Declaration of War

There has indeed been an opportunity to send warships to Britain recently. Last year, the Britain sent the Queen Elizabeth, which had been in service for less than a month, to France for a friendly visit. Of course, this was also an opportunity to demonstrate that the United Kingdom of Britain and Ireland is not to be trifled with.

Napoleon once remarked, "The Britain are like a pufferfish, trying to inflate themselves to appear more frightening."

Now, the France, under the pretext of a return visit, sent a warship to visit Britain. Of course, due to Napoleon's stinginess, the warship he sent was rather unremarkable—just an armored cruiser.

If simply sending an armored cruiser as a return visit to the battleship Queen Elizabeth already displayed contempt and discontent among the Britain, then sending this armored cruiser itself was an even greater slap in the face to the Britain.

The France dispatched the armored cruiser "Vicintoli," the same France cruiser that had recently rammed the Britain cruiser HMS Berkshire. Following the ramming, the France not only refused to apologize to the Britain for this barbaric act, but instead issued a commendation to the entire crew of Vicintoli "Vicintoli," awarding them a collective second-class merit. They also presented the cruiser with an honorary banner depicting a knight raising his shield and striking the enemy.

Of course, if that were all, it wouldn't be so bad. It would just be the France being shameless in their own home. But the fact that the France also sailed this ship to Britain for a "friendly visit" is like in another dimension, the Austro-Hungarian Empire first launching military exercises with Serbia as the hypothetical enemy on its border with Serbia, and then letting the crown prince wander around the streets of Sarajevo full of Serbia.

What's even more infuriating is that the France warship actually flew that flag of honor right in Portsmouth harbor.

Such rude behavior naturally enraged the Britain.

Britain newspapers were vehemently criticizing the France for their rudeness, and locals even staged demonstrations against the France. However, something unexpected happened next. Around midnight that night, the cruiser "Vicintoli" exploded and sank quickly. Fortunately, most of the sailors had taken up residence in special locations ashore, and there weren't many people on board, so although the ship sank, there were no casualties.

Initially, the Britain were somewhat gloating upon hearing the news. They speculated that the France, due to their lax discipline and inadequate maintenance of their warships, had caused the ammunition depot to explode spontaneously. Some even went so far as to suggest that the coal in the France coal bunkers spontaneously combusted, and that due to poor discipline, the soldiers were all ashore looking for France, so the fire went unnoticed. The fire then spread to the ammunition depot, and with a deafening roar, the ship sank.

Of course, this argument is completely unfounded, because if it really was the ammunition depot that made a loud bang, the "Vicintoli" would have sunk very quickly, giving no time for anyone still on board to escape.

Fortunately, the ship sank in a Britain naval berth. The water there was shallow, making it easier to search. The French Navy personnel were skilled divers and could even dive directly to the wreck site to assess the situation. According to them, there was a large hole on the starboard side of the hull.

That's normal; if it hadn't been blasted open, how could the ship have sunk so quickly? However, another situation is very problematic: the steel plates at the breach are all bent inwards.

Normally, if the explosion occurred inside the ship, the steel plates at the breach should bend from the inside out. The fact that this happened can only mean one thing— the French Army warship was sunk by an external explosive device!

The France immediately seized upon this issue, first blaming the Britain demanding they hand over the perpetrators within a specified time. The France propaganda machine also sprang into action, claiming that Portsmouth was a heavily guarded naval port; how could an ordinary person have possibly slipped a bomb in? It must have been done by the Britain government.

The Britain government, of course, stated that this was utter nonsense. The Britain ambassador to France even held a press conference to refute the claim, stating that the Britain had no reason to do such a thing.

"If it were a warship like the 'Imperado,' which would have a decisive impact on the French Navy, that would be one thing. But to use such methods to sink an armored cruiser like the 'Vicintoli' has a relatively small impact on the French Navy. Given that, we Britain aren't stupid; why would we do such a thing?"

However, when the reporters returned, their headlines read:

<Britain Ambassador says: It's a pity the ships sunk weren't "Imperial" and "Caesar"!> -- the Sun

<Britain's animosity towards France has reached an undisguised level> -- Science Truth Daily

Once the state's propaganda machine was in full swing, the truth became irrelevant. Immediately afterward, the France government issued an ultimatum to the Britain government, demanding that Britain agree to allow the France Ministry of Police to send personnel to Britain to conduct a full investigation into the incident. The Britain government was required to unconditionally cooperate with the investigators sent by the France Ministry of Police.

The Britain were clearly unwilling to agree to such a request. Firstly, Portsmouth was a naval port, containing a wealth of military secrets. Allowing the France Ministry of Ministry of Police to investigate would be tantamount to exposing their true intentions—that was unacceptable! Secondly, even disregarding secrecy, this would be a blatant infringement on Britain judicial sovereignty. Furthermore, what conclusions would the France draw? Certainly, conclusions unfavorable to Britain. If, through their "investigation," the France concluded that the matter was organized by the Britain Royal Family, would they then extradite the King or the Crown Prince to the France?

Of course, Britain's refusal did not disappoint Napoleon, because such a request was made precisely to elicit a rejection from the Britain. Therefore, after the Britain formally rejected France's unreasonable demands, Napoleon immediately delivered a speech at the Council of State, requesting permission to declare war on Britain.

