Hogwarts: From Selling White Peppers to Becoming a God

Chapter 350 The Fall

Westminster Palace, London.

When the air raid siren sounded, everyone was startled. Security personnel then announced that a Tomahawk missile was heading towards London, and everyone immediately went to the shelter for refuge.

At the time, the House of Commons was debating how to respond to the US sanctions.

The debate was reaching its climax when the Conservative Party argued that the Umbrella Corporation had "made unauthorized contact with the red camp," implying that the Umbrella Corporation and the British government did not have any real common interests. This left several Labour MPs who were trying to defend the Umbrella Corporation's interests struggling to defend themselves.

At this critical juncture of victory, the meeting was suddenly interrupted by a so-called "air raid siren." A Conservative Party spokesperson expressed strong skepticism, saying, "Missiles being fired at London? Is the American president crazy, or are you all crazy? This must be a ridiculous excuse they're using to disrupt the meeting!"

Fortunately, there were still some clear-headed people. A Sky Radio reporter received the news relatively quickly. He put down his mobile phone and said, "Breaking news: the USS McCain has been sunk, the USS Lamezy has escaped, and we have also lost two destroyers. In addition, the Tomahawk ballistic trajectory was indeed aimed at London, and our radar has lost its signal. It could have landed anywhere in London!"

"I wish you victory in the debate, gentlemen. I must be leaving now..."

The councilors panicked and rushed toward the door.

Some of them were older, and their childhood memories of the London Blitz were triggered, causing them to run faster than the younger people.

"Gentlemen, London has over 300,000 acres, Westminster only has 5,000 acres, and the Houses of Parliament is only 20 acres. The probability of a missile landing on our heads is less than one in ten thousand. Don't panic... Let the frontbench members go first..."

"Stop spouting your ridiculous numbers. Your head is as small as a pinhead. The probability of a Tomahawk missile hitting you is infinitesimally close to zero. The Americans wouldn't waste a missile killing a fool. You stay here, idiot, get out of the way!"

The usually gentlemanly members of parliament poured out of the Capitol through St. Stephen's Passage like rats crawling out of a toilet during an earthquake.

The Sky News reporter, Marius, who had been there earlier, also squeezed into a shelter with the MPs. After recovering from his shock, he turned around and saw that the Conservative Party spokesperson and Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, McDonald, was right next to him.

He couldn't help but take out his recorder. "Deputy Minister, what are your thoughts on this sudden naval battle? Does this confirm some of the claims circulating in society about the US threat?"

"A threat?" McDonald glanced at him. "We don't know what's really going on outside, but I think it's a misunderstanding. Our alliance with the United States has lasted for decades, and neither we nor the United States will easily break this strong alliance. The United States won't threaten us, because that would be like threatening one's own liver, eyes, and tongue."

"Moreover, we are not one of those second-rate countries. Our territory once spanned the entire globe. We were the first to complete the Industrial Revolution. Without us, America would just be a barren grassland, with only Native Americans living a primitive life there."

"I tell you, sir, Britain is indispensable to America's strategy in Europe. No one wants to be our enemy, not even America."

"Hmph, I dare to walk out right now, and I dare to say that those missiles are just a complete fabrication. Dropping missiles at London? Hmph, why not just say they'll blow up Parliament House! In my opinion, nothing serious will happen, everything is still under control."

However, he had barely finished speaking.

"boom!"

Suddenly, a loud bang was heard outside, and a lot of dust was shaken off the ceiling. The light bulb flickered, and a series of screams immediately rang out in the shelter.

"Explosion! It's very close!" Maris had worked as a war correspondent and was no stranger to explosions.

Once the tremors subsided, he couldn't resist running out first, breaking through two security personnel who tried to stop him, and he ran out of the shelter.

All he could see was thick smoke and flames. It took him a while to realize what the scene before him meant.

Driven by a journalist's instinct, he took out his camera and captured the scene.

A huge hole was blown open on the west side of the central part of Westminster Palace, and half of the palace collapsed. Just as he pressed the shutter, the Victoria Tower suddenly collapsed, and the British flag hanging on it fell down with it.

At the same time, Big Ben suddenly rang.

It was exactly 10:00 AM.

Britain's national symbol, a symbol of democracy, and the center of power, the Palace of Westminster—the Houses of Parliament—collapsed with a deafening roar from Big Ben.

……

America, the Pentagon.

An emergency teleconference of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is underway.

"The president has questioned me four times already," the Secretary of Defense said on television, his thin face grim. "You can't keep fooling me with 'still under investigation.' Tell me something useful, what's the conclusion? How did this damn thing happen?!"

"We have compiled all the intelligence and clarified the timeline of the entire incident," a senior intelligence officer said. "Please allow me to take a moment to report on the whole incident."

"At 9:10 a.m., the USS McCain suddenly issued an emergency alert, saying that the British had boarded the ship and seemed to be preparing to seize it. In the next two minutes, we had some communication, but their words were incoherent. At one point they said that the radar might be jammed, at another they said that the other side might be paratroopers, at yet another they said that the enemy was only one person, and finally they even said that the other side might have superpowers..."

"At 9:17, communication with the USS McCain was interrupted for two minutes. Afterward, they lifted the ship's alert and informed us that the special forces members who boarded the ship had been eliminated."

"But soon, at 9:24, they were attacked again, this time by a speedboat loaded with explosives. It appeared suddenly again, and the radar did not detect it. We do not know why the McCain did not intercept the speedboat at close range. There should have been at least a dozen soldiers on duty on the deck... Anyway, the speedboat crashed into the hull, the explosives detonated, and a hole was blown in the middle of the warship, and the propulsion system was paralyzed."

"At 9:30 a.m., the USS Lamecchi, en route to rescue the USS McCain, encountered signal interference and sank a cargo ship."

At 9:41, three British destroyers left Portsmouth and came within visual range of HMS McCain.

"At 9:43, the USS McCain sent an alert that it was locked on by fire control radar."

"At 9:44, the USS McCain was attacked by a torpedo."

"At 9:45, the British ship was hit by a torpedo."

At 9:46, the Lamezi was also locked on by fire control and requested combat orders, but received no response.

"At 9:47, a torpedo attempted to attack the Lamecchi, but was intercepted by depth charges."

"At 9:50, the operational order was issued, and the USS McCain and USS Lamecchi launched anti-ship missiles simultaneously."

"At 9:51, a missile struck a British warship."

At 9:52, the USS McCain was hit again and four Tomahawk missiles were launched simultaneously.

"At 9:52, two Tomahawk missiles were intercepted. One of the other two landed in the no-man's-land in central France, and the other landed in London."

"At 9:54, the Lamecchi was disengaged from the battle."

"At 9:55, the Tomahawk missile bound for London suddenly disappeared."

"At 10:00 sharp, Westminster Palace was bombed."

"Minister, the entire incident lasted only fifty minutes from beginning to end. Within those fifty minutes, two events occurred that were both very strange and crucial. If we can figure out what happened in these two events, we might be able to understand the whole thing."

(End of this chapter)