Daming 1805

Chapter 230 Fighting at sea depends on courage and luck.

According to the results of the cabinet meeting, Wellesley quickly organized a group of British officers to go to the United States to support the southern army and resist the northern attack.

Nelson mobilized several of the latest armored cruisers to cooperate with the escorting mid- and low-level cruisers to form a special mobile fleet with a speed of more than [-] knots.

Nelson himself would go to America with Army officers headed by Wellesley.

The subsequent mobilization of the large fleet and the rendezvous with the French fleet were all handed over to his partner Collingwood.

Naval battles in this war are equally important. If the north uses its existing fleet to block the southern coastline, preventing the United States and France from supporting the south, then the failure of the south is a matter of time.

The industry in the southern region is dominated by plantations, which can be regarded as a huge rural area with very weak industrial production capacity.

If the external connection is cut off, not to mention the supply of weapons and ammunition, the supply of daily necessities will have problems.

If the lives of ordinary people can no longer be maintained, of course there is no need to consider the issue of war.

Nelson's mobile fleet maintained a speed of [-] knots, sailed continuously for a full eight days, crossed the Atlantic Ocean in one breath, and rushed to the eastern part of the United States, preparing to enter the Chesapeake Bay.

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest and most important bay in the United States.

The mouth is big, the entrance is only [-] kilometers away, there are many fjords inside, and the river network is densely covered.

Inside the bay are Annapolis, the capital of Maryland, and Baltimore, the largest city in Maryland.

There is also the most important Newport News Shipyard and the largest naval base in Norfolk.

Extending upward from the main river in the bay, it can also reach important cities such as Washington and Richmond in the United States.

Of course, the world doesn't have Washington, D.C. yet.

Washington, D.C. was a compromise between the North and the South, a compromise between New York and Richmond.

The Chesapeake Bay is also the natural border between North and South.

Most of the bay and the north belonged to Maryland, and the entrance and south belonged to Virginia.

If this bay is blocked by the north, then the connection to the West in the south depends on Charleston, South Carolina.

By that time, Virginia will probably be unable to hold on, and the south will become even more dangerous.

Nelson felt that he understood this, and felt that Napoleon and Adams should understand this too.

So when there were still [-] kilometers away from the bay, the fleet had been dispersed and entered a combat state.

As a result, after sailing for most of the day, they found nothing.

It wasn't until the scouting fleet in front arrived at the outskirts of the Chesapeake Bay that it reported that a patrol fleet flying the American flag was spotted near the exit of the bay.

In the pure patrol fleet, there is an armored cruiser and two secondary cruisers.

After Nelson saw the news, he discussed with Wellesley beside him:
"The United States originally did not have warships above cruisers, and they indeed incorporated and utilized the United Kingdom fleet that guarded Queen Charlotte's coronation."

Wellesley's serious analysis said:

"It may be that the officers on the ship were knighted. We have received related news before. Napoleon and Adams used the names of two kings to confer titles on a large number of nobles..."

Nelson let out a long breath:

"Yes, that's probably the case. This mobilizes those officers, at least part of them, and mobilizes the navy's fleet.

"There are armored cruisers in the patrol fleet, and I don't know how many other fleets will stay in the bay. Most of the original two capital ships have already been transferred.

"The opponent's strategy is obviously to block the entrance of the Chesapeake Bay, and they don't even think about going to the ocean to intercept us. We must go through this entrance if we want to go to Richmond.

"So what we can do now is to rush in and beat up these boys and seize control of the entrance to the bay."

Wellesley agreed with Nelson's earlier analysis, but was taken aback by his final decision:
"Your Excellency Nelson, do you really want to rush in directly? You also said that the other party may have a capital ship, and we only have armored cruisers at most..."

Nelson smiled quite casually and said:
"Your Majesty Wellesley, don't worry, wars at sea are different from those on land.

"It's the age of armed civilian warfare on land, but it's still the age of knightly warfare on the sea.

"Because the cost of naval ships is too high, no country can turn a large fleet into armed civilians.

"In this case, what determines the outcome of a war is not only the strength of weapons, but also courage and luck.

"If there is no accident, they have no chance to drive out the capital ship.

"The fact that they are patrolling the bay entrance, rather than coming out to control the ocean, shows cowardice.

"The fact that they let armored cruisers, a secondary capital ship, patrol the bay shows their cowardice even more.

"They fear the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, they are our subordinates, and I know what they are capable of.

"If we can't even defeat them in this situation, it's better to just let the United States become independent."

Although Wellesley didn't know much about the navy, he knew that Nelson was the strongest admiral.

