Retreat (2)

The Britain had actually devised an evacuation plan long ago and had begun implementing it. The first to evacuate were Britain civilians. Of course, most of these so-called Britain civilians in Dublin were wealthy; many carried a small suitcase with them when they boarded the ship, containing Ireland land deeds. Many years later, people in Britain would still come forward with these deeds, demanding that the Ireland government respect private property. It's like in another timeline, some United States holding IOUs from President Yuan Shikai's past loans, demanding money from the Republic.

After these wealthy Britain civilians boarded the ships and left, the next items were essential supplies and various kinds of machinery. Yes, the Britain still had some industry in Dublin, such as flour mills. In those days, any piece of machinery was precious to Britain. So the machinery from these factories was dismantled and loaded onto the ships.

In addition, there were railway locomotives and rails. While these could also be used to reinforce Dublin's defenses, they could also be used to strengthen the defenses of mainland Britain, so they were also loaded onto the ship. As for Dublin's defenses, well, didn't we leave the railway sleepers behind?

After all these things were removed, the real test of skill came when the combat personnel were withdrawn.

Withdrawing combat personnel when facing an enemy attack is extremely difficult. Every time a unit is withdrawn, the defenses of its original location weaken, and the area it vacates may become a weak point, which, under enemy pressure, could become the starting point of a rout.

Therefore, when withdrawing genuine Britain troops from any point and replacing them with so-called "Security Army" forces, extreme caution must be exercised to ensure that the abandonment of that point does not lead to the complete collapse of the entire defense. The weakening or even disappearance of the defense is inevitable, but it is best if it disappears as if dissolved rather than collapsed as if crushed.

To ensure the Security Army had some fighting capacity, this was crucial at this point. The Britain began offering them one last promise. They told these die-hard traitors—well, at this point, those still serving the Britain and not yet defecting to the other side to atone for their sins—were basically "die-hard traitors." They weren't truly suffering from Stockholm Security Army or that kind of patriotism towards Britain; it was more because the Ireland on the other side didn't want them.

In the preceding days, they had committed numerous crimes that had made them irredeemable. If the Irish Independence Army were truly willing to give them a chance to "start anew," they would not hesitate to betray the Britain. However, the Ireland felt that after all the evil they had done, it would be extremely unfair to let them off so easily. And wasn't the reason the Ireland were willing to risk their lives for the revolution precisely for those three things? In the words of Chairman Russell:

"What is the purpose of our revolution? First, it's fairness; second, it's still fairness; and third, it's still fucking fairness! If we just let those guys go, we'll be destroying fairness ourselves. Then, what's the point of our revolution? Why do our people follow us, even at the cost of bloodshed and sacrifice?!"

Therefore, those "die-hard scumbags" truly have no way back.

The Britain then told them that as long as they remained loyal to the British Empire, the British Empire could take them with it during its retreat.

Those "die-hard traitors" didn't really believe the Britain, but they had no other choice. Even if the Ireland they would forgive them for their past misdeeds, they wouldn't necessarily believe it, given how many bad things they had done.

Therefore, they had no other choice but to trust the Britain. They even had to find a way to help the Britain deceive their own "traitorous soldiers."

Generally speaking, when dealing with "traitors," the Ireland tend to focus on the major offenders and let the minor offenders go. That is, they severely punish the major traitors with blood on their hands, while giving a way out to the minor traitors who are soldiers.

Therefore, these "Security Army" soldiers were likely to employ the following strategy when facing the charging Independence Army:

When the Independence Army is still far away, raise your gun muzzle by one centimeter; and when the Independence Army charges at you, simply raise your hands and surrender.

If that's the case, then the Britain evacuation will become extremely difficult.

However, the Britain have ways to deal with this. The first method is to spread rumors.

As the saying goes, "Preparation is the key to success, and lack of preparation leads to failure," and the same applies to spreading rumors. The Britain are quite worthy of our study in this regard. As early as the stalemate phase, in order to prevent the "security forces" from playing both sides, the Britain had already adopted the tactic of "comprehensive rumor-mongering."

The so-called "comprehensive rumor-mongering" refers to the use of various means such as framing and slander to spread rumors. For example, someone might impersonate a "Security Army" to carry out a "three alls" campaign in a base area, and then impersonate an "Independence Army" to kill off a certain Security Army.

Nowadays, such methods are still common. The Britain showed the soldiers of the "Security Army" photos of the "Independence Army" shooting rows and rows of "Security Army" soldiers, telling them that the "Independence Army" hated them to the bone and would never let them go.

However, while spreading rumors has always been effective, it has its limits, and those limits are not high. Besides, the Ireland on the other side aren't completely ignorant fools; they will also debunk the rumors.

Although, according to the second law of thermodynamics, rumors aimed at creating chaos and increasing disorder are naturally more effective at spreading than debunking rumors aimed at improving order, the saying "it's easy to spread rumors, but exhausting to debunk them" has emerged.

However, if an individual or a force persistently spreads rumors, even basing their stability and development on these rumors, then the situation changes. In this case, their actions of spreading rumors are no longer aimed at creating chaos or disorder; instead, they become an attempt to use rumors to create an order that suits their needs. At this point, the great second law of thermodynamics stands in opposition to them. Their actions inevitably become extremely inefficient.

