Just as the flames of war were about to erupt on the continent, a mighty fleet was conducting a T-shaped exercise of artillery fire in the distant Indian Ocean.

"Left full rudder...... Starboard Camp ...... In a volley...... "On the blue sea, ten sail warships lined up, the bow pierced the sea water to draw white waves, and the starboard side of the entire fleet suddenly burst out with a dazzling red light, and the cannon rumbled like thunder in all directions.

In the distance, the target ships filled with empty wooden barrels were greeted by a rain of lead bullets, and in order to increase the effect, some of these barrels were also mixed with flammable black powder, and after a while, the sea was suddenly on fire.

"Clean the chamber...... Prepare for a second shot...... After ......the cannon salvo was fired, the battleship was full of the sound of officers' orders, and the flag-bearers of each ship were desperately communicating with each other, and the sail operators pulled the thick and heavy cables, and the soft sails began to adjust their attitudes.

In the center of the line of ten battleships, the gun door of a tall sail battleship was wide open, and the muzzle of the black hole looked into the distance from the side like the eyes of a deep sea kraken.

This fleet was the essence of French naval power in Asia, and their sole purpose was to protect the Bay of Bengal, which belonged to the emperor.

At this time, India was still in the stage of British and French division and colonization, and although Britain had gained the upper hand in India's hegemony by relying on its navy and strong industrial strength, the relationship between the two countries was still very close because of the cooperation between the Crimean War and the capture of Beijing.

Napoleon III's envoy, the most trusted chief of the guard, Knight Molière, stood on the deck of the flagship Glory, holding a delicate telescope of brass in his hands, and his face was gloomy.

Standing beside him was the commander-in-chief of this fleet, Rear Admiral Bruce, the captain of the Glory. Don't look at the arrogant chin of the major general in the past, he can dry clothes, but in front of the Molière guard, whose rank is far lower than him, he has become cautious and doesn't even dare to breathe.

Since ancient times, the subordinates of the prime minister's family have all been seven-rank officials, not to mention the most trusted chief of the guard around the emperor, not to mention that Molière is the emperor's personal envoy to the East, specifically authorizing this loyal knight to have the right to transfer military throughout Asia, how can such an identity not make these colonial defenders awe-inspiring.

"My Majesty, isn't our excellent naval training good enough? Although I admit that it is a little worse than the British navy, we are invincible against those Asian barbarians......

Molière smiled shallowly, "Your Excellency, please call me Molière directly, there is no need to use honorific titles...... I know that the heroic Colonial Legion is absolutely reliable under your leadership, but there is still some faint uneasiness in my heart......"

"Is our training really in place? Are we really fully prepared? When the shelling was just now, I clearly felt that when the entire fleet was full of rudders, there was some disharmony among the ships, what was the reason? The flag bearer or the helmsman? Could it be that there was a problem with the counterweight of the hull......

Major General Bruce never thought that this envoy really had two brushes, and he was definitely not the kind of fat-brained politician in Paris, and the emperor's trust in him was absolutely justified.

Molière also unceremoniously pointed out the weaknesses of the mixed fleet, especially the problem of the coordination of the ships, which was repeatedly emphasized, although all the words were honorifics, but the barbs in the tone could be heard by fools.

"Actual combat, what our navy needs is actual combat, the colonial life in Asia has not allowed everyone to compete with opponents of equal strength for a long time, usually everyone is scattered in various ports, except for dealing with some backward and ignorant native pirates, there is no task, but we must not take it lightly, any accident on the battlefield is possible......"

Molière had a smile on his face, and he said honorifics in his mouth, but there was no emotion between the words, and he did not dare to refute half a sentence of His Excellency the Rear Admiral.

However, not saying it does not mean that General Bruce will not slander in his heart. Damn, you politicians from Paris, how do you know the difficulties of the colony, the emperor lives in the palace of Versailles and only knows how to let the colony send gold and all kinds of materials endlessly, who cares that our daily funds are not in place?

When nothing happens, you keep deducting military expenses on the grounds that the colonies are all barbarians and don't need too much firepower, and when we need to sell our lives, you will never mention the matter of deducting money, but only know that there are bones in the egg.

You let me train my troops? Okay, where is the military spending? Who will pay for the gunpowder for artillery shooting, and where will we get the lost artillery? Will we still let us squeeze those natives? What property do they have now besides wild vegetables?

But slander to slander, General Bruce still didn't dare to challenge the dignity of the envoy, so he could only smile carefully and said, "What you said is very right, and you really pointed out our problem to the point...... However, what we have to deal with this time is only a small Ryukyu, a sea island country that is not even as good as the backward Qing Dynasty, and now our combat strength is absolutely no problem......"

"I know, I know where your confidence comes from, but I just have an inexplicable apprehension...... That Oriental man is so much less like an Oriental......" said Molière.

