The Fox of France - Chapter 477 (Patreon)

Chapter 477: Siege

However, the British, after all, are not comparable to those barbarians from the colonies. The British of this era still possess a robust martial virtue, even within the British Army. Despite the demoralization they've suffered from the security operations in Ireland over the years, a few cannon shots were not enough to cause any significant issues. It was indeed disheartening that the wealthy fled first, but despite the heartache, the British defense did not exhibit any notable weaknesses.

Thus, the only thing left was to slowly wear them down. At least, that was the case until the orders from the Turks and the Russians were completed.

A military meeting was convened by the French advisory group and the leaders of the Irish Independence Army. They gathered to summarize the military intelligence they had acquired over the past few days and to study the combat plans for the offensive operation.

According to the plan, the Irish Independence Army would first approach the main British positions through tunneling, using the cover of night to disrupt the British wire entanglements and minefields.

The offensive operation would focus on swift assaults, with French artillery providing short but intense preparatory fire, while the heavy artillery, under the direction of hot air balloons, would engage in counter-battery fire.

"The British defense is quite formidable, as the British have been operating this defensive line for many years. Therefore, we must overcome impatience and not fantasize about quickly breaking through their defenses. We can only advance bit by bit, like peeling an onion, layer by layer. Any hasty actions will only cause significant and entirely unnecessary losses..." General Soult, the French commander, spoke first. Because the last war ended too quickly and the subsequent peace lasted too long, Soult remained a general and had not yet become a marshal.

However, Napoleon greatly appreciated his talents, expressing more than once that if Soult had been with him in Italy, he would have certainly become a marshal by now.

"He is one of the best tacticians in Europe, stronger than many who have already been made marshals. I believe that with one more war where the army is needed, he will definitely become a marshal."

Before this battle, General Soult had been serving as the principal of the École Militaire, and many of the leaders within the Irish Independence Army were his students. Therefore, Soult's words were quite effective.

Following Soult's command, the Irish began to approach the British positions through tunneling. Tunnels are difficult to attack with ordinary weapons, but the British had plenty of grenade launchers and even larger ones—mortars.

Initially, the French-created grenade launchers, in a way, were considered guerilla warfare wonders. Naturally, the Irish Independence Army was also provided with plenty of these. Then, during the fighting, these widely equipped weapons were inevitably captured by the British. Once the British used these captured weapons, they found, "Hmm, really useful, very powerful, French stuff is good! We want them too!"

Subsequently, the British began to equip their troops with knock-off grenade launchers, and these shameless Brits even sold these weapons to other countries at low prices. This forced the French to lower their prices to maintain their market share, but the profits from this weapon were significantly below expectations. So, wasn't it necessary to teach the British a lesson?

Besides copying the grenade launchers, the British also enlarged them, thus creating the mortar.

The mortar and the grenade launcher both have very curved trajectories, allowing them to hit targets directly in trenches, inflicting casualties on enemies within. So, when the Irish tunnels began to approach the British defensive positions, British mortars and grenade launchers fired like rain, causing significant casualties among the advancing Irish.

Of course, the Irish also had grenade launchers and mortars, and the French army behind them had even more. They fired back fiercely. After a chaotic exchange of fire, both sides suffered damage. Generally speaking, in terms of casualties, the Irish suffered more; but in terms of weapons, especially the number of damaged grenade launchers and mortars, the British lost more. The reason is simple: the British fired first and controlled the high ground, providing better targeting, hence their higher shooting efficiency and greater Irish casualties.

The reason why the British lost more grenade launchers and mortars is also straightforward: the propellants used were different. The French had already begun to widely use nitrocellulose-based propellants, which, although not as powerful or efficient by later standards, were far superior to the brown powder still widely used by the British.

With the technological advantage in propellant, French grenade launchers and mortars had significantly longer ranges than the British knock-offs. When the French began counterattacking based on the positions of the black smoke from the British grenade launchers and mortars, the British found that their mortars and grenade launchers could not reach their targets. Therefore, the British suffered greater losses in this regard.

Under the cover of

the French, the Irish continued to advance despite casualties, pushing the tunnel to near the minefields.

At night, the Irish emerged from the tunnels attempting to clear mines. The British, meanwhile, mounted searchlights on a handcar. They occasionally turned on the lights to sweep the minefield with beams of light, then immediately turned off the lights and moved to avoid potential incoming bullets and shells. If their searchlight beams happened to illuminate the Irish attempting to clear mines, British bullets would fire rapidly.

In this confrontation, it took the Irish and French three nights to essentially clear the first minefield. Ahead was the first British barbed wire.

At this time, the news of France declaring war on Britain and the outcome of the Battle of the North Atlantic had already reached North America. The timing of this news was perfect, as the United States had just suffered a setback on the northern front. General Arthur Wellesley's forces had once again defeated the U.S. Army near New York State, with troops pressing directly toward New York City.

Within the United States, even before this, some had argued that peace should be restored as soon as possible. Naturally, these propositions were immediately met with rebuttal by the angry American public, especially the Southerners who had experienced multiple devastations by British fires along the coastline. They declared they would deal with these traitors "in the manner of patriots and warriors" to "forever silence their disgusting mouths." These voices temporarily quieted down. However, after a series of defeats, such opinions began to emerge again, even causing some wavering within the presidency. But once this news was confirmed, the entire situation changed dramatically.

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