While Roque and Stanley Baldwin were in a tussle, several Royal Navy officers were getting drunk in a tavern next to Portsmouth Naval Base.

Portsmouth Naval Base is one of the three largest naval bases in the United Kingdom and the home port of the Home Fleet.

After the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty, the Royal Navy was to dismantle 20 battleships and keep only 22, and as many as tens of thousands of naval officers were about to retire, all from the battlecruiser HMS Princess, which was about to be dismantled.

The battlecruiser "Princess Royal" is the second battlecruiser of the "Lion" class, which includes the "Princess Royal", the "Lion", and the improved "Queen Mary".

The "Lion" class battlecruiser has a standard displacement of 26,250 tons, a full load displacement of 29,680 tons, and is equipped with 8 twin 13.5-inch/45-caliber main guns and 16 single-mounted 4-inch caliber secondary guns, with a main engine output of 70,000 horsepower and a speed of 27 knots.

The battle cruisers of this class were ill-fated, and the lead ships "Lion" and "Royal Princess" took part in the Battle of Jutland, during which the "Lion" was hit by 12 large-caliber shells from the main guns of the German ship, and the ammunition depot was filled with water in time to avoid sinking.

The "Royal Princess" was hit by 9 large-caliber shells from the main guns of the German ships during the battle, and was seriously damaged.

During the battle, the "Queen Mary" was hit by five large-caliber shells from the main guns of the German ship, and sank due to the explosion of the ammunition depot of the main turret, and only 20 of the ship's 1,266 officers and men were rescued.

After the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty, in order to reduce the tonnage of capital ships to less than 525,000 tons, both the "Lion" and the "Royal Princess" were about to be demolished.

"The Washington Naval Treaty is too harsh on our Royal Navy, the 'Royal Princess' has been in service for 12 years, and it has been less than ten years now, and it will be forced to be demolished, why can't the 'Royal Princess' be preserved as permanently as the 'Victory', this is unfair to the 'Royal Princess'!" Major Garfield slapped the table and shouted, he was the deputy gun chief of the "Royal Princess", and this time he was also on the list of retirees.

Major Garfield graduated from the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth, and Major Garfield served on the Royal Princess when the Princess was delivered, and had a deep affection for the Princess.

HMS Victory was once the pride of the Royal Navy and was the flagship of legendary British Navy Horatio Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

Horatio Nelson was the same Nelson of the Nelson-class battleship.

The Victory was decommissioned in 1812 and was left untouched by one at Portsmouth Portsmouth.

"Yes, even if the 'Royal Princess' cannot be preserved as permanently as the 'Victory', and it should not be dismantled directly, several hulls in France can be sold for a good price, and the 'Royal Princess' can find a good owner for the 'Royal Princess' again, and the 'Royal Princess' is still extremely powerful." Third mate Morris is not on the retirement list, but he will remain in the Royal Navy and may continue his naval career on the upcoming Nelson-class battleship.

It's really the same person's fate, and in terms of pure ability, Major Garfield is actually better than Morris.

It's a pity that Major Garfield came from a civilian family, while Morris came from an aristocratic family, so now that the Royal Navy is downsized, Morris can continue to stay in the Royal Navy, and Major Garfield will be forced to retire.

However, this did not affect the friendship between Major Garfield and Morris.

"Well job Morris, you can still stay in the Royal Navy, maybe you will have a chance to serve in the 'Nelson' or 'Rodney', we poor old fellows are going back to our hometowns, God, I don't know what I will do but fight, I joined the Royal Navy at the age of 21, and it has been 20 years, 20 years now-" Forty-year-old chief engineer Nelson was full of confusion, his youth had been dedicated to the Royal Navy, and now he was kicked away when he was old, and only he knew what it was like in his heart.

"Nelson, you're not old, do you remember your ideals? You have to become the second Horatio Nelson of the Royal Navy and make the Royal Navy proud of you. Morris tried his best to comfort him, and he didn't want to watch this group of old friends leave, but there was nothing Morris could do about it.

"Hahahaha, I've been kicked out of the Royal Navy, do I still have a chance to be the second Horatio Nelson?" Nelson's eyes were red, and his father had given Nelson that name because he admired Horatio Nelson.

"Nelson, you can, you know, the Kingdom of Mozambique and West Africa have purchased the few battleships that have not yet been built by France, but the Kingdom of Mozambique and West Africa lack experienced naval officers and sailors, you can consider the Kingdom of Mozambique or West Africa to go, the treatment is still very good." Morris actively tried to find a way, and Morris, who was born in the aristocracy, was always better informed than Nelson and Garfield, who were born in commoners.

