Latest website: In fact, when British ships were cruising in the harbor just now, there were also militias nearby who were monitoring them out of the gun range of British frigates. Naturally, these Dutch militiamen also saw the British dumping all kinds of materials, including lifeboats, and pushing the bow and stern guns into the sea. Of course they also saw a plume of smoke rising in the distance, knowing that this was a sign of the arrival of reinforcements. But they could not get in touch with the reinforcements, nor could they slow down the British retreat. So we can only watch the British frigate escape the bay. But they are not completely unable to do anything, at least they sent personnel to report this to Babel and the others, anyway, Babel is not far from here. They just organized a horse team, brought in materials including fresh water, and set up a supply point along the road to Cape Town. And there are stockpiled facilities for building docks.

The combined fleet of France and the Netherlands (though strictly speaking, there is not even a single Dutch ship in the combined fleet.) entered the bay and anchored there. Then the boat was put down and some soldiers began to land. The first landing was an infantry squad of the Dutch Army. They contacted the Dutch militias who welcomed them there. Then more Dutch and French began to use their own boats. Landed ashore.

At this time, Philip Treville and Babel also rushed over on horseback to welcome the "Liberator" from the European continent.

Major Leon Berthier, commander of the French Army, also got ashore in a small boat. And successfully connected with Philip Treville. Before coming, he knew from Marshal Berthier that Mr. Philip Treville, an agent of the Ministry of Public Security, was in charge of the work here.

"Philip Treville is a relative of the Marshal of the Treville Love Army. His brother is now our ambassador to Vienna. He himself used to be an important figure in the Royal Party. After the Royal Party broke up, he left some of the tendencies in the family. The way of the relatives of the revolution, um, I’m mainly referring to Marshal Treville. On the contrary, it is said that because of different attitudes towards the revolution, the relationship between him and his brother was not very good. But in any case, they are both. Brother. The status of Marshal Treville needless to say, and his younger brother is also a rising star in the political arena. And he himself, as a former royal party, after joining the Ministry of Public Security, he did not take a long time Obtained the power to stand alone in such an important direction.

I know what you think, and you think he must be reusable by betraying other royal party members. If you think so, you are wrong. If Philip Trewell could only do this, he would never be reused, let alone be alone. Being alone in itself is a high evaluation of his ability. When you get there, you must work closely with him.

You will follow the military line in the future, and he will follow the government line. You need different credits, so there is no competition between you, and the Trewell family will be very influential in the future. Becoming friends with him is good for you. Do you understand me? Do things beautifully, and I will take care of the rest for you. "

Now that he was given such an explanation, Leon Berthier was naturally interested in expressing his kindness to Treville. He told Philip that he had brought him a letter from his uncle, the Marshal of Treville, and expressed his hope for them. Can work together, unite sincerely, and make new achievements for France.

Then Treville introduced Babel, the commander-in-chief of the Dutch militia to Major Leon Berthier. Just now, Babel had just received a formal domestic order. He was appointed as the interim governor of the Netherlands in Cape Town, responsible for the restoration of Cape Town.

The next thing is to arrange for people to go ashore and begin to rebuild the dock.

In fact, just now, the two British frigates did not run far. They sailed to the west for a while, and then slowed down. The two frigates began to move a certain distance apart, and using the principle of trigonometric functions, began to locate the smoke pillars. To determine the distance between yourself and those steamships. If the distance is approaching, then they must prepare to turn to avoid those steamships. If the distance between those plumes of smoke and them is increasing, then they are at least safe now.

But the British are not just after security, they also want to win.

"Steam warships are indeed much stronger than sail warships. Under normal circumstances, sail warships are almost helpless in front of steam-powered warships, but steam warships also have a huge weakness. If we can do well. Using this weakness, then it is entirely possible for us to create a miracle, a miracle that defeats a steam warship with a sailing warship that has been an era behind."

