Winds of Fury

by Peter Duysings

  The term rifle was somewhat of a misnomer in that the barrel in most long arms was still a smoothbore, but when used with an elongated bullet instead of a ball the accuracy was enhanced. The elongated spherical bullet retained better mass and kinetic energy, and thus the bullet’s motion through the air made it more potent and more accurate than the older ball firing smoothbore musket type. Both weapons, however, were still reasonably inaccurate over long distances, but in this particular situation with close-in antagonists, they were deadly.

  Upon hearing the shots, other riflemen opened up firing into the mass of Portuguese sailors and wounded men stumbled and fell against their fellow crewmen as they were hit by metallic projectiles. Heinrich and his small armed entourage of Reiner, Diego, Anton, and Fritz dropped down behind the bulwarks. Without adequate time to reload fast enough, the riflemen perched high above now brought their longbows and crossbows into play and loosed their arrows piercing many more in the bunched-up crowd.

  On Bruno’s orders, his ten shooters on the bow leveled their blunderbusses for close-in combat. These short length and large diameter barreled guns were filled with either several lead balls or stuffed with nails that would fire in a wide swath in the desire to impact more than one target with one shot. At his command, the ten men with him fired at point-blank range into the massed mob from barely a few yards away and laid down a withering swarm of hot metal fragments. Dropping their empty weapons, the ten men quickly grabbed another set of blunderbusses, brought them shoulder height and fired into the mass, mowing down yet more enemy sailors. The Portuguese succumbed to the deadly contents and fell on top of the already dead bodies. The effect briefly halted the attackers charge as only a few waded forward stepping upon their dead and wounded fellow mates in the process.

  Bruno’s ten men turned and moved to the rear with their empty weapons to reload, while the other armed men also with blunderbusses stepped up to take their place. Only a small number of enemy sailors were armed with pistols, and so far, the quick action and deadly fusillades of the See Wolf’s shooters had prevented any effective offense from them. However, their quick rush forward in a large group succeeded to advance to their bow railing. Now several pistols fired and wounded two sailors in Bruno’s ranks. One went down to the deck with a leg wound, and the other stood firm, although shot in the arm. The remaining rank fired. More staggered shots from among the perches high in the rigging fired into the mass of enemy sailors as bullets found their mark and tore into flesh and bone. Another flight of arrows followed piercing bodies, and more men fell.

  Wild and incoherent yelling and shouting were now nonstop. Several wild shrieking and desperate-sounding commands were barked out by the Portuguese officers, and yet another large mass of bladed armed sailors began rushing to the bow section to bolster their ranks. But forward progress was not to be as now the frigate’s bow was filled with stacks of the dead, preventing any mass attacks until bodies were moved. Enemy boarders attempting to cross over had to climb over dead mates and advance through human obstacles.

  Bruno worked his air rifle mechanism flawlessly as he downed men in their impeded attempt forward with accurate headshots. Adding to the dense mass of dead, it now seemed the opposition could not break through. Unexpectedly bodies began to be moved, and the pile dwindled as men on their knees and bellies feverishly grabbed dead mates pulling them back, and others dragged them to the rear. Suddenly a mad rush of Portuguese prevailed over dead bodies and led by men carrying wooden boards. Their timing could not have been more opportunistic as Bruno’s shooters were in a reloading mode. Not able to halt their progress, Reiner shouted for the See Wolf’s men to retreat to reset and the command to the See Wolf’s boarders to come forward in support. Wooden boards slammed down on the bulwark railings, and a stream of screaming attackers began charging across the span unto the See Wolf.

