Second Coalition

In the waters near Ireland, several Britain clipper ships failed to return. However, after losing several ships, the Britain finally understood what had happened. Since Britain were not yet able to replicate this "Greek Fire," they had to suspend their interception of the France clipper ships.

On the other hand, Britain diplomatic envoys began traveling all over Europe again, trying to organize a new Anti-French Alliance.

Their first target for courting was naturally Austria. Austria was also feeling that the previous peace negotiations had been extremely disadvantageous, and... moreover, the France had left themselves with a loose end; the areas where the France had stayed were still not very safe. When nobles returned to collect rent, they received half the amount compared to other places.

If it were just this one region, the Austria could grit their teeth and bear it. But the problem is that people in other regions are starting to follow suit, demanding rent and interest reductions as well—this is simply intolerable.

So even though the Britain are persecuting Catholicism, and even though His Holiness the Pope has called on all Catholics in Europe to support the "Ireland brothers," in the eyes of the fake Roman Empire emperor, the France are far worse than the Britain.

Of course, if the Austria army simply couldn't defeat the France, His Majesty the Emperor would have to grit his teeth and bear it. But now, the Austria had just made new progress militarily. The Minié Rifle and revolvers that had terrified the Austria army in the last war had been successfully copied by Austria. So when the Emperor asked Archduke Karl, "Can our army now stand against the French Army?" Archduke Karl gave this answer:

"Your Majesty, the current situation is much better than it was then. However, our infantry is still inferior to that of the France. Compared to us, the France infantry, especially their skirmishers, are stronger. Moreover, I believe that after so much time, their line infantry is no longer as poorly trained as it was at the beginning of the last war. Therefore, I think that although we have weapons comparable to theirs, overall, our infantry is still no match for the France infantry."

Of course, we are not without our advantages. Our cavalry, once armed with new weapons, should be able to regain their superiority over France. However, Your Majesty, even so, overall, France remains stronger than us. Austria has no chance of defeating France alone in the short term."

"What if we add Prussia as well?"

"That's still not enough," Archduke Karl said. "Unless the Russia are added to the mix, the war may not be in our favor."

So the Emperor told the Britain: "Unless Prussia and Russia join in, Austria will not join Britain in fighting France. Moreover, the Russia must honestly send troops, unlike last time when they talked about fighting the France, but by the time peace talks were held, the France army didn't even know what color the Russia uniforms were!"

So the Britain went to the Russia and Prussia.

This time, Russia readily agreed to join forces to teach the France a lesson. Firstly, because the great Empress had passed away and the newly enthroned Empress was not cunning enough; secondly, because the France were truly ungrateful and had deeply hurt Russia. They didn't seem to realize how much Russia had previously hindered Prussia Austria France, and how much help it had given them. Without Russia assistance, Paris would have long since surrendered.

But those France, they're all ungrateful bastards! They actually sold so many dangerous gadgets to those Poland. Those Poland use these things to carry out assassinations every day. Although not many people have actually been assassinated so far, it's made the Russia nobles in Poland afraid to hold balls anymore—this is simply unbearable!

Besides, Russia and France don't share a border. Even if they send troops, if the war goes badly, they can simply stop fighting. The risk is limited. Moreover, this is a good opportunity to ask the Britain, or their other two allies, for some money and technology.

But persuading Prussia wouldn't be so easy. The Russia weren't worried about their security, but Prussia was. Unlike last time, after occupying the Rhine Region, the France were practically at Prussia's doorstep! If a war broke out and they couldn't win—and that wasn't a small probability—what would Prussia do?

So the Russia just wanted money and technology, while Prussia, first, stated directly that they had always loved peace, and then added, "We can join, but you Britain must first take Hanover, and then we can talk. Otherwise, what are we supposed to do if we lose and you Britain just shrink back across the Channel?"

However, if the Britain could take Hanover back from the France on their own, why would they need to involve Prussia? Besides, where would Britain find the troops to do this at that time? They were too busy dealing with Ireland!