The commander of the British fleet, Major Johnson, was in the war room, and the officers under his opponent said,

"Then what is the weakness of the steamship? The weakness of the steamship is that once they turn off the boiler, they cannot move in a short period of time. There is a long period of time between the ignition of the steam engine and the output of power. In time, the steam ship has no power, just a dead fish floating on the sea. If it is a normal naval port, the observation equipment attached to the naval port, and the protection of the fort, their weakness is no longer a weakness. But now, In the Gulf of Saldanha,"

"Commander, how do we know if the enemy's steamship has turned off the steam engine?"

"It's very simple," said Major Johnson. "As long as the steam engine is started, it needs to continuously burn coal. As long as the coal is burned, we can observe their black smoke from a safe distance. Once we notice Sa There is no more black smoke on the Gulf of Saldanha, which means that they have turned off the steam engine. At that time, we can go back to the Gulf of Saldanha to create a miracle."

"What if the French never turn off the steam engine?" an officer asked.

"I guess those Dutch people are now mostly planning to quickly build a wharf where cannons can go ashore under the cover of the fleet. How long will it take for such a wharf to be built?" Qiaosen asked.

"It's about a month, right?" someone replied.

"However, under special circumstances, it may be faster, even twenty days." Joson said, "The French steam warship, even the most outstanding on the voyage, the coal in its bunker is not enough to support this. Consumption."

"Sir, if the French are prepared, they might have added coal to Central Africa on their way here." An officer said.

"This is indeed very possible, but it is not enough for them to maintain the consumption for more than 20 days." Qiaosen said, "Besides, we stay here, if they don't turn off the fire, we have nothing to lose."

After another hour, the British discovered that the plumes of smoke on the side of Saldanha Bay had disappeared. Obviously, the French had underestimated the enemy. They didn't expect that just seeing a few smoke pillars, they fled in fright, and even the British navy, who had pushed the cannon into the sea, dared to kill a carbine back.

However, the British can’t immediately rush over, because the sun has not yet set, although they are downwind in the process of rushing towards Saldanha Bay, they can run to a high speed of 10 knots, but if they rush over now , The watcher who might have been arranged at the entrance of the bay saw it from a distance, and the French still had time to start the fire again.

So they have to wait patiently until the sun goes down, and they are rushing into the bay in the dark.

The sun gradually set, and the two British frigates hung out their sails and began to quickly approach Saldanha Bay.

The French army was basically ashore at this time, but artillery and other things were still on board. Even because of the hard voyage, many crew members went ashore. For example, many of the crew members from the "Europa Shipping Alliance" went ashore.

However, the navy still has basic discipline. When it gets dark, the French navy personnel basically return to the warship.

This day is the first half of the month, and the moon rises early. This is actually not a bad thing for the British, because if there is no moonlight, in such a big bay ~lightnovelpub.net~ you need to find a few boats. It is not easy; but the moon is not entirely good for the British—the British use a sailboat, which has a taller mast, and the mast is full of sails. It is obviously easier to see in the moonlight.

Therefore, it was the watchman of the French Navy who first spotted the approaching British warship.

The distance between the two sides was already very close, when the French colonial cruiser "Trade Wind", the British warship, was first spotted. However, the Tradewind was too late to pressurize the boiler. After Captain Edmundo was awakened, he immediately ordered the gunners to enter the combat position. Now his ship can only be used as a floating fort.

The colonial cruiser has no armor. Although her outer hull is metal, it is quite thin. Even a spherical shell fired by an old iron cannon can penetrate it. She has three main advantages over the British sailing frigate. One is that it has faster speed and control performance. But this advantage no longer exists. On the contrary, the British army has an overwhelming advantage in this regard. The second is that her artillery has lighter power and greater range and accuracy, but because of the sight of the night, everyone must be close to each other, so this advantage is also discounted. As for the third advantage, they are equipped with semi-armor-piercing incendiary bombs designed to bully wooden ships. The only thing Captain Edmundo can really count on now is this semi-armor-piercing incendiary.