At 6.40 a.m. on 30 July, when Admiral Nicholas Haddock, commander of the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Task Force, saw through his telescope the island of Alvoran, not far off the coast of North Africa, he knew that they were within striking distance of Gibraltar and that the fleet would have a rare recuperation with a day's journey to go.

A little more than a month ago, Hadolph received several letters of assistance from the Governor of Gibraltar in Alexandria. In the letter, it was mentioned that the Spaniards were gathering and mobilizing a large number of ships, and even transferred several main warships from the Windward Fleet in the Caribbean, in an attempt to block the Strait of Gibraltar again, cut off the supply of supplies to the British army, and then cooperate with the land forces to seize Gibraltar.

Fearing that his back route would be cut off, and in view of the fact that the port of Damietta, which was defended by the Qi people, would be difficult to capture in a short period of time, Hadolph left more than 20 warships and armed merchant ships to continue to besiege the port, and then led most of the ships to pull anchor and set sail back to Gibraltar.

The annoying Spaniards, although they were not strong and had been defeated repeatedly, showed great resilience, and for the sake of the dignity and glory of the so-called kingdom, they cheered up again and again, and they were really obsessed with retaking Gibraltar.

It's time to deal a big blow to Spain!

However, in the depths of Haddock's heart, he always believed that the ongoing Anglo-Qi War should not be extraneous and forcefully involve Spain, because it would greatly distract England's power. Although Spain's strength declined seriously after the War of the Succession, the navy was also in a state of collapse, and its finances were on the verge of bankruptcy almost every year.

However, Spain is also a large European country with a population of seven or eight million, and it also has a vast American colony, although it has lost its global maritime hegemony and European continental hegemony, but people are tigers that do not fall to the shelf, and the emaciated camel is bigger than a horse, and even if it cannot threaten the security of England itself, it is a matter of cooperating with Qi to make trouble for you, or taking advantage of the convenience of the American territory to attack the British colonies and destroy England's Atlantic trade.

Haddock had suggested to the Naval Council that after the outbreak of the Anglo-Qi War, even if he did not try to win over Spain and put them on the side of England, he could not push Spain to the side of Qi and become his enemy. For this reason, England should first return Menorca, which was seized in the War of the Spanish Succession, to the Spaniards in order to reassure them. They were then promised that after the end of the war, negotiations would be held with them on the ownership of Gibraltar in order to negotiate a complete restoration of peace between the two countries.

Haddock believed that the Spaniards would feel their sincerity as soon as England made these moves, and would maintain strict neutrality in the war. Perhaps, they can also take advantage of the sharp contradiction between Qi's vassal Qing and its competition for territory in the Americas, so that they can lean towards the side of England and jointly deal with Qi's war.

However, the short-sighted Naval Council and the Cabinet government ignored their own recommendations and resorted to empty promises and threats of force to force the Kingdom of Spain into submission, an act that eventually led to the most violent reaction of the Spaniards, whose self-esteem had been badly wounded, by recovering Gibraltar and Menorca by force, and formally declaring war on England in January of this year.

Now that Spain has declared war, England should face it squarely and organize a huge sea force at the first time to crush the Spanish navy and threaten their homeland, so as to force it to withdraw from the war in the shortest possible time.

However, in order to quell domestic opposition and salvage his own reputation, the ruling First Chancellor of the Exchequer (the predecessor of the British Prime Minister), Earl Walpole, went so far as to send a limited naval force to Egypt in order to discourage Qi's Red Sea-Mediterranean trade and cut off the possibility of supplying war materials from Egypt.

To be honest, Haddock was opposed to this war plan, although it would indeed hit a weak underbelly of the Qi people and destroy the prosperous Mediterranean trade of the other side, but this move was somewhat more than worth the loss, it would provoke the Ottoman Empire by attacking Egypt, and would have a very negative impact on the English merchants who traded in the country, and even endangered their lives, and would bury England's business opportunities in the region, thus losing a huge market of more than 20 million people.

In addition, the center of gravity of Qi people's trade has always been in the Indian Ocean Rim region, whether it is the Red Sea-Mediterranean trade or direct trade with Europe, which does not account for a high proportion of Qi's overall trade share, so the losses caused to them must be extremely limited.

