Just when the US military encountered setbacks on sea and on land, good news finally came back at sea. After searching the cruisers "Free Trade" and "Common Market" at sea for more than half a month, they finally discovered the British squadron and fought with the British squadron. They caused a very heavy blow to the British - both old-fashioned battleships of the British were sunk, but under their cover, the other ships successfully escaped. However, these ships were also damaged to varying degrees. It is estimated that they will not have combat effectiveness in a short period of time.

This battle also shows that the steam warship modified from old wooden warships is no longer combat effectiveness in front of real steel warships. In the battle, the French army, ah, should be the high-explosive bombs fired by the US 120mm caliber naval guns, can easily tear the hulls of wooden warships and create death with amazing efficiency.

On the contrary, although the British also replaced their warships with steel rifled guns, they received restrictions from the ships themselves (these old wooden ships are not worth spending a lot of money to renovate.) They simply replaced the iron cannons of the past with steel cannons. These cannons are generally small and have limited power, and they cannot penetrate the armor of the "Free Trade" and "Common Market".

Coupled with the difference in speed, the entire battle was almost two French warships hitting Nanshan Nursing Home. It can be said that in terms of battle, it has no meaning at all.

Of course, the French soldiers of the "Free Trade" and "Common Market" don't think so. They are all very proud, because according to the contracts they signed with the Americans, if they sink or capture no ton of British warships or British ships, they will have corresponding combat allowances, and the combat allowances are quite high, at least ten times that of their American counterparts. And more importantly, the Americans promised to pay them the wages they paid in gold coins. Although theoretically, one dollar bill and one dollar gold coins are completely equivalent to the value of the US military, in the case of continuous failures of the US military, the yellow dollar is still better than the green dollar.

Unfortunately, they searched outside for enemy ships for a long time. The "Free Trade" and "Common Market" almost exhausted all kinds of supplies on the ship, so they could no longer intercept the escaped British warships. Although they knew that the British warships were injured, they had to return to Halifax Port immediately. If the "Free Trade" and "Common Market" had sufficient freshwater and coal, they could rely on their speed advantage to get outside Halifax Port first and stop them. But now, they could only give up this piece of fat and go back to add coal and water to receive a bonus.

However, the French's victory at sea was not enough to reverse the situation. On land, they were still hung up by the British army that had been tactically ahead of more than an era. After burning Detroit, the British army continued to move south. Near Cleveland, more than 10,000 American troops gathered hastily and fought with more than 7,000 British troops (mainly Canadian militias) led by General Isaac Brock. As a result, the British army gave the Americans a tactical lesson, allowing them to know for the first time what was called straggling tactics and what was called infantry and artillery cooperation. The British army defeated the US army at only a small cost and approached Cleveland.

Because of fear of the same fate as Detroit, the US military simply did not resist in Cleveland, but directly withdrew from Cleveland. After the British army entered Cleveland, they seized several inland gunboats made by the Americans at the Cleveland shipyard. The US military retreated too hastily that they did not have time to destroy these things.

The British army stayed in Cleveland for a while because in the previous battle, the British army had consumed a large amount of supplies. They now had to stop and repair them to wait for the supplies sent by the rear through Lake Erie and more reinforcements.

The Americans also quickly mobilized troops from other areas to drive the British troops away from Cleveland.

During this period, the United States and the Republic of Santo Domingo reached a lease agreement, and leased two cruisers from Santo Domingo, and they returned to the Port of Halifax together with the Free Trade and Common Market. However, this fleet with the American flag and almost all members of the French did not find British warships in Halifax. It seems that the British also knew that Halifax was more dangerous, so they retreated directly into the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

The Bay of St. Lawrence had many shallows and reefs. So the French did not dare to enter this unfamiliar water at all, so they stuck the Cabot Strait and the Bell Island Strait again to prevent British ships from entering Canada.

However, at this time, the British had already received news that the Americans declared war on them, so there were fewer British ships foolishly loading them without escort. This disappointed the French navy soldiers who dreamed of making a fortune.

On the other hand, just as General Isaac Brock was waiting for supplies in Cleveland, the Americans began to concentrate more troops in Pittsburgh, about 200 kilometers away from Cleveland. At the same time, the "smuggling ships" set out from New Orleans were openly hung with the French flag, and continued to sail into New York, and then unloaded various smuggled civilian weapons and ammunition there. These things were quickly loaded onto the railway and sent to Pittsburgh in preparation for the British army that could leave Cleveland at any time and continue to attack Washington.

At the same time, a group of "French consultants" hired by temporary high prices appeared among the US military. Of course, the French government did not recognize that there were French consultants among the US military, and those people were just "volunteers" who were willing to help the Americans.

The addition of French "volunteers" and the various information they provided made American officers look very eye-opener. But at the same time, they were increasingly worried about the prospects of the war. Because they found that the gap between the US military and the army on the European continent was too big, and they had no time to educate soldiers and even officers in new tactics.

General Isaac Brock soon received the reinforcements he expected. Now the number of troops under his command has increased to 25,000, and both artillery and cavalry have been strengthened. The superiors hope that he can march towards Washington to force the US military to fight him. During a period of time, due to the restraint of France, it is difficult for the domestic troops to mobilize troops to support him. This makes it impossible for Canada, which has a smaller population and a worse industry, to be unable to support it first. Therefore, the superiors hope that General Isaac Brock can quickly defeat the US military and force the United States to surrender.
Chapter completed!