shadow of britain

Chapter 162
"Arthur, you came so early!"

When Colonel Fitzroy saw Arthur coming, he stood up from the walnut sofa chair with a smile on his face, and enthusiastically introduced to several colleagues beside him: "This is the one I mentioned to you before. Arthur Hastings."

The two navy captains glanced at each other, and the well-proportioned one with short black hair asked, "Master Fiore, who knows half-Mediterranean swordsmanship and has an aggressive style of fighting, resembles General Rotheram in battle." The one with style?"

Fitzroy nodded with a smile: "It's him."

Hearing this, the other party couldn't help but smiled and extended his hand to Arthur: "Nice to meet you, Mr. Hastings. George Elliott, adjutant attache of the Royal Navy, active captain of the 'Victory', It's a pleasure to meet you. To tell you the truth, this is not the first time I've met Hastings, who has a talent for sea combat."

The richer round-faced officer on the side also smiled and said: "You remember him too? That Frank Hastings is indeed a very capable young man, with family support, and his own ability. But the bad thing is He violated the naval regulations. In order to be able to return to the Royal Navy, he could only join Kirkland's 'Atonement Fleet' to aid Greece.

But gold shines everywhere, and his brilliant victories there are a kind of proof.If he could live until the end of the Greek War of Independence, he might be able to be reused by the Navy Department after returning home.It's a pity that he was the same as Lord Byron in the end. For the independence of the Greeks, the two British died in Messolonghi in a foreign country. "

Upon hearing this, Arthur asked politely, "Who are you?"

Hearing this, the round-faced officer also smiled and extended his hand to him: "John Franklin, nice to meet you. The three of us have talked about you before, but I'm not like Elliot Concerned about your Fiore stream, I care more about your academic contribution.

Because I actually prefer adventures to wars. If you and Mr. Faraday can create an electromagnetically driven warship, maybe the Admiralty can find the long-awaited Northwest Passage. "

Upon hearing this, Colonel Fitzroy hurriedly introduced Arthur: "Arthur, let me introduce you. Colonel Franklin, like me, is responsible for the exploration mission issued by the Ministry of the Navy. I am responsible for the global The mission of Colonel Franklin is to find out the legendary Northwest Passage that can pass from the North Atlantic through North America and finally enter Asia.

You should know that the only way to get from Europe to Asia is the Cape of Good Hope in Africa. If we can find out this Northwest Passage, then according to the calculation of the Earth’s radius by the London Geographical Society, we will shorten the distance to Asia by at least 2000 nautical miles , you should understand how much commercial benefit this will bring to Britain. "

When Arthur heard this, he immediately became interested. He asked, "Then, is the opening of the Northwest Passage going smoothly? If the passage is really found, when Colonel Franklin wants to start a shipping company, I will definitely be very interested." Interested in investing."

Franklin just smiled wryly: "Oh... If only it were so easy to open up. Since I first received the task of opening up the Northwest Passage 12 years ago, I have followed the North Atlantic Ocean and the Canadian coastline to the northwest many times. explore.

For the first time, because we were not familiar with the sea conditions, we hit the ice in the Arctic and returned.The second time, due to the monsoon and climatic factors, it was impossible to go further.The third time we learned how to be smart, and instead of setting off by boat, we went on a road expedition along the Copperman River in Northwest Canada, first to find out the distribution of the coastline. "

Arthur nodded: "Sounds like a very sensible choice."

Franklin laughed while holding a coffee cup: "It's really wise, so this time we walked intermittently for several months, which was longer than the previous two expeditions."

"and then?"

As soon as Arthur said this, he saw Colonel Fitzroy and Sir Elliot beside him showing a look of unbearable.

Seeing the appearance of the two of them, Franklin shrugged helplessly: "It's no big deal, isn't that the way to go on an expedition? But my failure this time is quite tragic in the expedition. Eleven of the 20-member expedition team died. The remaining nine people also ate lichen and leather boots for almost two months due to lack of supplies.

But even so, I can't forget that place.Damn it!It was so beautiful, I will never forget the colorful northern lights and the snowstorm that howled all night long. "

Hearing this, the red devil leaning on the sofa chair couldn't help shaking his head and mockingly said: "What a irrational human being, just like a moth to a bonfire, if you want to hug your beloved, you must first consider whether you are Has this ability. Arthur, I promise you, one day, it will be his beloved blizzard that will take his life."

Seeing the flickering look in Franklin's eyes, Arthur couldn't help persuading him: "The Northwest Passage and the North Pole are certainly beautiful, but if you go there next time, please be fully prepared."

Unexpectedly, Franklin laughed and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Hastings, I will not die in vain. With the lesson from last time, the guys in the Admiralty also understand that it will not be so easy to find the Northwest Passage." .If they don't give me a hundred men plus three years' supplies when they organize their next expedition, I won't set off even if they kick me out of the Royal Navy."

Speaking of this, Franklin couldn't help but looked at Fitzroy sympathetically: "Robert, I have a reference, you must stock up enough vegetables and citrus for your global investigation, and you must also plan your route well. When you arrive, you must know what to add. When you ask for money from the Admiralty, don’t be ashamed. If you don’t ask for money and resources now, if something goes wrong in the future, the Admiralty will have no way to stop it. A few oceans to support you."

As soon as Colonel Franklin finished speaking, he heard a lazy voice coming from the door of the lounge: "Want money? Who wants money from the Admiralty?"

Everyone looked back, and standing at the door was a middle-aged gentleman with curly brown hair, a few wrinkles on his forehead, a tuxedo he had taken off, and a rose red waistcoat.

Before Arthur could ask, he suddenly noticed that the corners of the mouths of the three Royal Navy colonels who were relaxed just now twitched slightly. The colonels straightened their backs and saluted the old gentleman uniformly: "Good afternoon, Ke General Crane!"

