Chapter 999: In the Tiger’s Lair

The Minister of Munitions had a fierce look on his face and threatened Charles fiercely:

"Do you know what this means?"

"War, Admiral, war."

"You're going to regret this decision!"

Charles was calm, as if he was talking about something insignificant: "My opinion is exactly the opposite of yours, Your Excellency. I will regret it if I agree to your terms."

The Minister of Munitions snorted coldly and tapped his fingers heavily on the table:

"Do you think France is capable of opposing the English fleet at sea?"

"Why? Torpedo plane?"

"No, don't dream. We will regain control of Malta and use it as a base to control the air power in the Mediterranean!"

Without Malta, French torpedo planes would not be able to threaten British warships.

This guy doesn't know what's good for him, the Minister of Munitions thought. If he is smart, he should surrender to Britain. It's still not too late.

"Malta?" Charles seemed to have just remembered the name of the place.

"Oh, yes."

"Britain has only just made it independent."

"But your influence is still deeply entrenched in Malta, and you even control the parliament, right?"

The Minister of Munitions sneered in response, as if to say: It’s good that you know it!

Ciel turned his gaze to General Winter: "You should contact Malta and see what's going on there!"

The Minister of Munitions and General Winter were stunned. Does this mean that Charles is prepared?

…

Island of Malta.

The majority of the parliament members did as the Minister of Munitions thought, and they clamored for Prime Minister Joseph to side with Britain:

"We have no choice. France cannot protect us."

"Britain has a powerful fleet. If we don't choose Britain, the British fleet will blow us up tomorrow."

"We can only drive the French out of here, this is the reality!"

…

"Gentlemen." Standing on the podium, Joseph tried to calm the members down:

"There's no reason for the British to do this."

"We are a neutral country. We do not support any side, including France."

"But if we compromise easily, it means we will return to the previous state of being colonized. This will definitely be the result."

…

But no one supported Joseph's statement.

Pro-British MPs still make up the majority of the MPs as they have vested interests in Britain. Some MPs are also intimidated by the power of the British fleet and dare not disobey it in the slightest.

The Maltese civilians were also divided into two factions: one believed that they should follow France to maintain their independence, while the other believed that they should protect themselves and submit to Britain.

Malta is too small. Their army consists of only the "Royal Malta Artillery" of more than 300 people formed during the colonial period and the "Royal Infantry Corps" of more than 2,800 people.

There is also a "Royal Navy", but it cannot even be called a "Navy" because most of its personnel are logisticians and shipbuilders who are responsible for maintaining and supplying British warships.

Malta is defenceless against threats from powerful nations.

Just when the situation in the parliament was becoming one-sided, the secretary hurried forward and handed Joseph a telegram.

After reading the telegram, Joseph's face showed surprise for a moment, and then his mood changed, as if he couldn't tell whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.

After a while, he said to the parliamentarians, with a helpless tone: "Gentlemen, just now, France sent more than 2,000 soldiers to the Malta airport by transport plane."

Then he added: "Fully armed, and many transport planes brought in ammunition."

The conference room suddenly fell silent.

They didn't expect that a private airport could play this role and transport more than 2,000 soldiers at one time.

And that was French infantry, French infantry that could defeat German infantry and surpass British and American infantry.

The Maltese infantry was only responsible for the defense of the island and had no combat experience. They were also inadequately trained and equipped with backward equipment. How could they fight the French army?

What's more, this is only the first batch of infantry transported by the French army, and subsequent French infantry will continue to be transported by transport planes.

This will be a battle that is over before it even begins.

After thinking for a while, Joseph timidly came to a conclusion: "The only thing we can do is to remain neutral."

The members nodded in agreement:

“That’s a great idea.”

“Malta is a peace-loving country and we do not want to be involved in any war.”

“We are willing to open our airports and ports and evacuate civilians. The fighting taking place there has nothing to do with Malta!”

…

Even the Anglophiles had to agree to this plan.

Otherwise, he is telling everyone: I want Malta to have a gun to its head by the French army.

…

The news was quickly telegraphed to the Minister of Munitions.

The Minister of Munitions laughed instead of getting angry: "Do you think you can control Malta like this? You are too naive!"

The Quartermaster-General pulled a cigar from his pocket, lit it with the help of General Winter, and blew a cloud of smoke at Charles in an arrogant manner.

It is disdain, provocation, and ridicule.

"You forgot one thing." The Minister of Military Affairs fixed his eyes on Charles and said word by word:

“Malta Airport is only 5 kilometers from the coastline.”

"The Royal Navy's 15-inch guns have a range of 21 kilometers."

"Our battleships will blow up your fighter planes and airports, leaving nothing behind!"

This was one of the reasons why the British were willing to allow Malta to become independent. They believed that the threat posed by air forces to warships was very limited.

"Really?" Charles' voice was very light, but his words were very serious:

"If that is the case, Your Excellency."

"I have to inform you that all your warships are not allowed to approach within 150 kilometers of Malta."

"Otherwise, we will sink it, including the battleships."

The Minister of Munitions laughed, thinking that Charles was making false threats.

But seeing Ciel's serious expression, the smile gradually disappeared.

General Winter didn't laugh the whole time. He knew that Charles was a man of his words. If he said he could sink the ship, he would definitely do it.

Charles added:

"Besides, I have to tell you."

"France is free to trade with Algeria and other countries. You have no right to inspect or detain French merchant ships."

"If something like this happens again, we will treat it as an act of war and sink your warships."

The Quartermaster General sneered, "Are you serious?"

But even General Winter could tell that the Quartermaster General had no confidence when he said this.

Charles ordered them to leave: "You are very courageous. You are not worried at all that I will take this opportunity to detain you!"

The Quartermaster General and General Winter looked horrified.

They thought that the British Royal Navy could suppress Charles and make him afraid, so they dared to "go deep into the tiger's den" to negotiate.

But if Charles is confident that he can defeat the Royal Navy, it means that they are now truly in the "tiger's den"!

(End of this chapter)