Riding the Storm Out, Another Naval Affary ends poorly for Freedonia

       Louis the Ravenous sat on his throne leaning his head against his upthrust index finger which he was rubbing in small circles on his temple. He sighed deeply and asked, "So, what you are telling me is that the Northern Expedition has wandered off and gotten bogged down besieging some tiny port, the Gluttonians have failed to support our other troops in the efforts to free Viennee from the Ferndalian invaders and, on top of everything else, the wretched Ferndalians not only are patrolling just off our shore, they attack our ships as they are trying to return home.?" He raised an eyebrow and smiled dryly.

the situation at dawn, the ships were battered by last night's storm,

 all sustained some degree of damage; the smaller, handier and better crewed Ferndalian ships each got 1/2 d4 damage to each of their masts and 1/2 d6 to each hull section; the larger, less handy and indifferently crewed Freedonian ships suffered the same but did not halve the damage

the L'Apertif sailed straight east to cover the other two great galleons as they struggled to make way against the wind, the Frendalians ships quickly closed on the lone galleon

 

as her sisters slowly made way to windward 

the L'Apertif suffered from the attentions of the entire Ferndalian fleet

 

L'Digestif entered the fray with a bow-rake of the Broiler

 but the L'Apertif was denied a stern-rake on the Kettle due to her slow-loading heavy guns 

the endlessly energetic Olive hurried along trying to gain a stern-rake on the L'Apertif

 

frustrated by the slow-going and unable to bear the sight of the her sister being assailed L'Entree turned dead east and gained speed while L'Apertif and Kettle exchanged broadsides, L'Digestif fired at Broiler but received fire from both Broiler and Collander

 

suddenly realizing that they were sailing straight toward the reef both L'Apertif and Kettle began to tack to the North, Olive took this opportunity to stern-rake the L'Apertif; the damage from this took down two of L'Apertif's masts

 

Kettle continued to tack around L'Apertif's bow while the cocky Olive sailed alongside firing like mad and suffering from the full attentions of the  return broadside; seeing L'Apertif's plight L'Digestif turned to try to pass her a line and give a tow, L'Entree was finally close enough to fire but was blocked by her sister

 

the next turn saw some adept maneuvering to avoid collisions as the long-frustrated L'Entree finally got off an initial broadside into the Broiler which damaged her severely and caused her to strike her colors, the Kettle fired a devastating bow-rake into L'Apertif which took down the last of her rigging, the other ships were busy frantically reloading

 

 L'Digestif has forgotten that the now-hulked L'Apertif would drift and collided with her as she passed, before doing so she delivered a broadside into Broiler who replied in kind, seeing what had happened L'Entree steered to the north of L'Apertif to try to arrange a tow

 

the ever aggressive Olive turned north to try to line up another stern-rake on the now-doomed L'Apertif but had discounted the power of the wrecked ships cannon, the resulting bow-rake ruined the bold little frigate and she struck her colors, L'Digestif desperately turned to the south to avoid the reef colliding again with L'Apertif but suffering no damage, L'Entree suffered the attentions of Colander and Kettle while trying to get into a position to tow L'Apertif

 

blocked by the drifting L'Apertif and the sinking wrecks of Olive and Broiler L'Digestif had to sail far to the south to try to regain the fight while L'Entree sustained the battle against both  Colander and Kettle while tacking to the north again to avoid the reef

 

seeing the nearly immobile and virtually defenseless L'Apertif drifting slowly south the Kettle drove in for the kill and lined up a stern-rake, L'Digestive had finally gotten far enough to the west to start heading north once more, coming out of Irons the Colander turned east as the L'Entree bore west

 

the turn opened with the Kettle delivering a carefully aimed and devastating stern-rake to the L'Apertif, seeing the L'Entree making way northward again the Colander once more turned into the wind to keep its guns bearing, while far to the south the L'Digestif had gone to full sail and was finally making headway northward

 

being in the best position possible the Kettle loosed it sails and drifted south to stay in a raking position on the L'Apertif;  having headed far enough to the west to make the angle past the headland the L'Digestif came around into the wind, as did L'Entree who took advantage of Colander's stationary position and fired a broadside that greatly battered her hull

 

once more Kettle fired a stern-rake into the long suffering L'Apertif which sent her to the bottom, 

the remaining three ships clawed their way northward

 

the next turn saw Kettle deliver a bruising bow-rake at L'Entree

 

while L'Digestif and Kettle maneuvered toward one another

 

the battle had devolved into two one-on-one duels.....