Afterwards, Colonel Fitzroy hurried forward to take the tuxedo in his hand, and hung it on the coat rack for him, and Franklin and Elliott did not dare to be idle, one of them poured tea for Cochrane, the other Moved the sofa chair for Cochrane.

The quick movements of the three colonels stunned the maids who came in with all kinds of snacks.

They couldn't figure out why the always arrogant Royal Navy captains were tame like a few docile rabbits.

Arthur was also curious about this matter, but it was difficult for him to ask at this time.

Just when he was embarrassed and didn't know what to do, he suddenly felt something pat him on the shoulder from behind.

"Arthur!"

Arthur turned his head and saw that it was Elder with a row of neat teeth and a smile on his face.

Arthur glanced at his empty back, and asked, "Why are you alone? Where are your aunt and sister?"

Elder took out his pipe nonchalantly and lit it. He muttered as he lit the cigarette, "There are two lounges in General Codlington's house, one for men to smoke and one for women to chat. They're going to the women's place." .But you, Arthur, why are you pretending to be a nice guy here if you don't order it for yourself?"

After finishing speaking, he didn't wait for Arthur to reply, so he reached into Arthur's pocket and found a pipe for him and stuffed it into his mouth.

However, before Elder lit the fire, he heard General Kirkland, who was sitting on the sofa chair behind him, speak again.

Kirkland tapped the floor with his cane and called out, "Elder."

"Huh?" Elder walked around Arthur's body and stretched his head to take a look, but he was so surprised that he even dropped his pipe on the ground, and the tobacco leaves were also scattered on the ground: "General Kirkland? When did you come back?" ?”

"Not long after I came back." General Cochrane glanced at him, and the old man tapped his pipe with his fingers: "Light it up for me later."

Elder's face was covered with sweat, and he replied with a sneer: "Wait a minute, I'll be right there."

He hurriedly took out the matchbox in his pocket and walked forward, but he turned over and over again, only to find that there was not even a match left in it.

Elder only felt that his heart was in his throat, and he replied tremblingly: "Report! I'm out of matches!"

Hearing this, Kirkland took out a shilling from his pocket and flicked it into his palm: "Hurry up and buy it."

Elder stood at attention and saluted. Arthur had never seen this kid show such a serious expression in his life: "Obey!"

Elder hurriedly pulled Arthur out of the lounge, and not long after, he heard a burst of laughter coming from inside.

Elder turned his head and stared at the lounge fiercely, cursing dirtyly: "Damn it! These old bastards are so fucking unlucky today!"

Arthur asked: "What is the origin of that General Kirkland?"

Elder frowned and cursed in a low voice: "Arthur, haven't you heard of the name 'Crazy Kirkland'?"

"Is he famous?"

Elder sighed helplessly: "Yes, he may not be that famous in the UK. But if you go to South America, whether you go to Brazil or Chile, the people there will definitely tell you that the most capable navy in South America The Admiral, and at the same time the first Naval Commander of both countries, was General Thomas Cochrane."

Arthur was puzzled: "Isn't he the general of the Royal Navy? How did he become the naval commander of Brazil and Chile again?"

Elder replied angrily: "Because he committed a crime in the country, someone accused him of manipulating stock transactions to make huge profits, so he was removed from the House of Commons and the Ministry of the Navy. As a result, this guy was so angry that he ran to the South American Gang Chile defeated the Spanish navy, and later went to Brazil to help them defeat the Portuguese fleet.

The independence of Chile and Brazil from the suzerain is inseparable from Kirkland. The navies of the two countries still use English to give orders. "

Arthur was even more confused when he heard this: "Doesn't General Kirkland sound quite capable? Why do you call him a lunatic?"

Elder stared and said: "If he is not crazy, no one is crazy. Regardless of the fact that he turned the table in the United Kingdom and the Admiralty.

After this guy arrived in Chile, he helped Chile capture Valdivia and captured the Spanish Navy's strongest battleship in South America, the Esmeralda. He was awarded the Chilean Medal of Value, which represents Chile's highest honor. It was a good day, but he was not satisfied, and it was not long after Chile became independent that he broke up with the Chilean consul O'Higgins.

After the quarrel, he went to Brazil again, led the Brazilian navy to defeat Portugal's South American fleet and expeditionary fleet, became the commander of the Brazilian navy, and was named a marquis because of his military exploits.But not long after, he fell out with the Brazilian Emperor Pedro I again, and led his fleet to snatch all the Brazilian merchant ships near St. Louis.The Brazilian Navy sent ships to fight him, but he towed a frigate away.

Kirkland couldn't get along in South America, so he begged for nothing and wanted to go back to Britain.At that time, the Greek War of Independence happened, and it was not easy for us to declare direct intervention, so the Admiralty saw that he was so good at fighting, so he pinched his nose and sent him to Greece, asking him to help the newly independent Greece train the navy Defend against Ottoman invasion.

This time he did it in a satisfactory manner and did not cause any trouble.Therefore, after the end of the Greek War of Independence, the Admiralty restored his rank of rear admiral of the Royal Navy for the sake of his past achievements in the Napoleonic Wars.But looking back, if he was honest and didn't cause trouble, he might have touched the admiral's side by now.

Listen to his resume and his bad temper, who else is a lunatic if he is not a lunatic? "

Elder's bitter water had just been poured, and before he could catch his breath, he saw an old man swaying slowly forward with a cane.

As soon as he saw the other person's face clearly, he couldn't help but slapped himself on the face: "Damn it, I take back what I just said, and I want to talk about the lunatics in the Admiralty, this and General Kirkland Pretty much. General Codrington is hiring some goddamned people today?"

(End of this chapter)