"According to the Paris Naval War Declaration, the Hague Convention and the London Declaration... Merchant ships that have not been modified for warships... The personal safety of all crew members should be basically guaranteed... What you do is piracy that violates international law..."

On the bridge of the German armored cruiser "Schernhorst", Captain Schultz reads through a telescope the response signal of the French ship to the surrender request.

Earl Spee snorted coldly: "Is the London Declaration? It is simply a short declaration that has never officially come into effect. At the beginning of the war, the British turned against the main provisions of the declaration without hesitation. In fact, all conventions are just a bondage to the weak. In my consciousness, the armed merchant ships of the enemy country should be treated as enemy ships, let alone a 10,000-ton ship carrying 6-inch cannons!"

Schultz responded immediately: "The 9th Convention of the Hague stipulates that naval warships shall not shell untouched cities, coasts, villages, houses and buildings. However, this situation occurred more than once in the Balkan War and the Italian war against the Ottomans. If one item by item, the French would not have violated the convention in previous wars. Besides, if it were not for the violent shelling of Grimsby by the reconnaissance fleet on August 7, there would probably be no brilliant victory of the high seas fleet in the Jutland Peninsula!

"Come on! Let's see the pride of the ocean fleet of the Third Republic of France, the armed cargo ship of the 'Nante', what tricks do you have!" Earl Spee emphasized his tone in the last word, because he had an important piece of information from Chile. The French 10,000-ton cargo ship "Nante" departed from Chile two weeks ago carried two 6-inch cannons and some small-caliber artillery. These are not cargo in the cabin, but weapons set up on the deck of the ship according to combat deployment. According to the terms of the international convention that came into effect at that time, if such ships were not included in the combat sequence of the army and announced to the public, they would only be "armed cargo ships" of self-defense and under no circumstances should they actively attack the merchant ships and warships of the enemy countries, and at the same time enjoy the rights of non-military ships of the belligerent countries.

The shelling of "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau" came to an end. The boiling sea quickly fell silent. The French ocean freighter with a modern atmosphere burned a fire, and rolled black smoke filled the deck and rushed up to a height of 100 meters. The French crew did not abandon the ship in a hurry, but fought bravely on the deck. The white water columns ejected from the fire dragons fought hard against the rushing flames.

The French made it clear that the Frenchman's request for surrender to the German fleet was not allowed to end the struggle of the "Nante" at any time as long as they were willing. However, they were like cats that easily caught a mouse and did not intend to swallow the prey without resistance. "Gneisenau" was cruising a little far away and was alert as usual, and the main guns of the black hole were aimed at the "Nante". "Scharnhorst" moved forward steadily and gradually came to the sea less than a thousand meters away from the French freighter.

At this time, the captain of the "Nante", the retired French Navy Colonel Zelani, came to the deck with a heavy expression. He squatted down and knelt on one knee. A crew member fell on the deck with his back to the sky and blood. His young face was covered with blood. His eyes were staring straight at the sky with smoke floating in the smoke. Zelani stretched out his dead-branched fingers and gently stroked the victim's cheeks. His eyes were filled with tears, but the anger in his eyes was burning.

"Open the bezel!"

The powerful roar of Lieutenant Sangare came from the front deck, and the surviving crew members turned their heads one after another. He personally operated the steering device in the gun position, waiting for the two crew members to lower the movable baffle that was erected on the side. He finely adjusted the shooting angle and quickly aimed the muzzle at the German warship on the northeastern sea.

boom!

The cannon mounted on the fore deck suddenly let out a deafening roar. This omni-turnable naval gun was originally prepared for German submarines, but unexpectedly it encountered two German armored cruisers. Logically speaking, even if the "Nante" took the initiative to attack the other side without any precaution, it would have no chance to defeat the other side. After all, naval guns are different from torpedoes. As long as they hit, they may have a fatal effect. Moreover, the "Nante" is equipped with two old models of 138mm cannons, which are only 5.43 inches in English. However, when Chile ships saltpeter, the face-saving Frenchmen advocated that they were loading 6-inch fast cannons, which is enough to kill those German submarines that they thought they were easy to bully.

In a blink of an eye, the shells that had emerged from the chamber flew towards the German armored cruiser seven or eight hundred meters away, the accuracy and effectiveness of the attack would naturally increase a lot. However, the watchman on the mast of the German ship would inevitably see the cannon behind the baffle on the side of the "Nante". The French were not sure whether the opponent was prepared or was rampant indiscriminately. When the hull was in danger, attacking first was the only opportunity to damage the enemy ship.

"I've hit it! I've hit it!"

