The Fox of France - Chapter 431

Chapter 431: Armored Trains and Recoilless Cannons

To deal with the war with the Irish, just before the war began, the British Parliament temporarily recalled the Duke of Norfolk, seeking his advice on the current situation in Ireland.

"Gentlemen, first, dispel any fantasies of completely resolving the Irish issue within a few months. Unless you are willing to provide me with an army of over five hundred thousand! Otherwise, don't even think about resolving the Irish issue in a few months!" Facing the members of the House of Commons, the Duke of Norfolk responded frankly.

"Your Excellency, are the rebels in Ireland really that strong now?" a member asked.

"Now the so-called Irish Independent Army has at least over one hundred thousand men, and their equipment level is no less than ours, and their training level is quite high. With the current strength we have in Ireland, it's extremely difficult not only to go out and suppress the rebels but even to defend the existing territories. If I don’t receive some reinforcements immediately, I may have to abandon some minor outposts to ensure the safety of a few important cities," the Duke of Norfolk replied.

"Your Grace, I wonder why, under your administration, the strength of the Irish rebels has grown to such a dangerous extent?" a fellow of the Whigs asked. The accusation implied in this question was quite clear.

"I've been hampered by the ceasefire agreement you Whigs have been maintaining. I've warned you more than once over these years. When the ceasefire agreement was just completed, I warned you that the ceasefire would allow the Irish rebels to rest and grow stronger. Since then, I've reminded you almost every two months that if we can't stop the French from smuggling arms to the Irish, the Irish rebels will become increasingly powerful. But what have you done? For a few orders, for money, you dare not seriously block the passage of weapons to the Irish. Everyone knows what those agricultural products exported from France to Ireland every year really are! Rifles called 'bird repellents,' directional landmines called 'wild boar dispersers,' and all sorts of other nonsense, all fell into the hands of the Irish rebels with your connivance.

The current out-of-control situation in Ireland, as the Governor of Ireland, of course, I am willing to take some responsibility, but the main responsibility lies with you! I've said it before, Ireland is already a volcano about to erupt, but you don't even allow me to pour a glass of water into the crater. I've asked you to relax your plundering of Ireland, and when necessary, you should try to appease them. But what have you done? You've been taxing the Irish as if you're planning to collect taxes for the next century! You've tied my hands and feet, thinking that by putting me on the edge of the volcano, relying on my weight, you can suppress the boiling magma below? I've asked to resign more than once, but which one of you is willing to take my place?

Now, you actually have the nerve to ask me how the Irish rebels have developed to this point, isn't it all because of your efforts? How dare you ask me what's going on!"

The Duke of Norfolk seized the opportunity to scold the entire government and parliament, but in summary, it can basically be summed up as follows:

First, the situation in Ireland is extremely bad, extremely bad. It's not about discussing how to eliminate the rebels anymore, but how not to be eliminated by the rebels. To maintain the situation, you need to give me money, give me people. If you don't have anything, just wait for Ireland to collapse!

Second, the deterioration of the situation in Ireland is entirely your responsibility. If it weren't for me, Ireland would have been finished long ago. I only have merits, and all the blame is on you. If you don't want to take the blame, I'll quit! Find someone else to do it!

Third, Baby has been suffering for these years and has nowhere to vent. Baby wants to vent now, so you listen carefully!

In short, after a chaotic consultation, the Duke of Norfolk got what he wanted.

Of course, only part of it. Parliament certainly couldn't give him five hundred thousand troops because it would cost too much money. And Britain was facing the threat of a shipbuilding race with the French at this time. Where could they find so much money to spend on this?

So the Duke of Norfolk only got one-tenth of the five hundred thousand troops—fifty thousand. However, most of them were relatively elite forces. And Parliament also lowered the goal in Ireland to maintaining the situation rather than eliminating the rebels.

In addition, Parliament also passed the decision to blockade the Irish coast and destroy the ports controlled by the Irish. Although it was unlikely to completely block the Irish from receiving support from the French, it would reduce the efficiency of French support for the Irish.

In fact, when the temporary ceasefire was reached between Britain and the Irish rebels a few years ago, the Duke of Norfolk knew that the situation in Ireland would be difficult to predict in the future. Since then, he has been preparing for the current situation.

The Duke of Norfolk made efforts in several aspects. Firstly, he has been trying to pass on the position of Governor of Ireland to anyone else, but this effort has failed shamefully because others are not fools, and everyone can see that Ireland is not easy to deal with. So the Duke of Norfolk's efforts failed.

So the Duke of Norfolk could only try to strengthen the defense.

At this time, the emergence of railways provided the Duke of Norfolk with considerable assistance. With the support of the Duke of Norfolk, railways were established between several important cities in Ireland. The most important railway among them was the one from Dublin on the east coast to Galway on the west coast. This railway divided the whole of Ireland into two halves, which was strategically important.

Relying on this railway, the British could quickly mobilize troops, while the movement of the Irish Independent Army would be restricted by this railway in various ways. Of course, to protect this railway, the Duke of Norfolk also tried his best.

Athlone, located in the central position of this railway, became the most important military stronghold in Ireland. After carefully studying the French defense in Verdun, the Duke of Norfolk used similar methods to make this place the most solid stronghold. More than six thousand regular British troops were stationed here.