Don't forget, the Dutch and French, who have very close ties to Qi, will bypass the Cape of Good Hope and send a steady stream of Qi goods to Europe, which will also allow Qi to trade with Europe indirectly—only at the expense of some transportation benefits.

"Alas, this war may be a great disaster for us in England." Haddock shook his head, as if to throw out the thoughts that had come to his mind, and began to think intently about how to launch a strike on the Spanish navy when he arrived in Gibraltar.

"General, it's been two days, and those Barbary pirates haven't reappeared." Haddock's aide-de-camp, Major Pym Hawke, approached and said happily, "They may have been frightened by the severe blows of our Royal Navy and did not dare to harass us again. ”

"Pym, why do you think those weak Barbary pirates continue to launch sneak attacks on a powerful naval fleet?" Hadolph smiled and looked at his lieutenant with a careful look.

"There is no doubt that these Barbary pirates must have been instigated by the Qi people to launch a desperate attack on our fleet." "But I think there may be a hidden conspiracy in their move," said Major Pym Hawke. ”

"Oh? …… So what is this conspiracy? ”

"It seems that the Qi people want to let these Barbary pirates who cannot get on the stage delay and delay the journey of our fleet, which may create more favorable opportunities for the two countries to jointly attack Gibraltar."

"Good, Pym." Haddock nodded with satisfaction, "Your guess coincides with mine, the enemy does not want our fleet to reach Gibraltar as soon as possible, it must be an attempt." In the early days, the attacks and other military operations launched by the Barbary pirates were in the service of Ottoman political interests. But as the Ottomans gradually lost de facto control of North Africa, the purpose of any of their actions was largely to gain their own benefit. Now, these lowly pirates are in collusion with the Qi country, driven by the Qi people, to interfere with the normal trade activities of other countries in peacetime, and in times of war, they are not afraid of the risk and attack us. Presumably, the people of Qi must have promised them a lot of benefits. Then, with their crazy actions, perhaps in Gibraltar there will be an unknown danger waiting for us. ”

"Is the general worried that Gibraltar has already been captured by them?"

"Yes, Spain, backed by a vast hinterland, can organize a steady stream of troops to attack Gibraltar. And the cunning Qi people may also incite the Moroccans to send a considerable number of troops to launch a sneak attack from the coast of Gibraltar under the cover of their warships, after all, the Qi's Ceuta is less than twenty miles from Gibraltar and can be reached in a few hours. In addition, I am worried that the expeditionary fleet of Qi will regroup and sail into the Strait of Gibraltar to find an opportunity to attack our fleets and merchant ships passing through here. ”

"General, I don't think the expeditionary fleet of the Qi State should regroup and sail into the vicinity of the strait to attack us." Major Pym Hawke hesitated for a moment, then said firmly: "The sea is vast, and several scattered fleets cannot communicate with each other at all, how can they come together at the same time?" ”

"What if the people of Qi had made relevant plans before the war?" Haddock said, with a hint of solemnity on his face, "After a year of fighting at sea, our Royal Navy has also been divided into several pieces, and the fleet in any place has no absolute numerical superiority in the face of the Qi Expeditionary Fleet. ”

"General, in the past year's sea battles, although our Royal Navy has suffered some heavy losses, the Qi Expeditionary Fleet may not have suffered small losses. The battle reports obtained from the Naval Commission can confirm that the Qi people have lost at least ten warships, and if you add in the warships that have lost their combat effectiveness due to some injuries, then the ships they can use for battle in the end should be less than half the size of the original fleet. Such strength should not be relied upon. ”

"In war, maintaining the optimistic spirit and the belief in victory is of course necessary for a professional naval officer. However, in the rapidly changing tide of war, we should also maintain the necessary vigilance and prudence, and never underestimate the strength of the enemy, let alone despise the opponent strategically and tactically. Qi is an opponent worthy of our great attention, they not only have a strong national strength far beyond our England and a huge population several times our size, but also in the military field, they have invented and manufactured many epoch-making weapons and equipment, and have been leading the scientific and technological progress of the whole world. In this war, we in England do not expect to defeat the other side, as long as we drag the other side to the negotiating table and sign a peace agreement that is not too harsh, it will be the greatest victory for our Royal Navy. ”

