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The Fox of France - Chapter 462
🕑 Added 2024-04-04 05:40:30 +0000 UTCChapter 462: Ambush
Meanwhile, in North America, the U.S. Army, under the cover of the French Navy—more precisely, a French cruiser carrying Americans in an electric submarine (which was no bigger than a lifeboat), anchored near Monmouth in the British fleet's waters. They dispatched a team of British soldiers ashore to foster Anglo-American goodwill. Following the British fleet closely, the French cruiser also anchored and, right under the noses of the British, lowered a small boat. This boat carried a few French soldiers and several bicycles made in France.
The British knew these were French observers, who would follow the movements of the British Army and record their actions. Their bicycles indeed proved to be an excellent means of keeping pace even with cavalry units.
Of course, having such a group following them was highly inconvenient for the British forces. Not only was there the concern of premature intelligence leaks, but it was also akin to having two French cruisers impersonating British ships right in front of them. Therefore, each time, the British left behind a few men to "persuade" the French not to follow, using methods other than firearms. The French, undeterred, insisted on following, leading to what almost became a tradition: as soon as the French landed, there would be a boxing match to watch.
Yes, the British "persuasion" involved sending an equal number of men to physically prevent the French from following by engaging in fistfights.
This method was chosen to control the situation better, avoiding an escalation into warfare through gunfire. The equal numbers were not due to British pride or sportsmanship but rather to make it difficult for the French to complain about unfair treatment in the media after a defeat.
After several such encounters, these skirmishes became an amusing diversion for the soldiers of both sides, who would even place bets on the outcomes.
As usual, the British left behind the necessary personnel, and a one-on-one friendly match ensued, ending in a five-to-five draw. Although today's match did not produce a victor, the French were sufficiently injured to halt their pursuit of the British Army—god knows what the British troops intended to do under the cover of night, having landed at dusk.
The soldiers on the British ships cheered—despite the draw, they had won in practice.
However, as the British celebrated, on the other side, shielded from the British fleet, a small wooden submarine was launched from the position where the lifeboat had been lowered. Due to the French cruiser's obstruction, the British were naturally unaware of this activity.
The submarine, resembling a vertical giant goose egg, was lowered into the water. Two genuine Americans descended the rope ladder from the French cruiser to the submarine, opened the door to this "goose egg," and climbed inside.
As the door closed, the submarine began its slow descent, soon disappearing beneath the water's surface.
The diving depth of this wooden submarine was quite limited; it could barely exceed eight meters before its wooden hull would fail under the pressure. For safety, its typical operating depth was around four to five meters. Given the water's clarity, during daylight with good visibility, it was possible to spot such a submarine from a vantage point, such as a lookout post, which made it almost impossible to use the submarine effectively during bright noon.
The submarine relied on a periscope to observe its targets, lacking any form of low-light night vision technology. Even technologies to enhance the periscope's light intake, such as coating technologies, were beyond the capabilities of this era. Therefore, if it was truly night, the submarine faced a new challenge: if they did not surface, they could not see the enemy.
Thus, the submarine chose to launch its attack in the evening, when the light was dim but not so dim that the periscope became useless.
The submarine was armed with a timed bomb weighing forty kilograms—the largest bomb it could carry, as the magnets used to attach the bomb took up considerable weight.
The submarine quickly dived to its predetermined depth and silently raised its periscope to survey the surroundings before heading towards the British fleet.
Approaching the British fleet's anchorage at slightly over two knots, the dim light prevented the British lookouts from spotting the approaching submarine.
In a future era, a submarine closing in on its target like this would simply launch torpedoes at the stationary ships. Unless those torpedoes were the problematic MK-14s developed by the Americans in the 1930s, the British would be doomed.
However, in this era, not even spar torpedoes had been invented, so the American submarine could not yet launch an attack. It needed to get closer.
Identifying the British ships was crucial at this point. The submarine carried only one bomb, and the Americans naturally wanted to hit the largest possible target. Their initial target was the "Queen Elizabeth" battleship.
The target was relatively easy to find; the "Queen Elizabeth" was significantly larger than the other ships, quickly spotted by the Americans, though
she was surrounded by several British warships, necessitating some maneuvering to get close.
After about half an hour, the "Turtle 2" submarine finally reached the shadow of the "Queen Elizabeth."
As the sun set, casting its last rays of twilight, darkness fell over the sea.
"Turtle 2" slowly surfaced near the "Queen Elizabeth." One person opened the hatch, extending halfway out to remove a cover from a box-like object on the submarine, exposing the bomb's magnets. After one final verification of the target, "Turtle 2" submerged again.
