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The Fox of France - Chapter 439
🕑 Added 2024-03-30 06:40:27 +0000 UTCChapter 439: Playing Navy, Americans Still the Younger Brother
While the Americans were happily intercepting British ships, the British North American squadron, which they had not caught, was also joyfully intercepting American ships. They sailed south along the American coast, first off Boston, casually capturing three American merchant ships and a homeward-bound whaling ship. The British had no nearby ports they could use; they couldn't possibly control these merchant ships and then take them back to Canada, given that the American fleet was surely there now.
As for taking them directly back to Britain, that was impossible too, because the ships' reserves of fresh water and such were not enough to support such a long ocean voyage. Thus, the British could only board the ships, transfer some supplies their fleet could use, and then set the merchant ships ablaze. As for the sailors, they were left with a small boat, to row themselves back to America. After all, they were not far from the coast; a day or two of rowing would see them ashore.
Then, continuing their journey south, they burned six ships heading to New York near its vicinity and captured two American merchant ships heading to Philadelphia at the Delaware River mouth, casually destroying over a dozen fishing boats. News of the British naval fleet attacking American ships at sea also began to spread in the United States through the French's telegraph.
Those ships that were planning to leave the US for Europe mostly dared not to leave the port, but those returning from Europe to the US did not know about this. Thus, in the week that followed, the British managed to turn more than ten merchant ships into torches. If one were to compare the tonnage captured in these raids, the British fleet clearly had the upper hand.
Without wireless telegraphy, the news of the British rampaging along the American coast couldn't be directly delivered to the American fleet waiting in ambush at the Cabot Strait. The Americans still thought the British North American squadron had hidden in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.
The Americans then dispatched a fast ship to the Cabot Strait, finding the American fleet, and only then did the Americans realize the British fleet had also taken to raiding. The loss suffered by the Americans was even greater than what the British had experienced in the Cabot Strait.
Since the British had released almost all the sailors, the Americans had a clear understanding of the composition of this British squadron.
"Three steam-sail hybrid battleships, two steam-sail hybrid cruisers. That is to say, the main warships of the British North American squadron were all there," General Cade, the commander of the American fleet, concluded based on the information he had.
He knew he couldn't allow the British squadron to continue its rampage along the American coast; otherwise, the British merchant ships he captured would be of no use. But moving the whole fleet south was not necessarily a good idea either. It meant not only abandoning the blockade of Canada but also slowing down the response time—because the other ships weren't as fast as the "Free Trade" and "Common Market."
So, General Cade decided to continue intercepting British merchant ships with a few other ships and ordered the two fastest and most powerful French ships in the squadron to immediately head back to chase and destroy the British fleet.
Thus, the "Free Trade" and "Common Market" left the squadron and headed south.
The news of America declaring war on Britain had also reached Europe by this time. The British immediately planned to send a powerful fleet to teach the Americans a lesson. Heh, if we can't beat the French, can't we beat you?
But along with this news came another piece of news: the French claimed that the British fleet had attacked a French merchant ship. The French Foreign Minister summoned the British ambassador, lodging a strong protest. The British ambassador, however, stated he was unaware of the incident and doubted the veracity of the French claims.
However, the truth of the matter wasn't important; it was just an excuse. Excuses, after all, are something the French can easily come up with, much like a certain country in later times could effortlessly produce a plethora of laundry detergent.
Following this, the citizens of Paris took to the streets in protest, demanding the government take concrete actions to protect the safety of French shipping lanes. Napoleon immediately ordered the army into a state of readiness, suspended the demobilization of the army for the year, and announced that the French navy and army would conduct a large-scale landing and anti-landing exercise in Calais.
Located on the eastern shore of the Strait of Dover, only a few dozen kilometers from the British coast, France conducting military exercises at this location posed a hypothetical risk of the French fleet mistakenly landing in Britain if they were not paying close attention.
Thus, the British could only curse the French for their age-old untrustworthiness while canceling their large-scale plan to support Canada, ordering both the British navy and army into a state of readiness to resist any potential French invasion.
However,
despite France's assistance, the performance of the American navy was not up to par.
First, the two super cruisers heading south failed to immediately locate the British fleet. The British, calculating the time, estimated that the super cruisers hired by the Americans might have already headed south and thus left the American coastline, beginning their search for American merchant ships further offshore.
This strategy by the British significantly reduced their interception efficiency but also made it difficult for the Americans to find them. The "Free Trade" and "Common Market" sailed along the American coastline without catching a glimpse of the British fleet.
On the other hand, the American ships still in the Cabot Strait faced significant danger.
The British "Indomitable" super cruiser was dispatched in response to the news of the American rental of two super cruisers from France. Thus, this ship wasn't part of the North American squadron's lineup, and the Americans were completely unaware of its existence.
Now, with the French super cruisers having headed south, the Cabot Strait, not being wide, allowed the British at both ends of the strait to easily spot the entire American fleet with telescopes. They quickly concluded that the two French ships had left.
Thus, on this morning, as the Americans were listlessly waiting in ambush and watching whales, their lookout spotted a distant plume of smoke to their east.
Initially, the Americans were somewhat nervous about this smoke plume, as it could indicate the return of the British North American squadron. Without the "Free Trade" and "Common Market," the American fleet was no match for the British.
However, the Americans did not panic, knowing their ships were faster than the British squadron, giving them the initiative to disengage if the situation turned adverse.
Moreover, in other sea regions, a ship emitting black smoke would likely be a steam-powered vessel, possibly a warship. But in this region, another type of ship could emit black smoke: a whaling ship.
Whaling ships of this era lacked cold storage; to maximize profits from each voyage, they would directly cut and render whale blubber into oil on board, discarding most other parts of the whale, except for the baleen, into the sea.
To render the whale oil (to prevent the blubber from spoiling), these ships had large boilers burning to boil down the oil. Thus, a smoke plume in this region might not necessarily indicate a steamship but could also be a whaling ship returning from a voyage. At this point, the American navy was still unaware of the exact nature of the opponent they were about to face.
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