Chapter 315

"Colonel, I'm really sorry."

At the gate of the villa, Carmen with a smile and Noah with a cold face took Nelson out of the hall.

Nelson was helpless.

"Don't apologize for the regret arranged by God, since Drake is ill..."

Click.

A head shaped plaster fell from the sky and smashed to the ground, breaking into eight pieces.

The three men looked up with three faces together and saw a handsome, strong young man in loose pajamas.

He was holding the window edge and stepping on the plaster sculpture on the hall column... To be exact, on the stubble neck of the archer goddess with a broken head and queen budica, the guardian of the Celts.

It's embarrassing

Lorraine blushed and jumped down from the first floor and a half with a bang. Her supporting feet kicked on the stubble of her neck. The poor queen of budica stripped off the pillar of volcanic rock and fell on the steps with fine debris.

WOW!

Lorraine pretended to be calm and patted the floating ash on her hands: "then what, the guardian queen of the Celts... I wanted to change her into a whaler's blood grandmother for a long time."

Half an hour later, Lorraine finally met Nelson in the big study.

It's not polite.

Nelson is a close friend. It seems that the relationship between the two sides is alienated when they meet in the big study. But there was no way. There was still a knife on the desk in the small study, and the doorknob was pulled in two by Lorraine for some shady reasons.

Before the locksmith arrived, he couldn't even get out of the house, and Nelson couldn't get in properly.

Second, the big study is at least far better than the lawn.

Guests and guests are seated with curiosity.

Lorraine felt that Nelson certainly didn't come to see a doctor. Nelson wanted to know the secret behind the door of the head of the house.

They were facing each other for a long time and spoke at the same time.

"Colonel..." "Drake..."

"You say..." "you say first..."

"Then I'll say..." "then I'll say it first..."

Ah! Oh, my God!

Fortunately, finlil came in with coffee, and Lorraine came in close succession, ending the speechless embarrassment through the delivery gate.

"Colonel, please explain your intention."

Nelson smiled bitterly and sipped his coffee. He even forgot to add the usual milk and sugar. He was stunned by the bitterness.

He quickly put down his coffee and cleared his throat: "remember our joint discussion in Royal harbor last month?"

"Consensus?" Lorraine recalled with a frown. "You mean colonial friction?"

"Yes!" Nelson waved his fist in high spirits. "I said the governor and received the official order of the governor, so I need your help!"

……

Here's the thing.

After the Royal harbor communion, Nelson, who was full of dedication to his meritorious service, immediately began lobbying Major General John Darling, the governor of Jamaica.

Major general darling was also a man keen on fame and wealth.

In his middle age, he was deeply favored and was ordered to take charge of the ruling core of Great Britain in the Caribbean on behalf of the king. The military and political affairs of Jamaica and its surrounding islands were at the peak of power and fame.

But he still lacks a noble title that haunts him and can shade future generations. For soldiers, the most convenient way to obtain titles is of course war.

Major General John Darling planned to use troops in the Spanish colonies in Central America in order to obtain fertile and vast land, strive for a high-quality military port for the Navy and break the Spanish's dominant position in the sea of the Southern Caribbean.

Nelson's lobbying coincided with his ideas.

Two people who wanted to achieve life from the Spaniards came together and soon agreed on a plan of action.

The whole scheme is divided into three stages, named "sea action".

In the first phase of the operation, major general darling will send a small group of troops to land from the mosquito coast, go west and north along the San Juan River and reach Lake Nicaragua.

In the second stage, the landing troops will take the lake and capture the essence of the Nicaragua colony, and prepare for the third stage.

In the third stage, take the whole Nicaragua as the bridgehead, gather the troops of no less than two regiments, cooperate with the navy to jointly seize the port of barios and take full control of the Gulf of Honduras and nearby islands and reefs.

In Lorraine's view, this action is strongly biased.

Although major general darling is the initiator and main planner of the action, he will surely win the greatest merit. But assuming the operation ends successfully, the navy is actually the party that receives the biggest dividend.

The Royal port, the Cayman Islands and the port of barios will be connected into a box door. The whole Southern Caribbean Sea will become a place for the Royal Navy to gallop wantonly, and Spain's new continent fleet will be cut in two.

Even the operation process itself, whether it is cross sea landing, river crossing or lake jumping, is not the field that the army is good at. Major darling can't act alone without the Navy.

Nelson has been identified as the commander in chief of land and sea in the first and second stages. Major general darling will only personally command the third-class army, because Nelson will command the Navy at that time.

Lorraine teased the coffee cup in front of her curiously.

"Colonel, I'd better wonder what you used to impress major general darling. The sea sweeping operation is almost a customized operation plan for you, and the army can't live without you for a moment. Once the operation is successful, your merit will never be weaker than that of John Darling, the initiator and initiator."

