Napoleon II Reborn

Although he achieved good results, Wasser did not look happy at all, but his face was ashen. For no other reason, the French expeditionary fleet also lost several warships, and even the "former dreadnought" class battleship "Centurion" was severely damaged, losing half of its combat effectiveness, and its power system was also severely damaged. Loss of power, at this time, is a very terrible thing. This time the French expeditionary fleet adopted a surprise attack, and had to withdraw quickly after the battle, and the injury of the 'Centurion' became a burden to the entire fleet, and in the end, it was only expected to be abandoned.

The naval battle is still going on, and the resistance of the Canadian mainland fleet is still going on. Although they have no chance of winning now, they still fight to the end. Under the siege of the French expeditionary fleet, the Canadian mainland fleet was completely sunk in less than an hour. However, their counterattack before they died still damaged Wasser's flagship "Fearless". Although it was not a serious injury, it made Vassell very embarrassed and made him very angry.

"Close to the coast and destroy all Canadian troops that continue to resist." Wasser ordered with red eyes.

The French expeditionary fleet faithfully carried out Wasser's order. Several 'Bonaparte'-class warships approached the coast and carried out devastating bombardment of several Canadian artillery positions that continued to resist. In less than 20 minutes, The Canadian troops who persisted in resistance were all wiped out.

After all resisting Canadian troops were wiped out, Wasser's anger did not subside, but showed signs of intensification. Because of this, he issued an order that was considered inhuman by later generations. "All warships are approaching the coast and shelling St. John's. This important Canadian naval base must be destroyed as soon as possible." Wasser ordered with a blank expression.

Almost everyone thought that they had misheard the sudden order from Vassell. Although France has always used methods of mercilessly destroying the enemy, it is still necessary to open fire on those unarmed civilians. Few people can do it.

"Your Excellency, Marshal, do you want to think about it again?" Bennett hesitated for a while, and finally asked.

"There is nothing to hesitate, execute the order." Wasser ordered with a cold face.

The signal soldier immediately prepared to issue Wasser's order to the ships. Although he couldn't bear it, his duty as a soldier made him obey Wasser's order. At this time, Bennett said: "Slow down! Marshal, the Canadian mainland fleet has been wiped out by us, and we don't need to waste any more time here. Besides, all the people in St. Johns are unarmed civilians. They will be condemned by the world when they open fire."

"In my eyes, there is no so-called distinction between civilians and soldiers, only the enemy and our own people. You also understand the strategic significance of St. Johns. Since we cannot occupy it, we must destroy her. Only in this way can Canada be truly consumed. strength. You may think that my order is very cruel, but if we lose this war, I am sure that our enemies will not show mercy to our citizens. What you said to me There is no need to doubt that this is how the British fleet treated Iberia back then. And the Canadian government has completely inherited the previous British style. Therefore, in order to ensure that such tragedies will not happen in France in the future, we must nip this crisis in its infancy " Wasser said coldly. He experienced the British Royal Navy's retaliation against Iberia, and the original scene is still vivid in his mind. Therefore, he hated Britain very much, including Canada, which inherited Britain.

Although many people still doubted this, they still carried out Wasser's order without hesitation. All the French expeditionary fleet aimed the main guns of the battleships at St. Johns, and after receiving the order to fire, they all launched a fierce shelling on St. Johns.

Almost instantly, St. Johns ignited a raging fire, and important strategic targets such as ports, barracks, and warehouses were the first to suffer fatal blows. Then factories, hospitals, schools, and civilian residences were shelled one after another. Under the shelling that lasted for an hour, the entire St. Johns was turned into a sea of ​​​​flames. Innocent civilians struggled in the fire, groaning in pain. Human life seems so fragile at this time. This is war, and war is bound to be accompanied by casualties, which is an unavoidable iron rule.

Taking one last look at St. Johns, which had turned into a sea of ​​flames, Wasser gave the order to set sail. The French expeditionary fleet began to leave St. Johns and move on to its next goal.

Regarding the choice of the next target, Vassell and Bennett had a disagreement. Wasser insisted on following the original plan, going south around Newfoundland, then across the Cabot Strait, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, around the Gaspé Peninsula, into the St. Lawrence River, and then up the river to attack Quebec. .

