Over the years, the Irish Sea was almost the only relatively wide area where British warships could move freely. Almost all of the training of Britain's new warships was completed in this area. This, of course, also led to a fierce struggle between the two sides at the two exits of the Irish Sea.

In the North Sea Strait, the French moved quickly and preemptively seized Islay. The British, who reacted, strengthened their defenses in the area of Campbelltown, a little further south of Islay.

Campbelltown is a peninsula jutting out of the sea from Scotland, and the narrowest part of the North Sea Strait, only twenty kilometres at its narrowest point, where the British laid mines – of course, leaving themselves safe passage.

From the French-controlled Islay to the coast of Ireland, the narrowest point is thirty-seven kilometers, and of course, the navigable place is not so wide. The French also laid mines here, and of course, they also left themselves safe passage.

Every night, French minesweepers set out from Islay to clear mines in Campbelltown; The British minesweepers set out from Campbelltown to clear mines on Islay Island. During the day, the French were replenishing mines on their side, and the British were replenishing mines on their side. Of course, on statutory holidays, everyone is off.

In fact, what worries the French the most is actually the waterway on the east side of Islay. Turning east from Islay, in the direction of Tenish, there was also a waterway about six kilometers wide and about three kilometers wide at its narrowest point, which was completely under the control of the British. The hydrology of this waterway is complex and full of reefs. In the past, it was basically not possible to use it for navigation. But these are special times, who knows?

For a while, the French also tried to lay mines here, but the night before, their men went out in minesweepers, and three days later they returned in lifeboats - before they could lay a single mine, they hit the reef. In short, if you are not familiar with the shipping lanes over there, it is as dangerous as going straight into a minefield, not to mention going at night, even during the day.

The French also sent scouts to monitor the waterway and found that the British were indeed using it - although small boats were coming and going, they reported that they heard explosions in the area - it was likely that the British were clearing the channel in preparation for larger ships to enter and exit the Irish Sea.

The exit of this narrow waterway is about a hundred kilometers from the anchorage of Islay, and it is impossible for a fleet to hold the exit of Islay and another exit a hundred kilometers away at the same time. So to block them, it was necessary to block the British fleet in the narrow sea outside the exit from Campbelltown. Otherwise, if the British fleet was out of trouble, they could preemptively enter the North Sea before the arrival of the main French fleet, sweep the European ships in and out of the Danish Channel, and expel the cruisers that were carrying out blockade missions off the British coast. Of course, more importantly, as long as they appeared on the ocean, even if they did nothing, they could force the French to concentrate their fleets, search for them all over the ocean, and guard their own routes, thus making the naval blockade of Britain a dead end. As long as the generals were not wiped out, and were not returned with supplies, the French would not have the strength to blockade Britain tightly.

At that time, Britain's ties with the overseas colonies will be restored to a certain extent, and even, attracted by high profits, some European fellows will smuggle all kinds of materials to Britain, just as they smuggled all kinds of things to France in '93. In fact, even now, there are quite a few Europeans and Britons who are taking risks in this kind of business, attracted by high profits. Even in this business, even the French Ministry of Truth and the Ministry of Public Security have a share. Of course, they should be doing it for better intelligence, not for money. Moreover, with the support of their intelligence, the French navy also caught quite a few smugglers.

Considering the situation in the UK, it is difficult to maintain it for a long time, and the blockade must be broken as soon as possible. Judging by various intelligence, if the blockade has not been broken within a month, then there is a high probability of a large-scale revolution. So the British fleet should have an operation within this half a month.

So the main French fleet, which had been stationed in Port Carroll, Ireland, went into action, and part of it moved south to blockade the St. George's Strait. The Strait of St. Georges had the best hydrological conditions, and once the British fleet came out of here, it was the greatest threat to the French coastal routes, and in addition, it was most convenient to retreat if something was wrong. So the French have always been on the best guard on this side. Even in normal times, there were a few specialized, power-fortified colonial cruisers (with larger steam engines and reduced armaments and coal loads in exchange for higher speeds) stationed around the Channel, and their task was to radio the French fleet of the movements of the British fleet as soon as they spotted it, and to keep track of them. Therefore, this kind of cruiser also has a nickname, called "light bulb".

The other fleet rushed north, into the Islay anchorage.

Islay has a nice bay, perfect for shelter from the wind, but it is very difficult to convert it into a port. Because the bay is surrounded by typical glacial terrain, the bay is high cliffs except for the exit side. It is simply impossible to build a large port here.

The French had a small harbor near the bay, which was used by the island's army and minesweepers. In addition, they have two large coal carriers moored in the bay for a long time to support the fleet that will come here in the future. But even so, a large fleet can support here for a limited amount of time, and this is not a port after all.

