shadow of britain

Chapter 164 Elder's Retribution (4K4)

Arthur and Elder walked down the street smoking cigarettes and chatting about the past experiences of today's banquet visitors.

It didn't take long for Arthur to clean up the past experiences of the guests from Elder's mouth.

Among the three lower-ranking colonels, Sir George Elliott was the next in command. His father was Gilbert Elliott, Earl of Minto, who had served as Governor of India.

Relying on this strong family background, Sir Elliott's naval career progressed smoothly. He had just joined the Royal Navy, and he followed Thomas Frey and Hyde Baga, two famous Royal Navy admirals, on the first-class battleship St. Served on HMS George.

And just after being promoted to captain, he was assigned to the USS San Jose and became the second officer of Charles Pole, who was just promoted to Admiral of the Royal Navy in July this year.

Later, Sir Elliot became a subordinate of Horatio Nelson, the soul of the Royal Navy, and followed him to participate in the Copenhagen Raid and the Battle of the Nile Estuary.

With these exploits, Sir Elliot was quickly promoted to the Maidstone, and participated in the blockade of Toulon and Cadiz.

After that, he was transferred to the East Indies by the Admiralty, captured the French frigate Jena in the Bay of Bengal, and participated in the invasion of Java and the restoration of the Sultan of Palembang.

It is precisely because of his outstanding performance that Sir Elliott was transferred back to the mainland by the Admiralty three years ago, and was promoted to the captain of the first-class battleship 'HMS Victory' which is of special significance to the Royal Navy.Not long ago, the newly enthroned King William IV awarded him the honor of the King's Navy Attaché.

It can be said that Sir Elliott will continue to follow this proud momentum, and his promotion to admiral in the future is almost a certainty.

As the "Victory" is the flagship of the commander of the Portsmouth Naval Base, General Codrington, who may take over the post of commander in the future, must also want to establish a good relationship with this subordinate who is in his prime and has a bright future.

The relationship between Franklin and General Codlington is even clearer.

During the Battle of Trafalgar, Colonel Franklin was serving as an intern on the 74-gun third-class battleship Bellerophon, while General Codrington was the commander of the Third Squadron. It's an old acquaintance.

And speaking of the Bellerophon, its captain at the time was Colonel John Cook. Perhaps John Cook was not well-known, but if his grandfather James Cook was mentioned, he could be regarded as a captain in Britain. household name.

Because James Cook, commissioned by the Admiralty and the Royal Society, explored the Pacific Ocean three times and successfully discovered Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and other regions. In addition, he also discovered a way to prevent scurvy by improving his diet.

But just like the fate of explorers, James Cook eventually died on the way to find the Northwest Passage.

In the Battle of Trafalgar, Colonel John Cook suffered the same misfortune as his grandfather. He became the priority target of the French sailors because of his officer's clothing, and was pierced by a bullet in the chest.

When his subordinates asked him to take off his officer's uniform and epaulets, he just said, 'It's too late to take them off.I understand where I'm at but I'm gonna die like a man' and then close my eyes.

But what is interesting is that although John Cook died on the Bellerophon, the spirit of adventure of the Cook family was preserved by the sailors and officers who served on this ship.

The Bellerophon not only contributed to Britain such an outstanding explorer as Colonel John Franklin, who was committed to finding the Northwest Passage, but also contributed to Colonel Matthew Flinders, the guy who completed the first voyage around Australia and drew a detailed map of Australia .

What's more interesting is that the sailors of the Bellerophon also took on the task of exiling Napoleon, the first French prisoner, to St. Helena nine years after the end of the Trafalgar naval battle. This can be regarded as revenge for its old commander John Cook.

When Arthur had a basic understanding of the experience of the three colonels, he immediately understood the reason why General Codrington invited them to the banquet.

That is, these three colonels are not only acquainted with General Codrington, they are also very interested in scientific research. Fitzroy and Franklin are expedition captains appointed by the Royal Navy, and Elliott participated in that expedition. The high-tech battle of Copenhagen.

Regarding the battle of Copenhagen, it is actually simple to say.

All in all, it was to prevent the vacillating Denmark from falling to Napoleon and hand over their sea power to the French.

Therefore, after internal discussions, the British Foreign Office believes that if Denmark's loyalty to the UK is not absolute, it is tantamount to absolute disloyalty.

Therefore, after Denmark once again refused to hand over its fleet to the UK, the Foreign Ministry immediately issued an order to declare war, and the Foreign Minister Sir George Canning ordered the Baltic Fleet to fundamentally destroy the Danish Navy immediately by means of thunder.

