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Chapter 1319 The Plan to Loot the Mediterranean Sea
"If our other three fleets and marine brigades were here, it might be possible to take Constantinople."

Naval officers of the [-]th Fleet, such as Sun Xu and Zheng Zhibao, also felt a little bit resigned after hearing that their allies boasted about the Ottoman Empire.

"Forgive me, even if your Eastern Empire sends three more fleets, you will not be able to capture Constantinople, which is a place where all European monarchs are afraid, and even the Ottoman Emperor considers himself superior to the European kings. In his eyes, other kingdoms are like princes at most, and the two sides are not equal." Earl Stratford said.

Zheng Zhibao raised his wine glass and took a sip, but he was thinking in his heart that if all the ships of the Fourth Fleet were replaced with ironclad ships, maybe they could easily break through the forts of the Ottoman Empire in the Dardanelles and reach Constantinople .

The naval officers of the Fourth Fleet knew well. They knew that with the strength of the combined fleet, they could defeat the fleet of the Ottoman Empire, but it was very dangerous to face the coastal defense forts, not to mention that the Dardanelles were full of coastal defense forts of the Ottoman Empire. And a large number of artillery, it is a place of death that all European navies cannot surpass.

In the Fourth Fleet, only the Admiral Fubo was able to venture across the Dardanelles. However, just one ironclad ship broke through the blockade, and it might be destroyed by the swarming cannon fodder ships and arson ships.

There is also the difficulty of attacking Constantinople, a fortress reinforced by successive Ottoman emperors, than that of a small fortress like Algiers.

The United Fleet attacked Algiers for almost two months without any reinforcements, and if it attacked Constantinople, the entire Ottoman Empire's hundreds of thousands of troops and navy rushed to help Constantinople like locusts... Think about that The scene of a sea of ​​people makes one's scalp tingle.

"Everyone, although we said we were going to march on Constantinople, we didn't mean to capture Constantinople." Sun Xu comforted the excited British officers and Knights of the Hospitaller.

"Then why don't we withdraw our troops and return to the city of London, but also play the banner of marching into Constantinople?" Earl Stratford asked.

"Our combined fleet can currently organize 40 warships and auxiliary ships. It is almost impossible to break through the Dardanelles, but I believe that with our current military strength, we can destroy the first fleet of the Ottoman Empire to enter the Mediterranean Sea. As long as we defeat their With the naval fleet, we can use the banner of marching towards Constantinople to loot the towns of the Ottoman Empire, especially the ports where Barbary pirates such as Tunisia and Tripoli are located, and ask them to sign a treaty not to violate our merchants and merchant ships! "Sun Xu spoke out about their fourth fleet's ambitions.

After all, the Fourth Fleet was able to enter the Mediterranean Sea, and even kidnapped the British Royal Navy, the Knights of Malta and "collusion" with itself. It would be too cost-effective to return to London after just ransacking a pirate lair in Algiers.Of course, we must take advantage of this opportunity to blackmail all the Barbary pirates in North Africa!
If possible, Sun Xu, Zheng Zhibao and others even planned to loot towns in West Asia, Greece, Egypt and other places to claim credit for the military.

The eyes of the Earl of Stratford, Sir Greenville, Sir Pennington and other British nobles are as big as copper bells. What a crazy plan this is!
Defeat the mighty Ottoman navy and sack half a circle along the Mediterranean? !

"Only the Ottoman Empire has ever plundered the surrounding countries..." The knights of the Knights of Malta were even more shocked.

Could it be that the Chinese robbed Algiers too much and planned to continue to be pirates in the Mediterranean?
"This time we received 100 million taels of silver in compensation from Algiers. In fact, we captured their pirate ships and confiscated the pirates' gold and silver. The benefit we got was more than 100 million taels of silver. If we can rob a few more pirate ports Or the coastal towns of the Ottoman Empire, then our expeditionary force can get several million taels of silver. We have Galen ships used in combat with the Britons, and your Knights of Malta have smaller tonnage, but are suitable for beach grabbing in the Mediterranean Landing shallow-water galleys, we join forces, and when the time comes to loot pirates and towns, we will share the spoils according to the degree of each other's efforts. If you Knights of Malta conquer the most in a certain battle, then even if you take more than [-]% of the We will also complain about the spoils..." Sun Xu urged.

He did not expect that the Fourth Fleet could be followed by the Royal Navy and the Knights of Malta. This time the attack on Algiers and the fortress allowed the Fourth Fleet to establish its authority.He wants to take advantage of the big victory to let the two Western fleets continue to roll up their sleeves and work with him.

The celebration banquet was held at night, and the flames of the copper brazier flickered on the side, shining on the faces of the high-level people sitting in two rows of long tables.

The Britons whispered privately, and so did the Knights of Malta, weighing the pros and cons.

If the banner of marching to Constantinople is played, it is equivalent to declaring war on the Ottoman Empire across the three continents of Asia, Europe, and Africa. It is also reasonable and legal to loot the coastal towns of the Barbary pirates and the Ottoman Empire - destroying each other in the war What a normal thing logistics are.

Although this is a terrible thing, the sacking of Algiers has fed the Royal Fleet and the Knights of Malta. They are not good, as long as it is beneficial...

"Our hospital knights don't matter. Anyway, we have been enmity with the Ottoman Empire for 200 years. We usually intercept the ships of the Ottoman Empire, and the people who capture them are sold as slaves. At worst, let the emperor of the Ottoman Empire come to attack the island of Malta. , They came here decades ago, but haven’t they been guarded by us..." Castella, the grand master of the Knights of Malta, looked like a dead pig who is not afraid of boiling water.

Although the Knights of the Hospital had few members, they still dared to confront the Ottoman Empire with their bastion and artillery.

Next, the officers of the Kyushu Army and the Knights of Malta looked at the British nobles and officers, depending on how they made their choice. The Royal Fleet with the King of the Sea and the Crown Prince is also very important in the combined fleet. They The attitude of the United Fleet will determine whether the United Fleet will carry out the plan to loot the Ottoman Empire.

The Earl of Stratford, who represented the will of Charles I, said after discussing with the British officers: "In accordance with the order of His Majesty the King, we only need to assist you in rescuing Mr. Li. We still have a woolen trade with the Ottoman Empire. An important source of profit for the Levant Corporation..."

After hearing Earl Stratford's seemingly declining tone, everyone showed disappointed expressions.

"But if we can guarantee that we can get huge returns in this plundering activity, our Royal Fleet can use mercenaries to pretend to be ordinary armed merchant ships to participate in this war..." the old and cunning Earl Stratford slowly Said again.

(End of this chapter)