At the same time, Marine soldiers aimed their rifles.
As soon as the pirates aboard those ships landed on the beach, they would suffer a storm of attacks.
On the pirate ship, the pirates were furious.
Their cannons did not have the same range as the Marines', so they had never managed to launch an effective counterattack.
The waters within one nautical mile of the beach became a death zone for the pirates.
Even though the pirate ship sent a small number of men out on fast boats, they still failed to break through the Marines' fire blockade.
"Damn it! Their cannonballs should have run out by now!"
The pirate captain cursed loudly.
Because of his personal style, his crew rarely made use of cannons.
His pirate crew's method of attack leaned more toward close combat rather than long-range firepower.
"Quick, charge through in one breath and wipe out those Marines!"
With little intelligence to speak of, the pirate captain decided to gamble with his life.
Either he would be able to land in the end, or his ship would be sunk while advancing.
"Full speed ahead! Target: landing on the island!"
"Brothers, as long as we fight well in this battle, we will become heroes of the Red Hair Pirates and be able to join them!"
In order to inspire his subordinates, the pirate captain directly wrote them an empty promise.
He had no authority to decide anything for the Red Hair Pirates.
But it had to be said that there were truly many reckless madmen among pirates.
The moment they heard that they could join the Red Hair Pirates, they became so excited that they did not even bother verifying whether the information was true.
One after another, they raised the blades in their hands and shouted wildly.
"Charge! Kill these damn Marines, and we can join the Red Hair Pirates!"
"Bastard Marines, do not let me reach the island! Once I land, I will kill all of you!"
"Long live the Red Hair Pirates!"
As the pirates frantically encouraged themselves, the pirate crew burst out with unprecedented momentum and rapidly approached the island.
Perhaps it was luck.
During this process, the helmsman, whose adrenaline had surged too high, steered the ship entirely by instinct and somehow managed to force the vessel through the dense artillery net, bringing it close to the island.
"Brothers, charge with me!"
When they were still two hundred meters from the island, the large ship stopped there.
Any closer, and the vessel might be sunk by artillery fire.
In order to show his face before the Red Hair Pirates, the pirate captain carried a large blade and jumped into the sea, swimming desperately toward the shore.
The pirate underlings followed his example.
Each of them took only a blade and jumped into the water, swimming toward the beach.
"Reporting, Captain. The pirates have abandoned their ship and are swimming toward the shore. Should we open fire and destroy the vessel?"
A communications soldier quickly ran up to the Marine Captain and spoke.
The captain nodded slightly, then said, "Since our objective has been achieved, destroy their ship directly and make sure they all die in this sea region."
In truth, the Marines could have destroyed the pirate ship earlier. However, the distance had been somewhat far, making success less certain.
So the captain had ordered the artillery to deliberately fire slightly off target in order to lure the pirates into taking the bait.
"Yes, sir!"
The communications soldier quickly ran toward the artillery position on the other side.
Soon, the positions of more than a dozen cannons were adjusted, their angles aimed directly at the pirate ship.
"Three-round volley!"
Boom!
Following the artillery major's command, cannon after cannon let out furious roars.
The pirates swimming in the water watched helplessly as shell after shell flew over their heads and slammed directly into the pirate ship that had stopped behind them.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
More than a dozen large holes appeared across the pirate ship at once. From the look of it, the vessel would soon be sunk by Marine artillery.
Boom!
Boom!
Two more volleys followed, and this time they dealt devastating damage to the ship.
Cannonballs ruthlessly smashed into the deck and the sides of the vessel.
Huge holes more than a meter wide appeared all over the ship.
"Captain, our ship has been sunk by the Marines."
The pirate crew's vice captain, who had swum faster than the others, reached the pirate captain and spoke.
The pirate captain turned back and looked at the ship already beginning to sink into the sea. His face filled with rage.
"Boys, they sank our ship! We have no way back now! Charge!"
"Only by killing the Marines on that island can we get a new ship!"
Under these circumstances, even the pirates whose will to fight was not particularly strong had no other choice.
Before this, they could still imagine boarding the ship and leaving if they failed.
Now, they could not.
Because the ship had sunk.
"Kill them! Kill all those Marine bastards!"
"My money is still on that ship! Damn Marines!"
One pirate after another sped up even more after seeing the ship sink into the sea, swimming desperately toward the shore.
At this moment, the Marine artillerymen, who had already achieved their mission objective, turned their cannon muzzles toward the sea.
Boom!
A cannonball exploded in the water, sending up a pillar of water more than ten meters high.
The pirates near the explosion lost control of their bodies under the violent shock of the current.
Those closer to the blast felt as if their organs had been struck by a heavy hammer, and they immediately lost consciousness.
Unfortunately, if they had been on the beach, they might still have survived. But now they were in the sea. As long as they stopped swimming, they would quickly sink.
The pirate captain dodged the shells flying overhead while desperately speeding toward the shore.
When his feet finally stepped onto the sand, a satisfied smile appeared on his face.
"Boys, follow me and kill!"
The pirate captain did not look behind him.
He had no idea that only around thirty members of his crew were left. He simply roared and charged forward on his own.
In the trenches that had long since been prepared, the Marine captain revealed a satisfied smile.
This situation was exactly within his expectations.
"Order the riflemen to fire."
The Marine captain gave the order directly.
Bang, bang, bang!
After receiving the order, the riflemen in the trenches aimed at the pirates one after another and pulled their triggers.
Because of the Marines' fierce firepower, the pirate captain had no choice but to hide behind a waist-high rock.
When he turned to look at his subordinates, cold sweat ran down his forehead.
"What the hell happened? Why are there only a few of you left?"
The pirate captain stared in disbelief at the dozen or so people before him.
If this had been somewhere else, the pirate captain naturally would not have cared about the number of his subordinates.
Even with only a dozen pirates, he would dare lead them to sack a village or town.
But not now.
If they wanted to charge, they needed enough people to sacrifice.
Looking at the dozen people before him, the pirate captain seriously doubted they would even reach the trenches before being wiped out.
Five minutes later, the Marines could no longer see any pirates on the beach.
Every one of them had hidden behind rocks.
As for the unlucky pirates who had failed to find cover, the Marine soldiers had already picked them off one by one.
The Marine captain drew the saber at his waist, pointed it toward the place where the pirates were hiding on the beach, and roared, "For justice!"
Then he led from the front, leaping out of the trench and rushing swiftly toward the beach.
"Charge! Kill all these pirates!"
"Long live the Marines!"
Under the Marine captain's lead, the brave Marine soldiers took up their weapons and rushed toward the few remaining pirates on the beach.
"Captain, the gunfire seems to have stopped."
The pirate crew's vice captain whispered.
Under the fire blockade just now, they had only been able to hide behind rocks and pray that the Marines would run out of ammunition.
Hearing this, the pirate captain quietly poked his head out and observed the situation ahead.
When he saw that the Marines had already rushed out of the trenches, his face changed drastically.
"Quick! Quick! The Marines are coming!"
"Hurry up and shoot them!"