The battle was over, and Admiral Bruyers was dejected, he was worse than the Admiral of Trevile, whom he had been attacking, yes, even worse indeed.

In the naval battle of the North Atlantic, Admiral Trevier did lose the flagship "Imperator". But in this battle, he also lost the newest battleship "Trajan". Moreover, although Marshal Tréville lost the "Imperador", it did not lose many sailors, and he, the "Trajan", lost almost a third of its sailors!

Not to mention the fact that Marshal Trevier basically completely annihilated the enemy's fleet, and he had no more losses except for the "Imperator", but what about him, he allowed the enemy's battleship "Cressie" to escape, and let at least two of the enemy's armored cruisers escape. What's even worse is that when he was pursuing, he actually lost one super cruiser and two armored cruisers.

If he succeeded in capturing the Poitiers, then there was something to say about how he would have returned, after all, this was the first time in history that a steam-powered battleship had been captured. However...... The damned British opened the sea valve, and the ship sank.

In short, in the opinion of Admiral Bruyers, the marshal's scepter had flapped its wings and flapped its wings, and he himself must have become a representative of "the fool who could not be caught even if he had the best opportunity".

Admiral Bruyers, however, did not know that the situation was not as bad as he had imagined, because, because the British battleship "Crécy" had not escaped back, it had just sunk not so long ago.

The Cressy did not suffer any fatal damage, and she was sailing strictly on a safe course and was about to leave the minefield. From behind them, there was a faint sound of explosions, perhaps the French had struck a mine. In short, the French did not catch up. Lord George Kirkburn, the commander of the British fleet, was also at this time pondering how he should return to the account.

Because of the swift retreat, Lord Georges Kirkburn did not see the sinking of the Poitiers, he only saw the Poitiers ramming the enemy in the end, but he did not know what the result was. However, he also knew that no matter whether they collided or not, most of the "Poitiers" would not come back, and most of the "Hope" that had been covering them would not be able to come back. After all, there are so many warships around the ...... Besides, even if they come back, what's the use? Strategically, he has already failed. He failed to break through the blockade of the French, and the fleet suffered heavy losses, and it was impossible to launch a similar operation in the future. Of course, theoretically there is still a chance for the "Crecy" to be repaired, and if the "Poitiers" also returns, there will also be a chance to repair them, but the British now do not have the time and resources to repair them. Maybe......

Just as he was thinking this, someone suddenly shouted, "Commander, the Hope is back." ”

"Is the Hope back? And what about 'Poitiers'? Lord George Kirkburn hastened to ask, snatching the telescope from the hand of one of the staff officers standing nearby, and looking over that direction.

The lonely figure of the armored cruiser "Hope" can be seen through the telescope - apparently, "Poitiers" did not return.

The Hope was in perfect condition and significantly faster, and soon approached. Lord George Kirkburn noticed that the "Hope" came from the minefield, and he thought clearly about the reason in his mind, and couldn't help but sigh: "The luck of the 'Hope' is really good, the luck of all the other ships in our entire fleet is not comparable to her, just now she must have brought the French into the minefield, just now there seems to be a faint sound of explosions, probably the French have struck a mine." I don't know how it turned out either. ”

Speaking of this, Lord George Kirkburn sighed, no matter what the result is, it doesn't matter the overall situation, even if the entire French detachment is sunk in a minefield, it can't change the overall situation, not to mention that the "Poitiers" has not returned.

At this time, the "Hope" had already reported the situation in the back with a flag.

"Commander, we sank 'Trajan', and in addition, the French's 'Hermes' has another armored cruiser that has hit a mine!" A staff officer excitedly reported, apparently delighted by the news.

Lord George Kirkburn, however, was not at all pleased.

"It's good, but ...... It's not really useful...... "said Lord George Kirkburn.

Everyone knew what Lord George Kirkburn meant, so the atmosphere that had just been a little lively suddenly disappeared, and everyone was speechless.

But just then, there was a sudden explosion.

The huge explosion threw almost the entire ship up, and the people on board fell to the ground in the shock, and when everyone got up, they found that the warship began to tilt rapidly.

"Damn, was it a thunderbolt? Aren't we on a safe course? Lord George Kirkburn shouted as he lay on the deck.

"Commander, Commander, are you alright?" Several men hurriedly helped Lord George Kirkburn to his feet.

The ship was tilting so fast that it was visible to the naked eye.

"How's it going?" Lord George Kirkburn asked.

"Mine into the water, the water inflow is very large, I don't know how big the gap is, but, commander, the warship can't be saved, you better leave quickly."

The warship is no longer working, and it can't stand it, and Lord George Kirkburn himself knows this situation. The ship had already been beaten badly by the French before, and now it was ...... And the tilting speed of the ship also means that the amount of water entering is terrible, and it is basically impossible to save the boat.

"Commander, please leave immediately, I'm going to give the order to abandon ship." The captain said the same.

By this time the ship was already heavily tilted. Lord George Kirkburn and the others hurried into the lifeboat, and by the time they got to the lifeboat, it was so tilted that it would fall if they walked on the deck without paying attention.

As soon as the lifeboat was lowered to the surface, everyone worked together to paddle it away from the rapidly tilting "Cressie" - once such a large ship sank, it would form a small whirlpool on the surface of the sea, carrying everything around it to the bottom of the sea.

The lifeboats were still being lowered, but more sailors had already jumped off with whatever they were holding on to - the boat was tilting so fast that it would be too late to wait to get on the lifeboat.

As soon as the sailors entered the water, they swam desperately far away, trying to get as far away as possible from the sinking battleship. Some of the lifeboats also pulled the sailors over as much as they could, until they were completely unfitted.

