In today's peaceful era, it is hard to believe such news even if it is printed in newspapers, but it really happened before everyone's eyes.

The shot itself was a serious diplomatic incident.

What's more, this is just the beginning.

After the mercenary captain fired the first shot of resistance, the rest of the guards woke up one after another, and immediately used the cover of the ship's side to rain down bullets on the French soldiers below, trying their best to prevent them from boarding the ship.

The French soldiers in the rear row were also well prepared and immediately raised their guns to fight back without Lieutenant Colonel Cavell's order, providing fire cover for the pioneers boarding the ship.

The two sides immediately began a fierce exchange of fire, and the pier, which was usually soaked by sea water, was soon filled with blood.

Continuous gunshots and the wails of the wounded resounded through the Port of Calais, and the ten-year peace that this prosperous port area had enjoyed was completely broken at this moment.

The pier was filled with panicked civilians who ran away, and many anchored ships also responded quickly, scrambling to set sail and prepare to escape from this land of trouble and trouble.

On the deck, the British captain, who was bathed in the hail of bullets, squatted down with his head in his hands, looking shocked, and yelled at the mercenary captain:

"Oh my God, what are you going to do? Those are army soldiers!"

"Don't be so fucking stupid, lift anchor and leave the harbor immediately!"

The mercenary captain pulled out his short sword, gritted his teeth and roared:

"This must be a premeditated accident! If it falls into the hands of the French, we will never get back alive!"

The British captain turned pale and couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.

As a well-informed captain, he had also heard that there might be a serious stalemate between Britain and France due to the war in southern Italy.

However, he never expected that such bad luck would happen to him.

But no matter what, the only option now is to escape, and we must not let these French guys catch us.

He did not dare to waste a moment, and hurriedly ordered the sailors to prepare to set sail and leave the port, while the mercenaries on the ship could still use the terrain advantage to temporarily resist the French troops from boarding the ship.

After a while, the gunfire gradually subsided.

Dozens of corpses were lying strewn on the pier, including those of French soldiers and British mercenaries who were injured and fell from the deck. More corpses fell directly into the sea and fell away after a few waves.

There was no trace.

There was a hint of blood smell in the salty and humid sea breeze.

This armed merchant ship from Britain finally escaped from danger and slowly sailed out of the harbor in the roaring sea wind.

The sails on all the masts have been raised, and the surviving crew members are eager for a storm to take them back to the waters of their home country in an instant.

Although they have not completely left the port, at least the heavily armed French soldiers cannot pose any threat to the merchant ship.

The British captain sat down on the bloody deck, turned to look at the Port of Calais, which was gradually shrinking in his field of vision, and crossed himself on his chest with a pale face, thanking God for protecting him from the hands of these damn French lunatics.

However, his thanks seemed a bit too early.

Suddenly, deafening roars were heard one after another from all around the Port of Calais.

Immediately afterwards, in the British captain's field of vision, he saw hundreds of black shadows flying from all directions, and they expanded rapidly in his field of vision. There was almost no time to react.

"Shock! Get down!"

The mercenary captain shouted, flew towards the captain and pushed him to the ground.

The overwhelming cannonballs were tilted around the merchant ship. Although most of the cannonballs just fell into the sea and made a splash, there were still more than a dozen heavy lead bullets that smashed into the hull of the merchant ship, causing the entire deck to shake like an earthquake.

stand up.

After a round of shelling, amid the flying wood chips and dust mist, the British captain leaned out blankly.

Only then did he realize that the dozen or so coastal defense batteries deployed around Calais Port had already aimed their guns at the merchant ship. No, it should be said that the French had already prepared for this bombardment in advance.

Not only that, on the highlands and hills around Calais Port, more than thirty field artillery pieces were also deployed in advance, and they also aimed their muzzles at the ships in the port area.

The British captain almost gave up thinking. He stared at the rising smoke inside and outside the port in despair, completely unable to understand what the French were trying to do.

And he also knew that he would never know the truth. Under the bombardment of nearly sixty coastal defense guns, everyone on the ship was destined to be buried in this foreign sea.

...

The deafening roar continued for several more rounds. The British merchant ship had lost all power under the bombardment, and the hull was also flooded on a large scale. In a few tens of minutes, this large merchant ship would turn into a skeletal mass thousands of years later.

Undersea ruins.

Lieutenant Colonel Cavill in the distance put down his telescope after confirming that the ship had begun to sink, his expression expressionless as to what he was thinking.

"Sir..." The lieutenant colonel's adjutant swallowed and hesitated several times before speaking:

"Since the enemy ships have been incapacitated, we should immediately salvage and capture the British spies. If they really came to plot evil in Calais Port, we should be able to interrogate a lot of information."

To be honest, even the adjutant did not believe his superior's judgment. How could that ordinary large merchant ship be filled with British spies who came to sabotage the port of Calais.

"No! This is not the top priority!" Lieutenant Colonel Cavell suddenly shook his head, his eyes extremely firm, staring hard at the merchant ships flying British flags in the entire port area:

"Now all British ships may have invaded the port of Calais."

