Chapter 209

In the dawn, the powerful French Defense Fleet walked smoothly in the foggy sea, like a demon peeping into the world in the abyss. It had not seen its shape, but had spread its soul.

The reef belt in Le Rober Bay was so wide that only the lookout of the ships could track their shadow when they first entered. It was not until an hour later that the crew of the badger and the wasp were able to identify the enemy with their own eyes from the deck.

The war drums are rising

"Five kilometers away, northeast east, enemy tracking 2 found in channel 5, bow image comparison, brig frigate creed, brig frigate echo. The relative speed of the enemy ship is 1.6 knots, and it is expected to meet the enemy within two hours!"

Collinwood shook off his windbreaker with a crash, leaned on the hilt of his sword, and his chest was straight.

"The whole ship is divided into two posts for one hour. Meals, confessions and naps are allowed."

"Delimit the sea area at the exit of channel 5, with a span of one kilometer. The ship body swings and occupies the T head."

"Prepare the starboard guns, prepare the main deck gun position, and distribute guns!"

"In this war, our opponent is only them! Brig's nine pound bow gun is difficult to pose a threat to us. The width of the channel is not enough to make the two ships parallel, let alone transverse!"

"As long as we lock the channel, we will have an absolute advantage!"

"Now, I reiterate the code of Great Britain's sailors. I hope you will pay attention to your enemies, trust your comrades in arms and be not afraid of sacrifice!"

"God bless England! HMS Hornet, move forward!"

forward!

The warships roared with Collinwood's passionate declaration, the sailors ran selflessly, and the roars of officers filled the sky.

The hornet approached the reef belt with a steady posture. The submachine boat carrying capable sailors lowered and paddled straight to the fog sea.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the reef belt, Nelson observed the dark shadow of the Jupiter on the deck for the first time.

As an excellent young officer, his command style is very different from his good friend Colin wood. He is sharper and more direct. While being aggressive, he shows rigidity and accuracy everywhere.

"Our opponent is the latest class V ship of the French, with 46 guns and 18 pound main guns. More importantly, we are equipped with two 18 pound bow guns."

"The 18 pound medium range gun, with a 4-degree range of 800 meters and an 8-degree range of 1400 meters, is filled with solid core bullets. Any form of direct attack will easily break the badger's hull and cause great damage to us."

"It is not allowed to protrude from the channel or engage at the T head. Our safety space is in the direct blind area of 30 degrees on both sides of the bow. We should guard our position, wait for the rabbit, and use the connecting side to determine the final outcome."

"There is no reinforcement in this war! Great Britain requires every sailor to be loyal to his duty. Please write down your last words and be ready to die in the war. Now please clarify the succession order of each post, and take turns for four posts for 30 minutes."

"Run, gentlemen. Your majesty is looking forward to the news of our victory, sir, I am looking forward to the news of our victory!"

"Let God bless us."

"Yes, sir!"

……

There is no declaration or admonition, but like its own friendly ships, the golden deer can be seen everywhere.

Merchant sailors have always been better at subjective initiative than their warship counterparts, thanks to higher wages, better security and fewer whips.

Sailors cherish the opportunity to work in the regular chamber of Commerce, which gives them higher patience.

Drake chamber of commerce is stronger than 90% of large chambers of Commerce in terms of security and pension, so their sailors are more willing to work overtime unconditionally. Even without prior psychological construction, it is not easy to accumulate dissatisfaction.

Of course, the decline in efficiency is inevitable.

Lorraine did not interfere too much with such inevitable tiredness. After announcing the continuation order, he threw himself into the captain's room until Lieutenant Fran boarded the ship with Nelson's order and necessary information.

"The four class patrol ship, the Andes, was built in 1750 and served in 1753. The first design was the French 60 gate three class battleship, which was modernized in 1765 and adjusted to 56. The artillery door decreased slightly, and the firepower increased significantly."

"The ship adopts a fully enclosed gun chamber design, with a total of two layers. The lower layer is equipped with 24 pound long guns, the upper layer is equipped with 18 twelve pound long guns and 8 nine pound long guns. In addition, two eighteen pound medium guns are set at the bow, 120 degrees ahead of the firing arc, and four eighteen pound short guns are set at the stern, 180 degrees behind the firing arc."

Lorraine sneered, threw away the information in his hand, crossed his legs and touched off the cold coffee.

"The ruling paper data is quite in line with the characteristics of the refitted ships of that era."

"But I also have a data here. It is 52 meters long and 9 meters wide. It is fully loaded with 350 sailors. The maximum speed is 8.5 and the minimum speed is 0.5. Its stability and wave resistance are lower than medium."

