From the surviving crew, the British had previously learned a few peculiarities about their target "Orca".

"The Orca is a frigate-sized warship with two masts and a bow swatch, and the crew unanimously declared that they had not found the Orca equipped with paddle wheels. But its speed and chimney indicate that it was a steamship. According to what we have learned, the ship had a gun deck with a total of sixteen cannons, that is, eight cannons on each side. According to the seafarers' calculations, the guns were supposed to be 12-pounder guns. In this way, their broadside firepower is equivalent to four times that of our steam frigates.

However, also according to the information provided by the rescued seamen, the enemy ships never fired from the bow of the ship when they pursued them. Coupled with the arrangement of the sails on the bow mast of the 'Orca' drawn by the survivors, we have come to the conclusion that the enemy ship may not have its bow gun installed. In addition, the survivors did not find that they were armed with tail guns. If it can be used wisely, this will be a clear weakness for enemy ships.

In this operation, we used a total of 3 third-class battleships, 18 steam frigates, and 6 cruisers. Every six steam frigates and one battleship of the third rank were grouped together. In this way, any group of warships, in terms of overall firepower, will be far stronger than the opponent. Each of our warships will be responsible for a sea area. Twenty more clippers will also take part in the operation. They will act as decoys and serve as messengers.

For this purpose, we have prepared a firework bomb for all our ships to deliver a message, which can be fired at a height of about 500 feet. During the day, we fire a firebomb that produces reddish-brown smoke in the air, and at night, the flash of the firebomb can be spotted farther away.

In addition, on the three third class battleships, all were equipped with hot air balloons. They can climb to thousands of feet and search the vast expanse of the ocean, and these Tier 3 battleships can't catch up with the Orcas at speed, but they can give us a huge field of view.

In addition, more than a week ago, our cruisers also encountered 'orcas' in the waters off France, when they did not sail on steam power, but completely dependent on sails, and their chimneys began to smoke only after the discovery of our cruisers.

This means that most of the time, the 'orca' is cruising at low speeds. So the detachment, including battleships of the third rank, can keep up with them. In addition, the steam power system of the Orca may not be able to operate for a long time and under high loads. Our cruisers will patrol this area on a single-ship basis, and their task is to force enemy ships to use steam power frequently in order to reduce the reliability of their equipment......"

Major Carter, the adjutant to General Hood, was briefing the commanders of the participating units at the preparatory meeting for Operation Whaling Hood.

After Major Carter had given a briefing on this, General Hood began to assign combat duty.

Just a few nautical miles outside the port of Le Havre, the cruiser "Equality" encountered the first British ship he encountered on this voyage, the cruiser "Breeze".

"Breeze" is a sail cruiser with thirty-five cannons, which is much more than "equal" in terms of firepower alone. So the "Equality" immediately ignited and pressurized the boiler, used steam power, and turned to the direction of the wind, quickly distancing itself from the "Breeze". While the "Breeze" was chasing, it released carrier pigeons to convey the news to Britain that the "orcas" had been spotted.

So the whole coast of Britain became nervous. The three hunting teams were soon notified and set sail to prepare for the interception of the orca.

Major Marten also began to feel that something was not right, for he had already encountered the British cruisers several times along the way.

Of course, the cruisers of the British were not enough to pose much of a threat to his ships. Just let the chimney smoke, and the "Equality" could quickly get rid of any of the British cruisers. But the trouble is that the "Equality" is missing a mast after all, and if it ignites the boiler, it will not be able to outrun the British at all. The use of steam power will consume coal, and it will also cause a certain amount of wear and tear to the machine.

Of course, this loss does not seem to be much, and the "Equality" still has enough supplies to support it in its mission. But an encounter the next night almost caused him to capsize in the gutter. There was fog at sea, so much so that a British cruiser and the "Equality" came close to a very dangerous distance. If it weren't for the lookout on the "Equality" who first discovered the target, the "Equality" might have been bullied by the British cruiser.

