Chapter 623 Strike a Thunder

After Menshikov and Grand Duke Konstantin started to ignore matters that had nothing to do with themselves, Kornilov and Nasimov had no way to deal with Paskovich. I can only watch helplessly as this old Qiu Ba continues to seek death.

Why is it said to be seeking death?

The reason is very simple, that is, the situation is far more serious than the secret report sent back by the third spy. At this time, the main force of the British and French coalition forces, about 150,000 people, had arrived near Ineada and were making final preparations and rest before the general attack.

Moreover, there is a steady stream of British and French troops disembarking at the port of Istanbul, with preliminary estimates of the number exceeding 50,000.

In other words, a total of 200,000 British and French troops are about to arrive on the battlefield, and with them will arrive a massive amount of supplies, including countless explosive bombs.

You can imagine what a horrific scene it will be once the coalition artillery fires again.

Moreover, in the port of Istanbul, the British and French fleets are also making final discussions. Yes, the British and French fleets believe that if they want to quickly defeat Russia and seize control of the Black Sea, it is a very critical step.

As long as the control of the Black Sea is seized, the Russian Black Sea coast will be completely exposed to the firepower of the coalition. The coalition can attack wherever they want. They can even imitate the Russian army and conduct a landing operation in the Russian hinterland, such as cutting off Ukraine's access to Vlach. The transportation routes in Asia are under the heavy consideration of the coalition forces.

But the mines scattered outside the strait are a big problem. Neither Britain nor France had any good solutions to this extremely efficient and destructive weapon. More than a dozen Turkish cargo ships and warships have been sunk by mines one after another. If they break through forcefully, they may suffer heavy losses.

But there is no particularly good way to pass through this dangerous sea without breaking through. Anyway, after the commanders of the British and French fleets held a meeting for a week, the only way was to let the Turks die.

Of course, they would not say this openly. Instead, they encouraged the Turks to set up a death squad and organize a dozen large merchant ships to clear the way in front, and then the main coalition fleet followed at a distance.

The Turks would never have agreed to such an unethical method in the past. But now they agreed immediately after thinking about it for a while.

The reason is simple. The Turks were a little "touched" by Britain and France. When Britain and France had been supporting them to withstand Russian pressure, to be honest, the Turks had no bottom in their hearts and always felt that they would be used as cannon fodder.

This is also why the Turks were so entangled in previous negotiations. And now, with the continuous arrival of the main forces of the British and French coalition forces, massive military aid and other supplies have arrived in Istanbul.

Turkey found that although Britain and France still despised themselves, they regarded themselves as inferior people. But he really spares no effort in giving things, and the massive coalition forces are no joke. Anyway, Turkey is a bit teary-eyed. After so many years, they finally stop being played like monkeys. How rare this is!

Because this rarity makes them value the hard-won friendship between Britain and France even more. Not to mention asking them to organize a group of merchant ships to die, they are even willing to kneel and lick!

Anyway, the relevant strategies were quickly finalized. On a morning with clear skies, ten tattered Turkish merchant ships rushed out of Istanbul in a row. Behind them were more than thirty British and French allied warships and the remaining Turkish navy. The small broken boat followed slowly and slipped out of the dock.

There were no problems at all in the first few seas, and the sea was calm and calm. It was like a peaceful year. However, not long after leaving the sea off Istanbul, the sloop at the front was in trouble. With a loud roar, something went wrong. There was a loud sound, and a huge water column of more than ten meters high rose on the sea.

The poor sloop was blown to pieces, which made the British and French fleet commanders who were watching behind feel palpitations. Because the power is so terrifying, at least they have never seen such a powerful weapon. If they were to take over the sloop, even if the main gun was fully activated, it would take a while, and it would be completely impossible to destroy it. To tear it into pieces, at most it would be riddled with holes and then sink in water.

It was simply beyond their imagination to be blown into pieces like this, and even made them wonder whether Russia had performed witchcraft.

"Nine more ships."

The Turkish naval commander smiled awkwardly and said to the British commander with a flattering look on his face: "Don't worry, we will do our best for this operation and we will definitely take your fleet out!"

The British commander just said yes. To him, if the Turkish junk merchant ship was blown to pieces, it would be blown to pieces. Anyway, they had already paid compensation before. Since the Turks dared to take the money, they had to do something. As for the dead and injured crew members, he only felt that there must be brave men under the heavy money, and those who wanted money rather than their lives did not need his extra sympathy.

After walking for a few more minutes, another Turkish merchant ship ranked third in the fleet hit a mine again. There was another loud noise and a huge water column. However, this merchant ship was more lucky, and the mine hit the front position. , except that the bow of the ship was blown off and quickly flooded and sank, it was not as miserable as the previous one.

There were even two or three crew members on the ship who survived. These extremely lucky guys were thrown out of the ship's side the moment they struck a mine and luckily managed to survive. As for their companions in the cabin, they were already fishing on the bottom of the sea at this moment.

"It's only half an hour!"

The French commander took out his pocket watch and checked the time, and frowned because the speed of loss was so shocking. Two ships were lost in just half an hour after leaving port. At this speed, they would not be able to get out of the minefield. , I am afraid that all the death squads in the front row will be lost.

Just when he was worried and wanted to say something but didn't know how to say it, there was another loud noise behind him. When he turned around to look, a French frigate had been lifted out of the water by huge waves. A hole of several square meters in size could be seen near the keel.

Before the French commander could utter an exclamation, the poor French frigate slammed back to the sea and broke into two pieces. In just five minutes, this large 1,000-ton frigate disappeared on the sea, and no one on board survived.

"What's going on? Why are there mines behind it?"

The French commander shouted angrily, but no one, at least no one present, could answer him.

It can only be said that the French are very unlucky. Mines floating in the sea must be drifting with the current. Even if there are suicide squads in front to open the way, you can't prevent the waves from bringing nearby mines with them...