Another World: Naval Storm

"We are a merchant ship from the Drake Empire. We have paid all fees as required and have completed all formalities. You cannot stop me from leaving the port!" Captain Hans loudly questioned the official sent by Forrings to Angola.

"Captain, you and your ship can leave, but the black people on the ship cannot be taken away!" Officer Florins smiled, not caring about the spit sprayed on his face.

"When did you treat black people as human beings? They are just commodities!"

"No, no, no, they are all property of the Kingdom of Frins. Without the approval of His Majesty the King, all blacks cannot leave Angola!" the Frins official insisted.

In order to build a colony on the Felix Continent (Africa for short), the Drake Empire often imported human resources from colonies of other countries, but in order to save costs, they contacted directly with local indigenous chiefs.

Frings was very angry about this because they did not receive taxes on human trafficking. So this time Frings seized the Black Pearl, but things were a little weird. Frings didn't know where he got the courage from, and within a week, he seized another 6 Drake Empire merchant ships on the charge of illegal smuggling of goods.

The Flint colonial authorities issued a hefty fine of 17 gold marks, and the ticket eventually reached the Emperor of the Drak Empire, who was so angry that he laughed.

That’s right, the boss behind these ship owners is the Hohenzollern royal family. The royal family is also short of money these days. The royal family is involved in various industries and they are not afraid to make money.

In this context, Leo, as a new deputy captain of an armored cruiser, accompanied the Dreadnought to cruise in Africa to shock the ignorant Frings. In order to reward Leo for his contribution, the emperor promoted him to major before he left, which was exactly the position of deputy captain.

[Congratulations to the commander for being promoted to deputy captain and his rank has been raised to major]

[System open - check the warship status function - report the real-time status of damage]

[Warship status - you can see the overall status of the warship - the status of each compartment - the status of the main and secondary guns - the ammunition depot, etc. ...]

[You can check the damage status of each part of the ship...]

"Check the status of the Arminius." As Leo ordered, the true image of the ship he commanded appeared in his mind.

Arminius armored cruiser

Service date: 1902

Displacement: 9000

武备：首尾各装备2门双联装210毫米/45倍径主炮，4门150毫米/45倍径，8门88毫米/45倍径速射炮，军舰两舷2具450毫米鱼雷发射管

Hull: No damage

Speed: Maximum speed 22 knots

Crew establishment: 543 people]

"Will I be able to check the status of all the ships in the fleet once I become the fleet commander?"

[Yes, Commander! ]

[You can see the status of ships in the fleet, such as escaping, sinking in battle, losing power, being captured, etc.]

"System, you are becoming more and more useful!"

In the French Republic, the Elysee Palace.

"The Drake Empire will not declare war on Forlins for just a few hundred thousand gold marks!" Francois François's Foreign Minister Charlin was comforting the nervous Forlins envoy.

"But now the Drakes have sent out their newest dreadnoughts, and a fleet is patrolling off the coast of Angola. The situation is very bad! According to the security treaty signed by the two countries, when will Fran send troops to protect its allies?" Forlin's envoy Carlos asked anxiously.

"Ally? A country that resorts to such despicable tricks for a little money is not worthy of being an ally of the French Republic!" Xia Lin sneered at Frings, who went to France when he had trouble and went to France even when he didn't have any trouble. But on the surface, he still advised Frings to be patient. After all, Frings had come to him for help, and if he didn't help, it would be difficult for him to lead his younger brothers in the future.

"The Republic's fleet in Africa has 4 battleships and 6 cruisers, with a total tonnage three times that of the other. The pattern of the Felix continent was determined 3 years ago. Whoever breaks the order first will suffer backlash. The Drake government will not be so foolish!" Xia Lin was full of confidence. He believed that the Franconian Republic was sure to "persuade the Drake fleet to retreat" because at this time in western Africa, the Franconian fleet was the strongest!

Of course, the Franks would not easily engage in battle with the Draks. Let the Draks vent their anger first, and the Franks would take sides, and the matter would be over. After all, the commander of the Drak Empire fleet could not open fire on the Franks without authorization, and even the Crown Prince of the Drak Empire would not dare to do so.

"However, after all, Flins was unreasonable first. The Flins government should first issue a statement with milder wording, hoping to resolve the dispute through negotiations." Xia Lin suggested that Flins should give in first.

"Are the people of Frings scared? The former Sea Coachman is so cowardly, the guy whose spine was broken by the Tarens! I will not forgive them so easily!" Emperor William said with a smile after throwing the diplomatic letter submitted by the people of Frings into the trash can.

"Of course, Your Majesty. But are we really going to attack the Flint colony?" Piltz also thought that this was just an armed march.

"Why not? The people of Flint have given us a good excuse." It has always been Emperor Wilhelm's dream to gain fame overseas.

"The Talens have no time to deal with us now. The Franks' African fleet is the only thing the Flems can rely on. I'm worried..."

Emperor William raised his hand to signal that there was no need to say more. "I believe they can bring me glory. Let the cruisers of the African Fleet join them. This will be safer."

The official media of Flint characterized the incident as an economic dispute, expressed the hope that the two countries would resolve the issue through negotiations, and also stated that the Drake Empire's act of sending troops was hegemonic.

The Drake Empire Sedley Daily accused the Flints government of ignoring the rights of colonial people, enslaving black people and interfering with free trade.

The Yemelica Republic, thousands of miles away, was surprisingly concerned about this matter. It publicly condemned Forlings's interference in the free economy and expressed support for the Drak Empire's actions to defend free trade.

"Malicious seizure of ships of other countries is a provocation and disrespect to that country! Moreover, the dispute is caused by the establishment of trade barriers. Trade barriers seriously hinder the healthy development of the economy, affect the progress of science and technology, and undermine market competition. I hope that all countries will put aside their prejudices and work together to achieve the liberalization of international trade." Secretary of State Sullivan made a smeared speech at the press conference.

As an ally, the Osmagali Empire was the first to express its support for the actions of the Drak Empire; after Ambassador Fran visited the Queen Tsar, the government of the Rakshasa Empire was slow to express its position; the Kingdom of Tarun only said in a perfunctory manner that "it hopes both sides will exercise restraint."