Negotiations

Over the next two hours, Malteng's maneuvering became increasingly skillful, his combat efficiency higher, and his audacity greater. Relying on his superior power and control, he repeatedly seized the lead, rendering three Britain steamships powerless in one fell swoop—not only were their paddle wheels destroyed, but even their masts were snapped by chain shot fired at close range. The insatiable Malteng abandoned these immobilized Britain frigates and continued his attack on the remaining operational warships—he wanted to take down all of the Britain ships in one fell swoop.

However, as it turns out, not knowing when to quit while you're ahead is not a good habit. Just as Malteng was about to press his advantage and achieve a great victory, a large ship appeared in their sight—the third-class battleship that had been lagging behind.

The mere appearance of the large ship instantly energized the almost desperate Britain, who fought valiantly against Malteng, desperately protecting their damaged warships. Malteng, assessing the distance, estimated that he wouldn't be able to deal with the Britain before the battleship approached, and cursed, "What I hate most is this situation where you beat the weak and then the strong come along!"

After uttering those words, Malteng glanced again at the approaching Britain warships and added in his mind, "What's even more hateful is that we really can't beat this old thing."

Even the lowest-ranking Tier III battleship possessed sixty or seventy cannons, with over thirty guns on each side. Each cannon fired shells heavier, more powerful, and with a longer range than those of the Malteng. Considering the battleship's inherent stability, each of these cannons also had higher accuracy than the Malteng's. Furthermore, the battleship's robust armor was simply impenetrable to 12-pounder cannons.

Malteng estimated that if he took a risky gamble before the battleship arrived, he might still have a chance to sink a Britain warship. However, that could also damage his own ship, and if he was unlucky enough to damage a critical part, he might perish here because of his eagerness to succeed.

Given this, Malteng immediately realized he couldn't waste any more shells on these Britain warships. Wouldn't it be better to save them for fishing bait and dealing with clipper ships?

"Retreat! We're not playing with them anymore!" Malteng ordered.

So after passing the Britain frigates' T-position for the last time, Equality did not look back, but sailed at high speed and soon disappeared into the vast sea.

In this battle, the Britain lost no more warships besides their bait. Of course, half of their steam frigates were severely damaged, and the remaining three were not in particularly good condition either. These ships almost all had to be towed back by that third-rate warship.

However, the Britain did not come away empty-handed; they expended a significant amount of shells and gunpowder at Malteng's expense. After completely shaking off the Britain warships, Major Malteng inventoried his cargo hold and discovered that he had used up approximately two-thirds of his chain shot, half of his regular shells, and a third of his grapeshot in the battle. Considering the reserve he had to leave for the return voyage, he had far too little ammunition for hunting!

"If those shells were used on those clipper ships, how many clipper ships could they have destroyed! It's truly..." Malteng couldn't help but lament.

In the days that followed, the Britain demonstrated remarkable efficiency, realizing that their steamships were almost a generation behind their France counterparts. Even in battles where they outnumbered their French, they were at a disadvantage. Adverse weather conditions could even lead to catastrophic consequences.

Moreover, during this battle, the Equality was at full speed in the final attack phase, demonstrating a speed far exceeding that of the Britain steamships. This means that even under the most difficult circumstances, the France at least had time to retreat.

This means that the "Whaling Ship Plan" was fundamentally doomed to failure. On the contrary, the bait released might have been given away for free.

The Britain quickly recalled their hunting teams and bait, so the Equality only managed to catch one clipper ship that hadn't been notified in time and had fled.

Since they couldn't deal with the France steamships, it meant the blockade of Ireland had completely failed. So the Britain ordered their British Army in Ireland to be on high alert while simultaneously considering making peace with the France again.

This time, the peace terms proposed by the Britain were much more pragmatic. The Britain, through the Netherlands, once again put forward peace proposals to the France.

