Great time travel

Chapter 1, A Christmas Story During World War III ([-])

At dusk on December 24, [-], Bath, the city of hot springs in southwest England

While the Germans are struggling to rebuild their homes in the ruins and celebrate Christmas, the British are watching their homes irretrievably reduced to ruins.

Anne Mormont, a 22-year-old former female soldier of the Royal Air Force Women's Volunteer Service Corps, is currently wrapped in a woolen military overcoat, standing on the third-floor balcony of her home in Bath, listening to the church in the distance. The bell from inside, overlooking the street in the twilight.

The red-haired and blue-eyed Anne Mormont is a beautiful woman of Scottish descent. She has bright eyes and a nose, snow-skinned lips, and a head of fiery red hair coiled up high, revealing a snow-white and slender neck. A few freckles, but they did not destroy her beauty, but added a bit of innocence and playfulness.Standing on the balcony of his apartment at this time, Tan's mouth was slightly opened, his eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and there was a hint of sadness and worry in his expression.

Hey, it's only been a short period of one or two months, how did the appearance of this city of Bath become almost unrecognizable to myself?

——As a famous tourist city in southwestern England, Bath was hailed as the most beautiful city in England in Victorian novels. It has been a popular health resort since the Georgian Dynasty: because it has the only Hot Springs: Bath Spa.

As early as the ancient Roman era, the Romans in the British province built gorgeous hot spring baths here to enjoy the comfort of hot springs.After the Dark Middle Ages, Bath’s hot spring baths were once abandoned, but with the advent of the Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution era, as well as changes in Westerners’ concept of hygiene and cleanliness, Bath, a picturesque hot spring city, has once again become a tourist attraction. It has become a holiday destination favored by the rich and powerful in the United Kingdom.Luxurious villa apartments and hot spring hotels have sprung up one after another in the city of Bath.The exterior walls and columns made of cream-colored stones, ancient Roman-style marble sculptures, well-manicured western gardens, and antique Roman-style open-air hot spring pools can be seen everywhere in the city.In the beautiful scenery on the outskirts of the city of Bath, there are also many luxurious manors that look like palaces, with private hot spring baths in them for the enjoyment of dignitaries from London.

Even though the British Empire has been at war for six years, because the tourist city of Bath is neither an important industrial town nor a military fortress, it has no military value, so it has rarely been bombed before and after, let alone a nuclear explosion. , all kinds of landscape architecture and rural scenery are still intact.

As a native Bath girl, Anne Mormont has always been honored and proud of the beautiful scenery of her hometown.But at this moment, in her field of vision, the street scene of Bath, a tourist city, has long since changed beyond recognition.

——At least a quarter of the elegant Victorian-style buildings in the city have been burnt into charred ruins, leaving only a few crumbling walls still standing in the cold wind.On the streets that were once clean and level, dotted with green trees and flower beds, there are also many unsightly things-all kinds of waste furniture, useless sundries, street stone and bronze statues that have been pushed down, burned The wreckage of cars and carriages, as well as the construction waste dug out of the ruins... The citizens used these things to build barricades, and stretched barbed wire outside the barricades, turning the city into a huge fortress.The roofs of some buildings were also covered with sandbags, and machine guns or mortars were set up, just like the French Paris Commune in the revolutionary era.

Even though it was already dusk, the city of Bath was still sparsely lit, like ghosts—because the power grid collapsed, the street lights in the city had been extinguished for more than a month, and kerosene and candles were also very precious in this cold winter when everything was scarce. As a last resort, no one is willing to light up the lights.However, the curling smoke from the chimneys of various kitchens still makes this dim city somewhat alive.Especially when the light of civilization in the whole of Great Britain is gradually extinguished and it has fallen into a dark age, even such a little bit of ordinary life is extremely precious.

Recalling what she had seen, heard and adventures when she escaped from London more than half a month ago, Anne Mormont couldn't help but sighed faintly, feeling that the beautiful city of Bath had become an ugly city. A giant fortress, as long as the neighbors in the neighborhood can survive, it is already considered good...

