afterglow

Chapter 334 Chapter [-] Go and recuperate!Hood comes out
"...In view of the extraordinary combat power of the invaders and their inability to stop them, the Kingdom of Norway declared Oslo an undefended city. The surrounding troops were ordered to stop resisting and abandon the capital, and the German troops immediately entered the city..."

"...According to an official from the Chinese Embassy in the DPRK, Major General Gunard, who stayed behind in Norway, was responsible for dedicating the city. At [-] p.m. local time, the German troops entered the city in three columns, and the local people were worried..."

The midday news report of the Sun and Moon Society came from the radio, and it was still the same sweet female voice.

Zhou Changfeng didn't finally wake up until noon that day. To him, this sudden fainting seemed like he had just slept.

It was very heavy and dreamless. When he woke up, he felt extremely energetic. He felt that this was probably the most comfortable sleep he had had this year.

Different from the uniform decoration of ordinary wards, the wards in the Imperial Palace are much more elegant, almost as exquisite as hotel rooms, and even the familiar smell of disinfectant is extremely faint.

So when Zhou Changfeng first regained consciousness, he thought he was not in the hospital.

Before he could recover, he saw Xia Xiaoshi next to him and said in surprise, "Are you feeling better? I'll call the doctor."

Oh, I think about it, I actually fainted last night!

"No need? I feel pretty good." Zhou Changfeng stretched out happily, "What caused it? Why did you faint for no reason?"

With a helpless face, Xia Xiaoshi replied truthfully: "The doctor said that you usually worry too much and think too much, and you haven't had a good rest recently."

"No, I'm just busy these past ten days..."

Zhou Changfeng found it incredible. He was in good health and had relatively high energy - he was not lethargic, and sleeping seven hours a day was usually enough.

Well, it seems that even if you have a good foundation, you can't squeeze it arbitrarily.

Later, the royal doctor in charge came after hearing the news.

He waved the accompanying nurse to help check his blood pressure, while he stretched out his hand to feel his pulse.

The latter expertly tied the cuff of the mercury sphygmomanometer, and then squeezed the leather air bag.

"High one-one-five, low 84."

The middle-aged imperial doctor who looked away from strangers said in a deep voice: "It's nothing serious, but I still suggest that Zhou Daizhao take a good rest for a while. Now that the war is imminent, it is very tiring to lead the troops in battle."

After speaking, he added: "I also prescribed a prescription, which is all common medicinal materials. By the way, you can't just take a lot of supplements now. If you are not weak, you shouldn't take supplements."

As the saying goes, "replenish what is deficient", Qi deficiency, blood deficiency, yin deficiency, and yang deficiency are all different. If you don't know the truth, it will be harmful to make up for it randomly.

"Okay." Zhou Changfeng nodded to make it clear, "Since there is nothing major, we can go back directly?"

After giving a positive answer, the imperial doctor left with the two nurses.

Zhou Changfeng looked at Xia Xiaoshi's already obvious belly and asked casually: "Where did you come from?"

"You didn't come back last night, so we thought you had something to do." The latter recalled: "But in the morning, Lin Xi received a call from the palace, so I went to Xi'an Gate with her."

Although Xia Xiaoshi was anxious at the time, since there was no serious problem and she was safe in the palace, she could be said to be taking her time calmly.

The two of them packed up the things in the room while talking, and then prepared to leave.

But at this moment, footsteps coming closer and closer came from outside, and it sounded like there were quite a lot of people.

Zhou Changfeng didn't pay attention at first, thinking it was just a group of medical staff passing by, but the footsteps stopped at the door of the room.

"Wow—"

The door was pushed open, several attendants stood outside the door one after another, and Zhu Lingjing, dressed in black and red, walked straight in.

Uh...how did this woman come here?Could it be a conscience discovery?

"I have seen Your Majesty."

Zhou Changfeng bowed his hands as usual, while Xia Xiaoshi beside him waited a moment before hurriedly blessing himself.

"Ready to go back now? How do you feel?"

"The doctor said it's all right, so of course there's no need to stay here."

Zhu Lingjing's eyes were fixed on Xia Xiaoshi for several seconds before returning to Zhou Changfeng.

In fact, she didn't want to come over at first. On the one hand, she was very busy, and on the other hand, she knew that Zhou was not very grateful in this regard.

After working together for nearly two years, it can be said that Zhu Lingjing has basically understood Zhou's character - this guy is the kind of person who is driven by interests and goals. Only with the same interests and goals can he be happy. No matter how nice others are to him, he doesn't care much.

