The column of smoke grew closer and clearer, a single column of smoke.
"The British North Arican squadron consists of six ships; if it were them, we should be able to see six columns of smoke. However, there's only one now, which must be a whaling ship returning ho," reasoned the Aricans logically. They dispersed their fleet in advance for a surrounding and interception maneuver—though whaling ships usually don't have steam-assist power and aren't fast.
As the smoke column drew nearer, through General Cadet's telescope, the ship finally erged in full from the horizon.
"Good heavens! That's... that's the 'Free Trade'! Damn it, how could she be here!"
General Cadet had once participated in a two-against-one battle with the "Free Trade," a ship that had beco a veritable nightmare for the Aricans. So familiar was he with this super-cruiser that, despite the considerable distance between them, he recognized the ship that had haunted his nightmares more than once.
"'Free Trade'? The 'Free Trade' has returned? What about the 'Common Market' then?" asked a young officer standing next to General Cadet, puzzled. He also noticed that General Cadet's hands were trembling slightly.
"It's not our 'Free Trade,' it's the British 'Indefatigable'!" General Cadet steadied his nerves and then spoke in as calm a voice as possible, "Order the fleet to regroup imdiately and prepare for battle!"
The Arican fleet, comprising three super-cruisers and three regular cruisers, began to reform and accelerate, ready for the confrontation.
General Cadet felt that although their ships were indeed far inferior to the British "Indefatigable" in performance, they had the advantage in numbers, which ant they weren't without a fighting chance.
After being ravaged by the French "Free Trade," the Arican navy had always been studying one question: how to counter the "Free Trade." When the French put the "Free Trade" up for sale, the Aricans were the first to bid, hoping to buy back the ship that caused them nightmares. However, the British intervened and snatched the "princess" from the Arican navy with a higher price—thus proving, according to the life principles his father taught him—to believe in God, to pay taxes according to the law, and to hate the British, was indeed reasonable.
After the British acquired the "Free Trade," the Arican navy continued to focus on how to deal with it.
From the technical details made public by the French during the sale of the "Free Trade," the Aricans discovered that their existing naval guns could not penetrate the defense of the "Free Trade." What to do? Naturally, they hurried to order from the French so guns capable of penetrating the armor of the "Free Trade." So, although the Aricans didn't get the "Free Trade" back, the money they brought to purchase it didn't return to Arica either. Instead, it was spent on expensive French long-barrel cannons.
These breech-loading, rifled long-barrel cannons, with an astonishing caliber length of thirty tis, were expensive not just for exploitation, as the longer the barrel, the more difficult it is to drill. The initial velocity of the cannonballs reached up to 600 ters per second, allowing them to easily penetrate the iron armor of the first version of the "Free Trade" from a distance of 500 ters. In this era, a distance of 500 ters in naval gunnery was already considered quite far.
Of course, the British also ard their newly acquired "Indefatigable" with the sa type of cannons. This was one reason the Aricans didn't armor their super-cruisers: within the effective range of normal artillery, the armor couldn't withstand French cannons anyway. So, they might as well save on the weight and gain speed by not armoring at all.
With cannons capable of penetrating the "Indefatigable's" armor, the Aricans were quite confident about this battle.
The two fleets began to close in on each other, with the Arican fleet's six ships forming two columns to et the advance. If both sides maintained their current courses, the "Indefatigable" would pass directly between the two columns of the Arican fleet. In the past, this tactic might have been considered, since back then the Arican cannons couldn't penetrate the "Indefatigable's" armor. All they had to do was to avoid the Aricans' desperate attempts at ramming.
However, the situation was now different. The Arican cannons could penetrate the "Indefatigable's" armor. So, if the "Indefatigable" chose this tactic, it could indeed benefit from being able to fire from both sides, but it would also suffer significant damage from receiving fire on both sides. Therefore, the British began to turn first.
The British knew they had several advantages over the Arican fleet:
First
ly, their ships had a higher speed, giving them a better chance to win the T-positioning ga, and their sailors were better trained.
Secondly, the British had modified the "Indefatigable" by removing the original side-mounted cannon arrangent and instead mounted two cannons on circular railings at the front and back decks, which could rotate over a wide angle. ??
After the British began to turn, the Aricans also started to maneuver to avoid being outflanked. The ensuing action saw both fleets circling each other on the sea, with the British trying to gain a position ahead of the Aricans, while the Aricans constantly maneuvered to keep their sides towards the British.
The "Indefatigable" had a slight speed advantage, but the Arican ships were more agile in turning, making it difficult for the British to secure the T-position.
After several turns, the distance between the two sides began to close, but due to the angle, the Arican side cannons couldn't aim at the "Indefatigable" to fire, whereas the "Indefatigable's" stern cannons could rotate and fire at the Aricans. Although the British only had two stern cannons and everyone was maneuvering at high speed, making accurate firing difficult, the initial volleys failed to hit.
However, being under one-sided attack without the ability to retaliate was highly demoralizing. And just because the first few shots missed didn't an the subsequent ones would too. At this distance, a hit would definitely cause significant damage to the Arican warships.
Indeed, after six unsuccessful shots, a cannonball finally struck the "Constitution," leading the Arican formation.
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