"Am I dazzled? Or that flag...... Not what I thought I meant? ”

Li Keming put down the binoculars and muttered to his attendant adjutant Hu Yingjie while blinking. About 400 meters away from the side of the Lin Liang, a two-masted schooner was walking side by side, the cross flag that had been hoisted high on the top of the mainmast had just been lowered, and another flag was slowly rising.

"If Admiral Gonzalez is right, the Governor should not be dazzled, and the meaning of that flag is also what the Governor thinks."

Hu Hanshan's youngest son, Hu Yingjie, a naval cavalry lieutenant in his early twenties, replied in an almost murmuring tone, he could clearly see that on the schooner, which was two or three times smaller than Lin Liang, a black flag had been raised to the top, fluttering in the wind.

"Happy Roger...... Oh my God, pirates! O living pirates! ”

The other crew members screamed excitedly, as if they had seen some rare animal. Beneath the white skull on a black background is a pair of cross-cutters, the most standard pirate flag, which is nicknamed "Happy Roger".

"There are indeed many pirates on the southern shores of the Mediterranean, but no one has told us that pirates will be rampant enough to use us as targets for looting, at least not the Algiers have this attitude towards us, Yingjie, what do you say?"

Looking at the pirate ship, no, it was actually an armed merchant ship, and it was opening the cannon door, revealing a long row of cannon muzzles in Hesse, Li Keming felt incredible.

Lin Liang's position at this time was one hundred and forty kilometers southwest of Cagliari, a Sardinian port in the Mediterranean, and it was not acting alone. The fast battleship Liang Deguang led four other ironclad steam cruisers to the northeast.

In accordance with the "Provisional Treaty of Naval Cooperation" signed between Anglo-Chinese and Britain, Li Keming's ironclad steam fleet entered the Mediterranean Sea and undertook to attack France's sea transportation routes. At the same time the task of putting pressure on the Kingdom of Sardinia.

The Provisional Treaty on Naval Cooperation was the product of a compromise between the British and Chinese Navy, which did not want the Anglo-Chinese navy to continue to operate in the European waters north of Lisbon, but had the mentality of taking advantage of the situation. I also hope that this fleet will contribute to this war, and the Mediterranean Sea is the most suitable place to go. The Anglo-Chinese fleet could pin down the French navy in the Mediterranean Sea and strike at France's important ally: the Kingdom of Sardinia.

Anglo-Chinese also had a keen interest in the Mediterranean, and the planned completion of the Suez Canal would bring east-west shipping routes to here, which required a number of preparations. In addition to mastering the hydrological and port information of the shipping routes, finding out the layout of Ottoman Turkey's influence in the Mediterranean, and trying to find a suitable foothold. It is also very important to get another ally in the Mediterranean.

Although the Kingdom of Sardinia was an ally of France, it was at odds with Austria and took an ambiguous position in the war. Although the Suez Canal is still only on paper, it does not prevent Britain and China from starting a separate game with the Kingdom of Sardinia with both diplomatic and military affairs.

Therefore, Li Keming went to Sardinia with half of the fleet, preparing to "visit" Carria first, and then depending on the reaction of the Kingdom of Sardinia. Decide on your next move.

As for why only half of the fleet was brought with them, it was thanks to the "friendship" of the British, who, although they sold coal to the Anglo-Chinese fleet, spared no effort to make small trips, and the coal was all wet. Li Keming does not want to bask in the sun in Lisbon with nothing to do. After sorting out a part of the dry coal, he went on the road with half of the fleet.

As the fleet approached Cagliari, Li Keming did not let his guard down, and led the fastest flagship to inspect the rear waters, and encountered a long-sail merchant ship with a cross flag when he turned half-sail. According to the maritime practice of the Mediterranean, flying the cross flag means belonging to the Europa camp, although the Anglo-Chinese fleet flew the double dragon flag and the flying dragon rain naval flag, but in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, it also flew the cross flag. …,