If you pay but don’t get anything back, who will do it?
Having said that, he is one of our own after all, so he must at least show his concern symbolically.

The calm Zhu Lingjing stared at him and said: "It's okay to try your best, but working so hard like this hurts your body. If something happens, it will be disgraceful to spread the news."

"Put it off these days, recuperate for a while, and let your mind wander. Well..." She pondered for two seconds, "Go to Qiongzhou."

Sister!Recuperation is recuperation, why do you have to go to Qiongzhou? Isn’t it good that I stay at home with my wife?
However, before Zhou Changfeng opened his mouth, Zhu Lingjing immediately added: "You two go together."

The day when Ming Dynasty will command its troops in Nanyang is just around the corner, and the countdown has now entered.

Qiongzhou, Zhanjiang, Guangzhou, Dagu and other places are all important departure bases, so I simply go there to recuperate. Not only is the climate as warm as spring, but also I can go to the nearest post.

As for Zhou's wife, she is only six months pregnant and has not yet reached a stage where her mobility is significantly affected and it is inconvenient to go out, so there is no problem.

"Understood, thank you Your Majesty for your concern."

Zhu Lingjing only planned to come here for a while, as she still had a lot of things to deal with, so she prepared to leave after explaining a few words.

She looked at Xia Xiaoshi, who was a little uneasy, smiled lightly at her, then turned and walked out of the room.

After returning home, Zhou Changfeng breathed a long sigh of relief and said relaxedly: "I have been busy for so long, and I can legitimately take a break for more than half a month this time. It is very comfortable."

Xia Xiaoshi asked in confusion: "The emperor didn't tell you how long he wanted you to recuperate before, right?"

Zhou Changfeng, who was smiling, turned to look at her. The two looked at each other and said nothing, but the latter immediately understood.

The imperial court's wait-and-see attitude toward the situation in Europe will not last long. First, it is not necessary, and second, the hawks have already lost their patience.

Although preparations have been made, mobilizing and dispatching troops for battle cannot be completed immediately. It takes about half a month to be fully prepared.

The previously determined "deadline" is between 20 and 30 days. "Speaking of which, she looks like this." Xia Xiaoshi suddenly whispered.

The emperor of the Dongying Islands is a so-called living god who does not appear in the newspapers. He conceals himself and pretends to be mysterious. It was not until the Marshal Tobacco forced him to take a photo with himself that people saw his true face.

The difference is that the term "Tianzi" faded out of the Ming Dynasty soon after the constitutional government, and now almost only historians use it occasionally.

Will removing the mystique of the divine right of kings shake the foundation of governance?Although Zhu Shiyan was a little apprehensive at the time, he finally accepted it calmly.

Probably because of the relatively complete secularization, there was almost no disturbance among the people. Decades of various movements had already made many people subconsciously believe that the emperor was actually just a mortal body and had no connection with the Haotian God.

Zhu Shiyan was like this, but Zhu Lingjing didn't take it seriously at all.

In fact, she quite likes to show her appearance to the public, provided that there is no deliberate smearing or ugliness in the photos related to her.

However, people generally believe that these photos are not of the person himself. A widely circulated theory is to prevent the assassin from being recognized, so the true face will definitely not be published in the newspapers.

Xia Xiaoshi has always believed this statement.

"I told you before, it's the same as in the newspaper." Zhou Changfeng smiled and spread his hands, "Idiot, you still don't believe me."

"Hmph - by the way, I think Your Majesty's temperament is really special. Is she usually like this?"

"She's always been like this. She's doing well today. She didn't say anything unpleasant. I guess it's because you're here."

After lunch, the two began to pack their luggage, and Lin Xi also volunteered to help.

In fact, she had to go to Qiongzhou with the husband and wife, so that she could accompany and take care of Xia Xiaoshi when she returned.

It is now 12:39 noon in Yingtianfu, the capital of the Ming Dynasty, and 6:39 am in Oslo time.

The North Sea is still dark now, the moon is vaguely visible hanging in the starry sky in the west, but the brilliant stars are obscured by groups of dark clouds.

After setting off from Wilhelmshaven, the German fleet of the Second Battle Group has been sailing north, preparing to circle to western Norway, and then release troops to attack Stavanger and Bergen.

In this dark environment, the battlecruisers Franz and Albert were leading the fleet to fight against the rolling waves.

In addition to the two battlecruisers, this fleet also includes the heavy cruiser HMS Herbert - she is also of the Peake class.

In addition, six destroyers accompanied the fleet as a screen force; dozens of transport ships carrying landing officers and soldiers and heavy weapons followed behind the fleet.

