shadow of britain

Chapter 625 Good news comes frequently
In the embassy office, Arthur was sitting cross-legged, warming himself by the fire, drinking tea and reading freshly-published copies of the Moscow Telegraph, Rossiyskaya Gazeta and other mainstream Russian newspapers.

Perhaps it is because Russians are naturally more irritable than British people, so even the content of newspapers can be seen to be significantly different.

There isn't much of the roundabout, sarcastic tone of The Times, but it's straightforward and aggressive throughout.

"A madman's defense? A traitor to a nation! A sick follower of the West!"

——Recently, the Russian literary world has received a good news and a bad news. The good news is that Pushkin's new work "The Bronze Horseman" is as high-quality as ever. The bad news is that Peter Yakovlevich Chaadayev, a national ideological parasite, a cultural traitor, and a loyal bastard of the French, published a defamatory work entitled "A Madman's Defense".

——His speech is full of extreme contempt for the motherland and national culture, and he has completely lost the dignity and responsibility that a Russian should have. He not only baselessly belittled our great history, but also tried to impose the corrupt ideas of the West on us, tearing the connection between Russia and its profound cultural traditions. Chaadayev is the poisonous snake lurking in the blood of our nation, intending to corrode our souls and destroy the foundation of our great culture.

——This person even shamelessly claimed in his works: I love my country more than any of them (Slavophiles), I hope it will be glorious, I also know how to evaluate the noble qualities of my people, how to emphasize and preserve the characteristics of my country. But I have not learned to love our motherland with my eyes closed, my head lowered, and my mouth shut. I believe that only when a person can see his country soberly can he contribute to it. I think the era of blind love is over, and now the first thing we have to do is to bring the truth to the motherland. I want to love my motherland as Peter the Great taught me.

——It is true that Westernization reforms were carried out during Peter the Great's reign. However, Peter the Great's reforms were not blindly following the West, but selectively absorbing Western technology and ideas based on Russia's actual needs. Reforms were not a simple transplantation of Western civilization, but a strategic choice to ensure the survival and prosperity of the country. While learning from Western experience, Peter the Great always maintained the foundation of Russian culture and traditions, rather than completely abandoning the characteristics of his country.

——However, Chaadayev turned black into white and used clever rhetoric to claim that Russia's history was a "hopeless road" and preached a prospect of decline. However, who can believe that a truly rational philosopher would portray his country as so poor and decadent? His thinking pattern is extremely morbid and full of extreme negation of Russia. He denies our history, our culture, and even the future of our nation. This ignorance and despair just exposes his mental morbidity.

——If there is anything good about his article, it is that his title is right, "A Madman's Defense", which is the best title to describe him. Chaadayev, a clown without patriotism! An Englishman or a Frenchman in Russian skin, or a hybrid of the two! A guy who can't even see the true value of his own country dares to accuse our great empire!

Arthur read the newspaper very seriously, and from time to time he would take out a pen to circle a few swear words and copy them into the notebook he carried with him.

After finishing a page, Arthur would stop writing, stand up, pick up his notebook and repeat it several times in the office to deepen his memory.

Although he learned a few swear words from the country folk and the garrison troops when he was in Druisk, the vocabulary of the farmers and soldiers was not enough for them to curse as ornately as the literati in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Secretary Blackwell, holding a pile of documents, pushed the door open hastily, and was met head-on by Arthur who was practicing disguising himself as a Russian cultural hooligan.

Anyone would be stunned if they were suddenly scolded by their boss.

Blackwell hastened to apologize: "Sorry, sir, I forgot to knock."

Arthur took out a handkerchief and wiped the saliva that splashed all over his mouth due to too much tongue flicking, and calmly comforted him: "Don't be nervous, Henry, I'm not attacking you, I'm learning Russian."

The secretary was relieved. He put the file on the desk and said, "Learning Russian starts with swearing? That's a good idea. I don't often praise people, but, Sir, you did swear in a very advanced way today."

Arthur fished out a brand new snuff bottle from his pocket, threw it to the secretary, and motioned for him to take a couple of puffs.

This was the social skill he learned from others after coming to Russia.

In Russia, if a distinguished guest is encountered, the host will usually share his snuff bottle with him as a token of hospitality.

It’s a pity that there were no cigarettes at that time, otherwise, sharing cigarettes would be much more convenient and hygienic than sharing snuff bottles.

Arthur picked up a document and asked as he flipped it open: "What is this?"

Blackwell took a puff of snuff. "Foreign Office report, forwarded from the Embassy in Lisbon."

"Lisbon?" Arthur heard the location and immediately thought of General Charles Napier, whom he had met once in Liverpool. "Is the Portuguese civil war over?"

