Nelson pursued his fleet across Delaware Bay before slowing down.
Then we calculated the results of normal battles and found that we had damaged a total of seven enemy cruisers and directly sunk three cruisers.
Based on a cruiser fleet-level encounter, this result can be considered very good.
But now Nelson's mood is not getting better.
Nelson left the command envoy and came to the deck of the battleship where he was. He looked at the slowly sinking warship in the distance with a telescope and the lifeboats floating on the sea. He spoke in a low and slow tone:
"Those should have been our own ships, those people should have been our sailors, we once were companions who fought together, and we should not have fought..."
Wellesley listened to Nelson's whisper, as if he wanted to comfort him:
"This is not our fault, it is Napoleon and Adams who are wrong. If Adams had not launched a coup, we would not have needed to fight. America has already been established..."
Nelson subconsciously asked:
"But why did Adams launch a coup? After he launched a coup, he became a duke. Even if he didn't launch a coup, he still had a high chance of becoming a duke..."
Wellesley said with a wry smile:
"Because politicians are stupid."
British Foreign Secretary Grenville also came out of the cabin, heard the conversation between the two, straightened his tie and said:
“Because the American Congress did not consider the interests of the Northerners, who did not constitute a majority, the Southerners thought they could bring the Northerners to submission by force and power, and the Northerners were not prepared to submit.
"The United States should not be one country in the first place. It should be divided into at least two parts, the north and the south, or even three parts."
After saying these two sentences, Grenville looked at Nelson:
"Your Excellency Nelson, please send me directly to New York right now. We just won a great victory. This shows that the northerners cannot blockade the south. Now is a good time to negotiate."
Nelson made a plan in his mind:
"Then let's split up."
Nelson commanded the fleet to be reorganized into two parts, part of the fleet to send Wellesley and the army generals to Richmond, and part of the fleet to send Grenville to New York.
Both sides rescued the soldiers who ran out of the sunken ship. After all, most of them were their former companions.
From the mouths of these soldiers, Nelson and Wellesley got some not-so-good news.
The Northern Fleet's capital ships did not go south at all and remained stationed near New York Harbor. Therefore, when the Northern Fleet's cruisers fled, they did not enter the Chesapeake Bay, but ran directly north.
Meanwhile, all the land to the north and west of Richmond had been lost, and Richmond itself was besieged.
At the same time, Napoleon personally led the troops, bypassing Richmond, and attacked Petersburg south of Richmond.
Petersburg is the southern gate of Richmond. Once Petersburg is lost, Richmond will be completely enveloped.
By then, all of Virginia was gone.
Fortunately, the naval battle commanded by Nelson directly broke the northern naval blockade, giving Richmond and Petersburg the opportunity to communicate with the outside world through sea routes.
After receiving this news, Nelson stopped slowly rescuing the people who fell into the water. He left some life-saving facilities and let them find their own way to get ashore. The battlefield was not far from the coast anyway.
Immediately return to sea at full strength and send Wellesley and the army officers into the Chesapeake Bay.
After arriving in Norfolk, let the main fleet take turns cruising at the entrance of the bay and take turns repairing.
Wellesley and the Army officers changed boats and sailed up the James River toward Richmond and Petersburg.
As a result, before reaching the bifurcated rivers leading to the two cities, they encountered a broken ship drifting down from the upper reaches.
I went to the defeated soldiers to inquire about the situation, but I only got some messy news. I only knew that the front was defeated.
Soon after, they encountered a Virginia militia colonel, William Henry Harrison, son of the old Virginia governor Benjamin Harrison.
It was through Harrison that relatively accurate news was obtained, confirming that Petersburg had been lost and that Napoleon had led troops into the city.
After Petersburg was lost, it was difficult to defend Richmond, which was truly besieged. After Richmond was lost, the entire Virginia was almost lost.
Virginia was the first colony of British North America, and Richmond was the de facto core of the American South.
Once Richmond was lost and Virginia was lost, it would have a huge blow to the morale of the entire southern United States.
At the same time, the other party also conveyed even worse news. Kentucky and Tennessee in the west had all surrendered.
In other words, all land west of the Appalachian Mountains has been lost.
Three of the eight southern states are gone.
The remaining five states, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, all have impact plains and are undefensible terrain.
Moreover, these areas have abundant rainfall, and there are quite wide rivers in the five states, all flowing from the inside out.
Napoleon's troops now occupy the upper reaches. As long as the troops are allowed to flow down the river, they can penetrate all five states in sequence.
