The original plan of the Prussian intelligence officers who responded to Pierre was to meet Pierre at the Anchor Bar and then wait for the Italian warship to pick him up, enter the Strait of Otranto directly, then head north to Venice, and then go north to Switzerland to take a train to Prussia.
As long as he enters the area controlled by Prussia, Pierre's safety will be worry-free. The Franco-Prussian War has not yet started. France is still the dominant power on the European continent. No small country in Central and Western Europe dares to provoke France.
Nowhere was safe until he returned to Prussia.
"What? Go to the Balkans? Go to Austria's sphere of influence? Sorry, we don't have this option in our plan. It's too risky! Although we have an armistice with Austria, our relationship is still very delicate, and we can't take this risk!"
At the critical moment, the stubborn character of the Prussians began to cause trouble again. In the hearts of these iron-blooded soldiers who pursue order, order is the first, and change and randomness are very annoying.
At this moment, many other countries in Europe have a popular joke about the Prussians. For example, when Europeans meet and greet, the British will say what the weather is like today, and the French will talk about the seasonal red wine and the most popular clothing.
When the Prussians meet, they seem to be full of iron-bloodedness. They will directly ask, "Is order still there?" 'Only when order remains can they feel at ease.
Pierre held his life-saving leather bag and said anxiously, "I must take risks now! Since the French can accurately grasp my whereabouts and arrange such an assassination plot in Athens, it means that my itinerary will be somewhere along the Suez Canal." It’s been leaked!”
"This assassination did not use pistols but was just the behavior of a group of hooligans. This shows that Athens was very eager to get the information and they did not have time to make adequate preparations... Yes, that must be the case, because the actions of those assassins were completely incompetent. Formality…”
"They should be rogue killers hired temporarily, not real French intelligence elites... The second echelon should be arriving soon. Don't hesitate. These French people know the importance of the intelligence in my hands. They already hate us!"
"They will be desperate! The French will be desperate to hunt us down! Don't count on the Italians for rescue. The French are really crazy. The Italians cannot withstand the pressure!"
What Pierre said was not wrong at all. At this moment, off the coast of Athens, on the blue high seas where the mountains of the Acropolis could be faintly seen, a serious navigation accident suddenly occurred.
The destroyer Competitor coming from Italy was suddenly scratched on its starboard side by a French frigate Thor that suddenly changed direction.
The huge sails caught the sea breeze, and the solid teak sides collided with each other and caused violent friction. Broken wood was flying, and my ears were filled with heart-wrenching screams. The entire sea was filled with white stubble. sawdust.
"Damn it! How did you Italians sail the boat? Why didn't you give way..."
"Go to hell! You Frenchmen who are going to hell, you suddenly turned, are you going to murder?"
The sailors on both sides suddenly became tense, and some even took out rifles and started aiming at each other. French and Italian swear words were everywhere on the sea.
Merchant ships and Greek fishermen in the distance took cover when they saw this, for fear of causing a misfire and damaging the city fish.
At this time, the captain of the French battleship came out and raised his hand to stop the abuse of his soldiers. He relied on the superior hull of the frigate and looked down at the Italians with contempt.
"I'm sorry. France is responsible for this unfortunate accident. It was our wrong driving that caused such consequences. We are willing to compensate you..."
"I will send the accident report to the military department later, and then the French ambassador in Rome will discuss compensation with you! Believe me, how can we French care about such a small amount of money!"
"Now...can we leave? Or are you refusing to accept my apology and compensation and insisting on triggering further military conflicts?"
They were all honorifics, and they were all polite official honorifics, but the contempt and disdain in their eyes could be heard by a fool, and all the Italian sailors were so angry that they almost vomited blood.
But Italy definitely did not have the courage to go to war with France, not to mention that the two warships were so big that it would not be easy to stand. In the end, the Italian captain could only nod indignantly and give up.
After the two ships staggered, people looked at the huge scratches on the side and woke up in horror. Fortunately, there was no war because now a layer of wood had been hung off the side of the destroyer, and the entire thing exposed was white stubble.
Now it is already very difficult to barely guarantee that water will not enter. Once a war breaks out, let alone artillery shells, I am afraid that ordinary rifle bullets can easily penetrate these broken wooden boards.
Naval battles always follow an iron law, big ships can defeat small boats, and many cannons can defeat few cannons. The French warships are huge and use exquisite materials. This scratch accident is completely normal, but the thin-skinned Italian warships have hurt their vitality.
Looking at the French warships going away, the Italians could only lower the sails and slow down and sail slowly towards Rome. The responding intelligence officers on the ship were as anxious as ants on a hot pot, but to no avail they could only look at the French warships in the distance. Walk away.
This is the law of the jungle that the navy follows. In the eyes of the navy, there is no peace and war in this world, no ceasefires and wars. If you see someone you hate on the vast sea, you have to do it. If you kill the enemy without being discovered, you will be killed. Just act like nothing happened.
If they are discovered, they can also blame it on the accident, say it was accidental, say they saw it wrong... because the vast ocean is not a lawful place, and the wild ocean only knows power.
Sure enough, the Thor got into his boat, rushed into the Athens waterway arrogantly, and approached the dock while being evaded by countless merchant ships. Although Greece is a weak country in this era, it is also an independent country. They naturally do not allow other countries' warships to dock without notification.
Three small coastal patrol ships came forward, blocking the way of the Thor, requiring the captain to declare entry into the port in accordance with Greek law.
Just as the two sides were arguing over the procedures, three small boats were put down on the poop of the Thor. More than 20 French intelligence officers directly took their diplomat licenses and forced their way through. Before the Greeks could react, , you have already logged in forcefully.
"Stop them! What's going on with these French people? I'm going to your embassy to sue you!"
"Notify the military police on the pier and ask them to stop these French people! They are so unruly. Do you think our country has no sovereignty? Stop them..."
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