The full moon of mid-autumn slowly rises into the night sky, and many people who are busy all day rarely relax. They are accompanied by relatives and friends, eating moon cakes and chatting, so they have no time to relax.
At this moment, it was only noon in the British Isles, thousands of miles away.
A soft wind blows in your face, carrying the moist, salty smell of the sea. Portsmouth is extremely cool at noon in September. The sun shines thousands of rays, but you can hardly feel the heat.
Next to Pier 2 of Weir Island, the huge battleship Longshuo is moored here, and all the officers and soldiers on the ship are entering the cabin to have lunch one after another.
"I always feel like someone is watching in the dark, tsk tsk tsk, I don't know if I'm worrying too much."
On the way to the officers' mess, a staff officer complained about his strange feelings to Lin Xunzhen, who was walking beside him.
The latter replied nonchalantly: "How could the British miss this great opportunity? There must be people they sent to observe and measure from a distance on the hills on the island and the buildings opposite the pier."
"Hey, that's right." The staff officer nodded slightly, "Let them test it. Anyway, in the past two years, almost all the external information that they can see about this ship has been collected."
"That's right, as long as you don't come in." Lin Xunzhen reached out and pulled out his chair after entering the restaurant, "Besides, all the countries participating in the ship review are doing the same thing, so the embassy must be very busy. .”
Not only are they busy with diplomatic affairs, the embassy attachés will naturally not miss this rare opportunity to measure the warships participating in the ship review.
The Longshuo of the Ming Dynasty Navy, the Catherine the Great of the Tsarist Russian Navy, the Luxembourg of the German Navy, and the Moreno of the Argentine Navy were all arranged to be parked at several piers on Will Island. Obviously, the British arranged this. With ulterior motives.
Because of this trip to the UK, the Mid-Autumn Festival can only be spent overseas, so the Longshuo specially refrigerated a batch of selected osmanthus in a huge cold storage before setting sail.
In the past two days, in addition to moon cakes, the osmanthus flowers that had been prepared were used to make osmanthus cakes.
On the side deck, Wu Yuanqin, the right-hand minister of the Ministry of Rites, who came with the ship, stroked his beard and said with a smile: "I see that the officers and men are in a high mood, which is very good. I will elaborate on this one more time. It is related to the face of the country and the country, so we cannot relax."
"You can rest assured that you will never go on a business trip." The captain replied, and several accompanying officers also clasped their fists and saluted.
Afterwards, Wu Yuanqin and Qiao Liang, the young minister of Honglu Temple, disembarked and left.
As the imperial envoys of the Ming Emperor, they were required to directly participate in the coronation ceremony of King George VI and the subsequent ship review.
At the same time, he presented his credentials and gifts.
After arriving in London from Portsmouth, the two imperial envoys arrived at the Ritz Hotel and were immediately led by the waiters to their respective rooms.
Wu Yuanqin lamented: "When I witnessed His Majesty's ascension to the throne, I was only in my twenties and had just entered the official career. Time seems to have passed by in vain. It has been more than thirty years."
"Yes, time is not forgiving." Qiao Liang agreed.
The two of them were silent, and the elevator slowly rose.
After getting out of the elevator, Wu Yuanqin spoke again: "This time, representatives from all countries are gathered together. Let's see how the British behave."
Qiao Liang nodded thoughtfully and said, "It depends on whether you continue to be tough or talk softly."
"How can a British person show weakness?"
"That's not certain. It's not uncommon to have a carrot in one hand and a stick in the other. Besides, maybe the British will understand the situation one day."
"Even if that were the case, they wouldn't take the initiative." Wu Yuanqin knew very well that the British Empire also wanted to save face in many cases.
"If that's the case, that's fine," Qiao Liang smiled, "If they want to be decent, then give them some dignity."
The British are certainly not stupid. It is inevitable that the Ming Dynasty coveted the Nanyang region and devoted themselves to turning it into their back garden.
How could a huge empire tolerate the forces of other countries blocking its doorstep for a long time?
Before this, the British had never given in at all, and had always firmly stated that if the Ming Dynasty invaded and subverted the interests of the British Empire in Asia, then war would be absolutely inevitable.
The Ming Dynasty also tried many times, sending fleets to cruise, sending people to openly collect terrain information, and deliberately instigating overseas Chinese to cause trouble. Naturally, the British side made diplomatic protests again and again.
After so many years of wrestling, the emperors and ministers of the Ming Dynasty have regarded temptation as a routine move. Maybe one day the British will really lower their proud and noble heads?
