Although he paid tribute to the battle-fighting USS America, Zola did not let it go. By this time, however, the French detachment had approached from the port of New Orleans. In particular, the cruiser "D'Artagnan" has already followed.

"D'Artagnan" is a standard cruiser with 40 guns, and under normal conditions it is certainly no match for the "America". But now the situation is different, at least in the port direction, the "America" already has only two guns. Moreover, because of the loss of the bow sprit, her speed has also dropped significantly, so even when facing the "d'Artagnan", the current "America" can't beat it, and it can't run away.

On the other side, the USS Constitution was also trying to evade the pursuit of the Americans' small gunboat. If enough sailors had been recruited in the harbor of Santo Domingo, the USS Constitution could have crushed the Lafayette gunboat like an ant.

However, considering the complicated situation of "Santo Domingo", both Captain Zola and Victor were worried about whether a group of Americans would be recruited here, and then these recruited Yankees and those who were still imprisoned would be in harmony...... Isn't that troublesome? So the "Constitution" did not recruit even a single sailor in Santo Domingo. It's just that the sailors on the "Free Trade" were divided into some of the past to operate the ship.

The consequence of this was that although there were dozens of cannons on the "Constitution", there was not even a single gunner.

But even so, it was not easy for the Lafayette to deal with the Constitution in the hands of the French. First of all, the "Constitution" was too fast, and although the "Lafayette" removed some of the cannons specifically for this purpose, reducing the weight and thus increasing the speed, it was still not easy to catch up with the "Constitution". Especially when the "Constitution" is bent on escaping.

The chase between two sailboats with little difference in speed sometimes lasts for a long time, even from low latitudes to near the poles, as in one movie. The chase between the Lafayette and the Constitution now seems to feel that way. So until this time, these two ships were still going around in circles at sea.

However, in the process, the Lafayette also continued to attack the "Constitution" with the ship's artillery.

The cannon on board the Lafayette was only 12 pounds, and it could not touch the hull of the Constitution at all. The Americans are very clear about this - after all, they built this ship. But the 12-pounder still has a role, that is, it can be used to destroy the sails of the "Constitution" and reduce the speed of the "Constitution".

And compared to the hull, the sail is a much larger target, and it is naturally much easier to hit it. But precisely because the sails are large, it is not easy to destroy them, and the shells, even if they are chain shells, can only tear a small hole in the huge sail, and the damage to the entire sail is quite limited. In order for the speed of the sailboat to drop significantly, it is necessary to hit it several times. And this obviously takes time.

So until now, the "Constitution" has not slowed down significantly. And at this time, on the other side, the overall situation on the battlefield has already been decided. The "Congress" turned in, the "America" hoisted the St. George flag, and the terrible steam warship also rushed towards this direction.

The captain of the Lafayette, Major Muric, immediately made this judgment: "The operation has failed, and now the big question is how to escape." ”

So he immediately gave the order: "Retreat at full speed!" ”

However, it was not easy to escape from the pursuit of the "Free Trade". Because the "Free Trade" is much faster than her. But it can't be because of this, and the captain of the "Lafayette", Major Muric, knows that his ship has another advantage, that is, the draft is shallower, and there are some places where she can go, but the French "Free Trade" can't. There happened to be such a sea nearby, but it was difficult to say where she would have time to escape before being caught up by the "Free Trade".

But in fact, the "Free Trade Number" does not necessarily have the intention of catching up and eliminating her. There are already very few shells on the "Free Trade", they have already reached the warning line of stocks, and it is not worth consuming for such a small boat anymore. In fact, the "Free Trade" chased after it just to relieve the "Constitution".

By the time the USS Free Trade escorted the USS Constitution back, the battle on the sea had reached its final moments. By this time, all the guns on the "America" had been destroyed, and the "d'Artagnan" began to hit the sails of the "America" with chain bullets - apparently, they wanted to further reduce the "America's sailing ability", and then jumped over to capture the ship.

