48 Hours a Day

Chapter 137: We Finally Meet

Tonight, Charleston was not destined to be peaceful. Half an hour ago, an inn caught fire all of a sudden. The residents staying around the place had to work together to put out the fire. Before they could celebrate, though, they heard the thunderous boom of cannons being fired.

A cannonball flew past the wall and landed on one of the houses. And that was just a start. Seconds after that, more and more cannonballs were launched toward the city, leaving all its residents running around and screaming in a frenzied panic. They assumed that French battleships were attacking them. What they did not know was that the pride of the navy, the Scarborough was still docked at port.

Why did the enemy attack the cannons on the wall instead of the Scarborough, which posed a more significant threat? They would indeed have to pay a hefty price for doing that. Not too long after that, the residents of the city received the shocking news. The party that attacked them was not the French but it was the Scarborough at the port.

It was at that moment that the pirates disguised as navy officers revealed their true colors. Without any warning whatsoever, they destroyed the cannons that were mounted on the city wall. During the first attack, half of them were wiped out. The garrison troops quickly realized that their city had been infiltrated by enemies. Immediately, they gathered and planned a retaliation. Before they could do that, however, the second wave was launched, and the garrison troops were once again defeated.

Foreign enemies had never attacked Charleston before. Usually, the garrison troops would alert everyone in the city once they spotted enemy ships. In turn, the people of the town would have sufficient time to retreat to a safe place. The current attack was so sudden that it messed up the strategy of the garrison troops. Even the commander could not figure out why the Scarborough went rogue and attacked its own allies.

The firing of the cannons managed to light up the sky with bright flashes. After five rounds of relentless shelling, a third of the city’s wall located in the southeast of Charleston had collapsed. Unfortunately, the cannons protecting the city didn’t have enough range to land a hit on the Queen Anne’s Revenge. Every cannonball that was launched at them fell short of their target, flying straight into the ocean instead.

After that, the Queen Anne’s Revenge stopped for a moment to cool their cannons. At that time, Charleston’s line of defense was shattered beyond repair. They were no longer a threat to the pirates. Ten minutes later, the pirates followed the plan and started to attack the city.

One of the cannonballs flew past the destroyed walls and landed on a street. Immediately, the residents in that area dispersed and ran for their lives.

As there was some distance between the governor general’s house and the coastline, they were safe from the attack for now. Many nobles and merchants were unhappy with the happenings in Charleston. They were considered highly reputable individuals of the New World and were shocked that the town could come under attack while they were here to attend a wedding ceremony.

20 minutes went by. Still, no one could figure out why the Scarborough attacked Charleston. The guests were worried about their mansions and shops around the town. Of course, they yearned to head back and ensure that their properties were fine but reckoned it was still too dangerous at the moment. Right now, the town was left in utter chaos. The governor general’s mansion had around 40 guards protecting it and was considered the safest place in the city right now.

Watt, the governor-general, was directing the defensive effort on the second floor of his command center. He just received the news that all the defensive cannons on the wall had been entirely destroyed. Strangely though, the enemies did not muster up and invade the city. Perhaps they lacked the personnel for that. However, Watt knew that it would be a huge mistake if he underestimated his enemies right now.

He could care less about the guests downstairs, knowing that his family and Bellomonte were upstairs right now. If something terrible happened to them at his place, Whitehall would definitely not let him off the hook that easily. Exercising the utmost precaution, he contacted the garrison troops and requested another 20 troopers to protect his place.

Knowing that he had done everything he could do for now, he finally let out a sigh of relief.

“Don’t worry. Some of the biggest orchard owners from this place are my friends. They have a large number of armed personnel. I have just sent someone to search for them. I believe they can lend us at least 200 hundred people to help us to overcome this sticky situation,” said Bellomonte calmly.

“That’s great! I have just moved to the New World not too long ago. There are still many things that I’m unfamiliar with. I might need your help again in the future. I heard that Boston is enjoying rapid growth under your care; especially when it comes to the piracy menace, your methods of dealing with them have gained high praise from the military. When I left London, your glorious moment was the talk of the town.”

Bellomonte smiled as he held a cup of tea. Indeed, it was something that he was really proud of. However, just before the Watt could say something about it, a trooper knocked on the door.

“Governor-general, the reinforcements that you’ve asked for have arrived. They are now waiting downstairs. That was fast. Let me go take a look.”

He went downstairs and saw 20 troopers standing there with an unfamiliar officer leading them.

“What is your name? Who is your commanding officer? Why have I never seen you before?” asked Watt, his tone reeking with suspicion.

“I think you should hear of the name of our commanding officer. His name is Edward Teach, but most prefer to call him Blackbeard,” said the army officer.

He then pulled out a gun and fired at Watt point-blank. The deafening ring of the gunshot startled everyone in the main hall. When one of the female guests saw the body of the governor-general lying on the staircase, she couldn’t hold herself back and screamed out loud.

Considering they were here to attend a wedding ceremony, none of the male guests carried weapons. They could only feel fear and panic paralyze them as they saw the armed pirates standing before them.

Concurrently, the real calvary that Watt summoned was finally here. Noticing the situation, they instantly drew arms and clashed with the fake troopers! While they fired at each other with gusto, the doors to the second-floor study room were pushed open. Two fake navy officers walked in and talked to Bellomonte.

“According to the governor-general’s investigation, we can confirm that pirates have hijacked the Scarborough! They are dressed in navy uniforms and were the ones who attacked Charleston. You are their main target.”

“Me?!”

Bellomonte was surprised that the target was him.

“The situation is getting worse now. The enemies are downstairs, but anytime now, they’ll be up here to capture you. The governor-general has ordered us to escort you to a safe place.”

After that, the two fake navy officers approached Bellomonte and clutched his arms.

“Hold on. My daughter!”

“The sooner you leave, the sooner the people here would feel safer. There’s a horse cart waiting for you. We have to leave through the backdoor.”

Subsequently, they quickly dragged Bellomonte downstairs. When he saw the broken horse cart, he quickly realized that something was amiss. He broke into a struggle, but it was too late. The two pirates employed their brute force and stuffed him into the horse cart.

Bellomonte instantly knew that his life was in danger. So, he attempted to jump out of the cart. Before he could do so, however, a sharp sword touched the skin of his neck.

“Mr. Bellomonte, we finally meet.”