(Chapter to)

(The arrival time of the Mediterranean Fleet in the above chapter should be January 30th. I made a typo. Sorry!)

After 3 days in Paris, Germasp left contentedly. Of course, he also took away 1,000 rifles, a dozen cannons, and a large number of bullets, but these are 1806-style rifles and old-fashioned guns that have been eliminated. cannon. Xiao Jie didn't dare to hand over the standard weapons of the current French army to them. If they were to be captured by the British, the impact would be huge. Britain's industrial level is also very high. If you want a sample, you can completely imitate it. In that case, France's weapon advantage will be completely lost.

On January 30, after the Mediterranean Fleet arrived at the Channel Islands, it took a three-day rest. The battleship has also been overhauled, because if the war starts, it will be difficult to have time for overhaul, and the battleship and soldiers must be adjusted to the best condition before the war officially starts.

On February 3, the operational order reached the French Mediterranean Fleet Command in St. Peter Port. According to the plan of the Naval Staff, the Mediterranean Fleet will cooperate with the Channel Fleet to attack Portsmouth, an important British military port. It is the main station of the British Channel Fleet and the main force of the British Channel Fleet is stationed there. It is the most important military port in southern England. Before the French Mediterranean Fleet joined the scramble for the straits, the French Channel Fleet was suppressed by the British Channel Fleet and part of the Home Fleet, and was always at a disadvantage. It was difficult to even break through the center line of the strait, let alone attack the main anchorage of the British Channel Fleet. up. Now with the assistance of the Mediterranean Fleet, the situation has completely changed fundamentally. Before the British mainland fleet has completely transferred to the strait, the French navy has a huge advantage in strength. Once the British home fleet moves to the strait, this advantage will inevitably be lost, so the French navy must seize this opportunity to deal a powerful blow to the British navy. Therefore, Portsmouth Naval Port was chosen as the target of this attack.

Portsmouth Naval Port is located in the south of the UK, with the Isle of Wight as a barrier in the south, and the port itself has unique and excellent conditions, so it has become the largest military port in the UK. The headquarters of the British Channel Fleet is located here.

In the early morning of February 4, the French Channel Fleet and the Mediterranean Fleet sailed out of the military port in the dark, and the dark night gave them the best cover. After a simple formation, they will move towards Portsmouth. Portsmouth is less than 150 kilometers from the stations of the French Channel Fleet and the Mediterranean Fleet. The French navy can arrive around 9 o'clock, but only if it is not entangled by the patrolling British warships. In addition, the risk factor of night navigation is very high, and the speed must be reduced. In this case, the French navy will probably be able to reach the center line of the strait at dawn. The next thing is to have a head-on confrontation with the British navy, but the unprepared British navy will definitely not be the opponent of the French navy. In general, if nothing else, the victory of this battle should belong to the French Navy.

"Has the fleet all set off?" Boult rubbed his swollen eyes and asked.

Sucrete brought a cup of coffee to Bult, and then replied: "It is already two o'clock in the morning, and the fleet has already left the port."

"The news shouldn't have leaked, right?" Boult asked with some concern. After all, this is the largest operation since the establishment of the French navy. The emperor and the whole of France are watching the navy.

"The battle plan has just been drawn up. The people who participated in the plan's formulation just left tonight. Even if the British agents know about it, they will not be able to send the information back in a short time. Don't forget, the radio station is only available to us." Sucrete said with a smile.

Boolean nodded, he found that he really thought too much. The British Navy will not have time to react at all, even if it finds out about the actions of the French Navy, it doesn't matter, it will be over if it cancels the operation.

"Go to sleep, I'll watch over here. Come and replace me tomorrow morning." Sucrete said.

Burt nodded, and then left the headquarters.

At 8 o'clock in the morning on February 4th, Marshal Nelson, the commander of the British Channel Fleet, came to the fleet headquarters. Since the old group of admirals retired due to old age, he has become the supreme commander of the Channel Fleet.

"Damn French, if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't cancel my vacation. May they all go to hell." Sitting behind his desk, Nelson cursed viciously. Originally, he had half a month's vacation, but because the French Mediterranean Fleet suddenly stationed in the Channel Islands, the situation in the English Channel became very tense, and Nelson's vacation had to be canceled because of this.

