Fox of France

Considering that the U.S. military cannot be regarded as a completely regularized army from organization to training, well, in my Qing Dynasty, it should probably be regarded as training bravery. In addition, in many places, the military power of the United States at this time is really similar to my Qing Dynasty. That is, the equipment and morale of the regular army in our Qing Dynasty are generally not as good as training bravery; in the United States, the equipment, morale and treatment of the federal army are generally not as good as state soldiers.

But this time, the situation should have changed, because the French weapons were obtained by the Federation, right? But when distributing weapons, these things are still mainly divided by the states, because the number of federal troops is too small.

Since the army you see, A-mei, is basically a group of practicing bravery, the way it is used is naturally different from the serious army. Therefore, the consultant of the French advisory group, Colonel Seville of the French Army, based on the results of their research in Turkey, proposed a set of tactics specifically aimed at the army that has a huge material advantage but lacks training and organization. :

"We don't have to pay attention to the various actions of the British army. We only need to make our fortifications tight so that their various schemes and tricks are useless, and then we can rely on real strength to drive them from Cleveland Evicted!"

If this approach of "strengthening the fortress and fighting a silent war" is proposed on this premise, it is estimated that the Americans will not accept it anyway. But after receiving two blows in a row, even the presidential palace was turned into an adult art center, even the proud southerners have to admit that they are indeed behind in the military, and now they are not relying on The era of being invincible through bravery.

So the U.S. military set up a camp near Cleveland, and then began to build large-scale fortifications, dig trenches, assume barbed wire, lay mines... and surrounded Cleveland on land.

But just being encircled on land cannot really threaten Cleveland. Because Cleveland is a port city, it can maintain supplies of personnel and materials through the Great Lakes. If you can't cut off Cleveland's waterway traffic, it will not be easy to get Cleveland back.

In fact, the French had a way of cutting off Cleveland's waterways. The French have small mines specially designed for shallow water areas such as inland rivers. Each of these small mines weighs only a few tens of kilograms, and even a small boat can carry several of them. And inland waterway ships are incomparably stronger than sea-going ships. Even such mini mines are enough to easily sink an inland waterway ship. Using small boats at night, the waterway of Cleveland can be gradually blocked.

But the French advisers did not raise this point. As for the reason, it is actually very simple, because they did not know that the French had this in their arsenal. The reason why they don't know is because it is not in the interests of France to sell it to the Americans.

For the French, it is best to let both sides shed blood in this war, and thus forge a long-term, even generations-old enmity that is hard to let go. And keep them in confrontation all the time, then they won't pose too much threat to Louisiana. And if they allow the Americans to have this kind of mines, then once the British find that the US military has begun to lay mines, they will definitely retreat voluntarily. And in this way, the Americans don't need to make much sacrifice to get Cleveland back.

Therefore, the suggestion given by the French is to surround first, and then repeatedly bombarded by artillery, slowly gnawing at the defense of the British army. This method of warfare is of course time-consuming and labor-intensive, but isn't what France needs are the Americans and the British who are time-consuming and labor-intensive?

The Americans and Canadians were thus locked in a constant bloody battle in Cleveland.

In Europe, the French military exercises in Calais have also successfully ended. During the exercise, the French army also invited observers from various countries to visit the exercise. During the exercise, the French once again demonstrated their new landing combat technology to countries all over the world, especially the British. For example, during the follow-up process of logging in, the French showed a floating pier made of cement that can be quickly deployed, and a floating breakwater that can float on the sea and sink when it reaches a suitable place.

These technologies meant that once the French obtained a landing site, they could quickly send a large number of troops and supplies ashore without having to rely on seizing the opponent's port. This naturally brought greater pressure on the British defense.

However, how to bear this pressure is a matter for the future, but now, as the French fleet has returned to its home port, the French army has gradually left the exercise site and returned to its station. The British can breathe a sigh of relief for the time being.

After organizing such a large-scale exercise, the British feel that the French should not, and are unlikely to organize an invasion of Britain in a short period of time. From this point of view, the British are at least in a short period of time. Gained freedom of movement.

So the British immediately made a decision and sent a fleet including the latest battleship "Queen Elizabeth" to escort the expeditionary force to America to defend the British territory in North America.

The fact that the British sent an expeditionary force cannot be hidden from anyone in Europe. Among other things, just like every important military port in France, there are businessmen from the United Kingdom or who have economic ties with the British doing business there. "Legal businessmen" operate there.

An important job of these people is to count the warships moored in the port every day. "Well, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5... The main force of the British navy is still there..."

And on this day, after counting, um, I found that the "Queen Elizabeth" and several other ships were missing. So the news that Britain sent a fleet was quickly confirmed.

But because the trans-Atlantic communication depends on ships, and the speed of ordinary civilian ships cannot keep up with the speed of warships. Although the speed of the "Queen Elizabeth" is not particularly fast, the speed at which news reaches North America is . It will definitely not be able to keep up with the speed at which the British fleet arrived in North America.