Since the second half of the night, the strong wind from the northwest has become stronger and stronger, and it can be called raging now.

Fleet commander Lieutenant General Walter stood in the bridge of the Franz. He only slept for four hours and could not sleep no matter what.

Adjutant Colonel Coulter felt that this could actually be regarded as a hurricane-level storm, and the risk was not small, far exceeding the forecast of the meteorological department.

Those guys originally vowed that "there will only be a little storm", but now it seems that they are just lying!
In Kurt's opinion, they should be checked by Stasi, maybe there are British or French informants among them.

Now, Lieutenant General Walter looked ahead with worry. He saw two triple-mounted 350mm main guns in front of him, and then huge waves came rushing towards him, almost submerging the entire bow of the ship each time.

The huge warship of more than 3 tons rose and fell, while the other warships in the fleet were more like fallen leaves, and the small destroyer was tossed about by the huge waves.

The Germans were having a hard time, and so were the British.

Forty nautical miles northwest of the German Second Battle Group, a Royal Navy fleet composed of more than a dozen battleships was also sailing with difficulty in the storm.

"Sir, we have bad news. A ventilation duct on the starboard side of the Repulse was broken by waves. Some seawater flowed into the fuel storage tank. About several hundred cubic feet of fuel cannot be used."

Lieutenant General William Whitworth maintained the aristocratic demeanor of a Royal Navy officer and calmly ordered: "The waves are smaller than before, and the speed is increased to 10 knots."

The waves were indeed much smaller than before, but the visibility was still poor. Snow was constantly falling on the sea, and occasionally bursts of hail fell.

This fleet cruising off the coast of western Norway is performing patrol missions - ready to intercept the actions of the German Navy at any time.

This fleet consists of the battlecruisers Repulse and Hood as the core, supplemented by seven destroyers. All of them are high-speed battleships with extraordinary maneuverability.

Although the Royal Navy is large in scale, it does not have many high-speed capital ships. It basically relies on three sisters to support its appearance - the battlecruisers Renown and Repulse, and the battlecruiser Hood, known as the "Old Lady".

The Renown has been incorporated into the Z fleet and is heading to the Malaya region. The remaining Counterattack and the Hood are dispatched together. One can imagine how courageous the Royal Navy is.

The admiralty men were determined not to allow any German warship to break through the blockade.

Because the weather conditions were very bad, ejecting a seaplane was a suicide attempt, and the current radar technology was very primitive, so the two sides came face to face like blind men.

As the day progressed, the waves were still rough, but visibility improved and daylight was approaching.

At 8:37 "morning" Oslo time, the lookout post of the Repulse spotted a slender ship shadow about 8 nautical miles to the south, confirming that it was not an illusion.

Five minutes later, the destroyer USS Hunter also reported the sighting of an unknown vessel, but she claimed that there were one large and two small, but the model could not be identified.

"There are no friendly ships operating here. They must be Germans." Lieutenant General William was very confident in his judgment.

He thought for a moment and ordered: "Adjust the sailing to 195, continue to increase the speed, and do your best to reach 26 knots."

"As you wish, Your Excellency!"

As the distance got closer, the lookout posts of several warships could be seen more clearly, and some people began to try hard to distinguish the models of those unknown ships.

A few minutes later, the intelligence officer flipped through the shipwreck type identification manual again, and reported with some guilty conscience that this was a Franz-class battlecruiser, and the others were all destroyers.

Oh?Finally met a German?
Two against one, do you still need to hesitate?The tradition of the Royal Navy is to fight every enemy.

"Adjust the course to 175 and maintain the speed. Get the boys ready and teach the Germans a lesson!"

Now the British and German fleets are on almost parallel routes, with a straight-line distance of about 11 kilometers.

Amid the sound of alarm bells and the shouts of officers, the British sailors quickly got busy. The well-trained sailors performed their duties, and everything was carried out in an orderly manner like training.

At 8:51 in the morning, the sun rose from the eastern horizon, spreading its faint morning light to everything, and the rough sea surface glowed with light.

A few minutes ago, the British realized that they had made a mistake. The enemy in front of them was not a battle cruiser, but two battle cruisers and a heavy cruiser!
But... so what?
40 seconds later, the battlecruiser Hood's four twin-mounted 381mm main guns took the lead in roaring, fiery flames spewed out of it, and a huge blast caused ripples on the sea.

Eight rounds of 381mm capped armor-piercing bullets flew towards the Albert ten kilometers away at a speed of 750m/s.

(End of this chapter)