Bennett advocated going south to attack Halifax, another Canadian naval base. The reason is also very simple. If it wants to attack Quebec, the French expeditionary fleet will not only have to face the interception of Canadian Army troops, but also the pursuit of the US Navy. In this case, the situation of the French expeditionary fleet will be very dangerous, and if it is not done well, it is very likely that the entire army will be destroyed here. Now the strength of the French navy has been seriously damaged. If the French expeditionary fleet is wiped out again, the strength of the French navy will be even more stretched.

However, the benefits of attacking Quebec are definitely greater. If Quebec is destroyed, Canada's shipbuilding capacity will drop a lot, and the construction of the most powerful warship that Canada has developed now-the "King Yaser" class warship will also be forced to stop. Therefore, Wasser urged the French expeditionary fleet to attack Quebec.

When the two were at a stalemate, the alarm sounded. Just south of the expedition fleet, a Canadian fleet was spotted.

"That should be the Canadian fleet in Halifax." Wasser put down the binoculars and said.

"It should be right." Bennett agreed.

"All ships are ready to fight and destroy this fleet." Wasser quickly issued a combat order.

The Canadian fleet also spotted the French expeditionary fleet. But they were ordered to go north to support St. Johns, but now they encountered the French expeditionary fleet here, which obviously meant that the Canadian mainland fleet led by Dennis had encountered an accident. what can we do about it? The Canadian general couldn't make up his mind for a while.

Just when he was about to ask the Ministry of National Defense, and then decide whether to fight or not, the French expeditionary fleet had already killed them, and they had to passively fight.

In the case of a huge disparity in strength, the outcome of the naval battle has long been doomed. After more than an hour of fighting, at dusk, the naval battle finally ended. In the Canadian fleet, only one "Canada" class warship and one "King" class warship escaped, and the rest of the warships were all sunk. The French expeditionary fleet also paid the price of one "Iberia"-class warship being sunk, one "Bonaparte"-class warship and two "Iberia"-class warships being damaged.

"We don't need to go to Halifax now, do we?" Vassell asked.

Bennett nodded, he knew that now he could not stop Vassell anyway. The Canadian fleet stationed in Halifax has basically been wiped out, and it doesn't make much sense to go to Halifax again.

Taking advantage of the night, the French expeditionary fleet crossed the Cabot Strait and entered the Gulf of St. Lawrence. By the morning of May 25, the French expeditionary fleet had begun to circle the Gaspe Peninsula and enter the St. Lawrence River. Here, the French expeditionary fleet was stopped by Canadian Army artillery. The Canadian Army artillery invested a large number of heavy artillery units to establish artillery positions on both sides of the St. Lawrence River to attack the French expeditionary fleet.

Facing the blocking of Canadian artillery, the French expeditionary fleet adopted two attitudes~www.wuxiaspot.com~ One is to avoid as much as possible to save time. The other is to give those Canadian artillery positions a devastating blow with powerful firepower.

In this way, fighting and walking, it took nearly a day and a half, and the French expeditionary fleet finally arrived in Quebec at noon on May 27. When the French fleet entered the St. Lawrence River, Canada had guessed that the target of the French expeditionary fleet was Quebec. Therefore, on the one hand, they deployed heavy troops to actively defend Quebec, and on the other hand, they withdrew Quebec's civilians, workers and experts. However, due to the urgency of time, only some personnel could be evacuated. As for those large equipment, it was basically impossible to take them away.

Fierce artillery battles were launched in Quebec. Although the Canadian military deployed 4 heavy artillery regiments and 7 artillery regiments in Quebec, they were still at a disadvantage in the face of the sharp artillery fire of the French expeditionary fleet. Small casualties, but nothing to prevent the French expeditionary fleet from destroying Quebec.

Finally, Quebec was in ruins, and the Canadian shipbuilding industry suffered a devastating blow. The French expeditionary fleet was also scarred. The "Centurion" "Pre-Dreadnought" class warship, which had been injured long ago, was sunk here.

The mission was accomplished, and Wasser gave the order to withdraw the troops. It's just that what they don't know is that the US Navy's 1st Fleet is now waiting at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River.