Chapter 166, The Queen in the Wind (Part 1)
November 1949, England, outside London
A silent migration team, a mixture of people and vehicles, was slowly moving forward on a dilapidated and abandoned road.
Even those once smooth asphalt roads have cracked and collapsed in many places, and weeds are growing everywhere. As for what was originally a dirt road in the countryside, it is almost covered by vegetation. In addition, I often step on a few bones in the grass from time to time. If you are unlucky, you will kick out a mutilated skull in the grass... Occasionally, there will be rotten trees falling in the middle of the road, which must be moved away before you can continue on your way.
In the center of the procession, Queen Elizabeth was sitting on a bumpy jeep, and next to her was Queen Margaret, who was already drowsy.
——Counting from the time we left the beach in the morning, it’s been about five hours now!
Lifting her swan-like slender neck and squinting at the sun that was clearly setting in the sky, Queen Elizabeth made some calculations in her heart.
However, Windsor Castle, the end of the journey, seems to be still very far away...
At this moment, a long time has passed since the end of the Icelandic volcanic eruption. The volcanic dust that once covered half of the earth and brought climate disaster to the entire world has gradually settled and dissipated. In the crisp blue sky of autumn, the bright autumn sun is casting thousands of golden rays on the land of England. However, what is illuminated in the autumn sunshine is not the pleasing scenery of the British countryside, but a decadent and messy ruins - empty towns, villages burned into scorched earth, overgrown with weeds Abandoned fields of grass and saplings... Among the overgrown weeds and bushes, from time to time you can see a few human or animal bones, or rusty car wrecks.
Occasionally, you can see a few lonely ghost-like guys hiding on the hills or in the woods on both sides of the road. With numb but vigilant eyes, they look at these people wearing bearskin hats and all dressed in clothes. The British Royal Guards in red uniforms, and the Soviet Red Army soldiers escorting them...
——After receiving the pardon and exile order from the iron and loving father Stalin at the port of Dunkirk, France (the place of exile is Britain), the two British queens, Prime Minister Churchill, and the last followers of the British government-in-exile came to Full of anxiety and confusion, I embarked on the road back home.
Next, the landing ship of the Soviet Red Navy sent these returning exiles to a beach in southern England. A Soviet Marine Corps of more than 200 people was responsible for guarding and escorting them to the reservation of the two queens. The place of exile and hometown - the famous Windsor Castle...
At this point, this group of people, who had been away from England for many years, finally set foot on their hometown that had become extremely strange.
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Although according to the map, there is only a straight line distance of more than 60 kilometers from the beach where they landed to Windsor Castle in the west of London, which is only equivalent to running a car at full speed for an hour. But the fact is that these noble exiles walked for a whole day and only completed less than one-third of the distance - because cars could not run on roads that were poorly maintained and overgrown with weeds. Moreover, there are not enough vehicles, so most people can only walk forward carrying their luggage. In order not to break away from the team, the car the two queens were riding in could only squirm slowly.
Under the autumn sunshine, the British Royal Guards, who had followed Prime Minister Churchill and Queen Margaret around the world for three years, dragged their ranks, which were a little loose due to fatigue, and walked through the overgrown grass. country dirt road. The long black leather boots they wore on their feet were not suitable for long walks. They had already been scratched by branches and leaves. They stepped on the dry and solid soil, making a monotonous rattling noise.
On this long and uninhabited road, all their energy has been drained away bit by bit, and no one has the energy to gossip. The only thing left in the team is the tiny noise of pairs of military boots stepping on the sand and gravel. And the soft sound of lunch boxes, water bottles and belt buckles colliding with each other, the car that has been squirming at low speed spitting out choking black smoke, the rugged and broken road surface makes the axles creak and vibrate...
All these dull and chaotic sounds were mixed together without any structure, and finally created a monotonous, complicated, and sleepy subtle melody. Coupled with the desolate and silent decadent atmosphere around them, everyone in the team was excited. The feeling of fatigue seemed to be invisibly amplified.
When the exile team had a simple lunch in the wild and set off on the road again, less than an hour later, Margaret, the younger sister of the two queens, had already fallen asleep with saliva on her face. Prime Minister Churchill, who was sitting in another jeep, even snored. As her elder sister, Queen Elizabeth felt as if she was about to be captured by the Sandman. She had to brace herself up and asked an old gentleman in the passenger seat:
"...Mr. Toynbee, what is the current situation at Windsor Castle? Is it okay for us to move in directly?"
——The old gentleman sitting in the passenger seat of the Queen's jeep is named Arnold Joseph Toynbee. Before the war, he was a famous scholar throughout Europe. He once served as a professor of history at the University of London and the Royal International Director of the Institute of Political Science, and the last British ambassador before Britain and the Soviet Union formally declared war... As a result, after the outbreak of the Third World, he unfortunately spent nearly three years in prison while stranded in Moscow.
It was not until recently that Toynbee was released by the Soviets, and was then ordered to take the British diplomats detained with him, as well as some British expatriates and British prisoners of war, to return to Windsor Castle in Britain to prepare for the return home. The two queens stood in front of each other.
When the landing ship carrying the two queens docked, it was he who led the people to stand on the beach to wait and greet them, and also acted as a guide.
"...Your Majesty, in the past month, I have led people to tidy up Windsor Castle as much as possible. At least the most unsightly things have been cleaned up. My wife has also tried her best to The rooms of your majesties should be decorated more comfortably.”
Toynbee said with a wry smile, "...However, it is impossible to be exactly the same as in the past. You will understand more specifically when you see it with your own eyes."
"...The situation sounds very bad! But there is nothing we can do about it. As a subjugated king, it is good to have a place to live." Queen Elizabeth sighed, "...where is London? ? Three years have passed since the nuclear explosion. Has the place regained any popularity? ”
Regarding Queen Elizabeth's question, Toynbee's face suddenly became a little strange, "...Your Majesty, do you really... don't know anything at all? In the past few years, the Soviets have not told you any news from the outside world. News?”
"...I really don't know anything, Mr. Toynbee." Queen Elizabeth shook her head with a lonely expression, "...In recent years, I have been imprisoned in a secret prison in Kazakhstan, Central Asia. See There were no newspapers or radio broadcasts. What’s more, even if I heard something occasionally, I didn’t understand Russian... It wasn’t until a month ago that I was picked up from prison. I came out and was sent directly to Dunkirk. During the journey, other than telling me that the war was over and finally giving me the pardon and another exile order, the Soviet agent who escorted me didn’t say a single word. Don't tell me... In fact, I was very surprised to see Margaret and Mr. Churchill in Dunkirk."
"...Okay, I understand, Your Majesty. I'll keep the story short." Toynbee sighed and nodded, "...First of all, the war did end last month. The Americans signed an unconditional surrender agreement. Churchill The Prime Minister also surrendered, and the Soviets won a complete victory. The scene in London today should be as dilapidated and desolate as the towns you saw along the way - if not more dilapidated and desolate..."
"...It's so bad?!" Queen Elizabeth's eyes widened, "...How can the capital of the British Empire always be like this?!" "...The British Empire?" Toynbee's expression became even more bitter, "... ...To be honest, I don’t even know if Britain still exists..."