Anxious, the task force waiting outside Beckles watched the lone Junkers I-E land, and when they saw the two men crammed into the back seat, Prince Joachim, who looked embarrassed but in good spirits, was holding a delicate and beautiful lady in his arms, and they realized that the operation had paid off. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

Because the task force had already released the news that the "Circus of the Sky" was going north to Scotland, the two planes had already left, and there were fewer onlookers than in the previous two days, but there were still dozens of people, old and young, including two guys with cameras. Given that this brave elopement could be slandered by the British as a transnational kidnapping, Natsuki's plan was to leave him as close as possible, and his entourage would only address him as "Your Highness" when there were no outsiders, and that all items that might reveal his identity would be taken away or destroyed.

After the plane landed, Natsuki didn't let Charlotte leave the plane, and he just discussed the itinerary with his companions next to the plane. Duty task forces quickly refueled the aircraft's fuel tanks, inspected engines and pipelines, and tied pontoons to the front and rear landing gear.

In this day and age, there were many ways to leave the UK, ferries, mail boats, private boats, and commercial airships flying across the Channel. Natsuki did not underestimate the influence of the Hill and Wellington families in the UK, and in order to avoid being stopped on the way, he abandoned these conventional modes of transportation and chose to fly directly. According to the original plan, Natsuki and Charlotte will take one plane, and Mueller will fly another escort, even if one plane has a mechanical failure and lands on the sea, the other can use a pontoon to land to help, and now there is only one plane left, in case of a forced landing, they may have to wait a long time to be rescued, and they may encounter life-threatening accidents during the process.

If he gave up flying, Natsuki could only take Charlotte and the task force to Lostoft, 20 kilometers away, where he boarded the yacht that had come to meet him and set off for Germany without stopping.

Faced with a choice, Natsuki quickly considered the pros and cons of the two routes: according to the records of Junkers I-E for commercial routes, the mechanical failure rate of long-haul flights is about 1 in 30, most of the failures end in a relatively safe land-based forced landing, and there is a precedent for the temporary installation of pontoons, and in general, the risk factor of a non-stop flight to the Netherlands should not exceed 10%. It only takes an hour to get from Beckles to Lostoft, and the yacht is expected to take two hours from unmooring, departure to departure from British territorial waters, but during this time, it may be blocked and interrogated by British police and coast guard ships, and even if it leaves British territorial waters, it may be pursued by British ships, and once intercepted, Charlotte will be brought back to the United Kingdom is almost a foregone conclusion.

Comparing the two, Natsuki made a decisive decision: fly away from the UK!

When Natsuki decides to fly to the other side of freedom with Charlotte Hill, Duke Hill walks from office to office like an angry bear in the Admiralty building in Whitehall, London. As someone expected, after learning what happened at Hill Manor, the veteran with a strong personality was furious, and although he knew Charlotte's attitude, he decisively defined the incident as a "kidnapping". Considering that the sudden expansion of the situation might cause a diplomatic conflict between Britain and Germany, and that the two families of Hill and Wellington could not step down, he asked the family members to block the news from the outside world while dispatching people to the ports of Norfolk and Sharffolk counties and the only aviation hub in England -- the capital London.

The door was skewered, the phone call was called, and the telegram was sent, and the Duke of Hill finally sat down in the high-backed wooden chair, with the back of his head against the head of the chair, his eyes staring straight at the snow-white ceiling, and his thoughts were full of thoughts. Just then, the phone on the desk rang, and he jerked his hand to grab the microphone: "I'm John Hill...... Oh, Robert, you...... What the? ”

Hearing his son repeat the name he had just mentioned in a low voice on the phone, Duke Hill's eyes flashed with anger, but they quickly dimmed: "Hmm...... Actually, I can guess who else but him? Unscrupulous outlaw, Charlotte was deceived by his cunning tricks, huh...... I've asked Blair for their help, and as long as they leave by sea, we're pretty sure they'll be intercepted, but it's just ...... Robert, this is tricky......"

Putting down the phone, the melancholy in Duke Hill's heart continued unabated. After a long time, he sighed heavily, got up and walked to the window. I don't know how long later, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in." The Duke of Hill was still standing in front of the window.

"Hello, Lord Hill!"

At this voice, Duke Hill's brow furrowed suddenly, and when he turned around, his frown had changed to a wry smile.

"Your Excellency the Duke of Wellington, you...... Is it right in London today? ”

"No, just from Windsor." The man who entered the door looked to be a few years younger than the duke, was not tall, wore civilian army clothes without military rank, and found a chair to sit down without seeing it.

"At the invitation of His Majesty, I participated in the hunting activities, heard the news, and asked Your Majesty for leave."