Wellesley listened to the introduction and asked with disbelief:
"How could it be so fast? How could it be so fast? It's only been more than a month since the New York coup!"
Harrison said with some trepidation:
"According to the last news from the west, except for a few cars, they are all bicycle soldiers.
“A few can travel 70 to 80 kilometers a day, and may even exceed 100 kilometers.
“In America, except for the Appalachian Mountains in the middle, there are Great Plains on both sides.
“Although there are many rivers, the rivers in the interior are relatively shallow.
"We all know that the Ohio river is a mile wide and the water is a foot deep. It can be crossed with a little equipment.
“Their bicycle troops can travel through Tennessee and Kentucky in a week at most.
"And the French have obviously been prepared for a long time and have been preparing to attack us.
"And we were unprepared, and when the offense started, we didn't build a defense at all.
"And Tennessee and Kentucky may have had French internal responders."
Wellesley was obviously stunned for a moment:
"Are they all bicycle soldiers? They are equivalent to mounted infantry?"
Harrison immediately said:
“Yes, in the French Canadian region in the north, there are many bicycle factories and a large number of bicycles.
"This time they organized a bicycle force of at least 100,000 people. The local militiamen were surrounded before they could react!"
Wellesley understood the situation in the west a little, and then continued to ask:
"What happened to Petersburg? How did it get lost?"
Harrison trembled when he heard this:
“They were also raiding by mounted infantry, and the continuous attacks prevented us from building adequate defenses.
“Then gradually concentrated a large number of artillery and straight-firing smoothbore cannons, and continued to bombard cities and military camps.
“The troops and citizens simply couldn’t hold on, so some people surrendered.
“For the soldiers who were unwilling to surrender, we ran downstream.
"We should go to Norfolk and the Isle of Wight and build defense lines there immediately..."
Wellesley pondered for a few seconds, shook his head solemnly and said:
"We can't retreat! America has reached its most dangerous moment!
“We must secure the entrances and exits to Norfolk Harbor and the Chesapeake Bay.
“You broken troops are retreating downstream, and the mounted infantry from the north must be chasing you.
“The further downstream the water slows down, the slower you go.
"If you all retreat to the Norfolk area at one go, the other party will follow you all the way to Norfolk.
“When you get to Norfolk, you also don’t have time to organize your defense.
"Someone must collect the broken troops in the middle, delay the enemy's attack, and buy time for Norfolk to organize the defense line."
Harrison was stunned for a moment, and then quickly understood what Wellesley meant and the logic behind it.
After a brief hesitation, Harrison tried to stand up straight:
"I would like to stay here! Your Excellency!"
Wellesley nodded vigorously and said solemnly:
"I now appoint Colonel William Henry Harrison, in the name of Arthur Wellesley, Commander-in-Chief of the United Kingdom and United States of America, as Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Virginia Militia.
"To take charge and command of all the troops retreating from northern and western Virginia.
"You are allowed to use any means and in any way to resist the offensive of the Canadian and North American rebels and buy time to organize defense lines in the Norfolk, Isle of Wight, and Newport News areas."
Wellesley left a group of officers behind and followed Harrison to collect the broken troops on the James River and organize the delayed troops.
Wellesley himself turned around and returned with most of the officers, returning to Norfolk as quickly as possible.
At the same time, radio equipment was used on the road to notify the ports below to immediately enter combat status and immediately begin to strengthen the defense line.
The entire way back, Wellesley continued to send telegrams, issue orders, and assign tasks.
At the same time, he also took the time to write a draft. When the fleet returned to Norfolk, Wellesley immediately sent a telegram to the mainland after landing.
Explain the latest situation in the United States to Prime Minister William Pitt and ask the other party to immediately seek help from Ming Dynasty.
“The troops we and the French are organizing cannot keep up with those on the Beiyinzhou battlefield.
"Napoleon could conquer the American South in two months, or even one.
"If we want to keep the United States, we must now rely on the power of Ming Dynasty.
“Now in the entire Beiyinzhou continent, the only ones we can rely on and can reach the battlefield immediately are the troops of the Ming Dynasty.
“According to previous news, Ming Dynasty has been sending more troops to Texas, Florida and other places.
"Conservative estimates suggest that there are at least 100,000 main troops in the two places, all of whom are elites who have participated in the world war.
"They are around the battlefield and can enter the battlefield immediately, as long as we pay enough.
"Between losing all of America or losing part of America, I would choose the latter."
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