In order to prepare for the war with the Irish, just before the war began, the British Parliament temporarily recalled the Governor, the Duke of Norfolk, to consult him on the current situation in Ireland.

"Gentlemen, first of all, please dispel the delusion that the Irish question will be completely resolved within a few months. Unless you are willing to give me more than half a million troops! Otherwise, don't think about solving the Irish problem for a few months! Facing the members of the House of Commons, the Duke of Norfolk replied bluntly.

"Mr. Governor, are the rebels in Ireland so strong these days?" A lawmaker asked.

"Now their so-called Irish Independence Army has at least more than 100,000 men, and the level of equipment is no less than that of our army, and the level of training is quite high. With the strength we have in Ireland today, it is very difficult not to go out to quell the rebels, but to defend the existing area. If I don't get some reinforcements right away, I'll probably have to give up some of the lesser strongholds to keep a few important cities safe. The Duke of Norfolk replied.

"Your Excellency, I wonder why, under your management, the power of the Irish rebels has expanded to such a dangerous level?" A Whig guy asked. The accusation contained in this question is very obvious.

"I'm bound by the armistice that you Whigs have always upheld." Norfolk immediately shot back angrily, "I've warned more than once in the past few years. As soon as the ceasefire was completed, I warned you that a ceasefire would give the Irish rebels a valuable respite and become stronger. Thereafter, almost every two months, I will remind you that the Irish rebels will grow stronger and stronger if the smuggling of the Irish by the French is not stopped. But what about you? For the sake of a small order, for the sake of money, you do not dare to seriously block the passage of the Irish to obtain weapons. Everyone knows what the French export to Ireland every year are for all those agricultural supplies! Rifles called bird repellents, directional mines called herd boar repellents, and all sorts of other messes fell into the hands of the Irish rebels with your connivance.

The current situation in Ireland is out of control, and I, as the Governor of Ireland, am of course willing to bear some responsibility, but the main responsibility is not mine, it is all with you! As I said, Ireland is already an active volcano that is about to erupt, but you are not even allowed to let me pour a glass of water on the crater. I ask you to relax your plundering of Ireland and, if necessary, to be gentle, but what about you? You in Ireland are going to collect taxes for the next century! You tied my hands and feet, and you thought that by putting me on the crater and relying on my weight, you would be able to hold down the magma rushing below? I've asked to resign more than once, but which of you wants to take my place?

Now, you still have the face to ask me how the rebels in Ireland have come to this point, and isn't it all your fault? You still have the face to ask me what's the matter! ”

The Duke of Norfolk seized the opportunity to scold the entire government and parliament, but it basically boiled down to the following:

First, the situation in Ireland is very bad, very bad, and it is no longer a matter of discussing how to exterminate the rebels, but how not to be exterminated by the rebels. To keep the situation going, you have to give me money, you have to give me people, if you have nothing, you just wait for Ireland to collapse!

Second, the deterioration of the situation in Ireland is entirely your responsibility, and if it were not for me, Ireland would have been doomed. I only have credit, and the pot is all yours. If you don't take this pot, I won't do it! Be smart!

Third, the baby has been bitter all these years and has nowhere to say. Baby, now it's time to vent, listen up!

Anyway, after a mouth-watering consultation, the Duke of Norfolk got what he wanted.

Of course, only partially. Congress certainly couldn't have given him half a million troops, because it would cost too much money. And Britain is facing the threat of the French shipbuilding race at this time, where can it come up with so much money and spend it on this?

So the Duke of Norfolk received only a tenth of the five hundred thousand men - fifty thousand. However, most of them are relatively elite troops. Congress also downgraded its goal in Ireland to maintain the situation, not eliminate the rebels.

In addition to this, Parliament passed a decision to blockade the Irish coast and destroy ports controlled by the Irish. While this is unlikely to completely prevent the Irish from receiving support from the French, it will make it less effective for the French to support the Irish.

In fact, when the British and Irish rebels had reached a temporary truce a few years earlier, the Duke of Norfolk knew that Ireland would be difficult to say in the future. Since then, he has been preparing for this situation.

The Duke of Norfolk mainly made efforts in these areas. First of all, he had been trying to lose the Governor of Ireland to anyone else, but this effort was unsuccessful. Because others are not stupid, who can't see that part of Ireland is not funny? So, this effort of the Duke of Norfolk shamefully failed.

So the Duke of Norfolk had no choice but to find a way to strengthen his defenses.

At this time, the advent of the railroad provided a lot of help to the Duke of Norfolk. With the support of the Duke of Norfolk, railways were built between several important cities in Ireland. One of the most important railways is the railway between Dublin on the east coast and Galway on the west coast. The railway divided the whole of Ireland into two halves, north and south. The strategic position is very important.

The British were able to move their troops quickly by relying on this railway, while the movement of the Irish Independence Army was limited by the railway. Of course, in order to protect this railway, the Duke of Norfolk also tried his best.

Athlone, located at the center of the railway, became the most important military stronghold in Ireland. The Duke of Norfolk, after carefully studying the French defense at Verdun, used similar means to make it the most fortified stronghold. More than 6,000 regular British troops were stationed here.

At the same time, along the railway line, at intervals, there were small, well-defended strongholds. A little farther away, there is a support point where a regiment of troops can be stationed. By rail, they were able to support each other quickly.

