The Fox of France

In fact, just a moment ago, while British ships were patrolling the harbor, local militias were also monitoring them from beyond the range of the British naval guns. These Dutch militiamen saw the British discard various supplies, including lifeboats, and even throw their bow and stern guns into the sea. They also saw smoke columns rising in the distance, a sign that reinforcements were arriving. However, they could not establish contact with the reinforcements, nor could they slow down the British retreat. Thus, they could only watch as the British patrol ships escaped the bay. They weren't completely helpless, though; at least they dispatched personnel to report these events to Babel and his team, who were not far from the location. They had just organized a cavalry unit and transported supplies including fresh water, setting up supply points along the road to Cape Town, where they also stockpiled materials for building a dock.

The French and Dutch allied fleet—although strictly speaking, there were no Dutch ships in the fleet—entered the bay and dropped anchor. Then they lowered boats, and some soldiers began to land. The first to disembark was a Dutch Army infantry squad, who established contact with the local militias welcoming them. Then more Dutch and French began to disembark using their own boats.

At this moment, Philippe Treveil also arrived on horseback with Babel to greet the "liberators" from the European mainland.

French Army Commander Major Léon Berthier also landed in a small boat and successfully connected with Philippe Treveil. Before arriving, he had been informed by Marshal Berthier that Mr. Philippe Treveil, an agent of the Ministry of Public Security, was in charge here.

"Philippe Treveil is a relative of Marshal Treveil, his brother is currently our ambassador in Vienna. He himself was once an important figure in the royalist circles, but after the royalists dispersed, he followed some of his revolutionary-minded relatives, particularly Marshal Treveil. It is said that he had a poor relationship with his brother initially due to their differing views on the revolution. However, they are still brothers. The status of Marshal Treveil speaks for itself, and his brother is a rising star in politics. As for Philippe, a former royalist who joined the Ministry of Public Security, he quickly gained enough trust to handle significant responsibilities on his own.

You might think he earned his position by betraying other royalists, but that's not the case. If Philippe Treveil had only engaged in such activities, he would not have been entrusted with significant responsibilities. The fact that he can handle these alone is a testament to his abilities. When you get there, you need to work closely with him.

You're going to pursue a military career, and he's in politics. You don't need the same kind of achievements, so there's no competition between you. Furthermore, the Treveil family will have significant influence in the future. Befriending him will benefit you. Understand what I mean? Handle this beautifully, and I'll take care of the rest."

Having received such instructions, Léon Berthier naturally intended to show goodwill towards Treveil. He told Philippe that he had brought a letter from his uncle, Marshal Treveil, and expressed hope that they could work together wholeheartedly to achieve new glories for France.

Then Treveil introduced Berthier to Babel, the commander of the Dutch militia. Just now, Babel had received formal orders from home; he was appointed as the temporary governor of Cape Town, responsible for its recovery.

Actually, the British patrol ships had not gone far; they sailed westward for a while and then slowed down. The two ships began to spread out and used the principles of trigonometry to locate the smoke columns to determine the distance between themselves and the steamships. If they were approaching, they would need to prepare to turn away to avoid the steamships. If the distance to the smoke columns was increasing, then they were at least temporarily safe.

However, the British were not only concerned with safety; they were also thinking about victory.

"Steam warships are indeed much more powerful than sailing ships. Under normal circumstances, sailing warships have almost no chance against steam-powered warships. But steamships also have a major weakness. If we can exploit this weakness properly, we could potentially create a miracle—an outdated sailing warship defeating a steamship."

Major Jocelyn, the commander of the British fleet, said to his officers in the war room,

"So, what is the weakness of a steamship? Once their boilers are extinguished, they can't move for a while. There's a long delay between lighting the boiler and generating power. During this time, a steamship has no power—it's just a dead fish floating on the sea. Normally, this isn't a problem in a military harbor

with surveillance equipment and gun batteries for protection. But now, in the Sardinian Bay,"

"Commander, how do we know if the enemy's steamships have shut off their engines?"

"That's simple," Jocelyn said. "As long as the steam engine is running, it needs to burn coal continuously. As long as they're burning coal, we can observe black smoke coming from them at a safe distance. Once we notice that there's no more black smoke from Sardinian Bay, that means they've shut off their engines, and then we can strike back and create a miracle."

"What if the French never turn off their steam engines?" another officer asked.

"I suspect the Dutch are probably planning to quickly build a dock under the cover of the fleet that allows them to land heavy artillery. How long would it take to build such a dock?" Jocelyn asked.

"About a month, maybe?" someone answered.

"But under special circumstances, it might be faster—say, twenty days," Jocelyn said. "Even the best steam warships from France, known for their endurance, don't have enough coal in their bunkers to sustain such consumption."

"Sir, if the French are prepared, they might have resupplied with coal somewhere in Central Africa on their way here," an officer suggested.

"That's quite possible, but it still wouldn't allow them to maintain operations for more than twenty days," Jocelyn responded. "Besides, if they keep their engines running, we've got nothing to lose by staying in the area."

Another hour passed, and the British discovered that the smoke columns in Sardinian Bay had disappeared, clearly, the French had been too complacent. They had fled in panic at the sight of just a few smoke columns, even dumping their cannons into the sea. However, the British couldn't immediately attack because the sun had not yet set. Although they had the wind in their favor and could reach speeds of up to 10 knots, if they rushed now, they might be spotted by lookouts possibly stationed at the entrance of the bay, and the French would have time to relight their fires.

So, they had to wait patiently for the sun to set and then take advantage of the night to move into the bay.

As the sun gradually set, the two British patrol ships set full sail and began to rapidly approach Sardinian Bay.

By this time, the French army had mostly disembarked, but the cannons were still on the ships. Many crew members, worn out by the long voyage, had also gone ashore, including those from ships of the "Europa Shipping Alliance."

However, the navy maintained basic discipline; by nightfall, the personnel of the French navy were mostly back on their warships.

It was a waxing crescent moon that rose early, which was not entirely a bad thing for the British. Without moonlight, finding a few ships in such a large bay would not be easy; however, the moonlight also meant that the British, using sailing ships with taller masts fully rigged with sails, were more likely to be spotted under the moonlight.

Thus, it was the French navy lookouts who first spotted the approaching British warships.

The distance between them was already close when the French colonial cruiser "Trade Wind" first spotted the British ships. However, the Trade Wind was already too late to fire up its boilers for pressure. Captain Edmondo, startled awake, immediately ordered his gunners to battle stations. His ship could now only serve as a floating gun platform.

The colonial cruiser lacked armor; its metal hull was quite thin, and even old-fashioned iron cannonballs could penetrate it. It had three main advantages over the British sailing patrol ships: higher speed and maneuverability, which were now irrelevant, giving the British the upper hand; lighter, more powerful cannons with greater range and accuracy, though night visibility reduced this advantage; and it was equipped with semi-armor-piercing incendiary shells designed to target wooden ships. Now, all Captain Edmondo could really rely on were these incendiary shells.