But on the other hand, it's okay for the fleet to stay here for two or three months. And the current situation in the UK is only afraid that it will be difficult to support it for a few more months.

In fact, during this time, the British government, through neutral countries, had already expressed its sincerity to France for peace. It's just that although the British feel that they are very sincere, the French feel that the British are not sincere, if not insincere, their sincerity is still insufficient.

For example, the British expressed their willingness to cede to the British colonies after the Seven Years' War, including those in India, and agreed to abolish the navigation regulations altogether in order to achieve free trade. In the eyes of the British, this is already very sincere, and it can even be said that it is a surprise to the French.

But the French said that if the British could show such sincerity before the naval battle in the North Atlantic, it would indeed be a surprise, but now, now this TMD is also embarrassed to be called a surprise?

The French then put forward their own conditions:

First, the UK's domestic market is fully open to France and other European countries, and all restrictions on foreign capital are relaxed. All trade disputes should be referred to the Trade Arbitration Commission of the Roman Empire for fair arbitration, rather than unilateral action.

Second, the UK must revise its domestic laws, adopt trade laws that are in line with international standards, and accept the supervision of European countries.

Third, Britain must follow the example of France and enact labor laws to protect the interests of workers.

Fourth, Britain must adopt an attitude of religious freedom, abolish the state religion, allow any other legal religion to preach in the UK, and not discriminate against or even persecute the followers of other religions in any way. In this regard, Britain must be overseen by a Committee on Religious Freedom, including the Holy See.

Fifth, the size of both the British Navy and the Army must be limited. The Navy may no longer retain any warships with a displacement of more than five thousand tons. Coastal forts and other defensive facilities must be demolished within a limited time. The army had to hire French instructors in construction and accept the guidance of the French.

Sixth, all British colonies were given to the Roman Empire to ensure that the human rights of the people in the colonies would not be violated.

……

In short, the French made as many as twenty-one demands in one go. It is said that when Foreign Minister Talleyrand informed the British delegates of these demands during a secret negotiation codenamed "Sycamore Tree," the British delegates were furious after reading the 21 articles and said: "You don't want peace, you want to completely destroy Britain, and these 21 are the 21 points for the destruction of Britain!" ”

Obviously, the demands of the two sides are too different, and the sincerity that the French want, the British really can't show.

When the negotiations finally broke down, Foreign Minister Talleyrand is said to have said this to the British: "These conditions are indeed a bit harsh, but if they are agreed, Britain is still a kingdom...... Isn't it a more terrible thing to become a republic than to accept these conditions? In fact, the key to the matter is, do you want to protect Britain or the king? ”

"What the hell do you mean?" The British representative, who was about to leave, couldn't help but ask.

"To protect England means to keep Britain great, well, it doesn't matter whether England is ruled by kings and nobles, or by protectors, or by the 'National Salvation Council' and by the 'Revolutionary Tribunal'. To be honest, we also prepared another peace agreement, for the revolutionary government of Britain. And I can tell you responsibly that the peace agreement we are preparing for the revolutionary government is much more lenient than the peace agreement you are seeing now against the royal government, do you know why? ”

Seeing that the British delegates still had no reaction, and did not seem to have understood, Talleyrand continued; "We do not do this because of malice towards the kingdom and preference for the republic. Rather, it is because the republic is naturally more appealing than the kingdom. France was able to survive the most dangerous time because the people were willing to support the Republic at all costs. If the British people had supported the Crown at all costs, as they had done in '93, our conditions would have been relatively lenient. But what does the kingdom have to do with the people? It's not the people – when you suppress the Chartist movement, you can't make the people die for you like that. Only the post-revolutionary British government had such appeal. in order to speak of better conditions. If you want to protect Britain, then we will talk about it after the revolution. If you want to protect the British king, more precisely, to keep the current profit distribution model, then I advise you to seriously consider our '21 articles'. ”

The British, or to put it more clearly, the British upper class do not now think that they have reached the point of exhaustion, they think they can still save it, and maybe even kill it.

"If you don't completely crush their navy, they won't give in so easily. They're still holding out hope. In reporting on the progress of the "Sycamore Tree" project, Talleyrand reported to Napoleon.

In order to completely destroy the hopes of the British, Napoleon gave an unusual order to the navy: "Even if the entire fleet is exhausted, the British fleet will never be allowed to break through the ocean!" ”

According to the estimates of the French, the most likely direction of the British fleet was the St. George's Strait to the south. It was wider, and it was also a densely populated and well-developed area along the British coast, where the British built forts, and at least when entering and exiting the Channel, the British could safely spread out their formations under the cover of shore guns. When the situation is really wrong, it is more convenient to retreat by relying on the cover of the fort. So Marshal Trevir, naturally, personally took the main fleet to guard near the St. George's Strait.

