Hunting (Seeking Double Monthly Tickets)

At once, Orderly Officers ran back and forth across the ships, loudly relaying the captain's orders: "English Fleet spotted at two o'clock, two nautical miles away. Five merchant ships, two Cruisers, and two Frigates!"

Martin's heart leapt into his throat.

Cruisers were Fifth-rate Ships, usually equipped with forty-four cannon.

On their side, there were only three Frigates: Far Look, Seagull Wing, and Great Tide. Each carried only twenty-one guns.

If battle broke out, they had no chance of winning.

Logically, the captain should have immediately ordered them to steer clear. Yet their formation was clearly heading straight for the English Fleet.

He let out a long sigh in his heart. God, I had only just escaped disaster in the English Channel. Please don't let me die in the Mediterranean Sea like this...

Half a minute later, urgent drumbeats rang across Far Look. It was the battle alarm.

Clearly, the enemy ships had spotted the French warships as well. They slowly turned westward, presenting their port sides toward Far Look. A westerly wind was blowing across the sea; this was a typical tactic to seize the windward position.

At the same time, the merchant ships fled straight south, placing the English warships between themselves and the French formation.

"Pressurize the boiler!"

The captain's voice came through the speaking tube, followed by the same cry from the officer in the engine room: "Pressurize the boiler! Quickly shovel in coal!"

Thick black smoke rose one after another from the funnels of the three French Steam Frigates. Their speed abruptly surged, as though they were in the wind-lashed Atlantic Ocean rather than the calm Mediterranean Sea.

The English warships were clearly taken by surprise as well, hastily accelerating their formation adjustments.

The two galley Frigates in particular moved to the easternmost side, intending to