Sir Huck's grey eyes glared coldly at Charlotte, turned and walked downstairs to the stern, and as he passed by Charlotte, he whispered, "We'll see!" ”

Charlotte shrugged and made a respectful gesture. The red-haired Rhona hid her joy and looked up to show that she didn't see this annoying person.

Huck stared at both father and daughter fiercely, but he left in a small boat as Charlotte had requested. After all, in his dictionary of adventures, "avoiding danger" is a very important credo. Behind him, Charlotte was already giving orders in his majestic voice.

"Adjutant Hudson, blow the whistle and get ready for battle."

"Yes, sir"

Rhona runs back to her cabin, changes into her clothes, and becomes "Captain Red-Haired Rhona" again. ”

"Hudson gave an order to all warships, all ships turned right 45O to form a longitudinal combat formation, headed due north, and advanced at full speed ......"

In strict accordance with the Navy's operational regulations, Charlotte approached the enemy ships in a cross-fire formation, which would make contact with the enemy in a T-shape and allow for artillery salvos. Just as the formation was about to be completed, the adjutant reported again, "My lord, the enemy ships are retreating!" , and strange flashes were constantly fired from enemy ships. ”

Vice Admiral Charlotte picked up a telescope and looked at the enemy ship.

At this time, Zheng Zhaoji's attack group had already been positioned to the north of Charlotte's fleet, and it was lined up in the plum blossom array that he had studied. The three sub-fleets composed of five Gale-class frigates were arranged in an inverted triangle, this formation was a bit like the crab claw formation when the Qing army was charging on land, one left and one right attacked the enemy's first ship at the same time, and the five ships lined up behind were naturally cleaning the battlefield.

Each escort fleet is lined up in the shape of one, two, and two plum blossoms, which is conducive to dispersing the enemy's side-firing firepower and is more conducive to close-range combat.

"Sure enough, these red-haired ghosts who don't know how to change, no matter when, the one-word column always remains the same." Zheng Zhaoji was still looking at the enemy ship that had been staring at it for four hours in the telescope, and their height made Zheng Zhaoji feel nothing more than bulky. Maybe they had a lot of guns, but they didn't have flowering shells with impact fuses, they were just larger shotguns.

"Sir, we have received a signal from the First Squadron that they have informed the enemy warships, their location, and have given an ultimatum, and the enemy generals have decided to engage in battle."

"Hit, okay! I'm tired of waiting! The second and third divisions of the enemy ships concentrated their fire to attack the enemy's flagship, and after completing the cross-maneuver (that is, advancing to within 450 of the enemy's ship's front, attacking the enemy's leading ship, and then turning to the tactic of detachment), quickly breaking away from the enemy's ship's firing range, and after carrying out a high-speed maneuver, waiting for our order to complete the attack on the enemy's No. 2 ship. Act now.

"Woo-woo" sirens sounded in the enclosed cabin, and the crew rushed to their battle positions. Below deck, the sailors, on the orders of the heads of departments, desperately shook the wheel that controlled the cable and hoisted the spinnakers one by one. The crew, who were driven by human power, pushed their pedals hard one by one, knowing that this was no better than the usual afterburner when sailing, and that it would be time to play with their lives. All of them are praying in their hearts for God's blessing, let's finish this battle quickly, otherwise they will die of exhaustion.

The lookout sentry of the battleship "Queen" kept his goggles closely at the five enemy ships that were fleeing, and he was very proud to be able to serve on a first-class battleship like the "Queen". In his mind, such a ship would never sink. However, as an lookout, he believed that he had a special hunch. So he squeezed one eye and stretched out his monocular to look straight ahead of the battleship.

Suddenly, as if by magic, a wall of sails was erected on the surface of the sea. "North, about 2,000 meters to the north, a large group of enemy ships has been spotted...... he shouted at the stern commanders.

On the other hand, the lookout on the Galewind, due to the very close distance of the enemy ships, he only hid in the liftable iron cylinder specially prepared for him between the "Flying Divine Crossbow" and the "Grenade Launcher", and what he wanted to say was to shout at the microphone in front of him. This microphone leads to the command cabin and the war room, and the microphone there leads to the commanders of the various departments on board.

Disbelieving, Charlotte pulled out his binoculars and looked in the direction of the ship.

A dozen or so small boats, just as strange-looking as the other one, were rushing towards them at a mad speed. Although he felt a little surprised, Charlotte was not panicked in his heart, his exclamation was only given to the speed of these crazy boats, but naval battles are not simply determined by mobility, and at the same time, firepower and protection are also the elements of victory.

And his battleship not only had a hull nearly two feet thick, but also a considerable amount of copper plates in the important parts of the interior, not to mention its super firepower. The "Queen" mounted a 32-pounder (projectile-heavy) gun on the lower deck; installation of 24-pounder guns on the middle deck; 18-pounder guns were installed on the upper deck, and gun projectiles on the bow and stern decks weighed 12 pounds.

"They're crazy guys!" For such a small ship, to launch an attack on his own dead ship seemed to him to be a suicidal move. The red-haired Rhona had already changed into her uniform by the moment, a knife hanging by her side, and two muskets pinned to her waist.

Charlotte kept his peace of mind and said lightly to his adjutant: "Hudson, order the 12-pounder gun in the bow to be loaded with chain shells after the enemy ships enter the firing range, bombard them, signal to the other ships, and the fleet will be converted into a frame combat formation." Charlotte knew very well in his heart that, judging by the speed of the enemy's warships, there would not be enough time to complete the fleet turn. The only thing to rely on was the battleship's firepower and the two-foot-thick planks.

Red-haired Rona admires such clippers, and she loves them more than a grand dance party since she was a child. At sea, a fast boat means survival and strength, and it also means safety if necessary.

"Father, please allow me to go to the bow of the ship."

Charlop looked at her daughter's expectant eyes and knew that she had not refused her daughter's request, especially when it was time to fight. He still had a lot of confidence in his daughter, so he just nodded and made a "please" gesture.