The Britain proposed: An immediate restoration of peace between Britain and France. Britain would abandon its blockade of the France coast and recognize France's special interests in the Netherlands, the Rhine, and other regions. In return, France should recognize Britain rule over Ireland and cease supporting Ireland rebels. Furthermore, France should also recognize Britain special interests in Hanover.

This demand was much lower than before, and there was clearly room for negotiation. After discussing it with his two brothers, Napoleon also believed that France needed a period of peace for the time being.

"We need peace now so that we can redirect more resources to productive activities and improve people's living standards," Joseph said. "Furthermore, a peace that is more favorable to France will also improve your popularity among the people and benefit our 'Rome Plan.' However, there are a few principles that must be adhered to."

Firstly, regarding the issue of Ireland, we cannot abandon Ireland; it is our most powerful means of restraining the Britain. Moreover, the Ireland themselves are quite capable and useful, worthy of support. The value difference between a peace that could be torn apart at any time and a capable younger brother is simply too great.

Secondly, Hanover must also be under our control.

"Do you even need to tell me?" Napoleon shook his head dismissively. "We are the victorious nation, or at least the one with the upper hand. What reason do we have to concede on these issues? Stop talking nonsense!"

Joseph ignored him and continued, "In addition, we should insist on certain rights, which, of course, can be 'equal' and reciprocal. We should demand that Britain and we 'open our doors' to each other, that Britain and its territories open their markets to us, and that our markets open to them 'equally'. This market refers not only to ordinary goods, but also to literature, art, and the press."

"Open up our markets to each other? Hmm, are you sure we'll benefit?" Napoleon asked.

"Of course," Joseph said without hesitation, "What can their steam-powered and hydraulic textiles possibly use to compete with our electric textiles? Of course, they don't know that. I suspect they might be somewhat resistant to the issue of access to the press and art markets; after all, Lucien has done a good job at the Ministry of Truth lately, utterly defeating those feudal scum who oppose us. The Britain might be a little worried. We'll first propose mutual opening of the press and art markets, and then exchange that for mutual opening of the general commodity markets."

"Well, Lucien, those Britain newspapers and such are quite good. You not only have to hold the Europe continent, but also bring the war to England. Hmm, you won't get beaten up by the Britain and flee back in a rout, will you?"

"How could that be?" Lucien curled his lip. "With the Britain's level of competence, as long as they don't use violence to suppress our propaganda, any Minister of Ministry of Truth, with the support of the entire Europe, who can't even beat those stupid, pig-like Britain newspapers, should be stuffed into a giant cannon and launched at the speed of light toward the sun without hesitation!"

Therefore, France sent a delegation headed by Foreign Minister Talleyrand to hold talks at Amsterdam's City Hall in the Netherlands.

This was a difficult negotiation, with two major obstacles. Because of these two issues, it seemed several times that the negotiations were about to fall apart and continue.

The first obstacle was the Ireland question. The Britain strongly accused France of blatantly interfering in Britain's internal affairs and demanded that France immediately cease all contact with the Ireland rebel groups.

The France, on the other hand, argued that the essence of the Ireland question lay in the Britain's shameless plunder of the Ireland people's wealth and their brutal persecution of Ireland Catholicism. Talleyrand, adopting the persona of a humanitarian and devout Catholicism, stated:

"Respect for sovereignty is certainly the cornerstone of relations between nations. However, based on our nation's founding principles and the ideals of the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man, we believe that human rights are a higher standard than sovereignty, and the foundation of sovereignty. When human rights are blatantly trampled upon, we do not believe that any nation with a sense of justice should remain silent because of limitations on sovereignty. If the Britain truly want to resolve the Ireland question, there is only one way: to honestly respect the inherent human rights of the Ireland, and their freedom of property and religion. In short, France's legislative principles and founding principles prevent it from remaining indifferent to such humanitarian disasters, especially those befalling Catholicism."

The Britain, of course, knew that an empty promise of "peace" would not persuade the France to relinquish their most important bargaining chip. However, as is customary in bargaining, the Britain raised the Hanover question, which immediately became a new obstacle.