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Before the outbreak of World War III and the London nuclear bombing, Anne Mormont was recruited to join the Women's Volunteer Service Team. She originally worked as a telephone operator in the communications office of a Royal Air Force airport near Dover.When she enlisted in the army, the British air battle between Nazi Germany and the British Empire had long since ended. Although the Soviet Red Army and the British Expeditionary Force fought on the European continent, they rarely bombed the British mainland.

Therefore, as a woman who does not have to personally fly the plane to attack, although her work at the Dover Royal Air Force Airport is quite heavy and hard, it is not very dangerous, and she can enjoy special treatment for soldiers, which is very dignified and honorable— —At least Anne Mormont herself thought so.

However, by late autumn of this year, with the official outbreak of World War III, everything she knew was destroyed.

——London, Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester, Oxford, Liverpool, Belfast...every familiar place name was wiped out under the mushroom cloud of the Soviet atomic bomb.Whenever I heard the bad news of a city being destroyed on the radio, a certain girl in the Women's Volunteer Service Team who was born in that city cried bitterly, and even fainted from grief.

On the other hand, although the boys of the Royal Air Force tried their best, they still couldn't stop the Soviet strategic bomber fleet from roaring again and again, gradually turning the country into radioactive ruins. In the end, even the Royal Air Force Base in Dover itself, was also destroyed.

——Although the Soviets did not include Dover in the list of nuclear bomb strikes, as an important place guarding the strait and the first barrier for the British to prevent the invasion of the European continent, the city and its military airport are still It became the key target of the Soviet strategic bomber fleet.

So, on that nightmarish night, from dusk to early morning, the air was filled with rumbling and muffled thunder.Before hiding in the air-raid shelter, Anne Mormont saw with her own eyes that the terrifying shock wave directly shattered brick walls, tore wires, and street lamps, and shattered the glass of the entire row of buildings into pieces, like a shower of crystal rain.The building where he worked also collapsed in the explosion.There are also clusters of dense fireballs rising in the air force base, throwing countless sundries and burning debris into the air, and then splashing in all directions, scattering to the roofs of surrounding houses and streets and alleys, raising more flames and smoke.Amidst the flames and smoke, the fleeing people screamed like crazy, but could barely hear their own voices.

When the bombing came to an end and the escaped people got out of the air-raid shelter again, Anne Mormont found that the air force base she worked in had been completely changed beyond recognition, as if the end had come.There are ruins and ruins everywhere.The oil depot and ammunition depot were ignited into a sea of ​​flames, and thick black smoke enveloped the entire base.The airstrip was not only blown up as if it had been plowed, but also an unknown number of small time bombs were scattered, and there were two explosions from time to time... The survivors ran and howled, and the wounded cried and wailed. The scene was really horrible.

In the following days, although the survivors of the base tried to repair the runway, the Soviet bombers repeatedly visited and dropped bombs, and even dropped gas bombs. Never catch up with destruction.Moreover, as early as the first bombing, the hangars, ammunition depots and oil depots were all destroyed. Even if the airport was repaired, it would not help, so work had to be gradually shut down.

Next, as more and more nuclear bombs fell on the British mainland, the social order became more and more chaotic, and the domestic communication network collapsed rapidly. Naturally, Anne Mormont, the telephone operator, had nothing to do.After Prime Minister Churchill moved the government to Belfast, the communication between Dover Airport and the higher authorities was completely cut off, and everyone had an ominous premonition that disaster was imminent and the end was coming.

As a young pretty girl, like any other person, Anne Mormont's first instinct in this situation was to go home.

However, the way home was not easy.The more than 200 kilometers from Dover to Bath was only half a day's journey by train in peaceful times.But in today's time when nuclear explosions are everywhere and the country is collapsing, it is almost no less than a desperate adventure for a weak woman to travel such a long distance alone.

However, it is obviously more dangerous to stay in Dover, not to mention being the first-line position guarding the strait, if there is an enemy invasion from the European continent, Dover will definitely become the first landing place——Anne Mo Ermon really didn't dare to hope that he would not be played to death in the prisoner-of-war camp; just the colonial soldiers who had become bandits and robbers around him, and the Soviet aerial bombs falling from the top of their heads from time to time were enough to make people tremble with fear.

