Vol 2 Chapter 533: , Prison Break Action (1)

Over the years, the Irish Sea is almost the only relatively wide area where British warships can move freely. The training of new British warships is almost all done in this sea area. This naturally led to a fierce struggle between the two sides at the two exits of the Irish Sea.
In the North Sea Strait, the French acted quickly and preempted the island of Islay. As for the British who reacted, they strengthened their defenses in Campbelltown, a little further south of Islay.
Campbelltown is a peninsula extending into the sea from Scotland. It is also the narrowest place in the North Sea Channel. The narrowest place is only 20 kilometers. The British laid mines here. Of course, they left a safe passage for themselves.
From the French-controlled Isle of Islay to the Irish coast, the narrowest place is 37 kilometers. Of course, the navigable place is not so wide. The French also mine here, and of course, they also left a safe passage for themselves.
Every night, French minesweepers set off from Islay and went to Campbelltown to clear mines; the British minesweepers set off from Campbelltown to Islay to clear mines. In the daytime, the French would make up for mine on their side, and the British would make up for mine on their side. Of course, everyone rests on legal holidays.
In fact, what worries the French most is the waterway on the east side of Islay. Turning to the east from Islay, towards the direction of Tenish, there is a waterway that is completely under the control of the British, about six kilometers wide and about three kilometers at its narrowest point. The hydrology of this waterway is complicated and there are hidden reefs everywhere. In the past, basically it could not be used for navigation. But now is a special time, who knows?
For a while, the French also tried to mine here. As a result, their men drove out the minesweeper the night before. Three days later, they came back in a lifeboat before they had time to lay a mine. Hit a reef. In short, if you are unfamiliar with the waterway there, let alone passing by at night, passing by during the day is as dangerous as going directly into the minefield.
The French also sent scouts to monitor this waterway and found that the British were indeed using this waterway. Although small ships came and went from here, according to the scouts, they heard explosions in this area. It is likely that the British were clearing the waterway to prepare for larger ships to enter and exit the Irish Sea.
The exit of this narrow waterway is about 100 kilometers away from Islay’s anchorage. It is impossible for a fleet to hold the exit of Islay and another exit one hundred kilometers away. So to stop them, the British fleet must be stopped in the narrow waters outside the Campbelltown exit. Otherwise, once the British fleet is out of trouble, they may preemptively enter the North Sea before the arrival of the French main fleet, sweep the European ships entering and exiting the Danish Strait, and expel those cruisers that perform blockade missions off the British coast. Of course, more importantly, as long as they appear on the ocean, even if they do nothing, they can force the French to gather their fleets, search for them all over the ocean, and guard their own routes, thereby blocking the seas of Britain. Become in name only. As long as the pair is not wiped out or returned due to supply problems, the French will not have the power to close Britain.
At that time, the relationship between Britain and overseas colonies will be restored to a certain extent. Even, attracted by high profits, some guys in Europe will also smuggle various materials to Britain, just like in 1993. They smuggle all kinds of things to France. In fact, even now, many Europeans and British people are taking risks to run this kind of business, attracted by high profits. Even in this business, even the French Ministry of Truth and the Ministry of Public Security have a share. Of course, they should be to better obtain intelligence, not to make money. Moreover, with the support of their intelligence, the French Navy also caught many smugglers.
Taking into account the situation in the UK, it is difficult to maintain for a long time, and the blockade must be broken as soon as possible. Judging from various intelligence, if the blockade has not been broken within a month, then a large-scale revolution is a high probability event. So the British fleet should have action within half a month.
So the French main fleet, which had been stationed in Port Carroll, Ireland, began operations, and part of it moved south to block the Strait of St. George. The St. George Strait has the best hydrological conditions. Once the British fleet comes out from here, it poses the greatest threat to the routes along the French coast. In addition, once something is found to be wrong, it is most convenient to retreat. Therefore, the French have always been the best on guard. Even in normal times, there are always several specialized power-enhanced colonial cruisers that have been replaced with larger steam engines and reduced weapons and coal loads in exchange for staying in the strait at a higher speed. Their task is to find the United Kingdom. The fleet immediately used radio to notify the French fleet of the movements of the British fleet and kept following them. Therefore, this cruiser also has a nickname called "light bulb".
The other fleet rushed north and entered the anchorage on Islay.
Islay has a nice bay, which is perfect for sheltering from the wind, but it is very difficult to change it into a port. Because the bay is surrounded by typical glacial terrain, except for the exit side, the bay is full of high cliffs. It is impossible to build a large port here.
