Chapter 13 Chapter Thirteen Two British Officers

"I'm going to eat your elephant," Commodore Morphy said.After two days of hesitation and consideration, he finally decided to take this move. "Eat it, it won't do if I don't let you eat it." Major Oliver, who was engrossed in the chessboard, said. This day is the morning of February 17.After a day of deliberation, Major Oliver came up with a move to deal with Brigadier General Morphy. It has been four months since the game started, but the two sides have only made twenty moves.The famous chess master Philido believes that a person who cannot use pawns, the so-called "soul of chess", is not a good chess player.Both the brigadier general and the major appreciated this view very much, so they would move each piece after a long and serious consideration, and never wander around aimlessly.

Both of them were British Army officers.Fate made them become chess friends who played chess to pass the time in this place far away from the motherland.They were both in their forties, with brown hair.The beard all over the face grows to the roots of the ears, which fits very well.They have been wearing military uniforms for many years, and their personalities are very calm.They feel extremely proud of being British, and have a strong sense of xenophobia, thinking that they, Anglo-Saxons, are made of special materials.In short, they have blind worship for their own country.Therefore, no matter where they go, even if they are thousands of kilometers away from the UK, they are always so lonely and self-admiring, as if there is no one else around.They are always ready to turn everything into a British colony.They also intend to develop colonies on the moon if possible.

The great changes that took place on the earth this time did not cause much uneasiness in their hearts. At that time, they were stationed on a big mountain with hundreds of officers and soldiers. Later, the mountain peak became an isolated island surrounded by a vast sea.Only the two of them survived the disaster, along with ten other soldiers and their servant Jirk.Regarding this matter, the major only said lightly: "Oh, that's really weird!" "It's a bit strange." The brigadier general responded casually. "But our country will be safe and sound."

"Exactly." "It will send a boat to fetch us." "certainly" "We'll just have to wait here." "yes." However, even if they wanted to leave the island, it was impossible, because they only had a small boat.The land they were on turned into a small island surrounded by the sea in a blink of an eye, and they had no choice but to wait patiently for the British to send a ship to pick them up. Fortunately, their food was not a problem. There was a lot of food on the island, enough for the thirteen of them to feed for ten years.Of course, a little corned beef, beer and brandy would be icing on the cake.

As for the many strange things that have occurred between the heaven and the earth, such as the reversal of the concept of the East and the West, the weakening of the gravity on the earth's surface, the time of day and night has been greatly shortened, the rotation axis of the earth is tilted, and it is moving along a new orbit in the solar system, etc. Although they had discovered it, they took it calmly and showed no panic.They rearranged the chess pieces that had been knocked down by the earthquake, and continued playing without incident.But the chess pieces on the chessboard have become quite light, and it is difficult to stand upright, especially the bigger king and queen are prone to fall down.It took them a lot of effort to finally make these little ivory pieces stand firmly on the chessboard.

Similarly, the other ten soldiers who were besieged on the island did not care much about the changes in the world.Not only that, but they also made two requests to their superiors. On the fourth day after the disaster, Corporal Pym had requested to see two of his superiors on behalf of the group. The brigadier general and major agreed to receive them.Corporal Pym led the other nine soldiers into Morphy's room, and stood respectfully in front of the two superiors who were concentrating on the chessboard. Brigadier General Morphy put down the chess in his hand, raised his head and asked:

"Corporal Pym, what do you want?" "Ask the brigadier general for salary, and then ask the major for board." "Then you talk about the first request first!" Morphy said. "Sir," said Corporal Pym, "will our pay be reduced now that the daylight hours have been cut in half?" The question was raised very suddenly. Morphy thought about it for a while, and felt that the question was very reasonable. He turned around, exchanged glances with Major Oliver, and then said: "Pym goes down, your salary is determined according to the sun rising once a day, so no matter whether the day is long or short, you should continue to receive the original salary. We, England, are a rich country and don't care about this little money. "

"Thank you, sir," said the ten soldiers in unison. Pym then turned to Major Ollifon.Major Oliver looked at the junior officer and asked: "What's your second request?" "Sir," said Pym, "should we have two meals, or still four, now that the days are cut in half?" The major thought for a while, then nodded to the brigadier general, which meant that the corporal was a very intelligent person.Then he said to the corporal: "The rules and regulations in our army should not be changed due to changes in the outside world. You should still eat four meals a day, you can eat once an hour and a half. We, Britain, are a rich country, so we don't care about changes in nature."

"Thank you, sir," replied the ten soldiers loudly.Then, led by the corporal, they turned around and walked out of the brigadier general's room with neat steps. Regarding the current embarrassing situation, it is very right for them to pin their hopes entirely on the British Conference, because the British will never abandon them.However, the rescuers they are anxiously awaiting have not yet arrived, probably because Britain is currently busy with a major business.But it could also be people who live in the north and don't know what's going on in the south. However, according to the old calendar, forty-nine days have passed since the great change occurred on the night of December 31 last year, but not a single British ship has arrived.This coast was once one of the busiest seas in the world, but now there is not a single boat in sight.Regarding this situation, the British on the island remained calm, showing no signs of worry or worry.Everyone stayed at their posts as usual.Brigadier generals and majors also often go to inspect the ranks of soldiers.They lived very contentedly in this kind of leisurely life, and saw that they were getting fatter day by day.

