Chapter 4 Chapter 2 Light Cruiser Giant Sword ①-1

In the spring of 1793, when the country of France was surrounded by enemies, and the loss of the Girondins was an interesting anecdote, the following happened in the archipelago of the Passe de Manche. On the evening of June 1st, about an hour before sunset, in a deserted little bay in Jersey called Goodnight, a frigate was setting sail.At this moment, the fog is thick, and sailing on the sea is very dangerous, so it is the most beneficial to escape.The crew on board were French, but the ship belonged to the British flotilla stationed as if on guard at the eastern tip of Jersey.The fleet was commanded by Prince Turdoveni of the Buion family, and the cruiser was ordered by him to carry out an urgent and special mission.

The cruiser is registered with the Pilotage Society as the Great Sword.It looks like a cargo ship, but it is actually a battleship.It's heavy and peaceful like a merchant ship, but don't be fooled.It was built for a dual purpose: subterfuge and force.Lie if you can, beat if you can't.In order to carry out tonight's mission, the second-floor cabin is equipped with thirty large-caliber short guns.Perhaps to account for the storm, and perhaps still more to make the ship appear genial, the cannons were all concealed, held in place by three chains, and the front leaned against the blocked hatch, so that nothing could be seen from the outside.The portholes were blocked and the hatches were covered, as if to put a mask on the cruiser.A regular cruiser only has cannons on the deck, but this cruiser designed for surprise attacks and traps has no cannons on the deck. As we saw just now, its cannons are set in the second-floor cabin.The Great Sword is thick and stocky in appearance, but it is extremely fast.Its hull is the strongest in the British Navy, and its combat effectiveness is almost as good as that of a destroyer.It has no mizzenmast, just a smallmast with a simple minisail.The rudder was very well shaped and very rare, with only one almost unique curved rib, for which the Southampton shipyard cost £500.

The crew on board were all French, with exiled officers and deserted sailors. ①The unique fighting sword of the Scots.They were handpicked: good sailors, good soldiers, good royalists.They worship three things: the ship, the sword, and the king. In addition to the crew, there was half a battalion of naval infantry on board, who could disembark if necessary. The captain of the Colosseum was Count Boisberteau, who was awarded the Order of Saint-Louis and was an outstanding officer in the old Royal Navy.The first mate was the Chevalier de La Vieuxville, who had commanded the company of Hoch's sergeant in the royal guard.The pilot was Philippe Gracquar, the shrewdest helmsman in Jersey.

It was guessed that the ship was going on an unusual mission.Indeed, there was a man who got on the boat just now, as if he was going to do something special.He was a tall and strong old man, with a straight body and a serious face. He looked both old and young, and it was difficult to guess his age.Although this kind of person is old, he is full of energy, gray-haired but with piercing eyes. In terms of strength, he is forty years old, and in terms of prestige, he is eighty years old.When he stepped into the boat, the overcoat worn on the sea was slightly opened, revealing a pair of wide trousers called Bragu-Bra, boots with leg gaiters and a goatskin jacket. It was leather trimmed with silk lace, and the lining was rough and shaggy.This is the dress of a Breton peasant.This vintage Breton blouse serves two purposes: festive and labor.It can be worn on both sides, or the fur side is outward, or the embroidered side is outward; it is animal skin on weekdays, and it is a dress on Sunday.The old man's peasant clothes, which seem to have been worn for a long time, are frayed at the knees and elbows, as if to add to this deliberate authenticity.The overcoat worn at sea was of rough material, much like a fisherman's rag.The old man wore a fashionable round hat with a large crown and a wide brim. The hat was pulled down like a countryman, and a flag tape was inserted on the side of the hat like a soldier.The old man pulled his hat down like a farmer, without braid or logo.

Lord Balcaras, Governor of Jersey, and Prince Turdoveni personally sent the old man to the ship to settle down. "The secret agent of the princes, Jerambre, who had served as a guard for the king's eldest brother, Count Artois, personally arranged the old man's cabin, and even thoughtfully and respectfully followed the old man with a suitcase, although he himself was a true nobleman. As he disembarked, he bowed deeply to the farmer, and Lord Balcaras said to the old man: "I wish you success, General. ’ Prince Turdovene also said: ‘Good-bye, cousin. " "Farmer," the crew immediately called the passenger by that name in a quick chat.They didn't know much more, but they knew that the farmer was no more a farmer than their warship was a cargo ship.

