Chapter 2778 Lose Face

No matter how much Joan hates this cult gang, he has to be fair. In the wars that broke out in the New World before, including the mine war in 1622 and the War of Independence that had been fought for a whole year, the "Conqueror Cult" has always stood up. On the colonial side, in all fairness, it has made great contributions to resisting the Fizen invading army.

The mutiny of Hooker's regiment was a weather vane.

Does this mean that the Church of Conquest has changed its consistent stance, giving up supporting the Continental Army, and instead cooperating with Earl Winthrop, and will soon become an accomplice in suppressing the independence and liberation movement in the colonies?

This thought made Joan deeply worried, and he quickly sent letters to his well-informed friends, such as Mr. Franklin, Mrs. Josephine, and His Majesty the Emperor Roland of the Far East, confessing his concerns and asking for everyone's opinions on this matter. view.

Not long after, Qiao An received replies from everyone one after another. After summarizing all the new clues and information revealed in the letters, as well as the analysis they made from various perspectives, Qiao An found regretfully that he was probably the one who unfortunately made a statement. bingo.

One of the most valuable clues came from His Majesty the Emperor.

Roland didn't know what channel he got the information from, but he found out that before the fall of Port Prince, Earl Winthrop had sent his eldest son Bannister as a special envoy, accompanied by John Andre and Patrick Ferguson in disguise. In the town of Hows, he secretly met with Hook and encouraged him to join Feizhen.

General Hook was angry at Charles Gates' suppression of him. At the same time, he also realized that even if he led his troops to join the war, it was very likely that he would not be able to change the outcome of the fall of Port-Prince.

I lost my army and died for my old rival Gates. In the end, I couldn't even keep the territory of Prince Port, which I worked so hard for half my life. What is the plan?

Instead of this, it is better to accept the olive branch thrown by Earl Winthrop and lead his troops to defect, at least he can preserve his troops and territory.

After making up his mind, General Hook took Bannister Winthrop and his party to the "Hanged Head Forest" to meet with "Wood Destroyer" Dolan Theresis, and persuade the Pope to give up his support The Continental Army, which was doomed to fail, turned to cooperate with Fei Zhenren.

"Wood Destroyer" listened to Hooker's opinion, and had an interview with Winthrop Jr. and others, after which he readily agreed to change his position.

Anyway, the "Conquering Order" only cares about conquering the New World. As for achieving this goal as a "revolutionary" or a "royalist", it doesn't matter to this mysterious Pope.

...

General Hooker led his troops to defect to the enemy. The alarming news reached Port Prince, which was tantamount to sounding the death knell for the Confederate Army of the Continental Army.

On May 10, Charles Gates, who had nowhere to go, convened a meeting of all officers above the school level under his command to discuss what to do next for the Southern Corps.

Continuing to defend the isolated city is equivalent to death.

Taking the initiative to attack and give it a go, facing the flanking attack of the Winthrop Corps and the cavalry division led by the traitor Hooker, it would be suicide.

Otherwise, the only way left is surrender.

The meeting ended in an atmosphere of frustration. Most military officers believed that surrender was the only option at the moment, which could at least save the lives of the residents of Port-Prince and more than 20,000 officers and soldiers.

Charles Gates was forced to accept the reality, but he still couldn't let go of the face of the "hero of the Great Victory in Baden". He sent a special envoy to make a condition to Earl Winthrop, hoping that the dignity of the soldiers could be preserved when he surrendered, and his troops were allowed to hold the battle flag , Beating the drums and walking out of Port Prince.

However, Earl Winthrop didn't even allow Gates to keep this last bit of face. He rejected his conditions on the spot, and declared to the special envoy coldly and arrogantly:

"The only option for the rebels is unconditional surrender."

The envoy returned to Port Prince and truthfully conveyed Earl Winthrop's tough attitude to General Gates.

After hearing this, Gates couldn't help becoming angry from embarrassment, and immediately sent a fierce and gunpowder letter to Earl Winthrop, denouncing the other party for not being a gentleman, and himself and all the officers and soldiers under his command, "I would rather fight to the last drop of blood, Such humiliation must never be accepted!"

General Gates has reason to be outraged.

Last autumn in the Baden Wetlands, when General Johnny Burgoyne, who was heavily surrounded by the Continental Army, stuck in the mud, and ran out of ammunition and food, offered to surrender, Gates not only tolerantly agreed to all the surrenders offered by Burgoyne. He also held a banquet in the headquarters, entertained General Burgoyne graciously, and offered to toast the health of King George III of Fizen, showing impeccable gentlemanly demeanor.

Today, he had bad luck and was forced to surrender to Feizhen, shouldn't he enjoy the same courtesy as when General Burgoyne surrendered?

Earl Winthrop was born in the aristocratic class, how could he not understand the principle of reciprocity, but refused to accept the surrender conditions offered by Gates, which is tantamount to publicly declaring that Gates is not worthy of his courtesy. For Gates, who puts everything above everything else, such humiliation is more uncomfortable than killing him.

Unfortunately, losers on the battlefield are not qualified to talk about dignity.

Whether you can keep the last bit of face depends on the opponent's face, and you can't help yourself.

This kind of dignity obtained by the winner's charity is nothing more than a "fig leaf" to put it bluntly.

Earl Winthrop didn't even give such a small "fig leaf". When he received a letter from General Gates with a sense of anger, he smiled contemptuously and said to the staff in the headquarters: "The rebels are trying to resist in a corner. Then give them a little more color."

On May 11, Earl Winthrop ordered the naval fleet to bombard the dock area again, and the Crow Wing took turns to attack the urban area of ​​Port Prince.

Queen Huaia, who just came from the north not long ago, also received an order from the governor to personally drive the "Flesh Colossus" to cover the frontal attack of the hill giant mercenary group.

The last straw that broke the camel's camel came from the governor's son.

Lord Bannister Winthrop himself rode a celestial lion over Port Prince, holding the legendary Meteor Sword, and summoned the "Mythical Meteor Burst".

Eleven meteors with fiery red trails streaked across the sky under the horrified gaze of countless people on both sides of the enemy and us, and with a loud bang, they hit the headquarters building of General Gates one after another, completely destroying the building in a blink of an eye. , turned into a heap of rubble rising from black smoke.

Fortunately, General Gates noticed the change in the sky in time, and before the meteor fell, he hurriedly fled the building with his staff and guards, and transferred to the church in the city as a temporary headquarters.

The battle lasted until dusk, and the city defense facilities of Prince Port had been destroyed by enemy naval guns, aerial bombs, and flesh and blood colossi. It was only a matter of time before they fell.

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