Submarines and Canned Goose Meat

Although Louis was deeply dissatisfied with the United States' behavior, simply criticizing them wouldn't solve anything. After all, no matter how much he cursed, even if he mobilized all the employees of the Louisiana Development Bank to curse them, could he possibly kill Jefferson or Nelson?

However, the United States could not continue in this manner; it had to take steps to turn the tide. Strategically, at least for now, Britain remained France's greatest enemy. France's support for the United States' declaration of war against Britain and its ambition to attack the Britain was intended to demonstrate to the rest of the world that Britain was nothing more than a giant with feet of clay, a paper tiger. France believed that as long as one dared to fight, a piece of Britain could be torn away.

If the United States succeed in carving a piece of flesh from the Britain this time, it will expose Britain's weakness to the world. Then, there might be a frenzy of partitioning the United Kingdom, or at least its United Kingdom. This frenzy will not be limited to North America, but will also spread to Africa, and even to Central Asia and India in the future.

However, if the United States gains nothing from this war, it will give the impression that the Britain are still the real tiger. At most, the France will continue to cause trouble for Britain, while other countries will simply watch the show. In that case, France will have to rely on its own strength to deal with Britain. Considering that France cannot concentrate all its resources on naval power like Britain, defeating Britain will still be a long and arduous process.

"Our current naval strength, at least our naval strength in Louisiana, is insufficient to change the course of the war," Louis said to Governor Marcel. "Even if we join directly, it won't make a difference. However, perhaps we can send mercenaries to fight the Britain on land?"

"Sending mercenaries? That's one option. However, we're not entirely without options at sea," Governor Marcel said.

"At sea? We only have a few colonial cruisers at our disposal, and even combined, they can't defeat that old Britain spinster," Louis said, shaking his head.

"I heard that not long ago, a United States came to you and sold you a submarine?" Governor Sel said.

"You know about this? But that submarine wasn't sold to us; it was offered as compensation for a default on a debt," Louis asked.

"That guy came to a friend of mine before, wanting to get some investment from him. My friend is in the navy, and he said that guy's submarine isn't really that useful. At most, it's used to sneak into someone's naval port and plant a time bomb under their warships—but I think by the time the Britain take Atlantic City, it'll probably be too late. But after they take their next target, maybe they'll have a chance to use it to attack them."

The submarine that the United States sold to Louis was actually an improved version of the submarine that the United States attempted to use to attack the Britain fleet during the Revolutionary War in 1776.

The concept of a submarine was first proposed by Leonardo da Vinci, though Leonardo da Vinci did not produce a design. Later, people completed several imaginative designs, some of which even became physical prototypes and underwent testing. For example, in 1620, Netherlands engineer Cornelis Drebbel built the first successful submarine in history, earning him the title of "Father of the Submarine." His submarine was a sealed vessel propelled by oars by 12 sailors, and it repeatedly submerged to depths of over 5 meters on the Thames River in Britain for demonstration purposes. However, its use was limited to performance.

For more than a hundred years afterward, submarines made little progress and were basically only used for demonstrations.

In 1776, during the United States Revolutionary War, United States David Bushnell built a "submarine" out of wood to attack Britain warships. This submarine, named "Turtle," was shaped like a duck egg, floated vertically in the sea, and was controlled by discharging seawater through a leather bag to regulate its displacement and buoyancy. It was propelled by a hand-cranked propeller.

David Bushnell carried a gunpowder pack outside the submarine and also prepared a drill on board. He planned to first drill a hole in the Britain warship, then attach the gunpowder pack to it and detonate it.

This design was theoretically feasible, but in reality, the submarine had only one crew member who had to control the depth, course, and provide power... As a result, once it was in the water, it was difficult to control and moved slowly. Therefore, in fact, it never managed to carry out a single successful attack.

However, the submarine that Louis and his crew had just acquired had undergone many improvements. For example, it was larger and could now accommodate two people. This way, one person could control the depth and the other could control the course, making it much better than the previous "Turtle".

Of course, the biggest improvement in this submarine is that the power source has changed from humans to battery packs. Relying on battery packs and electric motors, this thing can move slowly underwater at a top speed of three knots. This speed is, of course, very slow, even slower than many ocean currents. However, it is still much faster than the hand-cranked propulsion of the "Turtle".

Of course, modern warships can no longer be drilled with a hand drill and explosives placed inside. But there is an even simpler way to deal with steel warships: use a large magnet to attract the submarine loaded with explosives to its hull, set a timer, and let the crew move around on their own.

"You mean, our warships should carry this thing along, observing the Britain movements. Then, when the Britain enter port to rest, we'll drop it off? And, well, I've looked at this thing out of boredom. Perhaps this is a good opportunity to succeed. We can give it a try," Louis said.

"Should we tamper with the time bomb so it explodes as soon as it's set off, so no one gets captured and we're exposed?" Governor Marcel said.

"No need." Louis shook his head. "Let them talk. We'll just deny it. If they dare to talk nonsense, we'll say they've shamelessly insulted us, demand a public apology to mitigate the damage, or else we'll wage war against them! I don't believe they dare to spout such nonsense. To be honest, we've always lacked an opportunity for a larger-scale intervention in this matter."

"If the Britain really suffer losses, they will find it hard to bear. But even if they do, it won't matter. We can find a group of death row inmates, drag them to the border, dress them in the British Army uniforms, and then shoot them all. Then we can put a Britain rifle in each of their hands and accuse the Britain of invasion," said Governor Marcel.