Napoleon steadily held his spyglass, watching as the opposing English army slowly occupied the former French vanguard artillery position, patiently awaiting the appearance of more English rose beef.
However, the actions of those rose beef from England left Napoleon utterly astonished.
This was because those rose beef who had already occupied the French vanguard artillery position were not rushing to tidy up the battlefield, nor were they rushing to count the cannons and artillery shells left behind by the French army.
On the contrary, those rose beef were impatiently rushing towards the… food left behind by the French army?
Utterly bewildered, Napoleon couldn't help but look up at the sky. Although it was approaching evening and dinner was almost served, this was a battle, for goodness sake!
Joseph Bonaparte was equally stunned.
"If I'm not mistaken," Joseph Bonaparte murmured, completely bewildered, "are those damned rose beef snatching food?"
Napoleon nodded, replying with an equally bewildered expression, "Yes, you are not mistaken, they are indeed snatching food. Has the grain supply of the English army become so tight?"
After speaking, Napoleon negated his own statement, "Impossible. According to the intelligence we received earlier, although those rose beef did not carry much food, they were far from being in such a tight situation."
Joseph Bonaparte frowned and said, "Then what could it be? Is it because our food is too delicious that they can't resist? Also, what should we do now? Should we still proceed with the artillery bombardment as originally planned?"
With Joseph Bonaparte's question, Napoleon immediately fell into a dilemma.
Should he launch the artillery bombardment immediately?
Frankly speaking, now was not a good time to launch the artillery bombardment. Only a small portion of the rose beef had rushed to the original French vanguard artillery position, and the main force of the rose beef was still marching slowly.
Should he not launch the artillery bombardment immediately?
That did not seem like a particularly good choice either.
This was because the first to rush to the original French vanguard artillery position were precisely those damned rose beef cavalry. If these cavalry, riding purebred horses, were to eat their fill, they might very well charge the French army's second defensive line.
This was certainly not good news for the French army, which had gradually abandoned its cavalry.
After observing again with his spyglass, Napoleon finally decided to observe a bit longer. After all, both cavalry and warhorses needed rest after eating and drinking, and they could not immediately attack the French army's second defensive line.
While Napoleon and Joseph Bonaparte were stunned and bewildered, Little George was also stunned by the scene before him.
Little George, with a bewildered expression, mechanically turned his neck and looked at Edward and Richard, "Can either of you tell me what's going on here? Our English soldiers… are they snatching the food left by the French frogs?"
Edward, rather than being bewildered, appeared unfazed. "Your Highness, you can rest assured, they are indeed snatching the food left by the French frogs. After they have eaten their fill, they will still attack the French frogs."
Richard, standing beside Edward, was just as bewildered as Little George by the scene. "No, you guys in the army… has your army's food supply become this tight?"
Hearing Richard say this, Little George's expression immediately turned displeased as he looked at Justin, who was in charge of the English army's logistics. "Justin, are you planning to follow in your father's footsteps?"
Justin immediately let out a cold sneer and said, "Your Highness merely wants to say that my father is embezzling the English treasury. Just say it directly next time, there's no need to be so sarcastic. However, I must ask Your Highness, do you have any evidence?"
Little George was instantly enraged.
Evidence?
If there were evidence, that madman George III would not have left your father in charge of the French treasury! He would have chopped your father into ninety-nine pieces and thrown him into the sea to feed the sharks long ago!
While Little George was grumbling to himself, Justin also began to imitate Little George's sarcastic demeanor. "Your Highness, I must remind you – we are at war now. Even if I dared to embezzle the logistics budget, I would never do so on the battlefield, because I cannot afford the crime of inciting a mutiny among the soldiers."
Little George was silenced by the retort. In the end, he could only suppress his anger and asked in a deep voice, "Then why are they snatching the food from those French frogs? Could it be that the French frogs' food is so delicious that it makes people forget they are at war?"
Justin shook his head and said, "It's not that the French frogs' food is particularly delicious, but rather that our English army's food is particularly unpalatable. With the meager food budget allocated by the lords of Parliament, I've already shown great kindness by not feeding them pig slop."
After a slight pause, Justin added, "More importantly, it is now afternoon tea time."
Hearing Justin say this, Little George's expression became even more unsightly. "Afternoon tea time? Gentlemen, are there still people drinking afternoon tea during a war?"
As if suddenly reminded, Edward and Richard immediately looked up at the sky and then exchanged glances.
Indeed, it was now afternoon tea time.
As a noble English gentleman, the most appropriate thing to do now was to prepare a cup of piping hot afternoon tea, accompanied by some small pastries, and savor it slowly, contemplating life in the gentle aroma of the black tea.
As for fighting?
Let the war go to hell. Nothing should interfere with afternoon tea. If afternoon tea could not be guaranteed, with the meager food budget allocated by the lords of Parliament, the English soldiers would have likely mutinied en masse long ago.
As honest, reliable, noble, and elegant English gentlemen, Edward and Richard not only thought this way but also acted accordingly.
The two first instructed their attendants to prepare the afternoon tea leaves and teaware, and then patiently searched for a relatively flat spot, intending to quietly enjoy their daily afternoon tea.
