A Tentative Aid

In reality, the British had indeed begun attempts to explore the Arctic, but the ending would not be a happy one. Franz knew clearly that humanity would not conquer the North Pole until April 6, 1909; the current operation was destined to fail.

However, Franz still expressed his respects to Sir John Franklin and his expedition team, and provided a certain degree of assistance.

Funding was naturally out of the question. Sir John Franklin himself was a member of the British Royal Navy and had even participated in the Battle of Trafalgar; most of his expedition members were also selected from the British Royal Navy.

This Sir John Franklin was something of a legend; he had challenged the Arctic three times and had even served as the Governor of Tasmania.

However, the genocide of the Tasmanians had nothing to do with him. After all, by the time Sir John Franklin took office, the population of that ethnic group was already less than two hundred, and they were all imprisoned on Flinders Island.

Between 1819 and 1822, Franklin led 20 men on an overland expedition along the Coppermine River in the Northwest Territories of Canada. As a result, 11 men died along the way, most of them from starvation; the remaining survivors were forced to eat lichen to survive and even attempted to eat their leather boots to stave off hunger.

He thus earned the nickname "The Man Who Ate His Boots," but this act actually won him immense prestige, and he was highly regarded by both the British public and government officials.

Therefore, under the intense scrutiny of the entire British populace, the British Royal Navy gave Sir John Franklin sufficient financial support, including two of the latest steam-powered ships: the 372-ton HMS Erebus and the 325-ton HMS Terror.

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