The adjutant stared, unable to believe what he heard:

"This...you mean...?"

Lieutenant Colonel Cavell ordered without refusal:

"Immediately issue a notice to the entire Hong Kong that no ship is allowed to leave the port now, and allow soldiers to immediately control the crew of all British ships; in addition, once any ship leaves the port without authorization, the coastal defense batteries and artillery regiments are allowed to fire freely.

It sinks!"

...

Soon, Lieutenant Colonel Cavell's order was conveyed to the entire port area.

This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! Unsurprisingly, this order instantly caused panic among the captains, especially the British captains.

Merchant ships from other countries were probably aware that this was a dispute between Britain and France and had nothing to do with them, so they basically chose to obey Lieutenant Colonel Cavell's order and stay in the port for the time being while increasing their vigilance.

As for the British merchant ships, almost no captain ordered the entire crew to give up resistance and chose to leave their fate to the French for no reason.

Those small schooners relied on their own speed and flexibility to set sail and leave the port as soon as they received the news, fleeing to the high seas as quickly as possible.

The artillery deployed on the shore immediately followed the order to block the attack. The total number of shells fired by these artillery in these few hours even exceeded that in the past few years. The overwhelming network of artillery fire was vented towards the waters of the port area without interruption.

The mountains and forests surrounding the area were even covered by a lingering white smoke.

And the bulky large merchant ships also know very well that if they break out rashly, with the speed and flexibility of their ships, they will most likely suffer heavy damage under French artillery fire, most likely like the original armed merchant ship.

Same as buried under the sea.

Therefore, after a very brief communication, the captains of several large merchant ships unanimously agreed to give it a go and choose the most desperate strategy:

They distributed weapons to the sailors and the guards on the ship, took advantage of the French army to disperse and control the ships, took the initiative to fight out of the ship, gathered together to form a temporary force, and tried to capture the port of Calais directly from the land.

This decision soon gained support from other British captains, and many British captains gritted their teeth and joined in. In less than half an hour, nearly two thousand British sailors had gathered together and were preparing to seize the shore.

There are a dozen coastal defense forts on the side.

Lieutenant Colonel Cavell, who was located at the command post, did not panic after seeing the British intentions. Instead, he smiled with great satisfaction for a while, and then ordered the garrison troops to gather their forces and gather together to fight with the British sailors in the port area.

street fighting.

The sudden fighting soon spread to the urban area of ​​Calais Port.

Although the French army had an advantage in terms of military strength, the French army could not use its numerical advantage in street fighting in the winding alleys of the city. They had to engage in close firefights with British sailors street by street, and even

It's close-hand hand-to-hand combat.

The civilians were hiding in their homes in fear, closing their doors and windows, silently praying that this unwarranted disaster would end as soon as possible.

The flash of swords and plumes of smoke became the theme of Calais Port tonight. French soldiers and British sailors fighting desperately could be seen on almost every street.

Many people's bodies were already covered with blood stains, as if they had walked out of a pool of blood. It was unclear whether they were left by the enemy or themselves.

The fierce fighting lasted until nine in the evening when the winner was barely decided.

Although the British sailors were inferior to the regular army in equipment and organization and quickly fell into a disadvantage in the battle, relying on the complex and unpredictable urban terrain, the French soldiers also paid a heavy price to finally drive these sailors together.

Go to a small bunker and prepare for the final encirclement and suppression.

And just when everyone thought that this farce and conflict would end with the surrender of the British, something unexpected happened in the sea outside Calais Port.

Under the hazy moonlight, five fourth-class heavy cruisers flying the Royal Navy flag sailed through the broken waves and headed openly towards the harbor.

Obviously, this frigate patrolling the English Channel also learned about what was happening in the port of Calais from the merchant ships that escaped, and quickly rushed to Calais to protect the interests of its own citizens.

In the command post of the garrison, as the British warships approached, all the officers could use their binoculars to clearly see the signal flag raised by the other side's flagship, which was a request for communication.

However, Lieutenant Colonel Cavell stated that the British's request for communication was just a despicable excuse to approach the port area. Their actual purpose was to provide reinforcements for the British spies who were still stationed in the city.

Therefore, what responded to the Royal Navy was not the representatives sent by the French military, but the overwhelming rain of bullets released by the salvo of sixty artillery pieces.

The merchants in the port stared with wide eyes, watching in disbelief what was happening before them. The British Royal Navy warships were being bombarded by French artillery?!

If everything that happened before was just a conflict between the French military and the British people and could only be regarded as a serious diplomatic accident, then France's behavior now is undoubtedly a naked military provocation against Great Britain.

What the hell is this world like? Is another war between Britain and France about to begin?

At this moment, most of the businessmen in the port only have this idea.

On the sea surface, the British warships that were suddenly bombarded immediately changed the signal flag representing friendly communication. The five heavy cruisers also changed their formations in a very short time, arranged in a line, and aimed half of their artillery at them.
To be continued...