The route from the European continent to the Caribbean is a very busy route. There are a large number of ships sailing on this route every day. Some ships transport surplus things from Europe, such as industrial products and the free poor, to the Americas, while sending sugar , Coffee, cotton and the like were transported from America; some ships departed from Africa, loaded with black slaves, crossed the ocean, and arrived here; and then exchanged black slaves for money and sugar, coffee, cotton, and other American Products, go to Europe; then exchange these for money and weapons, go to Africa, sell them to African chiefs, so that they can start wars, and then capture more black slaves.

Therefore, it is very common to encounter some ships on this route, especially when they are very close to the Caribbean.

It's just that ships at sea generally keep a distance from each other, especially in the Caribbean. Because in the sea, legal merchants and pirates are often just two sides of the same coin. When a legitimate businessman finds a ship that is obviously weaker and can be deceived and can be grabbed, he will change without hesitation and become a pirate. And when he finds another ship that is obviously stronger than himself, of course he will run away as soon as possible, lest people become pirates.

So most ships, as long as they see the other side's sails, if they are not malicious, they will run farther.

The "Free Trade" is a large ship of more than two thousand tons. Its size is already at the battleship level, and it can be moved sideways in the Caribbean. Not to mention those amateur pirates, those professional pirates, the ships used are just ordinary armed merchant ships, even the famous "Queen Anne's Revenge" is no exception. (Of course it is the one on the real plane.)

Therefore, previously, whenever the "Free Trade" encounters other ships and the two sides are close enough to see each other with a telescope, the other party will take pictures of the "Free Trade" huge bulk and avoid automatically. But this time, the ship found by the observation post was completely different. She did not avoid it, but approached directly.

"American warship! At 11 o'clock, the American warship was found!" The observation post on the top of the mast shouted again.

Although France did not declare war with the United States, in this area of ​​the sea, any mess can happen, so Captain Zola immediately issued an order: "All ships are prepared! The steam engine is on fire!"

It takes a long time for the steam engine to start a fire until it can work. Fortunately, the "Free Trade" itself has four sails, plus accurate calculations, plus the low-resistance ship model made by repeated trials in the pool, making it only use The speed of sailing is actually not slow, although it is not as fast as a normal sailing frigate, it is not much slower.

At the beginning of the design, one of the requirements of the "Free Trade" was that even in the case of steam power failure, sail alone must be able to run faster than the British battleship. So what if the British frigate catches up? Simple, just start the fight.

"Free Trade" not only has the size of a second-tier battleship, but also has battleship-level protection. For a regular battleship, the oak boats on both sides are about one meter thick, which is enough to withstand the close-range bombardment of smaller-caliber artillery.

Such planks are quite expensive, and "Free Trade" did not use such planks. Instead, the galvanized steel plate is hung on the board to strengthen the defense. This not only reduces the cost, but also saves weight. According to the results of the test, even the 32-pound heavy artillery of the battleship, as long as it is not repeatedly hit, causing the external steel plate to fall off, it is not enough to pose a fatal threat to the "Free Trade".

On the contrary, the shells fired by the 110mm rifled gun on the "Free Trade" can penetrate the plate of any enemy ship with great certainty, even the "Victory". Therefore, the British frigate caught up, as long as they were careful not to be hit by them, it would be useless for them to catch up.

In short, it is possible that those who have been able to catch up with the "free trade number" will not be able to catch up with the "free trade number"; those who may be able to catch up with the "free trade number" will not be able to catch up with the "free trade number". Or to put it more clearly, that is, "Free Trade" is essentially a warship mainly used to cut off free trade routes.

The "Free Trade" began to turn away from the U.S. warship that was approaching. But turning also takes time. During this process, the distance between the two sides continued to approach, and through the telescope, the part of the sail can already be clearly seen.

"This is the American super frigate." Captain Zola said.

"Super frigate? What kind of warship is this? How does it compare to ours?" Victor didn't know much about warships.

"A kind of warship with American characteristics." Captain Zola explained, "It's actually very similar to our ship. Its displacement is down to the standard of a second-level battleship, and the defense level is the same. The artillery used is also battleship-level, but The number is halved, and a certain amount of self-sustaining power is sacrificed in exchange for cruiser-level speed. Of course, they still have more artillery than us. As for fighting with us...hehe... we crush them to death like one Like ants."

