**Chapter 90**
Mexico-France War (5)
Bang!
The French officer had only been on the deck of the enemy ship for 30 seconds, boasting victory, when a bullet pierced his forehead.
"Now! Charge before they reload!"
They couldn't stay paralyzed with fear. The surviving French officer ordered a charge. The ship was large, but how big could the deck be? It was a size that could be crossed in less than a minute at full speed.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
The French officer's expectation that charging during reloading would lead to a melee was brutally shattered. The Mexican Imperial troops fired again without reloading.
"Cough!"
"What the hell! They're firing without reloading!"
"It's all or nothing! We're dead if we stop!"
Rat-a-tat-tat!
A distance of 3 to 15 meters.
Close, but not completely close, the 6-shot revolver pistols unleashed devastating power at that distance.
"Damn it! We're completely outmatched."
Admiral Armand looked down at the disastrous melee situation, feeling like he was about to swear, but he quickly assessed the situation.
"I knew it. They were clustered on the opposite deck. They were expecting this."
They had maneuvered to align the sides of their ships for an easy melee, with the side of their ship against the side of the enemy ship.
In a typical melee situation, even if they initially maintain their formation, they soon engage in a melee. The distance is so short that there's no way to stop the charging enemy. But the Mexican Imperial troops had managed to do it.
They were clustered on the opposite deck, firing revolvers, and the French soldiers were suffering catastrophic losses as they crossed the mere 10 meters. They were also firing at the clustered enemy, but the exchange ratio was desperate.
"We shouldn't have boarded. We should have stayed on the ships and continued the gun battle."
The rifles were better on the other side, but they had the advantage of firing down from a higher position, so the exchange ratio was about even. They had given up that advantage and rushed into a melee.
Admiral Armand regretted it, but it was already done. He needed to find the next move quickly.
"If we can't win, we need to preserve the fleet. That's how we can win the next battle."
Admiral Armand made a decision.
"We need to retreat. Send the retreat signal!"
"What? Now?"
Most of the soldiers had already boarded the enemy ship. The French soldiers were barely clinging to the enemy, fighting while suffering heavy casualties. Retreating now wouldn't make the enemy let them go, so the way back would be hell.
"Can't you hear? The enemy's rotating turret ship is targeting the frigates and brigs."
"That means..."
The main battle line, where the ships of the line were fighting, wasn't the only place where the battle was fierce. The frigates and brigs were also engaged in a fierce battle on the flanks.
If the rotating turret ships, which could inflict heavy damage on ships of the line, started attacking the frigates and brigs, they would be destroyed in an instant.
"Yes, if the medium and small ships are destroyed, we could be surrounded. We need to retreat now."
Admiral Armand interrupted his subordinate and quickly continued. The subordinate finally understood the overall situation of the battlefield.
"Yes! I'll immediately issue a retreat order!"
Ding-a-ling-a-ling-
He frantically rang the bell, sending a retreat signal and a messenger.
"What?"
The French officer who was fighting fiercely on the deck heard the sound of the bell and felt a chill down his spine. Wasn't that the signal to retreat?
"Damn it! We were just starting to fight properly!"
The bullets from his revolver ran out, and finally, the melee he had been waiting for unfolded. It was an unavoidable choice for the Mexican troops, as they couldn't avoid the enemy's swords while clustered together.
From this point on, it was up to each individual's ability. Some immediately drew their swords and swung them, some attached bayonets to their rifles and thrust, and some dodged and weaved, finally managing to reload their revolvers with six bullets.
No matter how good their equipment was, in this kind of melee, one mistake could result in a fatal wound and death. Finally, the French troops started inflicting significant damage on the enemy.
"Re- retreat!"
It was an order even he couldn't understand, but the ship wouldn't wait forever.
"Retreat? What the hell are you talking about?"
"Don't be crazy!"
The French sailors couldn't understand the order. They had fought their way through so many casualties, and now they were supposed to retreat? And would the enemy just let them go if they retreated? It was an absurd order.
The battlefield situation was favorable enough. The French had suffered overwhelming casualties, but they still had enough troops left to fight, as their total force was much larger.
The soldiers couldn't understand, but the officer was desperate.
"The ship is leaving! Retreat now! Retreat!"
"Damn it!"
Some soldiers, hearing his desperate cry, wanted to retreat, but the situation wasn't that simple.
The French warship's deck was also actively providing support fire downwards, lowering ladders as well, but how could they escape when the guy in front of them was sure to stab them the moment they turned their backs?
Thwack!
"Ugh!"
Some pretended to swing their weapons at the enemy, then kicked them to create distance and quickly climbed the ladder, but not all French soldiers had that ability.
Captain Armand watched the scene anxiously, but he had reached his limit.
The enemy's rotating turret ship was hunting down their frigates and brigs too easily.
"Unfortunately, we don't have time to wait any longer."
"...Yes, I'll get them to leave."
The subordinate relayed the order.
The soldiers who had stayed on the ship to provide support fire began to move busily, preparing for departure.
"What? What's going on? The ship is leaving!"
"What? What the hell!"
Over a hundred French soldiers were still fighting in the middle of the enemy deck, and they were leaving?
The officer, who couldn't bring himself to leave first, shouted.