All in all, they lived comfortably on the island.The two officers cooperated very well in every respect because of their similarities in character and taste.Besides, as soon as these Englishmen leave the country, they feel free and don't have to put on a sanctimonious appearance like they did when they were at home. For those missing officers and soldiers, they also have a feeling of nostalgia in their hearts, but it is just a nostalgia.Before the disaster, there were originally 1,195 of them, but now there are only thirteen of them, that is to say, 1,182 people have disappeared.This matter, they have written in the report.

As mentioned above, the island occupied by the British was originally a mountain with an altitude of 2,400 meters.It seems that this small island is the only place to stand on the sea in this area.But not all.There is a similar island twenty kilometers to the south.The island may have been formed after the remnants of the aforementioned mountain sank to the bottom of the sea. Is there anyone living on this island?In other words, after the disaster, has anyone fled there to be safe?This is the question that the two officers considered when they were playing chess.They took the island very seriously, and one fine day they both took the little boat across the sea for a walk, and returned after staying there a day and a half. Are they there for humanitarian reasons or for other reasons?No one can know.The two of them were alone.After returning, he kept his mouth shut about the situation there, not even Corporal Pym.Even so, Pym went down to the soil and saw from some signs that they were satisfied with the trip to the island.Major Oliver also drafted a letter, which was signed by Brigadier General Morphy and stamped with the stamp of the 33rd Regiment, and he planned to ask them to take it away when a ship passed by.The address written on the envelope is . united kingdom secretary of the navy admiral fairfax However, no ships appeared on the nearby sea, and until February 18, the letter had not been sent. When Commodore Morphy woke up this morning, he asked Major Oliver: "Today is a big day for us Brits." "Yes, today is His Majesty's birthday." "I feel," Commodore Morphy added, "that our present circumstances, as peculiar as they are, deserve a little ceremony." "I think so too," said Major Oliver. "His Majesty the King has not sent anyone so far, there must be some reason." "yes." "Would you like a little port, Major Oliver?" "Very well, Commodore Morphy." "Now let's prepare for the celebration ceremony!" said the Brigadier General. Soon after, Corporal Pym was called, still thinking about the bottle of brandy he had just opened. "Corporal Pym," said the Commodore to him, "according to the old calendar, today is February 18th." "Yes, sir." "That's His Majesty's birthday." Xiatu immediately stood at attention. "Pym's going down," the brigadier said again. "As usual, you go and get ready. A twenty-one-gun salute is fired." "Yes, sir!" "Try to be as careful as possible so that you don't accidentally hit the gunner." "yes!" Of the many original cannons in the fort, now only one 27mm large-caliber gun remains.A salute is fired, usually with a smaller caliber gun, but now there is only one, so I have to use it. Corporal Pym called the soldiers, then went to the bunker where the gun stood, and stuck the barrel through the embrasure in the bunker.The soldiers brought in the shells needed to fire the salute.Of course, before firing, the warhead needs to be removed. Commodore Morphy and Major Oliver arrived in festive dress and feathered hats. The gunners put the ammunition into the barrels according to the regulations of the "Artillery Manual".With that said, the exciting roar began. Every time a cannon was fired, the corporal followed the brigadier general's order to prevent the gunner from being burned by the flames from his barrel-such accidents often happened when salutes were fired in the past.But this time, nothing unexpected happened. However, since the great change between heaven and earth, the air has become quite thin, and the heat wave erupted after the gunpowder burned did not cause a deafening roar.There was no longer the majestic rumble that echoed across the valley, approaching from a distance.This really made the brigadier general and the major feel that it was a shame, and their self-esteem was seriously bruised. Twenty rounds of the salute had already been fired, and when the twenty-first round was about to be fired, Brigadier General Morphy suddenly made a gesture to tell the gunner to stop.He said: "This is the last shot, please put the warhead, I want to see how far this cannon can shoot now." "You can try it," the major agreed. "Corporal, do you hear that?" "Yes, sir!" replied Pym. I saw a gunner pulling a small cart, on which was placed a shell with a warhead, the shell weighed about 100 kilograms, and the range was usually four kilometers.If you track it with a telescope, you can see exactly where the warhead fell in the sea, and thus estimate the range of the gun. After the shells were loaded, the gunner aimed the barrel at a forty-two degree angle for maximum range.At the major's order, the shells flew out. The brigadier general and the major couldn't believe their eyes, and stood there dumbfounded. The effect of gravity on airborne objects is much less, and the cannonball has disappeared without a trace, and seems to have flown beyond the horizon, so it cannot be tracked to the end even with a telescope. "The range was over six kilometers," said the brigadier general. "Yes. A good six kilometers," said the major. However, as soon as the whistling of the shells stopped, there was a faint sound of cannons from the other side of the sea. This is really confusing.Then there were three more rumbles from there. "A ship!" said the Commodore. "If so, it must be our British ship." Half an hour later, two masts appeared on the horizon. "People from the country are here," Brigadier General Morphy said, his tone very positive. "Those on board must have heard our guns," said Major Ollifon. "I hope our shells don't hit that ship," Corporal Pym muttered, too. After a while, the hull was clearly visible.Black smoke from the ship's funnels floated in the sky.This is a sailboat with two vibration engines, and it is heading here at full speed.A flag was flying on the bow, and the nationality indicated on the flag was still unclear. Morphy and Oliver, who were tracking with binoculars, were already waving to it. But suddenly their glasses were lowered, and the two officers looked at each other in astonishment, but could not utter a word. "A Russian ship!" Indeed, flying from the prow was a Russian flag with a blue cross embroidered on a white background.