The Fox of France - Chapter 277: Victory

The valiant “Old Ironclad” abruptly veered its course, almost colliding with the “Free Trade” ship, rapidly closing the distance between them.

“Get closer! Close enough to blast their faces!” Captain Heer shouted, boosting the morale of his crew.

The people of this era were fiercely patriotic, and Americans, in particular, were known for their warrior spirit. They adhered to the principle of never backing down, valuing bravery above all else. Although the French initial salvo had caused considerable casualties, it had not dampened their resolve. If anything, it seemed to fuel their fury.

The gap between the two warships swiftly diminished, from about a hundred meters to eighty meters, sixty meters, and then forty meters.

Captain Heer was about to issue the command to fire when the French on the opposing ship unleashed another round of simultaneous fire.

Their aft guns boasted a clear rate-of-fire advantage. In fact, they could have fired even faster if their gunners were more experienced. The distance had closed so much that even with traditional cannons, they were virtually guaranteed to hit.

Now, at less than forty meters apart, even old-style cannons wouldn’t miss. So, this salvo from the “Free Trade” ship found its mark, hitting with all nine heavy cannons.

In contrast to the previous salvo when the French questioned the defense of the American “Super Cruiser,” they had used specialized armor-piercing shells. This had resulted in some of the shells, particularly the armor-piercing ones, causing over-penetration and thus failing to deliver maximum damage.

So, for this round, Captain LaRoche ordered their ammunition to be changed to armor-piercing personnel-damaging shells.

These shells were essentially solid projectiles, distinguished by a series of deep grooves along their length. These grooves generated a significant concentration of stress during penetration, leading to fractures and fragmentation. While not as powerful as high-explosive shells, these armor-piercing personnel-damaging shells caused more substantial damage once they penetrated the enemy’s hull.

As a result, this salvo inflicted even greater losses on the Americans. Nearly one-third of the gunners in the lower gun deck of the “Constitution” had been incapacitated.

Yet, this didn’t crush the American morale. The “Constitution” continued closing the distance, coming within thirty meters.

“Fire!” Captain Heer bellowed.

Many of the heavy cannons on the “Constitution” had already suffered damage from the previous two volleys. More importantly, the gun crews had incurred heavy casualties, leaving many of the cannons unmanned. Out of the twenty-three heavy cannons, only eighteen were operational.

However, Captain Heer believed that even with eighteen cannons, this volley would severely hurt the French. At this distance, they couldn’t possibly miss.

Reality, however, delivered a heavy blow. While none of the American gunners had been killed, every one of their fired shells had ricocheted off the “Free Trade” ship’s external armor plating and splashed harmlessly into the sea.

At such close range, they couldn’t penetrate the French warship’s hull. Firing cannons or any other long-range weapons had become futile; their cannons couldn’t breach the French ship’s thick armor.

“Get closer! Get closer! Prepare for boarding!” Captain Heer shouted. Since the cannonade wasn’t working, boarding was their only chance to turn the tide. The French warship’s smokestacks were billowing thicker smoke, indicating their steam engines were coming online. Escape was no longer an option. They had to get in close, entangle their rigging with the enemy’s rigging, and settle it with close-quarters combat. At this point, boarding the French ship was the “Constitution’s” only chance for victory.

The “Free Trade” ship initially aimed to avoid boarding at all costs. Naturally, it made sense to avoid close-quarters combat when you could win from a distance. However, they had still prepared for boarding, just in case.

Initially, there was a suggestion to outfit the ship with “Greek Fire” like on the Fire ships, but they quickly realized that having Greek Fire on a warship was dangerous. When under fire from enemy grape shot, the Greek Fire could easily ignite the ship itself. So, the idea to install Greek Fire on warships was swiftly dismissed. However, another proposal, equipping the ships with “Broad Swords” to fend off boarders, was implemented.

Throughout the “Free Trade” ship, small squares with the message “this side towards the enemy” were hung in various locations, such as the masts. The entire deck was covered by these “Broad Swords.”

The “Constitution” closed in, and under the leadership of Captain Heer, American sailors swarmed onto the “Free Trade” ship’s deck.

There wasn’t a single Frenchman in sight on the deck, which made Captain Heer uneasy. However, they were already in a difficult situation with no way to retreat, similar to the famous Chinese idiom: “At this point, you either ride the tiger or be eaten by it.” They had to continue on this path, no matter how perilous.

“Follow me!” Captain Heer shouted while waving his sword, leading the soldiers towards the stern of the ship. Some fired their guns haphazardly towards the stern as well.

Just as Captain Heer and his men approached the stern, explosions rocked the “Free Trade” ship’s deck. Countless iron balls swept across the entire deck like a storm, knocking down all the American soldiers who had boarded.

The “Constitution” had a crew of four hundred, with over a hundred casualties from the previous naval battle. Now, nearly another hundred lay on the “Free Trade” ship’s deck, lifeless.

Even more disastrous was the fact that the soldiers who had boarded the “Free Trade” ship were among the most capable on the “Constitution.” Moreover, both the Captain and the First Officer were among the casualties. With nearly half the crew of the “Constitution” gone, they had lost their command structure and were in complete disarray.

At this moment, a large contingent of French soldiers emerged from various hatches on the deck. They were armed with the latest revolvers and double-barreled shotguns, advancing towards the “Constitution.”

The remaining forces on the “Constitution” were no match for the French assault. Soon, the French gained control of several key positions on the “Constitution.”

The Americans retreated beneath the deck, while the French began lobbing hand grenades inside.

After a barrage of hand grenades, American voices from below shouted, “We surrender!”

Once the combat personnel had secured all key positions on the ship, the casualties on both sides were tallied. In this battle, eleven French soldiers were killed, all of them in the fight after boarding the “Constitution.” Twenty-six were injured, with the majority wounded during the hand-to-hand combat that followed. There was only one case of injury from an American who had stumbled on his own ship’s deck and grazed his palm on a fallen U.S. bayonet.

Meanwhile, two hundred and twenty-two American soldiers were killed, and most of the remaining hundred-plus were wounded to varying degrees. Only two remained unscathed.

“Captain, we’ve won quite impressively,” Victor congratulated Captain LaRoche upon seeing the numbers.

“The main reason was their misjudgment of our strength. Once that miscalculation happened, there was no turning back. In fact, I think that the American captain’s command wasn’t bad at all. He made swift and resolute decisions. Even if he had encountered a first-rate battleship like the Victory, not just us, his performance would have been much better,” Captain LaRoche began to sing praises for the deceased American captain.

But this was quite normal; generally, praising one’s enemy was always a safe bet. If you lost, it was because the enemy was too formidable. If you won, it was because the enemy was exceedingly strong. Otherwise, what was the point of expending so much effort to defeat a group of S13s without any glory?

“Is this ship still in good condition?” Victor asked, looking at the captured “Constitution.”

“This ship is excellent. Although it suffered some damage during the battle, it can be repaired and become a fine vessel once more. We’re not far from Santo Domingo now, and we can certainly take this ship there,” Captain LaRoche said. “However, we were attacked by an American warship here, and I suspect the situation in Santo Domingo may have changed somewhat. Mr. Treville, I wonder if these developments might complicate your mission.”

“Oh,” Victor replied, “Thank you for your concern. You’re right; Santo Domingo has probably experienced some unfavorable changes. But the reason I came here was to deal with precisely such a situation, wasn’t it? Moreover, your victory today has been immensely helpful to my mission. With your victory and the sincere goodwill from France towards peace and development, Governor Dupont-Lautrec should be able to make a reasonable choice.”