The Fox of France - Chapter 461 (Patreon)

Chapter 461: Chain Reaction (6)

Cobbler Philippe Treveil had a berth in the third class of the ship. The third class of this era was only slightly better than the completely open fourth class, offering each person at least a bed of their own and a small compartment separated by canvas, which was narrow and provided neither soundproofing nor security against theft. These small compartments were very similar in size to the cage homes found in a certain Pearl City of later times.

Apart from the cramped space, another similarity to "cage homes" was that the third class was located near the ship's waterline, so there were no windows in the third-class cabins, making them stuffy and hot. Of course, the fourth class, located entirely below the waterline, was even worse off.

Passengers in the third and fourth classes were not restricted from going up to the deck. Truthfully, the deck was much more comfortable than the cabins. However, not many actually went up to the deck. The reason was simple.

Firstly, most of those in third class were already accustomed to hardship and were quite adapted to such environments. Secondly, they all had luggage, and the compartments in third class offered no protection against theft. Unless one carried all their luggage with them, a trip to the deck for some comfort could result in returning to find their belongings pilfered by someone else.

However, Philippe Treveil was different. He had minimal luggage, which all fit into a small bag, allowing him to comfortably take it with him to the deck.

But Philippe did not want to stand out from the others. He was on a special mission, so he aimed to draw as little attention as possible. As for the discomforts of the cabin, after experiencing the exile and struggles of the Great Revolution era, he no longer cared about such discomforts.

As in history, steam-powered ships first found widespread application in passenger transport when transitioning to civilian use. The reason, of course, was that passengers generally had higher demands for travel time, while goods did not. Moreover, long-distance cargo transport could use the similarly fast clipper ships, but clippers' comfort levels were entirely unsuitable for passenger transport.

The ship Philippe was aboard was a steam-powered passenger ship, much faster than the previous sailing ships, but reaching Cape Town still required considerable time.

During this time, the French had to continue finding ways to keep the British busy to cover their operations in Cape Town.

Achieving this was not difficult. First, the battle between laying and clearing mines continued near Gibraltar. It's undeniable that laying mines was much simpler and more efficient than clearing them. In about a month, the American navy reported multiple successes, using mines to sink seventeen British ships, including two mine sweepers.

Of course, there were accidents. For example, one night, an "American" vessel laying mines in an area cleared by the British during the day hit a mine itself. The mine-laying warship sank, and many lives were lost. The "Americans" who luckily survived and swam back cursed the Spanish for the British's irresponsible mine clearance.

Two "Americans" were unfortunately captured by the British. Upon interrogation, it was discovered they couldn't speak English. They confessed to the British: "We are Frenchmen. Hired by the American government."

The British were furious, first holding a press conference to accuse the French of violating neutrality principles and threatening to hang these "mercenaries" as pirates.

In response, the French naturally could not remain silent. However, the first to hold a press conference was not the French government, but the American embassy in France.

The Americans acknowledged at the press conference that "some Frenchmen with a sense of justice, willing to fight for democracy and freedom, voluntarily joined our army. Though not American citizens, they indeed are members of our military. Additionally, we have consulted legal experts. French law does not prohibit French citizens from joining the armed forces of friendly nations, just as French law does not prohibit citizens of friendly nations from joining the French military—as long as they do so voluntarily."

After acknowledging the participation of Frenchmen in the American military, the Americans talked about the indestructible friendship forged in blood between France and America. Both nations share similar republican systems and ideologies and are truly reliable allies. Finally, they directly appealed to the French public, encouraging French citizens to join the American military to protect the democracy and freedom cherished by both France and America.

The French were not particularly moved by the Americans' talk of friendship, as many proud Frenchmen still considered Americans barbarians. However, the American call for Frenchmen to join their military did interest many, as the Americans offered high military pay. Of course, the Americans' requirements were not low; they needed experienced military personnel.

After the American press conference, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs also held a press conference. Foreign Minister Talleyrand stated that French citizens joining the American military did not currently violate French law and was entirely a matter of personal freedom. If they died on the

battlefield, the French government could only express condolences. However, though they had joined the American military, they remained French citizens. Their rights as prisoners of war should be protected, and the French government would not tolerate the British executing French prisoners of war.

The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs then demanded the British allow French diplomats to visit the captured French citizens to ensure their basic human rights were not violated.

The British angrily refused this request. Then, of course, French newspapers went into overdrive, accusing the British of disrespecting basic human rights. Following this, the French Ministry of Truth added fuel to the fire by publishing a document titled "The Human Rights Situation in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland White Paper."

