Chain Reaction (5)

The France, or more accurately, the France who wear a Spain coat and then a United States coat, are incredibly professional. As soon as the tripartite agreement was reached, they immediately sprang into action.

The mine-laying operations were conducted at night to avoid detection by the Britain, and even if Britain, it facilitated escape. For this reason, mine-laying was specifically chosen to be carried out when there was no bright moon. In that era, the navy was virtually incapable of combat under such conditions.

However, operating at night presents another problem: how to accurately locate mines in the pitch black. Imagine a scenario where, for example, the plan is to lay mines in "Area One" tonight and "Area Two" tomorrow. But because it's so dark, it's difficult to determine the location, resulting in mines that should have been laid in "Area One" being laid in "Area Two." Then, the next day, the mines are successfully located in "Area Two" and end up being blown up by their own mines. Who can you complain to then?

As for navigation, it's not difficult. Gibraltar is only six kilometers east of Algeciras Port. By using the lighthouses at Algecias, Gibraltar Fortress, and another lighthouse on the Spain side, you can easily determine the ship's location.

After the Spain declared their intention to reclaim Gibraltar, the British Navy naturally raised its alert level. Even at night, Britain observation posts remained vigilant.

It was a waxing crescent moon that day. The moon rises early, and of course, it sets just as early. By the middle of the night, the moon had set, but the sun had not yet risen, leaving only a dark blue sky. Apart from a few sentries, everything was asleep.

Private Hamm had just arrived to take over his post. He had been instructed to be extra vigilant these days because the situation was tense and anything could happen at any moment. So Hamm was indeed very alert at his post. However, it was pitch black, especially on the sea where nothing could be seen.

In situations like these, hearing is more important than seeing.

In the darkness, the sea breeze blew, bringing the sound of crashing waves. Hamm listened to the sound of the waves listlessly, and for some reason, he was reminded of his old home in Scotland...

Just then, Hamm suddenly heard a "thump" from afar on the sea, like a big fish leaping up and then falling back into the sea.

"Maybe they're dolphins," Hamm thought. In this bay, groups of dolphins could often be seen leaping and frolicking. But that was during the day; now it was night. Didn't those dolphins sleep?

However, this is a matter concerning dolphins, and has nothing to do with Hamm. Besides, the sea surface is dark, and you can't see anything anyway.

"Thump!" Another sound.

"Those dolphins seem to be having a lot of fun. They're not sleeping peacefully at night, I wonder what they're doing." Hamm was lost in thought, and soon his thoughts began to wander off course, heading in all directions. It was just like Virginia Woolf in later years, who suddenly saw a spot on the wall one January day.

Then, the dark sea began its magical transformation. On the inky black curtain, leaping dolphins appeared, just like the ones Hamm had seen on the cliffs of the Scotland coast when he was a child. The sea breeze back then blew just like that, only the Scotland sea breeze was much cooler than here; unlike here, even the wind was hot and humid...

Thinking this, Hamm suddenly heard footsteps. From the sound of those footsteps, he knew that Captain Hailington was coming to check on him. So he quickly gripped his rifle and assumed a dutiful posture.

Sure enough, he soon saw Captain Hailington carrying a lantern, coming out from around the corner.

"Hmm, Private, not bad, very spirited!" Captain Hailington was clearly pleased with Hamm's current state. He reached out and patted Hamm on the shoulder. "Any movement?"

"Sir, it's nothing, it's just that the dolphins in the bay are very active tonight, they keep jumping around," Hamm replied.

"I've heard that sometimes when sharks or killer whales approach, dolphins might jump out of the water in panic," Captain Hailington replied. Clearly, he didn't consider it a big deal. After all, neither sharks nor killer whales could swim ashore to attack them.

The dolphins were very busy all night, only gradually quieting down as dawn approached.

The following morning, a food ship from North Africa exploded as it entered the port of Gibraltar and quickly sank to the bottom of the sea. Shortly afterward, Britain patrol ship that went out to rescue people also exploded.

The massive explosion blew the flimsy patrol ship in two.

"Mines! It must be those damned Spain who laid them! They must have secretly laid mines in our shipping lanes!" Fortress Commander Will jumped up.

News of the mines found in the Gibraltar shipping lanes spread quickly Europe. The Britain immediately summoned the Spain ambassador, demanding an explanation from Spain.

In response to the Britain accusations, the Spain immediately denied it, saying, "I didn't do it, don't talk nonsense!" The Spain publicly stated that Spain had absolutely no connection with the mine incident at the port of Gibraltar.

Immediately following, the United States ambassador to France announced a press conference, at which he declared that brave United States United States Navy soldiers had attacked the Britain in Gibraltar with mines. United States ambassador further stated that this was retaliation for crimes against humanity committed by the British Navy in the United States. He added that brave United States Navy soldiers would continue to launch such attacks, and that the scope of these attacks would not be limited to Gibraltar.

"We will fight in Gibraltar, we will fight in Ireland, we will fight in Scotland and Wales, we will fight in England, in the heart of the enemy— London. We will return to Britain the flames of war, the brutality they have inflicted on other nations!"

