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The Fox of France - Chapter 519
🕑 Added 2024-05-02 06:44:41 +0000 UTCChapter 519: Cape Town (4)
Regarding the appeal from Babel and the Dutch people in southern Africa, Admiral Treveil stated that, given the various adversarial actions of the British, a declaration of war on Britain by France was inevitable sooner or later. It might have already started by now.
"However, like you, we also have no special means to know the situation in Europe," Treveil said. "Within my authority, I can only send personnel back to Europe to assist you in making requests to the French government. However, my friends, you know, if the war has not yet started, then you still need to wait. And if it has started, Europe is the main battlefield. Deploying an army in a very distant location far from the main battlefield still incurs a significant cost. Moreover, the logistics supply would be extremely difficult."
"We can help with logistics!" Babel said. "We have food and gunpowder, even horses—your Frenchmen need not bring any. You only need to bring guns and cannons."
"The problem is with the cannons. Do you have ports where warships and transport ships can dock to unload the cannons?" Treveil asked.
The Dutch indeed had ports, but only those suitable for docking a couple of fishing boats. Warships or large transport ships could not dock, nor were there appropriate port facilities. Besides, if they controlled such ports, they would be collecting money comfortably, so they had problems taking on the British.
"We don’t have usable ports," Babel thought and then said. "But we could temporarily construct a port that could accommodate warships and transport ships. In fact, there are a few suitable locations for building a port. It will take several months for your forces to arrive anyway. By then, we should be able to have the temporary port ready."
Thus, Treveil had Babel draft a petition, which all the Dutch people signed, and he handed this document to his subordinate to take back to Europe on a fast transport ship. Speaking of which, the fast transport ships were no longer the fastest, but because they had long ranges and strong support capabilities, they were still widely used.
Meanwhile, Babel and his men arranged to keep an eye on the British forces at Cape Town—since, due to a previous battle, the British were somewhat reluctant to come out. Essentially, near Cape Town, the basic situation was as follows:
"John inside, if you are a man, come out and fight!" the Dutch militia shouted outside the cannon range through megaphones.
"Rebels outside, dare you charge here!" the British replied from beside their cannons, shouting back at the Dutch militia.
"Come down!"
"Come here! What are you afraid of? Come here!"
The British wouldn’t come out, and the Dutch militia wouldn’t go over. Of course, this seemed to favor the Dutch militia. However, even Treveil hadn't expected that besieged Cape Town wouldn’t lack food. Since it was a port, it's difficult to blockade without a navy.
Indeed, at that time in Europe, most countries didn’t dare defy France and trade with the British. But in southern Africa, far from Europe, the situation was different. There were many tribes there who didn’t even understand what France or England was, so Napoleon’s formidable reputation couldn’t stop them from trading with the British. Thus, the British easily exchanged various surplus metal tools for food with the local tribes. These transactions didn’t require any port facilities on the tribal side; as long as there was a place for small boats to dock, metal tools, and food could be exchanged smoothly. Therefore, the British didn’t have to worry about food, at least for the moment.
However, the Dutch militia’s port, still under expansion, was discovered by the British. The British had two patrol ships at Cape Town—old-style sailing frigates. These warships were obsolete in Europe but were still useful in more remote areas like South Africa and the Far East. Besides retiring many old sailing warships, the British also moved a significant portion of them to the Far East. For instance, the former flagship "Victory" was now with the British East India Company. Of course, the East India Company had modified this ship, reducing one gun deck to convert the lower gun deck into a cargo hold.
Upon discovering the Dutch were expanding their port, the British were unkind. They brought the two patrol ships over and bombarded the half-finished port into ruins. The Dutch had no cannons and were utterly defenseless against even the outdated sailing warships of the British.
After destroying the port the Dutch were expanding, the British patrol ships would cruise along the coastline every few days, bombarding any port they found, even if it was just for docking fishing boats. Clearly, it was now impossible to build a port that could handle large cannons.
"Now that we can’t build a port, what should we do if the fleet arrives? If we had known this would happen,
we should have first sent a ship with some mines," Treveil said to Babel.
"Mr. Treveil, it’s really not our fault, the British are just too cunning," Babel replied.
"Now is not the time to discuss who to blame, but to think about how to deal with it," Treveil said.
After a while, Babel said, "If the fleet really arrives, maybe they could land at Maputo or Whale Bay. Then from there, they could travel overland to here."
"That's impossible! From Maputo or Whale Bay to here is nearly two thousand kilometers. Considering there are no proper roads in Africa, how could that be possible?" Treveil shook his head in disbelief.
"Then let the fleet first anchor in the bay near Sardinia. That bay is quite suitable for building a large port. Our originally expanded port was there. Surrounded by land on three sides, even if it gets windy, the waves in the bay won’t be too big. Once the fleet arrives there, the British warships wouldn’t dare to come and cause trouble. We could then quickly build the docks... Trust me, it won’t take much time," Babel answered.
"As far as I know, that area near Sardinia lacks fresh water," Treveil frowned and said.
"Ah, Philip, you don’t have to worry about that; we’ll definitely ensure there's fresh water. Besides, you probably won’t bring too many people. Fresh water won’t be a problem."
"It's not just about people; the ships themselves also consume a lot of fresh water," Treveil reminded.
"Okay, don’t worry, I’ll prepare it. We’ll not only provide them with drinking water but even water for them to bathe," Babel said.
In fact, on Philip Treveil’s high-speed transport ship, there was a wireless telegraph machine. Just by sailing about two thousand kilometers north, they could communicate with the French outpost in Central Africa via radio and relay the message quickly back to Paris. So, in fact, Paris would soon know about the situation in South Africa.
Napoleon called the naval and army generals to discuss the situation in South Africa.
"Your Excellency the First Consul, I understand that the strategic position in South Africa is quite important. But why are we rushing to take action there now?" Admiral Treveil asked.
"If the British are defeated, then for the sake of diplomatic relations, we must allow the Dutch to regain control of Cape Town. However, we must have a reliable foothold in this region. After the war, do the British really think they can keep India? And for us to enter India, obtaining a base in South Africa is crucial," Napoleon said. "Moreover, an expedition team from the Academy of Sciences investigating African wildlife found gold sands in a small stream about five hundred kilometers from Maputo Port. The local tribes call this area the Mountain of Gold. Later, the Academy again sent mineral experts, ostensibly to study migratory birds, to this location...
"How did it go?" Marshal Berthier eagerly asked.
"They believe there is a significant gold mine in the area. Of course, it's only a possibility; maybe the gold mine isn’t as big as imagined," Napoleon smiled and said. "But even just for this possibility, it's worth taking action in South Africa. First, take Cape Town, then temporarily use it as a base—it's still quite far from our destination—and then find a harbor on the east coast to use as a base, and finally control the yet unclaimed Mountain of Gold.
Of course, everyone knows that this reason can't be made public. So, the public reason is that we need to establish a base on the east coast of South Africa to support our return to India. Therefore, the inland development won’t receive much national effort; it will mainly rely on private leadership. Gentlemen, you are all my best friends, and you should know what this opportunity means. Yes, we can form an investment company together, and of course, I suggest everyone be ready with white gloves."
"Your Majesty, you really are... the vast Atlantic cannot contain my gratitude and love for you," Orgero gratefully said.
"Me too, me too..." Miura also said loudly.
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