I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 773 Goodbye Toulon
"The Admiralty has decided to transfer two more battleships, the Conqueror and the Spartan Guard, as well as eight other fourth- and fifth-level battleships, to the Mediterranean Fleet...

"Please ensure complete control of the Mediterranean..."

Lord Hood took a deep breath and closed the file.

Over the past month, 11 merchant ships have been destroyed or captured by the French fleet.

It was obvious that the French Mediterranean Fleet was blocked in the port of Toulon, with only some frigates harassing the Mediterranean, but his own escort fleet was completely unable to stop their killing.

He picked up the report beside him.

It was a detailed report of the recent attack on British merchant ships, which was reported by the escorting warships.

Obviously, the French were equipped with a new type of very fast frigate, which posed a huge challenge to his escort mission in the Mediterranean.

Fortunately, the Navy Department allocated another batch of warships to him.

Once these ships are in place, the Mediterranean Fleet will have 33 main battleships of level three or above, 40 level four and five ships, and nearly 70 frigates.

The French fleet in Marseille Port only had 17 main battleships and 21 fourth and fifth-level ships. Even with the 9 main battleships and 12 fourth and fifth-level ships of the Spanish Mediterranean Fleet, the overall scale was far less than theirs.

In fact, in history, the number of warships in the French and Spanish joint fleet at that time was equal to that of the British, or even slightly more.

But Joseph has been controlling the number of new large warships built by the French Navy in recent years, resulting in France having far fewer sailing warships than in history.

Of course, the French Navy was also compensated with 23 "Light of the Mediterranean" class steam frigates and 7 of the latest "Tunisia" class 32-gun steam cruisers.

It is these steam warships that have recently caused chaos in the Mediterranean Sea.

There were footsteps outside the cabin door. Lord Hood put the Admiralty documents into his pocket and said to the guard at the door, "Let them in."

"Yes, General."

Soon after, six or seven senior officers of the British Mediterranean Fleet filed in. When they saw that the commander-in-chief had arrived first, they all had a bad feeling.

Lord Hood motioned for them to sit down and said straight to the point: "Merchant ships have been attacked repeatedly recently. The Admiralty takes this very seriously. It seems that we have to adjust our combat strategy."

Major General Collingwood said: "General, most of these French frigates use the port of Bizerte in Tunisia as their home port. We can send the Marines to attack there. Or we can block the French warships in the port."

Colonel Horatio Nelson immediately shook his head: “I don’t think this is the best strategy.

"From the intelligence we have received, those French frigates are very fast. They can easily move to other ports, such as Tripoli or Ajaccio, before we arrive in Bizerte."

"These light warships are indeed difficult to track, so we should focus on providing effective escort." Major General Hotham looked at Lord Hood, "General, we don't need to deploy so many warships near Toulon. We can allocate some third-level ships and cooperate with a large number of cruisers to form a powerful squadron to perform escort missions, so that the French light warships dare not approach at will."

The firepower and defense capabilities of the third-level ship are very strong. Even if it is left there to be attacked by the frigate, the latter's artillery will find it difficult to penetrate its hull. It is the core combat force in naval battles.

Hood nodded slightly. The Navy Department had just allocated him two main battleships and eight fourth and fifth-level ships. He had enough funds to build a squadron.

However, in this case, British merchant ships would have to leave the port in batches so that the squadron could provide effective cover.

Just as he was hesitating, an officer knocked on the door and handed him a battle report: "General, our ship was attacked in the Barbary Sea three days ago."

Hood unfolded the battle report and his face suddenly changed: "The 'Golden Elm' was sunk?!" It wrote about the attack on Hicks' escort formation. Not only did they lose three merchant ships, but most importantly, the Royal Navy's fifth-level cruiser was sunk.

The first warship sunk since the war began was actually a British ship. And it was a fifth-class ship!
Hood continued to read the report. Since there were no witnesses, no one knew how the "Golden Elm" was sunk. It only said that three high-speed frigates had attacked merchant ships before.

When other British officers finished reading the battle report, they all frowned.

Rear Admiral Hotham said: "Perhaps a French battleship slipped away, or was it the Spanish fleet that did it?"

Lord Hood said sullenly, "No matter what, we must fight back."

Colonel Nelson pondered, "General, only if the main force of our fleet sails in the Mediterranean can we better defend against the enemy's sneak attacks, or even annihilate their attacking fleet when the opportunity arises."

Hood frowned: "What about the French fleet in Toulon Harbor?"

Nelson smiled and said, "Perhaps, if we let them come out of the anchorage, we can find a chance."

Major General Collingwood asked subconsciously: "What opportunity do you mean?"

"An opportunity to annihilate the main French fleet!"

……

Toulon, southeastern border of France.

Napoleon handed the latest battle report from the General Staff to Major Victor beside him and sighed softly: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince defeated the Austrians in Wavre."

He looked at the Catibona Pass, which was completely invisible from here, and said sadly, "It's been half a month here, and Beaulieu still hasn't crossed the Alps."

When he realized that Beaulieu was planning to attack Toulon, he withdrew his troops and prepared to launch a fierce attack on the Austrian army after it passed through the Alps.

But the Austrians' logistics were too slow, and they have not been able to enter France until now.

Victor smiled and said, "If we had attacked Niza directly, we might have reached Albenga by now."

Napoleon shook his head: "Then we will have to fight a decisive battle in Sardinia with Beaulieu's main force, and the logistics supply line will cross the Catibona Pass."

"Yes, so we just have to continue to be patient..."

As Victor was speaking, a Corsican cavalryman suddenly galloped over, saluted Napoleon and said, "Commander, an Austrian corps has appeared on the west side of the pass, with about 4 people."

Napoleon's eyes suddenly lit up: "Finally! Order the Moulin Corps to attack as planned."

"Yes, Commander!"

Victor was somewhat surprised and said, "You said before that you would let the Austrians enter Toulon before engaging in a decisive battle. Wouldn't attacking now alert them?"

Napoleon smiled and said, "No, only in this way can Beaulieu attack Toulon with confidence."

(End of this chapter)