Chapter 172: , Public Security Strengthening (3)

"The British's first large-scale raid brought us huge losses, mainly because we underestimated the cruelty of the struggle, and were dazzled by previous victories. Regarding this defeat, including me, The leadership has an unshirkable responsibility.
　　 In fact, we haven't seen this set of British people before. In the Toulon training camp, during the campaign training on the map, Comrade Joseph used similar methods to cause us great losses when playing the British army.
After having this experience, many people, including me, still take this approach lightly, so much so that in the first sweep of the enemy army, the people and the revolutionary team suffered huge losses. Not to mention, it is a crime..."-Russell, "Revolutionary War Memoirs"
　　After the Duke of Norfolk’s army was launched, the Irish Federation was indeed somewhat under-prepared at first. The terrain of central Ireland is dominated by plains, with few hills. Because of long-term development, there are no large areas of forest in these places. This makes it extremely difficult to transfer the masses.
　　In Toulon, Joseph had proposed some solutions for them, such as digging tunnels. However, the plan of digging tunnels has not been well implemented. This is because Ireland is rainy, the verticality of the soil is not very good, and the groundwater level is high. In many places, not to mention the digging of tunnels, that is, digging trenches, there will be groundwater seeping out. Only those slightly higher hills. Barely able to dig a not too complicated hiding hole.
　　 But the masses are not really nowhere to hide. Also because of heavy rainfall, the plains of Ireland are full of large and small swamps. These swamps are quite dangerous, and there are bottomless quagmire everywhere. People who are not familiar with these places can basically say goodbye to this beautiful world if they step on the wrong place.
　　 But if you have made careful preparations in advance, it is not impossible to enter the swamp to escape. Of course, this requires the preparers to take great risks, and it requires very careful preparation from personnel to materials.
　　 So after the campaign training on the map of Toulon was over, while reviewing the problem, Joseph also proposed using the swamp to settle the refugees. And after discussion, everyone agreed that this approach is quite feasible. But before this sweeping, almost no one seriously prepared for it.
　　 So when the noose of the raid began to tighten, the Irish began to suffer heavy losses.
　　 Company Captain Tahuiton once again saw the Irish village that made him fled in embarrassment last time, leaving him with a nightmare memory. Only this time, he no longer came here with a team of cavalry. By his side, there were thousands of troops, cavalry, infantry, and artillery.
　　 "The artillery is aiming at the target, ready to shoot with arson bombs!" The command sound came from the ear of the company commander Tavern. Yes, fire bombs. After learning the relevant lessons, the British did not intend to enter the village at all. First, arson bombs were used to burn down the entire village. In the fire, most of the layouts in the village failed.
　　In this era, there are no white phosphorus incendiary bombs, napalm bombs, or thermite incendiary bombs—of course, an exception is made for a certain research institute. The so-called arson bomb actually burns an iron ball to red, and then shoots it at the target with a cannon, causing a fire.
The effect of this kind of arson bomb is of course far inferior to those frenzied things of later generations. If the opponent’s building is mainly not a wooden building, but a brick structure, or even a rammed earth structure, this kind of arson bomb will hardly What is the effect. So this thing has always been used by the navy, (the ship on the opposite side must be of wooden structure) almost no one in the army would use such a thing in combat. But Irish farmers’ houses are really made of wood, so these arson bombs are quite suitable for use here.
　　 With the shelling, the village over there began to smoke. Soon, orange-red flames appeared. The distance between houses in this type of village was very small, and the flames could easily burn from one house to another, and the whole village quickly burned.
　　No people or other animals ran out from the burning village. It seems that the villagers have moved.
　　 There is a small forest near the village. This is also the source of the firewood that farmers in the village burn every day. If the people in the village ran to hide, then this woods should be the most likely hiding place. The last time Company Captain Tahuiton came here, there was only a team of cavalry around him, and there was actually nothing he could do about this piece of wood. If he dared to enter the woods that time, he would only die more.
　　 But this time the situation is different. In front of an army of thousands of people, such a forest is really small. What's more, the woods in Ireland are not the same as some woods in the south, they are relatively open and it is harder to hide.
　　 Company Captain Tahuiton received the order that his cavalry guards near the woods, ready to attack the Irish who escaped from the woods, while some other infantry soldiers spread out in skirmish formations and entered the woods.
