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The Fox of France - Chapter 479
🕑 Added 2024-04-07 03:20:52 +0000 UTCChapter 479: Siege
General Arthur Wellesley began to withdraw his troops from New York. Withdrawal is always the most complex operation, especially when you have an army with the intent to pursue right in front of you, it becomes even more troublesome. General Andrew Jackson, who took over the defense command in New York, although not as experienced as General Arthur Wellesley, was not someone to be taken lightly. Once he confirmed the British were withdrawing, he began to harass the British forces relentlessly, slowing down their retreat.
The Americans had a purpose in doing this. Although their ability to play tricks on the battlefield wasn’t top-notch, their skills off the battlefield were not to be underestimated. So, as soon as General Arthur Wellesley began his retreat, the Americans immediately understood his intentions and what he was worried about. Therefore, the Americans did their best to hold him back, while starting to spread rumors that the French in Quebec were contacting the Americans, planning to encircle and annihilate General Arthur Wellesley’s British forces in a pincer movement.
The organization and mobilization of Quebec's National Guard required more time, so the American forces had to hold General Arthur Wellesley back, buying time for their allies.
The method of spreading this rumor was interesting too; it was directly propagated through General Andrew Jackson's speech to his troops.
General Andrew Jackson, in motivating his troops, told them: “We must continuously attack, hold them back, bite into them like a vicious dog, biting and never letting go. Because as long as we hold onto the British, they are doomed. Behind them, our allies are preparing; they are packing their muskets with bullets—this takes time. The British wild boars in front of us are trying to use this time to escape back into the woods. Now, what we must do is firmly bite into their retreat, not letting them escape. Once our companions have loaded their bullets, with a 'bang', we will have our feast…”
Naturally, after hearing this, the troops were greatly motivated, and they caught up and engaged in battle with the British forces. Then, inevitably, some soldiers were captured by the British during the fight.
Although the American soldiers were generally patriotic, they were also not particularly trained in resisting interrogation, so they quickly revealed the big secret General Andrew Jackson and his plans under British interrogation.
General Arthur Wellesley naturally knew this was all American trickery. However, the issue was, those "French-speaking Englishmen" in Quebec now seemed genuinely to be stirring.
Honestly, initially, due to fear of the "Revolution", those "French-speaking Englishmen" in Quebec were somewhat afraid of becoming French again. But as France became increasingly strong and stable, the idea of becoming French again started to appeal more to Quebec's "French-speaking Englishmen". Especially after learning about Louisiana's tax policies and economic development conditions, post-revolutionary France became increasingly attractive.
Moreover, in these years, by leveraging their French-speaking advantage, some businessmen in Quebec also made a considerable amount of money from dealings with Louisiana. (Although they would jealously mock those “French overseas citizens” in Louisiana as “German-speaking Frenchmen” and indeed, those people did often use German or a mix of German and French in daily life, in Louisiana’s official and media circles, only one language was used—French, so eventually, a unique Louisiana French could emerge.) Many of them were also infiltrated by the "Ministry of Truth", becoming spokespersons for France in the Quebec area.
After the outbreak of the Anglo-American War, Quebec's "French-speaking Englishmen" were very proactive; they organized self-defense forces and actively participated in the war. Religious reasons indeed played a significant role, but using this opportunity to strengthen themselves in preparation for future changes was also an important consideration.
Because the French used cruisers as temporary intermediaries to establish wireless communication between the Atlantic and the European continent, those in Quebec serving the "Ministry of Truth" even knew about France's declaration of war on Britain and the total defeat of the British fleet in the North Atlantic before the Governor General of Canada.
Upon receiving this news, those in Quebec who desired to transform from "French-speaking Englishmen" back to "French-speaking French" immediately sprung into action. Under the guise of supporting the war, they trained more troops and also engaged in extensive construction in Quebec, building numerous defensive fortifications—of course, ostensibly these were to defend against those English-speaking... um, English-speaking Americans.
Now, with allied forces retreating, Quebec's "French-speaking Englishmen" went directly into the defensive fortifications, readying themselves for defense.
This posture could naturally be interpreted as preparing to defend against a potential American attack, or it could be seen as preparing to defend against an attack by General Arthur Wellesley’s purely English-speaking British forces, or even as preparing to join forces with the English-speaking Americans to encircle the English-speaking British.
Upon seeing the actions of those "French-speaking Englishmen"
in the rear, the genuine British immediately became tense. General Arthur Wellesley immediately dispatched a cavalry unit to inquire what those "Quebec Volunteer Corps" intended to do.
However, the Quebec Volunteer Corps, without any hesitation, opened fire on the British cavalry. A barrage of cannon and rifle fire killed half of the cavalry unit, and the rest naturally fled back on their four legs to report that the people of Quebec had revolted.
However, not long after, a few of the English cavalrymen previously captured by the "Quebec people" returned. Accompanying them was a member of the "Quebec Volunteer Corps" who explained to General Arthur Wellesley: "This was all a misunderstanding. Our men thought they were Americans, you know, they all speak English! And their accent was a bit off! You must understand, Americans often wear our uniforms to attack us. So we got nervous…”
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