A French crew member standing by the side of the ship shouted excitedly, and the crew members around him raised their arms to celebrate, and they then heard the roar of Lieutenant Sangare: "Recharge!"

At this time, the same type of artillery at the stern of the ship had been damaged. Only two 37mm caliber Hatchacas redirected guns were fired at the enemy ships with the cannon. A series of shells swept to the upper deck of the German armored cruiser. The shock brought to the German crew on the opposite side was no less than the shell that failed to penetrate the armor on the side just now!

Before the cannon on the front deck of the "Nante" fired a second shell, the German armored cruiser with the flag of lieutenant general was blowing hard on the sea. Two pairs of double-mounted secondary guns on the side of the ship ejected terrifying flames one after another. The real 6-inch shell flew in a short scream, and the four shells hit, which was enough to show that the German crew was always in a critical state of ready to go.

In order to fight against German submarines, the "Nante" was loaded with cannons and small modifications. The reinforced side baffle could block the bullets and shrapnel equivalent to the power of the bullets. The decks and bulkheads were painted with paints with certain fireproof effects. In addition, there were additional medical emergency rooms and corresponding medical equipment on the ship. The number of fire extinguishers and fire water dragons increased a lot. Even so, it was far from comparable to an armored cruiser built in the early 20th century, with four ordinary 150mm shells.

It immediately suffered a catastrophic blow. The open-air artillery position on the front deck was immediately killed and injured. The fire broke out in an instant when the situation in the middle and rear of the hull improved slightly. The powerful momentum threw some crew members who were extinguishing the fire out of the ship's side. The shells that penetrated the hull and exploded in the middle and lower cabins completely tore the cargo hold partitions. This also pushed the "Nante" to the edge of destruction. Natural saltpeter has a combustion-enhancing effect, and it will release toxic nitrogen oxide gas when burning, which means that the "Nante" will soon become a violently burning ship of death!

Through the strong smoke, Zelani staggered to the front deck. Lieutenant Sangare and all the gunners had fallen into a pool of blood, leaving only the 138mm cannon standing alone.

"Second Lieutenant! Second Lieutenant!"

Zelani helped Lieutenant Sangare up for a breath, and saw him shook his head weakly and said weakly: "Sorry, I only gave the German man one shell, and I couldn't help."

"It's a hit." Zelani said with red eyes, "We are proud of you."

Second Lieutenant Sangare struggled to look around, realizing that the crew members who were temporarily acting as gunners were either dead or injured, his eyes suddenly became dull.

"Let everyone abandon the ship! Sir! We cannot surrender to the Germans, but we cannot let the remaining crew members die in vain... They are not soldiers after all, and they do not have to assume the duties of soldiers."

"You're right." Zelani raised his head and shouted at the figure in the smoke: "Abandon the ship! Everyone abandoned the ship!"

A sharp and harsh roar covered his screams, and then, the huge ocean-going cargo ship turned into trembling leaves in the wind in the violent explosions. The wide hull was riddled with holes and incompleteness. The fire on the ship was completely out of control. The deck and cabin surrounded by fire continued to expand. The blazing flames were destroying the skeleton of the hull. The crew members who were stuck in the cabins on the lower level were even hard to escape.

After the explosion, Zelani shouted at the top of his voice: "Abandon the ship! Everyone abandoned the ship!"

But no one responded to him.

As if she woke up from her sleep, she stood up alone with Zelani's support, staggered to the cannon, held the cannon stand, and stared at the German warship on the sea with a calm gaze. Despite being provoked or even insulted, this beast, which was not bound by international law, did not madly beat the Nantes to death. Perhaps the Germans on the ship disdained this, perhaps they were intentionally saving ammunition, and the warship adjusted its course, slightly distanced from the Nantes.

Although Zelani was not an artillery expert during his service in the navy, he had at least an operational understanding of every weapon on the ship. He walked to Lieutenant Sangare, opened the bolt, and saw an unused shell in the bolt, so he closed the bolt, tried to turn the shaker, and tried to re-point the muzzle at the German warship, but the hull had already tilted, and only the mast of the German warship could be seen in the bolt glass.

Zelani gave up, and he leaned against the cannon stand like Lieutenant Sangare: "Lieutenant, I feel very honored to be able to fight side by side with you in the last battle of life."

"It's a pity that it was a defeat!" Ensign Sangale smiled coughingly, blood oozing out of the corner of his mouth, his face pale like a clean handkerchief.

"We at least recognized their ship type correctly, damn Schánhorst, the masterpiece of the German shipyard." Zelani said with a satisfied smile, "May God bless those enlightened British people to destroy them on the Atlantic Ocean."
Chapter completed!