Two Hundred and Twenty for England [End of Volume 3]

To be honest, Collingwood's Hornet returned to the voyage before Lorraine cleaned up the cables.

This shows that the battle of the fifth channel also has a result.

The unlucky Frenchman was defeated by the weather.

When the storm broke out, the Bastion, which was relatively aft, was lucky enough to be on a relatively wide transfer belt, and was able to turn around in time and escape.

The Pioneer at the front was completely stuck in the narrow channel, with no way to advance or retreat. It could only be swept by the storm and struggled in the complicated sea area full of reefs, and finally did not escape the ending of hitting the rocks and sinking.

Therefore, in terms of time, it is impossible for the fifth channel battle to end later than the main battlefield in Lorraine.

Thinking of this, Lorraine glanced at Collingwood strangely: "It ended early but didn't come to me to help...Major, did you save someone?"

Collingwood nodded of course, "The side of the Andes can't accommodate the third ship. Instead of being helpless by your side, I should do my best to save the believers of God."

"Rescue the enemy regardless of victory..." Although he knew that this was based on the self-confidence of butt-to-board battles and the restrictions of employment regulations, Lorraine was somewhat speechless, "How many were saved?"

"133 people."

"so much?"

"So, a little risk is worth it."

"Maybe."

The conversation between the two came to an abrupt end.

It's hard to say whether Collingwood's choice deviates from the fundamentals, because the number of sailors on a Brig type is 180. Under the double disaster of heavy rain and rock landing, the most optimistic rescue rate will not exceed 20%. There are 36 people.

As a result, Collingwood saved 97 more.

Seventy percent of the sailors on a ship became captives, so there must be no problem in calculating the result of the Wasp when the Pioneer hit the rocks and sank.

This means that Collingwood gained fame, kindness, and real achievements through this risky behavior.

If Lorraine is defeated in the main battlefield, all of this is of course a stupid move, but the strength of Drake's subordinates is obvious to all in the Halloween fleet. This time, with the bonus of heavy rain, the reason for taking risks seems to be valid up.

Is it self-interest in the overall situation?

Lorraine looked at Collingwood,

He laughed indifferently, and suddenly thought that since the battle in the fifth channel had come to an end, the first channel, which was in a similar situation, had already decided the winner?

...

The sun was setting.

In the distance of Le Robert, there are only a few plumes of smoke still connected to the clear sky, the bay after the war became calm, and the fully disposed fleet sailed towards the final fog.

The Golden Deer has lost its combat capability.

The bow of the ship that was hit directly left a sinkhole. In order to quickly solve the Totem, the hulls on the left and right sides were also scarred. Coupled with the storm and the rough bump during the docking, the strong ship did not fall apart because Niord was blessing Lorraine.

He temporarily changed the flagship to the newly captured Andes, and the Golden Deer became a captive ship, commanded by Yacharin and more than a hundred sailors, and was towed by the Lucky Horseshoe and the Wasp.

The Totem, which was lucky enough to be found, was also dragged along. The French rescued themselves beautifully, blew up the fallen mast in time, and cleaned up the deck, leaving only a bare floating island, which forcibly survived the storm. , and did not lose too many men until the surrender.

They sailed to the first fairway together.

More than twenty kilometers away, Lorraine saw the upper smoke column for the first time standing on the yard of the mainmast.

It is not the pure white smoke of the artillery during the battle, but the thick black smoke after the fire is extinguished.

After a while, the battlefield unfolded before Lorraine's eyes.

Nelson's Badger was very miserable, with half of the poop missing, the foremast missing, and three huge holes on the starboard side facing Lorraine, as if it was only an instant away from sinking.

But next to her is the relatively intact Jupiter.

Although there are traces of battle on the hull, the condition of the whole ship is still good.

The most important thing is the Union Jack representing the United Kingdom fluttering in the wind on the top of the main mast of the Jupiter.

won?

And it seems to be a perfect boarding victory, how did you do it?

With doubts, the two sides converged.

Lorraine meets Nelson on Jupiter's deck.

There are bloodshot eyes, which is the result of not sleeping all night. The uniform was covered with blood, which was the reason for the cut on the right shoulder.