As for how to fundamentally destroy the Danish Navy, which is shrunk in the port to avoid war, there are many disputes within the Admiralty. Engage in suicide attacks.

Of course, after careful consideration of General Kirkland's enthusiastic suggestion, the Admiralty only replied with the sentence "agreed in principle".

General Sidney Smith, on the other hand, was much more stable. He suggested from a strategic position that the Admiralty might as well try the Congreve rocket. He had used that thing and it worked very well.

Therefore, under the strong Amway of General Smith, the Admiralty approved 25000 Congreve rockets for the Copenhagen Expeditionary Fleet led by Hyde Baga and Horatio Nelson.

If you don't try it, you won't know, and if you try it, you will be shocked.Naval first experience with Congreve rockets works great!

The shore artillery in Copenhagen could only stare at the British warships standing outside their range of fire and rain. This new type of rocket with a range of two to three kilometers suddenly turned Copenhagen into a fiery hell.

Since then, this rocket has become one of the conventional weapons of the Royal Navy.

And from this incident, we can also see what kind of military science madmen Thomas Cochran and Sidney Smith, the two general guests today, are.

In addition to Congreve rockets and dynamite suicide boats, the innovative proposals put forward by the two generals to the Admiralty include but are not limited to:

Research and develop torpedoes and mines that are still under conception to destroy the French Toulon fleet,

Promoting the large-scale popularization of steamships in the Royal Navy at full speed,
I found Faraday and asked if chlorine gas could be used in combat, but was scolded by Mr. Faraday, and finally had to leave angrily.

Sponsor Robert Fulton, the inventor of the submarine, and try to use a submarine to reach Paris along the Seine River. The French fleet can’t retreat, so we will go in by ourselves. go to the buttocks,
Of course, most of these suggestions they made to the Admiralty, except for the Congreve rockets, were not adopted.

This is not entirely because their suggestions are unreasonable, but that these two guys are basically disgusting in the military and political circles. If they were not really capable of winning the battle, they would have been thrown out of the Royal Navy long ago.

And the facts have also verified this point. Both Sidney Smith and Thomas Cochrane were ordered to retire by the Admiralty. Compared with them, even Codrington, who was sitting on the bench in the Channel Fleet, is considered I have won the trust.

Perhaps it is precisely because of this that Codrington, the vice admiral who made a 'little mistake', brought the two of them together to keep warm?

Arthur was thinking about these things, but when he came back to his senses, he found that he and Elder had circled back to Codrington's mansion.

At this time, an elegant and plain white carriage was parked outside the black iron carved gate of the mansion.

As soon as the carriage came to a complete stop, the servant sitting on the co-pilot seat hurriedly took out the small wooden stool beside the carriage and placed it beside the carriage. Immediately afterwards, he saw the carriage door open, and a black gauze glove protruded from it. Hand with pigeon blood ruby ​​ring.

Immediately afterwards, what caught the eye was an indigo gold-trimmed long dress that wasn't particularly wide, but had a perfect ratio of two to one, highlighting the curves of the buttocks and revealing the fair skin on the back. On top of her head was a lavender skirt. Wide-brimmed hat decorated with Barfleet's ribbon and three white feathers.

However, Arthur's first reaction when he saw this scene was to quickly tell Elder beside him, and he lowered his voice, "Calm down."

But this time, he obviously underestimated Elder's self-control.

Although just standing next to him, you can feel the hot and dry air like the heat wave in the Sahara Desert, but even so, Elder still did not forget to salute. He bowed slightly.

"Good evening, Mrs. Cowper. I didn't expect you to be today's guest. I really don't know what an honor it is to be in the same room with you."

Mrs Cowper?

Arthur quickly caught the key words.

This lady, he remembered, seemed to be one of the seven patronesses of the Almark Club.

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Cowper turned her head to look at Elder, as if a little surprised, but soon, she adjusted her expression. She put her hand on the brim of her hat and nodded slightly: "Good evening, Mr. Carter."

Elder was fine at first, but when he heard this, he couldn't maintain his emotions: "You...do you still remember me? I thought that someone like me who only met you once would be killed You quickly forget."

Mrs. Cowper smiled and said: "Mr. Carter, don't you know? Women's memory is always better than men's, especially remembering each other's appearance and name, and I am the best among women in this regard. Not to mention, When we first met, you left a very deep memory on me, and I will never forget you."

