Fox of France

Just when the U.S. military encountered setbacks at sea and on land, good news finally came back at sea. After the cruisers "Free Trade" and "Common Market" searched at sea for more than half a month, they finally discovered the British squadron and engaged in battle with the British squadron. And it caused a very heavy blow to the British-two old battleships of the British army were sunk, but under their cover, several other ships managed to escape. But these ships were also damaged to varying degrees. It is estimated that there will be no fighting power in a short time.

This battle also illustrates one point, that is, the steam warship refitted from an old-fashioned wooden warship is already useless in front of a real steel warship. In battle, the high-explosive shells fired by the 120mm naval guns of the French army, ah, it should be the US military, can easily tear apart the hulls of wooden battleships and cause death with amazing efficiency.

On the contrary, although the British also replaced their warships with steel rifled guns. However, due to the limitations of the ship itself, (these old wooden ships are not worth spending a lot of money on rebuilding.) They simply replaced the old iron cannons with steel cannons. These steel cannons are generally small and powerful, and cannot penetrate at all. Armor of the USS Free Trade and the Common Market.

Coupled with the difference in speed, the whole battle was almost like two French warships punching the Nanshan Nursing Home. It can be said that as far as the battle is concerned, it is not interesting at all.

Of course, the French soldiers of the "Free Trade" and "Common Market" didn't think so. They were all very proud, because according to the contract they signed with the Americans, they didn't sink or capture a ton of British warships or British ships. , the city has a corresponding combat allowance, and the combat allowance is quite high, at least ten times that of the American counterparts. And more importantly, the Americans promised that their wages would be settled in gold coins. Although theoretically a dollar bill is equivalent to a dollar gold coin, the yellow dollar is still better than the green dollar in the event of consecutive defeats by the US military.

It is a pity that after searching for enemy ships outside for a long time, the "Free Trade" and "Common Market" almost exhausted all kinds of supplies on board, so they could no longer intercept those escaped British warships, although they It is known that the British warships are all injured and must return to the port of Halifax immediately. If the "Free Trade" and "Common Market" still have sufficient fresh water and coal, they can rely on their speed advantage to rush to the outside of the Halifax port and stop them. But now, they can only give up this piece of fat and go back to add coal and water to receive the bonus.

But the French victories at sea were not enough to turn the tide of battle. On land, they were still hoisted and beaten by the British army, which was more than an era ahead in tactics. After burning Detroit, the British continued south. Near Cleveland, more than 10,000 U.S. troops hastily gathered and more than 7,000 British troops (mainly Canadian militia) led by General Isaac Bullock launched a battle. As a result, the British army gave the Americans a good tactical lesson, allowing them to know for the first time what is called skirmish tactics and what is called infantry coordination. The British army defeated the American army at a small cost and approached Cleveland.

Fearing that they would suffer the same fate as Detroit, the U.S. military simply did not resist in Cleveland, but withdrew directly from Cleveland. After the British entered Cleveland, they seized several inland gunboats manufactured by the Americans at the Cleveland Shipyard—the U.S. military retreated I was in such a hurry that I didn't have time to destroy these things.

The British stayed in Cleveland for a while, because the British had consumed a lot of supplies in the previous battles, and they had to stop and refresh now to wait for the supplies sent from the rear through Lake Erie, and more reinforcements.

The Americans also hastened to mobilize troops from other areas in order to drive the British army away from Cleveland.

It was also during this time that the United States and the Republic of Santo Domingo reached a lease agreement, leasing two cruisers from Santo Domingo, and they returned to Khalifa together with the "Free Trade" and the "Common Market" Alex Harbor. However, this fleet with the American flag, but almost all of its members are French, did not find British ships in Halifax-it seems that the British also knew that Halifax was more dangerous, so they withdrew directly. the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

The Gulf of St. Lawrence has many shoals and many hidden reefs. So the French didn't dare to enter this unfamiliar waters at all, so they re-blocked Cabot Strait and Belle Isle Strait to prevent British ships from entering Canada.

However, at this time, the British had already received news that the Americans had declared war on them, so, without escorts, there were far fewer British ships that foolishly loaded on board. This disappointed the French naval officers who dreamed of making a fortune.

On the other hand, while General Isaac Bullock was waiting for supplies in Cleveland, the Americans also began to concentrate more troops in Pittsburgh, about 200 kilometers away from Cleveland. At the same time, the "smuggling boats" departing from New Orleans, flying the French flag openly, continued to sail into New York, where they unloaded various smuggled civilian weapons and ammunition. These things were soon loaded onto railroads and sent to Pittsburgh. In order to prepare for the British army that may leave Cleveland and continue to attack Washington at any time.

At the same time, a group of "French consultants" hired at a temporary high price appeared in the US military. Of course, the French government does not recognize that there are French advisers among the US military. Those people are just "volunteers" who are willing to help the Americans.

The addition of French "volunteers" and the various information they provided made the American military officers feel an eye-opener. But at the same time, he became more and more worried about the prospect of war. Because they found that the gap between the U.S. military and the troops on the European continent was too great, and they didn't have time to complete the education of soldiers and even officers in new tactics.

General Isaac Bullock soon received the reinforcements he was expecting. Today the number of troops under his command has increased to 25,000 men, and both artillery and cavalry have been strengthened. It is hoped that he can march to Washington to force the US military to engage in a decisive battle with him. For a period of time, due to the containment of France, it is difficult to deploy large-scale troops to support the country. This makes Canada, which has a smaller population and poorer industry, will definitely be the first to fail if the war is delayed. Therefore, the above hopes that General Isaac Bullock can quickly defeat the US military and force the United States to admit defeat and seek peace.