Chapter 991 Backstab
The remaining soldiers of the British New Mediterranean Fleet gathered together in famous boats to form a small fleet. Since most of the officers were killed on the ship, the remaining sailors soon started fighting for leadership.
Some people proposed to go to Gibraltar, and some proposed to go to Cyprus, but the distance between the two places was too far, and it was unknown whether they could reach their destination alive.
So someone suggested going to Sicily or returning directly to Malta. However, they had already offended the other party by robbing Austrian merchant ships and selling grain to the Sicilians at high prices. Now they will definitely be retaliated against when they go to Sicily. .
It is not a wise move to return to Malta Island. There is a high probability that they will be treated as spies by the Austrians patrolling the coast or directly hunted by enemy troops trying to land on the island. After all, they have done this before.
The remaining option is France, but they still don't know why the Great Eastern Fleet, which was originally an ally, suddenly attacked them.
However, they didn't have much time to discuss. Suddenly another fleet appeared on the sea.
This fleet was all Arab-style clippers. After discovering them, they quickly approached them.
The remaining British sailors were a little confused, but they were not panicked. After all, the Ottomans were allies of the British most of the time.
But the Arab sailors did not come to the British's rescue, but aimed the ship's cannons and muskets at the latter's small sampan.
At this time, the British sailors had absolutely no power to fight back, and because they were unprepared before, their small fleet was quickly wiped out.
The Arab sailors didn't seem to want to let them go. They waved various harpoons and harpoons into the water, and soon the nearby sea was dyed red.
The thick bloody smell attracted a large number of predators hidden deep in the ocean, and the British new Mediterranean fleet mysteriously disappeared again
Also missing was the Grand Orient Fleet of the Second French Republic, while Austria trumpeted its Adriatic Fleet's victory on the island of Malta.
Afterwards, Friedrich led the fleet to Cyprus. The British army here did not have the courage of the elite North Sea Fleet, and they chose to surrender almost immediately.
The British and French governments did not believe in the Austrian naval victory.
However, it is an indisputable fact that Malta and Cyprus fell one after another, and the whereabouts of the new Mediterranean fleet are unknown.
The Second French Republic is also unable to contact its Grand Eastern Fleet, and it seems unlikely that two of the world's top fleets will disappear together.
London, 10 Downing Street.
John Russell slapped The Times down on his desk.
"Gentlemen! I want to know what is going on? Who is lying?"
Lord Admiralty George Eden and Foreign Secretary Palmerston looked at each other, and saw surprise and suspicion in each other's eyes.
Because neither side can be sure that the information in their hands is true, but they only have this information.
"Your Majesty Prime Minister, I think we should give our intelligence personnel a little more time."
The words of Lord Admiral George Eden ignited John Russell's anger.
"When? The Austrians' newspapers have been sent to England! And where are our intelligence officers! What are they doing?
If their news comes later than the newspapers, then I don’t think our intelligence agency needs to exist! "
John Russell's words left George Eden speechless.
After all, the rumors that the intelligence bureau, which spends a lot of money, always lags behind the media every time is really embarrassing.
But Palmerston had a different view. He cleared his throat and said.
"The Times always gets information before our intelligence agency. This must be due to collusion between them and foreign forces. I propose to strictly investigate the Times and formulate new regulations to rectify the newspaper industry."
In fact, the Times, which was paid to do things, did offend a lot of people, so a series of new regulations on the newspaper industry were passed in the British Parliament without much resistance.
However, The Times has not been shut down. Who said the backend is strong enough?
The problem of public opinion is easy to solve. After all, the British are most concerned about the economic crisis and the spreading famine at this time.
Due to the shrinking European and North American markets, the piracy problem of the Qing Dynasty, the rise of new forces in the Southeast Asia, the rebellion of Indian princes, as well as the decline in the global share of British products and lack of competitiveness, etc., the economic crisis of the British at this time is more serious than at the same time in history. .
Natural disasters continue throughout the British Isles, and the impact of late potato blight is no longer limited to Ireland.
Farms in Scotland, Wales, and England are also suffering from the same problem. However, historically, because the British government imported a large amount of grain from the United States and squeezed the Irish area to the extreme, the disaster in the UK did not seem to be serious.
However, as the border dispute remained unresolved at this time, the U.S. government put pressure on Britain through food and cotton issues.
Britain once thought of using other ways to solve the problem, but the war with Austria disrupted everything.
At this time, it was simply impossible for the British to send another army to put pressure on the Americans.
In Ireland, rebellions and anti-tax riots continued. At the same time, a large number of people began to flee with their families. The overpopulated island of Ireland actually experienced a shortage of labor.
At the same time, the problem of the Chartists in the UK has never been resolved, which led to the radicalization of the Chartists, workers going on strike, and miners refusing to go down the mines.
Since the establishment of the London Working Men's Association in 1836, workers' associations have mushroomed all over the UK.
In early 1848, representatives of the British Workers' Association went to Paris to meet the two pioneers and witness the February Revolution in France.
And some British trade union representatives feel that Britain can also follow France's example, because there are more workers in the UK and they live a harder life than French workers.
As recently as April 6, 1848, a large-scale Chartist movement broke out in Britain.
John Russell didn't have any good solutions, he could only catch them.
Although the Chartists seemed to have settled down a lot after that, there was still a lingering ghost in the hearts of the British government.
In this moment of internal and external troubles, the disappearance of the New Mediterranean Fleet is not so conspicuous.
But no matter what, the British Empire of Malta and Cyprus could not afford to lose. And they all know in their hearts that the New Mediterranean Fleet is probably doomed, but no one is willing to bear this responsibility.
The Austrian record is indeed amazing, but fortunately the British Empire has a great cause, and it is not a problem to organize an expeditionary fleet to completely eliminate the Austrian navy.
The only problem is that they don't know how and at what cost the Austrians won.
However, they soon received even greater bad news. The French Grand Eastern Fleet did not disappear, but chose to betray the Second French Republic.