I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 771 Hunting (asking for double monthly tickets)
Immediately, a herald ran back and forth on the ship, loudly conveying the captain's instructions: "A British fleet was spotted at two o'clock, two nautical miles away. There are five merchant ships, two cruisers and two frigates!"

Madno's heart suddenly hung in the air.

A cruiser is a fifth-tier battleship, usually equipped with 44 cannons.

On his side, there were only three frigates, the Overlook, the Seagull Wing, and the Great Tide, each of which was equipped with only 21 guns.

If a battle breaks out, there is no chance of our side winning.

Logically, the captain should have ordered to evade immediately. But the current direction of his fleet was clearly heading towards the British fleet.

He sighed in his heart: Oh God, I just escaped from the English Channel, please don’t let me die in the Mediterranean Sea…

Half a minute later, the rapid sound of drums rang out across the Overlook. This was a battle alert.

Apparently, the enemy ship also spotted the French warship and began to slowly turn westward, aiming its port side towards the Overlook. At this time, there was a westerly wind on the sea, which was a typical tactic to seize the upper wind.

At the same time, the merchant ships fled straight south, creating a situation where the British warships were between themselves and the French fleet.

"Pressure the boiler!"

The captain's voice came from the transmission tube, and then the petty officer in the engine room shouted in the same voice: "Pressure the boiler! Add coal quickly!"

Billowing black smoke billowed out of the chimneys of three French steam frigates one after another. The speed of the ships suddenly increased significantly, as if this was the Atlantic Ocean with strong sea breezes instead of the calm Mediterranean Sea.

The British warships were obviously also extremely surprised, and hurriedly accelerated the speed of adjusting their formation.

The two galley frigates moved to the easternmost side, intending to block the merchant ships.

The "Seagull Wing" sent out a series of flag signals - it was the flagship of the formation and was to command the other two ships to fight.

The three steam battleships immediately began to deflect, and at the same time, a loud "click" sound came from the boilers, obviously they were already operating at full capacity.

Their sterns left long white trails as they circled towards the easternmost side of the British fleet at an incredible speed.

The British warships immediately followed and moved southeast, always forming a straight line with their head and tail connected, aiming their main broadside guns at the French frigates.

Although the British fleet commander was somewhat surprised at the speed of the enemy ships, he was calm in his heart.

He was well aware of the combat effectiveness of the small frigates on the other side. As long as the enemy entered the range of his cannons, the battle would be over in more than ten minutes - generally speaking, a 1-gun cruiser was enough to sink two frigates, and even if facing three, he would not be at a disadvantage.

He has two cruisers and two frigates to assist him.

However, what he couldn’t understand was that the French seemed to be crazy and rushed over to ask for a fight!
He even began to wonder if there was a large French fleet lying in ambush nearby.

But he immediately laughed at himself.

The main force of the French Mediterranean Fleet was blocked in the port of Toulon by Lord Samuel Hood. How could there be any ambush?
The second mate turned to him and said, "Major Hicks, the enemy ship is still 800 yards away from us."

According to British naval regulations, a distance of 350 yards is considered the optimal firing range.

With the French ship's current high speed, even if it starts to turn immediately, it will dive into the range of its own battle line.

He raised his hand calmly: "Prepare to fire."

"Yes, Commander!"

The gun port covers of the British ship were all opened, and large black cannons were sticking out from inside.

Major Hicks had already raised his hands to cover his ears - the first round of shelling was usually very harsh, but it would be much better after his ears became numb. However, his eyes suddenly widened as he looked out the porthole.

Seeing the French ship only 600 yards away, he turned sharply to the right, and with completely incredible turning efficiency, threw his battle line to the port side.

The three ships emitting black smoke turned too quickly and their hulls tilted severely, reaching an angle of almost 60 degrees with the sea level!

At this time, the French ships were heading southwest, which was already a semi-headwind state, but their speed still remained very high.

With his rich experience in naval battles, Hicks immediately estimated that according to the current situation, the French frigate would pass by the rear end of his battle line in a few minutes.

Once they bypass them, they will be able to face those merchant ships directly...

The corner of his eye twitched, and he hurriedly ordered: "Turn left, quickly! Turn left 1.5 compass points! Don't worry about the formation. Fire! Fire now!"

At this time, the two sides were about 550 yards apart. Although it was within the maximum range of the cannon, the hitting effect would definitely not be good.

"Yes, Commander!"

Major Hicks stared at the French ship that was approaching his left rear, and silently said in his heart: "God, please hit a few of them!"

The British cruiser's hull made a creaking sound as it tried to turn quickly, but its speed was still much slower than that of the French ship.

The two paddle boats had turned around, and the 18-pound guns on the port side began to emit a series of roars, and the surrounding sea was suddenly covered with thick white smoke.

Large waves rose up around the French warship, but the distance was so far and the target was traveling at high speed that if they wanted to hit it directly, they could only rely on the miracle of God.

The French ship did not fight back, but just kept on "going on its way". When the British cruiser pointed its broadside at them, the "Overlook" at the rear happened to pass by the westernmost side of the British formation and left its stern to the British.

The British cruiser's 32-pound guns roared, but the shells fell powerlessly into the sea a few dozen yards away from the French ship.

Hicks hurriedly raised his telescope and looked south. His merchant ship had sailed a little more than 1 nautical mile away.

With the exaggerated speed of those French ships, they would catch up with them in ten minutes at most.

He turned and yelled to the second mate, "Let the Beacon and Dragonfly catch up! We must tie up the French!"

The two British galleys immediately turned around, and the rowers in the bottom hold, "encouraged" by the overseer's whip, rowed with all their might.

Finally, after several minutes of acceleration, they barely reached the speed of the French ship.

Madno held on to the mast tightly, staring at the British merchant ship that was getting closer and closer in front of him, then turned his head to look at the British warship in the distance, and suddenly he felt like a seabird soaring freely.

The fish is right in front of you, waiting to be caught, and all the wind and waves are left far behind.

Be free, relax and enjoy the moment.

The British merchant ships also realized that something was wrong and began to disperse, fleeing in different directions in order to avoid being wiped out.

Seven or eight minutes later, the "Overlook" caught up with a merchant ship with the words "Long-tailed Ray" painted on the bow, and soon sailed side by side with it.

The sound of cannon wheels rolling could be heard from under Madno's feet.

The next moment, fierce flames flashed from the gun compartments from the bow to the stern.

The merchant ship 200 yards away suddenly trembled, and large pieces of wood chips burst out from the middle of the hull and the poop, flying all over the sky.

(End of this chapter)