"As a class IV ship that was changed from the previous generation, the Andes is more like a child wielding a sledgehammer. My golden deer is not without a chance to win, and I am willing to accept this job."

"But the extra risk should not be free." Lorraine smiled. "So in addition to the order, the lieutenant should have a gift for me, lieutenant. Am I right?"

Lieutenant Fran could not help but draw the corner of his mouth, blushed, and reluctantly drew out the hidden document.

"This is the promise of the governor. He asked me to give it to you personally, but the chief officer thinks that fighting is the duty of every Englishman. If you don't ask, let you know that this promise is a humiliation to the Patriots. So..."

"Long live humiliation." Lorraine glanced and laughed.

A few minutes later, the adjustment of the golden deer was suspended. All 280 sailors and all the sailors gathered on the deck to wait for Lorraine's final oath.

Lorraine first issued a battle order.

"The order requires captain Judea to end the face-to-face enemy within 25 minutes. The original prisoner requests to abolish and allow all means of attacking the enemy to be decided by him."

The herald shouted, "yes, Captain!"

Lorraine waved away the soldiers, leaned forward against the guardrail, loosened his hand and shook away Nelson's letter of commitment.

He said lazily, "just now I gave up a handy barg slave ship. The market value is 5000 pounds. It is a huge wealth."

"Does anyone know why?"

in perfect silence.

Limited by their posts and status, sailors could hardly see the whole war, and it was difficult to express appropriate opinions on such an occasion.

Not to mention Lorraine's expression and voice are clear and do not expect answers. As an employee of Drake chamber of Commerce, who will disobey the boss's mind at the time of the war?

Afraid of not getting a pension?

People waited in silence with their own thoughts. Sure enough, Lorraine's face became obviously cheerful when he saw no one talking.

"The feast has begun," he said with a slightly neurotic laugh. "At dawn, the French Defense Fleet officially broke into the island reef belt. It is impossible for us to completely block them in the trap. The decisive battle in the Gulf is imperative, and the time is expected to be two hours later."

"The lieutenant entrusted us with the glorious task of sinking the other party's flagship, which means that if we don't want the island and reef defense line to collapse in an all-round way, we have about 30 minutes left to adjust the center of gravity of the golden deer. As for the remaining debris, we have to take risks during the voyage."

"This will be a desperate battle, and in order to recognize our contribution, Mr. Tidu has prepared rich rewards for us."

"Jupiter!" Lorraine jerked up his waist and slapped heavily on the guardrail. "As a Galen ship at the same level as the golden deer, the market value of Jupiter is 25000 pounds, and she will become the common wealth of the chamber of Commerce and you!"

Cheers moved the world.

Through the sailors on board, they had long heard what Lorraine had done in Heba.

Strictly abide by the boundary between obligation and non obligation and do not encroach on the reasonable rights and interests of sailors. Although the calculation method is still biased towards the benefits of the chamber of Commerce, it is the gain brought by the chamber of Commerce by virtue of reputation and channels. Many sailors can easily distinguish the joints.

What the sailors didn't expect was that the next year, Lorraine mentioned Gongying again in the employment war.

In line with the policy of the chamber of Commerce, accepting state employment can clearly be included in the obligations of sailors. The chamber of Commerce has a complete pension treaty. Even if Lorraine does not put forward the co-profit scheme, the sailors cannot put forward any refutation.

But he did.

The sailors were suddenly surprised that the duel between the golden deer and the enemy's flagship in the wide sea area must exceed the original battle plan, so Lorraine regarded it as an additional risk and regarded the military reward as an additional benefit.

The boss is so fair, what else do employees want?

The sailors cheered, jumped, and looked up at Lorraine with hot eyes, looking forward to further distribution plans.

Lorraine paused for a moment.

"One ship will be divided into three, of which 20% will be delivered to the war dead in this war, and the remaining 80% will have an average of two, one for the crew on board and the other for the chamber of Commerce."

"That means that every crew member who lives to win will receive an additional reward of 35 pounds and 14 shillings."

"Long live!"

Listening to the cheers of the sailors, Lorraine threw another heavy pound.

"In addition, the chamber of Commerce will release another 100 long-term contracts to reward the crew who played an important role in this battle."

"Long live!"

"A minimum annual salary of 60 pounds, a family contract, a child's education subsidy, better security and treatment, all belong to the last warrior!"

"Long live!"

"Look, the big meal is at hand, danger and opportunity! I will command you to win, and all you have to do is try your best to implement my orders and seize this victory!"

"Drake, brave sailors, what should you say now?"

Lorraine's question pushed the atmosphere on the ship to the highest, and the sailors raised their bright headscarves and waved them to the sky.

"Golden deer! Move forward!"