Based on the results of the cabinet meeting, Wellesley quickly organized a group of British officers to prepare to go to the United States to support the Southern Army and resist the northern attack.
Nelson deployed several of the latest armored cruisers, together with the escorting mid- to low-level cruisers, to form a special mobile fleet with a speed of more than 20 knots.
Nelson himself would rush to America with the army officers led by Wellesley.
The subsequent mobilization of the Grand Fleet and the rendezvous with the French fleet were all handed over to his partner Collingwood.
The naval battle in this war is equally important. If the North uses its existing fleet to block the southern coastline and prevents the United States and France from supporting the South, then the South's defeat will be a matter of time.
The southern region's industries are dominated by plantations. It can be regarded as a huge rural area with very weak industrial production capacity.
If external contact is cut off, there will be problems with the supply of daily necessities, not to mention the supply of weapons and ammunition.
If ordinary people's lives can no longer be maintained, then of course there is no need to consider the issue of war.
Nelson's mobile fleet maintained a speed of twenty knots and continued sailing for eight full days. It crossed the Atlantic Ocean in one breath and arrived in the eastern part of the United States, preparing to enter the Chesapeake Bay.
Chesapeake Bay is the largest bay in the United States and the most important bay.
The mouth is small and the belly is big, the entrance is only 20 kilometers away, there are many fjords inside and a dense network of rivers.
Inside the bay are Annapolis, the capital of Maryland, and Baltimore, the largest city in Maryland.
There is also the most important Newport News Shipyard and the largest naval base in Norfolk.
Extending upward from the main rivers in the bay, you can also reach important cities such as Washington and Richmond in the United States.
Of course, this is a world without Washington, D.C. yet.
Washington, D.C., was a compromise between the North and the South, a compromise between New York and Richmond.
The Chesapeake Bay also serves as a natural boundary between north and south.
Most of the bay and north of it belongs to Maryland, and the entrance and south to Virginia.
If this bay is blocked by the North, then the South's only connection to the West is Charleston, South Carolina.
By that time, Virginia will probably not be able to defend it, and then the south will be even more dangerous.
Nelson felt that he understood this, and he felt that Napoleon and Adams should also understand this.
Therefore, when there were still 500 kilometers away from the bay, the fleet was already dispersed and entered combat mode.
As a result, after sailing for more than half a day, nothing was found.
It was not until the forward reconnaissance fleet arrived at the outskirts of the Chesapeake Bay that a message was sent back reporting that a patrol fleet under the American flag was discovered near the exit of the bay.
In the pure patrol fleet, there is one armored cruiser and two secondary cruisers.
After Nelson saw the news, he discussed with Wellesley next to him:
"The United States itself did not have any warships above cruisers, but as expected they incorporated and utilized the United Kingdom fleet that was escorting Queen Charlotte's coronation."
Wellesley analyzed with a serious expression:
"It may be that the officers on the ship were given titles. We have received relevant news before. Napoleon and Adams used the names of the two kings to confer a large number of nobles..."...
Nelson let out a long breath:
"Yes, that's probably the case. In this way, those officers can be mobilized. At least some of them can be mobilized to launch the navy's fleet.
"There are armored cruisers in the patrol fleet, and I don't know how many other fleets are staying in the bay. Most of the original two battleships have also been transferred.
"The other side's strategy is obviously to block the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay. They don't even think about intercepting us on the ocean. If we want to go to Richmond, we must pass through this entrance.
"So what we can do now is rush in and beat these guys up and seize control of the entrance to the bay."
Wellesley agreed with Nelson's previous analysis, but was shocked by his final decision:
"Your Excellency Nelson, do you really want to rush in directly? You also said that the opponent may have a battleship, and we only have armored cruisers at most..."
Nelson smiled quite casually and said:
"Don't worry, Mr. Wellesley, war on the ocean is different from that on land.
"On land it is already an era of armed civilian warfare, but on the sea it is still an era of knightly warfare.
"Because the cost of naval ships is too high, no country can turn its large fleet into armed civilians.
"In this case, in addition to the strength of weapons, what determines the outcome of the war is courage and luck.
"If nothing else happens, they won't have a chance to launch the battleship.
"The fact that they are patrolling the entrance to the bay instead of coming out to control the ocean shows their cowardice.
“The fact that they allow secondary capital ships like armored cruisers to patrol the bay further illustrates their cowardice.
"They are afraid of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. They are our subordinates. I know what they are capable of.
"If we can't defeat them even in this situation, we might as well just let the United States become independent."
Although Wellesley didn't know much about the navy, he knew that Nelson was the strongest naval admiral.