Hearing this, Duke Hill's brows couldn't help but tremble twice: "Then Your Majesty has ......"

"He doesn't know about it yet, at least not from me." The visitor pulled a cigar out of his pocket and expertly cut the cigar butt, but did not immediately pull out a match.

The Duke of Hill picked up the matchbox from the table, walked over to the fifth Duke of Wellington and sat down, and helped him light the match as he spoke: "This is a matter of shame to the Hill family, I really don't know what Your Majesty will think when he hears it." ”

The visitor stared at the quietly burning match in Duke Hill's hand: "Isn't this a great shame for the Wellington family?" ”

Duke Hill frowned, and explained with a strong emotion: "As far as I know, Charlotte was also deceived by others. We will definitely give an explanation to the Wellington family about this matter. ”

Although the Duke of Wellington did not put on an arrogant and domineering show, his momentum obviously prevailed, and seeing that the match in the Duke of Hill's hand was about to burn to the end, he leaned forward and reluctantly lit a cigar: "This is a kidnapping, a shameless act of banditry, a contempt for the British Empire, and a provocation!" Only arrogant Germans in the whole world have such audacity, you say? ”

Duke Hill was immediately stunned, and then chimed in: "It is indeed extremely arrogant. ”

"Then again, I have also met the German prince, handsome and eloquent, and the Germans regard him as a rare ship-building genius in hundreds of years, and it is no wonder that ladies are obsessed with him regardless of borders and ages."

The Duke of Hill did not answer immediately, he got up and returned to his desk, took out an unopened and delicate wooden box from the drawer, opened it, took out a round and thick cigar, cut the cigar head slowly, took the opportunity to think, and said: "Over the years, the German national power has grown, and the Hohenzollern royal family has grown in prestige, so that they have overestimated their own strength, abandoned the traditional cooperative relationship with England, and turned to competition and confrontation. Look at the current British public opinion, how unpopular the Germans are. Even if the two nations were not old enemies and the blood ties between the royal families remained, the Hills would never marry a German, even if they were members of the illustrious royal family. At the same time, we do have a lot of respect for the Wellington family, but marriage is different from business, and it is only when both of them are young people who approve of each other that they will eventually be united, otherwise there is nothing we can do. ”

The Duke of Wellington smiled coldly: "You are right, only when two feelings are happy can there be a happy union, but with the current situation, we have reason to worry that Miss Charlotte Hill has completely infatuated with that German, so she will board the plane without resistance." In that case, what's the point of bringing her back? ”

Duke Hill's eyes suddenly widened with anger: "As long as she still recognizes the surname Hill, she must obey the will of the family." When she returns, we'll bring her to her senses, and you don't have to worry about that. ”

After all, the Duke of Wellington was a veteran of the military and political circles, and the smile on his face became kinder in a blink of an eye: "Your Excellency and I have known each other for more than forty years, and we have always been honest and trusting each other. Frankly, I was very touched by Will's love for Charlotte, and I believed that marriage would allow him to grow up quickly, and with his potential and ability, he could make a career in politics. ”

Duke Hill barely squeezed out a bitter smile, at his age and experience, he still has the ability to see people's talents. How much potential Will Lis-Wellington can have, he knows very well in his heart, and it would be good to be able to be a down-to-earth person after marriage. Although it is a little cruel, rather than letting the German prince ruin the future of the Hill family's descendants in the British military, it is better for Charlotte to accept this political marriage without the risk of becoming a war widow.

"By the way, before I came here, I had asked Lord Roberts for my personal help, and the Army-owned balloons and planes were to be fully searched in Norfolk. In addition, I sent a telegram to General Dibay, the current Chief of Staff of the French Army, asking him to detain a German plane flying over the English Channel on suspicion of espionage, and to inform us as soon as possible. ”

"Oh?" Duke Hill raised his eyes and looked at the other party, which was not so much thoughtful as a reflection of his wider connections and stronger wrists.

"Alright, I'm going back to Windsor, and hopefully there's good news today." The Duke of Wellington stood up and said.

Despite his lack of confidence and passivity, Duke Hill patted his chest and said, "Please rest assured, as soon as there is news, I will send someone to inform you immediately." ”

After the visitor had left, the Duke of Hill sat down in his high-backed wooden chair and stared intently at the ceiling, contemplating the possibilities of the situation. Thinking that the German prince had never been a man of the rules, and that these search and interception measures might not be effective, he stood up sharply, hesitated for a moment, and finally called the old friend with whom he had not been in touch for a long time. When the other party agreed, Duke Hill's worries continued unabated.

(End of chapter)