shadow of britain

Chapter 101 The Beagle Attacks!

"Arthur? Is it really you?"

Elder stared blankly at Arthur, and suddenly seemed to remember something.

He fumbled in his trouser pocket for a while, and said carelessly: "I almost forgot to give this to you. Come on, the list of merchant ships you want to leave London for North America and France in the past few weeks, I have spent a lot of time on it." It was sorted out after a lot of effort."

Arthur originally just wanted to go out to sea by boat, but unexpectedly got a surprise from Elder.

He quickly scanned the list of merchant ships, and turned the document written by Elder to yesterday's departure queue.

Although there are many merchant ships departing from London every day, only one that can meet the time and route departed at 10:[-] last night. The route is London, England-Calais, France-Saint Domingo, West Indies-Boston, USA 'Black Thorn'.

Arthur hurriedly checked the time on his watch. It was 4:55 in the morning, nearly six and a half hours had passed since Fred set off.

He hurriedly asked, "How long does it take for an ordinary merchant ship to depart from London to Calais?"

Elder scratched his head: "If you go from London to Calais, you should take the route that takes the Thames River through Dartford, Margate, and then Dover, and finally cross the Strait of Dover. Considering the recent monsoon factor , if an ordinary merchant ship goes to France, it may take a day."

Arthur asked, "What about the Beagle?"

When Elder heard Arthur asking about the Beagle, he immediately introduced with joy: "This is the right person to ask! Since the Beagle has been refurbished, if it is under full sail and full wind, it can be completed as soon as possible. We can reach a speed of 12 knots. If we go to Calais, we only need half a day to get there."

Hearing this, Arthur couldn't care less, he dragged Elder by the collar and dragged him along the board to the boat.

His sudden movement made Elder yell repeatedly: "Arthur, are you crazy? What is this for?"

"No time to explain that much, is Colonel Fitzroy there? I must see him at once!"

"What's the matter? You don't want to work in Scotland Yard anymore? But hasn't Colonel Fitzroy already rejected you? The naturalist has Charles now. If it doesn't work, I'm asking for you. We still need a repair on our ship. maintain the instrument."

Before Elder finished speaking, he saw Colonel Fitzroy coming out of the cabin. He lifted up his trouser belt, looked up and saw Arthur.

Fitzroy pointed at him and said, "Oh! I remember you, young man, that boy who served in the Army."

Arthur came to the Colonel and saluted, and said, "Mr. Colonel! I have an emergency to report to you!"

Fitzroy was stunned: "What's the matter? I'm a navy captain, and I don't care about the army."

Arthur said: "This matter has nothing to do with the navy and army. I just received information that a merchant ship carrying members who committed treasonous felonies was sailing to France, and we were ordered to stop that ship at all costs.

But the scheduling of the ships takes time, so I remembered that Elder needs to go to sea for sea training today, so I came to the pier to try my luck, but I didn't expect to hit me.Please order to change the sea training plan to hunt down the merchant ship 'Black Thorn' as soon as possible. "

When Fitzroy heard this, his expression became serious: "Young man, have you brought the transfer order from the Admiralty?"

Arthur shook his head and said, "Because of the sudden incident, the Department of the Navy is still applying for a transfer order."

Hearing this, Fitzroy shook his head and said, "Sorry, I have no right to change the training plan without a written document from the Ministry of the Navy. Young man, you have been in the army and you should know that soldiers must obey orders.

Moreover, the situation of the Beagle is very special. We only obey the command of the Navy Headquarters, and even other fleet commanders have no right to dispatch us. "

When Arthur heard this, his heart sank, just as he was trying to find a way to avoid Fitzroy.

Elder, who has always been unreliable, spoke first: "Colonel, have you forgotten? The First Sea Lord, Thomas Hardy!"

Fitzroy was reminded by him, and then he remembered Arthur's unfathomable and rich background.

After all, the young man in front of him was the one who could make First Sea Lord Thomas Hardy personally order not to hire him in his busy schedule.

Although he vehemently denied that he was related to the Marquess of Hastings, Colonel Fitzroy would not believe it.

Besides, who can make friends with Elder, how bad can their family background be?

Colonel Fitzroy thought of this, and couldn't help taking a deep breath.

This kind of young man, shouldn't be idle and doing nothing to make me happy, right?

And, if what the young man said was true, the Beagle did not obey orders.

Although procedurally speaking, he has no responsibility, but this kind of performance of delaying the fighter will definitely be seen by Admiral Thomas Hardy.

If he is looked down upon by Admiral Hardy, who controls the life and death of Royal Navy officers, then he may not have the chance to be promoted to general in his life.

In addition, he will also offend a large group of members of the Marquess of Hastings family.

Moreover, a bunch of departments involved in this matter might also bear a grudge against him because of it.

But if he took the young man's word for it...

Even if this young man named Arthur is telling lies, it's actually not a big deal, it's just a temporary change of the route of the sea training project.

As long as no one reveals this matter, and the headquarters of the Admiralty does not know, then everyone should do whatever they want, and everything will be happy.

Besides, even if someone told the story, the Admiralty would at most charge him with taking someone on board without permission, and the fine would be about one month's salary.

But even if he was fined a month's salary, wouldn't he still be able to reap the apology from the Marquis of Hastings?

Judging from Admiral Hardy's last special order to prevent Arthur from boarding the ship, the Marquess of Hastings and Admiral Hardy should have a close relationship.

That being the case, if he took the blame for the incompetent young master of the Hastings family, wouldn't Mr. Marquis help him speak well in front of Admiral Hardy?

Colonel Fitzroy didn't think about it, it's okay. After thinking about it, he immediately felt that his thoughts were clear, and even his breathing became much smoother.

To put it bluntly, this is at most just a trip to the sea with Master Hastings, what's the big deal?
Thinking of this, Colonel Fitzroy immediately felt that he had no reason to refuse. This is simply a gift that fell from the sky and is guaranteed to be profitable!
Mr. Colonel couldn't help puffing out his chest, even with a confident smile on his face.

What does it mean to use the Royal Navy's ship and follow your own relationship!

He patted Arthur on the shoulder affectionately, and then hurriedly shouted at the sailors, as if he was afraid that they would change their minds.

"All staff listened to the order, immediately stopped carrying supplies, and lifted the anchor and set sail! According to the order of the Ministry of the Navy, the Beagle temporarily changed its sailing plan and attacked the merchant ship 'Black Thorn' at full speed!"

(End of this chapter)