The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1125: Chapter 108: Bismarck’s Hell

Garibaldi was a brave soldier, a brave lion, but his political acumen was insufficient. His fanaticism was more worrying than his courage, as his actions only brought chaos, not order.

Napoleon III was a very cunning diplomat, whose strategies forced me to remain on constant alert. His shortcomings lay in his overly fanciful nature, with political ideas filled with romanticism rather than realism. His end was a natural result of his personal character and policies, as he often failed to make decisive decisions when needed.

As for Sir Arthur Hastings, he was undoubtedly an exceptional politician, but unlike the adventurously inclined, short-term focused Viscount Palmerston, Arthur often valued long-term policy continuity, social order, and stability, perhaps due to his early years as a policeman.

He rarely spoke publicly, behaving so subtly that it seemed he was insignificant in Britain. However, anyone who truly thinks so would be gravely mistaken. All observant individuals would discover that this British people’s hero, their Cabinet Secretary, although not loquacious, every utterance in political affairs swayed the scales of final victory.

Arthur and I have been friends for many years, and of course, my relationship with Mr. Disraeli is also good. However, my relationship with Arthur is more special than mere friendship because he has been my nightmare for many years, and this complex relationship between us has persisted from my student days to the present, from beginning to end.

—Otto von Bismarck, German Empire Prime Minister, during his last visit to England in 1890 before his resignation, attended a state funeral and paid tribute to the deceased with a wreath inscribed with ’Those skilled in healing foster no fame, those skilled in battle garner no glory’ at Westminster Palace.

In the classroom at the University of Gottingen, although the professor’s tone rose and fell, he still couldn’t capture Bismarck’s attention.

He looked at his bandaged hands and felt he was on the verge of a mental breakdown.

In the past week, he challenged Arthur nearly every day.

Initially, he did so to reclaim his title as Gottingen’s strongest duelist, but later, these suicidal duels became mere pathetic acts defending male dignity.

During these days, the weapons Arthur defeated him with included but were not limited to the German Longsword, English Shortsword, French Small Sword, Swiss Two-Handed Greatsword, Scottish Highland Broadsword, Knight’s Double-Edged One-Handed Sword, Military Saber, etc.

Throughout the process, Arthur flamboyantly displayed to him the elegant lightness of the Italian Fiore’s Swift Sword, the utilitarian representative English Silverflow Swordsmanship, the ancestor of thoroughfare swordsmanship, the German Mayer Style Longsword, and the German two-hand swordsmanship created by German legendary Sword Saint Johannes Lichtennar.

And, as one of the drafters of the Scotland Yard Swordsmanship Combat Manual, Arthur naturally demonstrated to Bismarck the business swordsmanship of Scotland Yard police.

To put it simply, these days, Bismarck was beaten differently each time.

Indeed, Bismarck’s dueling skills were decent, but his little talent paled in comparison to Arthur’s former opponent, the Paris Sword Saint Bertrand, and could only be described as a trifling martial art.

Even though Arthur used the power of money to ’barely’ defeat Bertrand eventually, subduing Bismarck was absolutely within his easy grasp.

Moreover, in most cases, Arthur didn’t even need to employ too many techniques.

Even if merely relying on brute force swordplay, Bismarck, a player reigning in the novice village, would be easily suppressed by the already advanced second-stage player, Sir Arthur Hastings, unable to fight back.

Bismarck’s hands densely wrapped in bandages were proof.

Ever since he clashed with Arthur, the webbing of his hands never healed, and he even felt painful holding a pen now.

After realizing the huge disparity of strength between himself and the newly appointed electromagnetism professor, Bismarck, unable to win or curse effectively, could only give Arthur the nickname ’Boar Warrior,’ thinking Arthur wielding a sword was like a boar randomly rooting around.

However, though the physical pain was hard to endure, the mental blow was even more heartbreaking to Bismarck.

”What did you learn from today’s incident?”

Every time he casually defeated Bismarck, he would ask this soul-searching question, causing Bismarck to dream about it and wake up suddenly.

Whenever Bismarck thought of that annoying smile, he wanted to smash it with a punch.

However, the only issue now was his abilities were insufficient to fulfill his wishes.

As a traditional German martial arts enthusiast, Bismarck felt infinite sorrow in his heart.

Germany, once a dueling land flourishing with countless Great Sword Saints, had them defending German martial dignity with their longswords.

Yet, in today’s 19th century, due to his inadequate abilities, he had to hand over the title of Gottingen Sword Saint to a British, something utterly unacceptable to Bismarck.

In Bismarck’s view, Arthur Hastings was not only insulting him but also the honor of traditional German martial arts. However, the entire university’s professors remained indifferent to it, and students’ societies holding petty citizen beliefs, despite their strongly supportive stance towards German nationalism, similarly turned a blind eye to Arthur Hastings’s actions.