The fleet left the Toulon military port and headed straight from the Mediterranean Sea to the Strait of Gibraltar. The four successfully renovated warships definitely caught everyone's attention on the sea. Their tall, white sails carried the dark, metallic warships through the waves and moved forward.
The heavy steel armor pushed the waterline low. Although the speed was reduced, the increase in the total weight of the battleship strengthened the stability. In this way, the common storms in the Atlantic Ocean would no longer be able to harm this fleet.
"Going at full speed, we must reach the Cape Verde Islands within half a month... Those Chinese hate France extremely, and they will definitely continue to use French ships to practice and hone their new weapon systems..."
"I know the temper of those young people. This kind of one-sided smooth sailing will definitely make them obsessed. They are reluctant to leave such a busy Atlantic golden route. We will definitely be able to catch up..."
Molière encouraged the morale of the naval soldiers on the battleship HMS Glorious. Most of them were soldiers who had gone on the Ryukyu expedition with him. They had experienced the humiliating defeat. When they heard that they were going to attack the Chinese, these soldiers all went crazy.
"In Asia, they are at home and we are away. Even if we fail, we have an excuse. But now they dare to attack merchant ships in the Atlantic. This is an act of piracy... How can the Europeans allow them to run rampant in the Atlantic and move forward at full speed? …”
"Go at full speed and send them to hell..." There was an excited roar on the Glory, followed by cheers from the three warships, the Pious, the Holy, and the Gauls.
At this moment, General Bruce on the Glory was watching the chart next to the 12-pound breech-loaded rifled gun at the front of the deck. The iron track and the steel guard plate were welded together, and the gear track allowed the custom-made gun to rotate freely.
Every time General Bruce sees this cannon, he can feel the surging power in it. The scene during the live-fire drill off the coast of Toulon Port is still vivid in his mind. The three-kilometer range has crushed all the smoothbore cannons on the sea. Even British warships have difficulty achieving such an effective range.
All the old smoothbore cannons below the deck were removed and refurbished for steelmaking. What remained were ten six-pound rifled cannons on the left and right, and the ammunition used were all newly developed custom-made cannonballs.
"Such a warship is invincible within an effective range of three kilometers. No matter what weird things the Chinese come up with, the four-to-one strength gap is here. Molière, you can rest assured that this expedition is destined to be a cleansing expedition. A journey of shame.”
As a result, Molière took a deep drag on General Bruce's cigar. "I am as confident as you about the battleship's firepower and steel armor protection, but what I am most worried about is the speed. All kinds of intelligence will show that It’s a steam-powered battleship, what if you choose to escape against the wind?”
Bruce nodded, "That's true. If these cunning Chinese people choose to escape against the wind, we really can't chase them and can only watch them escape... But this can be considered as we have completed the mission, at least We have found out the basic attributes of this battleship, so we can send information to the superiors..."
"Don't steam-powered warships need supplies? As long as we can determine its position and basic performance, and then notify all the ports on the Atlantic coast... Hahaha, without coal, wouldn't the so-called steam power become a joke? Use A few sails can drive a pure ironclad ship, and its speed must not be as slow as a snail."
Hahaha... The two looked at each other and smiled.
When the fleet passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, Molière went ashore and sent an emergency telegram. Two hours later, the British and French military departments began to take action. All ports controlled by Britain and France on the east and west coasts of the Atlantic strictly implemented the coal trading ban, and all those who needed to purchase Coal vessels must obtain the approval of the top chief of the local government.
Now there are submarine cables connecting Europe and North America. Orders from Britain and France were quickly conveyed to various ports, and the diplomatic department even issued requests for cooperation to independent countries in North and South America.
Except for the ambiguous attitude of the United States, other countries have expressed their willingness to cooperate with the coal sales ban promulgated by Britain and France.
A dragnet has been laid out. From all ports in North America, the Caribbean, South America, North Africa, and South Africa, every European merchant ship about to sail has received the latest order.
"Be careful of any steam-powered warships in the Atlantic. As long as you find a steamship of unknown nationality, you must send the coordinates while escaping to encircle and suppress the ghost ship across the Atlantic."
Only now did people know that it was not a ghost ship at all, but a steam-powered warship of unknown nationality. It was a newly developed murder weapon by an evil country, and this country also had a grudge against the French.
The man behind the scenes was already coming out. When Molière's fleet left Gibraltar and sailed to the Madrid Islands, European newspapers were already in a quarrel. The French media people attacked Prussia like crazy and demanded that Prussia immediately investigate the matter of the ghost ship. Give an explanation.
The French have a very strong reason. To build a ghost ship with a fully steam-powered main gun and super powerful firepower, it requires very strong national industrial strength. There are only a few countries in the world that can meet this condition.
With such industrial strength and a grudge against France, eight of the nine missing merchant ships were French ships. Do you need to guess for such an evil country? It is definitely Prussia. It must be Prussia.
Of course, Prussia will not let France throw dirty water. Starting from the Dover incident some time ago, Prussia has portrayed itself as a weak country bullied by France. Later, it also asked France about the British and French control of the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay. Next, the Shetland Islands in the North Sea to the north are under the control of the Royal Navy... May I ask how France and Prussia's so-called new warships left Europe, '.
The people are right. Prussia has no overseas colonies. All its industrial power is in the mainland, and it is impossible to build warships overseas. However, the European offshore waters are completely under the close control of the British and French navies. If there really is such a thing, A strange warship left Europe, there should be no trace at all.
For a time, the European media was in a frenzy. The war of words between the two sides intensified, and even extreme remarks appeared. The smell of gunpowder before the war became a little stronger.
But the Zhiyuan was completely unaware of all this. Xiang Ying and the others were having a great time killing each other in the Atlantic Ocean. Facts have proved that the strategy of using clippers to explore the path and the Zhiyuan hiding behind to carry out a killing blow was very successful. When the fleet approached Verde By the time they reached the waters of the Cape Islands, 12 merchant ships had been destroyed by the Zhiyuan's artillery.
