I think him drinking tea while being fired on by cannons is a reference to Alexander Farnese, the Duke of Parma, who ate a meal at a battlefield at the Siege of Oudenaarde. When a cannonball killed some of the people with him, he just had the table reset and kept on eating, to show that he was completely unperturbed by death and the enemy. I know some historians point to it as exemplifying the change in how the perception of bravery and glory on the battlefield changed from being the guy in front waving around a sword, to being the commander overlooking a battlefield observing through a telescope, snapping it shut, and giving out orders in quick succession to his officers who move an army.