  With their backs to the forward house wall, a last volley of blunderbuss fire by Bruno’s shooters tore into the enemy’s front ranks. But alas, it was, but a faint reprieve as a steady flow of Portuguese sailors continued to cross over from their ship. It seemed they had unleashed their entire crew to try to rout the schooner’s defenders. With a shortage of men engaged at the bow, the See Wolf men were desperately putting up a ferocious effort in stemming the larger tide of enemy sailors. The fight was now at arm’s length and brutally fierce. Bruno’s shooters using their blunderbusses as clubs fought along with Heinrich, Reiner, Diego, Anton, and Fritz in hand to hand combat completely outnumbered. They could not stop the horde they now faced by themselves. The large enemy mass was about to run them over with sheer numbers when the two boarding teams came rushing around both corners of the forward house and drove into the melee. Fighting continued with a frenzied zeal as both sides were fiercely attempting to gain an edge in the small space of the bow section.

  The other two boarding teams led by Erwin Alder and Rolf Hirsch were already responding in their rush to the bow after they had armed, grabbing weapons off the bulwark’s storage hooks and bins. However, the lack of space prevented both teams from pushing their way onto the forecastle deck at the bow. As hard as it was to believe, the battle space was so restricted that swords were useless, only knives and hand-to-hand fighting was effective. With antagonists facing each other mere inches apart brought on a whole new reality to the See Wolf’s men who had never before confronted death like this. It was this blunt reality that electrified their volition to survive. On the other hand, their foes besieged by the same disastrous reality were fighting with matched aggression. Captain Faria had committed his crew wholesale to the battle. It was do or die, and many were dying.

  Abruptly a thunderous volley of rifle and blunderbuss fire erupted above their heads coming from the forward house roof into the enemy ranks. It seemed as if chucks broke off the dense enemy mass in the rear of their group. A short moment and another volley mirrored the first one as enemy bodies went down and became limp. It was Arnold and his riflemen who had rushed to their aid and not a moment too late. This gave the See Wolf’s men a well-needed boost. The weapon’s fire culled the enemy mass enough to allow the See Wolf’s men to drive their foes back a few yards. With enough space opening up, the second wave of boarders began pushing their way onto the forecastle deck and replaced Bruno and his men in the fight. This extra support despite still outnumbered, provided the impetus to stop the aggressive Portuguese drive.

  The boarders plowed into the enemy using their buckler shields blocking strikes and leather uppers further protected their upper torsos as enemy blades had a difficult time penetrating the multiple folds of layered hardened leather. Big Anton was set in the middle leading the pack, and striking with massive sword strokes, he began carving large sections into the enemy swarm; together they began to drive them back.

  Many men that went down were wounded, still alive suffering from wounds. Some were trampled as they lay sprawled on the deck as the fighting continued. The screams of the wounded and yells of the men fighting were at a feverish pitch and altogether too indistinctive to discern the difference. The Portuguese had lost many men by now, but despite that, they continued to battle fiercely.

  Diego and Reiner were striding back and forth behind their ranks of boarders shouting them on, urging them to drive forward and inflict damage to any targets available to them. Not knowing exactly where he fit in the scheme of things, Heinrich had placed himself alongside the two and went forward with them. Far be it from him to sit out the fight against men attempting to take his ship.

  The fighting edge was beginning to favor the See Wolf men with their more proficient fighting ability honed in the formidable training they had excelled at. It was this difference between the two groups that now brought the initiative. With sustained effort, the See Wolf’s men drove the enemy further back toward their ship. With deck space being reduced even more as it narrowed at the end of the bow, the Portuguese were forced to jump back across to their ship, with the See Wolf’s boarders following.

>   The Portuguese captain and officers were being hunted from high above. Throughout the fighting, riflemen and bowmen in the See Wolf rigging had continued targeting other areas of the enemy ship to eliminate as much opposition as they could for their boarders. Just as they had been taught, they were also seeking out the ship’s officers as priority targets.