This brave general, who was considered an eccentric in the Royal Navy like Thomas Cochrane and Sidney Smith, has made many outstanding achievements since being sent to Portugal by the Foreign Office.

When Napier arrived in Portugal, the Azores were the only stronghold left for the Portuguese liberals who supported the young Queen Maria II.

As soon as Napier arrived in the Azores, the liberal leader Count Villaflor immediately handed over the command of the remaining naval ships to Napier without any hesitation.

At this time, the troops led by the Queen's father, Emperor Pedro of Brazil, were being surrounded by the authoritarian army led by his brother, the usurper Prince Miguel.

In order to help him out, the skilled and courageous Napier ignored the blockade of the authoritarian navy and led the only remaining small fleet to transport the liberal army safely to the Algarve region in southern Portugal, successfully opening up a second battlefield.

While he was leading his fleet back to the Azores, he was caught by the authoritarian navy who came after hearing the news. At that time, Napier had 6 ships, including 3 frigates, 1 light frigate, 1 schooner for reconnaissance and 1 small sailing ship mainly for support, equipped with a total of 176 artillery pieces.

而专制派的舰队几乎可以说是精华尽出，4艘战列舰、1艘护卫舰、1艘齐贝克船、3艘轻型护卫舰和1艘双桅帆船，共计372门火炮。

Since the two sides were completely out of proportion in terms of numbers and firepower, Napier had to take advantage of the strong maneuverability of his ships and lead the Despotic Fleet on the sea for two days. After two days of maneuvering, Napier's fleet successfully arranged its formation under very favorable conditions.

As the firepower of the two sides was too different, Napier knew that in order to win, he could only take advantage of the fact that most of the sailors in the Liberal Fleet were retired British sailors and capture enemy ships through close combat.

On July 1833, 7, the wind at sea finally changed. Napier immediately ordered the fleet to turn around, with the rear fleet becoming the front fleet and sailing forward with full sails to stab the despotic faction in the ass!
After several hours of fierce fighting, Napier finally killed and wounded more than 30 despots at the cost of three captains and more than 60 sailors killed and more than 300 injured, and successfully captured four battleships, a frigate and a light frigate. Seeing that the situation was not good, the remaining despots had to flee to Lisbon and Madeira Island.

Such an astonishing result made the French government, which had just announced its support for the Portuguese despotism, very angry and lodged a solemn protest to the British government.

But Napier's victory made King William IV of England very unhappy. The sailor king had a feud with Napier during his service in the Royal Navy. So in order to prevent the French from finding an excuse for Britain to intervene in the Portuguese Civil War, and also to appease the king and take care of his little emotions, the Admiralty simply removed Napier from the list of officers of the Royal Navy.

However, although he was expelled from the list, nowadays, whenever you mention Napier's name within the Royal Navy, people will give him a thumbs up.

Newspapers such as The Times did not even bother to put on an act; the major newspapers on Fleet Street directly promoted Napier's achievements in Portugal as the glory of the Royal Navy.

Napier's position in the Portuguese liberals became more and more stable. After the victory of the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, Napier was awarded the title of Admiral of Portugal and Commander of the Portuguese Navy. In September of the following year, Napier commanded the Liberal Army to successfully defend Lisbon, and was awarded the highest military honor of Portugal, the Tower and Sword Medal, and was named Earl of Cape St. Vincent.

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This is almost like a tradition of the Royal Navy. Naval officers who are unpopular at home because of their strange temper go abroad to make use of their remaining energy, and accidentally become naval commanders of other countries.

Napier was the commander of the Portuguese navy, Thomas Cochrane was the commander of the navies of Chile, Peru and Brazil, and Sidney Smith was the commander of the Swedish navy. In addition, there are many naval officers who did not become naval commanders but served as fleet commanders and captains in foreign navies, such as George Thomson and Henry Purvis, who commanded the navies of Colombia and Chile during the Latin American War of Independence.

Although Elder has repeatedly complained that the Admiralty is unreliable and corrupt, at least as things stand now, the officers of the Royal Navy, as the kings of naval warfare in the 19th century, can still be regarded as of high quality and fair in the international labor market.

Moreover, these people are not only capable of naval warfare, but if you are willing to pay more, they can also fight a little land warfare. Look at Napier, didn't he just defend Lisbon?

Arthur was looking through Portugal's detailed combat documents while listening to his secretary's report.