"Wait! Surrender! We surrender! All French troops surrender!"
This happened in various parts of the battle line, but not everyone could surrender.
The ships at the ends of the battle line didn't hear the signal due to the distance and the sound of the fierce battle, and the messenger arrived late.
"Where are you going? Sons of the Mexican Empire! Board the enemy ships! We're going to take over their ships!"
"Woohoo!"
Unlike the 118-gun ship of the line, which had a massive number of soldiers assigned to it, befitting its size and importance, the 90-gun and 100-gun ships of the line had fewer soldiers.
After the devastating losses from the revolver attack, the balance of the battle was completely broken, and the melee ended before the retreat.
"Hook the grapples! Put up all the ladders you can!"
Thud! Thud!
Even though there was a height difference, the enemy had completely attached their ships, wanting to engage in melee. The Mexican Imperial soldiers easily boarded the French ships using grapples and ladders.
"There's barely anyone left!"
"This ship is ours now!"
"Surrender! We'll spare your lives if you surrender!"
The Mexican officer shouted in French, which he had memorized beforehand, and the French officer yelled back.
"Don't surrender! Anyone who surrenders will be summarily executed!"
The French troops resisted fiercely, determined not to give up their ship, but it was useless. Their melee capabilities had already been exhausted.
The battle was quickly settled.
As the flagship carrying Admiral Armand and the two 118-gun ships of the line on either side moved first, the ships next to them started to retreat. But there were ships that didn't move. Two on the left and two on the right didn't move.
"It's been a while since I sent the retreat order. What's with the ships that aren't following? Send another messenger."
"Yes!"
The messenger, who had gone halfway, turned back, having discovered something.
"What is it?"
"Admiral, it seems like the ships have been captured by the enemy."
"...What?"
Admiral Armand finally realized that his judgment had been flawed. He thought he had assessed the situation well, but he had judged it based on the situation of the flagship.
"Damn it. The retreat order was late."
As the admiral muttered, unable to muster the energy to get angry, his subordinate cautiously asked,
"What should we do?"
"What can we do? We need to retreat like this."
The retreating ships weren't in a safe situation either. The enemy warships were in pursuit.
Actually, this kind of pursuit between ships of the line is often meaningless because they are the same type of sailing ship, so they sail at similar speeds if they catch the same wind. But steamships were different.
Boom!
The Mexican Imperial armored frigates and rotating turret ships persistently followed, firing cannons.
"We need to protect the remaining ships of the line at all costs."
"Yes."
The 118-gun ship of the line is France's pride. If they lose this after already suffering heavy losses, even if they retreat safely, their lives could be in danger.
Of the 10 ships of the line, one was half-destroyed, and four were captured, leaving only five. They couldn't afford to lose any more.
"It seems like the rotating turret ships aren't following anymore."
"As expected, it's dangerous to sail those ships on the open ocean. Ignore the armored frigates and sail at full speed."
"Yes."
The 44-gun cannons, not even large caliber, couldn't inflict significant damage on ships of the line. The casualties were the remaining frigates and brigs.
But the armored frigates didn't chase them to the end and turned back halfway.
The French fleet, having caught their breath, had five ships of the line, five frigates, and nine brigs left.
They had lost over half their fleet.
***
The Mexican Imperial fleet, having won a decisive victory in the large-scale naval battle with France, entered the port of Havana in Cuba, which was right in front of them.
At the third shipyard in Havana, they started repairing the damaged ships.
"It seems like it's better not to repair the 74-gun ships of the line."
"Hmm, I agree they're in bad shape, but are they beyond repair?"
The admiral asked the shipbuilding engineer at the third shipyard.
"We could repair them, but the damage is more severe than expected, and the wood is different from the Mexican wood."
"Hmm... Let's repair the other ships first. Let's put the decision about the 74-gun ships of the line on hold."
"Yes, I understand."
The gun battle wasn't long, based on the standards of the 100-gun ships of the line and armored frigates. I guess even that time was quite harsh for the 74-gun ships of the line.
"Even in that situation, they won the melee and captured enemy ships. We should suggest additional rewards for the people who were on those ships."
As the admiral was thinking that, the results of the battle were also reported to the Mexican Empire's port of Veracruz.
"They won?"
"Yes, a decisive victory!"
"A decisive victory! Tell me more."
The Crown Prince, of course, believed they would win, but hearing that it was a decisive victory, he couldn't hide his excitement.
"They sank one enemy 90-gun ship of the line, and captured two 90-gun ships of the line and two 100-gun ships of the line! Our only losses were two 74-gun ships of the line that were half-destroyed."
There were also casualties among the frigates and brigs, but they were omitted. Even with those included, it was a decisive victory.
"We fought, and we actually gained more ships of the line? Hahaha! Is there a happier day?"
"Ah, there are also about 1,500 prisoners."
The Crown Prince wanted to celebrate with a festival, but there were also many casualties. It was only proper to hold the funeral first.
"Make sure to give generous compensation to the families of the deceased."
"Yes."
After the funeral, while the Mexican Imperial Navy landed on the French Caribbean colonies of Guadeloupe and Martinique, news of the defeat reached France.
The fleet, reduced by half from when it left, arrived at Brest harbor in France.
This event sent shockwaves through France.