In the waters off Ireland, the British failed to return several clippers one after another. However, after losing a few ships, the British finally figured out what had happened to them. It's just that the British can't copy this "Greek fire" for the time being, so they can only suspend the interception of these clippers from France.

On the other hand, the British diplomatic envoys began to run around Europe again, trying to organize a new round of anti-French alliances.

Their first target was Austria. And at this time, Austria also felt that the last peace negotiation was too unfavorable for itself, and ...... And the French also left a tail for themselves, and those places where the French stayed are not very safe and secure until now. When the nobles went back to collect rent, they had half as much rent as elsewhere.

If this is just this one area, the Austrians gritted their teeth and put up with it. But the trouble is that the guys in other areas are starting to follow suit, and they are demanding rent and interest reductions as well – which is simply intolerable.

So now, although the British are persecuting the Catholics, and although His Holiness has called on the Catholics of all Europe to support the "Irish brothers", the Austrian Emperor sees the French as much worse than the British.

Of course, if the Austrian army could not defeat the French, then His Majesty the Emperor would have to grit his teeth and endure it. But today, the Austrians have just made new advances militarily. In the last war, Austria had successfully copied the Minnie rifles and revolvers that had left the Austrian army in tatters. So when the emperor asked Archduke Karl, "Can our army now contend with the French army?" Archduke Karl also gave this answer:

"Your Majesty, things are much better now than they were then. But our infantry was still inferior to the infantry of the French. Compared to us, the infantry of the French, especially their skirmishers, were stronger. And I believe that after such a long time, their line infantry will not be as ill-trained as they were at the beginning of the last war. So I think that although we have weapons comparable to theirs, on the whole our infantry is still inferior to the French infantry.

Of course, we are not without advantages. Our cavalry, having acquired new weapons, should be able to re-establish superiority over France. But even so, Your Majesty, on the whole, France is still stronger than us. Austria will not be able to defeat France alone anytime soon. ”

"Well, what if Prussia is added to this?"

"That's not enough." Archduke Karl said, "Unless the Russians are added." Otherwise, the war may not be beneficial to us. ”

So the emperor told the British: "It is impossible for Austria to join Britain and France in the war unless both Prussia and Russia join in." Moreover, the Russians must honestly send troops, not like last time, saying that they want to fight with the French, and as a result, until the peace talks, the French army does not know what color the Russians' military uniforms are! ”

So the British went to the Russians and the Prussians.

Russia thought that this time it was very simple to express its willingness to teach the French a lesson together, partly because Her Majesty the Great Empress had died, and the newly enthroned Majesty was not cunning enough, and secondly because the French were too unconscionable and too sad for the Russians. They also don't look at how much Russia helped France drag Prussia and Austria back before this, and how much it helped them. If it weren't for Russia's help, the white flag would have been flying over the city of Paris.

But the French, all of them ungrateful and bad, sold so many dangerous things to the Poles. Those Poles are playing assassination with these things every day. Although there are not many people who have actually been assassinated so far, the Russian nobles in Poland have not dared to hold a ball casually - this, this is really unbearable.

Besides, Russia and France do not share a border, even if they send troops, in case the war situation is unfavorable, it is a big deal not to fight. The risks are also limited. Moreover, it is just the right opportunity to ask the British, or the other two allies, for money and technology.

But to convince Prussia, it was not so easy. The Russians did not fear for their own safety, but Prussia had to worry about their own safety. Unlike the last time, after occupying the Rhine region, the French were already at the door of Prussia! If you really fight, if you can't win - this is really not a small probability, so what should Prussia do?

So the Russians just want money and technology, and Prussia first directly said that we have always loved peace, and then said, it is okay for me to join, you British will take Hanover down by yourself first, and then we will talk. Otherwise. In case of defeat, you British will shrink your neck to the other side of the channel, what will we do?

However, if the British could take Hanover back from the French themselves, what would it be like to pull Prussia in? Besides, where does Britain have the troops to do this at this time? Ireland can't even be busy!

