Shadow of great britain

At this time, the lounge was already much busier than when Arthur first arrived.

While the invited gentlemen and ladies were chatting in the lounge with champagne glasses, Arthur was busy in the courtyard debugging the Faraday cage and hand-cranked generator that had just arrived from the Royal Society.

Arthur turned the hand-operated generator, raised the discharge rod and pointed it at the Faraday cage. Not long after, he saw an arc as thick as an iron wire formed between the iron cage and the discharge rod.

When Arthur finished debugging and raised his hand to wipe his sweat, he found that three generals had come behind him.

Needless to say, these three were Major General Thomas Cochran, Lieutenant General Edward Codrington and General Sidney Smith.

General Smith held his chin, looked at the discharge pole, and muttered: "It's interesting."

Codrington held the red wine glass and said with a smile: "General Smith, I'm not lying to you. Mr. Hastings is currently the second-most electromagnetic researcher after Michael Faraday. Look at this guy who can discharge arcs." The pole, can ordinary people make it?"

When Cochrane heard the name Faraday, he trembled first, then frowned and asked in Codrington's ear: "This Hastings's temper is not as violent as Faraday's, right? I'll go up. I mentioned to him once about using chlorine gas to kill enemies, and he was kicked out of the laboratory angrily..."

This time, before Codrington could answer, Arthur started the conversation. He put down the discharge pole and said, "Mr. Faraday's temper is quite good in most cases. He was angry with you because of the use of chlorine gas." Chemical warfare is indeed inhumane.

Chlorine is far more cruel and destructive than you imagine, and its preparation process is not particularly complicated. If you insist on putting this thing into war, the enemy will soon use it against you. .

If you plan to treat the precious sailors of the Royal Navy as disposable expendables, then you can do so, and soon Britain will have a group of useless people with pulmonary sequelae who will never be able to work again for the rest of their lives.

Moreover, even if you want to gain battlefield advantages through science and technology, there is no need to use chlorine. I think Britain's outstanding scientists can now support the most advanced navy in the world.

These means are only needed when the weak challenge the strong. If one day, the Royal Navy, which can now cope with the attacks of three maritime powers at the same time, declines, I believe that you, who was hailed as the "Sea Wolf" by Napoleon, can still use your excellent tactical abilities to lead us to defeat powerful enemies again. "

Cochran was about to get angry, but after hearing what Arthur said, he suddenly lost his temper.

He patted Arthur on the shoulder while holding the wine glass, and said with a smile to the other two generals: "Look, look! Scientists are better than those brainless people in the Admiralty! Young man, if you are in Paris, The person in charge of the supreme command in the Battle of Skok Waterway was not Gambier but you, so we can definitely win."

Sidney Smith also nodded slightly: "It seems that Mr. Hastings is easier to get along with than Faraday. When Elder said you were a policeman, I thought you were not good at it. It seems that there are also people in Scotland Yard. Not all of them are bad people, but occasionally there are a few decent ones."

When Arthur heard this, he just smiled and replied: "Yes, at this point, Scotland Yard is like the Royal Navy."

General Cochran laughed when he heard this. He raised his eyebrows and replied humorously: "Parliament actually has the same truth."

Codrington laughed loudly when he heard this. He handed one of the two glasses of wine in his hand to Arthur. He pointed at Corcoran, who was currently serving as a member of the House of Commons, and then pointed at Arthur, Smith and himself, and spoke. asked.

"So now, the best of Scotland Yard, the Royal Navy and Parliament are all here?"

General Smith raised his glass and clinked it with everyone: "Come on, let's have a drink and wish all the damn Scotland Yard, the Royal Navy and those sons of bitches in Parliament good luck!"

Only the sound of clinking wine glasses was heard, and the four of them raised their glasses and drank it all in one gulp.

General Smith finished the wine and couldn't help but savor the aftertaste in his mouth: "It tastes good, but this Hawker wine is strong enough!"

Cochran put down his wine glass with great interest and picked up the hand-cranked generator and discharge pole that Arthur had put down. While turning the generator to discharge, he asked: "Mr. Hastings, you say, is there a kind of The possibility...is that we can apply this thing to the battlefield? That is, we let each soldier carry a generator like this and use the discharge pole to release lightning towards the enemy while advancing."

Arthur thought about the scene described by Cochran. He always felt as if he had seen it somewhere before. He was silent for a long time, and suddenly seemed to think of something. He asked tentatively: "Magnetic...magnetic explosion" infantry?"

When Cochran heard this, he pointed at Arthur with great joy and said: "Yes, yes! I read it in the Proceedings of the Royal Society before. The principle of the hand-operated generator is magnetism to generate electricity. There seems to be no problem in calling the magnetic explosion infantry. Moreover, , you actually came up with the name so quickly, does it seem like my idea is feasible?"

