Eastern Mediterranean.

A fleet is adrift alone at sea, and the flown flag proves their identity.

They were the British Advance Fleet in the Near East, consisting of three capital ships and five frigates.

The three capital ships were the battleship "Birmingham" of the third rank, the battleship of the third rank of the "Wanghey", and the battleship of the third rank of the "Newport".

Among them, the "Wanghei" and "Newport" are typical 74 ship configurations, while the "Birmingham" is a super third class battleship with 80 guns on a three-deck gun deck and a displacement of up to 2,100 tons, and it is also the flagship of this fleet.

Vice Admiral Helmut, who is dining in his flagship "Birmingham". He was the only one at the table, but there were fourteen dishes on the table.

You must know that in general, the so-called French dinner is also only thirteen dishes. The British, on the other hand, felt that the number thirteen was unlucky and wanted to appear stronger than the French, so the British navy's feast consisted of fourteen dishes.

What the British don't know is that the number fourteen also means ominous in the East.

The supply of the British Navy can be said to be the most complete navy of this era. In particular, the officers' diet was even more extravagant, and this bad habit of theirs was later learned by the Japanese Navy.

But on the rough sea, even the food is not in the mood at the moment, and the wine that Lieutenant General Helmut has just drunk is already a little drunk after swaying with the waves a few times, and said proudly to the chef next to him.

"Any idea what we're going to do?"

"Go to war, General." The head chef didn't know the lieutenant general's intentions, but he knew he had better not provoke the drunkard.

"No, we're just going on a tour. The fleet of the Egyptians, it's just a joke. I was also present in that naval battle in 1827, I was on the "East", do you know how many ships we sank? Helmut held up two fingers.

"Two?" The chef had been at sea for many years, and although he had never participated in serious naval battles, he knew that the British Navy was bound to win every battle, and there were not many chances of sinking his opponent.

Helmut shook his head.

"Three?" The head chef asked tentatively, which annoyed Helmut.

"Twenty! Those Egyptians are as stupid as you are! We were able to sink their warships with every shot, and they found out that our artillery was so good that it was like a jumping war with us. Guess what? ”

"We won?"

"No, no, no!"

"So we lost?" The head chef was a little confused.

"They were sunk by us before they could get closer. There happened to be a group of sharks, and they smelled blood, and they had to go to a jumping war with the sharks. Ha ha! ”

Lieutenant General Helmut laughed so much that tears were about to flow from his eyes, but the chef really didn't know where the laughter was, but he didn't want to provoke the drunk, so he could only laugh awkwardly.

Fortunately, at this time, the fog cleared.

A herald ran in and shouted, "Captain! Discover a large number of enemy ships! ”

Fighting always makes the blood boil, and Helmut's face was completely drunk, and he grabbed the captain's hat on the table, put it on his head, poured another large sip of rum, and walked out the door.

"Mr. Nelson, please help me." Rum is also known as "Nelson's Blood" in the British Royal Navy.

Nelson is the god of war on the same level as Napoleon, known as the "Napoleon of the sea", unlike the other people in this book who claim to be Napoleon, he is not self-appointed, and there is no pejorative meaning, and he is by no means the kind of clown who everyone calls "Napoleon" after Napoleon's death.

The sea breeze blows, the fog lifts, and Helmut seems to be back in Navarino. The Egyptian fleet remained in port, seemingly trying to compete with the British Royal Navy with the advantage of the batteries.

Helmut observed through a telescope that there were almost 100 Egyptian gunboats, large and small, plus brigs and 30 brigs, and about 30 coastal defense guns.

However, the corners of Helmut's mouth showed a contemptuous smile, how many mediocre people can mix with the commander of the detachment in the British Royal Navy?

Helmut saw the weakness of the Egyptians at a glance, and the ships were basically 3-4 pounder guns. Those shore defense guns looked mighty and domineering, but he knew the level of the Egyptians' cannons, weighing nearly 10,000 catties of huge cannons, and the caliber was between 10-12 pounds.

Artillery of this power is simply scraping for a battleship.

In the case of his "Birmingham", with a displacement of 2200 tons, the lower gun deck was equipped with 32 32-pounder cannons, the middle gun deck was equipped with 24 24-pounder cannons, and the upper gun deck was equipped with 20 16-pounder long-barreled guns.

The bow and stern of the ship were each equipped with two 32-pounder Caron guns, which were used against approaching small ships.

"Birmingham" can pour half a ton of shells at a time, which is almost equal to the total firepower of the opposing side.

What is even more terrifying is that the British artillery uses solid drilling and boring technology, which is not at all comparable to those Egyptian earthen cannons.

"Soldier, go back to your post. Raise the flag and let Major General John line them up in a horizontal line, 1200 meters, ready to meet the enemy. ”

Although the Egyptian Navy had long known that the British Navy was coming to bombard Beirut, it still startled them when the British Navy did appear.

Because of the fog, when the Egyptian Navy spotted the British fleet, the distance between the two sides was only two kilometers.

As a result, many people are still eating on the shore or preparing supplies.

"Enemy ships are coming!! Enemy ships are coming!! ”

A soldier sounded the alarm, followed by an alarm bell throughout the port of Beirut.

However, they still missed the best opportunity, and the British had already set up battle formations before the Egyptian navy boarded the ship.

As the gun deck was opened layer by layer, the muzzle of a black hole in a door was revealed.

Then, with General Helmut's order to "fire freely", countless black projectiles flew towards the batteries and the helpless Egyptian sailing ships.

Flowering shells exploded in the port of Beirut, and due to the concentration of the Egyptians in a hurry to prepare for battle, the scattered shrapnel immediately caused extensive damage. But the flames of the combustibles inside are more likely to cause chaos than shrapnel.

The Egyptian batteries were the target of Helmut's attention, after all, he felt that the small sailing ships of the Egyptians were no threat to his battleships.

And his task is only to deter from shelling. The capture of Beirut is not within his purview. Of course, if these Egyptians wanted to die, he wouldn't mind giving them a ride.

After four rounds of artillery fire poured by the British navy, the Egyptian counterattack finally began. The battery cooperated with the large mast ship to shoot at the British Navy a kilometer away, but it only set off a wave, and very few of them could hit the British warship, and even if it did, it was the same as Helmut estimated, and it was completely ineffective.

Just as Helmut triumphantly gave the order to continue firing freely, a huge Egyptian fleet was cutting through the fog, and the main force of the Egyptians was about to arrive on the battlefield.

(End of chapter)