Fox of France

"First of all, we have to admit that this time we have suffered a painful defeat. Our revolutionary forces have suffered huge losses. During the siege of Athlone and later in the process of blocking the reinforcements of the British army, we paid The first and second divisions, as well as local troops, sacrificed more than 14,000 people. In addition, nearly 10,000 wounded had to leave the revolutionary army because of their injuries. After paying such a big price , We failed to achieve any of the several operational goals we set before the war. So now, we must summarize what is the root cause of our failure this time.

For this question, I personally think so.

First of all, because of the past achievements, many comrades in our federation, including me, are proud and elated. Therefore, we cannot really proceed from reality to study and analyze problems. Instead, he patted his head casually and made a decision. Thinking back now, how sloppy we were when we made this combat deployment!

Just because of some past victories, we are blindly optimistic, thinking that as long as we feign an attack, we will be able to mobilize the enemy, and the enemy will definitely come for reinforcements without sufficient preparation, and they will definitely fall into our ambush—as if The enemy is under our command and must obey our orders. As for what to do in the event of an unexpected situation, we have not made various contingency plans in advance. When things come to an end, respond hastily, so it's no wonder that you don't fail.

Are our mistakes made by accident? No, there are occasional mistakes. For example, if you accidentally fall while walking, it may be accidental. But there are so many mistakes in such matters related to the fate of the country, it can't be accidental, this is our own thinking, and there is something wrong with our own style of work!

We are proud, and when we are proud, we tend to be arrogant, and we cannot look at ourselves objectively. We are like the frog in Aesop's Fables, who thinks that if he puffs up his belly, he will be bigger than a cow. If you are proud, you will definitely look down on others, and you will not be able to judge others objectively. So our predictions about the British were hardly right. If you are proud, you will be lazy and use your brain. So we don't even have a contingency plan.

Therefore, this failure was not accidental, but because of problems in our own thinking and work style. If we fail to correct our attitude and change our style of work, such a failure will never be the last. Therefore, in the period to come, even in our lifetime, we must always be vigilant and constantly rectify our style of work. This is the guarantee of the victory of the revolution.

Comrades, although we have suffered another setback, our confidence in the victory of the revolution is unshakable. Comrades, think about our original situation. Generally speaking, isn’t the current situation much better? Look at our enemies again. Isn't it obvious that their strength has declined compared to before? The road of revolution is tortuous, but the future of revolution is bright. We must have full confidence in the victory of the revolution..." - "Russell's Speech at the Summary Meeting of the First Attack on Athlone"

On the English side, of course, it was a time of joy. Although this victory failed to wipe out the main force of the "Irish rebels", it was already the biggest victory since the "counter-insurgency operations". Naturally, it was widely publicized in the British newspapers, and the Governor of Norfolk was awarded the Knight's Grand Cross for it. Everyone congratulated him one after another, and wished him that he could quickly wipe out the rebels.

But the Duke of Norfolk did not show much joy about this. He told his friends in private that the situation in Ireland was still grim. He even used his physical discomfort as an excuse, hoping that the British government would approve his retirement and send someone to take his place—if he didn’t take advantage of the opportunity to win the bandits and fool a fool who was eager to pick peaches to act as a substitute for the dead ghost, then he would come back later. It's hard to find a substitute.

However, the British government rejected his request without hesitation. Don't read the newspapers that bragged about this victory, but those who have connections know that the main force of the Irish rebels is still there, and this peach is not easy to pick. So the celebration is the celebration, the medals are the medals, and I want to find someone to top the tank, hehe...

But soon the British couldn't be happy, because another accident happened in North America.

Since the French started the development of Louisiana, the westward expansion of the United States has been almost completely blocked by the French. Because the dividing line between northern Louisiana and the United States is not clear, there has been a lot of friction between the French and the Americans in the border area over the years. At first it was Americans fighting "French Overseas Citizens", then Americans fighting Indians, then "French Overseas Citizens" fighting Americans, and then Americans fighting Indians, "French Overseas Citizens" "Fighting the Indians, in the end, is the Indians supported by the French, and the Indians supported by the Americans.

Although there are many small fights, there is basically peace between the Americans and France. The Americans also know that with Louisiana in the way, the success rate of westward advance is very low. So the Americans set their sights on their northern neighbor-Canada.

In the original history, in order to seize the Canadian region, the Americans declared war on the United Kingdom in 1812, taking advantage of the British power being held back by France, and tried to seize Canada. Of course, this strategic goal was not achieved, but the presidential palace was set on fire. In the end, though, the Americans declared that they had won the war. Oddly enough, the British also thought they had won the war. In a typical zero-sum game like war, there is a story in which both sides are victors.

In this time and space, the way for the Americans to go west was blocked by the French, but the Americans did not have the confidence to fight the French. At this time, Britain and France seem to be fighting again, and the Irish in Britain are making trouble again. The Americans immediately have a thought: don’t go to destroy Canada at this time, should they wait for the French to completely defeat Britain? Dude, and then everyone take Canada together?

So the Yankee made an excuse, saying that the rabbit didn't wear a hat, ah, no, it meant that the British and Indians colluded to attack the Americans. Then war was declared on the British.

If it is said that the British colluded with the Indians to attack the Americans, it really does not wrong the British, they did such a thing. It's just that they are not only targeting the United States, "French overseas citizens" are also targeted. But the Americans also conspired with the Indians to attack Canada and the "French Overseas Citizens". Then the "French Overseas Citizens" also colluded with the Indians to attack Canadians and Americans.

This is a small problem when everyone is evenly matched, but not when the British are held back by the French. So the Americans used this as an excuse to declare war on Britain.