The Siege 1

A few months ago, if Captain Jarvis had led his men to make arrests, they would most likely have ended up disappearing along the way. But recently the situation has improved somewhat, because the British Army has reduced its troop strength, and now in Dublin, the number of the British Army is not necessarily less than the number of Ireland citizens in Dublin.

This has ironically made Dublin's "security" seem slightly better than before. At least when they go to arrest someone, the worst that happens is the target disappears, rather than the person being arrested disappearing.

However, when Jarvis led his men into a small courtyard, they found it empty. Clearly, someone among them had leaked the information.

Jarvis was furious and berated his men who participated in the arrest, threatening to hand them over to the Britain. However, no one was really afraid, because the Britain were too busy with their own affairs to bother with such trivial matters.

Secondly, the Britain have actually reduced their efforts to combat these kinds of incidents quite a bit during this period.

It is said that after the British Army retreated to Dublin, in order to ensure defense, someone suggested to the Governor of Norfolk that they simply kill all the Ireland people in Dublin, or expel them all.

However, both of these suggestions were rejected by the Duke of Norfolk. A massacre? After the massacre, what would happen if the Ireland landed in Britain with the France army?

The Duke of Norfolk wasn't worried that the Ireland would retaliate by massacring Britain civilians. After all, they were just civilians; what was the big deal? But he was concerned that such an action would greatly increase the cost of compromise. Of course, that wasn't the most important issue. The most important issue was that he and his family might become part of that increased cost. Only someone with a screw loose would do something that benefited the country, the family, and themselves.

As for expelling the Dublin, the Duke of Norfolk thought his men were utter idiots! Did they think the rebels outside didn't know Dublin's true strength, or were they worried they didn't have enough manpower?

This attitude from above immediately made those below sense something. After all, those in lower positions aren't fools. So they quickly realized that something was wrong; those above were already considering their future. They were also thinking about how they would "meet again in the future." And if the pressure became too great, leading to a mass defection, those below wouldn't be able to bear the responsibility. Therefore, even the Britain these days didn't pursue such matters very much.

Captain Jarvis was heartbroken, because even a staunch traitor like himself couldn't be sure the Britain would take him back to England when they retreated. Therefore, he needed to quickly earn as much credit as possible. Otherwise—just think about it—if the Britain stayed in Ireland, he might still be somewhat useful; but if the Britain returned to Britain, what use would he be?

Just as Captain Jarvis was nervously pondering his next move, the Irish Independence Army began to appear outside Dublin. The situation became increasingly tense.

The Irish Independence Army did not immediately launch an attack on Dublin. The Dublin garrison was large and its fortifications were strong, with some areas receiving support from naval cruisers. While the Irish Independence Army had high morale and improved field combat capabilities, its ability to fortify positions remained a major weakness. Therefore, they could only isolate and divide the Britain strongholds for the time being, while awaiting France reinforcements.

Therefore, once these Irish Independence Army arrived outside the city, they began constructing various fortifications to cut off Dublin's land connections with other strongholds. However, the Britain were not concerned about this, because Dublin was a port city, and as long as the sea routes were open, this was not a problem.

But then came news that greatly worried the Duke of Norfolk: they had discovered by balloons that a large number of Ireland farmers were laying a railway track.

Most of the railway from Dublin to Goveer was already under Ireland control. Athlone, which had caused the Ireland great losses, had been abandoned by the Britain. The Britain themselves dismantled a significant portion of the railway during their retreat, but judging by the current situation...

The Duke of Norfolk immediately recalled a legend about the France Urban Cannon.

It is said that Napoleon complained to Joseph that the defense system he had devised was utterly irritating. It was one thing when France was on the defensive, but now that France was the strongest in the world, it was constantly facing Joseph Defense from foreigners, which was extremely unpleasant.

Thus, the Military-Industrial Consortium launched what was known as "Urban Plan." This project was named after the Urban Cannon used by the Ottoman Empire during its conquest of Constantinople. Therefore, some suspected that the France intended to build an exceptionally large siege cannon. Of course, using the name of this cannon, which had once destroyed the Shield of Christ, as the project's name further proves that France truly is a devoted follower of God. Now, seeing the Ireland building railways, the Duke of Norfolk naturally recalled this legend.

"If there really is a new type of Urban Cannon, it will most likely be moved by rail," the Duke of Norfolk thought.

Historically, to transport the enormous Urban Cannon, the Turkey employed 400 laborers and 60 oxen, and it took them a full six weeks to move this massive cannon to its destination. On average, it could only move 2.5 miles per day.

While the Urban Cannon was indeed enormous for its time, with the advancement of technology, its size is no longer worthy of the name "Urban Plan." To put this in perspective, the 10-inch guns on Britain battleships alone weighed over 20 tons, significantly heavier than the historical Urban Cannon (17 tons). The Tsar Cannon, which Russia never fired, weighed a staggering 40 tons. For such massive cannons to be transported overland, railways would clearly be the most suitable means.

Even with such speculation, the Duke of Norfolk didn't have many good options. He might be able to launch a few raids to sabotage the railway the Ireland were laying, but he knew that because the Ireland had already built considerable fortifications, such an operation would result in significant casualties, weakening the city's defenses. The best outcome, at best, would be to delay the arrival of the France "Urban Cannon" by a few days or a week or two. The Duke of Norfolk felt this was simply not worth the effort.