An hour later, "Turtle 2" returned to the French cruiser. By then, it was fully dark. However, finding the French cruiser was much easier than locating the "Queen Elizabeth," as the French, unlike the British who practiced blackout measures, lit up their identification lights at night. This ostensibly aimed to prevent misunderstandings, but the British felt the French did this to signal the British fleet's presence.
On the side away from the British fleet, "Turtle 2" lit up its identification lights. The French cruiser lowered hooks, and the two Americans attached the hooks to "Turtle 2," which was then hoisted back onto the cruiser.
"Tony, did everything go smoothly?" a French officer asked an American watching the submarine's retrieval.
"Fairly smooth. The timer is set for 1 a.m., right when everyone's deeply asleep. Let's hope our bomb teaches the British a lesson!" Tony gritted his teeth as he looked towards the British fleet.
Time moved slowly on the French cruiser, with both Americans and French staring towards the British fleet.
"Damn, it's only ten o'clock, and it feels like a century has passed."
"Steve, don't be impatient. It's still early. If you can't wait, you might as well take a nap, and I'll wake you up," Tony joked with another American.
"I'm not tired. I can't sleep," Steve responded, staring intently at the darkened British side, though nothing could be seen except the sound of the waves brought by the sea breeze.
"How much longer, Tony?" After some time, Steve couldn't help but ask again.
"It's still early. Let's see, it's only ten-thirty now. We set it for 1 a.m. How about we play chess?"
The two set up a chessboard under the light and began to play, with several French officers joining to give advice.
However, with Steve's mind elsewhere, his play was erratic, leading to a quick checkmate.
"Damn, today's not a good day for chess. I can't believe I lost to you!"
"Upset? Want to play another game?"
"No, I've got a cat scratching at my heart; how can I play? Tony, what time is it now?"
"Why the rush? It's just about ten-forty. You barely made a few moves before getting checkmated."
As they talked, a distant explosion suddenly echoed. The British fleet lit up, with searchlights sweeping in all directions.
"What's going on? Why did it explode now?" Tony was surprised.
Steve stood up and rushed to the ship's side, overturning the chessboard and scattering the pieces.
"Why did it explode now?"
"It's normal," guessed a French officer. "The bomb had a large magnet, which could affect the clock due to the steel in it. Maybe that's why."
Everyone continued staring towards the British side, but it was night, and even with the lights on, it was impossible to see the extent of the damage.
"Wonder how the old maid is doing. If..."
The next morning, as the sun rose, the French and Americans were disappointed to find the "Queen Elizabeth" still afloat. However, upon closer inspection, they noticed the "Queen Elizabeth" seemed to be listing slightly, no more than ten degrees.
After retrieving the soldiers ashore the previous day, the British navy continued northward at a significantly reduced speed, around 4 knots. It seemed last night's explosion, while not sinking the old maid, had caused some damage.
Afterward, the British fleet did not visit any more American cities along the coast but went directly to Halifax Port in Canada, where they stayed for a long time. The French speculated that the British were attempting further repairs on the "Queen Elizabeth."
"Halifax Port doesn't have the capacity to fully repair a warship like the 'Queen Elizabeth,'" the Governor of New Orleans, Marcel, told Louis. "The British can only reinforce the damaged areas before hastily sending her back to Britain. This means the British fleet's pressure on the Americans will soon be relieved. Sea power will quickly return to the Americans."
"Does that mean we might not need to prepare the convicts?" Louis asked.
"If we want to strike Britain hard, then we need them. If we want Britain and America to continue depleting each other, then we don't need them for
now," Governor Marcel said. "But I worry the Americans might negotiate peace with the British."
This was indeed a danger. Despite suffering losses without gains, the war's continuation could bring greater losses to the Americans, possibly leading to total loss. If they were rational enough, they would indeed cut their losses.
Moreover, if the Americans were wise, they would realize that French interests in North America did not align with theirs. In the long run, the French might even be more dangerous than the British. Unless the Americans were willing to abandon their "City upon a Hill" ambitions and content themselves as ornaments on France's leg, the French and Americans were not true allies. In such a scenario, not only cutting losses but also the possibility of the Americans reconciling with the British was entirely plausible, as seen when Sun Quan, who had resisted Cao Cao alongside Liu Bei, suddenly betrayed him to become the King of Wu under Wei.
"So we cannot allow the Americans to withdraw from the war now, nor can we let them join forces with the British," Louis said. "Damn, if Lucien were here, he'd be perfect for this. But since he's not, we must act ourselves. Governor, we need to spread rumors that someone in the federal government has taken British money, planning to betray the sacrifices of the patriots and negotiate peace with Britain, selling out America!"
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