Chapter 282: , Intercept

The "Free Trade" left Port-au-Prince together with the newly restored "Constitution". They first rounded to the Cape of France, but there they didn't see any American warships. Apparently they had gone from Dusan Louvidour. Was warned and evacuated first.
The "Free Trade" took the "Constitution" around the Cape of France, and then went west.
As early as more than a week ago, the Americans in Santo Domingo knew about the capture of the USS Constitution. It just took time to send the news back from Santo Domingo to the United States. Florida was still in the hands of the Spaniards, and it took time to send the news back to the United States. According to the calculations of Victor and Zola, the Americans probably just learned the news now. In this era, if the U.S. Navy is placed in Europe, it will be a weak chicken. The entire navy has only six main warships. Although these six frigates are all so-called "super frigates."
But in the Americas, this naval force is quite impressive. As long as these six super frigates do not run into battleships, they can walk sideways at sea. Even if they encounter battleships, they can run desperately with oil on their feet. And the naval powers of this era are all in Europe. Everyone is staring at me, I staring at you, and holding each other in check. As a result, good things such as battleships are basically kept as watchdogs. So in each colony, European powers’ The squadrons are actually not too strong.
For example, in the original history, in the war launched by the United Kingdom for armed drug trafficking, it used almost the strongest fleet stationed in India outside of its homeland, but this fleet only had three tier three battleships with seventy-four guns. . Compared with the size of the hundreds of British native fleets of Tier 3 battleships in the Battle of Trafalgar, I don't know where it is going.
But not for the unprecedented victory in Trafalgar, it is impossible for the British to send more than a dozen battleships to North America at one time and launch the second American-British war.
In the Americas, the flagships of the squadrons of various countries are often only five-tier ships (frigates). Other ships are often less than one thousand tons of displacement. Six-tier ships with no more than 20 artillery doors are not even classified as level. A small gunboat with sails.
It is precisely because the squadrons of these countries are so weak here that pirates in the Caribbean have always been rampant. It was so rampant that the United States had to pay them protection fees. The original goal of the United States in establishing its navy was actually not to pay protection fees to these pirates.
In another time and space, the later generations of the US Navy, which collected protection fees all over the world, started from these six "super frigates." And it is very interesting that a certain country's navy that had been collecting protection fees from around the world during this period had only six decent surface ships left by then.
Victor estimated that the Americans will not be reconciled after knowing the news. They will definitely try to concentrate their efforts to kill and the USS Constitution.
"Constitution" actually suffered limited damage, but due to lack of manpower, it lost its combat effectiveness in a short time. But the sailing ability is still very good. Once in New Orleans, the French can quickly recruit sailors and restore the USS Constitution. Therefore, the Americans will definitely find a way to stop them and defeat them before the USS Constitution arrives in New Orleans, in order to regain the USS Constitution and regain its military advantage in the Caribbean.
In fact, the Americans' reaction was actually much faster than Victor thought. Because the news about the "Free Trade" and the "Constitution" was not sent back by ship, but by carrier pigeons. But it took the Americans a lot of time to gather the warships.
It was not until the news that "Free Trade" and "Constitution" had left Santo Domingo, the Americans gathered three warships: the "US" super frigate, the "Congress" super frigate, and soon The French warship "Light Wind" was captured by the "Constitution", but at this time, this small gunboat with only 16 guns had been renamed "Lafayette".
Considering that the "Constitution" that has fallen into the hands of the French has not been completely repaired, and the French have not been able to recruit many sailors in Santo Domingo, it can be basically considered that the "Constitution" has sailing capabilities, but it is not. Not capable of combat. Therefore, this lineup of the US Navy should already have the upper hand in the battle against the French.
"Use two boats to entangle the steamship, and then the remaining one will catch up with the Constitution, and you will be able to retake the Constitution. The captain of the USS and the commander of the operation, Colonel Matthews Said this to the other combatants.
