The Fox of France - Chapter 488 (Patreon)

Chapter 488: Retreat

The British had long since devised a retreat plan and had begun implementing it. The first to be evacuated were the British civilians, who, in Dublin, were mostly wealthy individuals. Many of them boarded ships with a small suitcase containing Irish land deeds. Years later, these deeds would still be produced in Britain, with demands for the Irish government to respect private property, similar to how some Americans would later demand repayment from the Republic using President Yuan's old loan receipts.

After the wealthy civilians had departed, the next priority was essential supplies and various machinery. Despite Dublin's modest industrial sector, including flour mills, any machinery was deemed invaluable to Britain. Thus, these machines were dismantled and loaded onto ships.

Additionally, railway locomotives and tracks, though they could have been used to bolster Dublin’s defenses, were also relocated to enhance defenses on British soil. As for Dublin's defenses, well, the railway sleepers were left behind.

The real challenge came with the withdrawal of combat troops.

Facing enemy assaults, withdrawing troops significantly compromised the defense of their original positions, potentially creating weak points and causing a collapse under the pressure of enemy forces.

Thus, replacing the authentic British troops with so-called "security forces" at any point required extreme caution to avoid a complete defensive breakdown. The weakening or disappearance of defense was inevitable, but it was preferable for it to dissolve rather than collapse under pressure.

During this critical time, the combat effectiveness of these security forces was vital. The British began their final persuasion efforts, targeting the staunch collaborators—those who still served the British and hadn't yet defected to redeem themselves. These collaborators weren’t actually suffering from Stockholm syndrome or a genuine love for Britain; rather, they were driven by rejection from the Irish.

Having committed numerous crimes, these collaborators couldn't turn back. If the Irish independence army truly offered them a chance to start anew, they would've promptly betrayed the British. But the Irish, feeling it unfair to let these major offenders off easily, continued their struggle for three key reasons: fairness, fairness, and more fairness. If these perpetrators were forgiven, it would undermine the entire purpose of their revolution and the sacrifices of their people.

Therefore, these staunch collaborators had no way back.

The British reassured them that as long as they remained loyal to the British Empire, they could be evacuated with the retreat.

However, these staunch collaborators weren't entirely convinced by the British, given they had nowhere else to go—not even the Irish would forgive them, considering their extensive wrongdoing.

Thus, they had no choice but to trust the British, who also needed to convince the subordinate collaborators within their ranks.

Typically, the Irish approach to dealing with collaborators involved punishing the most culpable severely while offering a chance for redemption to the less involved soldiers.

So, the security forces' soldiers might adopt a strategy when facing the advancing independence army: raise their gun barrels slightly when the enemy was still distant and surrender as soon as they charged.

This would make the British retreat exceedingly difficult.

Nevertheless, the British had their methods, starting with spreading rumors.

Preparation is key in all endeavors, including rumor-mongering, an area where the British excelled. Early in the standoff, to prevent the security forces from hedging their bets, the British engaged in comprehensive rumor-mongering.

This involved various forms of slander and impersonation—posing as security forces to commit atrocities in one area, then impersonating the independence army to annihilate a security force elsewhere.

Such tactics were now indispensable. The British showed the security forces photos of the independence army executing their ranks in rows, telling them the independence army harbored deep hatred and wouldn't spare them.

Yet, as effective as rumors can be, they have limits, and the Irish weren't ignorant. They countered the rumors effectively.

According to the second law of thermodynamics, rumors aimed at creating disorder have a natural advantage in spreading compared to efforts to clarify or bring order. This has led to the adage that spreading rumors is easy, but debunking them is hard.

However, if one persistently relies on rumors to stabilize and develop their agenda, the scenario changes. Their rumor-mongering no longer aims to create disorder but to establish a new order, making their efforts inefficient as per the great law of thermodynamics.

This was evident in modern times in Red Rabbit Country, where rumors once forced its government into passivity. But as the rumor-mongers increasingly relied on this tactic, its effectiveness waned—not just in Red Rabbit Country, which coined the term "Don't be too CNN," but also in their own nations, where the founding comrades aptly named them "Fake News."

Now, the British faced similar challenges.

The Irish used loudspeakers to assure the security forces that laying down their arms would restore their status as legal Irish citizens; returning with weapons to join the revolution was equally welcomed. The revolution didn’t discriminate based on timing; early or late, all were invited to earn their place as revolutionary heroes.

In addition to loudspeakers, they fired

 propaganda leaflets with mortars and grenade launchers onto the security forces' positions, urging them to seize their last chance to become revolutionary heroes.

The leaflets plainly stated the ways to become heroes: capturing or killing unrepentant traitors, destroying crucial invader facilities, or gathering key intelligence.

To substantiate their claims, those who had previously defected were now regularly broadcasting messages, convincing their former comrades of the independence army's integrity and promises.

For instance, a former squad leader, Roy, from the 12th Battalion’s 7th Squad, widely recognized among the troops, reassured them over the loudspeaker, “Brothers of the security forces, you know me, Roy. Last month, I and a few brothers, with the traitor Ollicay’s head, defected to the liberators. Now, we’ve become liberating soldiers, received land in our homeland, and I’ve even become an officer. Brothers, the independence army keeps its word, truly honorable. Hurry over…”

The impact of this propaganda was undeniable, as the incident of Battalion Leader Ollicay losing his head last month had been highly sensational, known to every member of the security forces.

Now, with this propaganda, Captain Jarvis of the security forces felt as if every non-British individual he saw was aiming to shoot him and decapitate him to claim a reward from the other side. Captain Ollicay, once Jarvis’s fierce rival over extortion issues, had even insulted Jarvis a month ago, boasting of his greater allegiance compared to Jarvis. Yet, now that Ollicay’s head had been stolen, Jarvis couldn’t feel any joy but rather a desolate sympathy, fearing he might be the next victim of head thieves.

Due to this concern, Captain Jarvis now slept with one eye open, keeping a loaded revolver under his pillow and another, with an empty first chamber, within reach in his bedding.

Despite the British efforts in spreading rumors, which had some effect, they also dispersed the so-called “security forces” among more closely monitored British troops, maintaining a minimal level of functionality.

Besides rumor-mongering, the British also enticed the security forces with promises of evacuation to the British mainland, claiming all were "qualified Britons."

However, merely verbal promises were hardly convincing, so the British actually evacuated a shipload of security forces. Selectively, they didn’t evacuate the most staunch collaborators but rather a relatively average-performing unit.

Why evacuate such a unit? The Duke of Norfolk explained:

“Why not evacuate the best-performing ‘security forces’? Isn’t it obvious? Even the best among them are barely adequate. Now, when we most need them, we count on them to hold their ground. Why would we send them away? By evacuating an average unit, what do the Irish think? They’d assume if such a unit could be evacuated, then certainly they could too. Not everyone might think this way, but even if a fraction does, it’s a chance we can exploit to keep them fighting for us.”

“More importantly, what would the ‘security forces’ officers think?” another officer commented.

“They’d think exactly as we hope. People in desperate situations often convince themselves of the best scenario that allows them to feel at ease, rather than the most logical or likely one,” the Duke of Norfolk concluded.

Just as the Duke of Norfolk anticipated, this move indeed had a significant effect. Some staunch collaborators immediately adopted the expected line of thinking, their morale greatly boosted by the belief that if even those who performed worse than them were evacuated, then surely they, or at least their own ranks, deserved a chance too. After all, the ship was large, the Irish Sea calm, and surely it could slightly overfill with English-speaking soldiers, including those canine ones, after loading the British soldiers, military horses, and military dogs.

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