Fox of France

The smoke column was getting closer and closer, and it was clear that there was only one smoke column.

"The British North American Squadron has six ships. If it were them, we should be able to count six smoke columns. But now there is only one, and it must be the returning whaling ship." The fleet is spread out to chase and intercept—although whalers generally don't have steam auxiliary power and can't run fast.

The plume of smoke was getting closer and closer, and in General Cade's telescope, the ship finally emerged from the horizon in its entirety.

"Damn! This is... this is the 'Free Trade'! Damn, why is she here!"

General Cade had participated in the two-on-one battle with the "Free Trade" back then, and he was very familiar with this supercruiser that was considered a "nightmare ship" for Americans, so even if the distance between the two sides It was still far away, but General Cade still recognized the battleship that had appeared in his nightmares more than once at a glance.

"'Free Trade'? The 'Free Trade' is back? What about the 'Common Market'?" A young officer standing beside General Cade asked very strangely. At the same time, he noticed that General Cade's hands trembled slightly.

"It's not our 'Free Trade', it's the British's, it's the British 'Indomitable'!" General Cade stabilized his mind, and then said in as calm a voice as possible, "Order, the fleet will gather immediately , Get ready for battle!"

The US fleet, including three super cruisers and three ordinary cruisers, began to regroup, speed up, and prepare for the battle.

General Cade felt that although the performance of the warships on his side was indeed far inferior to that of the British "Indomitable", after all, there were many more of them, so they were not incapable of fighting.

After being ravaged by the French "Free Trade", the U.S. Navy has been studying a problem, and that is how to confront the "Free Trade". And when the French listed the "Free Trade" for sale, the Americans were the first to jump out and raise a placard, wanting to buy back the warship that made them sleep at night and have nightmares. However, the British came out halfway and snatched away the princess in the eyes of the US Navy at a higher price-so the British are not good things! My father told me the three principles of life - believe in God, pay taxes according to the law, and hating the British really makes sense.

After the British bought the "Free Trade", the U.S. Navy continued to focus on how to deal with the "Free Trade".

From the technical details disclosed by the French when they sold the "Free Trade", the Americans found that none of the existing naval guns of the US Navy could penetrate the defense of the "Free Trade". How to do? Of course, hurry up and order some naval guns from the French that can penetrate the armor of the "Free Trade". Therefore, although the Americans failed to buy back the "Free Trade Number", the money they brought to buy the "Free Trade Number" did not bring back to the United States. Instead, they all turned into expensive French long-barreled cannons.

This breech-mounted, receding long-barreled cannon has an astonishing barrel of thirty times the caliber in this era. (So ​​the high price of this thing is not all deception, because the longer the barrel, the more difficult it is to drill.) The initial velocity of the projectile fired is as high as 600 meters per second, so it can be easily drilled at a distance of 500 meters. Break through the draped armor on the outside of the first version of the "Free Trade". In this era, a distance of 500 meters is already quite a long distance for naval artillery to bombard at sea.

Of course, the British also equipped their newly purchased "Indomitable" with the same cannon. This is of course one of the reasons why the Americans don't put iron armor on their super cruisers: anyway, within the normal killing range, the iron armor can't stop the French guns. So, it's better to just run naked, at least it can run faster.

Because of the naval guns that can penetrate the armor of the "Indomitable", the Americans are still very confident in this battle.

The two sides began to approach each other, and the six warships of the US fleet lined up in two columns to meet them. If both sides maintain their current course, the "Indomitable" will pass directly between the two columns of Americans. If it was in the past, such an approach could not be considered. Anyway, at that time, American cannons could not penetrate the armor of the "Indomitable". It is enough to prevent the Americans from playing bumper boats desperately.

But now, things are a little different. American naval guns can also penetrate the armor of the "Indomitable". So if the Indomitable chooses this approach, it can certainly gain the advantage of good firepower because it can fire on both sides, but it will also suffer heavy losses because both sides are shelled. So, the British started to turn first.

The British know that he has some advantages over the American fleet:

First, their warships have higher speeds, which gives them a better chance of gaining the upper hand in the T-grab game, and their sailors are better trained.

Secondly, the British modified the "Indomitable". They canceled the original way of arranging artillery on both sides of the gun deck. Rotating cannon.

After the British turned, the Americans also began to turn to avoid being robbed of the T head. Then it will soon become the fleets of both sides drawing circles on the sea. The British are trying hard to grab the head position of the Americans. on the opposite side.

The "Indomitable" has a slight advantage in speed, but the American ships are more flexible in steering, so it is not easy for the British to grab the T position of the Americans.

After turning a few times, the distance between the two sides began to narrow, but because of the angle problem, the broadside guns of the Americans could not aim at the "Indomitable" and fire, but the tail guns of the "Indomitable" could turn their angles and point towards the Americans. Bombarded. Although the British have only two tail guns, and everyone is maneuvering at high speed, the accuracy of shelling is not high. The first few shots missed.

But being beaten unilaterally without being able to fight back is the most damaging to morale. And these few shots failed to hit, but it doesn't mean that the future ones won't hit either. And at this distance, once hit, the US warship will definitely not suffer lightly.

Sure enough, after six unsuccessful shots, a shell finally hit the "Constitution" in the front row.