War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

Of course, in addition to simple throwing weapons like grenades, Franz also prepared special surprises for the British.

Church inventors liked to call it "the wrath of God," but Friedrich felt it was more appropriate to call it "the devil's gift."

At this time, there was a box hanging under each Austrian airship. The airship soldiers confirmed that they had reached the sky above the British and began to cut the special cable.

As the cables were cut, the wooden boards on one side of the box fell off, and the contents fell out.

In addition to shock-absorbing and anti-collision materials such as cotton and sponge, there are also some broken glass and white powder.

White powder and cotton wool floated in the wind, and the British soldiers below were a little confused.

But the powder and cotton that poured down suddenly burned violently, turning into pillars of fire that towered over the British ships like real dragon's breath.

Several British soldiers were struck by the dragon's breath, and Edward Hobart Seymour Sr. roared.

"Help!"

As the elite of the British Royal Navy, the soldiers on the ship are naturally familiar with basic tasks such as fire extinguishing.

A few buckets of cold water were poured over to extinguish the fire, but the soldiers who were burned were screaming and looking very painful.

Not only did this fail to attract sympathy from other people, but it was despised by the people around it. After all, how much harm can it do if it is burned for just a while?

Edward Hobart Seymour Sr. couldn't help but lecture his soldiers.

"You should be lucky that the Austrians didn't throw oil. Otherwise you..."

Before Old Edward Hobart Seymour finished speaking, the soldiers' bodies were on fire again. The extinguished flames on the deck also burned again, and the same thing happened to the surrounding ships.

Moreover, these flames burned so fiercely that the flesh and blood of the ignited soldiers melted at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the oak floor, which was famous for its fire resistance, was actually ignited.

However, before he could take command, a new gift arrived.

Wooden-handled grenades and spherical bombs continued to fall, but the hit rate was extremely low. Even against a target as large as a battleship, most of the bombs fell into the sea.

But even if only a few landed on British ships, it would be enough to be the last straw that broke their spirits.

"The dragon is coming!"

"Why can't the fire be put out?"

"Help!"

"Run away!"

At this time, the British army was finally completely swallowed up by chaos and fear. The British sailors either jumped into the water or frantically grabbed the rudder in an attempt to quickly escape from this "Dragon's Nest".

In the poisonous smoke emitted by the burning white phosphorus, no one could make out the flagship's semaphore. The British Royal Navy has once again returned to their true nature. The pirates don't care so much. They just want to survive.

As a result, shipwrecks occurred one after another. Edward Hobart Seymour Sr. was first frightened by the resurgence of the dragon's breath and was frightened physically and mentally. Then he inhaled a large amount of poisonous smoke and was now unconscious.

The deputy commander of the fleet who was supposed to take over the command had been doused with white phosphorus before, and his bones were burned to ashes.

Therefore, the flagship captain could only serve as temporary commander. This temporary commander had no way to deal with the "dragon" above his head, so he issued the retreat order without hesitation.

This order made the already chaotic scene even more chaotic, and eventually a scene of "a hundred rivalries quarreling" emerged.

There were only two British warships that were actually destroyed in the air raid. Both of them were transport ships. One of them was because there were too few people to put out the fire, and the other was because there were too many people. Too many people acted randomly and the ship capsized. .

However, during the retreat, at least twenty ships capsized due to collisions and squeezing.

Fortunately, those "dragons" did not continue to pursue, otherwise the fleet's losses would be even greater.

In this battle, the British New Mediterranean Fleet lost one-fifth of its total ships and one-eighth of its troops.

But the loss in spirit and morale was greater than the actual loss.

Especially those who witnessed their companions being cremated alive in front of them, they all felt that this was a power that only ghosts and gods could possess, and it was completely in line with the characteristics of dragons, a mythical creature.

This British army is not weak. They are well-equipped, well-trained, and experienced in hundreds of battles. However, they have never encountered enemies from the sky, and no one expected such a battle to happen.

No one remembers the mines that destroyed more ships. They only know that the flames fell from the sky, the explosions, the thick smoke, the flames that kept reigniting, the screams, and the wails.

If the Austrians could call these monsters in the sky to help in every naval battle, then they would have no chance of victory at all.

Thinking back to the previous disappearance of the Mediterranean fleet and the legend of sea monsters, the British sailors couldn't help but feel even more shaken.

Not only the sailors, but also some naval officers became suspicious.

"Have you heard? The Austrians not only have dragons, but also sea monsters!"

"Dragon? Sea monster? What are you talking about? Didn't the captain just say that it was a hot air balloon?"

"Hot air balloon? Have you ever seen a hot air balloon that breathes fire?"

The latter was speechless for a moment, and the former continued.

"Listen to their nonsense! The captain was the fastest runner just now. He hid in the captain's room and locked the door and didn't care about our lives!"

The latter finally wavered and asked doubtfully.

"Where did the news about the sea monster come from? Is it reliable?"

"Of course! My cousin works in Whitehall. He also accidentally overheard the conversation between the Prime Minister and the Lord of the Admiralty. Because the incident was too sensational, it had to be concealed from the public."

(Whitehall, the name for the British executive branch. It began in the seventeenth century and is not a parody of the American White House.)

"Don't be so pretentious, tell me what's going on?"

"Do you know the former Mediterranean Fleet?"

"Isn't he missing?"

"How is that possible! Dozens of battleships and tens of thousands of soldiers were just gone?"

"Could it really be a sea monster? What kind of monster is so powerful?"

"It is said to have an octopus-like body with countless huge tentacles that can easily roll up a battleship and tear it into two pieces."

"Aren't you talking about the Kraken? Doesn't it live in the North Sea?"

Kraken's legendary Kraken is world-famous for its huge size and terrifying appearance.

"The oceans are all connected! You don't even know this?"

"Then it can't single out us British people!"

"Who said that? I specifically asked someone to check it in the Navy Archives. What do you think?"

"How about it?"

"In 1782, a fleet led by Vice Admiral Turmond mysteriously disappeared in a certain sea area of ​​North America. Ten battleships and more than 5,000 officers and soldiers were not spared."

The legend of a siren that likes to travel around the world and eat British people has spread like wildfire.