Nelson smiled mysteriously: "it's very simple. Major general darling discussed with Sir Parker during the battle of the Windward Islands, and Sir Parker refused."

"Because of the battle of the Windward Islands?"

"No, sir, the reason is that he doesn't like the heat and humidity in Central America."

Lorraine blinked. "That is to say, you persuaded the jazz?"

Nelson's shoulder collapsed: "I think... Probably..."

"Probably?"

"Sir, my rank is not suitable for commanding an oversized fleet, and a small formation of about 100 doors does not need to be close to the Gulf of Honduras, and the Spanish will send me into the sea to feed fish..."

"By implication, sir, are you not ready to support the sea taking operation?"

"He agreed." Nelson sighed, "but he also said that the composition model of the Halloween fleet was of great reference value. This time, I can still use the strength of patriotic businessmen to make up for the lack of fleet strength through employment..."

This is the whole background of the event.

Lorraine could hear that Peter Parker, the old fox, did not agree with the act of further intensifying the contradiction between Britain and Spain.

This may be because Spain is an old maritime power, decadent but not decadent. What its new mainland Navy lacks is never artillery and combat effectiveness, but the enterprising spirit like Britain and France.

But no matter how lazy the lion is, it also has its own low line.

If Parker or his flagship, the prince of Wales, rashly appeared in the Gulf of Honduras, it would probably lead to the misjudgment of the Spanish Navy and trigger an all-out war between the British and Western New World fleets.

However, sir Parker could not stand the great temptation to control the Gulf of Honduras and the Southern Caribbean.

This dilemma may have tortured Parker before the battle of the Windward Islands, but until now, Nelson gave him a wonderful compromise.

A small formation, combined with the armed merchant ships employed and the land forces of the governor's office of Jamaica, could not represent either the new world fleet or the colonial army.

The areas of Nicaragua and Honduras they are going to attack are also the weak areas of Spanish colonization. Except for the final target port barios, Spain will not care too much about the remaining gains and losses.

Even Lorraine thought it was a perfect wartime regional friction.

Whether the outcome is victory or defeat, we can safely taste red wine at the negotiating table, and we don't have to worry that the other party will use the wine glass as a murder weapon.

So the only question left for Sir Parker was how to win.

As the initiator of friction, he must undertake the obligation not to upgrade friction to war, which means that the fleet handed over to Nelson must be small, but its combat effectiveness must not be weak.

This requirement is difficult for any admiral, but only Nelson is different.

Sir Nelson Parker, who has successfully carried out the Halloween operation, saw the hope of small and broad, and the core element of this hope is undoubtedly Lorraine.

In other words, Lorraine is likely to have been in Sir Parker's calculations, even if neither side has met so far.

"The French are right. Peter Parker is an old fox who has become a master..." Lorraine crunched his teeth and spit out a mixture of Chinese, English and French, which makes people unable to hear.

Nelson looked at him in embarrassment: "Drake, I didn't know you were ill before I came... If you refuse, I'll tell major general darling that the lobbying failed."

Lorraine's mind turned rapidly, weighing the advantages and disadvantages in his mind, and the final conclusion was that this was an important step for him to realize the class leap.

He never forgot what Shaq said to him in the Royal Navy dock about what real authority is.

Now is not the era of Francis and Elizabeth. Even officers like John Darling have to work hard to become aristocrats. It is wishful thinking for privateer businessmen to step on the high ladder with their own strength.

But all delusions are based on reality. Lorraine's path to promotion is only steep, but it is not a dead end.

He has to have wealth, top wealth; Have merit that ordinary people can't match; There must also be the favor and Favoritism of important political or military officials. At the right opportunity, they should introduce themselves to the table of the king or the house of Lords.

Among them, he has been accumulating wealth. Through smuggling, chambers of Commerce, looting and war, he has exhausted all means and is faster than usual.

Merit is an accessory of wealth, and Halloween action is one of them. Now the sea action is another great opportunity.

The hardest thing is to introduce people.

Peter Parker's weight is absolutely enough. When he gets old and weak, Nelson's doomed legend will grow up and become a better introducer than Sir Parker.

Lorraine found that he seemed to have no reason to refuse Nelson's invitation.

Thinking of this, Lorraine smiled calmly: "Colonel, I have only one question."

"Excuse me."

"Do you know who you are in this operation? I mean, why do you think Sir Parker accepted your lobbying? Was he persuaded? Or did he always want to help you?"

"I'm just an insignificant pawn on the chessboard," Nelson said in a deep voice. "I have what I want, and I'm ready to bear failure or even be abandoned."

"I didn't expect you to despise yourself so much..." Lorraine smiled and stretched out his hand. "Please tell me the time and place of assembly, Mr. governor."