Chapter 183 Stealing the House (Part 2)

In order to build battleships, Muhammad Ali built a labor camp on the hill behind the dock, which was filled with a large number of craftsmen who were forced to come by the Egyptian government.

They had long been fed up with Ali's brutal rule, and members of the Karamanli family had secretly infiltrated the laborers.

And told the craftsmen that one day someone would come to save them. At that time, they would drive the warships they built with their own hands and leave this hell.

The treatment of craftsmen in Egypt was extremely low, especially the conscripted laborers. In Ali's eyes, they were no different from slaves, and those Egyptian soldiers were naturally unlikely to treat them well.

No one, including the craftsmen, had a real salary, and whips and sticks were commonplace.

Not only did they have to engage in high-intensity labor every day, but the food was pitifully small. There were often dozens or hundreds of craftsmen crowded in one room.

Even worse were the coolies. They only had simple tents. In order to prevent them from escaping, many people were shackled on their feet, and every guard had the right to shoot and kill those who escaped.

As for the sick and injured, there is only one principle, that is, do not support idle people, and those who cannot work must die!

Under this treatment, no craftsman wants to fulfill Ali's dream.

The so-called "Great Arab Empire" cannot move them.

Just wanting to survive has become their only expectation in their hearts. As for the warships they built, the craftsmanship level will naturally be greatly reduced.

But these people brought the possibility of a great victory to the Austrian Navy. With the beginning of the Austrian Navy's attack, a large number of craftsmen rushed out of the labor camp that had been broken by the Marines.

Thousands of craftsmen rushed to the dock to seize those ships. They used the most rudimentary tools to eliminate the only garrison in the dock.

Of course, there were also many craftsmen who were unwilling to leave this land. They rushed out of the dock and fled into the nearby mountains and forests.

Originally, the Austrian Navy could not take these battleships away, but with the help of these thousands of Egyptian craftsmen, it was nothing impossible.

The craftsmen raised the sails, and brand-new battleships sailed out of the port one by one, of course to ensure that they would act according to Franz's plan. Fifty marines were sent to each warship to ensure the smooth implementation of the plan.

Seeing the battleships leave the port, the Egyptian defenders' last courage disappeared, because they knew very well that if they lost the battleships, they would only die.

So their morale completely collapsed, and they fled in all directions under the cover of night.

As early as when the laborers rushed out of the labor camp, many defenders had already greased their feet, and this time no one wanted to stay and be buried with the dock.

In fact, the Egyptian defenders did not understand until the end how those 4-5 meter high artillery fell, and there were so many secret sentries, were they all blind? Why did so many enemies sneak in, but they did not sound the alarm.

The Dragon Special Forces responsible for attacking the artillery, many of whom were selected from the mountain hunters of Tyrol, those artillery that were unattainable for ordinary people were as easy for them as drinking water.

And compared with the smugglers and bandits they usually deal with, these Egyptians seemed to lack vigilance.

The battle went more smoothly than Friedrich had imagined. The tragic naval battle he had expected did not happen. On land, the Austrian elite troops unilaterally beat the Egyptian defenders.

What made him even happier was that Muhammad Ali, the whole country's efforts that took many years to build, fell into the hands of Austria.

Even if the Egyptian warships were shoddy, the cost of each first-class ship would not be less than 1 million florins, and the price of a third-class battleship would not be less than 300,000 florins.

With the first ray of sunlight rising on the sea, Friedrich could hardly believe his own eyes. Behind him were nineteen huge sailing battleships, whose military strength even exceeded the total of the Austrian Navy.

No man could resist the temptation of cannons, giant ships and excavators. Friedrich touched his nose.

"Thirty years in the east, thirty years in the west, don't bully the poor young man!"

In this battle, the Austrian Navy's fifteen steam gunboats and three steam landing ships were not lost. Two Egyptian naval cruisers were sunk, four battleships under construction were captured, 19 enemy battleships were captured, and 3,000 Egyptian shipbuilding craftsmen were rescued.

The Marines suffered 39 casualties, eliminated nearly 2,000 Egyptian defenders, killed the Egyptian Navy Minister Es Pasha, destroyed eight artillery positions, two arsenals, and three barracks, and the Governor of Alexandria, Vishak Pasha, committed suicide.

The casualties of the Marines mainly occurred after landing, when they were randomly shot and trampled in the absence of visibility, and were accidentally injured by Congreve rockets, and even two rockets flew directly into the crowd.

Along with the secret dock, not only their fleet was destroyed, but also the war potential of the Egyptian Navy.

More than half of the craftsmen of the Egyptian Navy were abducted to Austria with Friedrich's fleet. Obviously, they could not go back to their motherland Egypt, so they simply stayed in Austria as craftsmen for life.

Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.

"It seems that our harem manager can't do without you." Ajani smiled.

"She just doesn't quite understand her duties yet." Franz said.

Ajani stretched out her slender white fingers and lifted Franz's chin.

"What a handsome little guy. If you can take a fancy to a girl, it must be her luck." The voice was pleasant and gentle.

"Miss Adjani, you are making fun of me again." Franz said modestly. Some habits are difficult to break, such as this somewhat hypocritical self-effacement.

"No, Archduke Franz, I'm serious." Adjani said as she got closer to Franz, like a lion approaching step by step.

Adjani's facial features are already extremely beautiful, but her eyes light up the entire facial features. Those were the most beautiful eyes Franz had ever seen. Even though he had seen them many times, he still didn't have the courage to look into them.

Then Franz's eyes moved downward unconsciously, and then he saw an even more heart-stirring sight. As his heartbeat accelerated and blood surged, Franz simply closed his eyes. However, an alluring aroma still penetrated Franz's nostrils.

"Stop making trouble and tell me if you have anything to do. Otherwise, I will send you to my mother and let her play with you."

Adjani put away her smile and asked.

"Why do you have a soft spot for the Tyroleans?"

"Oh, is it so?"

"Tyrol is surrounded by mountains. It is easy to defend and difficult to attack. I think you must know better than me. If one day, there is a rebellion in this place. You will have to pay a huge price. Not only will your hard work be in vain, but also It would cost the lives of many Austrian soldiers.”

“The peak creates false advocacy, the dusk witnesses the true believers,” Franz said.

Since ancient times, the light infantry from the Tyrol region has been Austria's signature force.

During the Thirty Years' War, Tyrol had been the Habsburgs' strongest supporter until their defeat.

During the Napoleonic Wars, the Austrian Empire abandoned Tyrol and ceded it to France and its allies.

Afterwards, with no hope, the Tyroleans revolted again and again to drive away the Bavarian army, and even repelled the French attack many times.

In the end, Napoleon had to mobilize an army several times larger than the rebel army to suppress it.

Adjani could understand what Franz meant, but she still asked.

"Who can guarantee that they will always be loyal?"

Franz just smiled and didn't answer.