BY SCHISM RENT ASUNDER – snippet 110:
"Sail ho!"
Hauwyrd Mahkneel looked up sharply at the lookout's announcement.
"Five sail — no, at least seven sail — bearing nor'-nor'west!"
"Seven?" The captain shook his head. "Seven?"
"Something must have gone wrong, Sir." Mahkneel hadn't realized he'd spoken aloud until Lieutenant Gahrmyn responded to him. He turned and looked at the other man, and Gahrmyn shrugged. "I don't know what it might have been, Sir, but obviously something did. If I had to guess, I'd wager something tipped Sir Vyk's hand early and these are the ones who managed to make sail and avoid the boat parties."
Mahkneel grunted. Gahrmyn's explanation was almost certainly the right one, but that didn't help him very much. Seven ships would be almost a quarter of the total number of Charisian galleons in Ferayd when Arrowhead departed for her part in this operation, and he had exactly one galley with which to stop them.
And if any of them get away, someone's going to want my arse fried on a spit, and never mind the fact that I can only intercept one of them at a time!
"Clear for action, Master Gahrmyn," he said crisply.
"Aye, aye, Sir."
Gahrmyn touched his shoulder in salute, turned away, and began shouting orders of his own. Bosun's whistles blew, the deep-voiced drums began to roll, and feet pattered wildly as Arrowhead's crew responded to the summons to battle.
"Deck, there! I can see at least nine of 'em now!" the lookout shouted, and Mahkneel grimaced.
The numbers weren't getting any better, but at least these were merchant ships, not war galleons. Arrowhead's broadside armament might be little more than a joke compared to what King Cayleb's galleons were reported to mount, but eight falcons, each throwing an eight-pound shot, ought to be sufficient to deal with any mere merchantman. And, if it wasn't, the forecastle's chase armament — one fifty-pound doomwhale and a flanking pair of thirty-pounder krakens, mounted to fire straight ahead — certainly would. The problem wasn't whether or not he could stop any galleon with which he managed to come to grips, but the fact that he didn't see any way a single galley could "come to grips" with nine of them before most of them at least, sailed right past him.
Well, the Writ says Langhorne knows when a man's done the best he can. I'm just going to have to hope Mother Church and the King are equally understanding.
"Do you want to use the chase guns or the falcons, Sir?" Lieutenant Gahrmyn asked.
"A single shot from the doomwhale would turn one of these people inside out," Mahkneel said.
"Yes, Sir. I know."
"On the other hand . . . "
Mahkneel rubbed his chin thoughtfully. What he'd just said to Gahrmyn was undoubtedly true. The chasers were far more gun than would be needed to stop any merchantman ever built . . . but they would certainly be more impressive than his falcons. And he could use the chase armament to plug away at them from astern if they decided to keep running, as well. Under these sea conditions, his gunners' accuracy wouldn't be anything to brag about. In fact, they'd be lucky to hit their target at all at any range much above sixty or seventy yards. But they might get lucky, and even if they didn't, merchant seamen faced with the prospect of fifty-pound shot pitching into their hulls might just decide against tempting fate.
"Have the Gunner go ahead and load the chasers," he said after moment. "And tell him I'll want the warning shot fired from the doomwhale." Gahrmyn's eyebrows rose, and Mahkneel chuckled sourly. "I don't much like heretics, Rahnyld, but I'd just as soon not kill anyone I don't have to. And if you were a merchant seaman, how would you feel about having a doomwhale fired across your bow?"
"Actually, Sir," the first lieutenant said with the first genuine smile Mahkneel had seen out of him since they'd received their orders, "I think that after I got done pissing myself, I'd probably strike my colors as quickly as humanly possible!"
* * * * * * * * * *
"What do you think he's going to do, Sir?" Kevyn Edwyrds asked quietly as the Delfarahkan galley came plowing through the strengthening whitecaps towards them.
The low-slung galley was making heavier going of it than the galleons, but there was an undeniable rakish gracefulness to her, compared to the high-sided, round-bowed galleons. She was a coastal design, far smaller and with a much shallower draft than any Charisian galley. She couldn't have displaced much more than a third of Kraken's thousand tons, and she had much lower and sleeker castles fore and aft than a Charisian galley would have shown. That smaller size made her faster under oars in calm conditions, but it also left her at a greater disadvantage in a lively seaway. Bursts of spray exploded over her sharply raked bow, and green water swept back on either side to cream whitely over the angularity of her rowing frame. It must, Fyshyr thought, be . . . lively aboard her. Which wasn't going to do a thing for her gunnery.
"From the looks of things, he's planning to put a shot across our bows from one of the chasers," the captain said out loud. "If he fires at anything over a hundred yards, we'd be safer if he were shooting at us, I think."
"He might just get lucky, Sir."
