Fox of France

The battle did not end with the fall of the wall. The British knew what they had done to the Irish, so they resisted extremely fiercely. Of course, the First Division won in the end, but they also paid the price of hundreds of casualties.

This number of casualties made Joyce very depressed, because if every depot after that had to pay such a price to take it down, his First Division would not be able to fight many battles. What annoyed him even more was that at the last moment, the British set fire to the warehouse and burned a lot of valuable supplies.

No matter how successful the anti-sweeping operation is, the base area will definitely be seriously damaged. These seized materials, under such a premise, are extremely important. As a result, more supplies were not captured, which made Joyce even more frustrated.

If Joyce knew the results of the Second Division, he would definitely be even more sad. The Second Division has captured four military depots in the direction of Waterford in one day, and the casualties are still very small. The commander of the second division, O'Hara, was very courageous. He directly divided the 900-strong army into four divisions, attacked four military depots almost simultaneously, and succeeded in all of them. Of course, the second division naturally captured more.

So furious, Joyce not only killed the British, but also hung up all the officers above the platoon leader of the "Black Dog" who helped participate in the defensive battle. Anyway, everything was burned, so there was no need for them to carry things.

But what Joyce didn't expect was the effect of the news that he took down the military station stationed by the British army by storm at night.

When the news came out, the British army suddenly lost the confidence to hold the military depot with a small force. Of course, due to military orders, they did not dare to leave the military station and run away. But if they didn't dare, it doesn't mean others didn't dare. Those "black dogs" who were pulled in to help guard were different. Even if the soldiers of the British army wanted to run, they had nowhere to run. But if the "black dogs" want to run away, there is really no problem at all.

In the past, the "black dogs" felt that they could fight the guerrillas with the British first. If they couldn't fight, they surrendered, and the guerrillas would give them a "hand in their guns and don't kill them". In this way, it is natural to follow the British as guerrillas first. Because the British have meat to eat, and if the British are finished, there is still a way out. But now it seems that at least following the British garrison station, in case of defeat, there may not be a way out.

Moreover, everyone has seen the result of the defensive battle, and it is really impossible to defend. So when Joyce led the army to attack the third military depot, he found that the defensive force in the military depot was surprisingly small, so that many places I can't care less. The result was quickly beaten down by Joyce.

After they were defeated, Joyce found out that there were more than 50 British and more than 300 "black dogs" in this military depot, but after knowing that Joyce's army was approaching, the "black dogs" They broke up in a hurry, and the result...

As a result, the Duke of Norfolk had no choice but to issue an emergency order to abandon some less important strongholds, concentrate troops on a few most important strongholds, and order the army to be transferred back from the front. Calling back the army almost meant admitting the failure of the raid, so some staff officers of the Duke of Norfolk, who were unwilling to fail, asked the governor whether it is possible to recall only a part of the army, because only a part of the army is needed to re-guarantee the logistics route It's safe. However, this proposal was quickly rejected by the Duke:

"Gentlemen, one of the most common mistakes in the world is to continue to invest in things that have failed because you are not willing to fail. Let us admit with a little generosity and confidence that this move by the rebels It exceeded our expectations. Moreover, they have almost completed the interception of our army's logistics line.

Gentlemen, what would happen if we were to bring back an army?

Bringing back an army involves more than just an army. This kind of mobilization often creates a big gap on the entire front, so that the enemy can get every opportunity to break through. Of course, considering that our enemies today may not have the ability to wipe out even one army of our army alone in the field, so this kind of defect is not unbearable for us.

But even so, this kind of transfer must be very cautious and very organized. The military order must not only be sent to the army that was transferred, but a new order must be issued to every army involved. Even so, great chaos is inevitable. In this way, our combat efficiency in non-public security areas will inevitably decline.

At the same time, tens of thousands of troops are operating in hostile areas, and everyone knows how high the logistical requirements are. Even if one of our troops recalled now can restore the lines of communication, can our troops on the front line wait until then? Indeed, there are potatoes in the fields of the rebels, but those potatoes are not ripe yet. Besides, do you want our army to be completely dispersed, and then dig potatoes in the fields like groundhogs all day long? ?

