Chapter 1012 Possible Traitor

The Ottoman Empire was Britain's traditional trading partner, and the countries along the Mediterranean coast were huge markets that Britain could not give up.

After the failure of the Mediterranean naval battle, Britain's strongholds in the Mediterranean fell one after another, and the London government was like a blind and deaf person who knew nothing at this time.

Britain's overseas intelligence network has always been transmitted by merchants and diplomats, and other European countries have done similar things.

So every time Britain carried out a naval blockade, it could turn the other side into a blind and deaf person, but it was precisely because of this indiscriminate pirate behavior that it inadvertently dug a grave for itself.

After the victory of the Mediterranean naval battle, the Austrian Navy and armed merchants carried out crazy revenge, and for a time, news of countless British merchant ships being attacked was reported back to London.

Regarding armed merchants, I have mentioned many times in the previous article that merchant ships of this era all had gun positions and artillery, and a simple modification would make them warships.

Then let's talk about the so-called naval blockade by the British at this time. Since there was no international law at this time, the British blockade was to issue privateering licenses to the army and merchant ships.

That's right! It was the thing that disgusted the Spanish back then, so those British merchant ships were not innocent, after all, many of them also contributed to the British blockade plan.

If it was the Age of Exploration, these merchant ships were captured in the war zone, and the shareholders and ship owners could only blame themselves for their bad luck.

However, due to the continuous victory of the British Empire at sea and the financial innovation of the City of London, almost all ocean-going ships were insured.

At this time, the loss of British merchant ships and goods in the war will undoubtedly generate a huge amount of compensation, and it is very likely that the banks behind those insurance companies will go bankrupt during this economic crisis.

The financial giants in the City of London will not allow this to happen, and they keep putting pressure on the British government.

On the other hand, even if they get compensation, those merchants who have trade relations with the Mediterranean coastal countries are unwilling to continue to waste it. Because they need to pay liquidated damages for overdue arrival of goods, they will also reduce their share of the local market.

The main competitor is the Austrian merchants. After all, what the British can produce, the Austrians can also produce, and generally the quality is better and the price is better.

In the past, the British could rely on agreements and treaties to exclude other countries and monopolize the market, but these became waste paper when the war started.

Austria had made concessions to Britain on diplomatic and commercial issues many times in order to ease the conflict with Britain.

In the colonial era, if Franz did not want to be trapped on the European continent, he had to obtain the consent of Britain, the maritime hegemon, either with money or with swords.

But whether it is money or swords, the specific use is not immutable.

The end of the privateering license system in history had to wait until the Paris Declaration of 1858, but after this battle, the British should re-examine this double-edged sword.

At this time, those merchants who had trade relations with the Austrian Empire did not seem to be very anxious. After all, when the British controlled the Mediterranean, they could fly the British flag, and when it was the Austrians' turn to control the Mediterranean, they could change to the Austrian flag.

The intelligence they brought back was also the only clue for the British, but it was still difficult to restore the full picture of the Mediterranean naval battle from just a few words.

In particular, why did the huge fleet led by Edward Hobart Seymour Sr. return empty-handed on Crete? According to the British Navy's estimate, the Austrians did not have enough strength to defeat such a powerful fleet.

If there was, then the Austrians would not have had to wait for the reinforcements of the French Grand Orient Fleet.

The second is the fall of Malta. Malta has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times. There are a large number of defensive buildings on the island, and the Mediterranean Fleet patrols the surrounding sea.

It is impossible for the Austrians to transport tens of thousands of troops to the island through local Greek traitors as they did in Crete.

And in the eyes of the British, even if tens of thousands of Austrian troops landed on the island, it would not be easy to take Malta.

The only reasonable explanation is that there was a traitor on the island.

The British successfully used a small number of clues to deduce an incredible answer.

As for the so-called sea monsters of those merchants, they were selectively ignored by the British high-level officials. After all, it was just a joke to fool the people. How could they, the smart people, be fooled?

At this time, the British government firmly believed that this war would be a breath-taking war. After all, land is different from the sea and there will not be so many variables.

Moreover, according to the latest British intelligence, the French army has occupied the Kingdom of Sardinia and penetrated directly into the heart of Austria.

Although this behavior is contrary to the original intention of the British government, Austria has become Britain's biggest enemy at this time, and France's temporary occupation of the Kingdom of Sardinia is also acceptable.

After all, France, which has been severely damaged after the war, has no bargaining qualifications. At that time, it will be at the mercy of the British Empire.

In addition, Viscount Stratford has been sent to Istanbul. He will definitely be able to convince Sultan Mejid that the Ottoman Empire will send troops soon.

In addition, there are Hungarians. The Austrian Empire has been unable to take action against the Hungarian rebels, which also shows that its military and national strength are already stretched to the limit.

Based on the above inferences, the British government firmly believes that the Austrian Empire will not be able to hold on first, so the top government officials did not approve the new expedition plan.

British Navy Minister George Eden had an extremely crazy plan. He was going to form the most powerful fleet in human history, which would have at least 100 battleships.

Theoretically, this fleet would crush all possible enemies with its huge number, but the reality was that the British government firmly opposed this plan.

Let alone the impact of withdrawing the South, North American and West African fleets on the local areas, the cost and time wasted during the period alone would be a big problem.

Besides, the entire North Sea Fleet and all spare ships were sent out. At this time, the British Royal Navy simply did not have so many qualified captains and sailors.

If they were recruited temporarily, would these recruits really be able to fight against the brutal enemy?

And because of a series of wrong deductions, the British government always felt that it was the traitors inside that led to the failure of the first two Mediterranean naval battles.

As for whether there were traitors inside the British government? Of course there were! In this era, there were no countries that did not have a few traitors in their government.

However, did they have anything to do with the failure of the two Mediterranean naval battles? Of course there were! As long as you want to find, there are many factors that determine victory or defeat.

Since a nail on a horseshoe can determine the outcome of a war, then a sail, a cannonball, a pair of leather boots, or even a can of expired corned beef can also determine the outcome of a war.

For a time, the entire British political arena was in turmoil, but the Hamilton family, which was most closely connected to the Austrian Empire, escaped.

(Old Hamilton has retired, and Gordon, the apparent head of the family, is in Hungary.)