Fox of France

Although he paid tribute to the "USA" that fought endlessly, Zola will not be soft on this. But at this time, the French squadron coming from the port of New Orleans was already approaching. In particular, the frigate "D'Artagnan" has followed.

The "D'Artagnan" is a standard frigate with 40 guns, and it is certainly no match for the "America" ​​under normal circumstances. But the situation is different now. At least on the port side, the "USA" has only two guns. Moreover, due to the loss of the bowsprit, her speed has also dropped significantly, so even if the current "USS America" ​​is facing the "D'Artagnan", it can't beat it. I can't even run away.

On the other side, the "Constitution" is also trying to avoid the pursuit of the small American gunboat. If enough sailors are recruited in the port of Santo Domingo, the "Constitution" can really crush the "Lafayette" gunboat like an ant.

However, considering the complicated situation in "Santo Domingo", both Captain Zola and Victor are worried that a group of Americans will be recruited here, and then these recruited Yankees and those Americans who are still being held The guy should cooperate with the outside... Isn't that troublesome? So the "Constitution" did not recruit a single sailor in Santo Domingo. It was just that some of the sailors on the "Free Trade" were assigned to operate the ship.

The consequence of this is that although there are dozens of cannons on the "Constitution", there is not even a single gunner.

But even so, it is still not easy for the "Lafayette" to deal with the "Constitution" in the hands of the French. First of all, the "Constitution" is too fast. Although the "Lafayette" has removed some cannons specifically for this purpose, reducing its weight and thus increasing its speed, it is still not easy to catch up with the "Constitution". Especially when the "Constitution" was only thinking about escaping.

The chase between sailboats with little difference in speed between two days sometimes lasts for a long time, even as in a movie, chasing from low latitudes to near the poles. The chase between the USS Lafayette and the USS Constitution seems to have that feeling today. So up to this time, the two boats were still circling the sea.

However, during this process, the "Lafayette" was also constantly attacking the "Constitution" with the artillery on board.

The cannon on the "Lafayette" is only 12 pounds, and it can't move the hull of the "Constitution" at all. The Americans are very clear about this-after all, they built this boat. But the 12-pound gun still has a role, that is, it can be used to damage the sails of the "Constitution" and slow down the "Constitution".

Moreover, compared to the hull, the sail is a much larger target, so it is naturally much easier to hit it. But just because the sails are so big, it is not easy to destroy them. Cannonballs, even chain bombs, can only tear a small hole in the huge sails, and the damage to the entire sails is quite limited. It takes multiple hits to get the sailboat to slow down significantly. And that obviously takes time.

So until now, the "Constitution" still hasn't slowed down significantly. But at this time, on the other side, the overall situation on the battlefield has already been decided. The "Congress" turned in, the "USS America" ​​hoisted the flag of St. George, and that terrifying steam battleship also rushed towards this side.

Major Muric, the captain of the "Lafayette", immediately made such a judgment: "This operation has failed, and the biggest problem now is how to escape."

So he immediately ordered: "Retreat at full speed!"

However, it is not easy to escape under the pursuit of "Free Trade". Because the "Free Trade" was much faster than her. But I can't stop running because of this, and Major Muric, the captain of the "Lafayette", knows that his ship has another advantage, that is, the draft is shallower, and she can go to some places, but the French People's "Free Trade Number" can't go there. There happened to be such a sea area nearby, but before she was overtaken by the "Free Trade", it was hard to say where she had no time to escape.

But in fact, "Free Trade" didn't necessarily mean to catch up with her and destroy her. The shells on the "Free Trade" are running low, and have reached the cordon of the stockpile. It is not worth spending on such a small ship. In fact, the "Free Trade" came after it just to rescue the "Constitution".

When the "Free Trade" escorted the "Constitution" back, the battle on the sea had reached its final moment. At this time, all the artillery on the "America" ​​was destroyed, and the "D'Artagnan" began to hit the sails of the "America" ​​with chain bombs-obviously, they wanted to further reduce the "America". " sailing ability, and then jumped to capture the ship.

