The abandoned supplies are worth a lot of money, and the ships that carry them are even more valuable.

However, Edward Hobart Seymour Sr. knew that the tens of thousands of professional sailors and Marines were the most valuable.

But the commander of the detachment, Vice Admiral Manco, desperately salvaged the booty from Austrian merchants, wine from the French, and even a box of medals from England.

Edward Hobart Seymour Sr. was furious, but it was not appropriate to pursue such a matter at this time, but he also needed to appease the emotions of these generals.

Otherwise, the entire army is at risk of demoralization.

The new flying machines and strange weapons used by the Austrians were too heavy for the morale of the British army.

As for Vice Admiral Manko's statement that the Austrian navy was strong and well-trained, in the eyes of old Edward Hobart Seymour was nothing more than an excuse for incompetence.

Rather than shirking his responsibilities, he had more important things to do at this time, and that was to draw up the next battle plan.

However, he had few options, and it was not wise to continue his attack on Crete or to harass the Austrian Empire's coast deep into the Adriatic Sea without knowing his military situation.

Thinking of this, old Edward Hobart Seymour couldn't help but be a little annoyed, what do the idiots in the MID do to eat! Why didn't the Austrian Empire focus on such important information as the possession of a large number of new weapons?

In fact, this is a bit of a wrongful British intelligence department, the four major British intelligence agencies: the Foreign Intelligence Service, the Army Intelligence Service, the Naval Intelligence Service, and the Cambridge Alumni Association.

They had already reported what was happening in Italy back to the UK, but no one from the Prime Minister, to the Cabinet, to the Ministers, believed it.

Coupled with the media coverage, even the public and soldiers felt that it was a bad joke.

As for the British eyeliner in the Central Mediterranean, it had already been swept away by the Austrian side once due to the previous war.

Coupled with the fall of the Orleans dynasty, even the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies abandoned their original position and moved closer to the Austrian Empire.

As a result, the original British deployment in the Apennines and Greece failed, and the British became blind in the Central Mediterranean.

The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies originally belonged to the Bourbon branch and had always opposed Austrian expansion in Italy, so it was at odds with the British.

However, in the Great Rebellion of 1848, the British chose to watch the fire from the other side, and even secretly fought with the rebels, and even wanted to support their own puppets.

At this time, the Austrian Empire was the defender of order and did defeat the rebels.

Of course, in addition to respect and gratitude, Ferdinando II and his vassals were more afraid of the might and near-infinite wealth of the Austrian Empire.

If Ferdinando II and his kingdom of the Two Sicilies were to settle the famine raging in the Apennines, it would not be possible to empty the treasury and the pockets of the bankers.

The countries most affected by the interception of Austrian merchant ships by the British were not Austria, but those that were waiting for Austrian assistance.

The successive protests and sieges of the British embassies in these countries, coupled with the influence of nationalism, greatly hampered the intelligence work of the British embassy personnel and businessmen.

The British rhetoric was even more unconvincing, claiming that it was for peace and justice, and that everyone's sacrifice and effort were worth it.

However, the hungry people in Italy do not understand why it is always themselves who pay the price and are sacrificed, and for whose peace and justice do they suffer these sufferings?

In fact, some pro-British factions came up with a compromise, that is, the British could continue to loot Austrian merchant ships, but they had to transport grain to the Apennine countries.

This would not only calm domestic discontent, but also better portray the savior of the British Empire.

However, the British Governor-General in Malta, Earl Solon, and the commander of the New Mediterranean Fleet, Edward Hobart Seymour Sr., unanimously rejected the proposal.

Allowing grain to enter the Apennine Peninsula in the first place was clearly inconsistent with the general policy of bringing down the economy of the Austrian Empire, because there was no guarantee that the Austrians would not buy grain from Central and even Southern Italy.

Second, the issue of rights and responsibilities. Britain is a civilized country, and it has no right to send food from other countries to a third country, let alone this responsibility.

Finally, it is not feasible. The merchant ships of the Austrian Empire carried a wide variety of goods, with different destinations.

During the war, it was impossible for Britain to assign so many people to identify them one by one, let alone send a fleet to supervise them.

In fact, it was the pirate habits of the British who were at work, and the goods carried by Austrian merchant ships were very valuable.

There are tens of thousands of tons of grain alone, not to mention other goods and the most valuable merchant ships themselves.

As for the lack of manpower to send to various countries, this problem is actually very easy to solve, and it would be nice to let the merchants of various countries take the initiative to send ships to buy it.

After all, in times of famine, the most worry-free thing to sell is food.

The proceeds of plunder were much higher than the salaries of the army, and there was no better time for the British GIs to have both loot and military pay.

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Sicily.

Edward Hobart Seymour Sr. could not have imagined that the main force of the Austrian Imperial Navy was facing him across the sea from him in Augusta Bay.

The successive victories boosted the morale of the Imperial Austrian Navy, and almost everyone felt that the British were vulnerable or the number one in the world.

However, Friedrich, as commander, was not at all happy.

Because in his plan, he used so many new equipment to concentrate such a huge fleet, at least he should be able to completely annihilate or cripple the British, and then start the second phase of the plan.

However, the reality is that even if the British were to suffer a full wound, it would only be a minor injury, and thirty-five battleships would still be a force to be reckoned with.

At the same time, Friedrich was glad that he did not directly fight Seymour on his way back to Malta.

If the two sides really meet on a narrow road, even if the Austrian Navy can win, it will be a crushing victory, and I am afraid that its years of hard work will be ruined.

At least half of the heavily built fleet and carefully trained sailors will be lost, and there is no possibility of total annihilation of the enemy.

Even if the British lose the Mediterranean Fleet again, the blow to them will still be within an acceptable range.

And if the Austrian navy loses more than half, then they will be an army in a fish tank again.

Fortunately, he followed Franz's advice and only chased after him, rather than choosing a strategic decisive battle.

It was precisely because of the Ouroboros that the British Navy's resistance was not fierce, and after a symbolic resistance, they began to flee.

(End of chapter)