"Old buddy, today is the day when the main force of the local fleet will go south. The headquarters wants us to send the fleet to respond to avoid being ambushed by the French navy." Fleet Chief of Staff Long Tedusk walked into Nelson's office with an order.

"The strength of the local fleet is stronger than ours, do we still need to respond?" Nelson complained with some dissatisfaction.

Long Tedusk spread his hands helplessly: "This is an order from the headquarters, and we have no other choice but to obey. Besides, the situation is so tense now, it is always right to be careful."

"Okay then, you can make arrangements." Nelson waved his hands impatiently.

Long Tedusk left knowingly, he knew that Nelson was in a fit of anger, and it was completely self-defeating to provoke him now.

The British Channel Fleet has a total of more than 150 warships. After more than 10 years of refitting, all the old-fashioned sailing warships have been replaced by new steel warships. After all, Britain's strong shipbuilding capabilities are there. This seemingly huge job is actually not difficult for them, but the premise is that there is sufficient financial support, and Britain has never been short of money. Now the British Navy warships are mainly composed of two warships, namely the "British" class and the "Honor" class. Among them, the "British" class has almost the same performance as the "Iberia" class except that its naval guns are less powerful than the French "Iberia" class. The "Honor" class is used to deal with the large warships of the French Navy, including the "Bonaparte" class, and belongs to the main battleship of the British Navy. But its performance is much worse than that of the French 'Bonaparte' class, not to mention the later 'Fearless' and 'Fearless' classes. The UK also has a warship under development. According to the information obtained, the performance of this new warship is much improved compared to the "Honor" class, and even stronger than the French "Bonaparte" class. It's just that unfortunately, the war has already begun, and the British navy can't wait for the addition of new warships, and it is likely to be defeated. The Channel Fleet has 108 'British' class warships and 45 'Honorary' class warships. Seventy percent of them are stationed in Portsmouth Naval Port, and the other 30 percent are stationed in other Naval Ports.

In order to support the main force of the local fleet, Longtedsk dispatched 50 'British' class warships and 20 'Honor' class warships. A large fleet of 70 warships left Portsmouth Naval Harbor at 9 am and sailed northeast.

At 7 o'clock in the morning, the French Channel Fleet had already appeared 80 kilometers south of Portsmouth Naval Port. After a night of careful sailing, they only made half the journey. And the rest of the journey only takes up to 4 hours under the high-speed sailing of the fleet.

"Contact General Broca, commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, report our position to them and ask when they can reach Portsmouth." Admiral Castelli, commander of the French Channel Fleet, ordered.

The communications soldiers immediately sent a telegram to the headquarters, and the headquarters forwarded their telegrams to the Mediterranean Fleet. Fifteen minutes later, the signaler reported to Castelli: "General, the Mediterranean Fleet is 90 kilometers southwest of Portsmouth, and they will arrive at Portsmouth within four and a half hours."

"Very good. Order the fleet to move forward at full speed, and must arrive in Portsmouth before 11 am~lightnovelpub.net~Castelli gave the order. The entire fleet began to speed up, although now it is likely to encounter British patrols Fleet, but those small fleets are simply powerless to stop the advance of the French Channel Fleet.

"General, my patrol fleet found a powerful French fleet approaching Portsmouth, and it is about 40 kilometers away from Portsmouth. Judging from the size, it should be the French Channel Fleet." At 9:30 in the morning, an intelligence officer The officer stumbled into Long Tedusk's office.

"What? Is the news reliable?" Long Tedusk was taken aback. The French Channel Fleet actually attacked as a whole, which is a great event.

"Absolutely reliable, it is the news brought back by our patrol fleet. At 7:50 this morning, my 15th patrol fleet encountered the French fleet 75 kilometers to the south. Afterwards, the fleet commander sent a warship back to report the news, The other warships are going to block the French fleet." Naval Harbor said sadly. Because the fate of that patrol fleet can be guessed at all, with their few warships, how could they be the opponent of the huge French Channel Fleet?

Long Tedusk had no time to feel sad about the encounter with the 15th Patrol Fleet, but immediately ran to Nelson's office. According to the current situation, the French fleet will arrive in Portsmouth in more than an hour at most, and the fleet must make preparations early.