At this moment, the lookout on the mast suddenly shouted "Northwest...... Spotting of unidentified vessels...... See clearly...... It's an Arabian dhow, it's a cargo ship......"

Before he finished speaking, Molière picked up his telescope and looked to the northwest, and gradually the corners of his mouth brought a sinister smile: "My general, can you tell me what kind of ship this is?"

Bruce couldn't figure out why the envoy was speaking in such a tone, but when he saw the sailboat in his binoculars, he couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh, it's an Arabian dhow, with a displacement of about forty tons, it's a small cargo ship...... Such ships are all too common in the Indian Ocean, with Chinese tea and porcelain, Indian cotton and curry, and Sri Lankan gemstones...... It was these small sailing ships that supported the Indian Ocean trade network......"

Just as General Bruce showed his knowledge, Molière interrupted him with a sinister smile: "No, no, no...... It's a pirate ship, isn't it? You'd better take a closer look, don't you think it's a pirate ship?"

The categorical tone was like a question, and General Bruce chuckled in his heart at that time, he had already understood what the envoy meant.

At that moment, the lookout overhead shouted again, "The northwest ship has sent a flag...... They expressed their condolences to the invincible French navy and offered to give us twenty barrels of wine and some spices as gifts......"

As soon as the lookout finished speaking, the sweat on General Bruce's back flowed, and he scolded in his heart, "You damn bastard, how dare you translate such a flag when you know that the envoy is around, isn't this just a clear statement to tell the envoy that we usually collect the toll without incident? This is broken, and the value of the gift prepared for the envoy will be doubled......"

"Hehe, it's really a pirate, as soon as I saw the powerful combat power of the French Navy, I immediately remembered to bribe us...... My Rear Admiral, don't you feel that your dignity has been challenged?"

As soon as the yin and yang weird words were finished, General Bruce did not hesitate any longer, he yelled and issued the order, and the spit in his mouth spurted out more than half a meter away.

"The entire fleet is deployed in a T-shape, with the port side gun doors ready for a salvo...... We, we're going to blow up and sink this pirate ship..."

"What?" there was a bang, and the other officers and sailors on deck were stunned. Is the general crazy today? It's an ordinary merchant ship, why should he open fire? And people have already approached without warning, this is to bring wine and spices to everyone, how can this be fired?

The people looked at the general with puzzled eyes, and the general visibly felt his face burn red, and he shouted in a louder voice, "Do you dare to question my judgment to carry out the order, I am the commander-in-chief of the fleet..."

At this time, everyone did not dare to slack off, and the flag bearer began to issue orders to the other ships, and soon all ships adjusted their attitudes, and the gun doors on the starboard side were opened, revealing a dense black hole like a kraken's eyes.

The cargo ship in the northwest clearly felt the strange atmosphere, a figure swaying on the deck, and there were bursts of strange cries that I couldn't understand along the sea breeze.

"What's wrong with these French? Why are they showing us cannons? Don't they think there are enough gifts? Hurry up and send the flag, we have tripled our gifts, and we are giving a big bag of Sri Lankan gems of the highest quality......"

Molière looked at the merchant ships in the distance with a gloomy face at this time, and said faintly, "Poor weak people, you may never know why I want to kill you, in fact, the answer is very simple, I just need some blood and life to train soldiers, and I must not lose the future war......"

The envoy's voice was so small that only Bruce could hear it, and by this time the general's heart was already full of fear, and he finally knew that this smiling young man who liked to speak honorifics the most, with all his friendly appearances pretended, was more cruel on his heart than those Parisian politicians.

"The ships are ready to shoot...... God bless France, let's punish these pirates...... Open fire..."

After a while, a burst of wind suddenly blew on the ocean, and all the hulls of the battleships shook, and orange-red flames rushed out from the starboard side, billowing white smoke filled the sea.

The demons of hell began to roar, and a violent rain of buckshot covered the entire surface of the sea where the merchant ship was, and the Arabian dhows was torn to pieces in an instant without even a single struggle, and the sea was as white as a torrential rain.

Bruce's trembling hand lowered the binoculars, he stood sideways behind the envoy and saluted him respectfully, "Your Excellency, the pirates have been strangled, please instruct..."

"Hehehe...... Well done, let's set sail, target that ancient empire in the East, and I don't want to see a single pirate ship on the way, I think you know what I mean......"

"Obey your orders, and along the way you will witness the heroic actions of the French Navy against pirates, and by the time we see the port of Naha, all the deficiencies that I and you have feared will be remedied..."

"Very well, now go full sails, we are going to have a great competition of speed, I hope you don't let me down...", in Molière's smile, ten French battleships set sail for the east.

This book was first published from 17K Novel Network, the first time to see the genuine content!R405