Just like in the later Red Hare Kingdom, in the past, some people and some foreign media could put the Red Hare Kingdom government in a very passive position as long as they spread rumors. However, as those guys became more and more reliant on spreading rumors, the effect of spreading rumors became worse and worse. Not only in the Red Hare Kingdom, there was a saying that "you can't be too CNN-like", but even in their own country, Comrade Jian Guo gave them a very appropriate name: "Fake News".

Today, the Britain are facing the same problem.

The Ireland on the other side set up loudspeakers and began broadcasting propaganda to the soldiers of the "Security Army," telling them that as long as they laid down their weapons, they would still be legal Ireland citizens; if they could come back with guns, they would be considered participants in the revolution. Revolution doesn't have to be early or late; joining early is certainly better, but now that they've realized the error of their ways and are willing to join, they are equally welcome. If they can seize this last opportunity to contribute to the revolution, they will also be heroes of the revolution.

Besides shouting through loudspeakers, they also used mortars and grenade launchers to drop leaflets onto the "Security Army's" positions, urging the soldiers to seize the last opportunity and become heroes of the revolution.

As for how to become a "hero of the revolution," the Ireland told the soldiers of the "Security Army" bluntly through loudspeakers and leaflets. "Capture alive, kill alive those traitors who refuse to repent, sabotage the invaders' important facilities, and gather important intelligence—these are all ways to become a hero of the revolution."

To prove the reliability of their propaganda, they even had those who had surrendered earlier shout into the loudspeaker every day:

"Brothers of the Security Army, I'm Roy, the former squad leader of the 7th Platoon of the 12th Battalion. Many of you know me, you recognize me. Brothers, let me tell you, the Independence Army are men of their word. We've dealt with the Independence Army for so many years, when have they ever gone back on their word?"

As you all know, last month, a few brothers and I, carrying the head of 'die-hard traitor' Olkai, went to join the Liberation Army. Now, we're all Liberation Army soldiers, we've been allocated land in our hometown, and I've even become an officer. Brothers, the Independence Army keeps its word and is very righteous. Everyone, hurry up and come over..."

The credibility of this propaganda is beyond doubt. The fact that the 12th Battalion Commander, Olkai, lost his head last month was quite a sensation, and no one in the Security Army was unaware of it.

Ever since that propaganda started, well, Captain Jarvis now sees anyone who isn't Britain as someone who wants to shoot him, chop off his head, and run to the other side to claim credit. Captain O'Kelly is Captain Jarvis's sworn enemy; the two once nearly came to blows over protection money. Just over a month ago, Captain Jarvis had said to Captain O'Kelly quite rudely, "Don't think you can act tough just because the Independence Army gave you the title of 'hardcore traitor.' Compared to me, you're nothing! You're not even a hair! You dare call yourself a 'hardcore traitor'? You don't deserve it! You're a damn bastard! I'm the real 'hardcore traitor'!"

Captain Olkai is Captain Jarvis's sworn enemy. Whenever Captain Olkai suffers misfortune, Captain Jarvis is overjoyed. However, after Captain Olkai's head was stolen this time, Captain Jarvis felt no joy at all, and even felt a sense of desolation, like "the rabbit mourns the fox's death."

Fearing encounters with pickpockets who specialize in stealing heads, Captain Jarvis now sleeps with one eye open. Previously Jarvis, he never dared keep a revolver beside him while sleeping, fearing it might accidentally discharge and kill him. But now, he places a loaded Jarvis under his pillow and a spare revolver with an empty first shot inside the covers.

However, the Britain efforts to spread rumors did have some effect. In addition, the Britain broke up the so-called "Security Army" and, with some British Army surveillance, they were still somewhat usable.

Besides this, there was also the lure of money. The Britain said that all the "Security Army" could be withdrawn back to the Britain mainland because they were all "qualified Britain".

Of course, few people would believe such a claim without evidence. So, the Britain did indeed withdraw a shipload of "Security Army." Moreover, the Britain were quite selective in not withdrawing their most "die-hard" Security Army. They only withdrew a relatively average-performing unit.

Why withdraw such a force? The Duke of Norfolk explained it this way:

"Why not withdraw the best-performing 'Security Army'? Isn't it obvious? Even the best-performing 'Security Army' is barely usable. Now is precisely the time to use them; we're counting on them to take the fall for us. How can we send them away? And if we send away such a mediocre force, what will the Ireland think? They'll think that if such a force can be given the chance to retreat, then of course they can retreat even more easily. Perhaps not everyone will think this way, but as long as some people have this wishful thinking, we can use it to keep them fighting for us."

"But the key question is, what will those 'Security Army' officers think?" one officer said at the time.

"They will all think as we expect. People in dire straits will always convince themselves to believe the best guess for them, the one that makes them feel most comfortable, rather than the most reasonable or likely guess," the Duke of Norfolk replied.

Just as the Duke of Norfolk had predicted, his move did indeed have a good effect. Some of his staunch traitors almost instinctively adopted the direction he had hoped for. During this period, their enthusiasm greatly increased. They all believed that since those who performed worse than them had been given a chance to retreat, then at least they themselves—excluding their subordinates—should have a chance to retreat as well. The ship was so big, and the Irish Sea was calm, so overloading it a little wouldn't be a big deal. After loading the Britain soldiers, Britain warhorses, and Britain war dogs, surely they could still fit a few more English-speaking war dogs?