At this time, the Duke of Norfolk's second major sweep, after a period of preparation, officially began.

In addition to 40,000 British Army, the Duke of Norfolk also deployed an equal number of "Irish Security Force" in this massive campaign. In the Duke of Norfolk's view, although these men were utterly incompetent, even 40,000 pigs had their uses, right?

For example, when clearing the way, these people can walk in front and clear mines as they go; or they can set fires in villages, forests, and swamps; or they can deal with untrained and unarmed rebel troops (women and children). They are still very useful.

Of course, using these people also brings some problems, such as a decrease in the secrecy of the operation and a significant reduction in the speed of the army's operations. After all, the "Irish Security Force" cannot compare with the British Army in terms of training.

However, considering that after the first major sweep, the rebels of the Irish Union, unless they were fools, would not be so careless as to make the same mistake again, this operation, even without those 40,000 pigs—no, I mean 40,000 "Irish Security Force"—is unlikely to achieve the same surprise attack effect as last time. Moreover, what these guys need to do is simply to be ruthless, and doesn't require a high level of training.

As for the possibility that they might miss the guerrillas due to slow action? That's not a problem. The priest may have a donkey, but the church doesn't have legs. Even if the guerrillas and the civilians all ran away or went into hiding, their villages wouldn't escape. Even if their villages were made of rammed earth and thatched houses and worthless, burning them wouldn't be a big deal, but their potatoes wouldn't go anywhere. Of course, the Britain army didn't have the time or resources to ruin crops, but didn't they bring 40,000 pigs? Is there a more efficient way to ruin crops than simply releasing pigs into the fields?

Of course, pigs don't keep secrets. Especially after the guerrillas launched their attacks on the "Irish Security Force" some time ago, many "pigs" in the "Irish Security Force" started playing both sides. They followed the Britain while secretly contacting the guerrillas, telling them, "We're all Ireland, we're just trying to make a living, we don't really want to cause you trouble," and some even bluntly said, "We're in the British camp but our hearts are with the Irish."

In this way, the sweep was practically an open secret, at least strategically. Before the British Army even set out, the Federation already knew the timing, troop strength, and objectives of the upcoming sweep through its British Army.

Even so, the pressure of this counter-offensive was still immense. It was like playing poker; if your opponent had such a strong hand, even if they revealed their hand, you might not have any way to counter it. Of course, the base area wasn't unprepared during this period; at least in terms of how to relocate the masses, the base area made various efforts tailored to local conditions.

For example, some villages near hills dug hiding caves in the hills; some villages near swamps created safe passages and temporary shelters by driving wooden stakes into the swamps and laying planks. With the support of intelligence, everyone in the Federation was confident that the direct loss of civilian and soldier lives in this large-scale operation would be much less than the last time.

However, this did not bring any relief to the people, because the primary target of the Britain raid was not people, but the agricultural production in the base area. The potato harvest season was fast approaching, and if the Britain were allowed to run rampant in the base area at this time, agricultural production would be severely damaged, and the entire base area would fall into a man-made famine.

This dire prospect has caused great anxiety among almost all members of the Federation.

"Some comrades hoped that our comrades in France could send us more grain to ensure that there would be no famine in the base area in the future. But after calculating the amount of grain needed, everyone immediately realized how unrealistic this hope was."

Some comrades hoped that our France comrades could organize a large army to land directly in Ireland and fight alongside us to defeat the Britain on the main battlefield. However, we knew from our time in Toulon that the shipping capacity from France to Ireland was insufficient to support a large army in regular warfare.

Then some comrades suggested that we fight the Britain openly and honestly, that dying in battle is better than starving to death—but of course, that's not a solution either. Our revolution is to enable the Ireland people to live better lives, not to lead everyone to their deaths.

Just when everyone was feeling lost, our friend, Comrade Joseph Bonaparte, after learning about the current situation, wrote to us. His letter was like a gust of wind, blowing away the dark clouds and thick fog blocking our way, revealing a golden road to victory.