The Council of State, being a rubber stamp, readily approved Napoleon's motion. Napoleon's speeches repeatedly drew thunderous applause from the Council of State; almost every time he finished speaking, the three-tiered members of the Council of State (who would quickly go up and shake hands when Napoleon came to meet them, raise their hands when Napoleon asked them to vote, and clap their hands when Napoleon gave a speech) would applaud and cheer.

After receiving authorization from the Council of State, Napoleon first declared war on Britain on behalf of the French Republic.

Immediately afterwards, Napoleon, in the name of the Roman Empire Emperor, declared that, in accordance with the Treaty of Friendship and Mutual Assistance between the French Republic Roman Empire and the Roman Empire French Republic, when either contracting party is invaded by a foreign enemy, the other contracting party is obligated to take all necessary measures, including sending armed forces, to help its ally resist the invasion.

Today, France's floating territory— France warships—has been attacked by the Britain without any justification. This is France being invaded by Britain. Therefore, in accordance with the Treaty of Friendship and Mutual Assistance between the French Republic and the Roman Empire, the Roman Empire, following France, has declared war on Britain.

The news of the France declaration of war against Britain did not surprise the Britain, because just two days earlier, the main French Navy vessels had left their ports and their whereabouts were unknown.

The entire nation of Britain was on high alert. The British Navy was no longer as strong as the France, but with the cover of its home ports and fortifications, it wasn't entirely incapable of fighting. However, the HMS Queen Elizabeth hadn't yet returned, so the Britain fleet was temporarily unable to sail and engage the France fleet in a decisive battle. But defensively, it could hold out for a while. Once Nelson's fleet returned, Britain could find an opportunity to engage the French Navy in a decisive battle.

However, the rapidly assembled France fleet did not head directly for the Britain mainland, but instead sailed west around Britain and into the turbulent Atlantic Ocean.

On the Atlantic Ocean, Nelson's fleet was still sailing slowly at six knots. They had no radio, so at this time, they were unaware that Britain and France had declared war on each other.

At a greater distance, a France cruiser was following far behind.

Upon spotting the ship, Nelson wasn't initially too alarmed. The France were following them with a clear intention: they feared their fleet might suddenly turn back, so they were trailing behind so that if the French did so, they could use their speed advantage to rush back and inform the United States.

Of course, it's perfectly normal for Nelson to make such a conjecture since he was unaware that the France possessed radio technology.

On the France side, Grand Admiral Treville received a constant stream of messages from the French Army cruiser "Portuguese Moon," gaining a clear understanding of the British Navy's situation.

With the assistance of his staff, Grand Admiral Treville quickly devised a route to ensure that the fleet could appear ahead of the Britain fleet at the most opportune time.

Relying on his intelligence advantage, Grand Admiral Treville constantly adjusted his speed and route. The two fleets were now rapidly closing in on each other, but while Grand Admiral Treville knew exactly when and where he would encounter the Britain fleet, Nelson was completely unaware that France had already declared war on Britain.

As arranged by Admiral Treville, the two sides would meet at dawn. This was an excellent time. As they rapidly approached, the cover of night prevented anyone from seeing the plumes of smoke from the chimneys. However, as the sun rose, the distance between them made battle inevitable.

Moreover, the positions of the two fleets would be particularly advantageous to the France. The France fleet was to the east, while the Britain fleet was to the west. In this way, when the sun rose, the Britain would be unable to see clearly due to the sunlight coming from the east.

To be honest, everything was going very well according to Admiral Treville's plan, except for one thing—the weather. The plan was that the morning sun would be a great help in covering the France troops' operations, but on the last night before the two sides clashed, the weather suddenly changed, and the sky became overcast.

This meant that the sun wouldn't be able to rise early the next morning. However, considering that the France fleet was much stronger than Nelson's, Grand Admiral Treville decided to continue on the original plan and prepare for the decisive battle the next day.

Because of the overcast weather, visibility wasn't necessarily good even in the morning. Therefore, Admiral Treville ordered the fleet to reduce its speed slightly.

Around seven o'clock the next morning, a massive fleet came into Nelson's view.

Nelson raised his binoculars and peered at the France fleet approaching him. His expression was grave, for he had already recognized the size of the French Navy force.

"That's the battleship 'Imperator', and the battleship 'Caesar'. Then there are the super cruisers 'Silk Road' and 'Enterprise'. The entire French Navy is practically here!"

If the Queen Elizabeth had not been damaged beforehand, Nelson would have been somewhat confident in defeating such an enemy. However, at this moment, his most important capital ship was unable to sail at high speed due to damage, which made him extremely nervous.

Both sides continued to close in. The French Army, initially positioned in a horizontal line, began to shift, attempting to seize T-positions.

At this point, Nelson realized the situation was dire, and he quickly ordered the fleet to turn to avoid being overtaken by enemy ships.

The two sides were getting closer and closer. When they were five kilometers apart, the France ships "Imperator" and "Caesar" opened fire on the British Army ships.

This first salvo missed, but the France quickly followed with another salvo. This salvo also failed to hit any target. However, the time spent between these two salvos was significantly less.

Both the Imperator and the Caesar used recoil-operated cannons, which naturally gave them a much faster rate of fire than the Britain were still using recoil-operated cannons. Although neither of the two salvos yielded any results, Nelson's expression was still very grim.

"Speed up, charge forward! We must hold back the France battleships, otherwise they will soon wipe out our rest of the ships," Nelson ordered.

Although the Queen Elizabeth had a large hole and the patch wasn't properly installed, its propulsion system was intact. Therefore, at this point, Nelson's warship was still able to maintain a speed of over ten knots.