A modest buffet is taking place on the deck of the Andes.

The dinner party invited all officers above the rank of captain on the naval side of the Halloween fleet and officers above the seafarer level on the side of the Chamber of Commerce.

The ingredients were fresh souvenirs from Rashid's meeting yesterday on land and sea, accompanied by the rumbling of cannons and continuous wails, and the distant sea of fire and the ruins of the town as the stage.

Because of the relationship between idleness, the overall atmosphere is barely happy.

Lorraine and Nelson stood side by side in front of the bow railing with champagne goblets in their hands, each holding a monocular, and bored as they watched the battle on land.

"The explosion point is sparse, and the angle is not good, if it is not for the abundant advantage of the flowering shells, the captain's army will probably have a lot of work to raze Le François." Lorraine smacked her lips, a little regret in her tone.

Nelson couldn't help but laugh: "I heard that those slaves fired the real cannon for the first time today, and it is very good to be able to shoot this effect." ”

"But it's a waste of time...... Yo, the church has been blown up, and the person who fired the cannon should be hated by that God. ”

"Drake, I know you're a heretic, but there's no need for you to flaunt your faith in front of a Puritan."

"I'm sorry." Lorraine shrugged and lowered his goggles, "Admiral, even counting the obviously flying shells, the captain's artillery team is too far away from the docks, and extended fire is basically impossible to hit the coastal batteries. ”

"Doesn't he still have slave infantry and Mamluk?"

"The horsemen who rode horses are also worthy of being called Mamluks?" Lorraine sneered, "Forget it, for the sake of a case of good wine, I give my allies full trust......"

Le François wailed under the sound of artillery.

As the base camp of the Martinique Army, the French stockpiled large quantities of new munitions and ammunition at the fortress of La Trinitet, which accompanied Leched across half of the island and are not officially used until today.

Lehid did not intend to save ammunition at all.

In the name of practice, the only order he gave to his artillerymen was to fight until the barrel was hot.

This order was carried out for a full three hours, and it was not until about ten o'clock in the evening that a third light gun blew up, wounding a white soldier for the first time, and the order for the sweep of the infantry was officially issued.

Filled with hatred and hope, the infantry began to storm the frontal line, which had been razed to the ground, and in less than half an hour it was breached, with little resistance to it.

Then the cavalry entered the city and chased every fleeing man and woman on the cobweb-covered roads like a hunt, and staged a hellish tragedy in the corners of the town.

By this point, the destruction of Le François had completely lost suspense.

Coastal batteries are a great weapon for sea battles, especially the new ones that can use flowering shells, which can be called the natural enemy of wooden sailing ships.

But the huge shore defense guns could not easily turn their heads, and even if they barely managed to turn one or two, the gunners could not fire at the cities they were protecting.

They are doomed.

Lorraine never doubted this outcome, but never imagined that Rashid would use such an extremely tyrannical method that was completely inconsistent with Western warfare conventions to achieve his own ends.

The French probably didn't expect things to turn out like this.

Therefore, the closest point of the two sides was obviously only five or six hundred meters away, but until the destruction, the French could not organize a real decent counterattack.

In short, the war is over.

……

In the wee hours of the morning, the docks were lit up as promised, and the Andes and the Lucky Horseshoe approached the docks as planned, and Lorraine squinted, but saw a strange scene in the firelight.

The Eighth Company and the slaves in the confrontation, as well as the trembling citizens of Le François who were protected by the Eighth Company......

"Order to stop entering the port! The Andean and Lucky Horseshoe are horizontal, the gun doors are wide open, and the assault boat is launched. Full! Level 1 Combat Readiness! ”

Shrill whistles rang out over the two giant ships, and the sailors ran on deck and shouted wildly, turning the ship's bow.

Everyone's heart is in their throats.

They were less than 100 meters away from the dock, and the muzzles of the shore defense guns in the fort could be discerned with the naked eye.

If...... What if Lechide's slave army had gotten out of control at this time......

A group of gun-firing slaves in control of the undamaged battery that dotted the coast, and the Andes and the Lucky Horseshoe were caught in the middle of which there was not even a hint of luck.

Damn, what the hell is going on on the shore!

Lorraine gritted her teeth and called to Acharin: "Acharin, you take a team of muskets up, find Lehid or his three lackeys, and bring them to me, the sooner the better." ”

Acharin also knew that the stakes were high, so he rarely put away his demeanor, saluted with his legs, and turned to disembark.

After a while, the dinghy floated away from the Andes, and Acharin circled close to the dock, and soon found Lehid through the crowd, dragging the restless captain to Lorraine.

"Captain Leheed, I'm waiting for your explanation!" Lorraine said with a strong sigh of rage.

"I'll explain, but first, allow me to express my appreciation for you."

Rashid smiled and hid himself in a blind spot on the docks.

"I was not mistaken, Mr. President is more suited to preside over my work than the iron-blooded Mr. Admiral and the uncreative Mr. Major. Don't hesitate, don't panic, you've dealt flawlessly, and thanks to you, those Frenchmen have no reason to doubt us anymore. ”

"Doubtful?"