The wind is not strong.The Greatsword left Goodnight Bay, sailed across Bligh Sound, tackled, and a while later ① French general (1768-1797), who defeated the exiled nobles who landed in France (1795).In the gradually darkening night, it gradually shrinks, and finally disappears completely. An hour later, Gerambre returned to Saint-Hérière's house and sent a courier from Southampton to the Count Artois at the Duke of York's headquarters: Your Excellency: We have already set off.Success is in sight.Granville to Saint-Malo in one week The whole coast of the country will be ablaze.

Four days ago, Priel, the representative of the Marse department who came to Granville to inspect the coastal defense of Cherbourg, received a letter from the emissary. The handwriting was the same as the previous express letter, and the content was as follows: On behalf of the citizens: The giant battleship with hidden turrets will set off at high tide on June 1st, Send a man to the coast of France.The characteristics of this person are as follows: tall, old, white hair, peasant clothes Bunch, hands of nobility.I'll tell you more tomorrow.He will make landfall early the next morning.Notify the cruise team of the interception battle

Ship, behead this person. Instead of heading south toward St. Catherine, the Greatsword headed north and then rounded west again, making a decisive move into the strait known as the Trek Pass between Sirk and Jersey.At that time, there were no lighthouses on either side of the strait. The sun was completely down.The night was dark, darker than a typical summer night.It was a moonlit night, but thick, autumnal rather than summer clouds covered the sky, and it seemed that the moon only appeared when it was sinking on the horizon.A few dark clouds hang over the misty sea. This deep darkness is a godsend.

The intention of the pilot, Gracquard, was to go round the right of Jersey and the left of Guernessy, sailing boldly between the reefs of Janouai and Dover, and inquire of some harbor on the coast of Saint-Malo.This route was longer than that of Manguire Reef, but it was safer, because the focus of French patrols was usually between Saint-Hérière and Granville. If there is a favorable wind and no accidents, and all sails are hoisted, Gracquard estimates that he can reach the coast of France before dawn. ① That is, the special commissioners stationed by the National Convention in various places and in the military.

All went well; the Greatsword sailed past Cape Nose.Near nine o'clock, as the sailors say, the weather began to get angry.There was a storm, but fortunately it was a favorable wind. Although the waves were big, they were not violent.However, sometimes waves hit the bow of the boat. The "peasant," whom Lord Balcarras called admiral and Prince Turdoveni called a cousin, paced the deck with serene seriousness, as if he did not feel the pitching of the ship.Sometimes he would take a bar of chocolate from his coat pocket, break off a small piece and eat it.Although his hair was white, his teeth were still intact.

