Early April 1781, Martinique, Fort-de-France.

Not long ago, a total of twenty-four battleships of the French navy, which broke out from the encirclement of the British navy in Pisacek Bay, and almost the same number of armed merchant ships and supply ships were all parked here.

A windy and humid afternoon.

On the wall of Fort-de-France facing the bay, a gray-haired old general was looking around with a telescope.

After a while, he threw the binoculars to the soldiers beside him.

At this time, the news that the Truchin Empire had captured the islands of Cuba and Guadeloupe had spread to European countries. This person was Count de Grasse, the naval commander sent by the Kingdom of France to the Americas to assist the United States in its maritime operations.<

/p>

When he led the fleet back here, he happened to pass by Guadeloupe. When passing by, he also deliberately passed through the waters between Guadeloupe and Dominica. Naturally, he wanted to see the reality of the island, and learned that there was nothing more than

There is no other warship guarding the wooden steamship.

For a while, he even thought of taking over the island, but finally gave up.

However, with Truchin's sudden intervention in the Windward Islands, all countries with American interests are paying close attention, not only France.

DeGrasse let out a long sigh inwardly.

Since the end of the Seven Years' War, in accordance with the post-war agreement, they not only lost Canada, but also went to some places in the western part of the Thirteen States, including Arabian Horses.

Because the British had stipulated in the treaty that the areas west of the Thirteen States, except for the areas occupied by Spain, belonged to the Governor-General of Canada. This made the French lands that actually occupied Arabian Horses, Mississippi, and Louisiana be assigned to Canada.

!

This was intolerable to the French. Later, in order to give the newly independent United States the strength to fight against the British, the French ceded the above three states to the United States, but this is obviously not possible now.

At present, the French only have some strongholds in the Caribbean and the south coast. After being defeated by the British navy, they can only go here to dock for supplies. It seems so shameful.

Naturally, this was not the only thing that made him uneasy. The secret gathering of various countries not long ago established an agreement to jointly fight against Truchin. France was also one of the signatories. However, De Grasse, who was experienced in officialdom, knew that the British could make treaties everywhere, but

You can also regret it at any time.

Moreover, the British specially added one, which made the French even more uneasy.

"The treaty only stipulates the mainland and coastal areas of the European continent, overseas colonies are not included in this"

In other words, overseas, the British can remain neutral towards the Truchen people and can even be friends.

"Damn Anglo-Saxon pirates!"

In fact, Louis XVI agreed to form an alliance with European countries, and the three heroes France sent to the Americas: Governor General of the Americas, Army Commander Lafayette, Deputy Commander Rochambeau, and Navy Commander De Grasse all complained, but they were forced to

There was no public opposition to the pressure.

At the moment, the three heroes in North America have only one mission, which is to help the Americans completely defeat the British and make them truly independent. Their calculation is also obvious:

For a large colony like the Thirteen States, once it becomes independent, it will still be independent under the system of a republic. The blow to the British Kingdom will be very huge. In the imagination of the poor French, it is actually almost the same as the Truchen people.

.

Let the United States be like a huge meat grinder, constantly and long-term consumption of Britain's national power, thereby preventing it from having the same status in Europe as before.

In this case, France will become the truly leading European power on the European continent. Although Prussia is now rising, France obviously knows that it is based on the genius of Frederick II's military ability. In terms of comprehensive national strength alone,

, France was far ahead of Prussia at this time.

"The British suffered a disastrous defeat at the hands of the Truchen Empire in the Indian Ocean, and the Truchen people also plundered along their native coast. Presumably the British would not form a secret alliance with them..."

It has been ten days since he arrived here with the American fleet. Now all the ships are almost repaired, but the ammunition and food consumption are huge, and they are urgently needed to be shipped from the mainland.

According to the efficiency of the French government, it is estimated that it will take several months.

If the British navy moves south at this time, his fleet may be...

You must know that France only had a total of fifty battleships at this time, and half of them came to North America. If this fleet is destroyed, France's right to speak in the mainland will obviously be greatly reduced.

"Damnable British barbarians, they like to use the so-called 'start from a position of strength' when negotiating, and then coerce other countries into submission."

"The current commander of the British Navy in North America is Samuel Hood. The battleships under his command are similar to those of our country. However, this person obviously hides his strength. According to our country's intelligence, they have installed steam engines on some battleships. Although in fact

The effect is unknown, but it can always be dispatched at any time."

Thinking that Hood's fleet still needed to blockade Pisacek Bay and could not attack him in a large scale, he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief - two British brigades of land forces were trapped in Yorkton in the west of Pisacek Bay.

And a large number of American troops and French troops are moving south, and their military strength is several times theirs.

If the British want to maintain their advantage, they must retain a large number of naval ships in Pisacek Bay.

Just as I was thinking about it, I saw a speedboat coming from the end of the bay!