Under such circumstances, the captain, Colonel Thomas, gave the order to abandon ship. The damaged sailors jumped into the sea holding barrels and other buoyant things, while Colonel Thomas himself held a torch and walked into the cabin. Soon after, the ship was blazing.

At first the French wondered if they could rush up to put out the fire, but the fire spread very quickly. Obviously, while the "D'Artagnan" was busy destroying the sails of the ship, the sailors on the ship had already dumped gunpowder and other kindling materials everywhere.

If such a ship really burns, it may not be able to be saved even in future generations. At this time, everyone can only watch her burn.

Looking at the "USS America" ​​engulfed in flames, Captain Zola said to Victor: "Mr. Treville, we failed to capture the enemy ship this time...Unfortunately, it is really a good ship."

"What a pity, what a fine ship."

Victor also sighed, but he immediately said: "But this ship has fallen behind as soon as it entered service. Now the sea is dominated by steam warships."

"Fortunately, we are the only ones in the world who have truly usable steam warships," said Captain Zola.

When Captain Zola said this, a new ship was undergoing secret testing in Faslane Bay, west of Glasgow, Scotland. This is a steam ship, but unlike ordinary steam ships, it has no paddle wheels.

This ship is not big. Judging from the shape of the ship, it is obviously refitted from those steam frigates that were hoisted by French steam ships off the coast of Ireland. It has no paddle wheels, masts, and sails—it is an experimental ship anyway, and it is accompanied by a sailing warship, so even if the machine fails, there will be a ship tow it back.

Now in the sea breeze in the evening, the ship began to speed up, and the frigate "Surprise" escorting it had gradually been unable to keep up with its speed, and slowly fell behind.

"General, the speed of the experimental ship is at least 15 knots. It seems that this is the secret of how fast the French steamship can run." The second officer, Jack Aubrey, stood beside him, wearing a general Uniform, said the person who was carefully observing the experimental ship with a telescope.

"You are right, Jack. The propeller is indeed a good design. It makes the biggest weakness of the steamship disappear at once. With this technology, the steamship can really become a real battleship." When the general said this, he sighed.

"General, why are you sighing? Haven't we already succeeded?" Jack Aubrey asked.

"Yes, we succeeded. But Jack, the age of sail is long gone." The general reached out and patted young Jack Aubrey on the shoulder, "New ships mean new operations Way. Some things we have been studying all our lives may have drifted away with the black smoke from this ship. Fortunately, you are still young and have time to learn new things."

"General, you are not old, you have not yet reached fifty. And since you have learned various skills of sailing warships and fleet combat before, you must also be able to research the tactics that are most suitable for new warships. Don't you Do you think this task is full of challenges?"

"Ah, Jack, you are right. I shouldn't have thought of being lazy." The general laughed, "Well, you have to study hard, and later my Victory will be changed into a steam warship, and you If you perform well, I will send you aboard the Victory..."

At this time, the steamboat in front turned a corner and began to return. The waters in this area are relatively remote, and there are very few ships coming and going. But now the sky has darkened, and it is time to return.

It's just that neither Jack nor the "general" noticed that on the coast over there, a person was hiding behind a large reef, looking at this side with a telescope...

So, a few days later, in the Bonaparte family, the three brothers had another dispute.

"The current indications are that, Joseph, the secrecy work on your side has not been done well, and there are spies on your side. They stole the secret of the propeller." Lucien said.

"Lucien, it's not necessarily because someone here leaked the secret." Joseph retorted, "Because the propeller is too simple in design, anyone can discover this secret just by looking at it. So I think this secret The possibility of leakage from the production link is even greater. And you are staring at me. You have to check the people here, which will seriously interfere with our work."

"Joseph, of course we will check on the production side, but are you sure there will be no problems here? It won't hurt to check." Lucien said.

"Yes, Joseph, what can't be investigated? As long as no one is wronged." Napoleon also said.

"Well, you can check, but you can't interfere with the normal work of the research department, and you can't even let them know that there is such an investigation." Joseph made a little concession, "Also, let me emphasize again, the propeller is very, very Simple, easy to see at a glance, even simpler than mines. We must not make the mistake of the British on the issue of mines!"