there to attack French foraging parties with the intent of starving out the Grande Armée, particularly the ever-hungry dragons, and reducing Napoleon's zone of control. Laurence's orders specify that no pitched battles are allowed, and no quarter is to be given, despite the British guerrillas having clear superiority in military strength; Laurence, understanding, demands that the rest of the formation receive written orders that they follow Laurence's commands without specifying what those commands may be, thus protecting the formation from culpability in war crimes. The mission is instrumental in accustoming the citizens of Britain to the presence of dragons, who are now defending them against the depredations of French foraging parties; despite the larger size of these resistance fighters, the British countryside becomes as protective of them as any other. Despite this, however, Laurence eventually decides to disobey orders and communicates this to Wellesley. Fortunately, Wellesley has judged the time ripe for battle and misconstrues Laurence's reply as an attempt to pass responsibility back up the chain of command. The British Army is deployed out to the southern bank of the mouth of the Thames, a questionable position which Wellesley knows Napoleon will not be able to resist. He commands the Coldstream Guards and Scots Greys to hold the center, whilst other elements support and, when the time is right, encircle Napoleon's forces. On the day of battle, the field is shrouded in mist, and Bonaparte presses his advantages. He has almost seized the day when the fog finally lifts, allowing Admiral Nelson and his considerable fleet, secretly returned from Copenhagen and waiting now in the Channel, to attack the onrushing French with full broadsides whilst the artillery pins them in place. As men and dragons are pounded into the earth, Lien takes wing for the first time, and uses the divine wind to stir up a tsunami which destroys the fleet, sinking every one of the ships, and killing almost all of the men, including Nelson. This serves to buy time for Napoleon to retreat, carried by Lien, but utterly defeated. In the aftermath of the battle things change for the better for the British dragons: using treasure won on the field they are funding the construction of their own pavilions. Wellesley, now in his familiar title as the Duke of Wellington, commutes Laurence's sentence to Transportation to the Colony of New South Wales (Australia); he is also to