"He might. Still, I'm thinking he'll probably want to get closer than that before he fires the first shot. It's going to take him a good ten minutes to reload an old-style gun under these conditions, maybe longer. So, if he fires one shot — probably from the main chase, although he might use one of the flankers — and we don't stop, he'll want to be close enough to make sure he's got at least a decent chance of hitting us with the other two."
"So how do you want to handle it, Sir?"
Fyshyr kept his eyes on the oncoming galley while he considered Edwyrds' question. Kraken's carronades were loaded and ready, although her camouflaged gun ports were still closed. The question in his mind was whether or not that camouflage would hold up.
Part of him was tempted to fire as soon as the galley entered his effective range. Which, he admitted to himself, wasn't going to be much above a hundred yards, maximum, under these conditions even for his gunners. But in order to fire, they'd have to open the ports and run out the guns, and that was going to take at least a few seconds. Long enough for an alert galley's gun crews to get off their own shots first. Of course, there was always the question of just how accurate and effective those shots might be, especially if they were rushed, wasn't there? Still . . . .
"We'll hold our course for now," he said. "If we can, I want to encourage him to waste at least one of the shots from those chasers of his."
* * * * * * * * * *
Mahkneel glowered at the untidy gaggle of galleons.
They showed no sign of stopping, despite the fact that only a drooling idiot could have misunderstood his own intentions, but at least they hadn't done the one thing he'd been most afraid of. If they'd scattered, tried to evade Arrowhead independently, the galley could never have caught more than one or two of them at most, under these conditions. But they hadn't done that. Instead, they'd stayed huddled together like frightened sheep, which suited him just fine.
"That one, I think," he said to Gahrmyn, pointing at the leading galleon. It was bigger than most of the others, and it had drawn a good quarter mile in front of its fellows. And while the others were crowding up to windward, staying as far from Arrowhead as they could, the leader had actually fallen off the wind a bit, which was going to bring him closer to Mahkneel's guns.
"Aye, aye, Sir."
The lieutenant saluted, then made his way forward to personally pass the word to the gunner, and Mahkneel nodded in satisfaction. That sort of thoroughness was typical of Gahrmyn.
* * * * * * * * * *
"That's right," Fyshyr half-crooned to himself, watching the Delfarahkan closing on Kraken. "Just a little closer . . . "
I think the galley is going to be in for a little bit of a rude shock
He may damage Kraken, but I think he’s mostly toast.
There’s a saying. Payback’s a (_______). You fill in the blanks. I don’t think I’m allowed to say that here. I hope they grab the galley commander. It’ll be nice to drag him through charis’s streets before his execution. Of course, Im being a little bloody minded here. I wonder if Merlin is “watching” this happen.
At least the snippets havent stopped *whew*
yay ..things are finally getting exciting in here ….whew …
I’ve been checking for the next snippet every hour yesterday….
The Last Q-Ship _Kraken_, fleeing the Langhorne tyranny, leading a rag-tag band of fugitive on a long and lonely quest. A shining land called Charis . . . :)
The galley commander is actually not so bad, compared to the persons giving him orders. He appears to be attempting to stop them with minimal loss of life. However, the killing going on in the harbor might be a bit….upsetting to Charisians.
Wednesday should be interesting.
If any of us were aboard the Kraken and saw the butchery at the port would we be forgiving to those on the galley?
I’m not blood thirsty but I would struggle to contain my anger so i suspect it will be the same for the crew of the Kraken
The galley crew will be wiped out without mercy.
“At least the snippets havent stopped *whew*”
Yet. But 110 is such a round number. On the other hand, 100 base 11 is even rounder.
One hit from that doomwhale would just about rip the Kraken in half. But fortunately for our heroes they are planning on firing a warning shot. Unless the camouflage does NOT hold up (which it might not) or something else happens to change their minds, they are going to be *trying* to miss. They may, of course, fail, but if they succeed then Kraken will have a very good chance of turning the Arrowhead into the next best thing to real arrowheads.
I suspect the Kraken will still take damage, although I hope not significant enough to force them to abandon and join the other merchant ships for the rest of the trip home. I would prefer for Kraken to get the merchant ships out to the high seas then order them to scatter and head home independently while she uses her greater speed to get home first (assuming I haven’t misread things and she actually HAS greater speed to use). But those two “flankers” are still 30-pounders which ain’t THAT much smaller than a doomwhale. They are smaller “enough” that a hit from them would only cause significant damage rather than outright destruction, but a hit from them will still REALLY hurt.
RH
You know, the frequent appearance of “I hope Merlin was watching via his …” make me wonder:
Did someone decide to promote Merlin to God?
Because that sentence is not much diffenrent than “I hope God is watching over us” or something
Sheeesh!
On the idea that the Kraken will/won’t be merciful toward the Arrowhead, while I doubt that the crew of the Kraken would be merciful, they also don’t know if the Arrowhead has friends that might around. We know that the Arrowhead is only ship that could stop the Charisians from escaping but they don’t know that. IMO they will not want to get into a long fight that could mean mutual destruction.
