May 13, Lerobel Bay.

"The third channel found a ship, the Skuna type, one!"

"Order the Badger to attack, and the Horseshoe to respond."

"Yes! The badger was ordered to attack the horseshoe to respond, and the second ship replied that it was received! ”

Listening to the chaotic battle orders, Lorraine raised his binoculars and searched the vast sea for the trace of the Badger.

This is not difficult, although the ships of the Halloween are far apart, but the general location has never been hidden from Lorraine.

It didn't take long for him to find his target.

In the sight glass, the badger spread its sails, drew a straight line of water on the sea, and swooped violently towards the sneaky Skuna type more than ten kilometers away.

The ending was doomed from this moment.

With warships against non-warships, soldiers against non-soldiers, the Badger has an absolute advantage in both firepower and combat skills, and the Horseshoe commanded by Bell is on the side.

By all accounts, the poor Skuna had no chance of turning over.

Lorraine lowered her borescope boredly, leaned against the mainmast, and glanced at Nelson, who looked solemn in the lookout.

"Mr. Admiral, this kind of battle doesn't need your attention, the Major and Bell will soon sink Skuna."

"The lion fights the rabbit and has to give it his all, Drake." Nelson touched the smooth hoop of the lookout, "Speaking of which, I haven't thanked you for lending me the Golden Deer to command. ”

"It's always high, compared to the badger, obviously you can see farther in the Golden Deer."

"Helped a lot."

This conversation takes place at the mainmast of the Golden Deer, where Nelson and his messengers occupy the highest mainmast of the ship, and out of politeness, out of boredom, Lorraine chooses to accompany him, sitting bored on the extended boom of the lookout.

Lorraine made a silent calculation in her mind.

"Admiral, is it appropriate to bombard the coast?"

"Properly shelled? Intimidate? ”

"Pretty much." Lorraine sneered, "Since yesterday afternoon, when we launched an indiscriminate hunt in the inner bay, all the boats in the bay have taken refuge in the docks, and the scouts have reported thirteen of them. It was also since then that we had nothing to do except for a limited number of ships entering the bay. ”

Nelson covered his chin depressedly: "I thought they would organize at least one more counterattack with the ship, but now it seems that I overestimated the bloody ...... of the French."

"The general thinking of merchants is reasonable, and I don't think the impulsives can dominate the docks in the face of the Golden Deer, and we have to help them make up their minds to save themselves."

"Bombardment?"

"Get rid of those two old turrets and let them know that the docks can't protect them."

"I need to think again."

On May 13th, the day after the Halloween fleet took control of Lerobel Bay, Bell and the replenished Lucky Horseshoe officially returned to the team and participated in the fleet's hunting operation for the first time.

Le Robel Bay is a sheltered bay outside the Martinique coastal town of Le Robert, bordering the Bay of Garion off La Trinité to the north and Le François to the south.

It is the second best harbour on Martinique after the Bay of Frankburg, but it has not received the attention and development it has received as well.

Lerobert is not bustling.

Compared to the town of Saint-Marie, the core commercial port on the Atlantic coast, and Le François, a military powerhouse, the town looks unremarkable from any point of view, even if it is located in the center of the two, and there is ample opportunity to merge the functions of the two from the beginning.

The main culprit for this state of affairs is the reef at the entrance to the bay.

The arc-shaped belt of islands and reefs stretches like a threshold at the entrance of the bay, and a large number of messy light and dark reefs and islands are densely packed along the line, resulting in a tortuous and narrow passage in and out of the bay, which cannot accommodate the entry of battleships of the third rank or above.

But it was precisely this geographical and hydrological environment that Nelson chose as the site of a decisive battle against the French defense fleet.

There are five entrances and exits to the reef zone, the narrowest ones are the second and third ones, which can only be used by small brigs of the single and non-standard types, and the wider channels I and V can be navigated by ships of the fifth and sixth classes under 45 meters.

The conditions of the No. 4 channel are the best, barely enough for the passage of the fourth-class frigates with a length of about 50 meters and a draft of more than 6 meters.

After the loss of the Lucky Horseshoe, the existing combat power of the defense fleet still includes the fourth-class ship Andean, the fifth-class ship Jupiter, and three sixth-class ships, all of which are stronger in soft and hard power than the Halloween fleet.

Only by staying in this sieve-like bay can the Halloween fleet divide the opponent to the greatest extent, make up for the objective gap in combat power between the two sides as much as possible, and leave enough tactical space for the commander.

But Martinique is the home of the French after all, and the situation in Lerobel Bay cannot be hidden from the defense fleet, and how to make the other side take the initiative to enter the palace with the knowledge of the situation has become a problem that Nelson must solve.

His answer was provocation.

Nelson's plan to destroy Leloran was the first provocation originally planned, and Nelson had intended to start with Lelorand, constantly exposing his whereabouts and destroying the large and small docks along the coast, in order to convey the disparity in strength between the two sides, mock the incompetence and cowardice of the defense fleet, and force them to fight a decisive battle with the Halloween fleet in Nelson's chosen battlefield.

As a result, that plan didn't go well.

Leloran's battery stillstillborn Nelson's original plan, Operation Arsonist became a substitute for destroying Leloran, and the Lucky Horseshoe and Zilnede became the new tools to tease the defense fleet.

This tool is the human wind chimes of the Gates of Hell.

The insult of the wind chimes is self-evident, but compared to the ports that are stuck in fire and water, the weight is insufficient.

In order to continue the original plan, Nelson had no choice but to take a desperate step and change the planned bombardment of Lerobert to the blockade of Lerobert.

Geographically, this is tantamount to pasting the word "incompetent" on the face of the Admiral of the Defense Fleet.

The other side had to respond to Nelson's ultimate provocation, and the British had already sailed their ships into the pockets of the French, and if the Halloween fleet was allowed to fly away unscathed, the commanders of the defense fleet, who were responsible for the security and order of the Atlantic coast, would have no choice but to retreat.

Nelson felt that the bait he had laid was heavy enough, and whether or not the bombardment of Lerobel would not have an impact on the decisive situation, so why did Lorraine tirelessly propose the bombardment of land?

Attacking land, even with just two old batteries, would be a huge risk for the fleet.

Could it be the predatory nature of pirates?

Nelson shook his head vigorously.

Lorraine only suggested the bombardment, and did not force the landing, which means that his fundamental purpose was not the wealth of Lerobel, the ships of refuge in the docks......

Vessels!

Nelson snapped to his senses.

These days he is so focused on the mighty defense fleet that he ignores the hidden threats that are just around the corner.

The refuge ships in the docks are very weak, like children who have not grown up, and they are only qualified to tremble in front of the adults of the Halloween fleet.

But no matter how weak the ship is, they still have artillery on their decks, and no matter how young the children are, they still have blades in their hands.

In case of...... In the event of a decisive battle between the two fleets, these merchant ships will participate at any cost, and the Halloween fleet, which is not dominant, will fall into a desperate situation of being attacked on its back, which is fatal!

Nelson broke out in a cold sweat.

"Drake, the defense fleet will arrive on the battlefield at some point, and I can't turn all the guns to Lerobel."

"There is only the golden deer and the lucky horseshoe, only half a day, and before dawn tomorrow, are you sure that you will send all the boats on the dock to the bottom of the sea?"

"Surely, there is no certainty." Lorraine scratched her hair and said embarrassedly, "But this kind of self-help thing has to be done anyway, doesn't it?" ”