The Shadow of Great Britain

177: Chapter 127 Royal Scandal and the Little Boy 177: Chapter 127 Royal Scandal and the Little Boy The old man, leaning on his cane, meandered along until he suddenly looked up and spotted Eld ahead.

The elderly man, not particularly bothered, raised his hand and greeted, “Good afternoon, Eld!

How has your uncle been lately?”

Eld removed his hat and replied with a stiff smile, “Thanks to your concern, he has been well recently.

Unfortunately, the timing hasn’t been good; he was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet last month, or else he would have been able to meet you at today’s banquet.”

The old man nodded slightly, then turned his gaze to Arthur beside him, “And who might this be?”

Eld hurriedly introduced him, “This is my friend and a scientist, invited as a guest by General Cordington today, Mr.

Arthur Hastings, a detective from Scotland Yard.”

“A policeman?” The old man frowned discontentedly, “I dislike policemen.”

With that said, the elder man nonchalantly continued walking past them with his cane, and soon after, they heard a commotion erupting from the lounge.

“General Smith, you’re here as well?”

“Why?

Can’t I come?”

“It’s not that; I just heard from colleagues at the Navy Department that you had moved to Paris, so I thought you wouldn’t be in London.”

“Don’t you know that Paris is undergoing a revolution?

Things have been unsettling there lately, and this old man can’t withstand such turmoil, so I returned to London for some peace.

Whenever it calms down there, I’ll go back.

Hmm…

Who is this?

Good Lord, Cochrane!

Didn’t you swear that you’d never return to Britain in your lifetime?

Now look at you; have you capitulated to the Navy Department?”

“That’s all in the past now, General Smith.

Please, out of respect for the time I supported you and General Pilau in blockading Toulon in Parliament, spare me some harsh words.”

“Toulon?

You dare bring up Toulon?!

Weren’t you the one who suggested to the Navy Department that we should organize a fleet of bomb-laden ships for a kamikaze attack on Toulon Harbour?

It turns out the fleets weren’t even led by you, my boy.

Look at the bloody awful ideas you had.

Luckily, the Navy Department grew a brain that time and didn’t listen to you.

If they had used ships for kamikaze attacks, what were you planning on have me command—sardines?”

“Indeed, that was my suggestion, but you have to consider the logic behind it.

I had already successfully used fireships to defeat Admiral Almont’s French Brest Fleet in the Basque Channels Campaign.

If it weren’t for that bastard Gambier forcibly ordering me to retreat, I could have destroyed all eleven of France’s battleships and achieved a victory comparable to Trafalgar, or at least a win like that at the Nile Delta.

But, Gambier, that bastard!

Before the battle even started, he rejected my idea of using fire and criticized me by saying ‘fire attacks are cruel, a war tactic that violates Christian morals.’ When he saw the great results of my fire attack, he strictly ordered me not to pursue the enemy and demanded an immediate retreat of the fleet.

The most ridiculous part is, after the battle, he took me to a military tribunal.

Tell me, isn’t he a beastly bastard!”

“All right, calm down; it’s been twenty years already.

But I agree with you, Gambier is certainly a son of a bitch.

On this point, you, I, and General Eliab Harvey all agree—James Gambier simply lacks the military acumen and basic capabilities as a fleet commander.

The guy was just padding his resume; he relied on having joined the Royal Navy back in 1768, completed his seafaring apprenticeship, and then just happened to catch the tailwind of the American War of Independence in 1775, which allowed him to smoothly land a position as a captain just after passing the Navy Department exams.

Even then, despite the constant battles, it took him nearly 20 years, until 1794, to be promoted from a frigate captain to a battleship captain, and afterwards, he got promoted to rear admiral only because of his seniority.

Then, that damn thing got transferred to the headquarters of the Navy.

You probably also know what happened next; our ‘honest and loyal’ Admiral Gambier was suddenly as if blessed by God, and in just ten years, he jumped from rear admiral to vice admiral, and then to admiral.

By the way, I heard from Cordington that this year, Gambier was promoted along with Williams-Freeman and Charles Bull to marshal of the Royal Navy.

Has the Navy Department’s brain taken on water again?”

“What can be done about it?

Who else but our Marshal Gambier has a good relationship with His Majesty the King?

You should know that our King served in North America for twelve years…”

Eld turned his head towards the lounge, his face resembling someone who had seen a ghost.

Not long after, he noticed that the three navy colonels who had been in the lounge also emerged, sweating profusely.

Arthur, seeing them, couldn’t help but ask with a laugh, “Gentlemen, have you run out of matches as well?”

The three navy colonels looked at each other and chuckled bitterly.

Colonel Fitzroy began, “Compared to staying in the lounge, fetching matches might actually be considered a pleasant task.”

Franklin complained, “How much longer will General Cordington be?

It’s only his arrival that can make those two restrain themselves a bit.”

Sir Elliot, upon hearing this, could only say helplessly, “Let it be.

Although General Thomas Cochrane is less experienced, he didn’t care about Marshal Gambier’s orders back then.

After being brought before a military tribunal, he directly called Gambier a coward in court, indecisive, and later on in Parliament, he attacked the Navy for being corrupt and inept.”