Shadow of great britain

"Arthur? Is it really you?"

Elder looked at Arthur blankly, 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, you want the list of merchant ships that have left London for North America and France in the past few weeks. I spent a lot of money. It took a lot of effort to sort it out.”

Arthur originally just wanted to take a boat out to sea, but unexpectedly he got an unexpected surprise from Elder.

He quickly glanced at the list of merchant ships and turned the document handwritten by Elder to yesterday's departure queue.

Although there are many merchant ships leaving London every day, only one that can meet the time and route is one that left the port at 10:30 last night. The route is London, UK - Calais, France - Saint-Domingue, West Indies - Boston, USA. 'Blackthorn' number.

Arthur quickly looked at the time on his watch. It was 4:55 in the morning, nearly six and a half hours had passed since Fred set out.

He quickly asked: "How long does it take for an ordinary merchant ship to leave the port 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 to Dover, and finally passes through the Strait of Dover. Taking into account the recent monsoon factors , 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 him with excitement: "This is the right person to ask! Since the Beagle has been renovated, now if it is full sail and full wind, it can be the fastest Reaching a speed of 12 knots. If we go to Calais, it only takes us half a day to arrive."

Hearing this, Arthur couldn't care less. He dragged Elder by his collar and dragged him along the cockpit to the ship.

His sudden movement shocked Elder and shouted: "Arthur, are you crazy? What are you doing?"

"There is no time to explain so much. Is Colonel Fitzroy here? I must see him immediately!"

"What's wrong? You don't want to work at Scotland Yard anymore? But hasn't Colonel Fitzroy already rejected you? The naturalist now has Charles. If it doesn't work, I'm asking you, we still need a repairman on the ship. Maintaining instruments."

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

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

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

Fitzroy said blankly: "What's wrong? 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 the army. I have just received intelligence that a merchant ship carrying members who have committed treason is sailing to France. We have been ordered by the superiors to stop the ship at all costs.

But the dispatching of ships takes time, so I remembered that Elder needed to go out to sea for sea training today, so I came to the dock to try my luck. Unexpectedly, I actually ran into it. Please order the sea training plan to be changed to pursue the merchant ship 'Black Thorn' as soon as possible. "

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

Arthur shook his head and said: "Because the incident happened suddenly, the admiralty transfer order is still being applied for."

When Fitzroy heard this, he couldn't help but shook his head and said: "Sorry, I have no authority to change the training plan without a written document from the Navy Department. 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. Even other fleet commanders have no right to dispatch us. "

When Arthur heard this, his heart sank, just as he was thinking of ways to avoid Fitzroy.

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

When Fitzroy was reminded like this, he remembered Arthur's unfathomable rich background.

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

Although he strongly denied that he was related to the Marquis of Hastings by blood, Colonel Fitzroy would not believe it.

Besides, how could the family background of someone who could be friends with Elder be so different?

Colonel Fitzroy couldn't help but take a breath when he thought of this.

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

Moreover, if what the young man said is true, and the Beagle did not obey the order.

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

If he is looked down upon by Admiral Hardy, who controls the life and death of Royal Navy officers, he may never have the chance to be promoted to a general officer in his life.

In addition, he will offend a large number of members of the Marquis of Hastings family.

Moreover, a bunch of departments involved in this matter might also hold grudges against him.

But if he listened to this young man...

Even if the young man named Arthur was telling lies, it was actually no big deal. It was just a temporary change of course for the sea training project.

As long as no one exposes this matter and the Admiralty Headquarters doesn't know about it, then everyone should do whatever they want, and everything will be happy.

Moreover, even if someone told this matter, the Admiralty would at most charge him with bringing people on board without permission, which would amount to a fine of one month's salary.

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

Judging from Admiral Hardy's reaction to the last special order that Arthur was not allowed to board the ship, the Marquis of Hastings and Admiral Hardy should have a close relationship.

In this case, if he took the blame for the incompetent young master of the Hastings family, why shouldn't Mr. Marquis help him put in a good word in front of Admiral Hardy?

It was a good thing that Colonel Fitzroy didn't think about it. After thinking about it this way, he immediately felt that his thoughts were clear and even his breathing became much smoother.

To tell the truth, this is 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 was simply a gift that fell from the sky and was guaranteed to make money!

Mr. Colonel couldn't help but puff up his chest, and even his face was filled with a confident smile.

What does it mean to use a Royal Navy ship to make your own arrangements?

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

"Everyone listens to the order, immediately stops carrying supplies, raises anchor and sets sail! Following the order of the Navy Department, the Beagle temporarily changed its sailing plan and attacked the merchant ship 'Black Thorn' at full speed!"