Chapter 1122: Air Raid
Gentle sunlight spilled across the earth, its warm breath intoxicating. At the docks, the boilers aboard the ships had already started rumbling. It was another busy day.
"Tom, did you know? We've gone to war with the Austrians."
Everyone had long grown used to the gray-clad man's habit of opening with a question and answering it himself. Work at the docks was dull and tedious; they had to find some amusement to unwind.
Chatting was undoubtedly the cheapest form of entertainment. The docks happened to be a place where people came and went, and news traveled fastest, so there was no shortage of topics to shoot the breeze about.
Tom rolled his eyes and set the cargo in his hands on his leg. "John, isn't that obvious?
"I also know we're not just at war with the Austrians—we're at war with every country in Europe. Since I started work this morning, the big shots have been talking about it. It's not like I'm deaf.
"But what does that have to do with us? Work still needs doing. Don't tell me you want to enlist?"
In Britain, "enlisting" came with its own threshold. It was not enough to be physically strong and have a clean record.
In peacetime, there were only so many Lobsterbacks, and there was simply no need for large-scale recruitment. The navy's standards were even higher—illiterates need not even dream of getting in.
Now that war had broken out, the Lobsterbacks were indeed expanding their ranks, but anyone joining now would be cannon fodder.
Fighting the entire European Continent at once, the Royal Navy truly feared no one at sea. On land, though, they would die wherever they fought.
Ordinary people might not have much knowledge, but they still possessed the most basic common