30. The Elaborate Plan to Juke the British Navy Out of Position
To achieve temporary local superiority in the English Channel, an elaborate plan was hatched for the Franco-Spanish fleets in Brest and Toulon to slip past the British blockade, then sail to the West Indies. There, they were to elude the pursuing British and ditch them somewhere in the Caribbean, then link up and unite forces near Martinique. That done, the newly united Franco-Spanish fleet, whose combined strength should now be greater than that of the British fleet guarding England, would sail back to Europe.
There, Napoleon’s navy would establish temporary naval superiority over the English Channel, long enough to safely transport his army to England. It was an ambitious plan. The kind that Napoleon liked, with rapid movements that trick a superior enemy into a reaction that leaves his forces dispersed, providing an opportunity for a sudden concentration against an isolated portion of the enemy’s forces.
