Chapter 219 Accident

When the mind is relaxed, the human body will inevitably feel sleepy.

At six o'clock, the Aegean Sea was filled with fog, and the thick humidity had soaked Sergeant Herum's uniform.

Standing on the highest position on the ship, the strong sea breeze blew on his body, and he felt chilly all over his body, making him shiver.

If he hadn't felt the cool breeze blowing in all over his body, Herum would definitely have fallen asleep on the towering lookout.

"Did you find anything?" The voice of Captain Chris suddenly came from the megaphone.

Captain Chris, who was a little worried about the battle situation, woke up from his sleep early in the morning.

When he was traveling the day before, Captain Chris learned that because the Ottoman Empire's navy had been delayed, on October 28, after capturing Tenedos, Contoliotis sent a provocative clear-text telegram to the Ottoman fleet: "We have occupied Tenedos and are waiting for your departure. If you need an escort, we can assist you."

The Greek Navy sent such an insulting telegram, and the Ottoman Navy would not tolerate it if it still had a trace of blood and fighting spirit.

The two destroyer formations approached the Ottoman coast for reconnaissance, and it is very likely to encounter the main fleet of the Ottoman Empire.

The sudden voice of the captain made Sergeant Herum excited and shuddered.

"Reporting to the commander, the lookout did not find anything," Herum replied to the megaphone while patrolling the sea.

It was foggy all around, and the visibility was only about 1,000 yards. There was indeed nothing abnormal in the field of vision, which calmed down Sergeant Herum's rapidly beating heart.

Although he was startled by the colonel and answered without thinking much, he was not wrong. He did not see anything on the sea.

"We are now very close to the Ottoman Dardanelles Strait. There is always the possibility of encountering Ottoman warships. Open your eyes and keep your eyes on it. Do you understand?" said the voice in the megaphone.

"Yes, Captain," Herum responded loudly, then he pulled himself together and continued to scout the situation on the sea.

He didn't want his fleet to miss the opportunity to destroy the damn Ottomans because of his negligence.

However, the thick water fog still blocked the sea tightly, everything was very quiet, and then he relaxed a little, yawned lazily, and then raised his right hand to rub his eyes that could hardly open.

The moment he raised his head, his sight swept across the sea, and suddenly noticed that a black smoke was steaming up on the sea to the right of the Xianlin, floating in the air.

"Ship found, sir," Sergeant Herum shouted into the megaphone.

The black smoke on the sea was the trace of the ship.

At this time, the ships basically used coal as power. When sailing on the sea, the black smoke from the chimney of the ship was the best mark for searching for ships.

As a strictly trained scout, Herum would never make a mistake.

"Black smoke is found on the right, sir, it is suspected that an Ottoman warship has been found." Herum put his mouth close to the megaphone and repeated loudly again, while his eyes were fixed on the black smoke on the sea.

The Xinlin immediately sounded a shrill battle alarm, and at the same time, the friendly ship Ramdo was informed of the enemy's situation through the searchlight.

In just thirty seconds, the two destroyers accelerated to an ultra-high speed of 25 knots, changed their course, and headed towards the direction of the smoke.

More than ten minutes later, a ship appeared in front of the two destroyers, with the flag of the Ottoman Empire flying high on its mast, heading from north to south towards the Dardanelles.

On the deck of the Xinlin, Captain Chris, holding a telescope, saw that the ship that appeared in the telescope was not the expected Ottoman warship, but just a civilian ship transporting goods, and he couldn't help feeling disappointed.

However, the crew members who were also standing on the deck were indeed happy to wave their arms and cheer loudly.

The reason is very simple. The Greek naval regulations follow the British naval tradition. According to the regulations, enemy ships captured by the navy at sea and the property on the enemy ships belong to the naval crew members involved.

In other words, this Ottoman ship and the cargo on it now belong to the crew members on the two destroyers.

This naval regulation is mainly to boost the morale of naval soldiers and use naked property to encourage soldiers to fight bravely without fear of danger.

Judging from the direction of this Ottoman ship, it should be withdrawing from Macedonia to Asia Minor. Such a ship must have many Ottoman dignitaries on board.

And these dignitaries, who hurriedly withdrew from Macedonia to Asia Minor, must have carried a lot of finances with them.

Since the war began, the Ottoman Empire has faced a severe situation of being attacked from three sides by the Balkan Alliance. The war situation is not optimistic and it is very likely to lose Macedonia.

Therefore, the Ottoman bureaucrats and wealthy people in Macedonia naturally wanted to bring the huge wealth they had plundered for hundreds of years back to the safety of Asia Minor.

The Xianlin continuously sent clear telegrams and light signals to the Ottoman ship, asking it to stop and accept inspection by the Greek Navy.

After that, the ship not only did not stop, but also accelerated its escape, increasing its original speed of only 7 knots to about 11 knots.

Captain Chris had no choice but to order an artillery attack and sent a telegram threatening that if it continued to escape in ten minutes, the warship would directly open fire and sink the ship.

"Boom"

The two guns at the bow of the destroyer opened fire, exploding the Ottoman ship, and two water columns rose around it.

The Greek crew members lay on the railing of the ship, looking at their trophies with joy, and shouted excitedly, this is not a ship, this is clearly a pile of drachmas.

The ship was forced to stop slowly under the threat of death.

Sergeant Herum on the lookout also lay on the railing with joy, looking down at the terrified Ottomans on the opposite ship, whistling constantly.

At the same time, he was thinking in his heart that he had discovered this Ottoman ship and made contributions, and he would definitely be commended by the captain and have a generous reward.

He casually adjusted the navy hat on his head and glanced at the sea casually. Because of the discovery of the ship at this time, the sky was already bright, and the sky on the eastern sea was already dyed red by the morning glow, and the visibility on the sea was much improved.

My pupils suddenly contracted, and I saw that on the sea surface in the southeast direction, black smoke was extremely conspicuous, and the thick smoke was divided into several strands.

Looking at the black smoke, it was clearly a sign of a fleet!

"It seems that the enemy fleet has been discovered," Sergeant Herum shouted loudly to the deck, and he didn't care about the megaphone, but shouted directly to the captain on the deck.