In the distance, the armored cruiser USS Hope also sped up to the rescue of the sailors. She stopped about a kilometer or so from "Crecy", put down all her lifeboats, and went to rescue the sailors.

Lord George Kirkburn: They were also sent aboard the Hope. When Lord George Kirkburn stepped onto the deck of the Hope, he could see the stern of the Cressy cocked high, revealing two gleaming brass propellers.

The bow of the "Cressy" continued to sink, and the stern continued to rise upward, and finally stood diagonally on the surface of the sea at an angle of 45 degrees. At the same time, a high-pitched, high-pitched sound similar to the whistle of a train reached everyone's ears - the sound of air enclosed in the hull of a ship, pressed by the sea, spewing out of the cracks of the ship at high speed.

In the midst of this sound, there were all kinds of crackling and crunching sounds, which were the sound of the hull structure being crushed by its own weight. Then there was a loud bang, and the "Cressie" broke off in the middle, and the back half of the hull smashed the sea, splashing huge waves. Even the "Hope" shook with it.

As the waves fell, all that remained was a huge whirlpool and nothing else.

It took some more time for the armored cruiser "Hope" to rescue the sailors who had fallen overboard, and then returned to the port in Liverpool with the armored cruiser "Ferocious". On the way back, the steam engine of the "Ferocious" malfunctioned and exploded, killing more than 40 people. In the end, it was the Hope that dragged him back.

After this battle, in the entire British home fleet, only the ship "Hope" was left with combat effectiveness. However, the entire British navy did not have the strength to challenge France's sea power again.

Of course, this is not the end of the story of the Hope. After the war, the British government paid the "Hope" to the Americans as part of the reparations. As a result, this British warship, which participated in the "Battle of the North Sea Strait", became the flagship of the US Navy fleet.

No sooner had the ship arrived in the United States than it encountered a war caused by the division of several northern states. "Hope", well, by that time had already changed its name to "Fourth of July". Well, the Fourth of July was ordered to lead the Union fleet to blockade New York, the port of the rebellious "Confederate States of America" in the north. This was his first combat mission in the American fleet. Then the fleet was hit by a hurricane off the coast of New York, and the Fourth of July was unscathed, but all the other ships sank. Of course, the Fourth of July once again rescued a large number of people who fell overboard.

It was also because of this hurricane that the naval blockade of the United States of America in the south against the Confederate States of America in the north was completely defeated. In the end, the United States finally split into two countries. To commemorate the hurricane, the Confederate States of America in the North even established a second Thanksgiving Day to show gratitude for the hurricane. Of course, that's all for later.

One of the interesting things about the "Battle of the North Sea Strait" is that this battle was a lose-lose one. It is said that in France, when Napoleon's consul heard about the course and outcome of the battle, he was so angry that he smashed his pencil on the floor in two. He sadly said that in order to support the navy, he even cut the army's budget so that the army was still using old-fashioned rack artillery.

"The entire military budget, I gave sixty and a half percent to the Navy in one go, which has never happened in the history of France. I gave them all the best steel. You told me that the quality of the steel made from the iron ore mines in Lorraine was not good enough, so I went to Sweden to buy high-priced iron ore to make steel for them. Joseph, the steel used in the army is all steel smelted from the iron ore of Lorraine, and the soldiers of the army told me that the steel in Lorraine is so good. But what about the Navy? The knives they use are made from better Swedish iron ore, and the result?

I gave them the most money for training, the best warships, and as a result, they learned to eat on warships with high-grade knives and forks made from Swedish iron ore! These guys, if Robespierre were still around, they'd all have to feed the guillotine! ”

"Alright, Napoleon, don't make it look like we're really losing." But Joseph said so.

"Well, Joseph, I know what you mean, strategically speaking, we really didn't lose." Napoleon said, "Our blockade of Britain is like a big prison, and this action of the British is like a prison escape." In the end, they did not succeed in escaping, and we were still locked up in prison, and the social situation in Britain could not last long, and after this war, they were finished. I understand that. But, Joseph, if you think about it, we can all foresee the prisoner's escape, and the jailer is ready, and then, although the prisoner did not escape, they beat the guard with a bruised nose and swollen face, not only a bruised nose and swollen face, but also a bleeding head. Such a favorable situation, such an overwhelming force, but in the end such a ridiculous result, these stupid people of the navy, it is really ...... What a mad couple! I'm going to grab all those guys in the Navy, line them up, and shoot them one by one! ”

"Come on, Napoleon, you know, we even have to reward them for this decisive victory." Joseph sneered. To be honest, the Navy fought like this, which was also beyond Joseph's expectations.

Napoleon paused for a moment, then shook his head and said, "You are right, politically speaking, we must do so. Even, for the sake of damned politics, I had to give Bryères, a fool, a fool, a duched scumbag, the scum of the guillotine, the rank of marshal in recognition of his contributions! Damn bastards! Get the Marshal's Scepter and let him retire immediately! Thinking that he still has to get the marshal's pension, I ...... Damn scum, scum! ”

In the UK, the situation is similar, if not worse. For example, after Napoleon learned the result, he still had the strength to smash his pencil and curse, but King George III couldn't even get angry, and after learning the bad news, His Majesty the King laughed straight away.

"Your Majesty, why are you ......" Prime Minister Robert Jenkinson, Earl of Liverpool, was taken aback.

It's just that His Majesty the King didn't make words such as "I laugh at Napoleon for being unscrupulous, Joseph for having no guts", he completely ignored the Earl of Liverpool, but continued to laugh vigorously, laughing so hard that his face was distorted, and his mouth and eyes were crooked - King George III's psychosis had another attack!