The Leak

Although he paid tribute to the relentlessly fighting America, Zola would not show any mercy. However, at this moment, the France squadron that had rushed from New Orleans was already approaching, especially the frigate D'Artagnan, which had followed them.

The D'Artagnan was a standard frigate with 40 guns, and under normal circumstances, it would certainly be no match for the America. However, the situation is different now. At least on the port side, the America only has two guns left. Moreover, due to the loss of the bow mast, its speed has also decreased significantly. Therefore, even when facing the D'Artagnan, the America is now in a situation where it can neither fight nor escape.

Meanwhile, the Constitution was also struggling to evade the pursuit of the small United States gunboat. If it could recruit enough sailors in the port of Saint-Domingue, the Constitution could crush the USS Lafayette like an ant.

However, considering the complex situation on the Saint-Domingue, both Captain Zola and Victor were worried that a group of United States might be recruited there, and then these recruited United States might collude with the imprisoned United States... Wouldn't that be troublesome? Therefore, the Constitution did not recruit a single sailor in the Saint-Domingue. Instead, some sailors from the Free Trade were assigned to operate the ship.

The consequence of this was that although the Constitution had dozens of cannons, it didn't have a single gunner.

Even so, it was still not easy for the Lafayette to deal with the France Constitution. First of all, the Constitution was too fast. Although the Lafayette had specially removed some cannons to reduce weight and increase speed, it was still not easy to catch up with the Constitution, especially when the Constitution was focused on escaping.

The chase between two sailboats with similar speeds can sometimes last a long time, even as depicted in a certain movie, from low latitudes all the way to near the poles. The chase between the Lafayette and the Constitution now seemed to have that feel to it. So, even at this point, the two ships were still circling at sea.

However, during this process, the Lafayette also continuously attacked the Constitution with its ship's guns.

The cannons on the Lafayette were only 12 pounds, which were simply no match for the hull of the Constitution. The United States were well aware of this—after all, they were the ones who built the ship. However, the 12-pound cannons did have one use: they could be used to damage the Constitution's sails, thus slowing the Constitution down.

Moreover, compared to the hull, the sails are a much larger target, making them much easier to hit. However, precisely because the sails are so large, damaging them is not easy either. Cannonballs, even chain shots, can only tear a small hole in the massive sails, causing very limited damage to the entire sail. To significantly reduce the speed of the sailboat, multiple hits are required. And this obviously takes time.

So even now, the Constitution has not shown any significant slowdown. Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, the outcome is already decided. The Congress has turned around, the America has hoisted the St. George's Flag, and that terrifying steam warship is also heading this way.

Lieutenant Commander Murich, captain of the Lafayette, immediately concluded. "The operation has failed. The biggest problem now is how to escape."

He immediately ordered, "Full speed retreat!"

However, escaping the pursuit of the "Free Trade" wouldn't be easy, as the "Free Trade" was much faster. But she couldn't just give up, and Lieutenant Commander Murich, captain of the "Lafayette," knew her ship had another advantage: a shallower draft. There were places she could go that the France "Free Trade" couldn't. There happened to be such an area nearby, but it was uncertain where she would have time to escape to before the "Free Trade" caught up.

However, the Free Trade didn't actually intend to catch up with and destroy her. The Free Trade was running low on ammunition, nearing its critical inventory level, and it wasn't worth wasting it on such a small boat. In fact, the Free Trade only pursued her to relieve the Constitution.

By the time the Free Trade escorted the Constitution back, the battle at sea had reached its final moments. At this point, all of the America's cannons had been destroyed, and the D'Artagnan began relentlessly striking the America with chain shot—clearly, they wanted to further reduce the America's sailing capability before boarding and capturing the ship.

Under these circumstances, Captain Thomas gave the order to abandon ship. The wounded sailors, clinging to barrels and other floating objects, jumped into the sea, while Captain Thomas himself went into the cabin with a torch in hand. Soon after, the ship burst into flames.

