Threat

Lord Grenville then delivered a speech on behalf of the King of the United Kingdom for the fleet review.

Afterward, the sailors aboard the Victory deftly raised the mainsail, and the warship slowly headed out of the harbor.

Salute cannons immediately thundered from the port. Then, the melodious bugle calls of dozens of warships in the naval harbor rang out at once.

Lord Grenville gave the diplomats from various nations seated on the foredeck a slight bow and said with a smile:

"The fleet review officially begins. I wish everyone a pleasant afternoon."

Five massive first- and second-rate Battleships sailed past the crowd first.

Behind them came sixteen slightly smaller third-rate ships of the line, arranged in two columns.

After those were twenty-one Fourth-rate Battleships carrying fewer than sixty cannons.

Aboard the Victory, aside from the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, whose country still had some naval strength, the diplomats from every other nation stared wide-eyed in shock.

In truth, even the Dutch Navy, ranked fourth in Europe, had only a few Fourth-rate Ships as its main force.

As for naval dwarfs like Prussia, they did not even have many Cruisers.

Once that vast dark mass of warships had all passed before the Victory, Admiral Jervis said from the side:

"Next, please enjoy a practical demonstration of fleet formations."

A string of signal flags was immediately raised from the Victory. Upon receiving the order outside the harbor, the English Fleet promptly split into two groups. Each made a wide turn in the distance, formed into two battle lines, spread their sails to the fullest, and charged headlong toward one another at high speed.

Fifteen minutes later, the two battle lines began to converge.

The gunports along the broadsides of the two leading Second-rate Ships flew open, and more than forty