　　 Soon, there were shouts, gunshots and the explosion of small melons in the woods, and there was obviously a firefight in the woods. Soon Commander Tarverton noticed that a group of people had run out of the woods. Fleeing aimlessly in all directions.
　　 "It's the Irish rebels! Go after them, kill them all, and leave them alone!" Commander Tahuiton ordered, and at the same time he urged the horse under his hips, pulled out the revolver around his waist, and chased after him.
Many of those who escaped from the forest were women and children, but the British cavalry didn’t care about these. They chased them directly, shooting with revolvers, ramming with war horses, and slashing with sabers. They quickly smashed hundreds The "rebels" were wiped out.
　　At this time, the battle in the woods was over. British troops fought fiercely in the woods with "trained Irish rebels". Incurred considerable casualties, but also killed many rebels. Among them, there are nearly 20 "elephant rebels" equipped with revolvers and rifles. As for the "well-trained male rebels" armed with dangerous weapons such as dung forks, there are more than 100 people.
　　 After this battle was over, the things that could be burned in the village were basically burned out, and the fire was gradually extinguished. As soon as the commander gave an order, the soldiers chopped off the heads of the rebels, whether they were male or female, whether they were middle-aged or young, and then used sharpened branches. Inserted on the ruins of the village to deter those who dare to rebel against the rule of the British Empire.
　　 This village actually made retreat and hiding. Because the British army moved very fast, when Company Commander Tahuiton and the others arrived at the second village, the villagers there hadn't even had time to escape from the village.
　　Ta Huidun’s cavalry company intercepted the villagers who had not had time to escape and prevented their escape. The British army who arrived later left the Irish women and children behind, and the men and locked them in the only larger building in the village-a Catholic church.
　　 These women and children will be used to find the way when entering the next village. If they don't die in such a thing, then they will be finally solved when they have completed the campaign goal and retired. As for the men who were imprisoned in the church, when the British soldiers left, they poured fire oil on all sides of the church and then lit a fire.
This scene is being staged in many other Irish villages. According to the subsequent statistics of the Irish Federation, in this noose operation by the British, a total of 171 villages were burned down and more than 10,000 people were killed. , And the Irish Independence Army also killed more than a thousand people in the battle to fight back against the British and protect the villagers. The founder and chairman of the Federation, Ton, also sacrificed honorably because of the betrayal of the traitors. It can be said that in this battle, the Irish suffered a very heavy blow. Even if it were not for the beacon of freedom and democracy across Europe and the timely support of Big Brother France, in the history of the Irish, there would be another One more tragic song of heroes.
　　 With the opportunity of the Irish Federation being severely weakened, the Duke of Norfolk quickly implemented his system with a steel-like hand. In cities, a new certificate system has been implemented. Anyone who does not carry a "good citizen certificate" will be severely punished~EbookFREE.me~ the first whipping, the second hard labor, if there is a third , That is the gallows calling.
　　 The new Baojia system has also been implemented. Because of the setbacks of the revolution, some less determined speculators also began to surrender. Many people who were inclined to the Federation, or simply the secret agents of the Federation, were sent to the gallows, and the rest were basically disconnected. According to the successor chairman, Mr. Russell, "Almost all of our work in the city has been lost."
　　 "How long can the flag of Irish independence be fought?" This question has weighed heavily on the hearts of every fighter in the Federation.
　　 At this most critical juncture, the remaining senior leaders of the Federation held an emergency meeting on a brand-new French high-speed communications ship called Independence. It is said that a hidden French friend also attended the meeting. At the meeting, the French friend made some suggestions to these Irish warriors who insisted on fighting and told them that they had not failed and that the French people would support them more than they do now. It includes not only weapons, but also military advisers.
　　 It was also on this ship that the United Irish Federation re-elected a new leadership agency and formulated a plan for the next phase.
"During this sweep, we have suffered a huge loss. The comrades of the Federation are rivers, and the Irish people are piled up like a mountain. However, the revolutionaries cannot be killed! We buried the corpses of the comrades and wiped them dry. The blood stains on the body, took up the knife, raised the gun, and started the indomitable, indomitable battle."-Russell "Revolutionary War Memoirs"
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