In this white paper, the French listed various human rights violations by the British, such as artificially causing famines in the colonies, shooting at workers' movements at home, and slaughtering peaceful civilians during wars. Through this series of propaganda, the British image had completely transformed from civilized people to barbarians, albeit scientifically knowledgeable barbarians.

The British, anticipating a new wave of public opinion attacks after refusing the French visitation request, were prepared for a propaganda battle. They accused the French of being warmongers, with Napoleon as the leader of the warlords, a deceitful leader at that. Initially, when signing peace agreements with other nations, Napoleon claimed that France only wished to live freely and had no intention of exporting revolution. He assured the world that France would respect all nations' sovereignty and not interfere in another country's internal affairs. But today, wasn't he interfering in British internal affairs?

In response to these accusations, Napoleon Bonaparte, the First Consul of France, personally responded. He stated that he certainly respected British sovereignty, and it was not the French government or he, Napoleon, who disrespected British sovereignty, but the British government itself.

"Sovereignty is worthy of respect because it ultimately represents the collective expression of a nation's people's human rights. As Jean-Jacques Rousseau mentioned in 'The Social Contract,' the sovereignty of a state is the application of the general will of its people. And our 'Declaration of the Rights of Man' also clearly states that 'sovereignty essentially resides in the nation.' Therefore, anyone who respects another nation's people will naturally respect that nation's sovereignty.

But if a government does not represent the general will, instead constantly violating it, oppressing its people, shooting at peaceful protesters, and imprisoning the true representatives of the general will, how can such a government claim to represent a nation's sovereignty? Remember, human rights are above sovereignty, for human rights are the mother of sovereignty..."

Napoleon elaborated on his view from social, legal, historical, and many other perspectives. Regarding his speech, a later comment aptly fits:

"Napoleon's views and arguments were quite successful in terms of theory, logic, and evidence. Even if not perfect, they were close to perfect. However, the real implementation faced a huge problem: who has the right to judge whether a nation's government truly represents its sovereignty? Napoleon set a dangerous precedent by acting as a foreign government, arbitrarily determining another nation's government's legitimacy. This turned the judgment of 'sovereignty' into a matter of military superiority, where Napoleon decided which government had 'non-interfering sovereignty.' Thus, the principles of 'respecting sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs' were trampled by Napoleon into the mud..."

Even as Napoleon made this speech, some immediately saw the artillery hidden behind his eloquent words. The British almost instantly recognized the malicious intent behind Napoleon's rhetoric and immediately countered.

But they found themselves in a huge dilemma on the battlefield of public opinion: their voice was too weak, at least on the European continent, so much so that the only way their voice could be heard on the continent was through the French Scientific Truth Gazette. And on the pages of the Scientific Truth Gazette, one could not read their full articles but only see bits and pieces of British statements through the French refutations.

As the saying goes, "Lies spread with a shout, but truth requires a marathon to catch up." Often, this phenomenon isn't because people are inherently foolish and prone to believing baseless rumors. A more decisive factor is likely the difference in volume between those spreading lies and those debunking them. When they shout, the whole city hears; when you shout, only those within a ten-step radius can hear. How can one not end up exhausted trying to debunk lies?

So, at that time, all of Europe was cheering for Napoleon's "human rights above sovereignty" theory, especially the academic world. Even in many British universities, some scholars sincerely sided with France, believing Napoleon's viewpoint made more sense.

The French were not just engaging in verbal battles. After the British refused the French visitation request, another fleet, escorted by the French navy, entered Carol Port. According to information obtained by the British through spies, the French had delivered a large quantity of new weapons and a significant

number of military advisors to the Irish in one go.

Just two days after this "freedom of navigation," an English patrol ship hit a mine and sank off Galway Port. The Americans quickly took responsibility and American envoy Speer appeared in Ireland, issuing a joint statement with the president of the United Irishmen, Russell. In this statement, they announced an alliance to fight against the British colonizers.

In retaliation, the British began aggressive mining operations outside Carol Port. However, they soon found it very difficult to mine the waters near Carol Port because the Irish had already laid a dense minefield there.

Yes, the Irish had filled the waters near Carol Port with mines. The Irish would not block themselves, so they left a safe passage through the minefield. But the British were unclear about this safe passage, so British mine-laying ships crashed into the prepared Irish mines before they could mine the Irish port, sinking themselves first.

The Irish's creativity also inspired the British, who were worried about how to deal with the endless French-speaking American forces laying mines outside British ports at night. They immediately copied the Irish idea, beginning to mine the waters near their ports likely to be attacked.

While this did hinder the "American Navy's" operations, it came at a cost, one of which was the significant decrease in port efficiency due to artificially created winding passages.

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