Atlantic Ocean, 18 nautical miles west of Cape Finisterre, northwest Spain, 11:50 p.m. London time. On the vast sea www.biquge.info two destroyers were cruising at a cruising speed of 18 knots, heading north-northeast.

These are two Royal Navy F-class fleet destroyers, HMS H79 "Fire Dragon" and HMS H68 "Foresight", and the two destroyers are heading to mainland China, the destination is Milford Harbour, Wales.

On the sea, the "Fire Dragon" was in front, and the "Foresight" was about half a nautical mile behind its left side.

Today's weather was good, the visibility on the sea was very high, and the observers on the bridge of the "Fire Dragon" could even faintly see through the telescopes the land above the sea at the limit of the western field of vision, which was a hill off the coast of Spain. The captain, Major Tony McNulty, handed the nautical telescope to an officer beside him, a Soviet major: "Cape Finisterre, Spain." He pointed to the West.

"On 22 July 1805, a fleet of 15 warships under the command of Sir Calder of the Royal Navy had a fleet gun battle with the French fleet in this area, but it was a foggy day."

Leonov took the telescope and observed the coast of neutral countries in the distance for a while.

McNulty had already seen the erudition of the Kremlin major, and he only smiled at it. "Captain, we're back in the London time zone again."

A sergeant reported that everyone on the bridge had their watches adjusted against the marine clock.

"Let's go, it's time to eat, I don't know what the kitchen has prepared."

At the invitation of the captain, Leonov went to the officers' dining room for dinner: there was not much space there, and the destroyer was just that. However, compared with the Red Navy destroyers, the standards of the British were already very luxurious - the Red Navy destroyers only had a kitchen and no dining room, and they had to find their own place to eat.

Because there were many guests on the ship, many of whom were Soviet officers, McNulty, as the captain, rearranged the people who entered the officers' dining room.

According to the rank, whether it is the Royal Navy or the Soviet Red Army, but there are too many officers with the rank of lieutenant who could have entered the officers' cafeteria, which has also given the captain a headache.

After consulting with Leonov, the two sides came up with a solution: the lieutenant ate and changed shifts, one round a day, and if it was not his turn, he would go to the sergeant's canteen to eat.

The officers of the Red Army had come from a sea of corpses and blood, and they had any requests for where to eat, but this time when it came to diplomatic etiquette, they were in accordance with the rules of the British Royal Navy - polite on one side, and not on the other.

"Not humble or arrogant, polite and courteous."

But there was one lieutenant who didn't have to change shifts to eat, because she was a lady.

By the time Leonov entered the restaurant, Lyudmila had already arrived first. Now the Royal Navy on the warship is accustomed to the presence of this female officer, and they all know her record of 309 kills, and of course, they have become accustomed to the female lieutenant's seemingly unchanged cold face.

You don't have to cook by yourself, you have your own orderlies to send it up. The destroyer had been resupplied in Gibraltar, and the ship's stockpiles were sufficient to ensure a formal meal.

A large steak for everyone, a large loaf of bread, butter, a vegetable soup per person, and even an aperitif, and cigarettes for the men to use after the meal! There were also a few seasoning bottles on the table, but only pepper and salt, no jam.

During the war, everything was simple, the captain didn't say any toast, and the wine glass at one end signaled to eat.

The dinner table is very lively, talking and chatting with each other, who said that Westerners don't talk when they eat?! Leonov and Lyudmila were the busiest, and they had to translate for others on both sides who did not speak the language.

"The Soviet delegation should be thanked, otherwise we would not have received such good supplies." Vice Captain Smith said, pointing to a small plate of cut chocolate that had just been brought in.

It was clear that all of this was Spanish on the table, and it was all of Gibraltar.

"Very good, Captain." Lyudmila sat next to Smith, the co-captain who looked like his name: a burly man, more like a blacksmith than a naval officer ("Smith" is associated with a blacksmith). "It is said that rationing is also in place in the UK itself. ”

Lyudmila was not rude, the two sides had known each other for a long time during their time together, the members of the Soviet delegation knew part of the situation in Britain, and the Royal Navy had heard a lot of stories about the Soviet front.

Many of the Royal Navy were "stockpiling" supplies to return home, and each of them, sailors and officers, had their personal lockers stuffed with food that could be saved between their teeth and kept for a long time. These members of the regiment saw that the British were going to send these home after returning home. It's like those chocolates, basically no one wants to eat them, they all save them.

Britain's domestic economy is supported by shipping, and in recent years, under the tight blockade of German submarines, a strict rationing system for basic civilian goods is the only option: British children have not seen bananas for two years, because banana imports have been cancelled because of priority considerations.

The rationing system in Britain had begun in January of the previous year, and housewives had to take their ration books with them to the retailers they registered to buy butter, sugar and bacon. Butter is only 4 ounces per week (less than 120 grams), and adults can also have 12 ounces of sugar and 4 ounces of bacon or raw ham. This is only a partial limit, there are a lot of miscellaneous rations, and it feels like there is a shortage of everything.

The vice-captain was clearly a rough line, unlike most Britons who don't talk about family and only about the weather. "I received a letter from home at the end of last year, and now not only food, but also cloth is rationed, and each person has 66 ration stamps a year. There are a lot of listens, but a pair of trousers costs 8 pieces, a shirt costs 7 pieces, and a pair of socks costs 3 pieces. There is very little meat, but fortunately you can buy fish with money. ”

"There are no bananas in order to save more shipping space for vital supplies, and whoever sells them goes to jail. Lemons and onions are also pitifully scarce, and they are not rationed, and they disappear from the stores under price controls, and the supply goes to the black market for high prices, and the fish is very expensive. A lieutenant said.

"But we have our own way of rationing. The back garden of the home will become a breeding base. ”

It was the captain who spoke: since the year before last, he has carried out a "large-scale production campaign" in his family -- "use shovels, not boats."

Turning gardens into vegetable gardens, many families began to raise rabbits, chickens and even pigs in their gardens - the crows of chickens in urban gardens and the crows of pigs during the bombing of the suburbs of cities were the sounds that were now familiar to the British, although they seemed discordant!

This is true in the cities, not to mention the countryside.

At this moment a senior private entered the dining room, "Captain, a Spanish patrol boat has appeared in the port direction. ”

McNulty wiped his mouth with a napkin and nodded to leave first.

Other British officers also got up to leave, and Vasily asked Leonov: "Will it be like last week?" ”

"We can't fight, we're on the high seas, and the Spaniards won't be looking for trouble."

Last week, two destroyers encountered a German convoy escorted by destroyers in the Mediterranean, and the two sides engaged in a scuffle in the night, but neither side fell in love, and went their separate ways after a crackle like an exercise.

(I haven't updated it for a long time, I hurt my right hand tendon when I was renovating the house, and I've been resting since I paused, and I haven't touched the computer.) The thinking has also broken a lot, and this is slowly starting again. (To be continued.) )