So, Anne Mormont tried her best to get a pistol and more than 30 rounds of ammunition, found an unowned pick-up truck, collected some biscuits, cans and wine, and managed to steal it from the burning oil depot. A barrel of oil, and then, on the day Queen Elizabeth II made the unconditional surrender broadcast, Anne Mormont and three other girls from the Women's Volunteer Service Corps left the Air Force Base in Dover and set out on the road together.

Next, she entered a wild land—England, which experienced multiple nuclear explosions and was abandoned by the queen and the cabinet at the same time!
England, once the brightest beacon in the civilized world, has now become a barbaric world where all civilization and order have disappeared, leaving only a boundless vast land.In this land, people wander around, looking for communities that no longer exist.There is no government in any sense, neither central nor local.There was no means of obtaining information—newspapers and magazines, railways and roads, telephones and telegraphs, were all destroyed in the war, and the post office could no longer deliver letters.The terrified people had no means of communication, only word of mouth and conflicting rumors.The radio was occasionally useful, but the signal was always vague and mostly in foreign languages.

Banks are gone, but that's okay because money is useless in this dark age.Shops were also closed because there was nothing for sale.Regardless of whether it is a city or a village, all production activities have stopped. Even if the factories and enterprises that once existed have not been destroyed, they have nothing to do because the upstream and downstream industrial chains have been interrupted.And the workers had no place to get food.There is no law and order left, as the police and judges are gone.Right and wrong have become meaningless.Everyone must fend for himself, disregarding legal title, in fact, legal title itself disappears.Property belongs only to those who are strong enough, and those who risk their lives to keep it.Men armed with weapons wandered the streets, wantonly snatching what they wanted and wantonly killing those unlucky ones who fell into their hands.Regardless of class or age, women sell their bodies for food and shelter.There is no propriety, justice, honesty, no ethics and morality, only survival above all else.

And what makes people even more creepy is that even such a scene is not the scariest. What is even more frightening is that there are no such scenes of evil and chaos-the black and thin little girl is not crying, You can't hear the trembling old woman moaning in pain, and you can't see the pale face of a hungry baby.Among the scorched rubble and ruins, there is only a dead silence, only a chill.Residents of entire villages and towns were brutally massacred.

Therefore, along the way, they saw countless burning or dead villages and towns, and the roads were full of war refugees who had lost their homes in bombings and nuclear explosions.Since the government of the British Empire has basically collapsed, no one can provide them with the most basic relief. Driven by hunger and cold, many of the refugees have become thieves, usually pretending to be honest and waiting on the road On the other side, when pedestrians relax their vigilance for a while, they will violently attack and take out the weapons hidden in their clothes to kill and rob.There is still a considerable part of the disbanded army, which is simply blocking vehicles and setting up checkpoints, or looting villages... All laws and order have become a display, and the entire country seems to have completely fallen into the hands of thugs and hooligans. They smashed shops with stones, robbed goods, killed people in the street, entered and raped houses, set fire to them, and destroyed corpses and traces of crimes everywhere, but no one came to control or suppress them.The victims lying in a pool of blood also received no medical treatment.

When the red-haired girl Anne Mormont finally returned to her unrecognizable hometown of Bath after three days and three nights of terrifying adventure, her pistol had already fired the last bullet, and her three Among the female companions, an unfortunate girl died on the way.

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Compared with all the chaos and tragedies that Anne Mormont saw on the way home, the situation in the tourist city of Bath was quite lucky.

——Although the Soviet strategic bomber fleet also dropped gas bombs on Bath in late November, killing hundreds of citizens, they did not turn the city into ruins.As for Anne Mormont's parents and her house in their hometown, they were also safe and sound during the bombing.

Of course, even so, there must be no running water, electricity and gas supplies in Bath, so that many frail old people froze to death in the severe winter, and some people contracted dysentery due to unclean drinking water.However, when other big cities in the UK were turned into radiation ruins by atomic bombs one after another, and small towns were reduced to ghosts under the impact of the rout and starvation, Bath, which can keep the city intact, is already like a paradise in comparison.