But simply watching and waiting wasn't a solution. So, after discussing it with the army, the Duke of Norfolk began constructing large-scale underground artillery bunkers along the city's defensive line.

Of course, if the cannons in Urban Plan were truly large enough, these makeshift underground bunkers certainly wouldn't be able to withstand their shells. However, they could still significantly reduce the cannon's kill radius. As long as there weren't too many people in each bunker, it would at least greatly reduce the pressure from the cannons.

At that very moment, in the Carroll Port, a giant France ship docked at the pier. This was one of the first large cargo ships launched by France shipyard, with a displacement of 15,000 tons, making it the world's largest cargo ship at the time.

The cargo ship used a tower crane, which had just been delivered and installed two weeks prior, to lift large components onto the dock.

These large components include various artillery pieces and a large number of flatcars for railways.

Just as the Britain had guessed, the Urban Plan did indeed include some large cannons, but the result was not a truly spectacular giant Urban Plan. Although Napoleon had a great fondness for spectacle and strongly demanded a truly spectacular giant cannon, Joseph did not produce the giant cannon that Napoleon had hoped for, one with a huge barrel large enough for an adult man to climb in and out of. Instead, he produced something with a 280mm caliber.

It is said that Joseph originally even thought that 203 mm caliber would be sufficient and would be much cheaper. However, Napoleon stated that it was too thin and unsatisfying, and threatened to cut the budget if Joseph did not compromise.

"Joseph, that's not what you told me! You said we'd have a really, really thick, really long cannon, so big that the whole world would tremble in fear and tremble with awe when they saw it. I thought you'd show me a cannon as thick as a water vat. At least it should be as thick as a bucket, right? But instead, you're trying to fool me with a tiny toothpick that's only 203 millimeters thick and as thick as a plate! No way, absolutely not!"

"When did I say the water tank was too big?" Joseph said.

"Don't deny it. That time I asked you how thick the biggest cannon in the 'Urban Plan' was, you said to me, 'How thick do you want it to be? Don't worry, it'll be both thick and long, about the same thickness as this.' You were pointing at a water tank when you said that!"

"You're mistaken! I was referring to the water lily leaf in the pot! God is my witness!"

"Come on, Joseph, you don't believe in God at all. Your piety towards God is comparable to that of Talleyrand and Fouché. Just like them, the moment you open your mouth to mention God, you're definitely lying! Why don't you mention that there are a few fish in that tank? Are you pointing to the scales of those fish?"

"What nonsense are you spouting? Let me tell you..."

The two brothers argued for a while, and finally Napoleon said, "Joseph, I know that those huge cannons aren't actually very useful. Do you think I don't understand these military matters? Indeed, in most cases, a 203mm cannon is sufficient. However, we're also creating this to intimidate other countries. Those people may not all understand; if you send that 203mm thing, it won't scare them at all, but if you bring out something as thick as a water tank, it will be a decisive blow to their morale! Do you understand?"

"But technically, we can't make a water tank that's that thick right now. Unless you really just want a mascot like the Tsar Cannon!"

The Tsar Cannon was a bronze smoothbore cannon cast in 1586 by Russia cannon-casting craftsmen. It had a caliber of 915 mm, thicker than the later Dora Cannon, a barrel length of 5.18 meters, and a weight of 40 tons, for a total weight of 80 tons. Its bronze chamber was 1.74 meters long and 440 mm in diameter, firing hollow spherical cast iron projectiles. Due to its immense weight, the cannon had to be moved using large logs. Later, a decorative gun carriage was also made for this legendary cannon.

However, this enormous cannon was never fired, and it's even uncertain whether it could fire at all. So this beautifully decorated cannon was really just a pretty ornament.

Napoleon could not accept such a thing, so Napoleon had to lower his standards and finally set a principle: it could not be smaller than the cannon on the Britain battleships.

So Joseph and his team pushed the limits and created this thing.

This cannon weighs fifty tons and uses an 11-meter-long barrel. This also means that it can only use the new type of nitrocellulose propellant. So not only is the cannon expensive, but the shells are also very expensive. In addition, considering the cost, this cannon is not equipped with a recoil mechanism. When firing, it can only be fired by lowering a large plow, then moving backward on a specially made flatbed cart along a track, then resetting, and then firing again.

The 280mm gun occupied its own flatbed wagon. Using various lifting equipment, the workers spent three whole days securing the gun to the specially customized flatbed wagon.

Next came the other auxiliary artillery, including two 203mm guns and twelve 100mm guns, which were mounted in fixed positions on specially made flatbed wagons. Then, towed by two motor cars and under the cover of two armored trains, this train of artillery began to leave Carroll Port along the railway line and head towards Dublin.

The Urban Plan involved more than just a large-caliber cannon; it was an artillery corps capable of rapid mobility along railways. Leveraging the high-speed movement of railways, the France were able to significantly increase the size of the artillery available to their army. This artillery corps was essentially a battleship on land.

Under the protection of a large contingent of the Independence Army and the French Army, this "Land Battleship" arrived at the front lines in Dublin in two days. By this time, many of the gun emplacements newly built by the Duke of Norfolk had already been completed.

After the French Army "Land Battleship" arrived, a regiment of the French Army took over several of the most important fortifications in the vicinity, undertaking the task of protecting this massive Land Battleship.

The day after the artillery train arrived, it finally launched its first bombardment of the British Army positions outside Dublin.