After the British Navy opened fire, the Franco-Spanish Combined Fleet went through an initial confusion, and finally, under the orders of the commander of the French fleet, Dutan, the French fleet took the lead in firing at the British Navy, and after the French fleet opened fire, the Spanish Navy, which finally came to its senses, also joined the battle sequence.
Although the sudden bombardment of the British Navy caught the Franco-Spanish Combined Fleet by surprise, after all, the large group of warships of the Franco-Spanish Combined Fleet was there, and there was a Spanish naval fleet hovering inside the Strait of Gibraltar.
The British Navy had to withdraw to the port of Gibraltar under the counterattack of the combined Franco-Spanish fleet, and then the huge deterrent power of the British Army's coastal defense guns on land saved the British Navy from being completely annihilated.
But even so, the British Royal Navy paid a huge price, three battleships were sunk, five battleships were heavily damaged, although four of the eight battleships were offshore gunboats, but such losses still made the British Navy feel distressed.
Although the British had built a large number of forts and forts in Gibraltar in anticipation of war in Gibraltar, decades of peace had already caused the British Navy to neglect the defense of the Strait of Gibraltar.
Of the nearly 30 warships currently in the Strait of Gibraltar, in addition to the regular warships supported by the British mainland, the remaining 14 are offshore gunboats and cruisers.
Eight of the other seventeen ships are sixth-class ships, and as for first-class ships, there are no first-class ships at all, and the flagship of the fleet is still a second-class ship.
On the other hand, the Franco-Spanish Combined Fleet alone has five first-class ships and as many as eleven second-class ships.
And the reason why Valibeg almost stripped his hair before was precisely because of the huge gap in naval power.
But who knew that the grandsons of the Navy completely failed his good intentions.
Because Gibraltar was alone, even if Spain sent 30,000 troops, Valiberg did not panic at all.
After all, the land between Gibraltar and the Iliban Peninsula is so large in total.
At most, a thousand men could be lined up in front of him, so Walibeg believed that the fortress-like defense system of Gibraltar would be enough to support it for a long time.
However, Gibraltar is a place surrounded by the sea on three sides, and the army alone is not enough to defend it, and if the navy does not do its best, it will still be difficult to escape the tragic end.
Gibraltar had a lot of coastal defense guns, but if the combined Franco-Spanish fleet had attacked without scrupling casualties, then these fortifications on the shore would not have lasted long.
At that time, the terrain surrounded by the sea on three sides meant that 80 percent of Gibraltar would be within range of the enemy fleet.
"Send a speedboat to the mainland for help immediately, and immediately send an envoy to negotiate with the Spaniards!"
As soon as Waliberg's words landed, his adjutant froze.
Then the adjutant asked hesitantly: "Your Excellency, are we going to surrender to the Spaniards?"
The adjutant's words made Walliberg's forehead throb, and he scolded angrily: "You idiot, surrender to you big-headed ghost.
Send someone to make contact with the Spaniards.
The one who held them back for a while, you pig!
” Amid Waliberg's angry scolding, the poor lieutenant had to run away in dismay.
But then it turned out that the commander of the Spanish army was not stupid, or that the Spaniards had broken off the idea of peace with the British.
The emissaries sent by Valiberg brought him only an ultimatum from the commander of the Spanish army "You must hand over Gibraltar before the sun sets tomorrow, or by God's will, the great kingdom of Spain will exterminate those clowns!"
This ultimatum became a piece of waste paper in Waliberg's hands.
Walibeg said to his officers: "War is inevitable, and now we can only do our best to obey the destiny of heaven!
May God bless Great Britain forever!
” The next day.
Before sunset, the Spanish side received no response from the British.
The Marquis of Aldana, commander of the Spanish army of 30,000, was stationed opposite the fortress of Gibraltar, and when his eyes scanned the well-armed English soldiers on the walls, he said to his officers: "Give up the illusion of peace, the British have already told us by their actions that peace is dead!
Now, let's use bullets to tell those British that the dream of war has befallen them!
” That night, the Spanish artillery was pushed to the front line to pour gunpowder into Gibraltar, of course, these guns were not pushed into the range of the British artillery, so Gibraltar was not within the range of these guns, but the large number of shells not only made the Gibraltarians panic, but at the same time, the Spanish artillery, completely ignoring the range, still fired some stray bullets into Gibraltar.
