The Fox of France - Chapter 257 (Patreon)

Chapter 257: The Underwater Explosion

While newspapers in London were still busy attacking each other over "The Lancet" incident, a secret experiment was underway on a small island near Scotland.

A small boat slowly made its way from the island's shore, dropping a bright orange iron sphere into the sea, its surface covered with short steel tentacles attached to an anchor chain. The iron sphere initially floated on the sea's surface, rising and falling with the gentle waves. Then, under the pull of the anchor chain, it plunged beneath the waves, leaving only a small buoy bobbing on the surface.

Immediately, the boat that had released the iron sphere sped away and signaled two other waiting ships.

"We're going over there. Be cautious," Captain Kevin shouted to his sailors on another ship. The side wheels on both sides of the ship started turning, and the steamship headed toward the buoy.

Behind the steamship, a ship was being towed by a cable. This ship had no masts or wheels, only a rudder at the stern, which a person used to control the direction.

Captain Kevin knew that just under that buoy, at a depth of only two meters, lay the iron sphere covered in tentacles. Even through the seawater, he could still see it clearly. This was because the lighting was good at that moment, the water was clear, and the iron sphere was painted a bright orange color.

Kevin also knew that the tentacles on the sphere were special naval trigger mechanisms. Inside these lead tentacles was a small glass bottle filled with sulfuric acid. Upon impact, the tentacles would deform, shattering the glass and releasing the sulfuric acid, initiating an electrochemical reaction, which would then trigger the electrical detonator (replicated from war spoils in Ireland), setting off the explosives inside the iron sphere. Just one of these experimental mines was enough to destroy a battleship. However, for this experimental mine, the amount of explosives had been significantly reduced.

Even so, if this mine were to explode, it could easily destroy Kevin's small steam escort ship. This was precisely why all the crew members who could be on the deck were already there, and those who couldn't access the deck had cleared the escape routes to the deck.

In the rear, the ship being towed by the steamship had Captain Anderson gently steering toward the buoy. His ship served as the target vessel for testing the mine's effectiveness, and he was the only one on board controlling the direction. Considering the detonation point should be at the bow, his safety was somewhat guaranteed. He had already donned a life jacket, and nearby ships were on standby to rescue him at any moment. If he could successfully complete the experiment, he might even earn a promotion.

The bow of the ship hit the buoy, and the ship continued forward, followed by a massive explosion.

On the steamship a few hundred meters ahead, Kevin felt as though the entire ship had jumped, and he saw a tremendous column of water shoot into the air, completely obscuring the ship behind it.

After a while, the column of water dissipated, and droplets fell from the sky, landing with a pattering sound. Even Kevin, who was several hundred meters away, had his fair share of water droplets. Looking back, he saw that the target ship had been blown in half, and the remaining half was rapidly sinking.

"Turn around, turn around! Let's go rescue them!" Kevin shouted, though he couldn't hear his own voice.

Nonetheless, the ship did turn around—it had been prepared in advance.

When the steamship turned around, the target ship had already sunk completely, and various pieces of debris were floating on the sea's surface. Everyone looked around and eventually spotted a floating object in bright orange.

"It's over there! Get closer!"

A small boat was lowered from the steamship, and two sailors rowed it toward the object. They pulled Captain Anderson, dressed in an orange life jacket, out of the water. He had lost consciousness from the shock of the explosion and would have likely drowned if not for the life jacket. However, judging by his current condition and the twisted angle of his leg, it was clear that he had suffered a severe compound fracture.

"What the hell? Wasn't the explosive charge reduced? How could it still be so powerful?" Kevin exclaimed in amazement.

In fact, this wasn't surprising, as the explosives used by the British were also based on the technology of nitrocellulose purchased from French merchants. One of the most glaring issues with nitrocellulose was its unstable quality. The power of one batch of the product could differ significantly from another. The most powerful ones could be 1.3 to 1.4 times more potent than TNT, while the weakest ones might not even be half as powerful. This water mine may have had its explosive charge reduced, but it had coincidentally encountered an extremely potent explosive, leading to the...

However, regardless of the circumstances, this experiment was an immense success.

Following this successful test, the Navy immediately proposed to the Cabinet that this weapon could be used to block the Irish coast, cutting off the rebels' access to assistance and ultimately annihilating them.

If this experiment had succeeded several months earlier, Prime Minister Addington would have readily approved such an action, but now he hesitated because authorizing such a move might lead to war.

When Britain and France initially signed a peace agreement, neither party had genuine intentions of peace. They were both ready to catch their breath and resume the fight. If this kind of weapon had been available at the time, it's likely the British would have dealt with the Irish rebels first before making any other moves.

But the situation was different now. After the peace agreement was signed, European markets reopened to Britain, and the country's economy began to show signs of improvement, particularly in industries like textiles and steam engine manufacturing. These industries were bringing in more profits and providing political and economic benefits to the Tory Party.

At this point, if war broke out, everything would undoubtedly come to a halt.

Prime Minister Addington was aware that the prosperity of the textile industry had led to a rapid expansion. The number of spinning machines had increased by nearly one-third in the past few months, and the textile industry's scale was still growing.

Such rapid expansion naturally involved financial investments. Factory owners had borrowed significant sums from banks, and some had raised funds through the stock market. In the event of war, these investments would be lost. Many factories would go bankrupt, and the loans given to them by banks would never be recovered. This could potentially lead to banks being troubled or even bankrupt. Furthermore, many industries, including steel and machinery manufacturing, had profited from the expansion of the textile industry. To meet the growing demands of the textile industry, they had expanded their own production capacity. In the event of war, they would also suffer losses. Add to that the internal problems caused by a large population becoming unemployed, and the entire British economy might face immediate and severe issues. This made Addington seriously reconsider taking any action at this time.

So, Addington sought the advice of former Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger.

Even after stepping down from his position, Pitt remained one of the most influential figures in the Tory Party, thanks to his experience and talent. His influence within the Tory Party was still significantly greater than that of Addington. Even the King, who had played a pivotal role in Addington's ascent and Pitt's resignation, tended to trust Pitt more. Therefore, when faced with such a troublesome situation, Addington had to seek technical guidance from Pitt.

Pitt's stance was quite resolute. He believed that true peace between Britain and France was impossible unless the French abandoned their ambitions. Ireland was of vital importance to Britain.

"Ireland is different from North America. Giving up North America has limited damage to our reputation. But if we give up Ireland or have to acknowledge their independence, how will other countries view us? Reputation loss aside, once Ireland gains independence, they will surely become our enemies. Those fellows in North America still hold malice against us, but the Irish will hate us even more. Ireland is so close to us, and if they hate us to this extent, they could easily become a tool for other countries, let's be more explicit, the French, to threaten us. Once the French and independent Ireland form an alliance, once French troops begin deploying in Ireland, can we still sleep at night? Compared to this, temporary economic difficulties mean very little. And if we guide it properly, we're not entirely unable to mitigate some of the losses. Moreover, we have also opened up markets to the French, which, to some extent, has caused losses to some of our other industries..."

However, Prime Minister Addington remained hesitant. His situation was different from Pitt's. After achieving peace, his approval ratings had gradually increased, thanks to the peace dividend. Those supporting him were primarily the textile factory owners and those who had profited from trade with Europe. If he were to choose to support the naval plan for laying mines, it would mean betraying his own supporters. A politician who betrays his supporters is likely to lose all future support. This would almost certainly jeopardize his political future.

Thinking of this, Prime Minister Addington began to doubt Pitt's advice, as well as an undisclosed goal behind it: to remove him from power and return to the position of Prime Minister.

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