I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 793: Battle of Genoa III
In fact, sailing warships sometimes used this arc formation to attack.

However, sailboats are slow to adjust their angles. Once they are arranged in an arc, it will take a lot of time to reorganize them if they want to maneuver in a horizontal formation.

Therefore, unless one side has gained an absolute advantage, sailing warships basically fight in line formations.

However, the maneuverable and flexible steam ships do not have this concern - as long as the sailors are skilled in operating the ship, the formation change can be completed in a few minutes, so they can shoot freely using the best attack method.

This is also the reason why Bourne felt that the firepower of the French warships was too fierce.

Under the interference of the French warships, the "Four-Wheeled Carriage" and other ships were bombarded with shells for seven or eight minutes but were unable to escape the enemy's firing range.

Finally, Hotham could no longer sit still.

Although the loss of a few cruisers and frigates was not a big deal, those French small boats surrounded and attacked his ship right under his nose, which was a complete humiliation!

He suppressed his anger and said to the herald officer: "Raise the flag, move the battle line eastward, and prepare to attack the enemy fleet."

On the sea in the distance, the British cruiser "White Coral" seemed to have been hit in the ammunition compartment and began to burn fiercely. The sailors wailed and jumped into the sea, forming a circle of ripples like raindrops around the ship.

The "Carriage" and "Quartz Sand" were badly damaged and had begun to tilt. Several other ships also suffered varying degrees of damage, floating in place and almost losing their maneuverability.

Only two galleys managed to escape the battle because they were at the end of the formation.

In just ten minutes, the British cruiser fleet that was sent to disrupt the French fleet had lost more than half of its fleet. This destruction efficiency was so high in the era of sailing warships that it could be included in naval textbooks.

On the other side, the British battleship fleet, with sails fully open, swooped down on the French warships.

Hotham looked at the enemy ship outside the porthole and made a silent estimate in his mind.

2000 yards.

1500 yards.

1200 yards.

Just as he was about to order preparations for engagement, he saw the French flagship raising a signal flag.

The more than 30 small boats immediately accelerated with extremely high efficiency, turned around, and then headed northeast in a mess.

The speed was as fast as a pack of hyenas that had just stolen the lion's prey and were happily running away.

By the time the British battle line reached the "HMS Four-Wheeled Carriage" and other warships, all that remained on the sea was a large white track and a faint smell of coal smoke in the air; the French ships had already appeared a nautical mile away.

Two British cruisers and a frigate are on the verge of sinking, and three more are in very bad condition. It is unclear whether they can survive until they are towed back to port.

Hotham felt so angry that he had no place to vent, so he punched the steering wheel hard.

"Damn French, you cowards, you cowards!" He growled through gritted teeth, "Come and fight me in a manly contest!"

The French fleet in the distance seemed to have heard his words. It quickly circled around, turned around, and still sailed towards Hotham from the north in the same seemingly loose formation as before.

Hotham sneered and loudly ordered the battle line to adjust its direction, move upwind, and try to face the enemy with its broadside.

Half an hour later, the French steam battleship formation surpassed Hotham's battle line and took the lead in occupying the upper windward side on the west side.

The British commander's expression began to look a little unnatural.

At first, although his position was clearly further west, the French ship turned north to avoid him, but ended up reaching the windward position first. He had no choice but to order the fleet to tighten up, keep the bow pointing northeast, and prepare for the attack of the enemy ship.

To be honest, he was not afraid of the attack from the French fleet.

With the solid hull of the third-class ship and the firepower of up to 74 heavy guns, even if the wind direction is unfavorable, it can quickly destroy those French small boats.

Immediately, the French warships moved.

With a tailwind, the speed soared to over 12 knots, and in almost the blink of an eye, it arrived 800 yards away from the British battle line.

Then, they suddenly turned right and, in Hotham's astonished eyes, drove towards the end of the British battle line at a very fast speed.

There was no intention of engaging in a battle line fire.

Hotham was a little confused, but he soon realized that it was impossible for the French boats to fire at him, so he quickly ordered the fleet to adjust its direction and keep its broadside facing the enemy.

But the speed of the steam ships that had the upper hand was simply beyond the reach of the clumsy third- and fourth-tier battleships.

The steam ship ran at full power, constantly adjusting its angle, and then, in an extremely unreasonable manner, it rushed past the southernmost end of the British battle line.

The fourth-class battleship "Roughfin Shark" at the southern end turned desperately, but when the French battleship passed by 400 yards from it, it was still facing the enemy with its stern.

The French cruiser poured a round of shells at the "Thickfin Shark" in the form of a reverse "T-shaped head", or should it be called a "T-shaped tail".

Although each ship had only one chance to fire a salvo, after continuous bombardment by seven or eight ships in front and behind, the stern of the "Roughfin Shark" was already eroded and even the stern sail was severely damaged.

The French fleet had no desire to fight, and when the fourth-class ship finally turned around with difficulty, the steamships that did not join the attack immediately turned sharply and distanced themselves.

Hotham watched those guys emitting black smoke going away and really wanted to order a pursuit, but reason told him that with the speed of his own formation, it would be impossible to catch up.

The staff reported to him the damage done to the Roughfin.

Fortunately, it is not too serious and we can still continue to fight. It’s just that the stern sail is broken, which may slightly affect the speed.

Hotham ordered a different ship to go to the rear of the formation, with the Thickfin Shark protecting the middle.

Then he saw the French warships spewing black smoke and rushing towards him fiercely from a mile away.

At this moment, he remembered the group of hyenas he saw when he went hunting in Africa a few years ago.

Each of them is much smaller than a lion, and they are no match for a lion in a head-on fight, but they always use their flexibility to harass the lion when the lion is eating.

Many times, he saw hyenas successfully eat prey captured by lions, and even bite lions to pieces in sneak attacks.

At this moment, the French warships that were "howling" towards this side were like a group of hyenas.

And I am like a powerful but helpless lion...

This time, he ordered three battleships to form a column to protect the rear of the formation. However, after the "hyenas" circled his battle line several times, they successfully created a gap and took the opportunity to launch a "T-head attack" on the "Caesar" which was a little far away from the formation.

After damaging the bowsprit of the Caesar, they sailed away again.

It was not until dark that the French fleet stopped its harassment and sailed southeast, gradually disappearing on the sea level.

(End of this chapter)