197 Her Missing (1)
The disappearance of Princess Ophelia had a huge impact that shook the entire British Empire.
The disappearance of Princess Ophelia, who was thought to soon inherit the throne, was enough to cause great chaos.
But Britain’s misfortune did not end there.
ding, ding… … .
A busy street in London, England where bells to commemorate the soul of the deceased are ringing.
Easterfield’s deputy foreign secretary, Hans Palmer, watched the funeral procession with a rather determined expression.
“… … Hopefully, the Duke of Wellington will be assassinated.”
“What is the relationship with Britain now?”
“I can’t make any promises right now. Until recently, the Duke of Wellington had been friendly with our Easterfield Confederacy again, but he died at the same time as the princess went missing. That alone shows that the Duke of Wellington wasn’t just murdered out of grudges.”
“Hmm… … .”
“The most suspicious thing is that the funeral was held without an autopsy.”
The Easterfield Federation was able to acquire rapidly developing medical knowledge by Lee Hwan’s future knowledge.
Now, a system has been established that professionally trains optometrists and provides them with a fairly high salary, and like doctors, they also had to go through internships to overcome fierce competition and become experts.
To Easterfield, who had such excellent forensic technology, the Western powers almost unconditionally commissioned an optometry when a person died.
As a result, there were many people in Easterfield whose main occupation was optometry, and there was even an agency that brokered the work.
“Nowadays, it is a common practice in the world to receive an autopsy even if the general public dies. But, even though the war hero who led a country died, it was not received an optometry, isn’t it something very strange?”
“Hmm… … .”
“What do you think?”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a group that must lead the country on the right path based on sharp analysis and logical views.
The analytical skills of those who belonged to him were quite agile and sharp.
“It is clear that there is a third force intervening.”
“Probably the most powerful of those candidates… … .”
“Russia.”
Needless to say, the most suspicious side was Russia.
This is because Princess Ophelia appeared to contain Russia after the negotiations with Easterfield, and the Duke of Wellington moved along with it.
The southern nobles who followed these two men were quite satisfied because they did not want any more war, but the northern nobles and lawmakers who wanted to expand into Asia, including Scotland, were disappointed.
Easterfield’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, well aware of such a position, had no choice but to consider Russian intervention.
“When will the UK vote and convention be held?”
“The vote to elect the prime minister will be held within a week, but I understand that the congress to decide the head of the royal family is still undecided.”
“The princess has disappeared, but it must be strange to hold a convention right now. Then, at least until the nobles who followed Ophelia in the past are sorted out, isn’t it?”
“I wonder if that might be the case.”
Hans Palmer thought this event would be a huge change for Britain.
The disappearance of Princess Ophelia was also a problem, but what was more serious was that the British factions were now very sharply divided.
“By the way, what will happen in Britain, which is divided into North and South? Will there ever be a war like this?”
“Once the southern nobles have taken control of London, the military will not be able to move easily. However, wouldn’t the outcome be different depending on how the British navy, which had been biased toward the north due to the war with Russia until recently, behaves?”
Due to the war with Russia, the army was stationed in the east and south, and the naval force was concentrated in the north.
Even the overseas expeditionary force returned to the war with Russia, and the scale was the largest in history, but the problem was that it could go through a series of divisions.
Hans Palmer decided to stay in England for a while.
“Let’s keep an eye on the situation here.”
“What would you do if there was a war in England?”
“If there was a war, a civil war would take precedence over an all-out war. It’s not uncommon for a civil war to break out so quickly in a single government country. If that’s the case, then you’re saying that there are plenty of ways I can get out of this place in an emergency. So don’t worry.”
“Then I will support the small submarine, so in case of emergency, you can escape with it.”
“I see. Now, go back to the mainland and tell the lord.”
***
Four days after Hans Palmer’s departure to England, the high-ranking officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who had been dispatched returned.
They entered the country by plane through a secret airfield in the Azores.
They don’t even have time to undress as a woman, so they report to Lee Hwan first.
“Are you sure it was murder?”
“It appears to have been a planned murder in Russia.”
“Hmm… … . What is their fiscal policy?”
“Since the two Koreas are still fighting each other, it has not been confirmed yet, but it appears that the Ministry of Finance has stopped liquidating its financial relations with Russia and is using the resulting funds for military augmentation.”