The coronation ceremony of the King of England was held on the sunny day of October 2nd. The entire atmosphere in London changed accordingly. It was solemn and a bit exciting. Most of the people who left home to visit were also in high spirits. The streets were busy with traffic. , police can be seen everywhere trying their best to maintain order.
The process of the coronation ceremony depends to a certain extent on the historical period and the wishes of the monarch, but it is generally similar, at least the basic process will not change.
British coronation ceremonies from ancient times to the present have basically chosen between Canterbury and Westminster cathedrals.
This time, George VI chose to be crowned in Canterbury Cathedral.
At around 8 a.m., escorted by the Household Cavalry, King George VI and his wife Elizabeth set off from the Tower of London to the Cathedral, passing by Trafalgar Square and Parliament Square.
The coronation ceremony of the monarch was naturally presided over by the archbishop himself. After the 42-year-old George VI slowly sat down on the chair with a history of more than 700 years, the archbishop began to read out the duties and obligations that the king should perform.
Finally, he solemnly asked: "Your Majesty, the king's coronation oath is regarded as the same as the law. Are you willing to take the oath?"
King George VI, who looked solemn, nodded and said: "I am willing to take the oath."
"Do you govern with respect for the customs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and other territories?"
"I will."
The archbishop then took the oath, and George VI signed his name with a pen.
At this point, the coronation oath officially came into effect. The archbishop slowly glanced at everyone present, and then motioned for everyone to consecrate.
Trumpets and music sounded, and all the British and Commonwealth representatives in the cathedral shouted "God save the king."
Then, the orb symbolizing religious authority, the scepter representing the monarch's power, and the golden dove rod symbolizing justice were all awarded to George VI. Finally, the archbishop placed a gold St. Edward's crown made in the seventeenth century on the king's head.
After moving to the throne aside, all the royal members present knelt down to pay tribute.
After the coronation ceremony of Queen Elizabeth, the king and queen took the famous golden carriage for a parade, and then returned to Buckingham Palace.
The royal guards wearing tall bearskin hats, bright red tops and black trousers always attract people's attention. In this age before the Internet, seeing the costumes of these guards for the first time naturally makes people more curious.
"It's just about showing off your martial arts skills. This kind of bearskin high hat is a favorite of the French. They even stipulate the height of the hats for different military units and add many fancy accessories." Qiao Liang explained to Wu Yuanqin: "Waterloo After the war, British guards also switched to this kind of hat, saying it was to commemorate the hard-won victory."
The latter thought for a while and commented: "This outfit is much lighter than that of the Han general."
"You don't want to wear armor now, do you? I haven't seen him for several times."
"It depends on the day and the location. At least those at Xi'an Gate and Chengtian Gate are all wearing armor."
Wearing armor and holding an ax or a pumpkin hammer, weighing dozens of kilograms is not an easy task even for a strong young man, especially in the hot summer when the heat is unbearable. Therefore, the big Han generals in the Forbidden City often Wearing only the uniform and carrying a pumpkin hammer, he went to stand guard.
As the coronation ceremony comes to an end, the ship review ceremony that attracts more attention and attention from all over the world has also arrived.
Fleet reviews of the British Empire are often held in Spithead Strait, which is between the British mainland and the Isle of Wight. The Isle of Wight is bounded by Southampton to the north and Portsmouth to the northeast. It has been the core of the Royal Navy since ancient times. base.
On October 5, in the calm Spithead Strait, the coronation parade of King George VI officially began.
In addition to the 147 warships of various types from the Commonwealth countries, there are also representative ships sent by 18 foreign navies, which is unprecedentedly large in scale.
According to the arrangement of the British, the order of foreign navies to be reviewed is the United States, France, Russia, China, Afghanistan, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands and so on.
The meaning of this order is naturally unusual, and it is similar to what the Ming Dynasty originally expected. It is just that it is not sure which of France and Russia will come first. Now it seems that the British still pay more attention to their old enemies on the other side.
The rising sun in the east casts its rays of light, and the calm strait is so peaceful that there is not a trace of wind and waves, only the wake left by the warships passing by.
Looking down from the sky, nearly 200 large and small warships can be seen at a glance. They are so densely packed that they look like a child arranging all his toys neatly together.
The feeling of being in it is even more shocking. There are warships all around, surrounded by steel hills of thousands of tons or tens of thousands of tons. This sense of oppression makes people both excited and nervous.
On the bridge of the Longshuo, a group of naval officers were equally excited.
"The British have lost most of their wealth this time."
