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Chapter 1321 Heading to the Island of Malta

The United Fleet stayed here for three days after occupying Algiers. The pirate leaders who were frightened handed over treasures worth 60 silver within three days and transported them all on board.Among them, the ironclad general Fubo, which is not easy to sink, was loaded with 20 taels of silver.

On the fourth day of occupying Algiers, the Ottoman Navy still did not know where to wander in the Mediterranean Sea, and still had not arrived in Algiers.

The one-eyed bandit Janson of the Netherlands grabbed a lot of gold and silver treasures in this operation. He knew the cellar where pirates used to hide money.

After the fall of Algiers, Janson heard that the United Fleet was planning to plunder other Barbary pirates in the Mediterranean Sea. He thought about it and planned to continue to make a fortune with this group of people.

The 500 Arab and Berber mercenaries who were also addicted to robbery were also clamoring not to return to Morocco.

Some of them died in battle, but many more lived, and they gained a fortune for themselves in this successful looting.

Most of these recruited mercenaries are low-level pirates and natives in Morocco. Most of their lives are poor, just like the cannon fodder troops of the Ottoman Empire. They will be willing to risk their lives for dozens of Spanish silver dollars.

Regarding the Moroccan mercenaries making trouble, the officers of the Fourth Fleet decided to continue using these mercenaries as cannon fodder.

The Ottoman Empire has a large number of cannon fodder troops, and they also need a cannon fodder army to play a role when necessary.

So these 500 mercenaries were continued to be hired. Under the leadership of the Dutch pirate Janson, they snatched five pirate galleys to join the combined fleet-so the combined fleet had five more ships.

Murat Pasha, as the governor of Algiers and one of the chieftains of the North African pirates, was still very prestigious in Algiers, and he soon came forward to restore order in Algiers after his surrender.

Because the pirates who were robbed of their property during the Japanese Occupation dared not speak out. They originally obtained their wealth by robbing others. Now they were robbed by more powerful people. They really had no place to reason.

After restoring order in Algiers, the coalition forces gathered at the seaside, preparing to withdraw from Algiers and go to the island of Malta to find the Ottoman Empire's naval operations.

"Why do we continue the war?" Li Jinde originally thought that the Fourth Fleet would retreat after capturing the pirate port of Algiers, but the Fourth Fleet suddenly announced a large-scale plundering operation in the ground, which surprised him deeply. .

"Because the goal of the war has not been achieved. Our Fourth Fleet needs to show its power in the Western Ocean, so that Western countries dare not invade ships flying our flag. The capture of a pirate port in Algiers will not shock the Western countries. Of course More for money..." Sun Xu said.

"For money? You mean that you can extort nearly 100 million taels of silver from the pirates every time you plunder?" Li Jinde asked.

"Yes, you must know that our Fourth Fleet and the Far West Expeditionary Force have been dispatched from the east to the West for a long time. Our officers and soldiers are paid more than the local officers and soldiers, and there are still a large number of ships that need to be supported, especially because we have one more ship. An expensive ironclad ship. We need a way of our own to support this huge overseas garrison. Is there any way to get money faster than war?" Sun Xu said.

He represents the interests of the Fourth Fleet. The Fourth Fleet is eager to gain military exploits, military expenses, and prestige. For professional soldiers, a war with acceptable sacrifices can be waged.

Li Jinde was silent for a while. He couldn't make decisions about the military's actions, and he didn't have much affection for the Barbary pirates. Even if the Fourth Fleet blackmailed all the Barbary pirates, he would only applaud.

"Let me act together with you," Li Jinde said.

"That's right, let's talk about this empire that is feared by Europeans for a while. Our Fourth Fleet is much better than the other three fleets. They can only sweep up some small-scale indigenous pirates and combat smuggling activities in the mainland. And we can at least find a decent opponent here." Sun Xu said.

The soldiers of the United Fleet boarded the ship one by one. Behind them was the half-destroyed city of Algiers by shelling and looting. The bodies of the soldiers and pirates who died in the battle had been buried.They even stole a lot of black powder and artillery from the pirates to supplement their losses. More than 10 combat-capable pirate galleys and Arabian dhows were taken away by mercenaries.

It can be said that the Barbary pirates in Algiers were seriously injured after this battle. I am afraid that even ordinary armed merchant ships would be difficult to rob.

The coalition forces did not leave the Mediterranean Sea towards the west, but continued sailing towards the east.

Murat Pasha brought a group of pirate leaders to the beach to watch the God of Plague leave, and everyone heaved a long sigh of relief.

"Why didn't they kill us?" The pirates were glad that they were not killed for the rest of their lives.

"After killing us, who will compensate them for the next 50 taels of silver? They still need us to stop harassing and attacking their merchant ships. Even if we are killed and the emperor appoints a group of pirates to rule here, their merchant ships still need Only by paying the protection fee here can we not be attacked." Murat guessed the intention of the United Fleet.

As long as the pirates feel that the benefits of robbing merchant ships outweigh the costs, they will crazily loot the merchant ships they encounter.However, this group of pirates who had learned the lesson of force knew how expensive it was to plunder the merchant ships of the coalition forces, so they dared not provoke the coalition forces with terrible force.

"It turns out that... our imperial navy is far away in Constantinople, and it has not been able to reach us in Algiers until now. It is really too slow." There are also pirates complaining about the efficiency of the Ottoman Navy.

"Assembling a naval fleet of tens of thousands of people, do you think we can set off immediately like the pirates in Algiers? The empire's shipyards are distributed on several islands, and we need to prepare enough food, fresh water and gunpowder for tens of thousands of people to consume." Murat shouted, "Our fortress was captured too quickly. According to the plan, we have to hold on for at least six months!"

"But Master Pasha, who knew that they would recruit mercenaries from Morocco to come from behind us, and we were completely defeated without any preparation. If it wasn't for the enemy, even if our fort was captured, we would still have plenty of time Organize more than 5000 pirates to hide in the Pennion Fortress, at that time they could not break through the fortress in less than a month..." the pirates said innocently.

"They extorted a large amount of property from us and didn't leave the Mediterranean. The Chinese and the British are still planning to wander in the Mediterranean? You must know that winter is coming soon, and no fleet will be willing to fight in the Mediterranean in winter. They won't be Do you want to find the imperial fleet?" Amur saw the United Fleet leaving towards the depths of the Mediterranean Sea, and a bold guess came to his mind.

"I hope they can meet the imperial fleet." Murat said.

"Master Pasha, what do you mean?" Amur asked puzzled.

"Then I won't have to be executed by the Empire." Murat sighed.

(End of this chapter)