In addition to this, the Duke of Norfolk prepared four specialized armored trains for this railway. These armored trains were battleships running on the railway line. As long as Britain can quickly replenish more troops, the Duke of Norfolk feels that he can still hold on for a while. Provided, of course, that the French don't come up with any bad tricks again.

In addition to this railway, a railway was also built between Dublin and a number of strongholds around it to improve the rapid reaction capability of the British army. As a result, the ground battles in Ireland since then have basically revolved around the railway.

The Irish Independence Army dared to issue an ultimatum to the British at this time, and naturally it also had a certain grasp of the railway line that would attack the British. The Irish army has always had a weakness in the form of a lack of heavy firepower. As a result, he was very weak when attacking the fortifications.

Although the Irish introduced explosive packs, blasters, and even thunder cannons and grenadiers from the French, these things were not very useful when attacking fortifications. Explosives packs and blasting canisters have to be close to the face before they can be used, and rushing to them often requires a lot of sacrifice.

As for the flying thunder cannon, the firing range is quite limited, the accuracy is also very problematic, and the preparation time is too long, especially after the French developed electric lights, the British imported a lot of high-power searchlights from France, which made it very difficult for the Irish to use the night to arrange flying thunder guns at close range.

As for the grenadier, it was too powerful, and it basically had no penetrating power, so it was almost useless against pillboxes or something. As for conventional artillery, the weight is too large, and the maneuverability is a problem, and it is also inconvenient to use it for counter-sweeping operations that require frequent movement. Coupled with the high price, the French could not afford to help. So until the start of the war, the Independence Army still had very few cannons in their hands.

But this does not mean that the Independence Army does not have artillery. The French always like to experiment with new concept weapons for the Irish. This time was no exception. Not so long ago, a fundamentally new "infantry cannon" was delivered to the Irish.

This is a metal barrel with a relatively slim tripod, which looks very simple. The French gave it the name "Gustav Infantry Cannon".

The military adviser, Mr. Noadier de Villefort, introduced the "cannon" to the fighters of the Independence Army in this way:

"The 'Gustav Infantry Cannon' was the world's first cannon without recoil, and the world's first true infantry gun, because a few infantry could carry it around. It can be shot on a tripod to ensure accuracy, but it can even be fired directly on the shoulder in an emergency.

It fires 84 mm shells that are very effective against all kinds of forts. Of course, the range of this thing is relatively short, and the direct shooting distance is only about 400 meters. So when you use it, you're already within range of the enemy's rifle. ”

"Four hundred meters, even if you put an elephant there, the British can't hit it." A warrior disagreed.

"This cannon has no recoil? How is this possible? Doesn't this conform to Newton's third law of motion? Company Commander Bob asked.

"It's not completely recoilless, it's just relatively small." Noadier replied, "There is a vent at the rear of this cannon, and when the cannonball is fired, a part of the gunpowder gas is ejected from the back, which creates an opposite recoil force that cancels out the main recoil force of the original cannonball, so there is no recoil." Of course, this also means that when this cannon is fired, there can be no people behind it, otherwise, the people behind will become roast goose. In addition, the cannon cannot be fired in an enclosed space, and when fired, there must be no walls or steep slopes behind it, otherwise the rebounding flames can turn the gunner into a roast goose. ”

Compared with the authentic Gustav recoilless guns of later generations, the French recoilless guns of this era were much inferior in performance. Later Gustav recoilless guns used titanium barrels and carbon fiber winding technology, so that the empty weight of this gun was only 6.6 kg.

But in this era, there were no such things, so the barrel of the French "Gustav" was a solid steel pipe, and because the quality of the steel could not be compared with later generations, it had to be slightly thicker. Then, in addition, the gap between the technical level of the tail nozzle and later generations is also obvious, so the tail nozzle is also a lot heavier, and finally it is down, and the whole gun weighs more than 30 kilograms only in the body part. So although theoretically this cannon can be carried on the shoulder, if it is not a strong man, it really can't carry this thing. Whenever possible, it's best to use it with a tripod.

Therefore, this cannon also needs a lot of personnel, two people who take turns carrying the barrel, one person who carries the tripod, and three people who carry the shell, plus four people who are responsible for protection, exactly one squad. It can also be regarded as a redefinition of squad weapons.

However, in the eyes of people of this era, this is not a disadvantage at all - such a light cannon, even if it can only hit 400 meters with direct fire, it is a weapon like a dream. As for saying that a cannon is equipped with a squad of people, isn't that the norm?

What really gave the Irish a headache was that the shells for this cannon were too expensive. Although considering that the Irish had no money, and considering the strategic importance of supporting the liberation of the Irish people, the Irish Independence Army could get even less when ordering weapons from the French than the French army could get if they bought these things themselves. But the price of such shells, which use a trigger fuse, is still too expensive. So much so that when President Russell learned about the price of the cannonballs for this cannon, he still exclaimed:

"This cannonball, really, really more expensive than a carriage with four horses attached. Just think about it, as soon as the cannon goes down, the carriage will fly like the two, and if it misses, it will be really distressing. ”

Russell let out such an exclamation, let alone the combat troops. They even stipulated that if the gunner missed the target if he missed the target during the battle, he would be punished with a demerit. It is said that some commanders, after learning the price of this thing, even sighed: "This thing is so expensive, when you can use explosives to pack blasting canisters, try to use explosives bags and blasting canisters." ”