Martinique belongs to the Windward Islands. The so-called windward refers to the strong southeasterly trade wind blowing here all year round. At the moment, the clipper with only one sail is sailing towards Fort-de-France at an extremely fast speed.

!

The French flag was hung on the sail. In addition to the longitudinal sail, a huge oar was set up on the first deck to facilitate movement. The oar was operated by a black slave who had made a mistake in Haiti. Due to the southeasterly trade wind, it was generally

Under certain circumstances, just use the schooner to sail.

But now the boat is so fast, obviously the oars are also used!

DeGrasse's dark color suddenly shuddered.

"There is enemy sentiment! Ring the bell and prepare for war!"

De Grasse still has time. If there is an enemy, it will definitely be the British. And if the British battleships come down from the north with the southeast trade wind prevailing, they will definitely not be able to speed up. According to De Grasse's calculations,

, he has at least an hour to prepare.

He guessed right. When his fleet, including twenty-four large and small battleships, completed preparations and was about to leave the harbor, a large number of battleships appeared at the end of the bay!

When he saw the flag hanging on the bow jib, De Grasse's pupils suddenly contracted.

"British! Damn British barbarians!"

A large-scale naval battle in the Bay of Fort-de-France occurred that did not exist in history. The British strategy and tactics were obviously still superior to Europe. Whether they attacked Spain in the 16th century, the Netherlands in the 17th century, or France in this century, they

The best thing is to catch the unprepared!

However, Fort-de-France Bay is wide enough. Although it is a bay, the sea is not far away, and there is plenty of tactical space.

Therefore, De Grasse's twenty-four battleships have sailed about a hundred meters away from the port. It is almost impossible for the British to block the enemy ships in the bay and suffocate them or attack them with fire...
p>

Just as I was thinking about it, the battleship in the telescope suddenly disappeared, and a large number of small armed merchant ships poured in!

"Fire attack?!"

De Grasse's eyes became more solemn. The southeast wind was still blowing. Although when berthing the ships, they also considered the need to move at any time. Most ships docked in the southeast-northwest direction. As long as the sail position was adjusted, it would still be possible.

Can sail out of the dock in a shorter time.

However, Fort-de-France Bay runs east-west. When De Grasse's fleet sailed out, it must have headed northwest at first, and then adjusted its range to head west. At this moment, a large number of British armed merchant ships sailed from west to east.

Flooding in!

However, for the British ships, although their armed merchant ships entered from east to west, as soon as they entered the bay, they were affected by the southeasterly trade wind and saw the French fleet.

A commonly installed longitudinal sail came into play at this time.

The longitudinal sail can quickly adjust the sail position and then move according to the wind direction, but a battleship with full sails obviously cannot be so fast. According to De Grasse's idea, at first he was planning to let his battleship move quickly close to Fort-de-France Bay.

It enters the Caribbean Sea, so the angle is also set at the beginning.

At this time, the range needs to be adjusted, which is obviously not as fast as that of armed merchant ships!

Soon enough, after adjusting the sail position, the armed merchant ship was rushing towards De Grasse's fleet from south to north at full speed!

When they were about a hundred meters away, the approximately one hundred small armed merchant ships immediately burst into flames!

At the beginning of this century, the British Navy used this method to burn and sink the Spanish Navy's treasure fleet, which was escorted by the French Navy, in the Bay of Vigo in Ganesia!

DeGrasse's mind is full of thoughts.

"The British are obviously coming from the north, otherwise my reporting ship would not know if they were coming from the south. And coming from the north, they have to pass through Guadeloupe. The British are carelessly heading south from there. Could it be that...

.."

"That's all, we have to sacrifice our country's armed merchant ships and let them sail quickly to block the British fireships so that the battleships can enter the Caribbean smoothly."

The French have obviously learned many lessons. They always have a large number of small armed merchant ships. These armed merchant ships usually only travel to and from the Caribbean Sea and rarely cross the ocean. Once they encounter a situation like Vigo Bay, they will let these armed merchant ships

Move forward quickly to block the enemy's fireship so that your own battleship can escape smoothly.

De Grasse's idea was successfully realized. His own armed merchant ships quickly blocked the burning fireships, and the front of the twenty-four large battleship fleet had already left the bay!

However, DeGrasse's tense nerves obviously did not relax - at the end of the sea, about twenty British battleships were waiting in full array!

What made him even more nervous was that some of the twenty battleships actually had chimneys erected near the main masts. They were obviously not used for cooking, and the black chimneys shot straight into the sky!

Steamboat!

However, those ships were obviously not from the Truchen people, but from the British themselves, because he also saw a small battleship with two large disks on both sides!

Paddle steamer!

Truchin did not use the paddle wheel method from the beginning. Although it was easy to control in this way, it was also easy for the enemy to attack it. Therefore, they spent several years constantly testing various methods in the Caspian Sea where their side had an absolute advantage.
Chapter completed!