Indeed, the U.S. Navy’s “super frigates” are indeed very strong. If there is no “Free Trade” in the world, these U.S. “super frigates” can indeed be said to be true. Anyone who can catch up with them will not be able to beat them. Anyone who can beat them can't catch up with them.

In the original history, in the second U.S.-British War not long after, facing the overwhelming British fleet, the performance of these "super frigates" of the U.S. military was quite outstanding, although it was not enough to shake the British maritime superiority. , But they never suffered a loss in the battle, and even took a lot of advantage. In particular, the "Constitution" frigate, known as the "Old Iron Armor", performed particularly prominently on the frigate that bullied the British army. Although they were not able to prevent the landing of British troops and burn the White House.

But when faced with the "Free Trade", the American super frigate really couldn't get up. In terms of speed, when the "Free Trade" is not using steam power, the American frigates are faster; but once the "Free Trade" steam power starts to work, the "Free Trade" can Easily catch up with any foreign warship.

As for firepower, considering the rate of fire advantage brought by rear-mounted guns and the power advantage brought by steel cannons, although the number of cannons on the "Free Trade" is smaller, the firepower is actually much stronger.

But the Americans who are now approaching know nothing about these two points. Of course, although the Americans have not had a particularly good relationship with the French recently, although the two sides have not declared war, mutual attacks between warships have occurred several times. But this is the first time that Americans have encountered a French warship about the size of their own in this area. (The French army basically only has ordinary frigates in this area.)

The Americans are very worried that the French will transfer the battleship here. If this is the case, it will obviously have a certain impact on the situation in this area. So the Americans decided to catch up and see what happened.

The chimney of the "Free Trade" began to smoke.

On the American frigate "Constitution", Captain Isaac Hull was holding a binoculars to observe the "suspected French battleship" ahead. He noticed that his opponent was turning, as if he wanted to avoid direct contact with himself. encounter.

"This should not be a battleship." Isaac Hull thought. "The French know very well that we don't have a battleship, and a battleship does not need to take the initiative to keep a distance from us."

"Catch it up and see." Isaac Hull ordered.

After chasing for a while, Isaac Hull found smoke rising from the French warship. The weather on this day was quite good, so Isaac Hull did not mistake the smoke for an enemy ship's fire. Because he clearly saw the chimney in the telescope.

"It's the steam battleship of the French army." Isaac Hull immediately made such a judgment.

There are many legends about the French steamship. Isaac Hull has also heard of some. He knew that the French steam battleship had an amazing speed, which was said to be faster than any frigate. He also heard that this kind of ship does not need to rely on sails, which makes her amazingly flexible. However, he has also heard the description of the weakness of this kind of warship: because the steam engine, coal tank and fresh water tank occupy too much space, the number of cannons equipped on this kind of ship is very small. He can only rely on grabbing t to fight more often. He also knew that it would take a long time for the steam engine to start.

Isaac Hull now faces a choice: whether to turn around and leave or continue to chase ~lightnovelpub.net~ In fact, in this area, the battle between French warships and US warships is not once or twice. Just a few days ago, The "Constitution" frigate has just captured a French brig frigate. (Just because there is no radio, "Free Trade" and Paris did not know that this has been done here. In fact, in the original history, in the Caribbean, the US Navy and the French Navy had been fighting for three full years, but Everyone has been fighting, while continuing to trade, and even talking about the sale of territory, without declaring war.) Continue to chase will definitely trigger a battle. If you can’t catch up with the enemy ship before the enemy ship’s steam engine has been activated and severely damage the enemy ship, once the enemy ship’s steam power is activated, the battle may become extremely difficult.

If you turn around and leave, for now, the Constitution still has time to escape. Because it is obvious that the current French warship is a bit slower than the "Constitution" in speed, and they took the initiative to turn, and it seems that they do not intend to conflict with themselves.

Zola took the initiative to avoid this decision because, on the one hand, his sailors had in fact not fully completed the training of the new artillery, which made him less certain to leave the Americans in battle; on the other hand, it was also because he set out. The mission received was just a test voyage and did not include the content of fighting with the Americans. But his move encouraged the Americans and made Isaac Hull determined to pursue it.