Siege (6)

"What do you mean 'they all speak English'? Do you think we Britain can't speak English? What do you mean 'their intonation is off'? I think the guys here in Canada, and the guys in the United States to the south, don't speak authentic English either!" General Arthur Wellesley really wanted to drag this Quebec who spoke such strange English out and shoot him a hundred times over, but his reason told him that he really couldn't do anything to this guy.

The reason is simple: they've claimed it was a friendly fire incident and even sent someone to explain. If you do anything to that person, not only will the "Quebec Volunteer Army" in front of you immediately turn against you and rebel, but more importantly, the Quebec troops on other fronts might also run into trouble.

If these Quebec troops were to defect en masse, the whole situation would immediately become troublesome. Therefore, General Arthur Wellesley suppressed his anger and said, "I believe this is a misunderstanding. So, may we now enter Quebec?"

"General," the Quebec man said, "Theoretically it is possible, but considering your legion's past practices, many of your actions during your last passage through Quebec have already greatly displeased the people of Quebec. Therefore, we cannot allow your legion to enter any city in Quebec until the Quebec Parliament grants permission."

General Arthur Wellesley's army, having come from the American South through looting, arson, and murder, was indeed not particularly well-trained. Moreover, his soldiers were mostly from England, lacking property, social connections, and even adequate pay (after all, the Canada governor had been running out of money after so long, and London was unlikely to send funds now). As a result, they resorted to looting to boost morale. Looting has a strong momentum that cannot be stopped abruptly, and General Wellesley didn't seriously try to stop it, as doing so would damage morale. He felt that in the midst of war, this was not the time to address this issue.

As a result, during the period when General Arthur Wellesley's army rested in Quebec and then marched south, their performance was indeed not good. Although they did not dare to carry out the "kill all, burn all, loot all" campaign as they did in the American South, they did engage in petty theft and other unethical practices. At one point, this even led to a standoff between them and the Quebec Volunteer Army, and some British Army were even shot in the back.

General Arthur Wellesley was well aware that his army had a bad reputation, and it would be strange if the Quebec allowed his troops into the city now.

"Our troops can stay out of the city, but you must clear the roads." General Arthur Wellesley knew the situation was unfavorable, so he could only grit his teeth and bear it a little longer. Otherwise, these Quebec might really rebel. Generally speaking, North America is not a good place by nature; its biggest characteristic is that it is full of unruly people.

"You also need to apply to the Quebec Parliament and make a guarantee that you will not stay in Quebec for an extended period of time, will not harass the residents of Quebec, and will march according to the time and route we have set..." The Quebec man rattled off a whole bunch of demands, as if he were treating General Arthur Wellesley's army like locusts.

"How can the needs of war wait for parliamentary deliberation?" General Arthur Wellesley couldn't hold back any longer. "Besides, we still have to fight the United States; how can we not stay here?"

"If you need to hold off the American attack, you can do so right here. We're behind you, so what do you have to worry about? Why do you insist on entering Quebec? If you don't intend to hold off the American forces here, or if you need to be redeployed to other fronts, what's wrong with passing through Quebec via the designated route at the designated time? Don't you even know how long it will take to get from Quebec to Ottawa?" the Quebec said.

"What do you mean by 'we're behind you, what do you have to worry about'? Aren't you the ones we're most worried about? Marching according to your 'prescribed time and route'? What if you collude with the United States —no, you won't collude with the United States, but you will collude with the France. You collude with the France, and then you arrange our marching time and route, and you directly put us in an encirclement?" General Arthur Wellesley thought to himself. But he still suppressed his anger and indicated that his army could not accept such an "excessive demand."

"Then you can make a request to the Governor General and have him negotiate with the Quebec Parliament," the Quebec man added.

This is a complete insult to General Arthur Wellesley's intelligence. This is wartime, and all this paperwork, this endless wrangling and bureaucratic back and forth—you send a document today, I study it for half a month, then I send another document with counter-suggestions, then I study it again, then another document comes back, then I study it for another half month, and then, incidentally, we digress to discuss the legal validity of the governor's office's document, then everyone cites precedents and cites various precedents, maybe even going to court, and then... well, that takes far too much time. This could definitely be resolved before His Constantine XI returns like lightning on a white-hoofed steed.

"Doing so would take too much time; it's simply impossible."

"Then you don't have to go into Quebec. You can go west from here to Cleveland —that city is still in Britain hands."

Cleveland was indeed still in Britain hands, but the situation there was far from good. Prior to this, United States had been risking laying small mines at night. Although the Britain had killed many of these United States, the threat of the mines was growing. Therefore, the garrison in Cleveland was already in the process of retreating. The Quebec's proposed solution was clearly nonsense and showed no sincerity in resolving the problem.

"This is war! Your actions are treason!" General Arthur Wellesley finally snapped. "My army must pass through Quebec, and the route and timing must be determined by me. You must clear the way immediately. I will give you one day to consider. If you do not clear the way after one day, we will consider you traitors!"