 

.....again the faster, better crewed and more nimble Ferndalians had the advantage,

 as Kettle got into position to deliver a stern-rake to L'Digestif .....

 

...and Colander deftly evaded L'Entree's boarding attempts...

 

Kettle's stern-rake was devastating, nearly sinking the battered L'Digestif

 

Colander once more suffered the attentions of L'Entree's broadside

 

unable to aid her sister the L'Entree sadly rounded the headland to safety

 

while another round of fire reduced L'Digestif to a wreck and she lowered her colors

 

the situation at the end of the game, two Great Galleons sunk or struck at the cost of a frigate and a galleon, better crews count for more than massive guns

       "It seems so, your Majesty", his much troubled Chamberlain replied. "Reports from the field are incomplete but that is what they indicate".

       "In complete or not, what they show is failure at every turn. This is not how this year was supposed to be playing out. We will have to risk drawing troops from the northwest a to reinforce the central front with the intent of saving Vienee." His finger pointed toward the turbulent maritime provinces surrounding Huet le Mont. "Be sure to have the fortress commanders reminded to be doubly vigilant, we don't want any coup-de-main happening as befell my father. Baron du Marmont, how goes the Great Canal?" he pivoted his gaze to his Minister of the Interior.

       "Exactly on schedule, Your Majesty" the wizened old Baron smiled, happy to be the beraer of good news.

        "Well, that is a joyous sound in my ears, " Louis smiled at him and nodded, "Now, about my navy, or the splintered remains that are still floating", he looked across the King's Chamber at Count Curzon, Minister of Marine, lurking in the dimly-lit corner of the room, "Step into the light and provide me with the truth as to why, after phenomenal costs, we have been beaten so soundly" 

        Curzon gather his papers and cleared his throat before addressing the King."The situation is uniformly bad M'Lord" , he stated with a note of calm that surprised even himself. "The expectations that we held in the Spring have not been met. Of the six Great Galleons one is undergoing repairs in Pinatella harbor, two have been sunk and another is in need of a refit after the last battle. Meanwhile the Ferndalians grow ever more aggressive and confident and now pose more of a threat to our commerce than the Pirates. The Western Fleet has not returned from the New World yet so we have few remaining trained sailors available to us. The plague set back the training of the Fleet of the Middle Seas, I blame myself for allowing them to begin patrols before I was certain that the crews were sufficiently trained." 

       Louis looked at him for a long time, "I thank you for your honesty Count Curzon, if you had lied or tried to make light of the situation I might have had your head for treason. But there is too much precious knowledge in that head for me to take it off your noble shoulders. You told me that with the Great Galleons we would be the masters of the sea, yet here we sit unable to so much as go fishing. Frankly this is most exasperating."

       Curzon squared his shoulders and looked the King in the eye, "May I speak freely, Gracious Lord?"

       Louis sat up at the use of the archaic address, "You wish to speak to me as a 'man of the people' invoking your ancient right?" he asked closely gauging the response. If he gave the Count his permission he could not hold anything that was said against his noble servant. Curzon has served him for many years and his loyalty was undoubted. The king sat up in his throne, carefully straightening his doublet and wiping the creases from his breeches.  "You may, it is your right" he intoned.

       Curzon nodded and in a quiet and calm voice stated,"Lord your strategic insights are apt, your ability to command an army in battle is unmatched but ships at sea operate under rules that even you cannot command. Poseidon decides the path of the waves and the force of the wind and our simple sailors have to make do as best they can with what the Gods provide. It is not the fault of the brave souls on the ships, or the commanders of the navy that they cannot march to and fro as your armies do. That said, if our sailors were better trained they would be more adept at dealing with the acts of Providence. As Your Majesty is well aware the State owes me many millions, I would gladly set that aside if you would allow me, exclusively, to run the navy for the next year. I will faithfully execute the objectives set by you but I must have a free hand as to how that objective is accomplished, within the Laws of War and a Christian conscience, of course. I have said my peace".

         Louis steepled his fingertips and looked into the dark distance of the Chamber, calculating the many possible outcomes of this offer. "You can do no worse than what we have now, and I know your heart Curzon you would rather die than fail in a promise to me. So be it; you are no longer one of my ministers. You are now the Grand High Lord of All The Seas, all of my ships, from the largest to the most tiny are yours to use and command as you see fit from this day until the First of September in the Year of Our Lord 1621"