The clouds stopped raining, and a large fleet appeared on the calm sea.

At this time, although the people on the ship did not see the rainbow, they had a sense of joy for the rest of their lives. Thanks to the new compass that the ship was refurbished, Friedrich's fleet did not lose course.

After a day's sailing, I saw the port of Kolkata not far away.

This port is visible to the naked eye "prosperous", and everyone breathes a sigh of relief. After all, the ocean-going fleet needs to purchase a large number of supplies, and the poor countryside obviously cannot meet its huge needs, even the largest port of Bangkok on the Indochina Peninsula.

However, Friedrich, who put down the telescope, said very seriously.

"It seems that your whale friends are right, and if we had stayed on the shore at the time of the incident, we would have ended up in the same way as the British."

Franz took the telescope from the other party, and the sight in front of him was a little incredulous, and the large number of "bustling buildings" on the coast were actually piled up by the fragments of ships and trestles, which only gave a visual error in the distance.

When the fleet finally sailed into port, the real tragedy after the tsunami was revealed. As far as the eye could see, dozens of ships were piled up like hills, and the sea and shores were filled with swollen corpses.

The once bustling port has now become a ghost town. Due to the destruction of the pier, Franz and his party had to come ashore in a small boat.

It was only after going ashore that Franz deeply realized the horror of this natural disaster. In his previous life, he had also seen the scene of a flood crossing the border and hundreds of boats competing for the current. But compared to the bleak and miserable scene in front of us, it is nothing in between."

The once huge warship was cut off at the waist, and the wooden stakes that had been used to hold the docks in place were uprooted and inserted deep into the stone structure called the "Port Authority".

The sailors of the Austrian Navy have already begun rescue operations, and in addition to searching for survivors, the main purpose is to find usable supplies, after all, they have also suffered a lot of losses.

The city of Calcutta, a few dozen kilometres away, may not have been destroyed by the tsunami, but it did not necessarily contain the seafaring supplies that the Austrians needed.

Of course, there is a hint of wanting to take advantage of the fire to rob, after all, there is no monitoring in this era, and many goods have indeed become ownerless after this disaster, so what's wrong with being prepared?

At least in the period after the Austrian party landed on the shore, there was no scene of other organizations or individuals carrying out rescues, so it was natural to get a little "reward".

After a day of rescue, more than 2,000 bodies were found, all but 300 white people, all of whom were native Indians.

The more than 4,000 people rescued were divided into four different areas according to their language, skin color, and position; Of course, their temporary shelters had to be built with local materials, and even those people had to build them themselves.

Many of the British officers in India, who were unaware of the situation, continued to complain, even about the barbarism of the Austrians.

"Damn! You are shamelessly invading! Kolkata belongs to the United Kingdom! The British "gentleman" who refused to register his identity was even ready to protest with a gun in front of the Austrian Imperial officers.

As a result, of course, they were sent to God in advance, and even the people who behaved strangely around them suffered the same fate.

Although Franz's rescue behavior was moved by Franz's compassion, he would not sacrifice his country's excellent soldiers in exchange for the gratitude of others.

The remaining opponents, under the "friendly" persuasion of the Austrian sailors, quickly understood the current state of affairs.

The Indians were the first to understand the situation, and both the lowly Vaishyas, the Shudras, and the noble Brahmins and Kshatriyas obeyed the instructions of the Austrians, building houses for themselves, registering their identities, and distributing supplies and food.

The white survivors were placed in a better location, with more rations and greater rights to move.

Although they complained, they only dared to be angry in the face of the bright bayonets and black muzzles of the Austrian marines.

Then all the opium merchants were gathered together and enjoyed being in a building that looked intact on the outside, but was submerged in seawater on the inside.

At this time, the interior of the building was like a water dungeon, but the Austrian soldiers outside the door who were armed and did not speak the language made them dare not resist, and they had to spend the night in this environment.

Of course, Franz was not entirely inhumane, and these opium traders were given boxes and boxes of damp opium. Due to the harsh laws of the Austrian Empire, not a single soldier dared to hide opium privately, only the ship's doctor left a step as medical supplies.

Of course, some of them received permission from Franz and were invited to spend the night on warships of the Austrian Empire. The vast majority of them were local British officials and technologists, or academics, and of course a small number of Indians.

Among them is the famous Indian national hero Tandia Toby. Although he was the king of the princely states of India, he was not well received by Westerners.

He was a little flattered to be the guest of honour of a Western prince this time, and to be seated at his right hand.

Even the General Affairs Officer of the Port Authority can only sit in the third position on the left, and the other Indian kings can only sit in the corner.

Tandia Toby learned from the conversation of this group of Westerners that the two princes at the table, who did not look very old, had a high position in the Western world and had brought with them a sizable army.

Originally, there were not many British troops here, and the impact of the tsunami made a huge difference in the balance of power between the two sides.

At the same time, the Austrian Navy's strong approach after waiting for the shore and in the process of disaster relief is even more daring to make people slack. Franz's explanation, of course, was a necessary means to restore order.

However, it seems that the two men did not visit here for the purpose of fighting, but when they saw the disaster here, they decided to stop here for a short time to save people and replenish supplies and maintain ships by the way.

"Mr. Tandia, I heard that you are very brave?"

In the face of Franz's sudden inquiry, Tandia seemed a little panicked, after all, a low-ranking British military attache could usually be difficult for him, the king of the land.

At this time, the top boss of the low-ranking military attache wagged his tail like a pug and begged for mercy in front of the prince. Not only him, but even the white men in the entire banquet hall who were usually high up and above were like the lowest slaves to please this child, who looked no more than twelve or thirteen years old, which made people feel very ridiculous.

The port master on the side hurriedly said.

"You are absolutely right, Archduke Franz. This Indian once killed three tigers with a bow and spear in one day. ”

"Is it just a tiger?" Friedrich had a playful expression on his face. In his eyes, his brothers and nephews were much more fierce than beasts.

Moreover, tigers and lions, including elephants and other land beasts, were too small compared to the deep-sea beasts in the sea, and they were no threat to his tall and mighty battleships.

I listened to Franz's description, there is a mythical beast called the Tibetan Mastiff in the East that can sink battleships, although I don't know if it's true or not, but I have the opportunity to fire a few shots and try it to distinguish the authenticity.

"Archduke Friedrich, tigers are very ferocious animals, they are good at hiding, tracking and"

Before the British official could finish his sentence, Friedrich slapped his pistol on the table.

"Tell me, how many guns can it eat?"

"This" The official's face was full of embarrassment that could not be concealed.

A straight soldier like Friedrich, who had not received the education of an eldest son, could not handle such a matter of foreign relations.

"It depends on whether it drinks too much!" Franz smiled and helped the British official to relieve the siege, which immediately caused a burst of laughter at the wine table, which greatly alleviated the embarrassment at this time.

Friedrich also realized that he did not belong to the banquet occasion, so he took a sip of the wine glass and said, "Franz, I think the barnacles you dug are delicious, so I won't talk to you." ”

After saying that, he walked away, leaving only the adjutant to take his place for the time being.

After three rounds of wine and five flavors of food, Franz once again brought up the matter of tiger hunting.

"Mr. Tandia, if you buy our Austrian-made weapons, coupled with your bravery, it will not matter if you buy five tigers or ten tigers."

(End of chapter)