, the effect is certain.”

“The biggest problem is operating it properly.”

The combat doctrine of the assault boat was as follows:

-A container or vessel filled with explosives is attached to the end of a pole extending straight forward.

-A harpoon-shaped attachment is attached to the end of the pole.

-The assault boat, rushing at full speed towards the side of the enemy ship, rams the pole into the side of the enemy ship.

-When the harpoon-shaped attachment pierces and sticks to the wooden hull or the joints of the iron plates on the side of the enemy ship, the assault boat detaches the pole and reverses.

-The fuse attached to the explosive is connected to the assault boat by a rope, so that when it moves a certain distance away, the rope activates the fuse and causes an explosion.

It was a complicated and dangerous task just to look at. Therefore, the ignition device and connection doctrine of the bomb were improved once again.

-First, ramming the pole into the side of the enemy ship is the same.

-A device is added to the pole so that it separates from the assault boat as soon as it collides with the enemy ship.

-A delayed fuse is used for the bomb.

-The assault boat attaches the bomb to the side of the enemy ship and immediately reverses at full speed.

-The bomb attached to the enemy ship explodes after a certain amount of time using a delayed fuse.

.

“…..Is this the best we can do?”

“It is the best.”

“Hmm…..”

After hearing the developers’ answers, the French naval commanders pondered deeply. The power of the bomb mounted on the assault boat was certain. The problem was the survivability of the assault boat.

Surviving during the assault was a problem, and surviving after the assault was also a problem.

For everything to go well and return safely, it was certain that the saints and saintesses protecting the crew on board would have to use their powers. However, it was also a problem to discard the assault boat that had been developed with so much effort. It was because of the Imperial Navy’s ships that roamed the Mediterranean and Atlantic like their own front yard.

To confront them with fleet-to-fleet battles, which were orthodox and traditional methods, the Imperial Navy’s ships were so powerful that ‘even the devil would curse and the saints and saintesses would curse.’ The assault boat was the best asymmetric weapon to counter the Imperial Navy.

Therefore, the French Navy commanders resorted to other measures.

-Maximize the firepower of the bombs loaded on the assault boats.

So that if it works properly, it can sink even the damned Imperial ships at once.

-Mount high-output steam engines on the assault boats.

To be able to ram the bomb into the side of the enemy ship as quickly as possible.

However, the durability is sacrificed.

-Finally, the crew consists of those who can be lost without concern.

‘Those who can be lost without concern.’

They were prisoners.

As routes were developed to Africa, Terra, and Gloria, many ships traveled across the sea. And the number of pirates dreaming of making a fortune from them also increased.

The European powers, which suffered a lot of damage from the pirates rampant on the Gloria and Terra routes, tried to suppress them. As a result, a considerable number of pirates became food for the fish, and a similar number of pirates were caught and imprisoned.

And the French naval command thought of using them. And those who are now eating with complex expressions in the prison of Lorient were those who volunteered among the captured pirates and the sailors who caused a mutiny on board and were suppressed.

* * *

Not long before the operation, a group of naval officers visited prisons throughout France.

“Either way, you are destined to be hanged, or at best, to toil in the mines until you die. However, if you succeed in the mission assigned to you in this war, you will be pardoned. It’s not just a pardon. You will also receive a reward of five gold livres.”

At the words of the officer in charge of recruitment, the prisoners began to murmur.

After a while, one of the prisoners cautiously asked the officer.

“What is the mission?”

In response to the prisoner’s question, the French naval officer replied in a dry voice.

“What mission would you sailors be assigned? It is to steer a ship.”

“A ship?”

As soon as they heard the word ‘ship,’ the prisoners’ eyes began to shine.

Noticing the change in the prisoners’ atmosphere, the officer chuckled and added.

“The ship you will be in charge of is not a typical battleship. It is a ship that will perform a special mission, which I cannot explain in detail now because it is classified.”

At the officer’s words, the prisoners’ atmosphere sank again.

That meant that even if they somehow managed to escape with that ship, it was useless to use it elsewhere.

“Let me say again, those who take on and succeed in this special mission will be immediately pardoned and acquitted, and will receive five gold livres as a reward.”

The prisoners began to think carefully at the officer’s words.

‘Like that damned officer said at first, if I stay here, I’ll either be hanged or dig in the mines until I die. But if I succeed, I’ll be pardoned. And I can get 5 gold livres (about 2.5kg) as a reward? If I do well, I can get the funds to start over.’

‘It’s tempting, but the conditions are too good, which bothers me. In other words, it means it’s hard to survive.’

Seeing the prisoners struggling and not knowing what to do at the crossroads of choice, the officer opened his mouth.

“Either way, your end is decided. What are you worried about?”

Those words became the fuse, and the pirates and sailors who were imprisoned began to volunteer in droves.

* * *

After the final inspection in Lorient, the French fleet slowly began to prepare to depart. Accordingly, the prisoners who had been imprisoned in the Lorient naval base prison were also put back into carriages and arrived at the port.

The prisoners, with handcuffs and shackles on their hands and feet, were put on standby boats and transferred to prisoner transport ships. The prisoners, looking at the transport ships floating in the middle of the Bay of Biscay, spat and grumbled.

“To have to ride that unlucky ship again!”

Those transport ships were the ships that carried prisoners from the French naval bases in Gloria and Terra to prisons in mainland France. And it was a ship that was symbolic of harshness to the prisoners.

This was because not one or two prisoners were simply processed as ‘dead’ and thrown into the sea on that ship while coming to mainland France. Therefore, the prisoners spat and cursed in unison when they saw the transport ships.

Whether they did or not, the prisoners were transferred from the boat back to the transport ship. After the prisoners boarded the ship and the confirmation and imprisonment process was completed, the transport ship raised its anchor and unfurled its sails. Starting with this, the French naval fleet left the Bay of Biscay and began to move south.

* * *

When the large-scale southward movement of the French naval fleet was confirmed, it was the Portuguese Navy that was put on alert. Every Portuguese naval base facing the Mediterranean was immediately put on alert, and messengers with urgent dispatches traveled between Lisbon and the bases every day.

“20 1st-rate battleships and at least 40 2nd and 3rd-rate battleships…. What are these guys trying to do again…..”

Admiral Cristiano put his hand on his forehead after confirming the report.

“It’s a force that is no less than the last Italian War.”

Admiral Cristiano nodded at the adjutant’s words.

Compared to the last Italian unification war, the number was much smaller. However, the contents were the problem. The strongest battleship of the French Navy in the last Italian War was now a 2nd-rate battleship. The current French 1st-rate battleship was a powerful battleship that was said to be able to compete with the Empire’s Challenger-class battleship.

Therefore, although the number was smaller than in the last Italian War, it was a French fleet with a more powerful force.

“Where is the French fleet expected to be heading?”

At Admiral Cristiano’s question, the adjutant immediately answered.

“It’s not certain yet, but Gibraltar is the most likely.”

After pondering for a moment at the adjutant’s answer, Admiral Cristiano made a decision.

“I must see His Majesty the King. This is a matter of politics.