"Yes, several major fleets have withdrawn their ships, do you still remember?"
"Ten ships of the Home Fleet, nine ships of the Mediterranean Fleet, more than a hundred ships of the reserve fleet, as well as more than twenty submarines and a dozen auxiliary ships."
"Let's get to the point, battleship."
Lin Xunzhen replied casually: "Ten battleships and battlecruisers, and four aircraft carriers."
When the battleship Catherine the Great dispatched by the Tsarist Russian Navy slowly passed by, the battleship Longshuo of the Ming Dynasty Navy followed closely behind.
What makes everyone very dissatisfied is that the Russians seem to be deliberately causing trouble? The originally normal chimney suddenly spewed out wisps of black smoke, and it became thicker and thicker, just passing over the Long Shuo behind it.
This situation lasted for several minutes. By the time it passed the ship parade area, the bridge and flag of the Longshuo were obviously stained and turned black.
Although it is an old ship more than 20 years ago, the Catherine the Great underwent modernization in the past few years. The twenty old small Yarrow-type oil-coal mixed-fired boilers were replaced with eight brand-new ones. Heavy oil boiler.
It is not difficult for a ship powered by a steam turbine to achieve this black smoke effect. All it takes is incomplete combustion of the heavy oil under the boiler.
So everyone agreed that this was intentional by the Russians!
Although Ming Dynasty and Tsarist Russia have been enemies for hundreds of years, they used dirty tricks on this occasion...
"It's so dirty! Isn't this deliberately disgusting?!"
"It's going to be really troublesome to clean it up..."
"Let's block the door after we dock!"
For a moment, everyone in the bridge was indignant.
The captain is originally the calmest one. After all, in diplomatic situations, it is better to have more trouble than less trouble.
However, when he picked up high-power binoculars to observe the Catherine the Great in front, he could clearly see the sailors lining up on the rear deck laughing.
As a result, the captain lost his composure. With his head full of black lines, he complained in a deep voice: "The next thing you do!"
At this time, Lin Xunzhen, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke, "It would be pointless to come and reason with you later, why not do it now?"
More than a dozen eyes fell on him. A gentleman never waits for revenge, right?
"Now? What should we do? Can you still make the smoke float backwards?" the deputy captain asked doubtfully.
Lin Xunzhen smiled calmly, "No, no, no, when the salute is fired next..."
After he finished speaking, everyone was staring at him, but no one said a word.
Hiss, is this a bit too much? Could it easily cause diplomatic disputes?
The captain closed his eyes and thought deeply for a while, and felt that it seemed okay, so he nodded in agreement.
Since the captain agreed, everyone had no objections and dispersed to make preparations. It was so smooth and smooth to settle the grudges.
Lin Xunzhen walked to a microphone and shouted: "Turret No. 2, prepare two color-marked bullets later, one for the left gun and one for the center gun, and No. 1 charge."
"Ah? Next is the salute." The turret commander of No. 2 turret thought he heard it wrong.
About two-quarters of an hour later, as more than a hundred large and small warships were inspected, the next step was to stop the ships and fire salutes.
In order to avoid being damaged by the huge blast when the main gun fires, the sailors on the fore and aft decks quickly left to ensure that no one was clear before they were ready.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Dazzling orange flames spurted out from the muzzle, and more than a hundred warships in the entire strait fired salutes. The sound of the cannons shook the sky and the earth.
If the simple formation sailing is not nothing, then the current salvo can really lift people's hearts high. The representatives of various countries watching the ceremony on the shore were shocked by such a magnificent scene and their hearts were surging.
However, at this moment, the triple-mounted 400mm main gun of Longshuo's No. 2 turret slowly lowered its angle inadvertently.
Under the control of the sailors, the propellant packs and Type 35 color-marked shells were lifted into the turret chute by the bomb hoist, and then pushed into the gun bore by the hinged pusher.
"boom!"
Two 400mm color-marked bullets flew out at high speed. After a short flight, they crashed head-on into the No. 4 turret at the stern of the battleship Catherine the Great, which was only a few hundred meters away.
Color-marked bullets are modified based on training bombs. The dyeing agent is pre-installed under the hood. When falling into the water, the splashed water column can be dyed, so that the ballistic trajectory can be distinguished during shelling.
In an instant, as if a paint bag had been smashed on the door, the rear deck of the Catherine the Great was in a mess.
Red and yellow stains were spread out in splatters, and the teak deck seemed like a child's palette, all red and yellow mashed together.
(End of chapter)
