The Fox of France

Chapter 229: The Black Ships

The sweeping and counter-sweeping operations in Ireland had entered their most critical and challenging phase. In order to support the Irish independence forces and keep a bleeding wound for the British, the French government had increased the shipping fees for vessels heading to Ireland by fifty percent.

As a wise mentor from a later era once said, "With suitable profit, capital becomes bold. With 10 percent, it takes risks, with 20 percent, it expects a return, with 50 percent, it is ready to trample all human laws, and if 300 percent, there is no crime it will not commit, even at the risk of the gallows."

Originally, running missions to Ireland promised substantial profits, and with the surging shipping fees, although it hadn't reached the point of "committing any crime, even at the risk of the gallows," it had certainly reached the stage where people were willing to take significant risks. Consequently, during this period, more individuals ordered clipper ships to embark on the adventurous journey to Ireland, and the number of clipper ships heading to Ireland was rapidly increasing.

However, the British had already taken precautions. A month earlier, the Duke of Norfolk had written a letter to the British Prime Minister, pointing out potential issues and offering suggestions:

"Large squadrons of clipper ships are hovering in the vicinity of Ireland, waiting for the arrival of storms. Once the winds blow at sea, they will pounce on Ireland like hungry sharks. As far as I know, the number of French clipper ships is increasing rapidly, and soon, when their numbers are sufficiently large, they may even communicate ways to saturate our interception capabilities and break through our defenses.

On the other hand, the Royal Navy has a shortage of steamships, and these ships have a glaring weakness that has become apparent today, which is their low reliability. After a period of high-intensity use, this problem has become even more pronounced. The commander of the Irish coastal defense's First Fleet reported to me, 'Our ships are either in need of repairs or waiting for repairs. The entire First Fleet, with a total of five steam frigates, can now only send one to sea.'

The lack of standardization in the production of steam frigates has made maintenance more complex. Among the five steam frigates in the First Fleet, five different steam engine models were used, along with other components, including paddlewheels and transmission devices, hardly a single part was the same. This means that each ship requires unique maintenance, and when two ships are out of commission, we can't even use the spare parts from one to quickly repair the other - I can't understand how such a foolish situation came about! Why can't we produce identical steam frigates using the same standards?

I suggest that the British Royal Navy should purchase more steam frigates and adopt entirely uniform construction standards for them. Even if it means slightly lowering their performance, we must ensure their maintainability. Let's not allow these warships to become monsters on dry docks."

The British were well aware that losing Ireland would have a devastating impact on their interests. As the French accelerated the production of clipper ships, the British, too, started speeding up the production of steam frigates in shipyards across the country.

In terms of shipbuilding capacity, the British had a considerable advantage over the French. However, this advantage was with regards to producing conventional vessels. Steamships required more complex machinery installation, making their production distinctly different from other ships. In contrast, the differences between clipper ships and traditional vessels were minimal. So, French shipyards produced clipper ships faster than the British could produce steam frigates.

Furthermore, the British steamships, while increasing in number, continued to face low reliability issues. It was undeniable that the Duke of Norfolk's idea of interchangeable parts was ingenious, but it exceeded the capabilities of the British in this era, at least beyond what this era's Britain could achieve. You see, in another timeline, at least until the 1980s, the most advanced fighter jets produced by a certain Eastern power couldn't even have interchangeable parts.

So, while the British captured or sank more clipper ships, the resupplied Irish forces increased their resistance. They launched another offensive, capturing another supply depot.

Within their stronghold, due to logistical challenges and the ineffectiveness of the "security forces," British losses were noticeably increasing. The efficiency of their efforts to disrupt the stronghold was decreasing due to the security forces' apathy. But why were the security forces so unwilling to work, even on a simple task like "destroying potato fields"?

According to the British, it was because, "The Irish are all lazy, always looking for opportunities to slack off; even when there's no chance, they'll create one to slack off."

But if you were to ask Captain Javert, he would tell you that there was a reason for this behavior. It was mainly because the Irish were too malicious. Those who ravaged the crops with the utmost enthusiasm were their primary targets, and the Irish would strike hard and mercilessly. Unfortunately, the chaps from our "security forces" were simply too dim-witted. Every time they sought help from the British, it was either too late or they naively led the British forces into rebel ambushes.

As a result, for the sake of protecting British soldiers, it made sense to refrain from damaging the crops. So, the "security forces" couldn't do anything right, not even when it came to ruining crops; they couldn't even compete with donkeys.

Since they couldn't rely on the "security forces," the British had tried to ruin the crops themselves. However, they soon found themselves caught in a vicious cycle. If they concentrated their troops to carry out this task, the efficiency was too low, lower even than that of donkeys. But if they dispersed to damage the crops, they were consistently ambushed by the rebels. In these attacks, even the authentic British soldiers suffered heavy casualties.

As a result, even the Duke of Norfolk, who had been shouting "persist," had to admit that continuing these sweeps in non-security areas no longer made sense. His actions had indeed caused significant losses to the stronghold and depleted too many resources. If the British could effectively block the Irish from obtaining sufficient supplies before the potato harvest season, within two to three months, the Irish independence forces would struggle to recover their strength. At that point, if the British launched another massive sweep, they might cause a major famine within the Irish independence forces' stronghold.

Of course, this primarily depended on two factors. First, whether the British could more effectively cut off French supplies to Ireland, and second, whether the United Irishmen could quickly achieve self-sufficiency in production. After all, while weapons and ammunition could be procured through overseas support, solving the food problem via overseas logistics was nearly impossible. If overseas logistics could genuinely resolve the food problem, then either Britain had already collapsed, or the stronghold had shrunk to the point of almost nothing left.

In the following days, a new phenomenon emerged at sea: clipper ships departing from France faced attacks from British clipper ships. This time, British clipper ships were also armed with "Greek fire." Due to the element of surprise and the lack of survivors, these attacks were initially not discovered; people just noticed that the number of ships returning to the harbor had significantly decreased.

Naturally, this situation made the crew members wary. Soon, someone brought back the exact news: the British also had Greek fire.

This news came from a Danish captain named Oleg, who, on his way back from Ireland, rescued an Italian sailor floating on a plank in the sea. The Italian sailor told everyone that their ship had been attacked by British clipper ships disguised as French vessels. The British had ignited their ship with Greek fire and then shot the sailors who jumped into the sea. He had survived by hiding under a large plank to evade the British gunfire.

Before long, the situation deteriorated further. The British had more and more clipper ships, and they began intercepting ships bound for Ireland in a fleet formation. In a series of battles, both sides suffered losses, but with stronger shipbuilding capabilities, closer proximity to their base, lighter cargo loads, faster speed, and the advantage of seizing the windward position (as wind significantly affected the range of Greek fire, the side with the windward position could launch attacks from a greater distance), the British gradually gained the upper hand in these battles.

Because the bootleg clipper ships performed exceptionally well, the British converted those expensive and unwieldy steamships into general cargo ships and continued to increase orders for the bootleg clipper ships.

"In a month, at most, we will eliminate all French clipper ships in the waters near Ireland. Once we cut off this supply line, we will quickly suppress the Irish rebellion," Prime Minister Addington confidently declared during questioning in the House of Commons.

It was on the very day that Prime Minister Addington made this promise to the members of the House of Commons that an unusual warship with an elongated black hull was launched at the Torun shipyard.

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