But this is only theory, and in fact, they still have a big problem to solve. That is how to find those two French warships as quickly as possible.
Nowadays, there is no radio. Once the navy ships go to sea, if they disperse, it is almost impossible to communicate with each other. If gathered together, the sea area that can be controlled will be much smaller. The possibility of the enemy bypassing the interception from other directions increases.
Of course, because they can easily determine the destination of the French (except New Orleans, where can they go?), they can just block outside the port of New Orleans and stand by the sidelines.
But the French also had a squadron in New Orleans. Although this fleet was not strong, there was only one ordinary Tier 6 ship and three small gunboats. But if there is a fight with the French steamship near New Orleans, the fleet will join in and it will become a force that can change the situation.
So from this perspective, the interception point must be set farther from New Orleans. But if it is too far from New Orleans, it may miss the interception target.
While the Americans were distressed by this, an unexpected ally suddenly appeared and a British fleet came to the door.
The British two colonies in the Caribbean, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, are not particularly prosperous. At least not prosperous compared to Santo Domingo. However, Jamaica can provide a special commodity black slaves shipped from Africa. So here is also a relatively important trade node.
The British had a squadron here, which was small in size, with only two frigates and three brig gunboats. In addition, they are said to have a lot of contacts with pirates in the Caribbean.
The envoy sent by Lieutenant Colonel Wien, the commander of the British squadron, directly approached the Americans and told them that the British were willing to work with the Americans against the French. Of course, if they could sink or capture the French steamship, this The steamship is to be owned by Britain.
If the French steam frigate can be captured, it is of course the most valuable trophy. But whether it is British or American, they actually know that the chance of capturing this ship in battle is slim. In addition, the most exciting thing about this ship is the various black technologies on it, but with the current level of science in the United States, if these things are obtained, most of them can't understand them and don't use them.
It's like later generations, when Da Mao's family held a brick fair, rabbits and white elephants both went to join in. Da Mao's rule: I'm here for the white elephant to look and feel at will, rabbits are not allowed to look at or touch them! Why? The white elephant looked for nothing, and touched it for nothing. But if you let the rabbit take a look and touch it, it will really get pregnant.
Since the Americans got this thing, it was useless, Colonel Matthews agreed. So a temporary alliance appeared.
So not long after, a combined fleet of four frigates and four gunboats appeared off New Orleans.
Because the British fleet had never fought jointly with the American fleet before, they were not mixed together, but kept separate formations. However, the British fleet had the American flag on the mast at this time. .
According to the division of labor between the two sides, the Americans are responsible for intercepting and attacking the French steam frigate from afar, and retaking the "Constitution"; while the British are responsible for containing the French squadron in the port of New Orleans.
"Should the British take the opportunity to bombard New Orleans? And it's under our flag. America"'s first officer Thomas said to Colonel Matthews.
"The British might actually do this." Matthews said. "They hope that we will have a complete turn with France, and it is best to declare war directly. This way, no matter what the outcome is, it will be good for them."
"Then we..." Thomas said.
"We can’t allow the French to gain a firm foothold on the American continent~EbookFREE.me~ And, do the French really have the power to fight us while suppressing the whole of Europe? So our conflict belongs to conflict, war or something, It should not be enough. And we really need their cooperation at this time."
Just as they were talking, the voice of the lookout whistle suddenly sounded in their ears: "Found the target! At nine o'clock, find the target!"
The two quickly raised their heads and looked in the direction of nine o'clock, only to see a thick black plume of smoke rising slowly from below the sea level.
"French steam battleship!" The two immediately made a judgment.
As far as they learned, the French steam warships also have sails. They usually operate on sails and do not use steam engines. At this time, the thick smoke shows one thing, that is, the French have done the battle. Preparation.
At the same time, on the "Free Trade", the atmosphere is not tense, the steam engine has been activated, and New Orleans is not far away. In fact, starting the steam engine is more for insurance. The "Free Trade" did not know at this time, there was a fleet waiting for itself in front.
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