"Although the Portuguese Civil War has not yet completely ended, it is basically over. The absolutist navy has been in a state of collapse since the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, and their army is also losing ground. In order to support his daughter, Brazilian Emperor Pedro has increased his aid to the Portuguese liberals. The Lisbon Embassy reported that General Napier is currently recruiting retired Royal Navy sailors on the Iberian Peninsula. Based on the recent movements of the liberal army, the Lisbon Embassy speculates that the liberals are likely to launch an offensive against Minho and the area south of the Douro River in the near future. If they succeed in this area, the Portuguese Civil War will be completely over."

"Hmm..." Arthur pinched his chin. "It seems that General Napier has been very successful recently! Although the earl of Portugal is not as valuable as the earl of Britain, he can basically be regarded as the number one figure in the Portuguese navy. This is much better than staying in the Admiralty and being bullied."

"Who says it's not true?" Blackwell said with a smile, "If I were him, I wouldn't come back. Everyone knows that His Majesty the King doesn't like him, and Emperor Pedro of Brazil now uses him as his most trusted minister. The little queen is not yet an adult, and everything is controlled by her father. If General Napier continues to stay in Portugal, not to mention the earldom, he may even be granted the title of Duke and Prime Minister in Portugal."

Arthur muttered, "Only if he doesn't end up like General Cochrane. If it weren't for his bad temper, Cochrane's status in South American countries would be unimaginable. He was the founding father of Chile, Peru and Brazil, but he was too unruly. Chile's San Martín, Peru's Bolivar and Brazil's Pedro all disliked him. However, this bad temper is almost a common problem among geniuses. Even if you don't like him, you can't do anything about him, after all, you still have to rely on him to fight the war. But once the war is over, they will just pick on one of your faults and send you back to where you came from."

Blackwell pulled out a report from the file. "Sir, look at this. This is the rumor from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It says that the French see that the autocratic faction in Portugal can no longer hold on and seem to be ready to jump to the liberal side. Talleyrand also conveyed a message to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the French seem to be interested in reaching a reconciliation with us through the Portuguese civil war, and by the way, bring Spain and Portugal in to sign an alliance treaty."

"Treaty of Alliance?" Arthur pondered. "A Treaty of Alliance against Prussia, Austria, and Russia?"

Blackwell nodded slightly. "No one said it explicitly, but this is actually the situation. The Russians have been too arrogant in the Caucasus, Central Asia and the Ottoman Empire in recent years, especially the secret agreement they forced the Ottomans to sign, which actually wanted to put the Bosporus under their control. The French have long been uncomfortable with this matter, after all, they have traditional interests in the Mediterranean. As for us, we were in the process of parliamentary reform at home, and then we encountered the Portuguese civil war, so we ignored this matter. Now that Viscount Palmerston has come to his senses, he feels that he has suffered a great loss. And do you know about the incident of Sir David Urquhart, the Consul in Constantinople?"

"David Urquhart?" Arthur recalled the name. "I don't think I know this fellow. Why, has he done something disrespectful to our Foreign Secretary?"

Blackwell told him the news he had learned during this period: "How should I tell you? Sir David Urquhart is a strange man. After graduating from Oxford University, he happened to catch up with the Greek War of Independence. Inspired by Byron, Shelley and others, he went to Athens to join the British Volunteer Army in support of Greek independence. But I don't know what happened in the war. Maybe the Greeks did something disgusting, which made Sir David very disappointed with Greece. Not only did he no longer support Greek independence, but he began to sympathize with the Ottoman Turks, the overlords of Greece, and then he hated the Russians, the mortal enemy of the Ottomans.

After returning from Greece, Sir David joined the Foreign Office and took the initiative to request to be sent to the Near East to perform a series of diplomatic missions. After working in various places in the Near East for several years, he was transferred to the embassy in Constantinople as a first-class secretary, and this year he was promoted to consul. Originally, in the secret agreement signed between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, the clause about the Bosphorus Strait was a secret agreement and was not written on the surface. The Constantinople embassy also went through a lot of trouble to find out from the Ottoman court. After Viscount Palmerston learned about this, he felt that this matter was too embarrassing, so he planned to pretend that he didn't know about it first, and then slowly get back at it later.

But when Sir David found out that Viscount Palmerston had said nothing about the secret agreement, he flew into a rage. Without informing the Foreign Office, he leaked the news directly to The Times, accusing the Foreign Secretary of being a traitor to Britain and a coward who was weak towards Russia. Because of this, all the major newspapers in London are now full of speculation that Viscount Palmerston had accepted bribes from Russia. Viscount Palmerston was so annoyed by this that in order to clarify the news, he demanded that our embassy in Russia must immediately lodge a solemn protest with St. Petersburg. "

At this point, Blackwell's face suddenly became a little strange: "Sir, the ambassador will probably come to inform you of the news this afternoon. You may have to go with Earl Daramore."

(End of this chapter)