By the way, Eric usually lets us know if it is the Last Snippet.
This is going to be short and bitter. The big chase gun will fire its warning shot, and the Kraken will swing into it, while the others diverge. Kraken can close to pont blank range long before the Arrowhead can reload. In a close in fight, the Charisian guns will turn the galley to driftwood, but perhaps not before it has a chance to grapple and board. In a boarding action, we will see some real carnage.
Then all the ships will head out, bearing word of the sneak attack. What this will do to the local economy does not bear thinking.
J
On the “hope Merlin is watching” and “Merlin isn’t God”, in the Honorverse (on the Bar) David Weber has said that Merlin can miss important info (and has) and has hinted that this will bite Merlin in the “rear”.
I have a feeling given the details the Mad Wizard is furnishing so far of this impending battle that things aren’t going to go well for Kraken.
I didn’t promote Merlin to God, Weber did.. though an imperfect one. Think about it. Of course Merlin is going to deploy those spy units to “friendly” harbors to keep an eye on things. A merchant fleet of thirty some ships will definitely have some coverage. Hell, the fact that Merlin missed the priests conversations with the leaders of that kingdom is Weber trying to limit Merlin’s abilities after already giving him too much.
Sorry Kar, but David Weber has made it clear in the books and in comments about the books, that Merlin and Owl have limits. In the first book Merlin worries that Owl might have missed important conversations. So far none of the missed conversations are known to been important. Although IMO once Merlin learns of these attacks on Charisian Merchant Ships, he will *know* that Owl has missed important conversations. DW has made it clear that Owl is an idiot. [Wink]
Unless Lt. Gahrmyn springs a little suprise of his own. Free thinkers can do the darndest things right when you don’t expect it.
Here’s one thing that has me courious – here’s the 2nd time that more than one galley leaving the harbor has been mentioned, but only one on patrol. What’s happened to the other ships.
There are three channels to guard leaving this harbor, per the map. This channel is 12 miles wide and had one galley assigned. This act by the inquisition leaves the galley no choice but to act. They don’t know what’s happened in the harbor. They can’t win this and the Captain knows it. Attack one and they all scatter. Don’t attempt and he faces the Inquisition. I would try to stop them if I was in his shoes too. Even though it will be disasterously. And remember the Kraken’s crew has grow by the survivors it rescued. A boarding action may be more one sided than expected, especially if the have one or two rifles.
Actually it was my impression that there are three MAIN channels, but there are probably at least a few more that need to be watched as well. If there were truly only three I’d have a hard time buying that they could only put one galley for the entirety of the most important one. They are probably trying to cover them all, thinking that only a very few would escape and that they would all scatter and try to head for different channels in hopes that they might get away that way. Which might well have happened if they had faced the panicked and desperate two or three fugitives they expected. They didn’t count on a privateer with his head on his shoulders with both the weaponry and sense to keep his escapees huddled up together to (try to) blow right through.
RH
Owl started as an idiot, but DW also mentioned that the AI model it’s based on would get somewhat smarter over time. Merlin has already noted some improvement in it’s heuristic capability. This battle is shaping up like Wayfarer vs. the Peep BC (can’t remember it’s name). I’m betting a solid broadside crushes the galley at the same time the Doomwhale breaks Kraken’s back.
I thought that at first too, Michael… but according to MWW on Baen’s Bar that’s not terribly likely, due to the fact that although the doomwhale SOUNDS much nastier it’s not really all that much bigger than the krakens. So I’d say that even if Kraken hits with every shot (not terribly likely) it will still take at least a few — or even a few dozen — broadsides to finish off Arrowhead entirely. During that time Arrowhead will almost certainly inflict at least a few casualties of her own, but short of Kraken screwing up by the numbers or a VERY lucky “golden BB” — a hit on the magazine perhaps? — I don’t see a whole lot of hope for mutual destruction.
RH
I don’t think hits on the magazine were as big of a deal with solid shot as they eventually became once explosive shells were invented.
Likely when destroying Tanlyr Keep, the HMS Kraken (under Commodore Kohdy Nylz) had 6 guns per broadside like the two galleys later captured and inspected by Black Water. Black Water lost 2 to 1 in the battle to take those. Cayleb’s galleons had about 24 and required only two or three broadsides to destroy a normal galleon. This 2nd Kraken has 12. Unless the Arrowhead is significantly larger than the galleys in Black Water’s fleet (or very lucky), it should be easy for this Kraken to take it out.
Michael, DW has said (in the last week or so) that Owl is still an Idiot. Without looking for DW’s postings on the Bar, I’m not completely sure but I believe DW commented that it will take years for Owl to be more helpful. IMO this will be the first of several instances where Merlin realizes that Owl missed important things.
On Owl’s ‘intelligence’, I think people should check out a recent info dump of DW.
See http://infodump.thefifthimperium.com/Gbaba/oar_church_communications.htm