April 2, 1797.
After a brief consultation, Count Floridablanca and Archbishop Brienne signed the supplementary clauses to the Treaty of Fez.
France obtained ownership of Ceuta Port and granted ships from Spain the right to enter the port for resupply.
France and Spain would form a Combined Fleet—each contributing at least five third-rate or higher Battleships and ten fifth-rate or higher warships. France would also provide twenty-five Steam Warships, while Spain would provide fleet supplies—to jointly cut off the British Navy's seaborne supply line to Gibraltar.
Well, they claimed they would cut it off, but in reality, that was basically impossible.
In an area as narrow as the Strait of Gibraltar, the maneuverability advantage of France's Steam Warships could not be brought into play, while the British Navy could rely on its numerically superior Battleships to fight a positional battle.
At most, they could seize opportunities to harass transport ships.
However, Joseph knew that historically, the French and Spanish navies had not cooperated particularly well in the Battle of Trafalgar. Thus, he also intended to use the fighting around Gibraltar to let the Combined Fleet undergo a lengthy period of coordination, laying the groundwork for a future decisive battle in the Atlantic Ocean.
In addition, France and Spain would dispatch a total of fourteen thousand troops to besiege Gibraltar by land—the place was simply too narrow, and that many troops could barely even deploy there. Of them, the French Army would contribute six thousand men, and the Spanish Army eight thousand.
The Mediterranean Sea was once again filled with the smoke of war.
While Surt was busy helping the people of Spain clean up Morocco's mess, in the great hall of Gatchina Palace in Saint Petersburg, England's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fox, was suffering the greatest setback of his diplomatic