The Fox of France

The column of smoke grew closer and clearer, a single column of smoke.

"The British North American squadron consists of six ships; if it were them, we should be able to see six columns of smoke. However, there's only one now, which must be a whaling ship returning home," reasoned the Americans logically. They dispersed their fleet in advance for a surrounding and interception maneuver—though whaling ships usually don't have steam-assist power and aren't fast.

As the smoke column drew nearer, through General Cadet's telescope, the ship finally emerged in full from the horizon.

"Good heavens! That's... that's the 'Free Trade'! Damn it, how could she be here!"

General Cadet had once participated in a two-against-one battle with the "Free Trade," a ship that had become a veritable nightmare for the Americans. So familiar was he with this super-cruiser that, despite the considerable distance between them, he recognized the ship that had haunted his nightmares more than once.

"'Free Trade'? The 'Free Trade' has returned? What about the 'Common Market' then?" asked a young officer standing next to General Cadet, puzzled. He also noticed that General Cadet's hands were trembling slightly.

"It's not our 'Free Trade,' it's the British 'Indefatigable'!" General Cadet steadied his nerves and then spoke in as calm a voice as possible, "Order the fleet to regroup immediately and prepare for battle!"

The American fleet, comprising three super-cruisers and three regular cruisers, began to reform and accelerate, ready for the confrontation.

General Cadet felt that although their ships were indeed far inferior to the British "Indefatigable" in performance, they had the advantage in numbers, which meant they weren't without a fighting chance.

After being ravaged by the French "Free Trade," the American navy had always been studying one question: how to counter the "Free Trade." When the French put the "Free Trade" up for sale, the Americans were the first to bid, hoping to buy back the ship that caused them nightmares. However, the British intervened and snatched the "princess" from the American navy with a higher price—thus proving, according to the life principles his father taught him—to believe in God, to pay taxes according to the law, and to hate the British, was indeed reasonable.

After the British acquired the "Free Trade," the American navy continued to focus on how to deal with it.

From the technical details made public by the French during the sale of the "Free Trade," the Americans discovered that their existing naval guns could not penetrate the defense of the "Free Trade." What to do? Naturally, they hurried to order from the French some guns capable of penetrating the armor of the "Free Trade." So, although the Americans didn't get the "Free Trade" back, the money they brought to purchase it didn't return to America either. Instead, it was spent on expensive French long-barrel cannons.

These breech-loading, rifled long-barrel cannons, with an astonishing caliber length of thirty times, were expensive not just for exploitation, as the longer the barrel, the more difficult it is to drill. The initial velocity of the cannonballs reached up to 600 meters per second, allowing them to easily penetrate the iron armor of the first version of the "Free Trade" from a distance of 500 meters. In this era, a distance of 500 meters in naval gunnery was already considered quite far.

Of course, the British also armed their newly acquired "Indefatigable" with the same type of cannons. This was one reason the Americans didn't armor their super-cruisers: within the effective range of normal artillery, the armor couldn't withstand French cannons anyway. So, they might as well save on the weight and gain speed by not armoring at all.

With cannons capable of penetrating the "Indefatigable's" armor, the Americans were quite confident about this battle.

The two fleets began to close in on each other, with the American fleet's six ships forming two columns to meet the advance. If both sides maintained their current courses, the "Indefatigable" would pass directly between the two columns of the American fleet. In the past, this tactic might have been considered, since back then the American cannons couldn't penetrate the "Indefatigable's" armor. All they had to do was to avoid the Americans' desperate attempts at ramming.

However, the situation was now different. The American cannons could penetrate the "Indefatigable's" armor. So, if the "Indefatigable" chose this tactic, it could indeed benefit from being able to fire from both sides, but it would also suffer significant damage from receiving fire on both sides. Therefore, the British began to turn first.

The British knew they had several advantages over the American fleet:

First

ly, their ships had a higher speed, giving them a better chance to win the T-positioning game, and their sailors were better trained.

Secondly, the British had modified the "Indefatigable" by removing the original side-mounted cannon arrangement and instead mounted two cannons on circular railings at the front and back decks, which could rotate over a wide angle. Ṛ

After the British began to turn, the Americans also started to maneuver to avoid being outflanked. The ensuing action saw both fleets circling each other on the sea, with the British trying to gain a position ahead of the Americans, while the Americans constantly maneuvered to keep their sides towards the British.

The "Indefatigable" had a slight speed advantage, but the American ships were more agile in turning, making it difficult for the British to secure the T-position.

After several turns, the distance between the two sides began to close, but due to the angle, the American side cannons couldn't aim at the "Indefatigable" to fire, whereas the "Indefatigable's" stern cannons could rotate and fire at the Americans. Although the British only had two stern cannons and everyone was maneuvering at high speed, making accurate firing difficult, the initial volleys failed to hit.

However, being under one-sided attack without the ability to retaliate was highly demoralizing. And just because the first few shots missed didn't mean the subsequent ones would too. At this distance, a hit would definitely cause significant damage to the American warships.

Indeed, after six unsuccessful shots, a cannonball finally struck the "Constitution," leading the American formation.

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