However, when the whole of Britain is gradually falling into the dark age of hell mode, Bath, a small inland city, is also difficult to be alone.Just two days before Anne Mormont returned home, a group of black soldiers who didn't know where they came from suddenly broke into Bath, murdered and set fire everywhere, and looted wantonly... Fortunately, like most towns in England, this time At that time, a battalion of the National Self-Defense Forces had also been formed in the city of Bath. Under the command of a 70-year-old retired army major general who claimed to have fought in World War I and the Boer War, the Bath Self-Defense Battalion fought fiercely with the mutiny rebels overnight. , Although hundreds of casualties were paid, and dozens of houses were burned down, they finally repelled the black rout and kept most of the urban area safe.

Later, as the domestic situation became more and more chaotic, news of various routs and armed gangs attacking towns and massacring residents came one after another. In order to prevent the bandits from attacking again, the municipal authority of Bath organized the citizens of the city to collect them on the spot. Materials, it took a week to urgently build the barricades around the city, and the red-haired girl Anne Mormont who returned to her hometown naturally also contributed.After the barricade is completed, although it looks ugly and hideous, and is incompatible with the original Victorian style of the hot spring city Bath, it can give the citizens a sense of security-this is more precious than anything else in the chaotic dark age.

In short, by the end of December, Bath had become a small independent kingdom, with England abandoned by its rulers.Although water, electricity and gas are cut off like other cities, and pound notes can’t buy anything in the city, at least the citizens still have a daily ration of [-] grams of bread, instead of eating the last meal and worrying about tomorrow. Where is the bread; have a house that can shelter from the wind and rain, instead of hiding in the wilderness; you can sleep in the bed at home without worrying about dying in your dreams-in hell-mode England, this is already a luxury .

So, when this Christmas Eve was approaching, after Annie looked down at the barricade at the end of the street worriedly for a while, she still put a smile on her face as much as possible, walked down from her balcony, and went to the kitchen to help her mother prepare for tonight's dinner. Guests' Christmas dinner.

More than half an hour later, stepping on the last twilight of the setting sun, groups of guests began to visit one after another, coming to the Christmas party held by Mormont's house.Among them are Dr. Wallace's family next door, Reverend Westhart's family two streets away, and Mr. Salmond who originally lived in a farm outside Bath, but now fled to the city to seek refuge with his relatives and friends... There are all kinds of people, men and women. There are no fewer than twenty people, old and young, from all walks of life.However, they basically have one feature in common, that is, most of them have the same red hair as the Mormont family.

——Because Scotland declared its independence not long ago and shamefully betrayed the British Empire, the Scots living in England today cannot help but receive more or less rejection.The situation in the city of Bath is relatively good. In some particularly conservative and closed villages and towns, there are even incidents where the Scots who have settled for many years are driven out to fend for themselves... Faced with such a situation, living in the city of Bath Under the increasingly worrying hostile gazes, the Scots couldn't help but start to strengthen their ties, hugging each other to keep warm.

Therefore, in order to whitewash the peace, the City Hall of Bath City announced that it would hold a Christmas celebration at the Abbey Church in the city center, inviting gentlemen and ladies from all over the city to participate.But the Scots, who don't want to look blankly, would rather gather in the Mormont's drawing room and celebrate their own Christmas.

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Because today is Christmas, Anne Mormont's mother, Mrs. Mellen, not only prepared a Christmas tree in the corner of the room, but also extravagantly lit the fireplace, lit three candles on the long table in the living room, and took out a collection of A can of Spam, a can of American egg powder, and a few apples.

And the guests who visited tonight also know that in these damn years, the food reserves of every household are very tight, and the pound banknotes have become waste paper, and there is nowhere to buy food if they want to buy food. It is very, very difficult to prepare a decent Christmas dinner to entertain so many people, so when they came to Mormont's house, they all brought some food more or less to make up for it, such as Wallace The doctor brought a piece of corned beef and half a pound of candy, Reverend Westhart brought a basket of potatoes and onions from his own yard, Mr. Salmond brought two bottles of whiskey and a bottle of beer... so Finally, a table of food and drink was gathered, so that the Mormont family did not fall to the point where they wanted to treat guests with rat meat...

