The U.S. Navy responded much faster in the war than the Army, and on the day after the U.S. declared war on Britain, U.S. Navy fleets left port one after another to begin operations against Britain. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Just two days later, the US Navy achieved its first victory. A U.S. Navy Providence-class frigate plundered a British merchant ship with a displacement of 8,000 tons off the coast of Nova Scotia. The Americans did not sink the merchant ship directly, but sent marines to occupy the merchant ship and escort it back to their port by a frigate.

A large amount of supplies and pound bills on merchant ships became the property of the United States. What's more, a cargo ship with a large tonnage is a lot of wealth in itself.

The privateering of the Americans became more and more intense. Dozens of British merchant ships were looted and plundered by the U.S. Navy, including three British merchant ships that were sunk for failing to follow the orders of the U.S. Navy. Most of the U.S. raids were small tonnage frigates, but they were also generally armed with multiple 130 mm guns. In this plane, the United States is also a metric country, abandoning the British system of weights and measures. Therefore, the caliber of the weapon is unified and follows the standard of Datang.

The hull structure and defense of ordinary merchant ships could not withstand the bombardment of naval guns, and some unlucky ships were naturally sunk.

In the second week of the outbreak of the war, in the waters north of Prince Edward Island, two frigates of the US Navy set their sights on a cargo ship with a tonnage of more than 10,000 tons. It is not surprising that Datang Shipbuilding now supplies more than 75 percent of the world's shipping vessels, and this is still an order that does not include Datang's own needs. Earlier, shipowners from various countries had to buy Datang's cargo ships, because only their ships had a speed of more than 16 knots, large tonnage, and good economy. After European countries have their own shipbuilding capabilities, Datang Shipyard has lowered the price, although it is still a little more expensive than the products of Western shipyards, but after all, the quality is here, and the performance is slightly superior.

"Captain, what shall we do?" The first mate took off the hat on his head, very anxious.

Captain Cai Mingtong put down the telescope in his hand and said: "Stop the ship, the smaller battleship over there is the American Alliance class, the battleship that we exported to them from Datang twenty years ago is relatively slow, I heard that it is only 15 knots after being refitted now, and we can outrun them when we add up the speed, but the larger battleship on the right side is the Essex class that the US Navy has only served in recent years, although they built it themselves, but the diesel engine used is imported from our Datang, and the maximum speed may be able to run out of 223 knots, We can't run. Besides, even if we finish this voyage and return from Canada, we still can't avoid it. ”

The captain, first mate and half of the sailors on this cargo ship with the rice flag are actually Tang people, and the shipping company they belong to is also an ocean shipping company of the Tang Dynasty, but this 10,000-ton cargo ship mainly runs on the transatlantic route, from the British Isles to Canada. In order to obtain tax benefits, the second place of domicile is the United Kingdom. The second flag system means that a ship that has already been registered in another international registration can still be registered in another country, commonly known as a "flag of convenience". That is, on the premise of not changing the original traditional ship registration system, through the adoption of a preferential ship registration system and the provision of preferential treatment similar to the flag of convenience in the tax system, the system to attract domestic ships, especially domestic ships and foreign ships that have emigrated overseas, to register in the country. As is customary, the second flag system will provide a huge annual tax reduction for each ship.

Britain is a traditional seafaring country, and after the rise of the Tang Dynasty, there has been a huge gap in ocean transportation. In order to enhance its competitiveness, Britain, a major country, had to sacrifice such a convenient flag. For most Datang ships, this is meaningless. However, for shipping companies that specialize in running British routes, they can save more than 10,000 Tang Yuan per year.

The cargo ship came to rest in the sea, and the Essex-class frigate sent a small boat, and some American soldiers boarded the cargo ship. Captain Cai Mingtong took out cigarettes and distributed them to the American soldiers on board, the number of smokers in the world was huge in these years, and almost all the soldiers smoked, especially the good quality Tang cigarettes, which were extremely in demand.

"Gentlemen, as you can see, our ship, the second flag is British, and our owners, including me, the captain, are all Chinese. I hope that you can be accommodating and let us go in the spirit of Tang-US friendly relations. ”

The U.S. Navy officer, who was smoking a cigarette beautifully, checked the documents of the freighter, smiled, but said something not favorable: "Haha, Mr. Captain, I'm afraid I can't help you, according to our battle order, any ship flying the British flag is within our range." Besides, although your company is Datang Company, the goods you transport are all British goods, and if these things are transported to Canadian soil, it may cause casualties to our American people, so it is absolutely not allowed. Then I'm sorry, I have to fulfill my duty to bring this ship back to the port of the United States. ”

Cai Mingtong's face was very ugly, and he said: "But if you do this, it will bring huge losses to our Datang Company, and we have to compensate the customer." ”

In fact, after the shipping company compensates the customer's losses, there are insurance companies to cover the situation. But the insurance company is also Datang's company, so the loss is still on Datang.

The American officer spread his hands and said, "We can't do anything about this, it's your bad luck." However, what can make you feel a little consolation is that you are Tang people, and when you arrive at the American port, you can let the staff of the Datang Embassy take you away, but the British sailors on your ship do not have this right. ”

Cai Mingdao: "But the British sailors are also employees of our company." ”

The American officer behaved resolutely and acted like a businessman.

When the sailors on board learned about this, they were very depressed. The sailors of the Tang people were sad because they couldn't get any allowances and bonuses after this trip, and after all, they were captured, and they were uneasy. And the British sailors were directly regarded as criminals, and then they were afraid that they would be forcibly arrested by the Americans to work.

The proportion of Datang merchant ships on the Atlantic route is extremely high, and the encounter like Cai Mingtong's is not isolated, and soon the Datang foreign affairs, transportation and trade departments received a large number of complaints. (To be continued.) )