"The Kingdom of Mozambique? Western Africa? Where is West Africa? "Nelson didn't know if he was too drunk, or if he really didn't know where West Africa was.

"Nominally, just nominal—" Morris winked.

"What do you mean?" Both Nelson and Garfield were curious.

"The French battleships, nominally purchased by the Kingdom of Mozambique and West Africa, were actually built at the Walvis Bay Shipyard and the Edward's Shipyard—" Morris lowered his voice, this kind of thing is not always to be hyped up.

Southern Africa received four Normandy-class battleships, which was also a useful supplement to the British Royal Navy.

"So what?" Nelson had drunk a little too much, and his mind couldn't turn for a while, and he didn't understand the twists and turns.

"You don't want to be a second Nelson in your life—" Morris looked disgusted.

"I already knew, in my third year on the 'Princess Royal', that even if you could be a second Nelson, Garfield and I wouldn't want to be a second Nelson, who would have made us all come from civilian families, no matter how good we were, we would never get a real chance." Nelson waved his arms and shouted, words he had not dared to say before, but now it didn't matter.

The people who are already leaving the Royal Navy, some of the words are really unpleasant, and the interior of the Royal Navy is really not as glamorous as it seems on the surface.

"Nelson, you've drunk too much—" Morris looked helpless, there were some things that Morris knew well, but as a member of the Royal Navy, Morris had something to say.

"I didn't drink much, in the Battle of Dogle Sandbank, the 'Royal Princess' was on fire on the port side, and the fire was close to the ammunition depot at one point, if it wasn't for Garfield to be the first to rush into the fire, the 'Royal Princess' might have sunk, but later someone was promoted, and Garfield only got a commendation; What do I get? I got a discharge notice, and the Royal Navy doesn't need me anymore - hahahaha" Nelson's tears finally flowed, and the fate of this professional soldier who had served in the Royal Navy for 20 years was as tragic as the "Royal Princess".

"Nelson, don't—" Morris hugged Nelson's shoulder.

Nelson covered his face with his hands, tears streaming down his fingers, and his back was infinitely desolate.

Garfield, the other protagonist of the story, did not shed a tear, he drank the whiskey from the glass in one gulp, and then handed the glass to the bartender: "One more glass!" ”

"Nelson, Garfield, go to Southern Africa, the Royal Navy doesn't need you, at least the Southern African Navy needs you—" Morris finally made it clear that good soldiers like Nelson and Garfield should not leave the Navy.

"Southern Africa – what is there in Southern Africa? They didn't even have a battleship, and I had forgotten how to command an eight-inch gun. Garfield smiled wryly, once the sea was difficult to water.

In fact, good naval officers like Garfield and Nelson, even if they leave the Royal Navy, do not necessarily have to go to southern Africa.

The Royal Navy is well known.

Although the British government's financial resources have been short in recent years, the Royal Navy no longer has an advantage, in fact, the combat effectiveness of the navy is not determined by the displacement of the warship and the caliber of the main gun, and no matter how powerful the warship is, it also needs excellent professional soldiers to give full play to the combat effectiveness of the warship.

In fact, the US Navy, which has been in the limelight in the past two years, has not actually participated in any real large-scale naval battle, and the combat effectiveness of the US Navy has not been tested by war, and its combat effectiveness is doubtful.

The U.S. Admiralty is also aware of this, so over the years, the U.S. Admiralty has been trying to recruit the best talents from the British Royal Navy to go to the United States and join the U.S. Navy.

However, this is not easy, although the national strength of the United States is thriving, but in terms of the reputation and impression of Americans in Europe, few people are willing to go to the United States.

Even with the U.S. Admiralty's high salaries, few of the true elite were willing to leave the Royal Navy.

Now those depressed elites have to leave the Royal Navy.

"The 'Normandy' class battleships purchased by the Kingdom of Mozambique and West Africa are actually purchased by the Southern African Navy, and after they are completed, they will also join the battle sequence of the Southern African Navy, and if you go to Southern Africa, then we may be able to fight side by side in the future - oh, Southern Africa has undergone a major overhaul of the 'Normandy' class battleships, and I have a relative who participated in the design work, and the 'Normandy' after the overhaul will definitely surprise you." Morris praised the Southern African Navy as a flower, and in recent days, such scenes have been frequently staged around naval bases.