Little George, completely stunned, grabbed Justin, who also intended to enjoy afternoon tea, and asked foolishly, "They are actually enjoying afternoon tea?"
Seeing the dumbfounded Little George, Justin felt a pang of pity. Instead of retorting sarcastically, he patiently answered Little George's question. "Yes, Your Highness, they are indeed enjoying afternoon tea."
"You should know that the income of the English treasury is not very large, and the budget that the lords of Parliament agree to allocate to the army is even smaller."
"In order to protect England's safety, we can only choose to allocate most of the military expenditure to the procurement of military equipment. Among this portion of the military expenditure, eighty percent is used to purchase military equipment from Ming, and the remaining twenty percent is used to purchase military equipment from our English armories to ensure the continued production of those armories."
"With a large portion of the military expenditure being used for the procurement of military equipment, the army's food budget is naturally very little."
"And those damned French frogs chose to purchase military equipment from Ming and completely abandoned their own production and research, so their military expenditure on purchasing military equipment is actually much less than ours. This means that those French frogs can use more military expenditure on food."
"Therefore, the food of the French frog army is indeed much better than the food of our English army, much, much better."
"Under these circumstances, I can only do my best to ensure the supply of afternoon tea. I can tell you clearly that without sufficient supply of opium and afternoon tea, these soldiers who can still obey your orders will mutiny immediately!"
After listening to Justin's explanation, Little George's face turned very pale, and he felt utterly dispirited. "How could this be? Didn't that madman George III say that the English army was the best in Europe? Didn't he say that the English army was strictly trained according to the standards of the Ming army?"
Justin shrugged his shoulders and said, "Regarding this matter, I think you should ask Mr. Edward."
After thinking for a moment, Justin added, "Of course, the food of our English army is still much better than the food of those diaper-heads in Tianzhu."
Little George's face turned even paler. Much better than the food of those diaper-heads in Tianzhu?
God could bear witness that just the rumors alone had already made Little George feel extremely disgusted, and now Justin was comparing the English army's food to that of those diaper-heads?
After another long period of silence, Little George mechanically nodded again, walked foolishly to Edward, sat down, and foolishly repeated his question.
"Well, how should I put it?" Edward put down his teacup, his gaze fixed on the pastry in his hand. "Your Highness, do you know the training standards and logistical support capabilities of the Ming army?"
Little George still mechanically shook his head.
Edward sighed and said, "I once studied at the National Defense University of Ming, so I know the training standards of the Ming army, and I also know the logistical support capabilities of the Ming army."
Pointing to the English soldiers who had started enjoying afternoon tea on the battlefield, Edward sighed helplessly and said, "This kind of scene is unimaginable in the Ming army."
"Let's talk about food directly."
"According to the Ming army's regulations on food, each of their soldiers enjoys a food standard of ten wen per day. Converted, it's about three times more than our English soldiers."
"Therefore, their soldiers can eat well and also eat their fill, to the point that the Ming army has to conduct a lot of training to ensure their soldiers do not become too obese."
Little George felt his worldview being shattered, but Edward showed no intention of letting Little George off the hook. Instead, he continued, "Because the Ming army has sufficient food supply, they can conduct a lot of training. However, due to our insufficient budget and inadequate food support for our English army, our training is naturally much inferior to that of the Ming army."
"Of course, this is not a particularly fatal gap, because as long as we are willing to increase the budget, this gap can be closed."
"However, what I am about to say is the real gap."
Edward took a deep breath and said, "For example, if Ming civilians encounter danger, the Ming army will help the civilians at all costs, even at the cost of their lives."
"Even after the danger is averted, the Ming army will patiently help the civilians recover their normal lives. They will even give their food to the civilians when they need it, while they themselves can eat various unpalatable foods. They would even rather go hungry themselves to ensure the civilians are prioritized."
"This gap is something that our English army can never learn, and even all the armies in Europe cannot learn."
Little George, who had gradually recovered, frowned tightly and asked, "Even so, they shouldn't delay fighting for afternoon tea, should they? If the opposing French army attacks us…"
Facing Little George's question, Sir Edward, the commander-in-chief of the English army, actually smiled and shook his head. "Don't worry, my esteemed Highness. The opposing French frogs have fought many battles with us before. We can always enjoy our afternoon tea with peace of mind, because they also need to eat, hahahaha."
Little George was still confused, not understanding where Sir Edward's humor was. Just because they could enjoy afternoon tea before, does that mean they are completely unguarded now?
What was the difference between this situation and his own sudden cavalry charge on the French artillery position?
However, understanding this principle was of no use. Little George still could not change the current situation.
Want money?
Let alone that there wasn't much money in the treasury, the lords of Parliament would not approve the request for an increased budget. Even if there was money in the treasury and the lords of Parliament approved it, what would be the use?
Changes in the army are never achieved overnight.
More importantly, Little George himself was not a strong leader. He deeply disliked George III and was rebellious and indulged in pleasure. He was even worse than Louis XVI, who had completely given up.
Helpless, Little George simply chose to give up as well, intending to enjoy a pleasant afternoon tea with Edward and Richard.
…
Napoleon was completely dumbfounded.
The opposing English rose beef did indeed begin to gather at the French army's abandoned vanguard artillery position, but these English soldiers stopped after occupying the artillery position?