The United States' statements were considered quite credible by most countries. News of the Britain burning of Savannah had now spread throughout Europe. Newspapers under the guidance of the Ministry of Truth exaggerated the events to the extreme, portraying the Britain as even more terrifying than Genghis Khan.

Throughout the Europe continent, almost every country and every media outlet immediately followed suit, criticizing the Britain for their barbarity. Now that the United States claimed their navy had crossed the ocean to seek revenge, everyone found it reasonable and welcomed the idea.

While many initially suspected that the Spain had laid mines on the shipping lanes outside Gibraltar, and although Spain was an ally of France, no one explicitly accused them, it was generally considered ungentlemanly to resort to such a despicable method as laying mines to coerce the Britain without a declaration of war.

But now that the United States claim responsibility, everyone believes them and even feels somewhat apologetic that the Spain were being framed. Moreover, everyone agrees that, considering the horrific crimes committed by the Britain in Savannah, any means by which the United States retaliate is legal and just. No one now sees anything ungentlemanly in the United States' use of brute force; on the contrary, they feel that the United States' actions are perfectly in line with the Law of Moses.

Even the Britain were somewhat skeptical of the United States' claims. They knew that the United States itself lacked the technological capability to produce naval mines. Mines could create numerous problems for a naval power's ability to exert maritime superiority, and neither the Britain nor the France had any intention of distributing the technology abroad. Therefore, it was safe to assume that the United States' mines were sold to them by the France.

Of course, the Britain knew that the France would never admit to this. This thing, like the two colonial cruisers the France later leased to the United States, was likely transferred through middlemen. In short, it had nothing to do with the France.

If it really was the United States who did it, then why didn't United States choose the Britain mainland but instead chose Gibraltar? However, after a little thought, the Britain had an answer.

The United States, having traveled across the ocean, were unfamiliar with the hydrography and other aspects of Europe, making such an operation extremely difficult. Therefore, they would undoubtedly need assistance and cooperation from other countries to accomplish this. Spain, who were eyeing Gibraltar, certainly provided significant support to these United States. Furthermore, just before this incident, a Spain officers' club was undergoing renovations, and these renovations were scheduled to take place at night, so they turned on very bright lights on the site.

"General, this is our lighthouse, this is the Spain lighthouse, and here is the lamp used for nighttime decoration. Once these three lamps are lit, ships at sea at night can easily calculate their precise position by measuring the angles of the three lamps." At the Gibraltar fortress, Commander General Will listened to a technical report from his subordinates.

"So, if we shut down our own lighthouses at night, we can prevent these United States from getting accurate locations?" another staff officer asked.

"It's not that simple. Even if we turn off our lighthouse, they'll just light another one somewhere else," General Will said. "The only thing we can do now is for them to lay mines at night, and for us to clear them during the day."

During their operations against the Barbary Pirates, the France demonstrated their minesweeping capabilities. The Britain quickly learned of this and, through interviews with eyewitnesses, soon understood the basic principles of the France minesweepers' operations. Consequently, the Britain replicated their own minesweepers.

So the Britain brought out their minesweepers. Britain minesweeper A went aboard and cleared more than a dozen anchor mines, opening a passage into the harbor. Then, another ship entering the harbor struck a mine and exploded.

After learning that the Britain had also copied minesweepers, the France improved their own anchored mines. One type of anchored mine consisted of two mines connected by a relatively thin rope. The anchor chain of one mine was extended, and it would explode upon contact with any ship. The anchor chain of the other mine was tightened, so the mine itself remained submerged. Only after the first mine exploded or was swept away (in both cases, the rope connecting them would break), and then, after ten minutes or more, the anchor chain of the second mine would be released, allowing the mine to rise to a depth where it could touch the bottom of an enemy ship.

The effect of this is that just ten minutes after a minesweeper has cleared an area, that area becomes unsafe again. Like this time, a passage was just cleared, and a ship entering the port along it ran headlong into a mine that had just surfaced.

At night, the United States naturally went out again to lay mines outside the port of Gibraltar. Then, the Britain would come to clear mines during the day, and the United States would lay mines at night, keeping them quite busy.

Apart from Gibraltar, all port cities in Britain have raised their guard – who knows if the "United States" might sneak over and drop a string of mines on your port's shipping lanes? All ports across Britain have strengthened their defenses and even organized night patrols.

These actions have naturally increased the burden on the Britain government, making its already precarious financial situation even more difficult. To cope with the current situation, the Britain has had to rely on continuously issuing government bonds to address the deficit. However, due to widespread pessimism about the Britain's future, the sale of Britain bonds has become problematic, forcing the government to agree to offer high discounts to the banks selling them. This effectively amounts to accepting higher interest rates, akin to a desperate measure to quench thirst.

This situation effectively meant that the Britain could no longer send new reinforcements to North America. Orders to recall the fleet had even been issued, but the fleet had not yet received such orders.

While Britain's attention was focused on its homeland and Gibraltar, a merchant ship had just departed Rotterdam for Cape Town. A tanner named Philippe boarded the ship, a common occurrence given the current economic downturn in Europe and the resulting hardship for many artisans, who opted to travel to the Americas, India, or Africa. This tanner named Philippe was perhaps one of them.