All in all, under the dim and flickering candlelight, with the meager and shabby dishes on the table, everyone pushed the glasses and changed the dishes for a few rounds, and they couldn't help but feel a little drunk, and they all started chatting - some people sighed that they, the Scots, The city of Bath is becoming more and more unpopular, and God knows what will happen in the future; some people complain that there is a lack of medical care and medicine in the city, and it is even more difficult to get a few aspirin; order can be restored; someone recalled the burned house and the murdered relatives, and couldn't help but burst into tears in public...

Seeing that what was supposed to be a joyous and festive Christmas party was about to turn into a weeping and grievance meeting, Pastor Westhart, who was good at smoothing things over, quickly stood up to enliven the atmosphere, walked to the piano in the corner, and with the help of a weak candlelight, He played music skillfully - first a few lively and joyful folk tunes, and then the traditional repertoire of evening parties held by the British, the world-class famous song "Auld Lang Syne".

So, taking advantage of the slight drunkenness and the rare warmth, everyone stood up from the table and sang loudly with various voices:

"... How can we forget old friends, and not miss them in our hearts? How can old friends forget each other? Friendship will last forever!
longlive friendship!Friends, long live friendship!Raise your glass and drink, and sing the praises of friendship forever.

We used to wander around the green hills of our hometown all day long.We have also gone through hardships and wandered around.

longlive friendship!Friends, long live friendship!Raise your glass and drink, and sing the praises of friendship forever.

We also paddled on the green waves all day long.But now it has been separated from labor and swallows, far away from seas and oceans.

longlive friendship!Friends, long live friendship!Raise your glass and drink, and sing the praises of Auld Lang Syne..."

Among the reverberating songs, some people recalled the beautiful peaceful years before the war, and some missed their relatives and friends who may or may not be alive... However, before the song was over, there was a loud noise from outside. Come, break the silence of Christmas Eve.As a result, the singing and piano in the living room of Mormont's house suddenly stopped, and everyone whispered in amazement, looking around, looking for the source of the sound.

"...What's that sound? Whose gas pipe has burst? No, isn't the gas stopped long ago?"

"...I feel it sounds more like... No way! Could it be that someone is firing a cannon nearby?!!"

On the other hand, Pastor Westhart, who was playing the piano, frowned and seemed to remember something, so he withdrew his hand from the keys, took out a pocket watch from his pocket and looked at it, then stood up and announced to everyone, " ...Everyone be quiet, don't be afraid. I remember people from the city hall seem to say that there may be fireworks at the Christmas celebration at Abbe Church tonight. It's a little early now, but it may be early !"

After hearing this seemingly reasonable explanation, everyone nodded and sat down again.However, before Pastor Westhart could play the music again, a huge metal object abruptly broke through the window with the sound of howling wind, splashing a piece of glass shards, and then fell on the ground just now. The red-haired girl Anne Mormont, who came in from the kitchen with a basin of hot soup, overturned the soup basin on the spot, splashing all over her body and face.

When everyone reacted, they turned around and looked intently, and suddenly saw a cannonball poking on the pine floor, the first half of which had penetrated below the floor, and the second half of the tail was still exposed... But for some reason, it didn't explode. Like an ostrich with its head buried in the sand.

Watching the unexploded bomb that broke through the window on Christmas Eve, the expressions of everyone in the living room were quite exciting.

Pastor Westhart, who hadn't finished speaking, was dumbfounded.

Anne Mormont, the red-haired girl who was splashed with hot soup, was dumbfounded.

The rest of the guests present were also dumbfounded.

Because, apart from the word stunned, there seems to be no other words that can describe their hearts that are on the verge of collapse at this moment.

—Santa Claus is up!There really isn't a more exciting Christmas gift in this world!
As a matter of course, the next moment, hysterical screams rang out in this living room that was originally happy.

"...Damn it! It's really bombardment! Everyone lie down... No! It's about escaping——"