Chapter 877 The Destruction of the British Mediterranean Fleet

Chapter 877 The Destruction of the British Mediterranean Fleet

Friedrich's latest flagship, the Prinz Eugen super-class battleship, was one thousand tons heavier than the previous Venetia and almost four times the weight of an ordinary sailing battleship.

Moreover, all the artillery used are the latest steel large-caliber artillery, and the shells are also the latest ship-killing high-explosive bombs.

The result was that one shelling sent a seriously injured British warship to the bottom of the sea, and most of the other British warships that fell behind also suffered the same fate.

In fact, it is not that the British did not fight back, but there is a huge gap between the old sail warships and the new ironclad ships. The former's counterattack was very weak and could only barely knock off the anti-corrosion paint on the side strings of the latter.

The bait Edward Collinson threw at Frederick was infuriated by the fact that it had no delaying effect.

"Damn it! What is that thing?! How can it be so fast! Faster than a paddle-wheel battleship!"

"Captain, that must be a steam battleship too. Look, it has a chimney on it!"

"Idiot! Are you a pig? How can a steam battleship not have a paddle wheel!"

Being reprimanded by his superior, First Officer Cole was also speechless, but the black smoke must have come from the steam engine, and he didn't know why there was no paddle wheel.

"I don't know, sir! But those guys are at least twice as fast as us, and we will definitely be doomed if this continues!"

Edward Princeton was so angry that he almost chewed the pipe in his mouth. He was determined to meet the Austrian navy personally.

He didn't believe it was real steel, because iron was denser than wood, so an iron ship couldn't be faster than a wooden ship. This is common sense! The Austrian Navy's ships must be so fast because the wood is painted black!

"Order the entire fleet to form and attack!"

Edward Collinston gave the order decisively, and the orderly soldiers immediately waved flags.

To say that the British Navy at this time is worthy of the title of the world's best navy, it can temporarily change formations even when escaping.

However, the Austrian naval fleet chose to stagger away from them, just as the British fleet was confused. Edward Collinston discovered the astonishing fact that the Austrians had seized the T-head.

The Austrian Navy built by Friedrich himself was equally good or even better, and had more advanced equipment.

There was no suspense in the entire naval battle. The Austrian Navy completely annihilated the remaining British Mediterranean Fleet without losing a single warship.

Earlier, Friedrich also annihilated the British squadron that was preparing to blockade the Adriatic Sea.

The commander of the squadron even wanted to deal with the Austrian Navy at an absolute disadvantage, but naturally he was buried at the bottom of the sea with the glory of fighting the enemy when he saw it.

The British army entrenched in Durrës was attacked by the Austrian Army. Commodore Wesley could only escape to Crete with the remaining troops. After landing, he was attacked by the Austrian Marine Corps.

Commodore Wesley was killed in the battle, and Commodore Bronson, who took over the command, surrendered to the Austrians and all ten battleships were captured.

At this point, the British Mediterranean Fleet was completely destroyed, but the newspaper headlines showed that only Marshal Buckway Reynaud, commander-in-chief of the French Grand Eastern Fleet, had won a decisive victory in the Western Mediterranean at the cost of his own flagship and eight other battleships, successfully breaking the British blockade. and the myth of invincibility.

In fact, the reason why the Austrian Navy did not support Venice before was because the main force of the navy was not in Trieste at all. The British had always blocked a non-existent navy.

Friedrich's main force had secretly headed to Tripoli and secret ports in Greece in batches before the war began.

Fifteen thousand Marine Corps officers and soldiers have stayed on the island of Crete for nearly a month, everything is waiting for the closing of the net today.

Including the two British paddle-wheel warships that accidentally broke down, it was actually Franz's credit.

As for joining forces with the French, that was out of the question. After all, it was impossible for Austria to recognize the French republican government, let alone cooperate with it.

But the Count of Chambord was different. Cooperating with the Bourbon family to resist the British was completely in the interests of both countries.

Although Count de Beauvoir was not the king of France at this time, he did not want the British to plunder French colonies.

For Greece, let alone the cousin relationship between Franz and Otto I, the temptation of the large island of Crete alone made the entire Greek government unable to control itself.

As for the French provisional government, they are eager for someone to help them solve their immediate urgent needs.

The French Provisional Government, Louis Philippe of the Orleans Dynasty, and Henry V (Count of Chambord) of the Bourbon Dynasty simultaneously awarded him the highest naval honor.

The Austrian naval force breaking the blockade and raiding the large island of Crete occupies only a minimal space.

The news reached London. Since it was April Fool's Day, no one believed the news and regarded it as a crude joke.

After all, the British Royal Navy has never failed to deal with the French. As for Austria, it is a country with only inland patrols. They rely on the recruitment of armed merchant ships from Venice to fight wars.

The British Lord of the Admiralty, the Earl of Auckland, even claimed: "If the Austrians and the French can defeat their own navies, then they will go to the bullpen and eat shit for a day."

In fact, it was not just him, John Russell, Palmerston, Viscount Stratford, Home Secretary George Gray, Chancellor of the Exchequer Charles Wood, and even Prince Albert and Queen Victoria.

No one believed this unreliable news. They just thought the French and Austrians were too humorous.

Vienna announced the news of the naval victory, but again no one believed it.

In fact, a bigger storm was brewing in Vienna at this time. The two temporary members of the Regency Council, Earl Raikkonen and Baron Kiel, did a stupid thing.

They first disclosed the contents of twelve treaties with the Hungarians, and then chose to negotiate peace with them.

This greatly aroused dissatisfaction among nationalists. People were disappointed with the government and eagerly awaited the emergence of a strongman.

Then pro-British factions and liberals united to cause trouble. They used rebellions in Bohemia and Hungary, as well as external British and Italian coalition forces to put pressure on the government.

Solomon Rothschild transformed himself into a liberal leader, throwing aside the Medal of Honor he had received from his previous government.

"NO Constitution, No money!" (No Constitution, no money!)

Solomon's move immediately triggered a chain reaction. Almost all bankers in Vienna said that if the Austrian government could not promulgate a constitution that conformed to their wishes, then the Austrian government would not be able to borrow another penny.

The privileged nobles who had not been cleaned up before also took this opportunity to cause trouble. They opened the armory of the Vienna City Defense Army and deliberately distributed weapons to civilians.

These people are not afraid because they are armed, but those without guns are in dire straits. A large number of barricades began to appear in the city of Vienna, the violence continued to escalate, and the city once again entered a state of anarchy.