Pirate Attack

While Pauline was playing the role of a priestess in Athens, a two-masted sailing ship flying the France flag was sailing on the route from Spain to Naples.

Captain Mustafa was a short Spain whose face, etched with wrinkles from years at sea, resembled a shriveled orange. He stood by the helm at the stern, observing the sea through binoculars. Lately, the sea had been turbulent; the Barbary Pirates had been launching attacks more frequently.

"Fortunately, the France flag is flying over our mast," Mustafa consoled himself.

Before this, Mustafa had served as a second mate on a larger ship for many years. Later, during the First Anti-French Alliance, Mustafa participated in smuggling to France and made some money from it. Later, when the France were replacing their ships with clipper ships, they sold off some of their older vessels at low prices, and Mustafa bought the two-masted ship he now owns.

This ship is old and not in great condition; it's probably not up to the task of Atlantic Ocean routes, but it can still manage in the Mediterranean Sea. Of course, compared to newer clipper ships, this slower vessel faces more danger: attacks from Barbary Pirates.

So Mustafa paid to have his ship registered under the name of a France shipping company, thus gaining the legal right to use the France flag, because, for well-known reasons, pagan pirates generally do not attack ships flying the France flag.

Although the Barbary Pirates reached an agreement with the Spain after the Spain fleet bombarded Tripoli, promising not to harass the Spain coast or intercept Spain ships, this did not mean that Spain ships were necessarily safe; at most, the chances of them being plundered simply decreased.

Furthermore, while the likelihood of Spain ships being robbed has decreased, the consequences of such attacks could be more severe. Before an agreement was reached with the Spain, pirates would take Spain ships and all their crews back to North Africa and demand ransom. Now, doing so would be a blatant violation of their agreement with the Spain, potentially leading to another Spain attack. Therefore, when Spain Barbary Pirates attack Spain ships, they often only take the ship (since ships can't speak, they can be easily disguised as different vessels), while all the sailors are disposed of on the spot, or at sea (killed and thrown overboard). Even in the Mediterranean Sea, there are always many other possibilities when a ship disappears at sea.

However, the Barbary Pirates were generally much more polite to ships flying the France flag, after all, they had a long history of fighting friendships.

So, although Mustafa's ship was almost the most vulnerable to attack— the Barbary Pirates couldn't catch those clipper ships. Nowadays, clipper ships are becoming more common at sea. Although these ships are much more expensive than ordinary ocean-going vessels, their advantages in transportation efficiency and safety make more ship owners willing to buy them.

Of course, some pirates did purchase clipper ships, but clipper ships couldn't use cannons, and dangerous Greek Fire wasn't available on the market, so they reverted to the more primitive method of boarding. Moreover, pirates piloting clipper ships couldn't attack ordinary merchant ships equipped with cannons. Therefore, pirates using clipper ships were still quite rare.

"Captain, Captain, starboard, east or west on starboard!" the lookout on the mast suddenly shouted.

Mustafa immediately moved to the starboard side.

"Where?" he shouted.

"At eight o'clock, there's a person, just one person!" the lookout shouted.

Mustafa looked over and spotted the man just a few hundred meters away.

The man was holding a wooden bucket and waving at them incessantly.

"Was it a shipwreck or a pirate attack?" Mustafa wondered, and then ordered the sailors to lower the small boat and rescue the man.

The small boat was lowered, and several sailors quickly pulled the man clinging to the wooden bucket out of the water.

"You're from that boat, what happened?" Mustafa asked.

"I am a sailor from the France merchant ship Tulip. We... we have just been attacked by Barbary Pirates... this sea is extremely dangerous..."

According to the sailor, they were attacked most of the day before. Initially, when they spotted the two Barbary Pirates ships, they weren't particularly alarmed, as Barbary Pirates rarely attacked ships flying the France flag. However, the two pirate ships quickly approached.

At first, the ships assumed the pirates hadn't seen the flags on their masts, or that some idiot had hoisted them in the wrong direction.

Of course, no fool had hoisted the flag incorrectly, but the pirates still approached. The captain gave the order to resist.

"Captain Delon told us that if the Barbary Pirates really attacked us, they would never dare to ask the France for ransom, or even admit that they had done such a thing. So they would definitely kill us to silence us, and we could only fight to the end..." the sailor said.

However, France merchant ships had enjoyed too much safety in the Mediterranean Sea for years, to the point that they had even reduced the number of cannons to increase cargo capacity. This made them ineffective against the pirates. Their ships were also old and overloaded, so even though they threw a lot of cargo overboard, they still couldn't shake off the pirates. In the ensuing battle, the sailor fell overboard; in the heat of the battle, no one paid him any attention. He didn't know how the battle would end.

The news brought by the sailor made Mustafa very nervous, fearing that he too would be attacked by the Barbary Pirates. However, he was luckier, and his ship successfully reached Naples. France had a consulate in Naples, so as soon as they landed, Mustafa took the rescued sailor and went straight to the France consulate in Naples. Then, through the wire telegraph system, the Naples consulate reported the incident to the French Foreign Ministry. Soon after, Napoleon received the news.

"They attacked France ships?" Upon receiving the report, Napoleon his fist on the table in excitement. "Excellent! I've been wanting to teach them a lesson for ages! Quickly, bring General Carnot and Admiral Treville to me; we must prepare for military action!"

An hour later, Carnot and Admiral Latouch Treville arrived at the Consulate.

The two men sat down in Napoleon's office, and Napoleon asked, "You should already know the situation on your way here. Now, I want to know if we are to wage war against the Barbary Pirates, can we end the war before the Olympic Games begin?"

"It will be difficult," Admiral Treville said. "If the Barbary Pirates dare to confront us head-on, we can wipe them out in less than a morning. But if they avoid battle, it will take us a long time to find them in the vast ocean. I think we probably can't complete such a task before the Olympic Games."

"Then what about attacking their ports directly?" Napoleon asked.

"Your Excellency," Carnot began, "I would like to know, if war breaks out, what do we hope to gain from it? Only by determining this can we effectively answer this question."

Napoleon glanced at Carnot, nodded, and said, "General Carnot, we need to gain a foothold in North Africa where we can station troops, and obtain a series of economic and political privileges, such as the right to use ports and the right to sell goods."

Carnot listened, lowered his head, thought for a moment, and then said, "Your Excellency, if I may be frank, achieving this goal is not just a military matter, but also a political one. I don't think we can accomplish such a task before the Olympic Games. However, Your Excellency, the Olympic Games are only two weeks away. We could postpone it slightly, use diplomatic means to prepare for war, and then take action after the Olympic Games. I think this is a more prudent approach."

Napoleon thought about it and agreed with Carnot's point. He then said to Carnot and Latouche Treville, "Generals, this will be our first war after several years of peace, and it is also... Although our opponents are merely some Barbary Pirates, we must fight this battle brilliantly, to make the rest of Europe take notice. Therefore, it must be fought spectacularly!"