Chapter 987 Great Shame and Humiliation

Old Edward Hobart Seymour was in no mood to care about the rumors in the army, and it was impossible to continue attacking Crete.

Theoretically, he had to report what happened here back to the country as soon as possible, because the threat from the sky was beyond his ability to deal with.

However, the reality was that Old Edward Hobart Seymour did not issue a similar order. He only ordered the fleet to sail to Malta at full speed.

At this time, Old Edward Hobart Seymour no longer dared to underestimate Austria, his opponent, and the fact that the main fleet of the Austrian Imperial Navy had not appeared for a long time aggravated his premonition.

What was the main force of the Austrian Imperial Navy doing? I am afraid it is very likely to choose to bypass him and attack Malta.

Once the New Mediterranean Fleet loses Malta, it can only seek refuge in Cyprus or even Istanbul of the Ottomans.

In that case, the British Mediterranean Fleet will no longer be a sharp sword inserted by Britain into the Mediterranean, but a prisoner in a cage, unable to exert its strength no matter how strong it is.

It must be said that the British naval commanders had a strong overall view at this time. Just a glance had already guessed the intentions of the Austrian Navy, but only 70% or 80%.

At this time, the British naval ships were in an awkward period of transition between the old and the new, with sail power, steam power, sail steam hybrid, multi-masted sailing ships, and topmasted square-rigged schooners.

Different power, different styles, and products of different ages led to a considerable speed difference.

If it were normal times, then old Edward Hobart Seymour could take his time and unify his pace.

But now he needs time. Since the fall of Crete, Britain has been strengthening the defense of Malta.

Malta has been a military stronghold since ancient times, and the Knights Hospitaller built a large number of medieval defense facilities on it.

However, the total number of soldiers and civilians on Malta is less than 20,000, and most of those so-called defense facilities were built hundreds of years ago. It is still unclear whether they can stop modern armies.

So old Edward Hobart Seymour had to be fast at this time. He decided to organize the new large warships and paddle-wheel warships, as well as some new clippers into the front team.

The remaining baggage ships, troop transports and old warships were organized into the rear team.

The reason for doing this was that the front team was mainly responsible for fighting, and if they encountered the main force of the Austrian Imperial Navy, they could directly engage in battle.

Even with only one-third of the troops, old Edward Hobart Seymour was confident that he could beat the so-called Austrian Navy.

Even if he could not completely wipe out the opponent, at least he could escape from the battlefield with excellent mobility.

As for the rear team, although they were all old antiques, old dogs also had a few teeth, not to mention that these British antiques were still terrible war beasts in the eyes of the world powers, and they were the confidence of the British Empire to sweep the world.

And in theory, the rear team did not need to participate in direct combat, but only as a reserve and insurance against any eventuality.

Old Edward Hobart Seymour's own flagship was in the front team, and he wanted to avenge his previous shame this time.

However, until the port of Malta, the British did not encounter the expected enemy.

Seeing the British Empire flag and the peaceful and busy docks on the port of Malta, the officers and soldiers of the British Navy couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

To be honest, they really didn't know how to face the Austrians.

They were really afraid of seeing the sky full of "dragons" or "elliptical hot air balloons" in the port, spitting flames mercilessly at the ground, and then covering the sky above their heads again.

Fortunately, the tragedy did not happen, but there was no relaxation on the face of old Edward Hobart Seymour. On the contrary, he frowned even tighter.

Where are the Austrians? Did they miss it because of their speed in the vast ocean? Or do they have a bigger conspiracy?

What do they want to do? Shouldn't they do something before they meet up with the French Grand Orient Fleet?

What are the Austrians doing? Do they think the war is over and are celebrating?

Countless questions filled his mind, and what should he do?

Among countless options, old Edward Hobart Seymour chose the safest one - strengthen defense and wait for backup.

There are supplies and shore guns on Malta Island, so he can at least be invincible here.

As for the problem of aircraft, he selectively ignored it, because this weapon looks terrible, but the damage to the fleet is much smaller than imagined.

The second and most important reason is that he can't think of a solution at present.

However, the next morning, Edward Hobart Seymour received bad news that the rear team transporting soldiers and supplies was attacked.

More than half of the escort fleet was lost, but only three of the twenty old battleships were lost.

The most serious losses were those ships responsible for transporting supplies and soldiers, with a loss of nearly two-thirds.

This was actually a revenge against the British, because Edward Hobart Seymour's fleet destroyed all the Austrian Empire's warehouses and strongholds in the Mediterranean after entering the Mediterranean.

The merchant ships, goods, and personnel of the Austrian Empire were also seized. It is more appropriate to say that it was seized than to say that it was robbed.

The British wanted Austria to compromise and pay a ransom before releasing the Austrian merchants.

Franz felt that since the British were so gentlemanly, it would be rude for the Austrian side not to reciprocate.

However, the Austrian Imperial Navy was not a pirate, and the British goods and sailors would be thrown directly into the sea, after all, Austria had no place to store these garbage.

After attacking the British fleet, Friedrich did not choose to kill them all, but politely let Britain choose to surrender or retreat.

The commander of the squadron naturally chose to retreat without thinking, because he found that the number of the Austrian Navy was twice as much as the intelligence in the previous battle.

And both tactics and combat power were stronger than the squadron he led.

Finally, Friedrich's flagship sent a flag signal to let the British salvage their sailors and goods by themselves and left.

However, after being chased for four hours, the entire route was full of lost goods and sailors of the British.

In the end, the commander of the British squadron, Lieutenant General Manco, decided to abandon those goods and sailors.

After all, he didn't know whether the Austrians really let them go, or whether they would kill back when they were salvaging sailors and goods.

In the end, tens of thousands of British sailors died in the sea. A passing Russian merchant ship happened to have dozens of journalists, photographers, missionaries and social activists on board, who witnessed and recorded this scene.

Old Edward Hobart Seymour on the Malta Island felt a palpitation. He had just lost half of his ships at the beginning of the war. This was an unprecedented shame for the British Empire Navy.

Although only three of the 38 battleships were lost, the task of conquering Crete and suppressing Greece might not be completed.