Today the Sky Is Clear, the Blue Waves Run High

The Britain deployment of the Queen Elizabeth to North America certainly put enormous pressure on the United States, but on the other hand, it also significantly weakened their own power in Europe.

This situation immediately brought about a change.

On the very day Nelson's fleet attacked Savannah, a France fleet appeared off the Cardiff Port. This was a powerful fleet that included the battleships Imperator and Caesar. After Queen Elizabeth went to North America, there were no warships of their class in the British Navy for the time being.

However, the Royal Navy mustered its courage and sent a small fleet of two armored cruisers to approach France fleet, using flag signals to inquire about their purpose.

"They asked us why we're here?" On the bridge of the Imperator, Grand Admiral Treville said sarcastically, "Tell them we're on a freedom of navigation mission. We can go wherever we want on the open sea. It's none of their business!"

So the France fleet set up its battle lines and artillery formations just three nautical miles from the Cardiff Port, and began practicing the tactic of bombarding the port.

The France fleet then turned back from Cardiff, crossed the St George's Channel, and swaggered toward Liverpool. The British Navy, naturally, rushed from all directions to follow and observe the France freely.

The France fleet, unperturbed, continued its advance at a speed of about six knots until it reached the outskirts of Liverpool. There, it swaggered around freely before leaving Liverpool and sailing eastward, before finally taking another free turn outside Dublin.

As time went on, more and more Britain warships followed behind them. From just two armored cruisers at the beginning, almost the entire British Navy had now joined them.

As more and more Britain warships appeared behind them, the France began to feel the pressure.

"Alright, we should leave now. Otherwise, they might really start plotting something bad," said Grand Admiral Treville. The Irish Sea is a relatively enclosed and limited area. If the Britain were to deploy all their remaining naval forces here, they might take advantage of Li Yong's advantageous terrain and try to wipe out the France fleet.

So Admiral Treville glanced at the Britain fleet following behind his own, and then checked the movements of the Britain fleet observed by spies near various Britain ports. (This intelligence was first sent back to France by carrier pigeon, and then the fleet was notified via radio, which was still kept secret.) After estimating the possible Britain movements, he ordered the fleet to leave the Irish Sea.

At Marshal Treville's command, the fleet turned south and quickly accelerated to sixteen knots—the highest speed achievable by the Imperator and Caesar.

As the France fleet accelerated, the Britain fleet following behind began to falter. Apart from the newest cruisers, the other warships quickly fell behind.

The France fleet sped south at full speed. This move took the Britain by surprise. The Britain had indeed considered taking advantage of the France fleet's most important ships arriving in this relatively enclosed area to concentrate their forces and destroy them in one fell swoop. Of course, this idea hadn't yet received sufficient government support, but it was certainly one of the possible options. The France action, however, instantly turned that possibility into an impossibility.

Before the Britain fleet could concentrate in the Irish Sea, the France fleet once again passed through the St George's Channel, returned to the Atlantic Ocean, and then turned west, heading towards the western coast of Ireland.

By this time, even the Britain armored cruisers couldn't keep up with the France fleet's speed. The France fleet quickly outpaced the Britain fleet and appeared on the sea near County Clare. Carroll Port was the largest port under the control of the Irish Independence Army. However, the Britain had been deploying a squadron consisting of four armored cruisers in Galway and using this fleet to blockade Carroll Port.

Now, British Army have begun a counterattack in Ireland, and Ireland urgently needs more supplies.

Several merchant ships loaded with supplies urgently needed by the Ireland had arrived in the waters near Carroll Port, but they were unable to break through the British Navy's blockade on their own to deliver these vital supplies ashore.

The France fleet then joined these merchant ships and headed directly towards the Carroll Port.

Today, two Britain cruisers were "maintaining their presence" outside Carroll Port when they suddenly spotted a long column of smoke on the horizon. Then, a group of menacing France warships came into view.

The commander of the two cruisers, McDeford, knew from the sights of the opposing force that stopping them would be extremely difficult. The sheer number and quality of the opposing ships far exceeded the capabilities of his two cruisers.

However, he still commanded two cruisers to meet them, shouting through high-powered loudspeakers imported from France: "You are about to enter Britain territorial waters, turn around and leave immediately!" But the France hoisted a "D flag" atop their masts. The Britain knew that in the France flag signaling system, the D flag meant. "Our ship's steering gear has malfunctioned, take evasive action."

To put it more bluntly, the real intention behind flying the D flag was to engage in bumper boat racing. By flying the D flag, they could directly ram Britain warship attempting to block their path. The message was. "Get out of my way, or I'll ram you to death!"

This tactic, it must be said, was a common method used in later maritime struggles. A modern frontier poem from later times says:

Today the sky is clear and the blue waves are high, the D flag flutters on the mast of the lead ship.

I command the barbarians to get out of the way immediately; I'll only ram them, not salvage them.

This describes that practice.

The France warships, having hoisted the D flag, then rammed directly into the two Britain cruisers.

If the Britain had been more level-headed, they would have quickly realized that they had no chance of winning this bumper boat game. However, the Britain dared not fire their cannons, nor did they dare actually engage the French Army fleet in a bumper boat match; after all, a quick glance was enough to show they were no match for them.

However, the Royal Navy had never been in the habit of turning back in front of the enemy. So they could only guard the waterway while continuing to shout loudly, "You are about to violate the territorial waters of the United Kingdom! Turn around immediately... Turn around immediately..."

Then came a loud bang, "Boom!"