Chapter 990 The Destruction of the British New Mediterranean Fleet

Chapter 990 The Destruction of the British New Mediterranean Fleet

The French Grand Orient Fleet has twenty-three battleships, four of which have been overhauled. They are survivors of the last Mediterranean naval battle.

Seven of the eleven battleships injured in the previous battle with the British were completely scrapped, not to mention the countless small and medium-sized ships that were destroyed, which greatly damaged the strength of the Great Eastern Fleet.

However, the British could not control that much at this time, and the mere arrival of reinforcements was enough to make them ecstatic.

The size of the French Grand Orient Fleet still looks huge. After all, the leaders of the Second French Republic do not want to be underestimated by the British.

Build another fleet in a short time? Of course this is impossible!

But they can rent it or force it. After all, they are in the midst of an economic crisis at this time, and with the change of old and new dynasties, there are many reasons.

With the support of the government of the Second French Republic, the sailors of the Grand Eastern Fleet were not polite and brought over all the merchant ships that had evaded taxes, evaded taxes, and owed taxes, but had no business with the government.

As mentioned earlier, there was no insurmountable gap between large merchant ships and small and medium-sized warships at this time. The shipyard of the Great Eastern Fleet had more than a hundred warships after simple modifications.

At this time, the Great Eastern Fleet looked like its sails were like clouds, blocking the sky. Edward Hobart Seymour Sr. and all the British sailors believed that the Austrian Imperial Navy would definitely retreat.

Although the Austrian navy seemed to have an absolute advantage at this time and had been chasing the British fleet, in fact the advantage was not as great as it seemed, otherwise there would be no need to keep chasing the British fleet.

Friedrich was of course confident that he could deal with the British in one fell swoop, but the Austrian navy could not afford such losses.

Moreover, such a style of play is inconsistent with Franz's strategy. This is the founding battle before Franz ascends the throne. He needs to ensure that the British will not continue to cause trouble to Austria for at least five years.

The British New Mediterranean Fleet rushed towards the French Grand Orient Fleet without thinking. At this time, the British had only one idea in their mind - escape.

As long as they join up with the French, their chances of survival will be greatly improved whether they fight against the Austrian fleet with the French or leave the French to escape alone.

All the British ships were running away desperately, and those old ships were suddenly left behind. Naturally, the Austrian Navy would not miss this opportunity.

After successive defeats, the British sailors' blood and morale were exhausted.

Finally, the captain of the British ship "Courageous" decided to lower the original British Empire battle flag and raise the white flag to surrender to the Austrian Imperial Navy.

However, the Austrian navy seemed to have not seen the raised white flag, and sent the old sailing battleship into the bottom of the sea with continuous salvos.

In fact, before the war started, Friedrich had already warned with flags that this would be a death battle at sea. If he wanted to surrender, he would just leave the team and go to the shore.

But no British warship did this at the time, so from the Austrian side's perspective, the British accepted this death battle by default.

In the Age of Sail, there was a very complicated process for accepting the surrender of ships. The Austrian Empire was a traditional land power, and they missed that era perfectly.

After its establishment, the Austrian Navy spent 99% of its time fighting pirates and river bandits. This was often a life-and-death battle, and they had no mature experience in surrendering.

In addition, the reputation of the British Navy is really bad, so they don't do too many things like pretending to surrender and carrying out sneak attacks.

Austria is a Catholic country and does not allow slaves, so the only way they deal with pirates is to kill them directly.

Friedrich suffered a loss from the British during the last Mediterranean naval battle. After all, it is painful for any sailor who loves the ocean to watch a ship sink before his eyes.

Therefore, the Austrian Navy had previously accepted the surrender of some ships of the British Navy. However, when the two sides were approaching to prepare for the surrender ceremony, the British sailors suddenly attacked and fired grape bombs at close range, almost clearing the deck of the Austrian warship.

Moreover, the Austrian navy had no experience in boarding battles and was no match for the British sailors. In addition, almost all commanders from the captain on down were killed in the first attack. The Austrian warship that went to accept the surrender of the British navy instead became Take the opponent's spoils.

After the British ship that attempted to surrender sank, other British warships that fell behind also suffered the same fate.

However, Edward Hobart Seymour Sr. could not control that much at this time. He ordered the flag bearer to send a flag to the French Grand Eastern Fleet, hoping that the Grand Eastern Fleet would fight with them against the Austrians.

The French flagship quickly issued a semaphore and agreed, but they did not make way for the British. Instead, they set up a battle formation.

It is normal for the French to ask the British not to retreat, but why did the French arrive so late?

Before Edward Hobart Seymour Sr. had time to think, the French Grand Orient Fleet suddenly launched an attack on the British New Mediterranean Fleet.

A salvo from the entire Great Eastern Fleet stunned the unsuspecting British. The reinforcements turned into enemies in an instant. The despair after experiencing hope was even more desperate.

Moreover, neither Austria nor France had the intention to accept the surrender of the British. The mentally broken British army was quickly annihilated under the attack of the Austrian and French Grand Eastern fleets.

At this time, the British captains almost without exception chose to die on the ship. Even the enemies of the Austrian Navy and the French Navy had to pay tribute to them for such behavior.

Both Archduke Friedrich, Commander of the Austrian Navy, and François Trouvier, Commander of the French Grand Orient Fleet, walked onto the bridge to salute their opponents.

The naval military bands of the two countries also played Chopin's "Funeral March" in unison, and the soldiers fired guns in their honor.

But all British warships must be sunk. This is related to the survival of both countries. Friedrich did not regret it. If it happened again, he would still kill the British.

However, not all British officers were so courageous. Old Edward Hobart Seymour stepped on a sampan and held up a white flag and his own ribbon.

"I am the commander of the British Mediterranean Fleet! I demand surrender! You must protect my personal safety!"

Francois Trouvier, the commander of the French Grand Eastern Fleet, ignored the old guy. For Francois Trouvier, capturing the British commander was not an honor, but a trouble, so He chose to walk away.

The British commander was also a trouble for Friedrich and Austria. It would be best if he died, but at this time, under the watch of the media, Friedrich directly threw down the cable and accepted the elder Edward Hobart Seymour. of surrender.

As for the surrender of other British sailors, Austria did not accept it, but gave them some boats, dry food and water and returned them "freedom".

Afterwards, the Austrian navy also chose to leave quickly. The Russian merchant ship nearby could not carry too many British sailors, so it quickly left after loading dozens of people.