The French did have a small port near this bay, dedicated to the army and minesweepers on the island. In addition, they have long anchored two large coal ships in the bay to support the fleet that will anchor here in the future. But even so, the time that a large fleet can support here is limited, after all, this is not a port.
But on the other hand, it’s fine for the fleet to stay here for two or three months. The current situation in the UK, I am afraid it will be difficult to sustain it for a few months.
In fact, during this period of time, the British government has expressed its sincerity for peace to France through a neutral country. It's just that although the British feel that they are sincere, the French feel that even if they cannot be said to be insincere, their sincerity is still not enough.
For example, the British expressed their willingness to cede the French to the British colonies after the Seven Years' War, and even return the colonies in India to France, and agreed to completely abolish the navigation regulations in order to achieve free trade. In the eyes of the British, this is already very sincere, and it can even be said that it has given the French a surprise.
But the French said that if the British could show such sincerity before the North Atlantic battle, it would be a surprise, but now, is this tmd ashamed to be a surprise now? ::
The French put forward their own conditions:
First, the British domestic market is fully opened to France and other European countries, and all restrictions on foreign capital are relaxed. All trade disputes should be handed over to the Roman Empire Trade Arbitration Commission for fair arbitration instead of unilateral action.
Second, the UK must amend its domestic laws, adopt trade laws that are in line with international standards, and accept the supervision of European countries.
Third, Britain must follow the example of France and formulate labor laws to protect labor interests.
Fourth, the UK must adopt an attitude of religious freedom, abolish the state religion, allow any other legal religion to preach in the UK, and must not discriminate against or even persecute believers of other religions in any way. On this point, Britain must accept the supervision of a religious freedom committee including the Holy See.
Fifth, the size of the British navy and army must be restricted. The navy shall no longer retain any warship with a displacement exceeding 5,000 tons. Defense facilities such as coastal forts must be demolished within a limited time. The army must hire French instructors and accept French guidance.
Sixth, all British colonies are entrusted to the Roman Empire to ensure that the human rights of the colonial people are not violated.
...
In short, the French made as many as 21 requests in one go. It is said that after Foreign Minister Talleyrand informed the British representative of these requirements in a secret negotiation code-named "Plane Tree", the British representative, after reading these 21 articles, became furious, and said, "You guys. It’s not about peace. You are going to completely destroy Britain. These 21 articles are the 21 articles that perish Britain!"
Obviously the requirements of the two sides are too far apart, and the French can't show the sincerity that the British want.
When the negotiations finally broke down, it is said that Foreign Minister Talleyrand said to the British: "These conditions are indeed a bit harsh, but if these conditions are promised, Britain is still a kingdom... Isn’t becoming a republic than accepting? Are these conditions more terrifying things? In fact, the crux of the matter is whether you want to protect Britain or the king."
"What the do you mean?" the British representative who was about to leave couldn't help asking.
"Protecting the United Kingdom means making Britain continue to be great. Well, it doesn’t matter whether the United Kingdom is ruled by kings and nobles, or the protector of the country, or the National Salvation Committee and the Revolutionary Court. To be honest, we have prepared another A peace agreement was prepared for the British revolutionary government. And I can tell you responsibly that the peace agreement we prepared for the revolutionary government is much more generous than the one you see now for the Royal Government. , Do you know why?"
Seeing that the British representative still had no response, Talleyrand continued to say that he hadn't understood it yet; "We did this not because we were malicious to the kingdom and favored the republic. It was because the republic was naturally more appealing than the kingdom. France can survive the most dangerous time because the people are willing to support the Republic at all costs. If the British people can support the Royal Government at all costs as they did in 1993, then our conditions will be relatively generous. But the Kingdom What does it have to do with the people? It’s not the people’s. After you suppressed the Charter Movement, you can’t let the people work for you like that. Only the British government after the revolution can have such appeal. Provide better terms. If you want to protect the United Kingdom, we will wait for the revolution before we come to talk. If you want to protect the British King, or more accurately, to maintain the current profit distribution model, then I urge you to seriously consider Now, our twenty-one."
The British, or better understood, is that the upper-class British society does not think that they have reached the point where they are exhausted. They feel that they can rescue them, or maybe even kill them.
"If their navy is not completely destroyed, they will not yield so easily. They still hold hope." While reporting the progress of the "Plane Tree" project, Talleyrand reported to Napoleon.
In order to completely destroy the hope of the British, Napoleon issued an unusual order to the navy: "Even if the entire fleet is wiped out, the British fleet will never be allowed to penetrate the ocean!"
