shadow of britain

Chapter 103 Two Black Thorns?
Arthur stood at the bow of the ship and observed the blue sea with binoculars, and beside him were the busy sailors.

The improved Beagle has three masts, and each mast is assigned six sailors and one non-commissioned officer to be on duty. Their main task is to observe the sea surface, identify the course, and judge whether there is an enemy situation.

There are also many sailors on the deck, including the gunners led by the artillery chief, the craftsman led by the quartermaster who is overhauling the guns, and the more than 20 soldiers led by an assault commander and two non-commissioned officers who are in charge of the boarding battle. Marines.

Tom and Tony looked nervously at the busy crew, and the two Scotland Yard police officers who had never been on a ship in their life felt awkward for the first time.

The little waiter sent by Colonel Fitzroy to serve them saw their nervous expressions, and hurriedly asked, "Gentlemen, do you need any help?"

Tony covered his mouth and leaned against the side of the boat, his face was blue: "It's nothing, I just want to vomit, vomit..."

Tom's reaction was slightly better than Tony's. He looked up and down the waiter and asked, "How old are you this year?"

"Me? Nine years old."

The little waiter seemed to be afraid of being looked down upon, so he hurriedly added: "But don't look at me as young, but I have been on the ship for two years. If you talk about the age of the ship, I am older than those who just got on the ship." How about the cadets? They're four years older than me, but they can't do anything right and get Colonel Fitzroy in trouble. I'm better than them!"

Hearing this, Tom couldn't help but smiled and touched the little waiter's head: "I didn't expect you to be as old as my son. You are much stronger than him."

"Of course." The little waiter pretended to be old-fashioned and said: "The premise of working on the boat for a long time is to be strong. Even if you are weak, you have to get fat as soon as possible. The sea will not feel sorry for you. There is not even a coffin when you die at sea. thrown into the sea to feed the fish."

As soon as he said this, he saw Arthur waving at him, and the little waiter hurried up to flatter him: "Sir, what do you want?"

Although he is not very old, he knows how to distinguish between people's status.

At a glance, he could see Arthur's respected status among the three, and he could also see Captain Fitzroy's politeness to him.

To put it in a better way, this ability is called knowing how to perceive words and emotions.

To put it bluntly, this is snobbery.

But I can't be harsh on the waiter, after all, this is the skill these little devils rely on to survive on the boat.

As a group of people who are closest to the senior officers on the ship, almost every waiter has the dream of being appreciated by the captain and then sent to the Naval Academy.

Although the probability of this one-step success is very low, the few precedents still allow the waiters to persist in their mission of serving senior officers well.

Arthur asked, "Please lend me a sailor knife from Mr. Colonel."

"Ah? You... what are you planning to do?"

Arthur didn't shy away from his thoughts, he said: "According to the information of the Black Thorn, there may be [-] to [-] militants on board that ship. If there is a boarding battle, the marines alone will I'm afraid it won't work out. So, as a Scotland Yard officer, I intend to join them."

When the waiter heard this, his hairs stood up in shock: "Mr. Hastings, please don't make such a joke. Participating in the boarding battle is really fatal! If you are worried about the number of marines Insufficient, that is actually a small problem, if they are all played, and the sailors, you don’t have to play in person.”

Arthur took out a pipe from his pocket and lit it: "Little brother, do you have any misunderstanding about the identity of the police? What do you think the law is for?"

"Law?" The waiter said, "Isn't that just to protect people like you?"

When the Red Devil heard this, he immediately held his stomach and said with joy: "Brilliant! Arthur, look at this kid, his consciousness is even higher than yours."

Tom and Tony also laughed dumbfounded when they heard this.

They explained: "Little brother, it is not the law that protects us, but we want to protect you with the law."

"Protect me with the law?" The little waiter said with a ghostly smile: "If it protects me, I won't be here. Please, gentlemen, for the sake of the law, oh no, There's no law on the high seas, so for God's sake don't embarrass me."