He spoke to no one, but sometimes only a few words to the captain, who listened reverently and seemed to think that the passenger had more authority than himself to command. Under the cover of dense fog, the Colossus steered deftly along the long cliffs of the north slope of Jersey, sometimes staying close to the shore, for between Jersey and Sirk was the formidable Pierre Derek Rock. .Gracquar stood at the helm of the ship, pointing out Lagrave Derek Reef and Big Nose Cape.Plemons Reef; the boat sailed among these reefs, so to speak, feeling its way forward, but it was very safe, and the helmsman seemed to be at home, knowing the ocean like the back of his hand.There was no light on the bow of the Great Sword for fear of being detected in this watched sea.The fog is a thankful opportunity.When the ship reached Grand-Etack, the fog was so thick that it was difficult to see even the tall stone pillars, but the bell tower of Saint-Ouen was heard striking ten o'clock, which showed that the wind had been favorable.all the best.The waves got rougher because of the proximity to La Corbierre. Shortly after ten o'clock, the Comte de Boisberteau and the Chevalier de La Vieuxville escorted the old man in peasant clothes back to the cabin, which was the captain's own cabin.When the old man went in, he whispered to them: "You know, gentlemen, it must be kept secret. Keep silent until it breaks out. You are the only ones here who know my name." "We will keep our mouths shut," said the Count Boisberteau. "And I, even in the face of death, I will not say it." The old man said. Then he went into the cabin. The captain and mate were back on deck, walking side by side, talking.They were obviously talking about the passenger.The following is the general content of the conversation blown into the darkness by the sea wind. Boisberteau leaned close to La Vieuxville's ear and whispered: "We'll see if he can be a military leader." La Vieuxville replied: "At present he is a prince." "That's right." "A nobleman in France, but a prince in Brittany." "Just like the La Tremoye family and the Rohan family." "He's their ally." Boisberteau added: "In France, in the king's magnificent carriage, he is a marquis, just as I am a count and you are riding." "The days of the fine carriages are long past," cried La Vieuxville, "and we are in the grave." silence. Boisbertello went on to say: "The Prince of France could not be found, so the Prince of Brittany had to be found." "No thrush... no, no eagle, but a crow." "I'd rather be bald," said Boisbertello. "Of course! With a sharp mouth and claws." "Let's see." "Yes," continued La Vieuxville, "we must have military leaders. I agree with Dandeniac: military leaders and gunpowder! Yes, captain, I know almost all military leaders, talented ones." and the incompetent, yesterday, today and tomorrow, but no one has the talent for war we need. In that damned Vendée, we need a general who is also a prosecutor. The enemy must be harassed and fought over Mills, bushes, ditches, and five sons, mess with them, use everything, seize everything, kill as many as you want, don't sleep, and don't be soft. In the peasant army, there are now only heroes and no leaders. De El Bay is worthless, Les Guerre is sick, Bonchon is soft, he is a good man, but it is stupid. La Roche-Acqueline is a good second lieutenant, Shields is good at plain warfare, bad at guerrilla warfare, Catley Not the naive coachman, Stoffrey the cunning gamekeeper, Berard incompetent, Branvilliers ridiculous, Charette abominable, and Gaston the shaving man, it's so damn inexplicable, if Let the barber command the nobles, so what is the difference between us and the republicans, why should we quarrel with the revolutionaries?" "That's because the abominable revolution has infected us too." "France is infected with scabies." "The scabies of the third degree," said Boisbertello. "Only England can get us out of it." "There is no doubt that England will succeed, Captain." "It wasn't so good before that." "Yes, there are country bumpkins everywhere. Under the monarchy, M. de Mollefriere's former gamekeeper, Stoffrey, became general at the head of the army, and under the republic, de Castries Pache, the duke's porter's son, is a minister, and what a match! The warring parties in the Vendée are queer, between the brewer Santerre and the barber Gaston!" "My dear Lavieuville, this Gaston is not bad to me. He commanded well in the battle of Gemene. He let three hundred blue troops dig a hole for himself, and then calmly Shoot them all." "Wonderful, but I can't do worse than him." "Of course. Me too." "Great acts of war require noblemen," added La Vieuxville. "War is the business of knights, not barbers." "However, there are capable men in the third estate, such as Jolly the watchmaker. He was a sergeant in the Flemish Legion and is now the captain of the Vendée. He commands a gang on the coast. He has a son who is Republicans. The father was in the white army, and the son was in the blue army. They fought face to face. The father captured the son and shot him in the head." "That's a good fellow," said Lavieuxville. "Royalist Brudot." "But it would be intolerable to have people called Cocoro, Jean-Jean, Moulin-Moulin, Faucal, Bumi, and Haup in command." "My dear knight, isn't the enemy just as angry? Our side is full of plebeians, their side is full of nobles. The sansculottes party consists of Count de Conclo, Viscount de Miranda, de Do you think they would be pleased to have the Vicomte Beauharnin, the Comte de Valence, the Marquis de Guisti, and the Duc de Biron come to command?" "What a mess!" "And the Duke de Chartres!" "Son of equality. Oh, when will this fellow be king?" "Never will." "He's on his way to the throne, by crime." ① An ancient Roman politician who was once a close friend of Caesar and later participated