"General, you ...... Are you too pessimistic about this war? Because of the distance, the Qi Navy needs to cross tens of thousands of miles to reach Europe, so that our Royal Navy has an absolute geographical advantage and the number of warships, even if the Qi Navy warships have the blessing of steam engines, surpassing our naval warships in maneuverability and speed, but they will not crush us in terms of strength, let alone defeat us at the door of Europe. I believe that after more than a year of consumption, the people of Qi must also feel very struggling. Because, not only did they have to fight against us England in Europe, they also had to juggle the war between the Ottomans and the Austrians, the war between the Persians and the Russians, in order to prevent a situation of military collapse of the two declining empires. It is said that the Qi people also intervened in the tribal wars in Afghanistan and the civil war in western Burma, and no matter how powerful and financially rich they were, they would certainly not be able to deal with so many regional conflicts at the same time. As long as our Royal Navy inflicts a heavy blow on the Qi Expeditionary Fleet, it should be able to force them to the negotiating table. ”

"Hahaha......" Haddock couldn't help laughing when he heard this, "I have to admit that the optimism of your young people has deeply infected me, and I am suddenly full of endless fighting spirit. Perhaps, all the changes in the state of affairs are as you deduced, and the people of Qi ......"

"Report to the General!" A signaling officer hurriedly stepped onto the command podium and reported with a grim expression: "The forward alert fleet has sent a signal and found an unidentified small clipper. ”

"Huh?" Haddock immediately restrained his smile and showed a cautious expression, "Does the vigilant fleet mean that the small clipper ship is spying on and tracking our fleet, or is it inadvertently intruding on our course?" ”

"No, General." The signalman shook his head and said, "The second message from the Alert Fleet indicates that they have sent warships to try to capture or dislodge the small clipper. ”

"Order the vigilance fleet to find out the identity and intentions of that small clipper ship in the shortest possible time."

"Yes, General."

"Send a combat readiness alert signal to the entire fleet personnel."

"Yes, General."

"Order all transport merchant ships to reduce their speed and line up in the direction of the rear guard of the fleet."

"Yes, General."

"General, do you suspect that ship is the reconnaissance clipper of the Qi State?"

"Whether it's Qi State's reconnaissance clipper or not, we need to be cautious." Haddock felt a faint uneasiness in his heart, "Perhaps, the expeditionary fleet of the Qi people is really gathering in front of us, or it is possible that the fleet sent by the Spaniards is trying to prevent us from entering Gibraltar. Even, it is not excluded that the expeditionary fleet of Qi and the Spanish Navy will unite and wait for our arrival in the sea ahead. ”

At 7:20 a.m., the cruiser USS Corris, the avant-garde alert fleet, sent a signal that five flares were fired into the air from an unidentified small clipper.

At 7:40 a.m., the English fleet completed its formation change, and more than 20 weakly armed merchant ships fell behind the fleet and moved slowly at a speed of 2-3 knots.

At 7:55 a.m., the cruiser "Corris" sent a signal that a large puff of black smoke was found more than 10 nautical miles ahead.

At 8:10 a.m., the English avant-garde fleet confirmed that it had found a large number of Qi warships, numbering more than thirty.

At 8:25 a.m., after a long thought, Admiral Haddock, commander of the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Task Force, hoisted the battle signal flag and ordered all the officers and men of the fleet to move forward and break the enemy in front of them.

Subsequently, Haddock gave the signal to form a sailing formation. A few minutes later, the "big sail, sail upwind" was played, and at this point, the accompanying compass signal was north-northeast.

This signal did not intend for the fleet to form a battle formation in advance, but intended to let the battleships that had not yet been organized sail upwind one after another, ready to engage the enemy before carrying out a battle line bombardment.

At 9:15 a.m., the avant-garde fleet sent another signal fifteen nautical miles northwest of another fleet, numbering about twenty-five ships.

Haddock signaled, "The fleet is attacking the target, and the Qi warship is in front of it, and it is necessary to seize the T-shaped position."

At 9:40 a.m., the cruiser "Corris", which was the first to start, sent a signal, "A Qi ironclad battleship is attacking at high speed and is about to engage the enemy." ”

However, this signal made all the captains of the Royal Navy a little confused, what is an ironclad battleship?

Didn't many of Qi's sail warships have iron armor in important parts?

Could it be that this is the message that the "Corris" is being reminded of?

At 9:47 a.m., with the rumbling of artillery on the sea, the second large-scale naval battle between Qi and Britain -- the Battle of Alvoran began.

(End of chapter)