  One rifleman had scored a direct chest shot on the first officer and the man was out for the count face down on the deck, bleeding out profusely. Faria and his second officer Hilario Santos were soon targeted as they fled toward the stern away from the action. Bullets splintered wood fragments all around them as both men ducked behind anything that could provide safety. Desperate to avoid the deadly fire from above, they dove behind several wooden barrels and scrambled underneath a rowboat stored there. The barrels provided just enough cover for the two men under the boat to stay out of direct gunfire. The riflemen kept taking occasional potshots forcing the men to stay put. That left the Portuguese crew without any leadership, but their numbered throng still outnumbered the See Wolf’s boarders who were fighting like mad to gain a foothold upon the attacking ship’s bow section. Now having crossed over to the frigate, more enemy sailors came flooding over in support of their mates.

  The fifth and sixth boarding teams led by Hans Vogel and Gerhard Sauer came running up and also surged over the rails joining their boarding mates across onto the enemy vessel. Right behind these two teams came Arnold Schroeder leading his shooters. Paul Schmidt’s boarding team was the last group to follow but stayed behind on the forecastle in reserve as needed.

  The presence of six teams of twelve men each along with the still immense number of Portuguese caused the frigate’s forecastle on the bow and beyond to the main deck deadlocked. To break this impasse, required a means to move the entire crowd to the more extensive main deck quickly before the drive by the See Wolf’s men came to naught.

  A shrill whistle pierced the air, and in rapid order, all the See Wolf men threw themselves to the deck. A split second of bewilderment came over the bunched up Portuguese sailors. Their confusion was met by flaming gunfire. Again, the blunderbuss’s jagged metal contents this time flying over the prostrated boarders impacting flesh and bone beyond. Horrific screams shattered the air. Instantly Schroeder shouted orders, and the next line of shooters stepped up and fired without hesitation. More bodies fell, and the throng began to break up. It was however difficult due to being so tightly bunched together. Screaming and yelling commenced in a sustained clamorous cacophony. With orchestrated precision, a third line of shooters came to stand in the wake of the last line and took aim. Another volley roared, and death instantly found more unwilling bodies. The whistle penetrated the air again, and the See Wolf’s boarders came to their feet and charged the enemy once again. It was an artfully choreographed action rehearsed to perfection. It brought about what it intended; breaking up the impasse enough so the boarders could continue to ply their craft expeditiously. Schroeder’s shooters commenced reloading.

  With their team leaders shouting commands, the six teams of combat boarders renewed their attack against the masses before them who were in a state of pandemonium as they now sought any means of escaping the woeful carnage that besieged them; none, however, was found.

  Anton’s imposing six-and-a-half-foot frame was still the pinnacle in the battle forward as they reached amid ship; the widest section of the pirate vessel. He led the surge against the enemy with his sword slashing and slicing with giant strokes as if he was wielding a Scottish Highlander’s broadsword. He compelled it with such fury as he took on handfuls of Portuguese sailors and made mincemeat out of them. His boarding mates fought on both sides of him motivated by his fighting might and finding new vigor in their successful onslaught. Heinrich’s urge to muscle through his own men to engage the enemy at the height of the action now saw its opportunity, and he stepped forward among his men to fight alongside them.

  There was no quarter given the brigands. That was what they were after all. No different from pirates who sought out to plunder from others. This prevailing mindset had brought up the rage within the See Wolf’s crew against this enemy and was still building aggression.

  The ferocity of the fighting whipped up in intensity as they reached the beam, covering the deck with bloody gore as men driven by survival instinct lashed out at each other with murderous intent in their struggle to stay alive. As the full-fledged battle continued with deadly intensity, the superior fighting skills of the See Wolf’s men gained the upper hand in the sustained attack.

  The boarding teams kept up their cutting, bashing, battering, and bludgeoning the opposition with a relentless assault. The agony of the pirate’s affliction was merciless as swords, and battle axes swooped down upon them. Swords clanged together, and daggers swept in and out furiously. Wounded and lifeless bodies of Portuguese were down on the deck strewn about as the bloody mayhem was unceasing in its daunting effect and they were driven to the brink of fatality and beyond. With furious savagery, the pirates were walloped into submission. The silence of deadly blows consumed the vanquished was overshadowed by the moans, groans, and screams of the wounded.

