Naval Mines

While the London newspapers were still attacking each other over the Lancet, a secret experiment was underway on a small island near Scotland.

A small boat slowly passed by the island, and a large, orange-red iron ball with an anchor chain and short steel tentacles on its surface was thrown into the sea. The iron ball first floated on the surface of the sea, rising and falling with the slight waves, and then sank suddenly under the pull of the anchor chain, leaving only a small buoy floating on the surface of the sea.

The small boat that had just dropped the iron ball immediately sped away and signaled to the two waiting boats beside it.

"Let's go. Be careful," Captain Kevin shouted to his sailors on the other ship. The paddle wheels on both sides of the ship began to turn, and the steamship started to sail in that direction.

Behind this steamship, a boat was towed by a cable. This boat had neither mast nor paddle wheel, but only a rudder at the stern, where a man controlled the direction.

The steamship carefully passed by the buoy, which swayed gently in the waves it created.

Captain Kevin knew that just two meters below that buoy lay the iron ball covered in tentacles. He could see it clearly through the seawater, of course, only because the light was excellent, the water was clear, and the Kevin ball was painted a bright orange-red.

Kevin also knew that the tentacles on the iron ball were a type of trigger fuse specially developed by the Navy. Inside these lead tentacles was a small glass vial containing sulfuric acid. Upon impact, the tentacles would deform, the glass would shatter, and the sulfuric acid would flow out, triggering an electrochemical reaction and detonating an electric detonator (based on a war trophy from Ireland). The detonator would then detonate the explosives inside the iron ball—a single mine like this could even destroy a battleship. Of course, this experimental one wouldn't be like that; its explosive charge was significantly reduced.

Even so, the mine, once detonated, would be enough to destroy his small steam-powered frigate. Therefore, everyone who could go up to the deck went up, and for those who couldn't, their escape routes to the deck were cleared clean.

Behind them, on the barge towed by the steamship, Captain Anderson gently turned the helm towards the buoy. His ship was a target vessel used to test the effectiveness of mines, and he was the only one on board controlling the course. Considering the explosion point should be at the bow, his safety should be guaranteed. Moreover, he had already donned a life jacket, and there were nearby vessels ready to rescue him. If he could successfully complete the experiment, he might even get a promotion.

The barge's bow struck a buoy, the vessel continued forward, and then a huge explosion occurred.

On the steamship more than 300 meters ahead, Kevin felt the entire ship seem to jolt, and at the same time he saw a huge column of water rise high, completely blocking out the ship behind him.

After a while, the water column dispersed into countless droplets that fell from the sky, splashing and dripping down. Even Kevin, hundreds of meters away, was covered in water droplets. Looking back, the barge had been blown in half, and the remaining half was sinking rapidly.

"Turn around, turn around! Go back and save them!" Kevin shouted, but he couldn't even hear himself.

However, the ship turned around anyway—this was something that had been planned in advance.

By the time the steamship turned around, the barge had completely sunk, and various pieces of wood were floating everywhere on the sea. Everyone looked around and finally found an orange-red object floating among the wood debris.

"It's over there, hurry and get closer!"

The small boat was lowered from the steamship, and two sailors rowed it over, pulling Captain Anderson, who was wearing an orange-red life jacket, out of the water. He had been knocked unconscious by the shock of the explosion and would likely have drowned had he not been wearing the life jacket. However, given his current condition, there was no guarantee he could be saved, and the abnormal bending of his leg indicated a comminuted fracture.

"Damn it? Wasn't the explosive charge supposed to be reduced? How can it still be so powerful?" Kevin exclaimed in surprise.

This isn't surprising, as the Britain used Nitrated Starch technology purchased from France merchants. One of the most obvious problems with Nitrated Starch is its inconsistent quality; the yield can vary greatly between batches. Some batches can be 1.3 to 1.4 times stronger than TNT, while others might be less than half the strength. This mine may have used less explosive, but it just so happened to use top-quality explosive, and the result was...

However you look at it, this experiment was a huge success.

Following the success of this test, the naval officers immediately proposed to the cabinet that this weapon could be used to blockade the Ireland coast, cut off the Ireland people's access to aid, and thus eliminate them.

If this experiment had been successful a few months ago, Prime Minister Addington would have approved the operation without hesitation. But now he is hesitant because approving such an operation could very well lead to war.

When Britain and France signed the peace treaty, neither side was truly sincere about peace. They were both prepared to catch their breath and then resume fighting. If this kind of thing had existed back then, the Britain would probably have gritted their teeth and wiped out the Ireland rebels first.

But the situation is different now. After the peace agreement was signed, the Britain economy began to improve as Europe markets reopened to Britain, and some industries, especially textiles and steam engine manufacturing, saw a significant boom. They brought more revenue to Britain and considerable political and economic benefits to the Tory Party.

If war breaks out at this point, then without a doubt, all of this will come to an end.

Addington knew that, due to the booming textile industry, many owners had expanded production, and the number of textile machines had increased by nearly a third in the past few months, and the textile industry was still expanding.

Such rapid expansion inevitably involved financial intervention. Textile factory owners generally borrowed heavily from banks or raised substantial funds through the stock market. In the event of war, these investments would be wiped out. Many factories would go bankrupt, and the banks would be unable to recover their loans, potentially dragging the banks down with them, or even leading to their own bankruptcy. Furthermore, many industries, including steel and machinery manufacturing, had profited significantly from the textile industry's expansion and were also expanding their own production capacity to meet the textile industry's urgent needs. In the event of war, they too would suffer losses. Coupled with the internal problems caused by mass unemployment, the entire Britain economy could immediately face severe problems. This forced Addington to consider whether taking action at this time was appropriate.

So Addington went to consult with former Prime Minister Pitt.

Even after stepping down, Pitt remained the most important figure in the Tory Party. Due to his experience and talent, his influence within the Tory Party significantly surpassed that of Addington. Even the King, who played a crucial role in Pitt's downfall, actually trusted Pitt Addington. Therefore, when faced with such trouble, he had to seek technical guidance from Pitt the Younger.

Pitt Jr. was quite adamant about this. He believed that there could be no real peace between Britain and France unless the France abandoned their ambitions, and Ireland was of paramount importance to Britain.

"Ireland is different from North America. Giving up North America would only cause limited damage to our prestige; but giving up Ireland could lead to us being despised by all of Europe. Ireland is so close to us, and under such circumstances, if we cannot even quell the rebellion, or even have to recognize their independence, what will other countries think of us?"

The loss of prestige is one thing, but once Ireland becomes independent, it will certainly become our enemy. Those guys in North America still harbor ill will towards us. And the Ireland will hate us even more than those North America. Given their proximity and their deep hatred, Ireland could easily become a tool for other countries—let's be more specific—to threaten us, the France.

Once the France and an independent Ireland are allied, once France troops begin to be deployed in Ireland, will we be able to sleep soundly? Compared to that, what are temporary economic difficulties? And with proper guidance, we are not entirely unable to mitigate some of the losses. Besides, we have also opened our markets to the France, which has, to some extent, caused losses to some of our other industries..."

However, Prime Minister Addington remained hesitant. His situation differed from that of Pitt Jr. After the peace was achieved, Addington's approval ratings gradually increased thanks to the peace dividend. His supporters were primarily textile factory owners and those who had profited from trade with Europe. If he chose to support the navy's mine-laying operation, it would mean betraying his supporters. Who would support a politician who betrays his supporters in the future? It would almost certainly ruin his political future!

Thinking about this, Prime Minister Addington began to suspect that Pitt.'s suggestion had an unspoken objective: to remove him from office so that he could return to the position of Prime Minister.