According to the French estimates, the most likely direction of the British fleet is the Strait of St. George to the south. It is wider, and it is also a densely populated and well-developed area along the British coast. The British built forts there. At least when entering and leaving the strait, the British can deploy their teams more safely under the cover of shore artillery. shape. When the situation is not right, relying on the cover of the fort will make it easier to retreat. Therefore, the Admiral of Treville naturally led the main fleet to guard near the St. George Strait.
As for the North Sea Channel, it was led by Admiral François Paul Bruce. In the original history, Bruce encountered Nelson's main fleet in the Battle of Egypt and was killed in the battle. But in this time and space, there was no battle for Egypt at all, so General Bruce was naturally still alive and had been promoted to admiral.
In fact, Admiral Bruce very much hopes to lead the main fleet to intercept the British fleet in the direction of St. George's Strait, because he believes that the British fleet is more likely to emerge from here. If he can lead the main fleet to stop the British fleet here and destroy them, then he will definitely become the admiral.
It was not because of his victory in the North Atlantic naval battle that Marshal Treville got the chance to be promoted to Marshal. In the opinion of Admiral Bruce, Marshal Treville’s command in the North Atlantic naval battle actually had many problems. Admiral Bruce even felt that if the commander in this battle was him, the French army would lose much less. At least, the battleship "Inbrador" would definitely not be lost.
When Admiral Bruce even resumed the battle in the Naval Academy, he publicly declared: "Relying on the overwhelming advantage of the fleet, the result was almost one-for-one with others. This battle was in strategy. Of course, it is a big victory, but in terms of tactics, it is really lacklustre. The only thing worthy of praise is the determination to destroy the enemy."
However, when the task was assigned, Admiral Bruce failed to capture the Strait of St. George, because he wanted to become the admiral, and Treville, who had become the admiral, still wanted to become Where's the generals.
Napoleon finally chose to guard the Strait of St. George by Admiral Treville, because when he asked the two generals about their combat ideas, Admiral Treville emphasized that as long as the enemy fleet is blocked, they If you can't get out, France will win. Admiral Bruce falsely claimed that he could certainly wipe out the British fleet.
It is true that Napoleon, who is adventurous, loves Admiral Bruce’s plan more emotionally, but Napoleon, as a strategist, also knows clearly that there is no need for unnecessary risks. In wars like this, of course we must pursue victory, but we should not pursue the so-called "perfect victory." In many cases, once you have the idea of ​​pursuing "perfect victory", it is easy to make all kinds of incredible mistakes, and finally let the ducks that have been roasted fly away again.
Therefore, as a strategist, Napoleon made the decision to let Admiral Treville guard the St. George Strait, which is most likely to encounter the British fleet, and let Admiral Bruce go to the North Sea Strait.
Admiral Bruce took the Second Squadron and rushed to the anchorage on Islay. The main force of the fleet entered the anchorage to replace the aircraft, and sent the "light bulb" carrying the radio station to the exit of the Campbelltown Peninsula to monitor the movement of the British.
Admiral Bruce thought he was going to make a trip for nothing. Although Admiral Bruce often publicly said that Marshal Treville was a mediocre person, and would only fight against the ship with more artillery and bullying, but he actually knew that Marshal Treville must be there. There is no way out. If the British really go out of the St. George's Strait, Marshal Treville will definitely be able to complete the task of blocking the enemy back, although his number of enemies and exchange ratio may not be good. But he certainly won't lose strategically. And he also knew that after this battle, Britain would probably be over. In the future, the navy and the army will not have any major battles in a short time~EbookFREE.me~ so I guess I will be a general in my life. It's that mediocre, maybe he really became the generals. Update the fastest computer terminal::/
But although Admiral Bruce did not relax, in case the British took care of him, he really came from here, and because of insufficient preparation, he let go of the British fleet, that is not only a chance to become a marshal. After flying, he will definitely become a fool who has been mentioned repeatedly in the future Naval Academy.
So he still cheered up and encouraged everyone to be more vigilant and not let the British escape.
"After the British fleet came out of Campbelltown, it was about 70 kilometers away from entering the Tenes Waterway. Our anchorage was 80 kilometers away. Once the enemy fleet entered the Tenes Waterway, our interception It completely failed. Fortunately, in Belfast, Ireland, we have a series of observation posts. The width of the water in that section is only a little more than 30 kilometers. Our Irish allies can also provide us with certain observation posts and small boats. Early warning information. If their early warning information is timely, we can stop them relatively easily. Otherwise, the race is really a bit difficult. If the enemy fleet appears at the Campbelltown exit without warning, the ships responsible for monitoring, except immediately In addition to sending the telegram back, we must take on the responsibility of harassing the enemy as quickly as possible and gaining time for our main fleet. Do you understand?
After assigning the tasks carefully, Admiral Bruce finally Say so.