Obviously, the number of British ships in this area of sea has greatly increased. But this only fueled Marten's fighting spirit.

"Anyway, nowadays, there is no ship in the world that can catch up with the 'Equality', so what do we have to worry about."

Two days later, observing the kite, a British clipper boat was spotted. Marten then ordered the boiler to be pressurized and sailed towards the British clipper.

Only this time, Marten's operation ran into more trouble, and the British were now much more alert than the last time, and after seeing the billowing black smoke coming from the "Equality", the British clipper immediately picked up its speed, and kept firing salute shells into the air, as if it was going to call for help from other British ships.

Marten knew that if he turned around at this time, the British ships that came around and tried to hunt him would be in vain. But considering the overwhelming speed advantage of his warship, Marten felt that it was too late to decide whether to fight or move in after seeing the British ship.

So he continued to chase after him.

The wind was not strong at this time, and although the English clipper had been speeding up as much as possible, it had never been able to exceed ten knots. The speed of the "Equality" had reached about eleven knots, and Marten estimated that by two or three o'clock in the afternoon at the most, he would be able to catch up with the British ship.

The British clipper escaped all the way, firing fireworks into the sky all the way. Unmoved, Marten continued to chase after him. By about one o'clock in the afternoon, the two sides were very close. But by this time, in front of the British clipper, several plumes of smoke had already appeared—apparently, this should be the steamship of the British.

Marten also had some knowledge of the British steamship, and even went up a few times to experience the captured British steamship after it was restored. He knew that if he raised the pressure in the boilers to the maximum allowable pressure, the Equality would be able to get out almost three knots faster than the British ships. So these columns of smoke didn't scare Marten - anyway, no, the sea was so big, if you turned in, none of them would be able to catch up with them.

So Marten did not hesitate to give the order "Continue the pursuit." ”

"Captain, do you want to increase the power a little more?" First mate Edgar asked.

Today, the speed of the "Equality" is just 11 knots, and the "Equality" can actually run at a speed close to 15 knots. If they had continued to accelerate, they would have caught up with the British clipper long ago.

"No," Marten shook his head, "unless we can kill all the sailors on that boat, I don't want to expose our top speed." We're going to give the British the illusion that our fastest speed is actually ...... to theirs."

After a while, at about two o'clock, the "Equality" caught up with the clipper, and at this time, the six pillars of smoke in the distance were getting closer and closer, and with the telescope, you could clearly see the British steamship under the smoke column, and the paddlewheels flying on both sides of the steamer.

"We can sink the ship before they catch up." Major Marten put down the binoculars in his hand and gave the order to open fire with a sneer.

This time, instead of destroying the sails of the opposing side with chain bombs and then forcing the enemy to surrender, the "Equality" first seized the upper wind direction and then strafed the deck of the British clipper ship with grapeslet shells. In particular, the two flamethrowers mounted in the bow and stern positions were struck with a focused blow.

The so-called grapeshot projectile is actually very similar to the army's use of shotguns, except that the single projectile of grapeshots is larger, and the number of projectiles fired in a salvo is less than that of the army's shotguns, but the larger projectile also ensures a longer range and power.

After a few rounds of firing, there was no one on the deck of the British clipper. The two flamethrowers in the bow and stern were also destroyed. So the Equality continued to move closer and set the ship on fire with a flamethrower. The Englishmen scrambled out of the cabin and plunged into the sea. Many people jumped into the sea with a raging flame on their bodies.

Ignoring the British sailors, the Equality distanced itself from the burning British clippers, and then began to turn, as if preparing to get rid of the British steam frigates.

By this time the British steam frigates were already much closer. And the "Equality", when it had just attacked the British clippers, reduced its speed, and at this time began to turn again. This naturally reduces the speed even further. By the time the "Equality" had completed its turn, the British steam frigates had already caught up quite a bit.

"Equality" began to accelerate.

"Slow down, don't go more than eleven knots, and make them feel like they can catch up with us before sunset if they work hard. Hehe, do they really think they are hunters and we are prey? ”

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