Chapter 2547 Winthrop Project
The anti-insurgency plan proposed by Lord Barrington seems reasonable, but unfortunately, it did not receive the support of a majority in the parliament, and it was also received coldly by the cabinet and the king.
Including George III himself, the rulers of Fiji generally had optimistic expectations for the quelling of the colonial rebellion, and believed that the only way to quickly extinguish the rebellion was to organize a huge army force to deal a thunderous and swift blow to the main force of the rebel army. !
The local nobles and gentlemen of Fizhen looked down on the mud legs of the colonies at all, and the rebels were nothing more than a mob in their eyes. As long as they were defeated once, the mob would die and go back to their homes, and the war would be over.
In contrast, Lord Barrington's "naval blockade" plan is too much of a trivial matter.
Sending fleets across the oceans to blockade important ports on the coastline of the New World is actually far more laborious and costly than sending an army. Even if Feizhen can support a long-term blockade with its strong national strength, it still needs to worry about the international impact it will bring.
Prohibition of trade between the colonies and Figen and even the countries of Vares? There is simply no more offensive policy in the world than this!
The magic crystal ores exported from Jotunheim and Midgard, and the grains and cotton exported from Alfheim are all "ballast stones" in the international commodity trading market.
Almost all industrial countries depend to varying degrees on raw materials such as cheap high-grade ore and cotton imported from the New World. Once this trade channel is cut off, countless factories in many countries will go out of business, go bankrupt, and tens of thousands of workers will lose their jobs. , become a hidden danger leading to social unrest.
Fizen proper is a land-poor and populous island nation that relies heavily on cheap grain imported from the New World to balance food prices.
In addition to the Kolas Empire, other industrial powers in the Vales world also need to import bulk grains from the New World, otherwise the price of grains will soar to the sky, and the people at the bottom of the city will not have enough to eat, so it is strange if they do not rebel!
The blockade of the trading ports in the New World by the Fizen naval fleet will definitely arouse public indignation, making Fizen a common enemy of all countries in Vares, and the consequences will be disastrous.
Based on the above factors, no matter how good Lord Barrington's plan looks, it is not feasible in reality, and it is not surprising that it was coldly received.
After parliamentary discussion, the combat plan of sending the army across the oceans to counter the rebellion finally won, and it was approved by King George.
At the beginning of June 1626, two army divisions from the mainland of Fizen arrived in the port of New Avalon in a troop carrier and escorted by warships. The rebel forces are evenly matched.
Accompanying the reinforcements to the colony are three generals of Fizen, who will assume the mission of assisting Governor Winthrop in suppressing the rebellion.
All three generals are professional soldiers with outstanding records and experience.
The first was Vice-Admiral William Howe, appointed Commander of the Colonial Naval Fleet.
The second was Major General Johnny Burgoyne, a well-born man of many talents who was popular both in society and in the army.
The third was Major General Henry Clinton. Clinton was more in line with the public's general impression of a professional military officer than his two colleagues—a moody and ruthless man known for his ruthlessness on the battlefield, earning him the nickname "cold-blooded."
Earl Winthrop hosted a banquet in honor of the three generals at the Governor's Mansion. After the meal, he unfolded the map in the living room and studied with them how to reverse the current passive situation.
Observing the map, it is not difficult to find that New Avalon is located on the Slade Peninsula extending towards Maple Leaf Bay. Only a slender "neck" in the southwest corner is connected to the mainland.
Now the neck of the peninsula has been tightly strangled by the positions stationed by 30,000 rebels. The land connection between New Avalon and the outside world has been completely cut off, and it can only be trapped in the isolated city.
Of course, the situation is not as bad as it appears on the surface.
The rebels had neither a naval fleet nor heavy cannons to attack the city, and Fizen's warships could move in and out of Maple Leaf Bay unimpeded, transporting troops and supplies to New Avalon.
Theoretically speaking, due to the continuous supply from the sea and the perfect city defense facilities, New Avalon City does not have the risk of being captured. No problem at all.
However, Earl Winthrop couldn't bear to be under the siege of the rebel party for a long time, and he couldn't even get out of the city. What kind of "governor" was he?
In order to break the deadlock, Governor Winthrop felt it necessary to take the initiative and seize a strategic location.
In the south of New Avalon across the water, less than two miles away in a straight line, there is a peninsula. Looking down from a high altitude, the outline of the peninsula resembles a leather boot stretching out to the ocean, and the reef behind the "heel" looks like The Spurs are therefore called the "shoe peninsula" by the locals.
There is a barn-shaped hill in the northern part of the Horseshoe Peninsula. It is about 500 yards above sea level. Standing on the top of the hill with a gentle slope, you can overlook the whole city of New Avalon and the positions of the rebels outside the city.
The Horseshoe Peninsula and the Slade Peninsula, where New Avalon City is located, are like two leaves growing from a vine. The two peninsulas share a "neck", which is precisely the position heavily guarded by the rebels.
Governor Winthrop believes that if one's own troops board the ship at the port of New Avalon, under the cover of the naval fleet's artillery fire, it will take at most half a day to successfully land on the shallows in the northern part of the Horseshoe Peninsula, and then occupy the highlands of Barn Mountain. With favorable terrain, it can suppress the rebel positions with firepower.
When the time is right, the main force of Feizhen can also cooperate with the troops transported to the Horseshoe Peninsula to launch a pincer attack on the rebel positions, annihilate them in one fell swoop, and then take advantage of the victory to pursue and occupy the base camp of the rebels in Idalil Town. The counterinsurgency war is coming to an end.
The overall combat plan that Earl Winthrop explained to the three generals who came from afar can be called a good strategy, the only fly in the ointment is that the secrecy measures are not perfect.
The next morning, this operational plan was only communicated to the lieutenant officer of Dafizhen's army, and an identical copy was already placed on the desk of General Laval, the interim commander-in-chief of the rebel army outside the city.
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·Historical Materials: Another Interpretation of the Barrington Plan ("A Brief History of the American Revolutionary War" [British] Stephen Conway)
King George III and his ministers have begun to organize a large reinforcement to be deployed to the colonies in the coming year. This force would join forces with the British troops withdrawn from Boston to crush the rebellion.
Lord Barrington, Secretary of State for Army Affairs, was skeptical that a sufficiently strong army could be organized in time, preferring a naval blockade of the American coastline to force the Americans into submission.
However, the king was adamant that the only way to quell the rebellion quickly was to organize a large army; and an effective naval blockade, even if it could be done, would take a long time to bring the colonies to their knees.
Moreover, the naval blockade may also irritate France, which may worry that the deployment of so many warships in the Atlantic by Britain will pose a threat to French territories in the Caribbean.