in a conspiracy to assassinate Caesar. ③Philippe Equality, that is, Duke Louis-Philippe-Joseph de Orleans, whose son, Duke de Chartres, was Louis Philippe, who served as King of France from 1830 to 11848 . "But vice made it hard for him to get what he wanted." Again there was silence.Boisbertello went on to say: "He wanted to make up with the king, he came to see the king. I was there, at Versailles, and someone spat on his back." "From the top of the grand staircase?" "yes." "Well done." "We call him the Unpredictable Bourbon." "He's bald with abscesses. He's the new king, pooh." La Vieuxville went on to say: "I was with him when I was in Usan." "On the Holy Spirit?" "right" "If he listens to Admiral Orvillier's confidence and holds on to the wind, the English will be in trouble." "Yes." "Is he hiding in the hold?" "No, but so to speak." Then La Vieuxville laughed. Boisbertello went on to say: "Some people are fools, La Vieuxville, that Branvillier you mentioned, whom I knew and saw close by. At first the peasant's weapon was the spear, and he presumably intended to make the peasant Spearmen, let them practice oblique and straight thrusts, dream of making these savages a regular army, teach them how to break the corners of the phalanx, how to form a hollow phalanx. He babbled in the old military jargon that he would not Squad leader, but corporal, as Louis XIV called it. He was obstinate about organizing these poachers into teams. He had some regular companies, and the non-commissioned officers of the company formed a circle every night, and the sergeant of the first company In a low voice, pass the password and reverse password to the deputy chief officer, who then passed it on to the next person, and so on, and passed it to the last superior officer. One non-commissioned officer did not stand up and take off his hat to accept the password, and was arrested Dismissed. You can imagine how that would work. This fool doesn't understand that peasants should be treated like peasants, and it's impossible to turn a rough villager into a soldier. Yes, I know this Bran Villiers." They walked a few more steps, each thinking about their own thoughts. The conversation resumed. "By the way, was Pierre really killed?" "Yes, Captain." "Under the city of Condé?" "At Camp Palmer, hit by a shell." Bois Berthelot sighed: "Count de D'Ampierre. These are ours too, but on their side." "Good luck to him!" La Vieuxville said. "Where are the women? Where are they?" "In Trieste." "Still there?" "yes." La Vieuxville exclaimed: "Oh! Republic! What havoc a trifle causes! This revolution is due to a deficit of millions of francs." "Be wary of small things." "It sucks," Lavieuxville said. "Yes, Larou Ali is dead, and Dudresnet is a fool. Those bishops are poor agitators, such as Bishop Coucy of La Rochelle, Beaupois Saint-Auraire of Poitiers Bishop, Bishop of Mercy of Luçon, lover of Madame d'Echasery..." "You know, her name is Servanto, and Echaseri is the name of the land." "And that false bishop of Agra, curate of somewhere." "It's Dole's. His name is Girard de Forville. He's brave, he's fighting." "When you need soldiers, you only have priests! Bishops don't become bishops, and generals don't become generals!" La Vieuxville interrupted Boisbertello to say: "Captain, do you have the Monitor in your cabin?" "some." "What's going on in Paris at the moment?" "Adair and Boland, and more." "I really want to see it." "You'll see. We'll be in Paris in a month." Boisbertello thought for a moment, and then said: "Not a month at the latest. Mr. Windham told Lord Hood." "So, Captain, it's not all a mess." "It will be all right, of course, if the war is well fought in Brittany." La Vieuxville nodded and said: "Are our naval infantry going to land, Captain?" "If the coast is in our hands, we land, otherwise we don't. In war, sometimes you have to break down doors, and sometimes you have to sneak in. In civil war, you should have a fake key in your pocket. Adapt to the situation. The important thing is military. leader." Boisbertello went on thoughtfully: "La Vieuxville, what do you think of Knight Diez?" "young?" "right" "Being a commander?" "right" "He is good at fighting positional warfare on the plains. As for the jungle, only farmers are familiar with it." "Then you can only accept Generals Stoffrey and General Catellino." La Vieuxville thought for a moment and said: "There must be a prince, a prince of France, a prince of the royal family, a real prince." "Why? The princes are all..." "Coward. I know that, Captain. But he can make silly boys stare." "But, my dear knight, the princes will not come." "Then don't want them." Boisbertello made a mechanical movement, covering his head tightly with his hands, as if trying to squeeze some idea out of it.He added: "Anyway, let's try this general." "He is a great nobleman." "Do you think he can?" "As long as he's good," La Vieuxville said. "That's ruthless," Boisbertello said. The count and the rider glanced at each other. "Monsieur Boisberteau, you are right. Ruthless, yes, that's what we need. It's a bloody war to the death. Kingslayer beheaded Louis XVI." To begin with, we're going to quarter the kingslayer. Yes, we need generals who are merciless. In Anjou and Haute-Poitou, the chiefs are so generous that there's no limit to their generosity, so everything goes wrong .And in Mare and Rez, the chiefs were brutal and brutal, so everything went smoothly, because Charette was relentless to Palan, retaliation for retaliation." Before Boisberteau could answer, La Vieuxville's words were suddenly interrupted by a desperate scream, accompanied by an unheard-of noise, all coming from the interior of the ship. The captain and mate rushed towards the center cabin, but could not get in.The gunners ran onto the deck in panic. A terrible thing has just happened.