Chapter 772: Goodbye Toulon
"The Admiralty has decided to allocate two more battleships, the 'Conqueror' and the 'Spartan Guard', along with 8 other fourth- and fifth-rate warships, to the Mediterranean Fleet..."
"Please ensure absolute control over the Mediterranean..."
Lord Hood drew a deep breath and closed the document.
Over the past month, eleven merchant ships had been destroyed or captured by the French fleet.
Despite the French Mediterranean Fleet being blockaded in Toulon Port by him, only a few frigates were harassing ships in the Mediterranean, yet his own escort fleet was completely unable to stop their depredations.
He picked up the report beside him.
It detailed the recent attacks on British merchant ships, reported by the escorting warships.
Evidently, the French had equipped a new type of very fast frigate, which posed a tremendous challenge to his escort duties in the Mediterranean.
Fortunately, the Admiralty had allocated another batch of warships to him.
Meanwhile, the French fleet in the Port of Marseille numbered only 18 main battleships and 21 fourth- and fifth-rate ships. Even with the addition of the Spanish Mediterranean Fleet's 9 main battleships and 12 fourth- and fifth-rate ships, their overall strength would still be far inferior to his own.
Historically, at this time, the combined Franco-Spanish fleet's ship count was on par with, or even slightly exceeded, that of the British.
However, Joseph had been controlling the number of large warships newly built by the French Navy for the past few years, resulting in France having far fewer sailing warships than historically.
Of course, the French Navy had also been compensated: with 23 "Light of the Mediterranean"-class steam frigates, and seven of the latest "Tunisia"-class 32-gun steam cruisers.
It was precisely these steam warships that had recently turned the Mediterranean Sea upside down.
Footsteps sounded from outside the cabin door. Lord Hood slipped the Admiralty document into his pocket and told the guard at the entrance, "Let them in."
"Yes, General," the guard replied.
Immediately, six or seven senior officers of the British Mediterranean Fleet filed in. Seeing that the Commander-in-Chief had already arrived, a sense of unease welled up in all of them.
Lord Hood gestured for them to sit down, then got straight to the point: "Merchant ships have been repeatedly attacked recently, and the Admiralty takes this very seriously. It seems we need to adjust our operational strategy."
Rear Admiral Collingwood stated, "General, most of these French frigates use Tunisia's Port of Bizerte as their home base. We could send marines to attack it. Or, we could blockade the French warships in their ports."
Rear Admiral Horatio Nelson immediately shook his head. "I don't believe that's the best strategy.
"From the intelligence we've gathered, those French frigates are exceedingly fast. They could easily relocate to other ports, such as Tripoli or Ajaccio Port, before we even reach Bizerte."
"Indeed, these light warships are difficult to track, so our priority should still be providing effective escorts," Rear Admiral Hotham said, looking at Lord Hood. "General, we actually don't need to deploy so many warships near Toulon. We could easily reallocate some third-rate ships to form powerful squadrons with numerous cruisers, tasked with escort duties. This would deter French light warships from approaching indiscriminately."
Third-rate ships possessed formidable firepower and defense; even if they just sat there allowing frigates to attack, the latter's cannons would struggle to penetrate their hulls. They were core combat assets in naval warfare.
Lord Hood nodded slightly. The Admiralty had just allocated him two main battleships and eight fourth- and fifth-rate ships, giving him ample resources to form squadrons.
However, this would require British merchant ships to depart from port in concentrated groups, allowing the squadrons to provide effective cover.
Just as he was hesitating, an officer knocked and entered, handing him a battle report. "General, our ships were attacked three days ago in the Barbary Sea."
Lord Hood unfolded the battle report, his expression instantly changing. "'The Golden Elm' was sunk?!"
The report detailed the attack on Hicks's escort convoy, which had not only lost three merchant ships, but most significantly, a Royal Navy fifth-rate cruiser had been sunk.
The first warship sunk since the war began was, shockingly, a British one. And it was a fifth-rate ship!
Lord Hood continued reading the report. As there were no eyewitnesses, no one knew how "The Golden Elm" had been sunk, only that three high-speed frigates had been attacking merchant ships beforehand.
After the other British officers finished reading the battle report, their brows were also tightly furrowed.
Rear Admiral Hotham suggested, "Perhaps a French battleship slipped out, or was it the Spanish fleet that did it?"
Lord Hood's face was grim as he declared, "Regardless, we must retaliate."
Rear Admiral Nelson mused, "General, our main fleet must patrol the Mediterranean to better defend against enemy sneak attacks and even seize opportunities to annihilate their raiding squadrons."
Lord Hood frowned. "What about the French fleet in Toulon Port, then?"
Nelson smiled. "Perhaps if we let them out of their anchorage, we can find an opportunity."
Rear Admiral Collingwood instinctively asked, "What opportunity are you referring to?"
"The opportunity to annihilate the main French fleet!"
......
Toulon, on France's southeastern border.
Napoleon handed the latest battle report from the General Staff Headquarters to Major Victor, who stood beside him, and sighed softly. "The Crown Prince crushed the Austrians at Wavre."
He then gazed towards the Cadibona Pass, which was invisible from their location, and said wistfully, "Meanwhile, half a month has passed on our front, and Beaulieu still hasn't crossed the Alps."
After realizing Beaulieu's intention to attack Toulon, he had pulled his troops back, preparing to launch a fierce assault on the Austrian army once they had passed through the Alpine pass.
But the Austrians' logistics were simply too slow; they still hadn't managed to enter French territory.
Victor smiled. "If we had attacked Nice directly back then, we might have already reached Albenga by now."
Napoleon shook his head. "In that case, we would have been forced into a decisive battle against the main forces of Sardinia and Beaulieu, with our supply lines stretching across the Cadibona Pass."
"Yes, so we must continue to be patient..."
As Victor was speaking, a Corsican cavalryman suddenly galloped up, saluting Napoleon. "Commander, an Austrian legion has appeared on the west side of the pass, numbering around four thousand men."
Napoleon's eyes lit up. "They're finally here. Order the Moulins Legion to launch the attack as planned."
"Yes, Commander!"
Victor asked, a hint of surprise in his voice, "You previously said you would let the Austrians enter Toulon before a decisive battle. Won't attacking now alert them?"
Napoleon smiled faintly. "No, this will make Beaulieu feel confident enough to attack Toulon."
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