“Are you going to have an accident like that?”
If Britain colluded with Russia again to launder money, and to increase the military budget as it is, the contract with Easterfield would remain in violation.
If Britain had committed itself to breaching the contract and acted so aggressively, it could have had to deal with Easterfield’s shelling.
The Southern nobles, who knew it all too well, were consistent in their opposition to the financial policy of the North, so that they could never control it at will.
“Have you found the whereabouts of Princess Ophelia of England?”
This time, Lee Hwan’s question went to the Central Intelligence Agency.
An intelligence official reported to Lee Hwan about the current investigation.
“Princess Ophelia disappeared a week ago near Oxford University in England. It is said that the princess’ brooch was found only 100 meters away, and there were even eyewitnesses nearby.”
“… … Are there any witnesses?”
“Police say the witnesses were still young girls, so they only saw how they kidnapped.”
“How was the kidnapping done?”
“It is said that people were loaded onto the boat and disappeared leisurely. However, at the time, I was so scared that I didn’t know what to do, but it seems that I only recently reported it to the police.”
“Did you just watch people being kidnapped?”
Lee Hwan also knew all too well that expecting a civic consciousness in Europe is not as easy as he thought, but it was also quite strange that people were just letting go of people being kidnapped.
“Girls wouldn’t come from very far away, and if you see someone being kidnapped, shouldn’t it be normal to tell an adult first? Besides, how did you find out that the person being kidnapped was Princess Ophelia?”
“Anyway, it was strange, so I met the informants separately, but they said there was a reason why they couldn’t report it.”
“Hmm, is there any reason for that? One word to the adults and it will be over.”
“They threatened to kill the girls if they pointed their guns at them and shouted. And they said that they caught an additional eyewitness man nearby and cut their throats with a knife in front of the girls, so even if they wanted to speak, they couldn’t.”
“Avoid the incident by instilling trauma in the eyewitness? That’s pretty common. But I don’t think that’s the most credible thing to say.”
“For now, we are trying to identify the people who set sail on the River Thames in England. All the ships that have crossed the strait are looking at it.”
“You have to find it by all means. I can’t guarantee what will happen to her if she is found first by the British.”
***
Since the development of the carrier, the Easterfield Federal Army has developed high explosives for aerial bombardment to form a slightly more powerful attack system.
The weight of the warhead was about ten times that of a normal high explosive, and the filling was also quite textured.
As such air bombing materials were complete, expectations for air operations were also increasing.
Ooo much!
There was a scene where the attack squadrons took turns dropping bombs on the hills of the blast test site.
Defense Minister Robert Cassar, looking at it, smiled contentedly.
“Good! With this kind of power, blowing up a city would be a breeze!”
“I am glad that you like it. Personal grenades and torpedoes with high-capacity explosives will soon be ready. If that’s all done, I think we’ll be able to rule the world right now.”
Aerial bombardment alone was enough to turn the war around.
No country in Europe has operated an aircraft yet, and even drafting an aircraft has been around for years.
However, Easterfield was able to produce parts for aircraft in the factory, too, so it was enough to overwhelm all of Europe in terms of quantity and quality of aircraft.
“Your Majesty must be very pleased. Right now, a direct maritime cable to Asia will be laid, and I hope to be able to do military training there soon.”
“Military training is not difficult. However, I am concerned that rumors will not spread because it is so large.”
“Anyway, most of the Russians in the Far East have returned to their homeland, so the only people left there are indigenous people. In fact, from the point of view of the natives, it doesn’t matter what experiments we do. Besides, our Easterfields usually have to treat them well.”
Because a patriot monarch like Lee Hwan was the head of the federation, the people were always able to live without being hungry and with a strong heart.
The Easterfield government was introducing various livelihood policies in the hope that there would be much more followers of Lee Hwan.
“They are on our side in the first place. It can’t get worse.”
“Then you’re saying it’s okay to trust them and train?”
“It sounds natural. Now you can start training with peace of mind. However, it is necessary to continuously develop new weapons.”
The Federal Army of Easterfield was now spurring the creation of a fourth-generation tank.
It is by no means a 4th-generation tank that Lee Hwan saw in the future, but the tank Easterfield wanted to build was a walking turret with the best performance in existence.