Arthur looked back at the little waiter and patted him on the head: "You little brat, you really don't like oil and salt. But after all, I really can't blame you. Forget it, I won't make it difficult for you, I will go by myself Talk to the colonel."

As soon as he turned around, he saw Elder walking towards them with a few sea-blue sailor uniforms in his arms.

He distributed the clothes to the hands of the three, and said while sending out: "The most taboo thing about fighting at sea is that the clothes look different. Many senior officers of the Royal Navy are reluctant to take off their epaulets and uniforms. The man was shot. So Colonel Fitzroy sent me here to let you change your clothes. By the way, if the fight starts in a while, remember to put it away, or you will get a shot in the head, don’t Blame me for not reminding you."

However, Arthur didn't care about this. He pulled Elder to him and asked, "Go and get me a sailor knife, and pull some bandages for me along the way."

"What are you going to do?" Elder said vigilantly: "Arthur, don't be fooled! I know you know a little about swordsmanship, but actual combat and practice are two different things. You can just shoot the gun in the back later. .”

Arthur didn't refute, he just asked, "I didn't intend to rush to the opponent's boat, but what if they did?"

"This..." Elder pondered for a while, and he took a deep breath: "It's still you who are thoughtful! How could I forget this one! No, I not only have to get a handle for you, but also for myself. Gotta get one from the armory!"

Elder hurriedly ran to the deck and chatted with the quartermaster, and then saw him take a bunch of keys from the opponent's hand. Not long after, he grabbed Darwin and ran back with a bunch of weapons .

"Charles, you're so scared! Didn't you work as a doctor? If he dares to rush over, you'll amputate his limbs, limbs!"

"You put it lightly! Can he lie on the operating bed obediently like a patient? Besides, even a patient will struggle desperately if he doesn't drink enough alcohol. Pressing him on the operating bed is not like pushing down a donkey Simple!"

Elder couldn't talk to him, so he had to change the subject: "Arthur, I brought you the knife."

However, Arthur did not take the weapon from Elder first, but picked up the bandage that Elder held under his arm.

He took off the leather glove on his left hand, exposing his callused palm from practicing swordsmanship, and then wrapped the bandage tightly around his palm.

"What are you doing?" Elder was puzzled when he saw Arthur's movements: "Wrap up in advance? Save yourself the trouble later?"

However, at this time, the commander of the Marine Corps who happened to be passing by here pinched his chin and looked at Arthur with great interest.

He asked, "Do you know half swordsmanship?"

"Half swordsmanship?" Elder knew that the commander was obsessed with swordsmanship, so he hurriedly asked, "Wrapping a bandage means half swordsmanship? What kind of swordsmanship is this half swordsmanship?"

The commander of the Marine Corps didn't answer Elder, but raised his eyebrows with a smile and said, "Young man, if you haven't practiced half-swordsmanship well, you're just a showman, and you are easily injured. Don't lose your life just to be handsome, then Not worth it."

Arthur looked up at him and smiled when he heard this.

"Although I don't practice well, it should be enough to deal with a few slave traders."

"Oh... it seems that you really have some skills!" The commander laughed, and he took off the officer's sword from his waist and threw it at Arthur: "In that case, this sword is for you to use, you use half swordsmanship, You can't use your full strength with a sword."

Arthur was not too polite. He took the officer's sword and drew it out of its sheath with a loud sound. The shiny sword body clearly illuminated the stubble on his chin.

"It's a good sword."

The commander grinned and said, "The rest depends on whether it is matched with a good person."

Just as the two were exchanging greetings, the pupils of the observer on the foremast shrank suddenly. He observed carefully with the binoculars for a long time, and then he shouted behind him with certainty: "Attention everyone! 15 degrees east by south Two unknown ships have been spotted on the sea!"

Colonel Fitzroy shouted: "Two ships? Sailing together?"

The observer checked again with the telescope, and after holding back for a long time, he opened his mouth and said, "It doesn't look like it! They are too close to each other, aren't they afraid of bumping into each other? And... wait, damn it! The two of them What the hell is going on between the two ships? Why does it look like there is a plank between each other."

(End of this chapter)