"Yes, doubt." "Please remain vigilant, Mr. President," Reichd repeated. Although we came to the Royal Navy of Great Britain for the war, we have decided to abandon our position as a country because of the atrocities committed by slaves, and in the spirit of humanity and chivalry, we have tried to save the civilians who have been affected by the disaster as much as possible. ”

Lorraine immediately understood what Leheed meant: "Do you think this kind of redundant lie is useful?" ”

"Of course it works." Lehid smiled confidently, "This land operation lasted 20 days, and there were no living prisoners in the process, and the soldiers of the Eighth Company never appeared on the list of looting and occupation. Even in Le François, my men cut in from the north along the coastline, like a task force sent by the fleet, as every citizen we rescued can testify. ”

"But for more than 20 days of land operations, you can't hide from everyone."

"Rumors are always inevitable! Moreover, we had also routed the Atlantic Defense Fleet this time, and the angry French had every reason to blame us for this sudden slave revolt, after all, five whole towns had been destroyed. ”

The more Lorraine listened, the more interested she became: "Are you sure you can make the whole thing a?" ”

"It's actually just a simple little trick." Rashid gestured, "I have made a pact with the two slave commanders to give up the guns, cannons, food, and wealth that I have looted along the way, and leave them to use as the capital of the revolution." In return, they had to allow me to take the poor mayor and the hundred or so miserable citizens who had been picked up along the way, without showing any connection between us. ”

"Don't they think you're doing it in a strange way?"

"I don't think so. Because I told them that I would send these men to Fort-de-France, and then use them as cover to launch a surprise attack to destroy the French New World fleet. Didn't they want to be kings of the mountains? It is in their interest to help me conceal my identity. ”

Lorraine thought it through in her mind.

Concealment, approach, and sneak attack, in addition to overestimating the intelligence of the French and overestimating the destructive power of the Halloween fleet, the plan of action proposed by Leheid does have the possibility of being realized.

But how to say it......

Those who fantasize about the statehood of a few thousand improvised armed thugs probably never consider the intelligence of the other side.

Slaves who didn't even know how to use artillery could not accurately estimate the power of a battleship.

And most importantly, Nelson had no plans to attack Fort-de-France at all.

Coincidentally, although Rashid's script is hopelessly stupid, it unexpectedly satisfies everyone, especially the logical interpretation, which can be called flawless.

Lorraine gave Lehid a deep look.

This man's badness goes deep into the bone marrow, but as a comrade-in-arms, he is indeed perfect and competent.

Lorraine laughed playfully.

"You have destroyed five towns in succession, including Trarinité and Le François, in the past 20 days, and Le François has probably suffered the heaviest casualties because of the use of flowering shells. Of course, the plantations along the way will definitely be worse, but it doesn't matter, in your case, you probably won't leave a living testimony there. ”

"It's a nuisance, even if it's for victory. What's more, the Army's actions have nothing to do with the Navy, and you have not been informed in advance, and there is no suitable reason, and Sir Parker and Nelson are unwilling to share the responsibility for you. ”

"So you turned to the survivors of Le François to testify to the fact that the British soldiers adhered to the norms of the civilized world, and firmly chose the latter between victory and humanity."

There may be other voices to refute it, but they are no more persuasive than the survivors. Or maybe there will be a slave exposed, but the thugs, in order to reduce their sins, it is strange that they do not bite. ”

"You have found an excellent excuse for Great Britain, and it is clear that it is better to be born innocent than to bear the guilt of war."

Lorraine sighed: "Mr. Captain, I admire your wisdom from the bottom of my heart. ”

There was a slight shyness on Rashid's pretty face, not the shame of doing something wrong, but more like the shame of compliment.

He smiled and said, "Now that Mr. President has thought it through, what should I do next, don't I need to teach you?" ”

"Probably...... No. Lorraine sighed and raised her voice, "Command!" The Andean switched solid shells, three batteries near the left of the target, and fired freely. The Lucky Horseshoe maintains a deterrent posture towards the crowd at the dock and does not move! ”

Rashid's face suddenly turned pale: "Drake! What are you doing! ”

"Play the role I have to play, do the play I have to do." Amid the hustle and bustle of the cannon orders, Lorraine's voice was cold, "Take a closer look at those slaves, my captain, and by the way, wonder if you missed some crucial information." ”

"They, the people who confront each other on the docks, whether it's your soldiers or the slaves you've saved, they're not professional actors. But their acting skills succeeded in deceiving me, the hostility, the nervousness, the struggle and hesitation of life and death, and something I knew best, what I call ambition. ”

"It's clear to me that that's not something that actors can perform."

Lorraine said, approaching Rashid step by step, condescendingly looking at this beautiful but very evil comrade.

"For the safety of you and your subordinates, I am willing to cooperate with your performance. But for the safety of me and my subordinates, I need to make the stage safer, which is the bottom line of this farce. As for how to make it work, it's your business, not mine. ”

Rashid took half a step back in disgust: "Hey, coward......"