"In accordance with the Paris Declaration of Naval Warfare, the Hague Convention and the London Declaration...... Merchant ships not converted for warship purposes...... The personal safety of all crew members should be guaranteed on a basic basis...... What you are doing is an act of piracy that tramples on international law......"

On the bridge of the German armored cruiser Scharnhorst, the captain, Colonel Scholz, read through a telescope the French ship's response to the surrender demand. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Earl Spee snorted coldly: "London Declaration? It was an empty declaration that never came into force, and the British did not hesitate to renounce the main provisions of the declaration at the beginning of the war, when in fact all the conventions were nothing more than a bondage between the strong and the weak. In my mind, an armed merchant ship of an enemy country should be treated like an enemy warship, let alone a 10,000-ton steamer with a 6-inch cannon! ”

Scholz immediately responded: "The Hague Convention No. 9 stipulates that naval warships shall not shell undefended cities, coasts, villages, houses and buildings, but this has happened more than once in the Balkan Wars and in the Italian wars against the Ottomans. Besides, if it had not been for the heavy artillery bombardment of the Grimsby by the reconnaissance fleet on 7 August, I am afraid that there would not have been the glory of the High Seas Fleet in the waters of Jutland - victory is the truth! ”

"Come on! Let's see the pride of the ocean-going fleet of the French Third Republic, the armed cargo ship 'Nantes', and what other tricks are played! Count Spee accentuated his tone at the last word, for he had in his hand an important piece of information from Chile, the French 10,000-ton freighter Nantes, which had departed from Chile two weeks earlier, was carrying two six-inch cannons and some small-caliber guns, which were not cargo in the cabin, but weapons that had been erected on the deck of the ship in accordance with the combat deployment. According to the provisions of the international conventions in force at that time, if such a ship was not included in the combat sequence of the armed forces and made public to the public, it was only an "armed cargo ship" of a self-defense nature, and under no circumstances could it take the initiative to attack the merchant ships and warships of the enemy country, and at the same time enjoyed the rights of non-military ships of the belligerent countries.

The shelling of the "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau" came to an end for the time being, and the boiling sea quickly fell silent, and the rather modern French ocean-going freighter burst into flames, billowing black smoke filling the deck, and rushing upwards to a height of 100 meters. Rather than abandon the ship in a hurry, the French crew fought to extinguish the fire on deck, the white jets of water from the fire hose and the surging tongues of fire wrestling.

The French made it clear no to the German fleet's request to surrender, and that two powerful German armored cruisers could put an end to the Nantes' struggle at any time if they wanted to, but they were like cats that had easily caught a mouse, and did not intend to swallow the defenseless prey in one gulp. As usual, the "Gneisenau" cruised a little farther away, and the main guns of the black hole were all aimed at the "Nantes," and the "Scharnhorst" moved forward at a steady pace, gradually approaching the sea less than a kilometer from the French freighter.

At this time, the captain of the "Nantes", a retired colonel of the French Navy, Zelani, came to the deck with a heavy face, he crouched down and knelt on one knee, and one of the crew members fell on the deck with his back facing the sky, his young face covered with blood, and a pair of distracted eyes staring straight at the sky where the smoke of gunpowder was drifting. Zelani stretched out his withered fingers and gently stroked the cheek of the victim, his eyes filled with tears, but the anger in his eyes burned brightly.

"Open the baffle!"

The powerful roar of Second Lieutenant Sangaré came from the foredeck, and the surviving crew turned their heads to see him personally manipulating the steering device from the gun emplacement, and only waiting for the two crew members to lower the movable baffle erected on the broadside, he fine-tuned the angle of fire and quickly aimed the gun at the German battleship in the northeast sea.

Rumble!

The foredeck cannon suddenly let out a deafening roar, and this all-directional ship gun with a straight shield was originally intended for German submarines, but unexpectedly ran into two German armored cruisers. It stands to reason that even if the "Nantes" takes advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness to take the initiative to attack, it will never have a chance to defeat the other side, after all, the naval guns are different from torpedoes, as long as they hit, they may have a fatal effect, not to mention that the "Nantes" is equipped with two old models of 138 mm guns, which are only 5.43 inches in British caliber. It's just that when the saltpeter was being shipped in Chile, the good-faced French boasted that they were loaded with 6-inch guns, which were enough to take out the German submarines who thought they were bullying.

In the blink of an eye, the shells that came out of their disembowels flew towards the German armored cruiser seven or eight hundred meters away -- if they got closer, the accuracy and effectiveness of the attack would naturally be much improved, but the lookouts on the mast of the German ships would inevitably see the cannons behind the side fenders of the "Nantes", and the French were not sure whether the other side was coming prepared or was running amok indiscriminately, and in the precarious condition of the hull, the first attack was the only chance to dampen the enemy ship.

