Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

The next morning, the “Leisure” veered towards Sweden, preparing to resupply there.

This would certainly take some time but was still preferable to setting sail empty towards North America.

However, the twin-masted sailing ship had barely headed 20 nautical miles north when the lookout once again shouted an alarm in a sharp voice.

Two minutes later, Maderno finally saw a British escort ship charging towards the “Leisure” from its port bow.

For the past two months, roaming British warships like ravenous wolves had been lurking everywhere from the English Channel to the North Sea, and bad luck could lead one to encounter several at once.

The “Leisure” was clearly having no such luck.

Moreover, this time the British warship showed great cunning, using a reef to block the line of sight, now less than 8 cables away.

One nautical mile equals 10 cables. In the vast Atlantic Ocean, the two ships were practically nose to nose.

The “Leisure” desperately turned portside, but a sailing ship needs to carve out a large arc to turn about. By the time it aligned in the same direction as the British warship, Maderno could already see the color of the British sailors’ uniforms with the naked eye.

The British sailors’ seamanship was evidently superior; within just 20 minutes, the escort ship had already appeared 200 yards behind and to the starboard side of the “Leisure,” hoisting signal flags that read “Halt immediately for inspection.”

The “Leisure” naturally had no intention of stopping obediently.

A month ago, Britain declared an “all-out trade embargo” against France, allowing the British Navy to seize any French merchant ship.

Stopping now would mean arrest by the British, after which only two fates awaited: imprisonment or hard labor.

After a few minutes of deadlock, the British warship opened fire.

Accompanied by deafening thunderous sounds, seven or eight massive water plumes erupted around the “Leisure,” terrifying everyone aboard into shouting, “Run fast!” and “Accelerate!”

The British gunners were remarkably skilled, and after two rounds of calibration shots, two 18-pound cannonballs struck the “Leisure” accurately, tearing holes in its stern cabin and gun deck.

Maderno could hear the triumphant shouts of British officers in the distance, likely ordering a reload.

He shut his eyes in despair.

At this rate, the “Leisure” would soon be doomed…

“Mr. Maderno!” The boatswain suddenly rushed over, shouting to him, “Please give the order, what should we do now?”

“Me? Give the order?”

“Yes, yes! The captain is dead, and Mr. Juno is gravely injured. You are now the acting captain!”

Juno was the ship’s first mate.

Maderno felt the world spin around him.

He had only joined this smuggling ship to scrape together some living expenses; what qualified him to direct the “Leisure” in a cat-and-mouse game with a British warship?

The British cannons roared once more; the “Leisure” shook violently again as some unknown part got hit.

Maderno hesitated for just a second before turning pale and saying to the boatswain, “Raise… raise the white flag, lower the sails…”

“Oh, oh, alright.”

The boatswain was about to turn away when the lookout shouted, “Ship incoming at 4 o’clock!”

Maderno instinctively raised his binoculars and then froze.

It was an oddly shaped three-masted sailboat, flying France’s blue fleur-de-lis banner, sailing straight towards them.

On the suddenly appearing three-masted ship, Baron Fokard gazed nervously at the distant British escort ship, shaking his head incessantly. “Mr. Ba’er, the ‘Cloud Mist’ carries an important mission, you shouldn’t be taking such risks.”

Captain Michel Ba’er smiled and replied, “You needn’t worry, I am confident we can disengage from danger at any time.

“Don’t you feel like we are a knight challenging a dragon right now? Oh, my grandfather was a knight, and he fought during the Thirty Years’ War…”

The voice of the lookout came through the speaking tube: “700 yards from the enemy.”

Captain Ba’er gave Baron Fokard an apologetic look and turned to instruct the first mate, “Shift west by one compass point; skim past that fellow’s broadside, but maintain distance.”

He then called into the speaking tube again: “Increase boiler pressure, prepare to engage the paddle wheels.”

From the porthole, Baron Fokard could see the gun ports on the right side of the British warship already opening. He swallowed hard and muttered softly, “Jesus, protect us.”

A few minutes later, the “Cloud Mist” passed the escort ship’s starboard side at 450 yards, its three portside cannons spewing flames at the British.

Of course, at such a great distance, the 18-pound cannons of the “Cloud Mist” could not possibly damage the enemy ship—but it was akin to spitting at a ferocious beast: the harm was negligible, but the insult was complete.

Sure enough, the British warship hesitated briefly, then veered right to pursue the “Cloud Mist.”

Maderno, watching the peculiar ship slightly larger than the “Leisure” lure the British away, was so moved he nearly burst into tears. He immediately turned the helm with force, frantically fleeing in the opposite direction.

Once the “Leisure” gained distance from the British warship, he hurried to look back, only to see black smoke billowing from the brave and peculiar ship.

He raised his binoculars in confusion and noticed, for the first time, that the rear of the strange ship had two waterwheel-like wooden paddles that had started rotating and slapping the water.

“What is that?” asked the newly promoted second mate, Demville, who had also seen this. “Is it on fire?”

Maderno shook his head. “It’s a steamship; I’ve heard people talk about them in Ostend. Many such ships operate on the Rhine River for transport; they’re incredibly fast.”

Demville widened his eyes and nodded.

As the two ships neared the horizon’s edge, he clearly saw that the distance between the steamship and the escort ship was steadily increasing.

The “Cloud Mist” was no ordinary steam paddle ship used on the Rhine River. For long voyages across the seas, such small boats would never suffice.

This was a specialized merchant ship rushed out by the Brest Shipyard two months before the war began at the request of the Crown Prince.

Its power system mimicked the paddle steamships used in inland river navigation, but carried an improved LJ26H steam engine capable of delivering 29 horsepower.

Though this steam engine was relatively weak for an ocean-going vessel and boosted speed by less than one knot, it was sufficient for eluding British warship entanglements.

Frankly, paddle steamships were ill-suited for ocean navigation; their fragile paddles were easily destroyed by rough seas, and coal resupply points were sparse. However, Joseph cared little about such drawbacks.

As long as these ships broke through the coastal blockade and entered the vast Atlantic Ocean, the chances of being spotted by the British became negligible.

In pre-radar times, locating a ship in open sea was harder than picking out a single grain in a wheat field.

Moreover, Britain could not extend its blockade to America, so even if the paddle wheels broke down later, it wouldn’t matter—the Atlantic could be crossed using sails alone.

This “makeshift” specialized merchant ship was, for now, the only means of breaking through Britain’s maritime blockade.

Because the Brest Shipyard had devoted most of its production capacity to steam battleships, there were currently only seven of these specialized merchant ships.

Yet they were able to bring back some sugar and cotton from America, which held strategic significance for French trade.

After all, every pound of sugar France could secure meant one less pound for Britain.

It should be noted that since the war began, fears over sugar supply in the British market—Europe’s largest sugar production area was in France, supplying nearly half of Britain’s sugar—had led to British sugar prices soaring by a staggering 4.2 times compared to before the Caribbean independence movement!

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