Now that Nelson is so confident, he will not interfere with the command.

After Nelson finished speaking, he directly issued an order to reorganize the fleet and rush directly to the entrance of the bay.

The American Northern Fleet in the Gulf seemed to be ignorant of what was going on outside.

Perhaps it was unexpected that Britain would send a fleet to Northern Yinzhou so quickly, or it might be that it did not expect that the enemy would directly force its way in.

It wasn't until the distance between the two sides was only a little over ten kilometers that the patrol fleet discovered the British fleet rushing at full speed.

While they were signaling to adjust the attitude of the fleet, the distance between the two sides was further shortened.

According to the report, Wellesley instinctively asked Nelson beside him:
"Aren't you going to fire right away? Hasn't the Navy already verified the technology for ten-kilometer engagements?"

Nelson subconsciously said:

"Ten kilometers can be fired, but we can't penetrate it, and we don't have Ming's shells.

"Besides, now is the time to compete with courage. Only by rushing up and approaching the battle can it have the greatest effect."

While Nelson was writing and drawing on the planning board, the distance between the two fleets was quickly reduced to less than six kilometers.

Six kilometers is already the combat distance of a 160mm rapid-fire gun, and if you continue to pull in, you will hit your face and hit a brick.

Immediately after hearing the report, Nelson ordered the fleet to assign targets and fire on each.

An active raid-style naval battle officially started.

Although Nelson's fleet came from afar, it still maintained a very high order.

The entire fleet is under the command of the radio, giving Nelson a sense of coordination like his arms and fingers.

Relatively speaking, the Northern Fleet of the United States is a bit messy.

It was originally a fleet that had just surrendered, and not all the original sailors on board surrendered, only a part remained.

In order to control the fleet, the small northern imperial court also arranged for a group of new officers and sailors to board the ship to supervise and control the command.

If they fought step by step on the ocean, they might be able to play at a normal level.

But Nelson's rampant approach to combat is the ability of the crew in a highly tense state.

So the performance of the Northern Fleet was a bit messed up.

The hit rate of the 160mm rapid-fire gun is a test of the "feel" of the gunner.

Due to the lack of coordinated command, almost all the ships opened fire after they got close enough, and the messy shells fell on the water, creating a chaotic water column.

In some places, multiple warships attacked the same British warship of the enemy, causing the water columns stirred up by the shells of several ships to fall into the water to mix together. It was impossible to distinguish carefully, and it was impossible to correct the shooting parameters.

The first round of shooting was all missed, and there was no way to check the shooting, but they didn't start the second round of shooting, and they all failed, not even a straddle shot.

Several British warships were not attacked at all, and rushed forward at full speed unimpeded.

The British fleet had already assigned targets, and each armored cruiser aimed at an enemy cruiser and opened fire.

There was a straddle shot in the first round, and a direct hit in the second round.

The decks of two cruisers of the Northern Fleet exploded, and thick black smoke and flames rose rapidly.

The rapid results of the battle once again boosted the morale of the sailors of the British fleet and again increased the confusion of the Northern Fleet.

As the battle continued, the British fleet scored one hit after another.

Soon, a northern cruiser was unlucky, an explosion occurred in the middle of the hull, and it began to sink directly.

A burst of enthusiastic cheers erupted from the British armored cruiser that scored the hit.

The sailors on the opposite ship began to jump ship in a mess.

On the chaotic battlefield, finally the Northern Fleet was lucky enough to score a hit.

There was a flash of fire on the broadside of a British armored cruiser.

But the cruiser didn't seem to have suffered any damage, and was still outputting ammunition with all its strength on the front line.

The main force of the British fleet is eight armored cruisers over [-] tons. They are secondary battleships in the fleet of this era.

It is difficult to penetrate their case-hardened alloy steel armor directly without capital ship artillery attacking at close enough range.

In the fleet arranged by the Northern Fleet to patrol the entrance of the bay, there is only one armored cruiser leader, and the rest are low-level cruisers of several thousand tons. The British fleet also has a group of the same cruisers.

Before the capital ships and more armored cruisers in the Gulf set sail for reinforcements, the British fleet was already bullying the small and fighting the few with the big, and it also had command and training advantages, so it was impossible to lose.

In the overall disadvantaged battle situation, the Northern Fleet of the United States soon couldn't bear it anymore, and warships began to flee the scene.

Once someone ran away, others followed suit, rushing out of the bay and running north.

Nelson ordered some of the cruisers to stay and guard the entrance to the bay, and personally took the armored cruisers out to pursue them.

The raid quickly turned into a chase.

(End of this chapter)