"Hit! Hit the enemy ship! ”

A French crew member standing on the side of the ship shouted excitedly, and the surrounding crew members raised their arms in celebration, and then they heard the high-decibel roar of Second Lieutenant Sangaré: "Reload!" ”

By this time, the same type of guns in the stern had been damaged, and the only guns that followed the cannon of Second Lieutenant Sangaret to fire at the enemy ship were only two 37 mm caliber Hatch Chase rotary tube guns, and a series of shells swept towards the upper deck of the German armored cruiser, which brought no less consternation to the German crews on the opposite side than the shell that had just failed to penetrate the gunside armor!

Before the cannon on the foredeck of the "Nantes" fired a second shell, the German armored cruiser flying the vice admiral's flag on the sea near immediately punched hard, and the two pairs of twin secondary guns on the side of the ship sprayed terrifying flames one after another, and the real 6-inch shells flew with a short scream, and the four shells hit, which was enough to show that the German crew had been in a critical state of being ready to fire.

In order to combat the German submarines, the "Nantes" was equipped with cannons and was also slightly modified, the reinforced side flaps were able to block bullets and shrapnel equivalent to the power of the bullets, the decks and bulkheads were painted with a certain fireproof paint, in addition to the addition of medical emergency rooms and corresponding medical equipment on board, the number of fire extinguishers and fire hoses has also increased a lot, and it is far from being comparable to an armored cruiser built in the early 20th century. Four ordinary 150-mm shells immediately dealt a catastrophic blow to it, the open gun emplacements on the foredeck were immediately killed and wounded, and the fire in the middle and rear of the hull, which had slightly improved the situation, exploded instantly, and the powerful momentum threw some of the crew members who were fighting the fire out of the ship's side, and the shells that penetrated the hull and exploded in the middle and lower cabins completely tore through the cargo compartment partition, which also pushed the "Nantes" to the brink of destruction - natural saltpeter has a combustible effect, and when burned, it will release toxic nitrogen oxide gas, which means "Nantes" The ship will soon be transformed into a violently burning ship of death!

Through the thick smoke of gunpowder, Zelani staggered to the foredeck, where Second Lieutenant Sangarre and all the gunners had fallen in a pool of blood, leaving only the 138mm gun standing alone.

"Ensign! Lieutenant! ”

Zelani picked up the surviving Second Lieutenant Sangaré, who shook his head weakly and said weakly, "I'm sorry, I only gave the Germans one shell, and I didn't help much." ”

"One hit." Zelani's eyes were red and he said, "We're proud of you. ”

Second Lieutenant Sangaré struggled to look around, realizing that the crew members who were temporarily acting as gunners were either dead or wounded, and his eyes suddenly became dull.

"Let everyone abandon ship! Sir! We can't surrender to the Germans, but we can't let the rest of the crew die in vain...... After all, they are not soldiers and do not have to assume the duties of soldiers. ”

"You're right." Zelani raised his head and shouted at the figure in the smoke, "Abandon ship!" Abandon ship! ”

A shrill shrill whistling sound drowned out his screams, and then the huge ocean-going cargo ship turned into leaves trembling in the wind in the ensuing violent explosion, the thick hull was full of holes and mutilation, the fire on board was completely out of control, the deck and cabin surrounded by fire were constantly expanding, the blazing flames were destroying the skeleton of the hull, and the crew members who were stuck to the lower cabins could hardly even have a chance to escape.

After the aftermath of the explosion, Zelani shouted at the top of his voice, "Abandon ship!" Abandon ship! ”

But no one responded to him.

As if he had suddenly woken up from his sleep, Ensign Sangaret stood up on his own, unsupported by Zelani, staggered over to the cannon, held on to the gun mount, and gazed calmly at the German battleship on the sea. Despite the provocation, even the insult, this beast, which was not at all bound by international law, did not go berserk and beat the "Nantes" to death. Perhaps the Germans on board disdained this, or perhaps they were deliberately saving ammunition, and the battleship adjusted its course and slightly distanced itself from the "Nantes".

During his time in the Navy, Zelani was not an expert in gunnery, but at least had an operational knowledge of every weapon on board, and he walked up to Second Lieutenant Sangarre, opened the bolt, and saw that an unused shell was already in the chamber, so he closed the bolt and turned the grip with great effort, trying to re-aim the muzzle at the German battleship, but the hull had tilted, and only the mast of the German battleship could be seen in the gunner.

Zelani gave up, leaning on the gun carriage like Second Lieutenant Sangarre: "Ensign, I feel very honored to be able to fight alongside you in the last battle of my life. ”

"It's a pity that it's a defeat!" Second Lieutenant Sangaret coughed and laughed, blood oozing from the corners of his mouth, and his face was as white as a cleanly washed handkerchief.

"We've at least got their ship right, damn Scharnhorst, the masterpiece of German shipyards." With a smile of satisfaction, Zelani said, "God willing, bless the enlightened Brits to wipe them out in the Atlantic." ”

"The British are no longer good, the pattern of the seas is changing radically, and I hope there will be a place for France." Second Lieutenant Sangaret looked up at the sky, and through the smoke of gunpowder, he saw the afterglow of the setting sun, infinitely poignant.

(End of chapter)