Chapter 332
Pursuing from morning to evening, Friedrich found himself following the enemy's lair. It's a shame to say that the Austrian Imperial Navy seems to be better at attacking cities than fleet battles.
Because the target is big enough, and their firepower is strong enough. The obvious trading port in front of us had no barrier to stop the attack of the Austrian fleet.
Soon the area around the port turned into a sea of fire, and both Franz and Friedrich were convinced that the fleet they encountered was the main force of the Omanis.
And wiping out a country's main fleet is undoubtedly a huge blow to it. The Omani navy will not be able to make a comeback for at least ten years, and naturally it will not send warships to continue to pursue its own agenda.
The great man once said, "Beat the drowned dog." Franz naturally understood the meaning. At this time, failure to protect Oman's kindness would become their motivation for revenge.
Breaking their spines at once will make these unruly guys much more at ease, and can reduce unnecessary casualties in the future.
With this in mind, Franz and Friedrich poured all the rockets they brought on the port city in front of them.
Just as they were considering whether to send marines ashore to continue the cleanup, an Arab boat sailed out holding a white flag.
"Stop fighting, we surrender!" The bearded man holding the white flag cried, obviously frightened by such a high-intensity war.
"Who are you? What qualifications do you have to convince us!" Although it was great to win, being inexplicably involved in an unknown war really made Friedrich very unhappy.
"I am Majid, son of Emperor Said the Great, governor of Zanzibar. We have really surrendered, and I ask you not to fight anymore." This prince, who is usually inferior to one person and superior to ten thousand people, now used a pleading and groveling tone. Pray for peace.
"Haha, it turns out that you are the leader here! Why didn't you inform us when you provoked a war without permission? Your behavior is nothing more than razing this city to the ground!"
Friedrich determined that the man in front of him was the instigator, and he was going to make a big deal so that he could go back and build a few more battleships and then come back and beat this bastard again.
"It is Mayed Pasha who led the army to attack you. It is none of our business. For the sake of the merciful Lord, please do not burn my city to the ground."
As the second son of Said, Majid grew up listening to the legendary atmosphere of the Oman Empire's victorious battles. In Mombasa, even the British, who are known as the strongest in the world, have to avoid their edge.
He has always believed that his country is the third most powerful country in the world; the first is the Ottoman Empire, the second is the United Kingdom, and the third is the Oman Empire, and one day he will lead the invincible Omani navy to rule the world.
However, the sight before him completely shattered Majid's dream. Flames engulfed the entire city, and only a few ships managed to escape from the Omani Empire.
After hearing the news of the tragic defeat, the King of Kings sitting in the center of the palace, his father, Said Said, actually lowered his head and shed tears, and asked him to go to the sea to ask for surrender. On this day, Majid's world collapsed. He was sitting in a small boat, accompanied by his most trusted mute servant.
(Legend has it that every great sultan had a firing squad of deaf-mute people.)
The once prosperous port was now being engulfed by crackling fire. The setting sun was like blood. Terrifying explosives continued to fly out from those huge iron warships, plunging the city into the embrace of fire again.
Majid raised a white flag high, which shattered his dignity, but before he could feel sad, the cannonballs whizzing past his ears waved the flag vigorously.
"You put it lightly. Then how do you calculate the loss of my people, my ship, and my losses!" Friedrich roared.
"We are willing to compensate according to the price." The nature of the Arab businessman prompted Majid to say such a sentence out of nowhere.
"Compensation according to price? Pull that stupid prince up!" Friedrich shouted.
The soldiers hurriedly dropped the ladder and came to Majid's side, but instead of helping him up the ladder, they directly tied up the prince and pulled him up like a piece of cargo.
The mute servant who was struggling to save his master wanted to stop the approaching soldier from being kicked into the sea. However, the officer lost his patience and pulled out his pistol.
Majid yelled "Don't come over, I'm fine!"
Franz, who was watching the play on the side of the ship, nodded approvingly, and with his "conscience still intact" he asked, "Are you Majid?" Friedrich sat at the negotiated table.
"Yes. We sincerely hope to double compensation for your losses. In the name of Allah, please believe me." Majid changed his previous words and was also surprised by the young man.
He thought he would be a mature and prudent general, but he didn't expect that he would be a little kid without a beard.
(At that time, Arabs generally wore beards, which had special meanings. One of the punishments was to burn their beards.)
"Do you think having money can solve everything? How should the lives of my soldiers be calculated?"
Friedrich seemed aggressive, but Majid, who was a cunning businessman, knew very well that the other party must think that he did not give enough money.
"Three times! I am willing to compensate your country three times for its losses, and I am willing to work with your country to maintain security in the Western Indian Ocean and jointly combat the Zawasan pirates."
(The Zawasan pirates were once an Arab pirate gang active in the Western Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf.)
"Three times?" Friedrich touched his chin. Seeing that the other party agreed so happily to four times, it shouldn't be a problem. He should let the adjutant report the battle losses first.
"Andre!"
The adjutant who understood this hurriedly ran to Friedrich, sometimes speaking loudly and sometimes whispering, "Grand Duke, it is a great loss for us that we cannot agree to them.
Although not a single ship sank, and the only one was encountered in a storm in the East Indian Ocean, more than 300 brothers were killed or injured in this naval battle.
Among the five battleships, the flagship was more seriously damaged, but the ammunition loss was considerable; hundreds of tons were consumed in this conflict, and all 10,000 rockets were empty. "
After roughly calculating the account, Friedrich felt that 2 million florins was more appropriate, so he waved and whispered, "Franz, the compensation our navy requires cannot be less than 2 million florins. The remainder is It’s up to you to play freely.”
Franz nodded, walked to the negotiating table and sat down.
"Who are you?" Majid asked in confusion.
"Our leader." Friedrich introduced in an easy-to-understand word.
Now Majid was even more shocked. The one just now might have looked younger, but the one who came this time was completely a child. He couldn't help but sigh in his heart, "It's really irritating to compare people to each other."
"We need you to pay £1 million in compensation and cede all territory south of Bagamoyo."
"I'm really sorry, this is completely beyond our country's ability to pay. Moreover, the territory south of Bagamoyo belongs to several different families, and we cannot decide for the time being."
"Then we can use our methods to convince those families. What do you think?"
Franz asked for a high price, and Majid sat on the ground to pay back the money. After some bargaining, the two parties finally signed the "Treaty of Zanzibar."
That is: the Oman Empire compensated the Austrian Empire for half a million pounds and ceded the area south of Bagamoyo to Austria. From the date of signing of the agreement, the two parties ceased hostilities.