Since Nelson was so confident, he would not interfere with the command.
After Nelson finished speaking, he directly issued an order to reorganize the fleet and rush directly to the entrance of the bay.
The American Northern Fleet in the Gulf seemed to be unaware of what was going on outside.
Maybe they didn't expect Britain to send a fleet to Beiyinzhou so quickly, or maybe they didn't expect the enemy to break in directly.
It wasn't until the distance between the two sides was only a little over ten kilometers that the patrol fleet discovered the British fleet rushing over at full speed.
As they signaled and adjusted the fleet's posture, the distance between the two sides further narrowed.
After hearing the report, Wellesley instinctively asked Nelson next to him:
"Aren't you going to open fire right away? Hasn't the Navy already verified the technology of ten-kilometer engagement?"
Nelson said subconsciously:
"We can hit ten kilometers, but we can't penetrate it, and we don't have the Ming Dynasty's artillery shells.
"Besides, now is the time to compete for courage. Only by rushing forward and engaging in close combat can we have the greatest impact."
While Nelson was writing and drawing on the planning board, the distance between the two fleets was quickly reduced to less than six kilometers. ….
Six kilometers is already the combat range of the 160mm rapid-fire gun. If you continue to pull in, it will be a slap in the face.
After hearing the report, Nelson immediately ordered the fleet to assign targets and fire separately.
An active raid-style naval battle officially began.
Although Nelson's fleet came from afar, it still maintained a very high order.
The entire fleet was under radio command, giving Nelson a sense of coordination.
Relatively speaking, the U.S. Northern Fleet is a bit of a mess.
It was originally a fleet that had just surrendered. Not all the original sailors on the ship had surrendered, only a part remained.
In order to control the fleet, the small northern court also arranged for a group of new officers and sailors to board the ship to supervise and control the command.
If it were a step-by-step battle on the ocean, they might be able to perform at a normal level.
But Nelson's rampant approach to close combat competed with the ability of the crew under high tension.
So the performance of the Northern Fleet was a bit chaotic.
The hit rate of the 160mm rapid-fire cannon is a great test of the gunner's "feel".
Due to insufficient coordinated command, almost all the ships opened fire individually after they were close enough. The shells fell on the water in a mess, creating a chaotic water column.
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In some places, multiple warships attacked the same British warship. As a result, the water jets stirred up by the shells of several ships fell into the water and were mixed together. It was impossible to distinguish them carefully, and it was impossible to correct the shooting parameters.
The first round of shooting all failed. There was no way to calibrate the shooting, but they didn't start the second round of shooting. They all failed again, not even one shot across the target.
Several British warships were not attacked at all and rushed forward at full speed unimpeded.
The British fleet had assigned targets, and each armored cruiser aimed at an enemy cruiser and opened fire.
There was a cross-shot in the first round, and a direct hit in the second round.
An explosion occurred on the decks of two Northern Fleet cruisers, and thick black smoke and flames rose rapidly.
The rapid results once again boosted the morale of the British fleet sailors, and once again increased the chaos of the Northern Fleet.
As the war continued, the British fleet scored one hit after another.
Soon a Northern cruiser was in bad luck. An explosion occurred in the middle of the hull and it began to sink.
A loud cheer erupted from the British armored cruiser that scored the hit.
The sailors on the opposite ship began to jump ship in a mess.
On the chaotic battlefield, the Northern Fleet finally got a lucky hit.
A ball of fire broke out on the broadside of a British armored cruiser.
However, the cruiser seemed not to have been harmed and was still outputting ammunition at full capacity on the battle line.
The main force of the British fleet is eight armored cruisers with over 10,000 tons. They are secondary capital ships in the fleet of this era.
Without capital ship artillery attacking at a close enough range, it would be difficult to directly penetrate their surface-hardened alloy steel armor.
Among the fleets arranged by the Northern Fleet to patrol the entrance of the bay, there is only one armored cruiser as the leader, and the rest are low-level cruisers of several thousand tons. The British fleet also has a group of the same cruisers.
Before the capital ships and more armored cruisers in the bay set sail for reinforcements, the British fleet was now bullying the smaller ones and attacking the smaller ones with more. It also had command and training advantages, and it was impossible to lose.
In an overall disadvantageous battle situation, the U.S. Northern Fleet soon became unable to hold on any longer, and warships began to flee the scene.
Once someone ran away, others followed suit, rushing out of the bay and running north.
Nelson ordered some cruisers to stay and guard the entrance to the bay, and personally led the armored cruisers out to pursue them.
The raid quickly turned into a chase. .
Wang Zixu