  Where physical energy was spent, it was replaced by raging adrenaline induced desperation to overcome an assailant’s bloodlust. Exhaustion led to flaying at each other with wild strikes. Desperation became an enveloping condition for some as they languished in their ability to stand up anymore. Forceful pummeling and clobbering replaced skillful sword work as men’s arms became fatigued. Some men were down on the deck wrestling for the upper hand against their opponent, scratching at eyes, tearing at faces, battering each other for even the smallest advantage to overcome the other.

  Besides Anton, two other men in the very midst of this barbaric setting, Reiner, and Diego, had emerged and stood out from the rest as they were dispensing hell on earth in astounding displays of their superior fighting ability. Both brought on their wrath felling men with their swords as scythes cutting through grass. Their sharp blades sliced and diced through flesh and bone as men dropped at their feet with body limbs cut apart. Along the way, the two had pulled pistols from their six chest pouches and triggered them off at point-blank range into men’s faces. The lead balls punched through the flesh and crashed through skull bone into brain matter. Each shot was plainly fatal. With systematic brutality and dominance, Reiner and Diego struck down opponents without even the slightest flinch, nor emotion.

  The enormous destruction applied upon the main deck was like a death knell ringing in the ominous toll of annihilation. Wounded and dying men were shrieking and moaning in excruciating pain. Yet more screams abounded from new recipients of blade thrusts, stabs, and bludgeoning that afflicted them. Men who mere seconds ago breathed among the living now fell victim to the colossal mayhem. From the initial ordered charge by Captain Faria unleashed against the schooner, there was no going back. The die had been cast, and the consequence was a total disaster for his crew. Agonizing suffering was their reward. The intenseness of the violence ensued was beyond anyone’s scope.

  At last a much smaller number of enemies were still on their feet facing off with the assault boarders with the majority of the See Wolf’s crew now lingering all over the deck having no more opponents to fight. They were standing, sitting, and leaning on anything they could, all with chests heaving pulling air into their lungs. Less than a dozen of the See Wolf’s boarders were still in the grips of combat against the enemy. Realizing their ill-fated situation, several Portuguese dropped their weapons and threw up their arms in surrender. Seeing their mates bowing out, others mirrored their action and gave up in vain.

  “On your knees, now!” bellowed Reiner to the surrendering men, while tapping his sword point on the deck. To his armed mates, he said to restrain the prisoners.

  “Hold your positions, señors,” shouted Diego to the rest of the crewmen. “Stay vigilant, until we secure the entire ship of this rabble. Some of you see to our wounded.”

 
; Bruno and Arnold came bounding up with a handful of their men armed with rifles, blunderbusses, and pistols. “You, you, and you six there,” Bruno pointed to his men. “Come with me.” They cautiously headed to the ship’s stern looking for stragglers. Arnold also took a group of armed men and led them aft via the opposite side.

  Reiner gave orders to Caspar de Haan and Dedrick Kaas to take their boarding teams below. “Take your men and check the crew quarters below and bring up anyone you find still taking refuge down there. If you find anyone not willing, convince them to do so. No one remains below, you hear me!”

  “Jawohl,” the men acknowledged and went trampling off together.

  Occasionally shots rang out from the stern where Bruno and Arnold were searching for stragglers. Heinrich came striding over to where Reiner and Diego were standing. The deck was a bloody mess. The boarding teams went about checking on their fellow mates and aid where they could. With the fighting having been so brutal, there was no doubt that there were some dead sailors among their crew. Doc Strobel came forth and went about seeing to fallen crewmates. Scores of Portuguese sailors lay dead and dying; many lying on top of each other in small piles as the fighting had been brutally close in.

  The See Wolf’s men exacted overwhelming defeat, cutting down the Portuguese crew with baleful destruction. The whole lot of brigands had been decimated with staggering force as dozens of dead and wounded were splayed across the decks. It was a bloodbath of distressing proportion.