Read the below passage and answer the question:
"We then were ordered by our commander to open the hatches and take out all the chests
of tea and throw them overboard, and we immediately proceeded to execute his orders,
first cutting and splitting the chests with our tomahawks, so as thoroughly to expose
them to the effects of the water."

Which literary technique has the greatest impact on meaning in the above passage?

A. personification
B. metaphor
C. imagery
D. alliteration