"In this way, the warships we leased to the Americans won't be in danger, right?" Lucien was a little worried, "I'm not worried about the USS Free Trade and the USS Common Market. I know they can't beat the British old man." Virgin, but they are faster than the British ships. The British can't catch them. But I am a little worried about those two cruisers that Louis later leased to the Americans. You know, those are colonial cruisers. Speed ​​​​though in theory Still faster than the British battleships, but not faster than the British cruisers. No problem?"

"No, there will be no such thing as our warship being sunk or captured by the British and causing trouble for your propaganda." Napoleon said indifferently, "We have already prepared for it."

The French in North America were indeed prepared. Although I don't know when the British fleet will arrive. But they know when their exercise will end. So they can roughly guess when the British will arrive.

Therefore, at the earliest possible time for the British to arrive, they had already let the two colonial cruisers leave the most dangerous Cabot Strait and return to New Orleans for "repairs" on the grounds that "the machinery needs maintenance".

In fact, both of these ships are new ships, and there is no need to go to the dock for repairs at all. But there are Frenchmen on board. They say that there are some problems with the machinery of the ship and that it needs maintenance. How can the Yankees on board disagree?

Therefore, the two colonial cruisers left first.

If the British went directly to Cabot Strait, they could hit the American fleet on a blockade mission. The fleet included the USS Free Trade and the USS Common Market, as well as two American hybrid cruisers.

but……

"If we go directly to Cabot Strait, we can definitely capture the American fleet. But do you think we can keep those two French ships?" Fleet Commander General Nelson said in the spacious "Queen Elizabeth" Said the officers in the meeting room.

"General, you know, those two ships are much faster than ours. Unless they enter the narrow sea by themselves, we can't keep them." Captain Hardy of the "Queen Elizabeth" replied.

"According to the information we learned before we set off, besides these two French ships, the U.S. fleet probably has two steam-sail hybrid cruisers. We are sure to keep these two ships." General Nelson said. The adjutant continued to introduce the situation.

"General Nelson, if you can only sink two old warships that are completely outdated, but let the Americans prepare for our arrival, I don't think it makes any sense at all." An army general said.

"General Wellesley, what do you think?" General Nelson asked.

"I don't think we can just think of ourselves as a merchant fleet engaged in transportation." General Arthur Wellesley said, "The French will not give us too much time. After two or three months at most, they will Something happened in Europe. Therefore, our fleet will not be able to stay here for more than one and a half months. Within this one and a half months, we must deal a big enough blow to the Americans, otherwise, the situation of the war will be very serious. How it will develop is hard to say. And if my troops enter Canada first, and then slowly fight south from Canada, it will be difficult to deal a decisive blow to the Americans within a month and a half. Therefore, my suggestion is that we don’t go Canada, let's go straight here!"

General Arthur Wellesley clicked on the map with his white-gloved hand.

General Nelson looked down at the map, nodded and said, "I agree with that."

Two French colonial cruisers were sailing south along the North American coastline. The cruiser "Kazuki" is walking in the front, and the cruiser "Fuzuki" is walking a little behind.

"In another hour, we should be able to reach Savannah. We can take a rest there, add some things, and let the boys go ashore to relax." Captain Alençon of the "Flower Moon" said to First Mate Edmund said.

Savannah is Georgia's oldest port city, and in this era it remains Georgia's capital and one of the most important ports in the South. Many products such as cotton and tobacco in the southern United States are loaded on ships from here and continuously shipped to Europe.

Because of this, Savannah is quite prosperous, and there are many entertainments for sailors. Everyone is still looking forward to resting in Savannah. This is especially true after receiving the combat allowance from the Americans.

Soon, Savannah Harbor appeared in the telescope, but at this moment, the lookout sent out a call: "Fleet found, at ten o'clock!"

Alençon hurriedly looked over there, and sure enough, there were some smoke columns on the sea to the east. It's just that the distance is still far away, and he still can't see the flag of that fleet.

After a while, the mast of that fleet finally rose from below the sea level. On top of those masts flew the proud standard of St. George's—it was the British Fleet!

But Alençon was not nervous at all, because when they decided to return to New Orleans, they had already lowered the American flag and hoisted the French tricolor. In this way, their current identities are no longer US warships, but French warships. Do the British still dare to open fire on warships flying the French flag?

Although the British navy has always been brave, the current situation should make them sober enough. Moreover, in case they are really brave enough, the French can justifiably take full action against the British colonies in America.

So Captain Alencon was not worried about his safety at all.

Soon, the British fleet completely appeared in Captain Alençon's sight. He immediately recognized the British battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth.

"The British sent all the old maids out? Now the Yankees are going to be in trouble." Captain Alençon immediately made such a judgment.

To be honest, Captain Alençon and the crew on the cruiser "Kazuki" have a good impression of the Americans. Because the military salaries given to them by the Americans are paid in gold and silver coins. But after recognizing the "spinster", Captain Alençon did not want to fight the British at sea at all. Two colonial cruisers, going to confront the huge fleet including the "Queen Elizabeth"-do you think you are driving a water drop?

However, the trouble is that there are Americans on the "Kazuki".

"Captain Alençon, it's the British fleet! We must stop them and give Savannah time to prepare!" Major Francis, the representative of the US military, shouted.