Under such circumstances, the captain of the ship, Colonel Thomas, gave the order to abandon ship. The wrecked sailors jumped into the sea with barrels and other things that could float, and Colonel Thomas himself walked into the cabin with a torch, and soon the ship burst into flames.

At first, the French wondered if they could come up and put out the fire, but the fire spread very quickly. Apparently, while the d'Artagnan was busy destroying the ship's sails, the sailors on board were already dumping gunpowder and other ignitions everywhere.

Such a ship really burned, even in the future life, it may not be able to be saved, at this time, everyone can only watch her burn.

Looking at the "America" engulfed in flames, Captain Zola said to Victor, "Mr. Trevier, we failed to capture the enemy ship this time...... It's a pity, it's a good boat. ”

"It's a pity, it's a good boat."

Victor also sighed, but he immediately added, "But as soon as this ship was put into service, it was already lagging behind." Now the sea is already the world of steam warships. ”

"Fortunately, now we are the only ones in the world who have real working steam warships." Captain Zola said.

As Captain Zola said this, a new ship was being secretly tested in Fasslane Bay, west of Glasgow, Scotland. It's a steamboat, but unlike a regular steamboat, it doesn't have a paddle wheel.

The ship was not large, and judging by its size, it was clear that it had been converted from one of the steamers that had been hoisted by the French off the coast of Ireland. It had no paddle wheel, no mast and no sails - it was an experimental ship anyway, and it was accompanied by a sail warship, so even if the machine broke down, there would be a boat to tow it back.

Now in the evening breeze, the ship began to accelerate, and the cruiser "Marvel" escorting it was gradually unable to keep up with its speed and slowly fell behind.

"General, the speed of the experimental ship is already at least 15 knots, and it seems that this is the secret of how fast the French steamboats can run." Second mate Jack Obery said to the man standing beside him, dressed in a general's uniform and holding a telescope, who was carefully observing the experimental vessel.

"You're right, Jack. The propeller is indeed a good design, and it makes the biggest weakness of the steamship disappear at once. With this technology, the steamship can really become a real battleship. The general sighed.

"General, why are you sighing? Haven't we already succeeded? Jack Obery asked.

"Yes, we succeeded. But Jack, the days of sails are gone. The general reached out and patted young Jack Obery on the shoulder, "New ships mean new ways of fighting. Something we've been working on all our lives may have drifted away with the black smoke coming out of this boat. Fortunately, you are still young and have time to learn new things. ”

"General, you're not old, you're not yet fifty. And since you've learned the skills of sail ships and fleet warfare before, you'll be able to figure out the best tactics for your new ships. Don't you think this task is challenging? ”

"Ah, Jack, you're right. I shouldn't be lazy. The general laughed, "Well, you also have to study hard, and when my Victory is converted into a steam battleship in the future, and you do well, I will let you come to the Victory......"

At this time, the steamship in front of it turned around and began to turn back. The waters in this area are relatively remote, and there are very few ships coming and going. But now that it's dark, it's time to return.

But neither Jack nor the "general" noticed that on the other side of the coast, a man was hiding behind a large reef, looking at this side from a distance with a telescope......

So, a few days later, in the Bonaparte family, the three brothers quarreled again.

"All the signs at present indicate that, Joseph, the secrecy work on your side has not been done well, and there are spies on your side. They stole the secret of the propeller. Lucien said.

"Lucien, it's not necessarily because I have someone leaking here." Joseph retorted, "Because the propeller is so simple in design, anyone can find out the secret by just looking at it." So I think it's more likely that this secret will leak out of the production process. And you're staring at me. We also have to check my people, which would seriously interfere with our work. ”

"Joseph, of course we will check on the production side, but you must not have problems here? It wouldn't hurt to look it up. Lucien said.

"Yes, Joseph, what can't be checked? As long as you don't wronged people. Napoleon also said.

"Okay, you can check it, but you can't interfere with the normal work of the research department, and you can't even let them know that there is such an investigation." Joseph made a slight concession, "Also, let me emphasize again, the propeller is very, very simple, you can look at it, even simpler than a mine. We must not make the mistake of the British on the issue of mines! ”

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