Chapter 790 The Naval Battle of Genoese
Chapter 791 The Naval Battle of Genoese
Nelson continued: "In fact, the current position of the Toulon fleet is very unfavorable.
"When Genova's supplies are exhausted, they can only choose to fight us in a decisive battle.
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"At that time, we can calmly choose the place of battle and arrange the formation in advance.
"And once they are defeated-this is almost an inevitable result-they can only escape south into the port of Biscay.
"We can take advantage of the situation to blockade the port. The French will not have any warships available on their southeast coast.
"Our marines can even occupy the port of Toulon."
"I very much agree with your judgment. "Lord Hood nodded and turned to the staff officer, "Order the fleet to deploy in the direction of Sardinia to prevent the French from slipping past us.""
Southwest of the Mediterranean Sea.
Sicilian waters.
Sixty-eight sail warships slowly moved forward on the sea, but those huge hulls did not have much unique momentum in covering the sky and the sun.
On the contrary, it looked a little bleak.
This is the main force of the French Toulon fleet.
They are enough to defeat the navy of any country in the world, except Britain.
Unfortunately, the enemy they were dealing with in the Mediterranean at this time was the British fleet.
The largest ship in the fleet, like a sea city, is the flagship of the Toulon fleet, the Orient.
This is one of the few heavy battleships produced by the French navy in recent years. It was originally named the "Prince", but Joseph didn't like this giant ship that was sunk in Egypt in history, so he finally changed it to the "Orient".
The size, armament, hull thickness and other core parameters of the "Oriental" surpassed the British "Victory", and the Spanish "Holy Trinity" are juxtaposed as the strongest battleship in the world.
Although the "Holy Trinity" has more artillery than the "Dongfang", it is at a disadvantage in terms of hull structure and flexibility. In terms of actual combat effectiveness, it may be worse than the "Dongfang".
At this time, in the spacious combat conference room of the "Orient", Brues, the commander-in-chief of the Toulon Fleet, looked at the chart with a serious face, constantly measuring latitude and longitude on it, and circling some locations.
Rear Admiral Anthony Gondom, the chief staff officer of the fleet on the side, looked out of the porthole and couldn't help but sigh.:
"I'm really unwilling to be reconciled! I guess the British should be laughing at us somewhere in the sea."
Bruez didn't raise his head and said, "It must be difficult to be pleasant as bait, General Gondom, you have to get used to this.
"But speaking of ridicule, I believe that there will always be a day when you laugh at the British."
Yes, no one could have thought that the main force of the French Toulon fleet was just bait.
Their purpose was to lead the British Mediterranean Fleet away from Genoese and do everything possible to avoid war.
As the main force of this operation, it is the newly formed "Mediterranean Rapid Sub-fleet".
This sub-fleet is equipped with all steam-powered warships, with a total of 25 frigates and 8 fifth-class cruise ships. Under the command of Brigadier General Bronki Dechayela.
Their task is to tear apart the British blockade of Genoese.
Currently, what is stuck off the coast of Genova is Hotham's powerful sub-fleet.
Generally speaking, only the third or fourth-level ships in Hotham's hands are enough to destroy the "fast sub-fleet", but Di Chayela must defeat them, at least, and drive them away.
Brues finally straightened up, pointed to the chart with a pencil, and said to Gondom.:
"Next we turn in the direction of Sicily. Lord Hood would definitely think that we are going to bypass Sardinia and go to Genova from the east side."
Gondom showed a rare smile:
"Then we changed to sailing westward. Maybe there will be a chance to rendezvous with the Spanish fleet."
Brues nodded:
"I hope General Dechayela can successfully complete the task."
Dozens of nautical miles away, the British Mediterranean Fleet was heading north for a while, preparing to intercept the Toulon fleet, and then angrily chased the latter to the coast of Spain.
......
25 nautical miles south of the port of Genova.
On the British third-class battleship "Titius", Major General Hotham personally arranged the patrol path of the frigate. After confirming that it was foolproof, he yawned for a long time.
The main force of the French Toulon fleet is far away in the Sicilian waters, and it is impossible for the Spanish fleet to attack Genoese-even if the Spaniards are really crazy, there are still Louis's sub-fleets staring at them, and they can get the alert in advance.
However, Hotham was not in a good mood.
There is no mistake, one song, one shot, one content, one look at it one by one!
He was unable to participate in the battle to defeat the Toulon fleet, which made him a step slower than those colleagues on the road to promotion in the future.
He walked out of the cabin, came to the foredeck, and looked at the sea in the distance.:
"God, at least let the French send some transport ships over."
If you can capture a large number of supplies destined for the United States, you may be able to barely make up for the loss of a little combat skill.
It seemed that his casual prayer was really heard by God, and the words of the flag were continuously played on a galloping paddle sailing boat in the distance.
There is no need for others to convey it. Hotham was almost the first to see the slogan. He was overjoyed and turned to the messenger.:
"Quick! All ships are ready to fight! A French fleet is approaching!"
He walked to the command room at the bow of the ship and said to the staff officer:
"Come and tell me as soon as you have information on the specific number of enemy fleets."
Usually the first alert ship to discover the enemy situation will return to the warning as soon as possible, and then another ship will scout the enemy's specific number, ship type and other information, and then make a detailed report.
However, this time Hotham did not wait for detailed information about the enemy fleet.
Because his reconnaissance paddle sailboat is not as fast as the French "fast sub-fleet", it has been thrown out of sight.
After an hour, Hotham finally learned the specific number of the enemy fleet-what he saw with his eyes. At this time, the French fleet had already rushed to a place less than 3 nautical miles away from him.
Hotham put down his binoculars and sneered disdainfully.
The French sent only 8 cruise ships with more than 20 frigates.
This is no different from death. His sub-fleet has 4 third-class ships and 5 fourth-class ships. These ships alone are enough to crush the French boats. And he still has 5 cruise ships and 16 frigates in his hands.
It's not that Hotham didn't know about French steam warships. Britain had sunk many merchant ships and frigates before.
However, the British navy quickly developed a tactic to deal with it, that is, to use its own powerful firepower and sturdy hull to form a battle line to fight steadily.
The French ships only had the advantage of fast speed. As long as they entered the range of the battleship, they would be smashed to pieces almost immediately.
As Hotham's flagship "Titius" issued a series of orders in flag language, more than a dozen British warships quickly formed a straight line of battle, and they occupied the upper hand in no hurry.
(End of this chapter)
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