"I...I...you...uh..." Elder's face was flushed, and his head with his hat off was full of water vapor.

Seeing this, Arthur quickly reminded in a low voice: "Elder, calm down! Damn it, you fucking, if you let others see you like this, they will definitely think that you were the locomotive that hit and killed Mr. Huskisson!"

Seeing this scene, the Red Devil couldn't help fanning the flames: "Arthur, the train is about to derail, step on his brakes!"

When Arthur heard this, he stepped on Elder's shoe in a hurry and calmly. Elder was in pain for a while. With several consecutive deep breaths, he finally recovered his language organization ability.

"Ma'am, I... uh, I don't know if you can remind me, when we first met, which aspect of me made a deep impression on you? Although I am usually quite confident, I remember that day It seems that I was just introduced to you by someone, and simply greeted you."

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Cowper gently covered her gorgeous red lips with her pair of black gauze gloves: "Mr. Carter, that was not the first time I saw you."

"Ah?" Elder was a little confused: "Could it be... Isn't it the first time we met last time?"

"Of course not." Mrs. Cowper denied it. "When I first saw you, you were still a baby. Your mother asked me to hug you and told me that I would have such a day sooner or later. I would have I also want to experience the feeling of being a mother in advance, but I didn't expect that you, a little thing, urinated directly in my arms, and even stained my new skirt."

When Elder heard this, it felt like God had poured cold water on his head.

He took a deep breath, blushed and couldn't say a word for a long time: "I...you..."

Seeing this, Arthur quickly took off his hat, and said for him: "Madam, I think you should go in first, Mrs. Codrington and the others are waiting for you inside."

When Mrs. Cowper heard this, she just blinked at Elder, and said playfully, "Mr. Carter, don't worry, I know you didn't mean it that time. I promise, I will keep this secret in my heart, absolutely It will not affect your social reputation by saying it in front of the ladies."

Hearing this, Elder breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the sweat from his brow, and bowed slightly: "Thank God, thank you for your kindness, you are really an angel sent by God to rescue me."

Mrs. Cowper pursed her lips slightly, and said goodbye: "Mr. Carter, there are many angels tonight, but it's up to you whether you can grasp them. Your mother and aunt complained to me before, saying You've only been in the Royal Navy for half a year, and you've picked up bad habits. If you really want to find a suitable mate, you'd better change your oral habit."

When Elder heard this, his face, which was as red as an apple just now, suddenly turned pale.

He watched Mrs. Cowper enter the mansion with the help of the servant, and the way he looked at her had completely changed.

Elder muttered and scolded: "Damn it! Why does my mother talk about everything! How can I mess around in London in the future if she talks about my old self like this?"

After speaking, Elder felt that something was wrong all over his body. He took out his pocket, thinking about smoking some cigarettes to relieve boredom, but after digging for a long time, his face suddenly changed, and he cursed: "Fuck!"

Arthur turned to look at him: "What's wrong?"

Elder widened his eyes and said, "I lost my wallet!"

"Huh? Isn't it?" Arthur hurriedly touched his pocket after hearing that.

Fortunately, his wallet was still there, but at the same time, he also touched a small note.

A line of words was crookedly written on the small note - those who give me a gift, I wish you avoid bad luck, those who don't give a penny, there will be retribution.

When Arthur saw this, he understood who had Elder's wallet.

He said helplessly: "Elder, tell me about you, if you don't want people to give you change, you probably won't have so many things to do."

Elder's small face turned pale: "I...Damn! Losing money is secondary, the key...the key is that I have the ration receipt for the next sea training in my wallet! If I don't have that thing, Fei Colonel Zroy probably skinned me, and the brothers on the ship probably threw me into the sea. Arthur, Arthur! Aren’t you a policeman? You must find a way to find that thing for me. return!"

Hearing this, Arthur couldn't help but patted his chest with the back of his hand: "Elder, tell me about you... well, that's all, let's go in first, and I'll figure out a way for you later on looking for the wallet. .”

　The progress of the recent plot is indeed a bit slow, but it is impossible not to introduce some things, because it is British history after all, and the relationship between the characters in the story is also relatively complicated in real history. Readers and friends should also have many unfamiliar places. It's not easy to expand.I'll try my best these days to get over this wave, otherwise not only will you be uncomfortable looking at it, but my information check will also be numb.This chapter is four thousand, and there should be at least one chapter of four thousand later tonight. If you don't feel sleepy after finishing writing, there will be another chapter.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)