At the same time, along the railway line, there were tightly defended small strongholds at intervals. A little further away, there were support points where a regiment could be stationed. Relying on the railway, they could support each other quickly.

In addition, the Duke of Norfolk also prepared four specially armored trains for this railway. These armored trains were like battleships traveling on the railway line. As long as more troops could be quickly brought in from within Britain, the Duke of Norfolk felt that he could hold on for a while longer. Of course, the premise was that the French wouldn't come up with any nasty tricks again.

Apart from this railway, railways were also built between Dublin and some surrounding strongholds to enhance the rapid response capability of the British troops. So, from then on, most of the ground battles in Ireland were conducted around the railway.

The Irish Independent Army dared to issue a final ultimatum to the British at this time, naturally having some confidence in attacking the British railway lines. The Irish army has always had a weakness, which is a lack of heavy firepower. Therefore, they performed poorly in siege warfare.

Although the Irish imported explosives, grenades, even mortars, and grenade launchers from the French, these items were not very effective in siege warfare. Explosives and grenades had to be used at close range, often resulting in significant sacrifices to advance.

As for mortars, their range was quite limited, accuracy was an issue, and the preparation time was too long, especially after the British imported high-power searchlights from France following the development of electric lights by the French. This made it very difficult for the Irish to set up mortars at close range at night.

As for grenade launchers, they were too weak and had little penetration power, making them almost useless against fortifications. Conventional cannons were too heavy, lacked mobility, and were inconvenient for anti-mopping-up operations that required frequent movement. Moreover, they were expensive, and the French could not afford to provide much assistance. So, until the outbreak of war, the Independent Army had very few proper cannons.

But that doesn't mean the Independent Army had no cannons at all. The French always liked to give the Irish experimental weapons. This time was no exception. Not long ago, a brand new "infantry cannon" was delivered to the Irish.

It was a metal tube with a relatively slender tripod, and it looked very simple in structure. The French gave it a name, calling it the "Gustave Infantry Cannon."

Military adviser Mr. Noadi de Villefort introduced this "cannon" to the soldiers of the Independent Army in this way:

"The 'Gustave Infantry Cannon' is the world's first cannon without recoil, and it is also the world's first true infantry cannon because several infantrymen can carry it around. It can be mounted on a tripod for shooting to ensure accuracy, but in emergencies, it can even be fired directly from the shoulder.

Its 84mm shells are very effective against various fortifications. Of course, this thing has a relatively short range, with a direct firing range of only about 400 meters. So when you use it, you're already within the range of the enemy's rifles."

"Four hundred meters, even if you put an elephant there, the British still can't hit it," a soldier said dismissively.

"This cannon has no recoil? How is that possible? Doesn't it violate Newton's third law of motion?" Captain Bob asked.

"It's not completely without recoil, just relatively small," Noadi replied. "There is a nozzle at the back of this cannon. When firing the shell, some of the gunpowder gas will spray out from the back, creating a reverse recoil force that counteracts the main recoil force when firing the shell, so there's hardly any recoil. Of course, this also means that there can't be anyone behind when firing this cannon, or else the person behind will be roasted. Also, this cannon cannot be fired in enclosed spaces. When firing, there must be no walls or steep slopes behind, or else the rebounding flame will turn the gunner into a roast goose."

Compared to the authentic Gustave recoilless cannon in later generations, the performance of this era's legal recoilless cannon was much worse. The authentic Gustave recoilless cannon in later generations used titanium alloy barrels and carbon fiber winding technology, making the gun's empty weight only 6.6 kilograms.

But there were no such things in this era, so the legal recoilless cannon of the French "Gustave" had a solid steel barrel, and because the quality of the steel was not comparable to that of later generations, it had to be slightly thicker. Then, due to the obvious difference in tail nozzle processing technology compared to later generations, the tail nozzle was also much heavier, so in the end, the entire cannon body, excluding the carriage, weighed over thirty kilograms. So even though theoretically this cannon could be shoulder-fired, if you weren't a strong man, you really couldn't carry this thing. It's best to use it with a tripod whenever possible.

Therefore, this cannon required quite a few personnel: two people taking turns carrying the gun barrel, one carrying the tripod, three carrying the shells, plus four people for protection, making up a whole squad. It can be considered as redefining the squad's weaponry.

But in the eyes of people in this era, this was by no means a drawback - such a light cannon, even if it can only shoot four hundred meters directly, is like a dream weapon. As for one cannon being manned by a squad, isn't that the norm?

What really troubled the Irish was that the shells for this kind of cannon were too expensive. Although considering that the Irish had no money and considering the strategic significance of supporting the liberation cause of the Irish people, the Irish Independent Army could get a lower price for weapons from the French than the French army could when purchasing these things themselves. But the price of these shell-triggered shells was still too high. So when President Russell learned the price of these cannon shells, he still sighed:

"These shells are, truly, more expensive than a carriage with four horses attached. Just think, one shot, and two such carriages are gone, if it misses, that's really heartbreaking."

If President Russell could sigh like this, let alone the combat units. They even stipulated that if during combat, the shot missed the target, the gunner would be disciplined. It is said that some commanders, upon learning the price of this thing, even sighed and said, "This thing is so precious, whenever possible, use explosives and grenades."

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