As for the North Sea Channel, it was headed by Admiral François-Paul Bruis. In its original history, Brüyers encountered Nelson's main fleet during the Battle of Egypt and was killed in battle. But in this plane, there was no battle for Egypt at all, so General Brueus was naturally still alive and had been promoted to admiral.

In fact, Admiral Bruyers very much wanted to lead the main fleet to intercept the British fleet in the direction of St. George's Strait, because he believed that it was more likely that the British fleet would come out of here. If he could lead the main fleet here to stop the British fleet and destroy them, then he would definitely be able to become a marshal.

It was not because of his victory in the North Atlantic naval battle that Marshal Trevier was promoted to the rank of Admiral in the first place. In the opinion of Admiral Bruyers, the command of Admiral Trevier in the naval battle of the North Atlantic was actually problematic. Admiral Bruyes even felt that if he had been the commander of this battle, the losses of the French army would have been much smaller, at least, the battleship "Imperator" would certainly not have been lost.

Admiral Bruyers even openly declared in the Naval Academy when reviewing the battle: "Relying on the overwhelming superiority of the fleet, the result is almost a one-for-one battle with others." This battle, of course, was a big victory in terms of strategy, but in terms of tactics, it was really lackluster. The only thing that is commendable is the determination to destroy the enemy. ”

However, when it came time to assign the task, Admiral Bruyers failed to grab the St. Georges Strait, because he wanted to become a marshal, and Tréville, who had already become a marshal, still wanted to become a generalissimo.

Napoleon chose to have the Strait of St. George guarded by Marshal Tremier because when he asked the two generals about their operational ideas, Marshal Tréville insisted that as long as the enemy fleet was blocked, and if they could not get out, France would win. Admiral Bruyers, on the other hand, falsely claimed that he could annihilate the British fleet.

It is true that Napoleon, who was adventurous, emotionally preferred the plans of Admiral Bruyers, but Napoleon, as a strategist, was also well aware that there was no need to take unnecessary risks today. Of course, we should pursue victory in such a thing as fighting, but we should not pursue the so-called "perfect victory". Many times, once you have the idea of pursuing "perfect victory", it is easy to make all kinds of unbelievable mistakes, and finally let the duck that has already been roasted fly away again.

So Napoleon, as a strategist, made the decision to have Admiral Tréville guard the St. George's Strait, which was most likely to meet the British fleet, and Admiral Bruyes to go to the North Sea Strait.

Admiral Bruise then rushed to the anchorage of Islay with the second squadron. The main force of the fleet entered the anchorage and sent "light bulbs" carrying radio stations to the exit of the Campbelltown Peninsula to monitor the movements of the British.

Admiral Brueus thought he was probably going to make a trip for nothing. Although Admiral Bruyers often openly said that Admiral Tréville was a mediocre man who would only fight a battle of relying on ships and more artillery and bullying people, he actually knew that Admiral Tréville's side would definitely not be able to make a leak, and if the British really went out through the St. George's Strait, Marshal Tréville would definitely be able to complete the task of blocking the enemy back, although his number of enemies destroyed and the exchange ratio may not be good. But he certainly can't lose strategically. And he also knew that after this war, Britain would probably be finished. In the future, neither the navy nor the army will have any major battles in a short period of time. Therefore, he is estimated to be a general in his life. It's that mediocre talent, maybe he really becomes a generalissimo.

But although Admiral Bruys did not relax - in case, if the British took care of him and really came from here, and he let go of the British fleet because of his lack of preparation, not only would the opportunity to become a marshal fly, but he would definitely become the fool who was repeatedly mentioned in the future naval academy.

So he still cheered up and encouraged everyone to be vigilant and not let the British escape.

"The British fleet came out of Campbelltown at a distance of about seventy kilometres into the Tenish waterway, and our anchorage reached its corresponding position eighty kilometres. And as soon as the enemy fleet entered the Tenish waterway, our interception was a complete failure. Fortunately, in Belfast, Ireland, we have a series of observation posts, and the width of the water in that section is only a little over 30 kilometers, and our Irish allies can also provide us with some early warning information using lookout posts and dinghys. If they have the warning information in time, we can stop them relatively easily, otherwise this race is really a bit difficult. If the enemy fleet appears at the exit of Campbelltown without warning, the ships in charge of surveillance, in addition to sending back a telegram at once, are to take on the responsibility of harassing the enemy as quickly as possible and buying time for our main fleet. Do you understand? Admiral Bruyers concluded, after a detailed assignment of tasks.