Robbery

Besides explosive charges, the France also had something new: the grenade launcher.

The so-called grenade launcher is actually a type of ultralight mortar. It is relatively lightweight, even lighter than a rifle, so it can basically be omitted from official personnel. More importantly, it has a simple structure and is cheap to manufacture. In the later Anti-Japanese War, the armies of impoverished imperialist countries were equipped with a large number of these.

Compared to the grenade launchers of later Japan, the French Army at this time had something even more primitive and rudimentary. While Japan grenade launchers were equipped with specialized ammunition (and could also be used to launch Grenade), this more basic version of the France grenade launcher was indeed specifically designed for launching Grenade.

The airtightness of Grenade was definitely not very good, so its range was much shorter than that of the grenade launchers used by the Japanese in later generations. The effective range of the Japanese grenade launchers in later generations was about 500 meters, while the effective range of the France grenade launchers at this time was only a little over 100 meters.

However, at this point, this range was barely sufficient. The main purpose of using the grenade launcher at this stage was to fire smoke grenades to disrupt enemy fire and provide cover for the demolition team as they delivered the explosive charges.

The French Army soldiers took cover and opened fire on the manor—which was actually more like a fortified tower.

The men on the watchtower returned fire with their rifles. Then, the company's grenade launchers fired several smoke grenades toward the watchtower. The smoke grenades exploded in the air, like a blackish-gray umbrella suddenly opening.

Under the cover of the constantly exploding smoke grenades, a French Army soldier carrying a satchel charge quickly leaped forward.

Although the Barbary Pirates' fortress was designed with many defensive considerations in mind, it also had strong living functions. Therefore, unlike the more traditional ones, they didn't reach the fortress very quickly. He pulled the fuse and ran away swiftly.

With a deafening roar, one side of the towering wall collapsed, sending bricks, timber, and even human heads flying everywhere. Even from a considerable distance, the France soldiers felt the ground tremble.

"Charge!" Philippe gave the order. He knew that if the enemy was gathered not far from the explosion, even if they survived the blast, they would be too shocked to recover their fighting ability in a short time. If they charged in now, they probably wouldn't even be able to stand up.

Just as Philippe had predicted, the fighting inside the walls ended very quickly after they stormed through.

In this estate, Philippe's men found some olive oil that hadn't yet been sold. This must have been the produce of this olive grove. Besides this, there were various women's gold jewelry and silk garments. The accompanying chaplain registered these items—these were now France property. Of course, some very small items weren't registered, and even those that were were understated. This shortfall naturally became the proceeds for everyone from Philippe down to the lowest-ranking soldiers.

Overall, however, Philippe and his companions gained very little from the estate. Logically, the owner of the estate should hold a high position here, so how could they have so little? Moreover, they didn't find any women of high status in the estate.

Philippe wanted to ask the prisoners, but he immediately realized a crucial problem: he couldn't understand the local language.

"Damn it! Does any of you understand what they're saying?" Philippe asked.

Everyone shook their heads.

"Company commander, we can have that Turkey liaison officer come and ask," a soldier said.

"If it were possible, would you even need to tell me?" Philippe said coldly.

"Why?" The soldier still didn't understand.

"Batz, you're such an idiot!" Philippe said. "Why did he have to tell us when he asked? Couldn't he have just remembered it himself, then come back with a few Turkey after we left—and all that stuff would be his! Get it?"

"Company commander, what do you suggest we do?" a soldier asked.

"What else can we do!" Philippe said fiercely. "We'll have to find it ourselves. There must be a secret room here; we'll dig three feet into the ground to find it!"

At this point, Philippe casually picked up a rifle and slammed the butt against the wall. The wall made a loud, solid cracking sound, indicating that there was nothing there.

"Grab your tools and search! If you suspect anything, feel free to destroy it! Consider it a renovation!" Philippe shouted.

Those captured—mainly servants and domestic slaves; the men had mostly died in the explosion—were now being held in a small room. According to the agreement between France and Turkey, the France were to hand over captured rebels and their families to the Turkey.

This is why the Turkey insisted on obtaining power, mainly to prevent rebels from hiding under the France and being used by France to cause trouble. The fact that they could be sold into slavery was not a major reason. In general, because the other side was infidel, while they formed an alliance, they still had to be wary of each other.

The France smashed the walls haphazardly and used their bayonets to pry up the floorboards to check for hidden compartments. Filled with the excitement of finding the treasure of Alababa and the Forty Thieves, they turned the place upside down. Finally, they found a secret room beneath the first staircase.

The door to the secret room was blocked by the collapsed staircase. It took the France considerable effort to move the staircase, and then, by lifting the carpet covering it, they found an iron door.

"Shotgun!" Philippe shouted.

A French Army soldier carrying a shotgun walked over and fired a shot at the swamp gate latch, breaking the lock. Then the iron gate was pulled open, revealing a dark tunnel.

"Bring that Turkey over here. Make him shout into the room!" Philippe shouted.

So the Turkey liaison officer was called over. He called out a few times, but there was no response. He called out a few more times, and then he could faintly hear a few low sobs, like a woman's. The sound of a child crying also came up.

"Tell her to come up here herself," Philippe said.

The Turkey shouted down a few more times, but there was no response; only the faint sound of the child's cries fading away could be heard.

"What's wrong?" Philippe asked. "Batz, you and Francis, go down and take a look."

Batz grabbed a shotgun, while Francis tossed a torch down the stairs. The torch fell to the bottom, but didn't illuminate much of the area. There was still no movement below. Batz and Francis exchanged a glance, cocked their shotguns, and then went down the steps.