Seeing Cochran's excited look, Arthur couldn't help but sway his interest. He could only remind him tactfully: "Although at present, I think the power output of the hand-cranked generator is not enough. It was held up to serve as a weapon, and given the varying physical abilities of soldiers, not everyone had a thick arm to turn the generator.

However, I think you might be able to apply to the Navy Department for experimental research first. For example, you could temporarily try to use it to electrocute fish. Maybe this can solve part of the supply problem of the ocean-going fleet? "

Arthur was just joking, but unexpectedly Cochran thought about it seriously, then nodded and said, "That's right, I'll think about it."

While Arthur was chatting with several generals, Mrs. Codrington, who was waiting in the lounge with white temples and dressed up, ran out unwilling to be alone.

The lady complained: "Edward, the guests are all inside, how can you, the master, come here to hide and relax?"

General Codrington heard this, scratched his bald head, and said with a cheerful smile: "My dear, am I not helping Mr. Hastings prepare for the scientific demonstration? Aren't you ladies from the Blue Stocking Club Have you always wanted to meet this emerging British scientist?”

"Really?" Mrs. Codrington said slightly doubtfully: "Then what exactly did you prepare for Mr. Hastings?"

General Smith boldly put his arm around General Codrington's shoulders. His face was covered with a blush. He was already drunk before the reception even started: "Don't worry, Anna, your Edward certainly knows how to treat you well." As a guest. He has just come to give Mr. Hastings a glass of Hawker to cheer up the young man."

"What? Oh! Oh my God! Edward, could you spare me some trouble?"

Mrs. Codrington lifted up her skirt and walked down the steps with a concerned look. She asked Arthur with concern: "Mr. Hastings, I remember you told me before that this experiment may be dangerous. You should You’re not drunk, are you?”

When Arthur heard this, he said with relief: "Although my drinking capacity is not very good, there is still nothing wrong with a glass of Hawker."

General Codrington also nodded and said: "As I said, drinking a little wine as a young man is nothing. I was still thinking that when I was transferred back to the Navy Headquarters, I would ask Mr. Hastings to be my scientific secretary. If you want to have a good future in the Royal Navy, how can you just know how to fight and not drink?"

After hearing this, Cochran couldn't help but said carelessly: "Yes, if you can drink, you don't need to know how to fight. Look at our Marshal Gambier? No one knows how to bring our former royal family better than him. Lord Admiral and Lord of the Admiralty, His Majesty the King, William IV, is now pleased to drink."

After saying that, he patted Arthur's chest and whispered in his ear: "Young man, it would be okay if you had a relationship with General Sidney Smith a few years ago. He was still on active duty at that time. Where is the admiral? But now, he is an old man hiding from debts. Do you know why he lives in Paris? It is because if he lives in London, he will be sued by the debtor within two days, and then be sued by the debtor. You Scotland Yard policemen are thrown into debtors' prison."

When Arthur heard this, he finally understood why Cochran's reputation spread throughout South America and Britain.

Based on his words, if he hadn't been protected by his father, the Earl of Dundonald, and his two brothers who were serving in the army and navy respectively, it is estimated that when he committed crimes before, he would not have been ordered to retire.

Arthur looked up at the darkening sky and asked politely to Mrs. Codrington: "It's almost time. Why don't you call all the guests out. This kind of large experimental equipment is really not suitable." Move inside and take the first science demonstration of the day outdoors.”

When Mrs. Codrington heard this, she pressed her handkerchief with some worry.

Today was her first salon dinner in several months, especially since she did not expect that Mrs. Cowper, who had always declined her politely, would accept her invitation inexplicably.

As Mrs. Cowper, who stood at the top of London's upper-class social circle, Mrs. Codrington did not want to embarrass herself in front of her today.

After thinking about it, Mrs. Codrington had no choice but to say: "Mr. Hastings, didn't you say that you have a scientific assistant today? You see that you have been drinking. In order to prevent accidents, why not let the scientific assistant do some work?" It’s a dangerous thing, just do it in a safe way.”

After hearing this, Arthur did not object. He nodded slightly and said, "That's okay. Please tell Mr. Elder Carter that Arthur Hastings needs him to get into the cage immediately."

"Get into the cage?" Mrs. Codrington was stunned when she heard this: "Oh God! I thought your cage was for monkeys. Are you sure you really want Mr. Carter to get into it for the sake of science?"

When Arthur heard this, he had to correct him: "Madam, you can't say that. In my opinion, the contribution of monkeys to science is far beyond what Mr. Carter can match."