The Palace of Versailles, on the Grand Canal, where the Duke of Richelieu lived under house arrest.

Next to the beautiful single-family villa, there is a thriving vineyard. Under the warm morning light and the breeze, everything around seems so quiet and leisurely.

The plants in the vineyard were all grafted by the Duke of Richelieu himself from the back garden of the Palace of Versailles when he had nothing to do.

It is said that His Majesty the King was very pleased to see this old friend having such a leisurely mood, and specially rewarded him with a batch of the best grape vines.

At the end of May, the vineyards have begun to be filled with refreshing fruity aromas.

The Duke of Richelieu got up early in the morning and strolled through the orchard with seven or eight of his entourage, picking the crystal-clear grapes by himself like an unskilled but enthusiastic farmer.

The Duke wore a set of sturdy but rough canvas clothes. He did not wear trousers, and his feet were not gorgeous cowhide boots, but a pair of flat straw woven straw boots.

Judging from his clothes today, almost no one would be able to recognize that this is the famous Duke of Richelieu. Instead, he really looks like an ordinary old country farmer.

The Duke's entourage also joined in the picking with smiles, as if they were following a kind and kind grandfather on an outing in the countryside, even though these people were actually assigned by His Majesty the King to monitor the Duke.

agent.

After spending nearly a year with the Duke of Richelieu, these monitors gradually relaxed their vigilance. They were no longer as close to the enemy as they were at first, and they had to report every slightest sign of trouble to His Majesty the King.

They all realized that the Duke of Richelieu really had no ambitions. Every day he was either fishing, playing chess, or making wine and growing vegetables. Although the Duke was not very good at the skills of these common people, he was always happy with it and often greeted their followers.

Have fun together.

Even many new agents were shocked after seeing the Duke in person, and could not believe that this kind, easy-going, leisurely and indifferent old man was the legendary Duke Richelieu.

And these monitors have not reported Duke Richelieu's suspicious behavior to the king for a long time.

On the one hand, this is because the Duke of Richelieu did not show any abnormality, and on the other hand, it is also because His Majesty the King no longer seems to resist the Duke's interest in politics as he did at the beginning.

Especially in recent times, after Madame Du Barry passed away and the Duke of Orleans became regent, the supervision of Duke Richelieu has become much looser, and even the number of entourage deployed here has been reduced by nearly half.

Even not long ago, the Duke of Richelieu rarely openly discussed and analyzed the current political situation with a visitor. When this matter was reported to His Majesty the King, Louis XV did not do anything about it.

The reaction was tantamount to acquiescing to Duke Richelieu's attention to political affairs.

After His Majesty the King acquiesced in this temptation, the monitors also understood and consciously further relaxed their monitoring of the Duke.

"Oh, right..."

In the vineyard, a monitor whispered to his colleagues:

"The Duke of Aiguillon is coming to visit in the afternoon. Do you need to record this conversation?"

The colleague hesitated for a while, then shook his head:

"No need. It seems that the surveillance of the Duke will end soon. There is no need to offend the Duke at this juncture. Besides, the Duke of Aiguillon has been keeping a low profile recently. It should just be a heart-to-heart talk between the uncle and nephew."

"makes sense."

...

A few days later, on June 2, Calais Port.

The Port of Calais is the northernmost important port in France and closest to the British mainland. It borders the lowland areas controlled by Austria and is only four hundred miles away from Paris.

And the most important thing is that it is only sixty miles away from the Port of Dover in the UK.

When the weather is good and the sea conditions are calm, standing at the Calais Port you can completely see the outline of the British Port of Dover on the other side, and those swimmers with excellent physical fitness can even start from here and directly cross the entire English Channel.

It is also because of this unique geographical location that the Port of Calais is not only an important hub for private trade between Britain and France, but also the most crucial military fortress for France to curb British naval hegemony.

Therefore, this port can be regarded as a battleground between Britain and France. Whenever France wants to attack the British mainland, starting from Calais is undoubtedly the first choice, including Napoleon's gathering of troops here when he tried to attack England.

Correspondingly, when Britain intended to invade France, its first strategic target must also be here.

Therefore, the French can be said to have heavily defended the Port of Calais, building more than ten heavy coastal defense forts alone.

These forts surround most of Calais Port, enough to cover the entire port area with artillery fire.

The person responsible for commanding these forts and an entire subordinate artillery regiment is an experienced lieutenant colonel commander who is about to retire, Lieutenant Colonel Cavell.

...

On the evening of June 2, the sunset glow was like fire, and the crimson color of the sky was reflected from the sky to the sea, extending to the infinite distance where the water and the sky meet, as if the entire North Sea was bathed in blazing fire.

Lieutenant Colonel Cavell stood on the rooftop terrace of a seaside fortress, blowing the salty sea breeze and looking uneasily at the prosperous port area below him.

There is an endless stream of merchant ships going back and forth inside and outside the port area. Most of them are trading ships from Britain and France, but there are also merchants from the Netherlands, Austria, Spain and a number of small coastal countries in North Germany. Even standing on the top floor of this fortress.

You can hear the bustling sounds in the harbor.

The sky gradually darkened, and the port area and the city were covered with a hazy light. Lieutenant Colonel Cavell squinted and saw that the lights in the blurred vision were like dots of starlight reflected from the sky on the water.