Gentlemen, let's face it, for every second we delay right now, we lose a second more..."

Generally speaking, in military operations, the most difficult thing is not to attack, but to retreat. Especially when the goal is not achieved, it is even more difficult to retreat in front of the enemy. The British army was able to accomplish such a tactic relatively well, but they lacked training in the first place, and now the "security forces" whose morale is not high can only say "the courtiers can't do it".

In addition to those county brigades, district squads, etc., they all adhere to the principle of "picking the soft persimmons", basically they can fight the security forces, but they will not fight the British army. As a result, the more than 40,000 "security forces" became a mess, and the British army couldn't really leave them all in the base area-if this was the case, it would be tantamount to sending equipment to the "rebels". However, to take care of them and take them with them, the whole retreat will become a mess.

Those guerrillas naturally took advantage of this opportunity to fire two shots here and plant a few landmines there. Although the casualties to the British were limited each time, when these small numbers were put together, the final number was huge. It suddenly became bigger. If the Governor hadn't forced the British army to bring out the "security forces" as much as possible, many British officers would have wished to get rid of these "security forces" and go back by themselves.

The retreat with the "security forces" proceeded slowly and awkwardly. Finally, when all the troops or "suspected troops" withdrew to their starting positions, and then took an inventory of the losses, the British army suffered more than a thousand casualties in this crusade (this was mainly due to the broadsword mines).

As for the "Public Security Army", basically no casualties were counted, because no matter whether it was dead or injured, they were directly left behind. But on the side of the "security forces", the number of "disappearances" is a bit scary. Of the more than 40,000 security forces, less than 34,000 returned, and 6,000 to 7,000 "disappeared".

In addition to "missing" six or seven thousand people, they lost even more weapons. They lost more than half of their firearms. Needless to say, these things were donated to the cause of the liberation of the Irish people, but the Irish guerrillas really It's not formal, and I didn't even issue a receipt.

Thus, the British's second major sweep ended in an anticlimactic manner. Both parties returned to their homes to take stock of the gains and losses, and made a summary.

Of course, the responsibility for such a failure must be found out, and the Duke of Norfolk was also asked to return to London to accept the parliamentary questioning. During the questioning, when the Whigs asked "who should take responsibility for this failure", His Excellency the Duke admitted frankly that in this failure, he had to take "his own responsibility", but he He also pointed out that he had made a wrong judgment because the French had increased their support for the Irish rebels. And said: "If the hand of the French to Ireland cannot be cut off, the problem of Ireland will not be a problem that can be solved in the short term."

Of course, the Whig MPs were very dissatisfied with the Duke of Norfolk's statement, but no one wanted to pursue the Duke. The reason is actually simple. Because the British can also play "you say he can't, you can do it". And through the questioning of the Duke of Norfolk, even the Whigs understood one thing, that is: Ireland is now a fire pit, and it is uncomfortable for anyone to jump into it. So let the Tories stay there.

So the Whigs were quick to unify, they said. The work of the Duke of Norfolk in Ireland is excellent and fruitful. The deterioration of the situation is not the responsibility of the Duke of Norfolk, but because the Tory government failed to cut off the link between the French and Ireland.

The Tory government, of course, retorted that the problems arose because the Whigs were dragging the government down in Parliament.

Of course, this alone is not enough. The most important thing now is to prevent the Irish from continuing to receive foreign aid.

To this end, the British first contacted the French again and proposed new peace conditions.

Compared with before, the conditions of the British today can be said to be quite sincere. They have almost recognized all the rights that France has acquired on the European continent except Hanover, and even Hanover, they are willing to take it back through exchange.

If it was before, France would probably have accepted such conditions. Even now, many people find it acceptable. But Joseph was very opposed to this. He said to Napoleon who returned to France for vacation: "If there is peace? Then where will you go to win meritorious deeds?"

"And you, Joseph," replied Napoleon, "where does your military-industrial complex get its money?"

So the French put forward a proposal for peace and rebellion. The French suggested that for peace, the British should give the Irish a high degree of autonomy and allow the Irish to establish a real representative of the Irish on the basis of the United Irish Federation. self-government.

As a result, the peace talks naturally broke down.