At this time, the Duke of Norfolk's second sweep also officially began, after a period of preparation.

The Duke of Norfolk's sweep used the same number of "Irish security forces" in addition to 40,000 British troops. In the eyes of the Duke of Norfolk, although these people are sparsely combative, even if they are 40,000 pigs, they have the effect of pigs, right?

For example, when the road is opened in front, let these people walk in front, and clear mines as they go; Another example is to go into the village to set fires, into the woods and into the swamps; Another example is to have them deal with rebel armies (women and children) that have not yet completed their training and are not yet armed. They're still useful.

Of course, using these people will also bring some troubles, such as the degree of secrecy of the operation has decreased. The speed of the army's movement was also greatly reduced. After all, the "Irish Security Forces" cannot be compared with the British army in terms of training.

But considering that after the first purge, the rebels of the United Ireland Commonwealth could not have committed the paralyzing mistake again as long as they were not fools, it is unlikely that this operation, even without the 40,000 pigs—ah, no, the 40,000 "Irish Security Forces", would have had the same effect as the last one. And what these guys need to do, as long as they don't have a conscience, they don't need too much training.

As for the possibility that the guerrillas could not be caught because of slow movements? That's not a problem, the priest has a donkey, but the church doesn't have long legs. Even if the guerrillas, the common people, ran away and hid, their villages could not run. Even if their village is full of rammed earth and thatched houses, they are worthless, and they don't feel sorry if they burn them, but the potatoes in their fields can't run. Of course, the British army did not have the time or strength to do the work of destroying the crops, but did they not bring 40,000 pigs? Is there a more efficient way to spoil crops than to put pigs in the fields?

Of course, pigs don't keep it a secret. Especially some time ago, after the guerrillas attacked the "Irish security forces", many pigs of the "Irish security forces" played the game of stepping on two boats. While they were following the British, they secretly contacted the partisans, telling them that "we are all Irish, we are just eating together, and we don't really want to embarrass you", and even simply said that "we are in the British camp and love in our hearts".

In this way, this sweep, at least strategically, has almost become a card. Before the British army was dispatched, the federation had already learned the time, strength, and operational objectives of the British army's upcoming sweep through the information they had obtained.

But even so, the pressure on this counter-sweep is still very high. It's like playing poker, where the opponent's hand is so good that even if you leave the cards open, you don't necessarily have any way to fight it. Of course, the base areas were not unprepared during this period, and at least, in terms of how to transfer the masses, the base areas have made various efforts in light of local conditions.

For example, some villages near the hills have dug hiding holes in the hills; In some villages close to the swamps, safe passages and temporary shelters have been created by nailing wooden stakes and laying wooden planks into the swamps. Coupled with intelligence support, everyone in the Federation dared to guarantee that the loss of direct mass and fighter lives in this sweep would be much smaller than the last.

But this did not make everyone's hearts feel relaxed, because the first target of this British sweep was not to target people, but to agricultural production in the base areas. The potato harvest season is about to begin, and if the British are allowed to run rampant in the base area at this time, agricultural production will be greatly damaged, and then the entire base area will fall into a man-made famine.

This terrible prospect worries almost all the members of the Federation.

"Some comrades hope that our comrades in France will send us more food to ensure that there will be no famine in the base areas in the future. But after a little calculation of the amount of food needed, it immediately became clear how unrealistic this hope was.

Other comrades hoped that our French comrades would organize a large army to come and land directly in Ireland and join us in defeating the British in a frontal battle. But we knew from our time in Toulon that the shipping forces from France to Ireland could not support a large army in regular combat.

So some comrades suggested to us that it would be better for us to fight the British than to starve to death - of course, this is not the way, and our revolution is to make the Irish people live better, not to lead everyone to death.

While we were all hesitating, our friend, Comrade Joseph Bonaparte, wrote to us after learning about the present situation, and his letter was like a gust of wind, blowing away the dark clouds and fog that stood in front of us, and making a golden avenue leading to victory suddenly manifest. ”