Although the Lieutenant Colonel has been stationed at the Port of Calais for nearly fifteen years, and he has watched this scenery for fifteen years, at this moment, he is still staring at the peaceful and peaceful port area that he is guarding.

, as if a wanderer who is about to travel far away is gazing at his hometown with longing.

Lieutenant Colonel Cavell watched for a while longer, until the setting sun began to kiss the western horizon.

He sighed, carefully turned his head and looked around, making sure no one was around before taking out a crumpled letter from his chest. Apparently he had read this letter more than once before.

The content of the letter was very long, but Lieutenant Colonel Cavell's eyes were only fixed on the signature, on the very familiar red inverted triangle logo on a white background, which was the coat of arms of the Richelieu family.

When Lieutenant Colonel Cavell first entered the ranks of upper-level officers, the Duke of Richelieu was still known as Marshal Richelieu and had considerable power in the French army.

Therefore, the lieutenant colonel did not hesitate to seek refuge with Duke Richelieu. He proved his loyalty in many missions and was deeply trusted by Duke Richelieu.

Lieutenant Colonel Cavell originally thought that he could easily become a general with the help of the Richelieu family's power. However, the world always did not go as planned, and the rise of the Duke of Choiseul completely shattered his hopes.

The lieutenant colonel soon became a victim of the political struggle between the two dukes. As Choiseul came to power, he was sent to the port of Calais as a garrison officer in his prime, which meant that he lost all hope of promotion.

But despite this, Lieutenant Colonel Cavell does not resent the Duke of Richelieu. On the contrary, during the fifteen years he was stationed in this border fortress, he has always maintained contact with the Richelieu family, and has always proved that

one's own loyalty.

And this is probably why Duke Richelieu gave him this important task.

The lieutenant colonel knew in his heart that if this mission could be successfully carried out, he might still be able to seize the hope of promotion during his last period of service.

Lieutenant Colonel Cavell took one last look at the contents of the secret letter, then tore the entire letter into pieces and threw it into the howling sea breeze.

Taking advantage of the afterglow of the setting sun, Lieutenant Colonel Cavell looked at a few British cruisers cruising in the distant sea. These warships were nominally escorting domestic merchant ships, but in fact they only came to show off to the French in Calais Port every day.

muscular.

"The timing... is almost perfect."

Lieutenant Colonel Cavell nodded, took a few deep breaths, and walked downstairs toward the port area without looking back.

...

Before the sun had completely set, a large British armed merchant ship sped up, sailed into the port area under the guidance of the customs officials of Calais Port, and landed smoothly on the pier.

The customs officials were preparing to board the ship for inspection as usual, but they saw Lieutenant Colonel Cavell leading a group of heavily armed soldiers to the dock and motioned to them bureaucrats to leave:

"Gentlemen, this place has been taken over by the garrison. We suspect that the ship came to Calais Port with impure motives."

When the British captain on the deck heard this, his expression suddenly changed. He didn't know how he had offended this officer, so he quickly put on a smile and flattered him in less fluent French:

"Good evening, sir! Of course a big man like you can see that we are a group of honest businessmen. The boats are full of fabrics and clothes. If you like British clothes, you can pick a few boxes and go on board. Just treat me and

A brave soldier like you makes a friend..."

At the same time, the mercenaries serving as guards on the deck were also eyeing the French soldiers who were waiting on the pier. The keen mercenary captain frowned and secretly ordered his subordinates to get weapons and distribute them.

The well-informed mercenary captain also realized that something was wrong, and vaguely realized that they could not stay in Calais Port tonight.

And Lieutenant Colonel Cavell didn't listen to the captain's words at all. He just pretended to glance at the large armed merchant ship in front of him.

This kind of ship is generally used for ocean navigation. It is either modified from retired warships or produced according to the standards of warships. Even the British Royal Navy will use this kind of ship with acceptable firepower and flexibility.

Used as a frigate.

"You despicable and cunning British fellows!"

Lieutenant Colonel Cavell suddenly roared, drew his command knife, pointed at the gun deck of the merchant ship and angrily shouted:

"What kind of merchant ship is this? This is clearly a warship. What are you trying to do by sneaking into the Port of Calais?! Soldiers, immediately take control of all the people on board. Any resisters will be shot directly!"

"What?!"

Not to mention the British captain, even the customs officials nearby were shocked.

What kind of warship is this? It's clearly just an ordinary armed merchant ship.

Could it be that a lieutenant colonel who has been stationed in the port area for fifteen years would not be able to tell such an obvious difference?!

Naturally, the trusted soldiers who took orders from Lieutenant Colonel Cavell would not engage in such useless thinking.

They immediately lined up and set up the boarding ladder that had been prepared. They were about to board the deck and take control of the British merchant ship in no time.

The British captain looked horrified and leaned out to say something else.

However, the mercenary captain next to him pushed him away, stepped forward, took out his pistol, pointed it at the French soldiers on the gangway, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

This dull gunshot seemed to silence the entire Port of Calais for a moment.

A French soldier who was struggling to climb was shot in the chest. His legs and feet suddenly became weak and he fell directly from the more than 20-foot-high gangway into the sea. The gushing blood soon dyed the surrounding seawater light red.

The sailors, officials and businessmen on the surrounding docks all subconsciously stopped talking and looked at the British merchant ship and the French soldiers with blank expressions.

The British shot French soldiers in the port of Calais?!
To be continued...