The Fox of France - Chapter 454 (Patreon)

Chapter 454: Submarines and Canned Goose

Although Louis was very dissatisfied with the Americans' various actions, merely complaining solved nothing. After all, no matter how much he cursed, even if he mobilized all the employees of the Louisiana Development Bank to join in the cursing, could they really curse Jefferson or Nelson to death?

However, the situation in the American war could not continue like this; he had to find a way to turn the tide. Strategically, at least for now, Britain remained France's greatest enemy. The reason France supported the Americans in declaring war on Britain, targeting the British, was to prove to other countries around the world that Britain was merely a colossus with feet of clay, a paper tiger. As long as one dared to fight, one could tear a piece of flesh from Britain.

If the Americans could successfully tear a piece of flesh from the British this time, it would expose the British's weakness to the whole world, and then, perhaps a frenzy of partitioning the United Kingdom, or at least its colonies, might occur. This frenzy would not be limited to North America but would also spread to Africa and even to Central Asia and India in the future.

But if the Americans gained nothing from this war, people would feel that the British were still real tigers. Then, at most, the French would continue to trouble the British, but other countries would merely watch the show. Thus, France could only rely on its own strength to deal with Britain, considering that France could not, like Britain, concentrate all its efforts on naval power. Thus, defeating Britain would still be a lengthy process.

"At present, our naval forces, at least those in Louisiana, are insufficient to change the course of the war," Louis said to Governor Marcel, "Even if we join directly, it won't be of much use. However, maybe we can send mercenaries to fight the British on land?"

"Sending mercenaries? That's also a solution. However, we are not completely helpless at sea," Governor Marcel said.

"At sea? We only have a few colonial cruisers at our disposal, and together they are no match for that old British spinster," Louis shook his head.

"I heard that not long ago, an American approached you and sold you a submarine?" Governor Marcel said.

"You know about this? But that submarine wasn't sold to us; it was given as compensation for a debt default," Louis said.

"That guy previously approached a friend of mine, trying to get some investment from him. My friend is a naval officer, and he said that the guy's submarine wasn't very useful, at best, it could sneak into an enemy's naval harbor and place a timed bomb under their ships—though I think it will be too late once the British take Atlantic City. However, after they capture their next target, perhaps there will be an opportunity to use this to attack them."

The submarine sold to Louis by the American was actually just an improved version of a submarine used by the Americans during the Revolutionary War in 1776 to attack the British fleet.

The concept of submarines was first proposed by Da Vinci, though he did not present a design. Later, people completed several designs filled with fanciful ideas, some of which were even built and tested. For example, in 1620, the Dutch engineer Cornelius Drebbel built the first successful submarine in history, later known as the "father of the submarine". His submarine was a sealed boat driven by 12 rowers, who several times submerged over 5 meters deep in the Thames River for demonstrations. However, its use was limited to performances.

For over a hundred years afterwards, there was little progress in submarine development; they were mostly used for demonstrations.

During the American Revolutionary War in 1776, David Bushnell constructed a "submarine" out of wood to attack British warships. This submarine, named "Turtle", resembled a duck egg in shape, floating vertically in the sea, using a leather bag to fill and discharge water to adjust buoyancy, and moving forward with a hand-cranked propeller.

Bushnell attached a powder keg outside the submarine and prepared a drill on the submarine, planning to drill a hole in the hull of a British warship and then attach the powder keg to explode it.

This design was theoretically feasible, but in practice, the submarine, with only one crew member, had to control depth, direction, and propulsion... As a result, it was difficult to control and moved slowly. In fact, it never achieved a successful attack.

However, the submarine recently acquired by Louis had several improvements. It was a bit larger, capable of accommodating two people, allowing one to control depth and the other direction, which was a significant improvement over the "Turtle".

The most significant improvement, however, was the power source: it had shifted from manpower to a battery pack. With the battery pack and electric motor, it could move underwater at a maximum speed of three knots. This speed was still very slow

, even slower than many ocean currents, but it was much faster than the "Turtle's" hand-cranked propulsion.

Of course, the bottoms of modern warships were no longer vulnerable to being drilled and attached with explosives by hand. But against steel warships, there was a simpler method: use a large magnet to attach the explosive-laden submarine under the ship, set the timer, and then leave.

"Your meaning is, our warships carry this device, watch the British's movements, and when the British enter the harbor to rest, we deploy it? Then, well, I've looked into this out of boredom. Doing so might actually have a chance of success. We can try it," Louis said.

"Should we tamper with the timed bomb, make it explode as soon as it's activated, so no one gets captured and exposes us?" Governor Marcel said.

"There's no need," Louis shook his head, "Let them talk. We just deny it. If they dare to slander, we accuse them of shamelessly insulting us, demand a public apology and the elimination of the impact, or else, we'll declare war on them! I don't believe they dare to spout nonsense. To be honest, we've been lacking a greater opportunity to get involved in this event."

"If the British really suffer losses, they'll find it hard to bear. But even if they do bear it, it's useless. We can find a group of death row inmates, drag them to the border area, then dress them in British uniforms, and execute them all. Then, by placing a British rifle in each of their hands, we can accuse the British of invasion," Governor Marcel said.

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