At first, the France hoped to get on board quickly to put out the fire, but the fire spread very rapidly. Apparently, while the D'Artagnan was busy destroying the ship's sails, the sailors on board were already dumping gunpowder and other flammable materials everywhere.

If such a ship were to truly catch fire, even in later times it might not be possible to save it. At that moment, all anyone could do was watch it burn.

Looking at the America engulfed in flames, Captain Zola said to Victor, "Mr. Treville, we failed to capture the enemy ship this time... What a pity, it was truly a fine ship."

"What a pity, it was such a good ship."

Victor sighed in agreement, but then added immediately, "However, this ship is already outdated as soon as it entered service. The oceans are now dominated by steam warships."

"Fortunately, we are the only ones in the world with truly usable steam warships," Captain Zola said.

Just as Captain Zola was saying this, in Faslane Bay, west of Glasgow, Scotland, a new ship was undergoing secret testing. It was a steamship, but unlike ordinary steamships, it had no paddle wheels.

The ship wasn't large, and judging from its design, it was clearly a converted steam frigate that had been utterly defeated by France steamships off the coast of Ireland. It lacked paddle wheels, masts, and sails—in any case, it was an experimental vessel, and with a sailing warship accompanying it, even if the machinery malfunctioned, it could be towed back.

Now, in the evening sea breeze, the ship began to accelerate, while the escorting frigate "Surprise" gradually fell behind, unable to keep up with its speed.

"General, the experimental ship is already at least 15 knots. It seems that this is the secret to how fast the France steamships can run," Second Officer Jack Aubrey said to the man standing beside him, dressed in a general's uniform and carefully observing the experimental ship through binoculars.

"You're right. The jack propeller is indeed a brilliant design; it eliminates the steamship's greatest weakness in one fell swoop. With this technology, steamships can truly become real warships." The general sighed as he finished speaking.

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

"Yes, we succeeded. But Jack, the age of sail is long gone." The general reached out and patted young Jack Aubrey on the shoulder. "New ships mean new ways of fighting. Some things we've spent our whole lives researching may have vanished with the black smoke billowing from this ship. Fortunately, you are still young, and there's still time to learn new things."

"General, you're not old at all; you're not even fifty yet. And since you were able to learn all sorts of techniques for sailing warships and fleet warfare in the past, you must be able to develop the most suitable tactics for the new warships. Don't you think this task is incredibly challenging?"

"Ah, Jack, you're right. I shouldn't have had the thought of slacking off." The general laughed. "Well, you should also study hard. If my Victory is converted into a steam warship and you perform well, I'll let you come aboard the Victory..."

At this moment, the steamship ahead turned a corner and began its return journey. This area of the sea is relatively remote, with few ships passing by. However, it was already getting dark, and it was time to head back.

Neither Jack nor the "general" noticed that on the other side of the shore, a man was hiding behind a large rock, peering into their direction through binoculars...

So, a few days later, the three Bonaparte brothers quarreled again within the Bonaparte Family.

"All the signs indicate that, Joseph, your secrecy has been compromised; you have spies on your side. They stole the propeller's secrets," Lucien said.

"Lucien, this isn't necessarily because someone on my end leaked the secret," Joseph retorted. "The propeller's design is so simple that anyone could spot the secret at a glance. So I think it's more likely that the secret leaked out during production. And yet you're watching me and checking my people. This is seriously interfering with our work."

"Joseph, of course we'll check the production process, but are you absolutely sure there won't be any problems here? Checking won't hurt," Lucien said.

"Yes, Joseph, what's wrong with investigating? As long as no one is wrongly accused," Napoleon added.

"Alright, we can investigate, but it can't interfere with the normal work of the research department. In fact, we can't even let them know about this investigation." Joseph made a slight concession. "Furthermore, I want to emphasize again that propellers are extremely simple; you can figure them out in a glance, even simpler than mines. We absolutely cannot make the same mistake the Britain made with mines!"