Crack

At first, the United States were genuinely startled by the priest. But then someone behind him shouted, "Father, you can't protect sinners! Get out of the way, we don't want to hurt you!"

At the shout, a dark-skinned U. S. Army lieutenant with a long scar on his face walked over. He stood in front of Father Tom, one hand on the revolver hanging at his waist, and stared at Father Tom with bloodshot eyes, saying, "Father, many murderers and sinners have fled into your church. The sacred church should not be used to harbor them. Please hand them over to us."

But Father Tom remained standing there, smiling, and said, "My child, the holy church will not protect the true sinner. But my child, religiously speaking, the power to judge who is a sinner is in God's hands; secularly speaking, you are a warrior, but not a judicial officer, and you have no right to take any law enforcement action."

Furthermore, Lieutenant, I am not blind. I did see what you did after entering the city. Lieutenant, look around and tell me, what do you see? The whole city is burning! Don't tell me these fires started spontaneously or were set on fire by the Canada themselves! Now I'm handing over people who have taken refuge in the holy church to you. Do you think I don't know what terrible things will happen? Lieutenant, go back. Before the Temple of God, please retreat with your men!"

"Father, this is war, and these are collateral damages. Besides, we didn't start the burning of cities. If we're talking about burning cities, when the Britain were burning our cities, Father, did you stand up to stop them?" The US lieutenant clearly had no intention of backing down.

"Lieutenant, do you see those flags behind me? Did we stand up to stop them? Decades ago, when you were oppressed by the Britain, we France stood up and fought alongside you. We France contributed to your victory in independence. And this time, after the Britain committed those heinous acts, we France stood up again for God's justice. Lieutenant, if we hadn't stood up, the front line would still be in New York!" Father Tom replied righteously.

The American lieutenant was momentarily at a loss for words. He didn't realize that Father Tom had employed a classic sophistry tactic—a fallacy of semantics. The lieutenant had clearly asked, "Did you stand up to stop them?", but the priest had shifted it to, "Did the France stand up to stop them?" Of course, even if the lieutenant had noticed this, it wouldn't have mattered much. The priest had already used this tactic to make the United States feel that they were at a disadvantage under the tricolor flag, and their morale had been dampened. The rest was up to the priest to control the situation and prevent the United States from becoming enraged.

Besides, missionaries spend their entire lives talking. What could a small-time slave owner in the American South, a lieutenant in the U. S. Army, possibly have to compete with a missionary in verbal sparring? So, don't challenge someone's profession with your hobby; it's bound to backfire. It's like in another timeline, Pushkin, the father of Russia literature, challenging Dantes, an officer in the Tsar's guard, to a pistol duel.

The lieutenant was now filled with regret. If he had simply ordered two soldiers to peacefully subdue the priest before going in and arresting the Canada, the matter would have been settled. What? A sanctuary for refuge? Sorry, I'm a farmer, I don't know. What France flag? Sorry, my eyesight is bad, I didn't see it. Wouldn't it have been better to leave the rest of the wrangling to the professionals?

But that won't work now. His previous actions clearly showed that he knew it was a church and that the France flag was flying over it. So if he does this again, it will put the diplomats who are professionally cleaning up their messes in a very difficult position. Therefore, the lieutenant is now in a dilemma.

But the lieutenant wasn't about to give up so easily, so he said, "Father, our men did see Britain soldiers flee into your church. These soldiers didn't surrender, and even if they had, they should be in a prisoner-of-war camp, not in your church. So, at least let us take these soldiers away."

"Lieutenant, where do you intend to take these soldiers?" Father Tom asked.

"Of course, we'll take them to the POW camp," the lieutenant replied.

"So, Lieutenant, do you dare place your hand on the Bible and guarantee with the salvation of your soul that they will be sent to a prisoner-of-war camp instead of being killed by you on the street corner?" Father Tom asked.

"Father...I..." the lieutenant's voice trailed off. After all, American South are generally very devout. Ordinary lies are one thing, but to lie with one's hand on the Bible, at the cost of one's salvation, is quite a lot of pressure for a Southerner who truly believes in God.

"Lieutenant, could you tell me where your POW camp is? I think it shouldn't be a military secret anymore. I'd like to go and see it for myself. If your POW camp is truly humane, in accordance with the humanitarian spirit of the Joint Declaration between the Holy See and the French Republic, then I can feel at ease letting these poor people into your camp. Well, my son, tell me, may I go and see your POW camp?" Father Tom said again.

