Chapter 2714: Trials of the French Navy
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The two French ministers, the Minister of State for the Navy, Colbert, and the Minister of State for the Army, Lou Foy, walked out of the Palace of Versailles side by side, both with worried expressions on their faces.
Their guards are scattered left and right to isolate pedestrians and facilitate their secret talks.
They are all important ministers of the king and wise men in France. There is no doubt about their loyalty to the king and France, but the current situation is really bad, and what can they do?
Loufoy looked at Colbert and said: "The army is powerless to deal with the enemies in the east. If you want to deal with them, you can only rely on the navy!"
Colbert nodded knowingly. They all knew that the Eastern pagans rose from the sea and came from the sea. There will not be the current tragedy.
The hope of saving Europe lies in the French Navy!
If the French navy defeats the Eastern pagan fleet, the Atlantic coast will be safe. At that time, Britain and the Netherlands will be recovered, and the fighting power of Spain and Portugal will be revived. These are maritime powers, and things can be done!
But can the French Navy take on this important task?
Not to mention that Colbert hesitated, Loufoy was also thinking deeply.
Thanks to Colbert's efforts, the French navy has advanced by leaps and bounds in the past few years, the number of ships built has greatly increased, and the fleet's book power is considerable.
But can you fight?
The century-old navy is by no means as simple as building warships. It also needs continuous naval battles and training, and uses the blood of its own people and the enemy to forge a steel-like fleet. Can the French navy take on this important task?
Colbert said bitterly: "Don Fernando Chacon once wrote to me, suggesting that our French fleet should be an 'existent fleet'. We would rather not fight or not fight, otherwise the scene of the Battle of Harding will repeat itself."
The Battle of Harding was the time when Guy, the king of Jerusalem, recklessly left the fortified city and the water source in the Middle Ages, and fought against the invading military strongman Saladin. He was defeated and brought serious consequences. Christians concluded that if Guy defended the city , should be able to defend until the arrival of European reinforcements, at that time Saladin will have to escape from the siege, thus keeping the holy land of Jerusalem.
Only by being patient for a while can you become a master. Be a tortoise and live a long life!
Don Fernando Chacon was once the admiral of the Spanish Navy. He was dismissed by the king because he was afraid of the enemy and avoided war. His letter showed that he was not optimistic about the combat effectiveness of the French fleet. Thus the fleet survived.
As long as this fleet exists, the Chinese will not dare to dispatch fleets to attack the coast of France unscrupulously, let alone send troops to land on the Atlantic coast of France. Otherwise, if something goes wrong with the Chinese fleet, the army on the beach will also be dry The source, which was annihilated by the French army.
Although Don Fernando Chacon was a defeated general, he still had vision. His opinion was very important, and Colbert could not ignore it.
The problem is that if you don't fight for a day, France will lose face, the finances will continue to burn money, and the domestic situation will continue to deteriorate, so it is difficult to support it!
Lufoy suggested: "If you don't fight for a long time, your morale will be gone. Let the fleet move. Don't fight the Chinese for the time being. Let's see the battle situation."
Colbert thought this was a good proposal, so he returned to the Admiralty, called a meeting of generals and civil servants, carefully considered, made a naval battle plan, reported it to King Louis XIV, and got his approval.
In this way, the French cruiser "Purple Rose" sailed from the port of Cherbourg by night under the command of the captain, Major Bernard. The departure of the Rose.
The cruiser "Purple Rose" went straight to the mouth of the Thames River in England. What could be more enjoyable and influential than doing things there?
However, when the ship approached the mouth of the river, two cruisers from Nanhua approached it. They were so aggressive that Major Bernard commanded the ship to flee.
Because the cruiser "Purple Rose" was lightly loaded, Major Bernard was also a good sailor, so he got rid of the pursuit of Nanhua's cruiser.
Next, whenever the "Purple Rose" cruiser approached an important British port, it was always driven away by Nanhua or British cruisers.
Strange as hell!
The helpless Major Bernard had no choice but to give up the idea of going to the port to make big troubles, and to be a pirate honestly and go to sea to intercept Nanhua's merchant ships.
He didn't know how crazy or rich the Chinese were. It turned out that the Chinese had deployed large telescopes on the high places beside the ports. The barrel type in the past was only one meter long, but now the telescopes are more than three meters long, and they are extremely thick. , belongs to the astronomical telescope that can be used to observe the stars in the sky. It is now used for maritime security. As long as the enemy ship approaches, it will be discovered!
Major Bernard found that it was not easy to intercept merchant ships at sea. The South China Fleet, the British Fleet and the Dutch Fleet came and went, guarding the port and cruising at sea. Major Bernard dared not go to war easily.
Large merchant fleets have escorts, and both merchant ships and warships are equipped with high-magnification binoculars. They search the sea when they have nothing to do. When the French warships appear, their warning rockets are launched into the sky.
Finally captured two Dutch merchant ships and got some silver dollars, Major Bernard let them go, after all, everyone is white.
In this way, Major Bernard returned to Cherbourg with a small harvest, and the French Navy boasted that he went to London for a while, coming and going freely, and the Chinese and British were no more than that!
Then it was the turn of the third-class battleship "Toulon" commanded by Colonel Dubois. He was not a Frenchman, but an Englishman who volunteered to fight for France, an experienced seafarer.
To be honest, the people of the two countries disliked each other because of the previous Hundred Years' War, and it was possible to make the British fight for the French. One can imagine how much this British hates the Chinese.
His battleship had 64 guns, including 26 32-pounders, 26 18-pounders, and 12 9-pounders.
The firepower is not strong, but the speed is strong. This is a cutting-edge battleship. It is the proud work of the French shipbuilder Lauren Houbage. But I!"
The streamlined body of the ship strictly controls the weight of the ship~www.wuxiaspot.com~ The whole ship is clean and neat, and also has a first-class boom system. The French set sail with confidence!
However, the reality gave the French a blow. When the "Toulon" was approaching the mouth of the Thames River, it was chased by a Nanhua battleship.
This is a "Southeast Asia-class" third-tier battleship. This class of battleship has 76 guns. Colonel Dubois ordered the ship to flee if he didn't want to go to war.
Unexpectedly, the Nanhua battleship was chasing after it, and kept chasing behind, slowly closing the distance!
To be honest, the design of French battleships is better than the old Chinese battleships, but they just can't get rid of each other.
Colonel Dubois has rich experience, and when he saw the opponent's approach, he knew that the opponent was lightly loaded—he didn't bring so many artillery, ammunition and supplies.
No way, he ordered the "Toulon" to also discard ammunition and supplies, and after losing half of them, he finally got rid of the opponent!
On the contrary, he increased his speed, and the "Toulon" continued to cruise, and the next time he had good luck, he caught up with a merchant fleet protected by a British frigate! 2084/10092430
