The Fox of France

"Have you lost your mind? Do you have a death wish? Didn’t you see the size of that British fleet? Did you see that behemoth, the 'Queen Elizabeth'? Our cannons, even at point-blank range, might not even dent her armor, it's that thick. Otherwise, why would the British name her after an old virgin? That 'old virgin', 'Virgin Queen', has lovers by the dozens, god knows how many illegitimate children. Hell, if we get hit by just one of her shells, we’re done for. Besides, how long could we possibly hold her off? Not even five minutes! I have to be responsible for this ship and everyone on board!" Captain Alarcon exclaimed, eyes wide with incredulity.

"Captain, even if it's just for five minutes, it could allow more people to escape," Major Francis said.

Alarcon wanted to retort, "That's the Americans' problem, not mine!" But after a moment's thought, he conceded, "You're right, we can't just do nothing."

Turning around, he ordered, "Speed up, raise the British flag, prepare the forward cannon. We’re going to fire at Savannah... as a warning shot. Signal the 'Moonlight' to take the same action."

This was the extent of what they could do for the Americans.

At this moment, the British lookouts had already spotted the two French cruisers flying the tricolor.

"Damn, Frenchies everywhere!" the captain of the 'Queen Elizabeth', Hardy, cursed as he put down his binoculars. He knew these two ships were likely the ones mentioned in reports, rented to the Americans by the French. He wanted to rush over, unleash a barrage, and feed these Frenchies to the sharks. But now that these ships were flying the French flag, it made him uncertain of their identity. What if these weren't the ones leased to the Americans?

Before setting sail, the British had considered what to do if they encountered French warships, even provocative ones. During the Seven Years' War, this wouldn't have been an issue. But now, Britain was at a disadvantage, as the Cabinet demanded naval restraint, patience. As long as the French didn't show overt hostility, or to put it more plainly, as long as they didn't fire upon the British first, the British weren't supposed to attack or even provoke, to avoid complicating the situation.

"Now, France has a strong land force in Louisiana. If they find an excuse to join the war, Canada is surely lost. Even Ireland might see turmoil. So, the navy must restrain, must restrain!" Prime Minister Pitt had said to the officers before they departed.

Then, the action of the two French ships stunned the British — they raised the Saint George's flag. Not the red triangular flag symbolizing a warship's courage and desperation, but the one representing England. Wasn't this impersonating the British navy right in front of the authentic British navy? What a move!

"The French don't want to fight us. They know well that with two colonial cruisers, they stand no chance against us. It would be suicide," General Nelson emerged from below deck, "I believe they intend to warn the Americans in Savannah — they hoist our flag and then fire a shot towards Savannah — a creative approach. The French..."

"General, shall we stop them? They are openly impersonating us. Technically, we could treat them as pirates," Captain Hardy asked.

"No, at most it'll take twenty minutes, and that time won't change anything. We needn't bother over such trifles," Nelson replied.

As Nelson predicted, the two French warships flying the British navy's Saint George's flag fired towards Savannah. After firing two shots, they lowered the Saint George's flag and raised the tricolor again, right in front of the British.

"The French, when they can shamelessly not do so, they certainly will not," Captain Hardy cursed.

"Hardy, to tell you the truth, we're no different. The history of mankind is a struggle between those who value their dignity and those who do not. And the outcome has always been that those who do not value their dignity, the scoundrels, triumph over the fools. The nations that exist today, not one is not a scoundrel," Nelson sighed.

"General, so the competition between us and France is to see who can be more shameless?"

"Ha, somewhat," Nelson laughed, "I hope in the end we can say, 'The French were such fools! Ha ha ha.'"

On the cruiser 'Moonlight', the crew had just lowered the Saint George's flag and raised the tricolor.

"Captain, look, the American gunboats are leaving port!"

Captain Alarcon looked towards the port and saw two small steamers slowly making their way out. These were small gunboats built by the Americans for patrolling near ports. With

a displacement of no more than four hundred tons and a speed not exceeding 10 knots, they were equipped with a single 76mm cannon. This cannon was fixed openly on the foredeck, completely exposed.

During his last stop in Savannah, Captain Alarcon had seen these small gunboats. The Savannah port's anti-smuggling team had five or six of these gunboats, typically with two ready to move at any moment, boilers fired up. But they were of no use; against the British fleet, even compared to the French colonial cruisers, they were insignificant.

At this point, 'Moonlight' had changed its flags, but Captain Alarcon still ordered to speed up to avoid the exiting vessels. He figured that unless those on the small vessels were both blind and foolish, they must have already noticed the smoke columns to the east and seen the French flag raised again, understanding that the earlier misfired shots were not meant to bombard the city but to warn of the British fleet's arrival.

However, considering that these two small ships, with their two small cannons, dared to rush out, they must be full of fools. What if they hadn't understood the situation and started firing at them? Therefore, Captain Alarcon's order was entirely reasonable.

The two foolhardy vessels didn't chase after the French but raised a signal flag to thank them. It seems the fools on board understood the French's actions after all. Then, they headed straight for the smoke column forest. Obviously, the target of these two small gunboats, upon leaving the port, was the British fleet.

"They're going to their deaths. The British could destroy them in less than two or three minutes. They won't win enough time for the ships in the port to escape," Captain Alarcon said.

At this time, the British fleet was getting closer. This bit of time was useless; the steamships in Savannah port were mostly in a state of shutdown, and it would take no less than an hour to fire up the boilers and get the ships moving. As for the sailing ships, their crew was mostly not on board; without several hours, it was unthinkable to find enough hands to sail the ships out to escape. Thus, the rush of the foolhardy vessels was utterly pointless.

What happened next was exactly as Captain Alarcon had predicted. Surrounding the two foolhardy gunboats, sudden sprouts of water columns appeared. Shortly after, the first gunboat was hit by a cannonball.

The cannonball directly destroyed the steam engine of the small gunboat, leaving it paralyzed on the water. In the following half a minute, it took five or six cannon shots, tilted, and quickly sank.

The second foolhardy vessel was slightly stronger; it managed to fire a shot — of course, hitting nothing — before the British firepower tore it apart.

By this time, 'Moonlight' and 'Windmoon' had already moved away. The two ships began to slow down, preparing to watch the battle. Yes, in this era, observing naval battles was indeed a very common occurrence.

"Captain, are we really not going to do anything?" Major Francis asked.

"No, of course, we can't just do nothing," Captain Alarcon said, "We'll watch the battle from the side. When foreign warships are observing, their actions might be somewhat restrained. You know, my friend, if we were to engage the British, we wouldn't last any longer than those two gunboats. But if we stay aside and watch, their atrocities might be somewhat curbed."

"Ah, those two American ships, they were so... so brave. But they died so terribly," the executive officer Copa sighed.

"Oh, Copa, do you know? I met a Mexican priest in New Orleans who told me something very interesting. He said, everyone dies, but different deaths have different meanings. Some deaths are as significant as the Rocky Mountains; others, as light as a feather. The same goes for warships. All warships meet their end, whether on the battlefield or in the shipyard. But a warship that dies for the people's benefit weighs more than the Rockies; if it dies serving feudal rulers, exploiting and oppressing the people, it's lighter than a feather."

"Was the priest you mentioned a follower of liberation theology, perhaps?" Copa asked.

"Ah, who knows? Nowadays, Mexico is full of those who follow liberation theology..."

As their conversation went on, the British fleet had already formed up outside the harbor, blocking the port's exit. Now, no ship could leave Savannah port.

....

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