The shells that lost their accuracy did not cause many casualties to the British ** team, but the blow to the morale of the British army was obvious.
The shelling lasted two hours that night, and the city of Gibraltar alone was hit by nearly 100 stray bullets.
And as the sky began to light up, the scene outside made Valiberg gasp.
The Spanish army seemed to have pushed all the artillery to Gibraltar, hundreds of guns lined up in the distance, and behind these guns stood an untold number of Spanish troops.
On the other side of the sea, the combined Franco-Spanish fleet hung over Gibraltar like a huge cloud, the entire port of Gibraltar had been blocked, and the flagship of the Franco-Spanish fleet had raised the flag of bombing Gibraltar to the ground. ..............................................
While William was walking with Louise in the back garden of the palace, Bouel hurried over and leaned into William's ear to say a word.
This sentence made William's face change, and Louise was obviously very sensitive to William's face, so without waiting for William to speak, Louise said: "If the king has anything, he doesn't have to accompany me, I'm tired, so you can go and get busy!"
Louise's understanding made William nod gratefully, and then, accompanied by Buel, William also hurried in the direction of the office.
In William's office, Locks and the British ambassador to Prussia, McLaen, were waiting here, and after seeing William hurriedly walk in, Locks and McLaen saluted William together.
"Your Excellency, is your country's intelligence really correct?"
After sitting down, William asked McClan without much courtesy, and when he heard William's question, McClan immediately replied: "Your Majesty, although there is no news about Gibraltar for the time being because of the blockade by the Spaniards, our country has confirmed from many sources that the Spaniards have taken action against our garrison in Gibraltar!"
"Your Excellency, this matter is very important, I need to know who fired the first shot this time, you also understand that your country and our country are allies, and this moment is the most critical time for our national strategy, if a large-scale war breaks out at this time, it will have a great impact on our country!"
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William's words made one of McLean's faces bitter, but he had to say: "Your Majesty, it doesn't matter who fired the first shot, what matters is that the war has begun, so on behalf of my government, I ask your country to declare war on Spain in accordance with the alliance agreement!"
Not only William, as soon as McLalen's words were finished, everyone's faces changed.
Spain not only had good relations with France and Austria, but also had a significant influence throughout Western Europe.
Since the fall of the Spanish Empire, the country has faded from the world stage, and apart from a conflict with Portugal, Spain has not offended any major power in these years.
Although it may seem a little weak, this move also gives most countries in Europe a good impression of Spain.
Moreover, Spain was now aiming to recover Gibraltar, in other words, it was legally justified for Spain to start a war.
And if Prussia were to declare war on Spain, it would undoubtedly put itself in a very unfavorable situation.
Now that most of the Prussian army was in a confrontation with Austria, while the other part was busy attacking the Main, Prussia would undoubtedly create a strong enemy for itself if it declared war on Spain at this moment.
Perhaps because of the distance, Spain would not directly engage the Prussian army, but France and Austria were allies of Spain, and Spain could help Austria to mobilize most of the princes of the Holy Roman Empire against Prussia.
In addition, Spain and Bavaria are also related by marriage, although Itans is now neutral towards Prussia's attack on the Main River Valley, but once Prussia declares war on Spain, it is worth playing with what kind of attitude Bavaria will have.
Itans' son, the next Elector of Bavaria, had married the daughter of Carlos IV, a relationship that made Wilhelm a little more jealous.
Looking at the hesitant look on William's face, MacLen, who was well aware of the current situation in Prussia, naturally knew what Prussia was worried about.
Although Prussia has strengthened its control over Bavaria in recent years, Bavaria is not like Saxony after all.
Bavaria had its own sovereignty, its own regime, its own army, and Prussia had no other way than to vigorously co-opt Bavarian government officials.
Over the years, Itans has shown great respect for Brandenburg, but everyone knows that politicians are ruthless, and no one thinks that the feelings of the rulers are sincere.
Licking poop for King Wu like Gou Jian is just a ploy, how could King Wu have thought that it was this person who was willing to lick his own poop to let himself die in the end.