Xiang Ying was not kidding. In the minds of him and those overseas students, this warship costing 1.9 million taels was their lives, even more important than their own lives. They had been mentally prepared before setting off. Once they were attacked by the enemy, Heavily surrounded and fought to the bitter end.
If you can't break out of the encirclement even in a bloody battle, then speed up to the deep sea area. Even if it is sunk in the end, it will sink in the deep sea, making it impossible for the enemy to salvage it.
Even if Chinese things are blown to pieces in the Atlantic Trench, they must not be left to the enemy.
Not to mention little Denmark, even if the Royal Navy stands in front of them, these brave children can still run past them.
However, Xiang Ying is not a reckless person. He sounds fierce, but they have done the deduction many times before, and the situation is not as serious as they thought.
The thick fog itself increases the concealment of warships. Denmark is not a European military power and its naval power is also very weak, so the probability of encountering warships in this kind of weather is not high.
However, the weather has little impact on fishermen. Poor fishermen will not stop going to sea just because of a heavy fog. On the contrary, these fishermen are the most likely to leak the news.
However, at this time, the level of education in Europe was only about that, and the communication capabilities were also very poor. On the one hand, the fishermen may not be able to understand what this strange-looking ship is for. In addition, by the time the news reaches the city, it is estimated that the Zhiyuan will have escaped long ago. Out of sight.
Even if the sandbox simulation goes to the worst possible scenario and the Danish Navy blocks the Zhiyuan without any national flags, it can still launch a surprise attack, which is perfect for actual combat drills. There is also a skeleton hidden in the captain's cabin. As for the flag, even if another pirate ship appears in Europe by then.
As long as we can rush into the vast North Atlantic, trying to find the Zhiyuan with today's human navigation technology is really like looking for a needle in a haystack. As long as we don't let others capture it alive, even if we kill a few Danish warships, the final result will be to refuse to admit it. .
The expected worst-case scenario did not occur. The heavy fog provided very good protection for the Zhiyuan. As for the fishermen who were fishing, they turned around in fear when they saw this armored monster that they had never seen before and the strange statue on the bow of the ship. He ran away, thinking some sea monster was coming.
Now everyone felt relieved. The fleet successfully circumnavigated the Skagerrak Strait and encountered only six merchant ships along the way, four of which were ships from Hamburg.
All the weapon systems of the Zhiyuan were wrapped in tarpaulin, and it was camouflaged just like an ordinary steamship. The merchant ships did not pay attention to it. In the end, the Zhiyuan smoothly sailed north along the coast of Norway towards the Faroe Islands.
Bismarck and Prince Karl in Berlin finally received the telegram sent by intelligence officers from Norway. Seeing that the fleet's position on the map had passed the Shetland Islands, the northernmost island group in the UK, they made a long exit. One breath.
"Great. If they can successfully break through the North Sea Defense Line, they will be safe. No matter how powerful the Royal Navy is, it cannot cover the entire Atlantic Ocean with one hand..." Karl rubbed his hands excitedly.
At this time, the adjutant unpacked and read the pieces of intelligence, and then pushed the battleship model on the map. When Bismarck saw three more battleships sailing from the north to Cape Verde, he finally smiled.
"Six heroic warships have contained 40% of the naval combat effectiveness of Britain and France on the mainland, and 60% of their intelligence power. This is a heroic team, and I will reward them."
"Now, it's time for us to close the net..."
Early the next morning, King William I of Prussia issued a rare tough announcement. He made it clear that France and Britain's interception of the Prussian fleet was intolerable to the Kingdom of Prussia. Within 24 hours, the Prussian fleet must be released and left, otherwise there will be all consequences. conceited.
Napoleon III was completely angry, saying in his heart that you were still justified in intervening in the Spanish unrest. Then the French side did not give in and directly exposed Prussia's despicable attempt to interfere in Spain's internal affairs.
The French intelligence agency has released several very important pieces of intelligence in succession, which actually contain various details of Prince Leopard's landing in northwest Spain and organizing mercenaries.
The European media is in an uproar. The Spanish royal family has been controlled by the Bourbon dynasty for more than a hundred years. Prussia has made it clear that it wants to challenge the existing rules.
Various European countries quickly took sides and began to issue different statements based on their own interests. The crisis in Cape Verde has been going on for a whole week in a war of words.
When the conflict intensified to its most serious level, something surprising happened. Prince Leopard, who was originally reported to be in the fleet, actually issued a statement and convened a press conference in Berlin.
Now the French were dumbfounded. There was such a big omission in their intelligence. It turned out that Leopp was not on the fleet. Now the resentment in the hearts of the Prussian soldiers and civilians became even greater. There were even calls for war among the people.
"Napoleon III will not back down. I know him too well. His heart is full of anger, and he will definitely be tougher..." Bismarck delivered an impassioned speech to the Prussian ministers at the luncheon. There were people in front of him. The king, the prince and old Moltke.
"Anger, this is the fire of hell. It can make a person make a series of wrong actions. Now Napoleon III is the man sitting in the crater."
"During the Austro-Prussian War, he originally thought that his neutral stance could be exchanged for land on the Rhine River, but I refused and he was very angry..."
"In the Spanish Succession War, our initiative to participate in the war made him even more furious."
"And our Eastern ally Xiao Letian challenged his dignity again and again, which made him even more intolerable."
Bismarck sneered and said, "He will not back down, he will definitely push forward...so we must be ready to show weakness now."
Bismarck's analysis was not wrong at all. The French navy discovered that Prince Leopp was not on the battleship, and could only let the Prussian soldiers leave in despair.
But Napoleon III had no intention of blushing, and instead issued a tough message to Prussia.
"France will never tolerate a foreign power imposing its own prince on the throne of Charles V, nor will it tolerate any country disrupting the balance of power in Europe. France will never stand idly by and do nothing about this incident. France will not hesitate to do so if necessary. We must take tough measures to fulfill our responsibilities."
This was close to a declaration of war, and there was an uproar throughout Prussia. At that moment, war slogans resounded in all cities.
However, Prussia unexpectedly did not take an extreme reaction and chose to shut up. It just issued a simple statement hoping that the two sides would use diplomatic means to launch active negotiations.
What's even more incredible is that the Emperor's anger gradually diminished, and he also tried to negotiate as much as possible.
Only true statesmen can see the silence before the storm. They know that Prussia and France have begun to prepare for war.
