Chapter 1128 |
The mottled shadows of the trees were cast on Victoria’s face, which was tinged with resentment.
Staring blankly at the steel warships on the sea for a long time, she nodded slightly and then turned to get into her carriage and head for her palace. She needed to calm herself down now.
Brooke sighed. He sometimes felt that this was retribution for Britain’s two hundred years of slaughtering and enslaving natives.
Now, they had to use the wealth they had plundered from the world for two hundred years to repay the Eastern Empire.
However, it was a good thing that they had these two hundred years of accumulation, which gave Britain enough wealth to endure the struggle with the Eastern Empire.
Watching Victoria’s carriage disappear, Brooke returned to the ship again. He was to represent the Queen and formally welcome Yue Yun and his group.
“I am Prime Minister Murphy. General Yue Yun, welcome to Britain. And please convey my greetings to your Emperor.”
Taking a small boat, Brooke brought Murphy to Yue Yun’s warship.
It was clear that Victoria was unwilling to personally receive Yue Yun and this group of imperial soldiers here, as in her opinion, this was a trampling of Britain’s dignity.
Yue Yun had been observing the port just now. He saw a woman in luxurious clothing leave, and Brooke had shown a submissive demeanor towards her.
In his opinion, this must be the Queen of Britain.
“Thank you. And please convey our greetings to the Queen. But it seems she doesn’t like us very much.” Yue Yun said bluntly.
He had come to Britain this time as a victor, because he had personally defeated the European fleet in India.
In front of a defeated nation, one should rightfully show a strong stance to make the defeated nation correctly understand its position.
A look of displeasure flashed in Murphy and Brooke’s eyes. The Queen of England was as sacred in their eyes as Xiao Ming was in the Eastern Empire.
Yue Yun’s words just now were clearly disrespectful to the Queen.
“According to our previous discussion, Her Majesty the Queen will hold a banquet in the Tulip Palace tomorrow to entertain you all. Please do not be impatient.” Brooke said with an unnatural smile.
Yue Yun noticed the displeasure on their faces, so he stopped at that. “Is that so? We are very much looking forward to it.”
Murphy showed an official smile. “We have already cleared a space in the port. You can dock at any time now.”
Yue Yun nodded. At this time, the British warships in the harbor had already cleared a path. He turned to Liu Chen and said, “Enter the port.”
“All of them?” Liu Chen asked with some concern. He was a little afraid that the British would set them up and seize their warships while they were docked.
Yue Yun understood what Liu Chen was worried about. He said with confidence, “Your worry is unnecessary. Unless Britain wants to launch a full-scale war with the Empire now, they would not dare to do that.”
Liu Chen hesitated for a moment and finally had all the warships dock in London’s port, as Yue Yun had requested.
After coming ashore, Hu Chuan and Kang Ming came forward to greet them. Seeing Yue Yun, the two of them showed excited expressions. “General Yue, you have finally arrived. We have not had a good time in Britain during this period.”
“His Majesty already knows about your situation. It is precisely for this reason that we were sent here,” Yue Yun said with a laugh. “Rest assured, we have come to Britain this time to avenge you.”
Hu Chuan and Kang Ming felt a sense of relief in their hearts. At this time, they suddenly felt a sense of security they had never felt before.
After coming to Britain, they had been on tenterhooks, worried that the British would do something to them. Now that the Empire’s fleet had arrived, they believed that the British must now understand what they should do.
“Thank you, Your Majesty, thank you, Your Majesty!” Hu Chuan turned to the east and bowed deeply.
After exchanging greetings, Yue Yun and Hu Chuan were about to return to the embassy. At this time, a figure blocked Yue Yun’s path.
Seeing the person’s face, Yue Yun was a little surprised. This person was Butler, who was captured in the Battle of India.
“General Butler, what a coincidence.” Yue Yun said with a smile on his face, but his heart was on high alert, because he saw a hint of mockery in Butler’s eyes.
“General Yue Yun, after our last parting in India, I never expected to see you again. I hope you will have a pleasant time in Britain.” Butler’s smile was sinister.
After saying this, he did not wait for Yue Yun to reply and left directly.
“How rude!” Hu Chuan said angrily at Butler’s disappearing figure. After Butler was gone, he said to Yue Yun, “General Yue, we should not have let these prisoners of war return. Now, the generals led by Butler have become a staunch supporter of Victoria, which has consolidated Victoria’s position in Britain. Most importantly, these people are inciting hatred against the Empire everywhere.”
“Is that so?” Yue Yun’s brows furrowed. Although they were defeated in India, Britain had only lost one colony in India. It still had many colonies in South America and Africa, and its homeland was not attacked.
In his opinion, perhaps this was the reason why the British people had not experienced the horror of war and were instead angered by the loss of their colonies.
However, the Empire was currently helpless in the face of this situation. His trip to Britain this time made him realize that the Empire truly had no way of crossing tens of thousands of kilometers to attack Europe.
This was because on their way to Britain, they had to stop at six British colonial ports to replenish coal and water. Just the needs of these forty-two warships alone had exhausted all the reserves in the British colonies.
After arriving in London, their warships also had no fresh water, coal, or food left. If Britain did not provide them with these, their fleet would be stranded in Britain.
Since forty-two warships were already like this, if the Empire were to launch a large-scale war, it would be impossible to guarantee supplies without thousands of ships sailing between the Empire and Europe.
So, to fight a war in Europe, the Empire had to first establish military bases near Europe and stockpile a large amount of resources. Only in this way could they guarantee victory.
“There’s no mistake about it. This was told to us by a Scottish parliamentarian.” Hu Chuan was worried that Yue Yun would not believe him, so he also revealed the source of the news.
Yue Yun nodded slightly. As he walked towards the embassy with Hu Chuan, he said, “His Majesty also had an order for us to come to Britain this time. According to His Majesty’s plan, it would be best to cause chaos in Europe to hinder Europe’s development. War is only a second option.”
Hu Chuan laughed when he heard this. “Since war is a second option, it means that war is still on the table.”
After a pause, Hu Chuan said, “Please convey this message to His Majesty, General. If he wants to dismember Britain, the Empire will probably have to intervene with military force. Otherwise, it will be impossible to do with just the weak Scotland and Ireland.”
(End of chapter)