Nelson's description is embarrassing, with pale face and disheveled hair, but he is in an excellent state of mind, with every gesture and gesture.

"Seeing that you are still in good spirits, I am relieved, Your Excellency the Admiral." Lorraine greeted with a smile.

Nelson didn't show any surprise to Lorraine's victory, he just smiled: "What do you worry about?"

"Of course it's the reward you promised me." Lorraine stomped on the deck, "Pierce, from now on, you are the temporary captain of the Jupiter."

Little Pierce responded with a smile while holding the spear.

Nelson rolled his eyes: "I thought you had a good harvest this time, so you would kindly leave this ship to me. After all, you have also seen that the condition of the Badger is worse than your Golden Deer..."

"It's okay to lend it to you." Lorraine waved his hand grinningly, "I will lend it until I return to Kingston. You can write an IOU, or you can take Pierce Jr. as your captain."

"Underage captain?"

"Mercenaries, the difference between good and bad makes it difficult for you to win."

"The talk of businessmen is really disgusting."

"Thank you for the compliment." Lorraine bowed exaggeratedly, "Your Excellency, Admiral, I'm curious how you fought the battle like this. Generally speaking, given the status of the Badger, you should not be able to take over the ship."

"A little accident..." Nelson scratched his nose awkwardly with his only good hand.

It was indeed a little accident.

When the heavy rain came, the Jupiter was already close to the position less than 200 meters from the channel mouth, but it was difficult to get rid of the risk of hitting the rocks if it wanted to go further.

Because Nelson firmly blocked the Badger at the gate of the channel.

Sinking the Badger was easy for the Jupiter, but even if it was sunk, waiting for the Badger to sink to a depth sufficient for passage might be enough time for the Jupiter to hit the rocks three times.

So Nelson proposed to join the ship, give way to the mouth of the channel, and let the Jupiter drive out. Correspondingly, the Jupiter could not fire during the process, and could only let the Badger, which was half paralyzed by the wind, take the ship like a fool. .

result……

Lorraine looked at Nelson unreasonably: "Aren't you afraid that the other party will repent?"

"The initiative is in my hands." Nelson smiled confidently. "They don't have a third choice, either to die together or to fight for the last time."

"You sound like a cranky rascal."

"I firmly believe that you will bring me victory. In this case, I am obliged to prepare the reward."

"You are the craziest and most trustworthy employer I have ever met."

"Each each other."

The last piece of fog in the naval battle of Le Robert Bay has now been swept away in front of Lorraine.

The British were victorious, destroying the town of Le Robert and nearly annihilating the French Atlantic Defense Fleet.

The last part of the Halloween operation is left, which is to cooperate with the Lechide company that was thrown on the land earlier, to destroy the defense fleet's naval base at Le François with a high profile, to deter the French New Continental Fleet, and thereby influence Xiangfeng The Scales of the Battle of the Archipelago.

Victory is already a certainty.

Driving on the calm sea of ​​the Atlantic Ocean, Lorraine and Nelson enjoyed the beautiful sunset side by side.

"John Resheed, do you have any news about the captain?"

"According to my previous agreement with him, we will meet on the hills 130 kilometers north of Le François on the 23rd. He will raise the white flag of France on the hill where we met. Before that, I should not and will not inquire about him. whereabouts."

"But I heard from the captives that a large-scale slave rebellion broke out in La Trinity, does it look like his handwriting?"

"A reinforced company trying to get through half of Martinique is like a dream, so I wouldn't be surprised if he actually incited the slaves to rebel."

"The key is how he plans to deal with those slaves." Lorraine bit his lip. "Bringing these unstable factors back to the British colonies will cause us trouble."

"That's his business." Nelson shrugged. "I believe he won't offend all the manor owners for the so-called justice. As far as we are concerned, we only need to consider war."

"There are still 10 days?"

"Counting the meeting time, there are only 8 days left."

"8 days... It seems that there is still a long way to go to supplement the sailors, besiege Lefrancois, and cooperate with Laixide's plan."

Nelson nodded: "There is never a shortage of accidents in this world, and even all possible bad things will eventually happen. Please start well and end well, my friend, for you, for me, and for England."

"For England...?"

[Volume 3, The Wind Blowing to the New World...End]