But Tatsumaki remained defiant and undaunted. ‘Ten sailors wisely led will beat a hundred without a head,’ she declared. ‘We must sink their command ship.’

The Koketsu shook, its beams almost rattled loose by the impact. Oarsmen clung on determinedly to their oars. Gunners fought to stay standing as their cannon almost broke free from their chains. Li Ling went flying but Jack somehow kept his feet.

‘RETREAT AND TURN!’ bellowed Tatsumaki above the cacophony of musket shots raining down upon the iron roof and the blasts of cannon from the defending seki-bune ships.

The Koketsu was rocked by a direct hit to its port side. The crack and crunch of wood as a cannonball ploughed through the deck was followed by the screams of injured pirates.

‘Put that fire out!’ cried a gunner to his men, as flames licked the inner walls of the gun deck and spread towards their explosive charges.

Jack wondered just how much more damage the Koketsu could sustain. The wooden gunwales were being blown to smithereens, the roof pounded to scrap metal by close-range cannon each time they charged the Nihon Maru. And so many oars had been blasted to splintered stumps that they’d already lost two rowing units. Soon the ship would be no more than a floating coffin.

Through a gaping hole in the Koketsu’s side Jack could see Captain Kurogumo’s Black Spider and Captain Wanizame’s Great White embroiled in a furious battle with the Sea Samurai. Their mission was to keep the defending seki-bune at bay, while the Koketsu and Captain Kujira’s Killer Whale attempted to sink the Nihon Maru.

Tatsumaki had rallied their best remaining ships for the task. But they’d been met with overwhelming resistance. Trapped within the heart of daimyo Mori’s armada, enemy fire came from all directions. The Wind Demons had so far lost three of their ships in the attack and more were on the brink of defeat. The pirates were simply being obliterated … and all for nothing.

The Nihon Maru remained stubbornly afloat, its hull immune to the pirates’ bombardment. Even Captain Kujira’s Crouching Tiger had failed to make an impact.

‘FIRE!’ ordered Tatsumaki with an almost desperate cry.

The Koketsu rang to the thunder of Heaven and Earth cannon. When the gunsmoke cleared, the Wind Demons gave a despairing groan. Their fourth attempt had achieved little more than the splintering of a few boards.

‘It’s hopeless!’ cursed the head gunner, plunging his knife into the wooden gun carriage. ‘That hull must be reinforced with iron.’

‘We cannot give up,’ said Tatsumaki.

‘What else can we do? We’ve thrown everything we’ve got at this monster.’

‘Try AGAIN on the starboard side,’ she ordered furiously. ‘There has to be a weak spot. A chink in its armour somewhere.’