The Azalea and the Black Tulip are two 7,046-ton West Francian vessels sailing to Azov on the route to Azov on the same ocean freighter, both of which belong to the West Francian American Merchant Marine Company, many of which are named after flowers.

It was dusk when the waves rolled on the surface of the sea and visibility began to drop.

The first mate of the "Azalea" Witaker stood on the bridge of the ship, binoculars in his hand, engrossed in searching the sea ahead. The setting sun shone from behind, casting a long black shadow in front of the bow. In the sunset, the sea takes on a dark red color.

Suddenly, under the dim eastern sky, he saw a large ship approaching their direction at high speed, stirring up white waves in the bow.

"Call the captain quickly." He said to the Navigator standing beside him, and then pressed the alarm switch in front of the command platform.

The ship's alarm bell rang out, and the crew began to run to their posts after hearing the alarm. Captain Bane and several officers came to the bridge.

"It should be one of our 'City' class cruisers." Captain Bane put down the binoculars in his hand and said to everyone in an expert tone.

Hearing him say this, everyone's nervousness suddenly eased again.

From the front, the "Zhoucheng" class light cruisers of the Tang Empire are almost the same as the "Seville" class of the Spanish Navy, but when you look at it from the side, there will be obvious differences, that class of Spanish battleships use a bow structure, while the Tang warships are flat-deck ship types.

"It may be a Tang ship, and it is obviously a little ill-intentioned to look at it." At this time, the second mate, Martin, who had been observing the situation in front of him, suddenly spoke, "Oh my God, there are two big guys behind him!" ”

Hearing him say this, Captain Bane and First Officer Witaker quickly raised their binoculars and looked out into the sea to the east, while the others looked anxiously at them—there were only three binoculars in the bridge.

During this time, the distance between the two sides was much closer, and the "Xing'anling" and "Sayanling" following behind also appeared in their sight. The bridge of the cargo ship was much lower than that of the warship, and it was obvious that the other party had already spotted them, and it was coming straight at them.

"It should be a Tang ship." Captain Bain changed his words suddenly, and as the distance approached, he soon noticed the difference in appearance between the Comer and the "Seville", the transbow structure of the "City" class cruiser had a wider superstructure than the other side, and it was obvious that there was a narrow passage on either side of the bridge that led to the rear deck.

In this era, except for the light cruisers of the East Frankish Kingdom, only the light cruisers of the Tang Kingdom would adopt this "outdated" ship type, while the other side had a Byzantine naval flag flying on the mast.

"Hey, Captain, you're mistaken, I see a Byzantine flag hanging on its mast!" At this time, Chief Engineer Gordon, who had just snatched a telescope from the first mate, retorted.

At this time, Bane put down the binoculars, and his face had become very ugly: "The Byzantines don't have this kind of cruiser at all, it should be a 'state city' class cruiser!" Greer, you go to my cabin and bring the Navy Almanac, the top one. ”

A Tunisian sailor ran out of the wheelhouse in a puff of smoke.

As he spoke, the warship that was rushing forward seemed to increase its speed again, and there was a murderous smell on its body, although it was time to take any urgent measures, but a group of people did not know what to do for a while, so they had to watch as the other party gradually approached.

After a few minutes, the second mate Martin suddenly put down the telescope in his hand, "Captain, you are right, they have changed into the naval flag of the Tang Empire!" ”

"Andrew, turn left at full speed at once!" Captain Bane suddenly said to the sailors who were steering, "Whitaker, where are we now?" ”

"North 3, East 86, Captain!" First mate Witaker said.

"How far is it from the island of Ceylon?"

"About 350 nautical miles, captain!"

The first mate's answer made Bane completely discouraged, and at such a distance, they couldn't escape the pursuit of the high-speed battleship. At a distance of less than ten nautical miles, it only takes half an hour for the other side to catch up with them.

"Look, they're signaling to us!" Then Martin said suddenly.

Captain Bane raised the telescope in his hand, and the first mate Witaker, who was standing beside him, also hurriedly looked forward together, and the two of them watched while spelling word by word, and the other party was using an international clear code light signal:

"Stop-stop-forward-enter-I-want-board-ship-check-check!"

"What should we do?" When Captain Bane read the code, Witaker turned his gaze to him.

Bane was silent for a moment, then raised his head: "Do as the other party orders, and raise the answer flag first!" ”

"Captain, they're signaling again!" Then Martin said again.

Bane reluctantly raised the telescope in his hand, and now he could barely distinguish the silhouette of the other party without a telescope, and he continued to spell out the signal sent by the other party: "Forbidden-stop-you-ship-use-no-wire-electricity!" ”

Four Tang warships lined up in a column to cut the waves, sailing at high speed on the sea, the bow of the ship stirred up huge waves, and the light signal flashed constantly on the bridge. The huge body of the battleship stood out in the black waters of the North Atlantic, and the muzzles of its guns were raised high, both pointing in the direction of the two merchant ships.

Seeing the muzzles of more than a dozen black holes pointed at him through the binoculars, Bane wisely ordered to stop, and soon the speed of the ship slowed down.

On the bridge of the "Xing'anling," Ling Wencha and Zeng Chusheng were holding their arms and admiring their "catches" parked more than 100 meters away on the sea, while Deputy Captain Lu Er was directing the warship to lower the transport boat and send marines to occupy the freighter. At such a close distance, even though the sky was dark, they could still read its name clearly: "Black Tulip".

Under the threat of the Tang naval guns, the West Franks appeared to be very cooperative: they did not send out wireless telegraphies, nor did they do anything out of the ordinary, and they were very well-behaved.

After stopping the ship, everyone on that ship, including the cooks and stokers, all stood on the deck, waiting for further orders from the Tang people, while quietly observing the four powerful Tang warships around them. On the top of the masts of the two warships, a navy flag with stripes on a red and blue background fluttered, and a large black square was embroidered in the middle.

In this world, people with a little common sense know that it is a "Tang" character.

……