However, the United States made no preparations for prisoner-of-war camps, not even the extremely rudimentary ones like the later Rhine Camp —what use were prisoner-of-war camps? They'd capture Britain, ask if he'd ever been to the American South. If he said yes, they'd just shoot him; if he said no, he was lying, and that was enough too. What use were prisoner-of-war camps?

So the lieutenant hesitated, unsure how to answer.

Seeing the lieutenant hesitate, Father Tom seized the opportunity to say, "Lieutenant, if this matter is difficult to handle, you can consult your superior."

The American lieutenant nodded and said, "Alright... but Father, the city is in chaos right now. Many Britain are still resisting and firing indiscriminately. You'd better not wander around."

Then the lieutenant said to the soldiers beside him, "You guys protect this place and don't let those dangerous criminals get in."

The soldiers saluted him, the lieutenant returned the salute, and then turned and left.

Father Tom breathed a sigh of relief as the lieutenant left. He glanced at the United States soldiers beside him and began to preach to them. Of course, it was all about forgiveness, salvation, and the like.

While preaching, Father Tom kept glancing at the road out of the corner of his eye.

After a while, the sound of horses' hooves came from the other side of the road, and a troop of cavalry carrying the France flag galloped towards them. Father Tom breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the France cavalry rushing towards them.

During the siege, the France had essentially left only a symbolic army, the main force of which was this cavalry battalion. However, this cavalry battalion carried a crucial mission: to quickly reach the church and meet with Father Tom when the city's defenses collapsed. As for Father Tom, besides being a priest, he also received stipends from both the Ministry of Truth and the Ministry of Police.

Father Tom and his battalion of France cavalry now have the most important task of saving as many Canada as possible in order to prepare for future propaganda efforts.

This preparation for propaganda mainly involved portraying United States and Britain as barbarians. Then, going a step further, they categorized Anglo-Saxons as uncivilized savages. Therefore, the French Army cavalry battalion that remained included not only numerous medical personnel but also a considerable number of journalists.

To be honest, United States of this era are still very naive, yes, very naive. They are unaware of the effects that manipulating world opinion can have—effects that could even tear the entire United States apart.

During this war, the contradictions between the United States North and South were already apparent, and even intensified. Southerners felt they had suffered the heaviest losses and sacrifices, yet the few benefits they gained went to the North, which they found extremely unfair. Northerners, on the other hand, felt the war would have ended much earlier if not for the Southerners' stubbornness. Furthermore, they argued that without the Southerners' obstinacy, the France wouldn't have captured so many of the most important and desirable territories later in the war. They believed that if the Southerners had been willing to give the surrendered Britain a chance to live, why would those British soldiers have fought so fiercely against the United States, only to surrender at the mere sight of the tricolor flag?

Generally speaking, Southerners think Northerners are too cunning, taking all the benefits and then acting innocent and saintly. It's one thing for the France to act saintly, but you're from the same country as us, and instead of helping us get revenge, you follow the France in playing the saint – that's really wicked. Northerners, on the other hand, think Southerners are stubborn and stupid. In short, one side thinks the other is bad, and the other thinks the other is stupid.

Then the France got involved. Over the years, France media have infiltrated the United States quite a bit. Of course, many newspapers are nominally United States- owned, but in reality, they often have a France backer. Under their manipulation, this contradiction has become increasingly apparent.

Of course, they couldn't openly provoke conflict, so the France often used this tactic: Southern newspapers, when reporting on the war, would first emphasize the critical situation, then praise the Southern soldiers for their bravery and how they had once again saved the North. This propaganda pleased the Southerners, and at the same time, subtly created a stereotype about the Northerners—that they were cowards in battle, prone to cheating, and that they only survived because of the French; otherwise, they would have surrendered long ago.

Northern newspapers, when reporting on the stories of the northern army's valiant fighting, always liked to portray the southerners as simple-minded, reckless, stubborn, arrogant, and always causing strategic trouble.

Individually, each of these reports seems to be praising people from their hometowns, with mentions of North or South people appearing to be secondary, merely casual comparisons. However, as such reports accumulate, these stereotypes become widely accepted by both sides—and the seeds of division are unknowingly sown in the hearts of United States.