Battle of Dover

Temeraire and Lily battling a Grand Chevalier. (c) Anke Eissmann

Real World

## Combatants

 British
 French

## Commanders

 Admiral Lenton
 Marshall unknown

## Forces

23 Dragons, ? Army
60 Dragons, ? Army

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### Background

After the Battle of Trafalgar, Napoleon's chances of a sea invasion of Britain are smashed. This made little difference, however, as he had been planning an entirely aerial invasion to take place while a large part of Britain's Aerial Corps was elsewhere, as they were at Trafalgar.

The invasion is to be accomplished by French-built "flying ships," -- light wooden platforms, triple-decked, and some 200 feet from front to back. Flown by four large dragons each, such as Yellow Reapers, these could easily carry 2000 men each on a short journey, such as the trip from Cherbourg to Dover. Napoleon has more than 60 dragons available by empting out his breeding grounds with any fit dragon and could land 50,000 men in a single day.

### Battle

The British dragons who had not fought at Trafalgar, including Lily, Maximus, Temeraire, Messoria, Nitidus, and Obversaria, were given the seemingly hopeless task of preventing the invasion of Britain by Napoleon's forces.

The British are outnumbered, with 23 dragons compared to the more than 40 French, and almost a quarter of the British forces are the smaller and lighter Greylings and Winchesters. The French, however, are primarily using the middle-weight Pecheur-Rayes as the carriers of the transports, and the weight became difficult to bear, leaving them vulnerable to attack.

Admiral Lenton set the larger dragons on independent duty, freeing them from formation flying. Despite diligent efforts, there were not enough British combat dragons to engage most of the French transports. As the French approached the coast, part of their force broke off to attack the British troops waiting on the ground. Four transports landed, engaging and overwhelming the largely militia forces, despite the militia's numerical superiority on the ground.

The battle is lost until Temeraire discovers his Divine Wind for the first time.

Temeraire turns the tide by using the Divine Wind. He destroys one transport completely and causes serious cracking in another, but the display of his ability causes the French dragons to attempt an all-out attack on Temeraire. He avoids them and brought them in range of the Royal Navy ships waiting below, causing the French dragons to scatter. Temeraire is able to damage another transport while the other British dragons divert the French defenders. The remaining transports still aloft then retreat, heading back over the Channel to France.

### Aftermath

The Battle of Dover was counted a great victory. For once, the aviators are given their due by British society, and a ball is held in their honor.

## Deviations from History

Even though there have been several battles named "Battle of Dover", none of them happened during the Napoleonic wars

### More Information

For real world information
visit wikipedia:English Channel
## References

1. ↑ Novik, Naomi. In His Majesty's Service: Three Novels of Temeraire (His Majesty's Service, Throne of Jade, and Black Powder War) (p. 272). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.