Chapter 3021 "Suicide" Attack

But what about knowing the inside story?

Your Excellency, the Prime Minister, has nothing to do with anger.

The ruling party is like a target. It stands on the stage and must bear the open and dark arrows from the audience.

The poor results of the naval battle at Pico Bay further intensified the division within the ruling party camp.

William Pitt Jr., a rising political star who has attracted much attention from the public, has proposed a package of "peacefully resolving the Wilnoa issue" to Prime Minister North, and within the Party of Order, many bigwigs have also hinted:

"Your Excellency North is old and in poor health. You should rest more and let the young people take on more responsibilities."

"If your Excellency the Prime Minister is really unable to clean up the current mess, you might as well let young people with more energy and drive try. Anyway, the worst result is to hold an early general election."

For such remarks, Lord North used to be very dissatisfied, but the recent series of blows has changed his mentality.

Now that he was powerless, it might not be a wise move to take the initiative to retreat bravely and throw the blame on the ignorant William Pitt Jr. before his reputation was discredited.

If things get messed up, people will only complain about the young man's impetuousness and willful behavior. Instead, they will miss his maturity and prudence, and maybe there will be a chance to make a comeback in the future.

When the matter developed to this point, even Prime Minister North himself backed down. Who else in the Fizen political circle cared about the Winthrop Corps besieged in Port Layton?

As for the plan to increase troops to rescue, it has become a dead letter.

When the time came to early June, another scandal broke out in the New World, which dealt a heavy blow to the already crumbling North government.

The matter still has to start from the end of May. The defeat of the Peek Bay naval battle caused the Feizhen Navy to temporarily lose its command of the sea on the east coast of Wilnoa.

The Fizen troops trapped in Leiden City were unable to obtain supplies from the sea, land transportation was also cut off, and there was a severe shortage of food and ammunition.

The time came to the beginning of June. As the weather became increasingly hot, humid and rainy, the garrison in Leiden City suffered multiple misfortunes. Smallpox outbreaks broke out one after another. The entire battalion of Fizen officers and soldiers contracted this vicious infectious disease. Within a week, the whole The city has been reduced to an epidemic area, and the number of officers and soldiers in Feizhen who died due to smallpox has even surpassed the reduction in combat personnel!

The news of the outbreak of smallpox in the city spread outside the city, but General Vasa and his staff were terrified. They immediately ordered the suspension of the siege, retreated three miles, and established a isolation zone to prevent the epidemic in the city from spreading to the siege troops. among.

At the same time, the chaplains of the Continental Army were called up urgently, and each of them was in charge of a camp to check the health and hygiene of the officers and soldiers, and those who were found to be infected were immediately isolated and treated.

According to the combat plan of the Continental Army, the general attack on Leiden Port should have been launched before June 10. However, considering that Leiden Port has now been reduced to a "plague city", the generals feel that the most urgent task is to For epidemic prevention rather than siege, it is safer to wait until all our officers and soldiers are vaccinated against smallpox.

The mainland army outside the city besieged but did not attack, and the Feizhen army inside the city had run out of ammunition and food and was on the verge of collapse.

The sacrifice of the eldest son, Bannister, caused Earl Winthrop the heaviest blow in his life. From that day on, he became more and more irritable and extreme, and even the staff under his command could clearly feel his The spirit is tending to split.

Knowing that the military rations and medicines were running low, Earl Winthrop dispatched the gendarmerie to search for the rations of the residents in the city, and at the same time issued an even crazier order to his deputy, General Cornwallis—intentionally infecting the black soldiers. Smallpox, and then drove these soldiers who "broke the shackles and went to freedom" out of the city, instructing them to surrender to the Continental Army, thereby infecting the Continental Army with smallpox.

General Cornwallis carried out the governor's order without hesitation, and drove thousands of severely ill smallpox patients out of the city that evening, most of whom were black soldiers from southern slave plantations.

The front-line commander of the Continental Army received these deserters and found that they were mentally weak and sick. After inquiring, they found out that they were infected with smallpox, and quickly sent someone to invite the pastor.

Miss Rebecca Custis, the chief chaplain of the Continental Army, came after hearing the news. After examining these black deserters, she confirmed that they were indeed smallpox patients. With sinister intentions, he immediately reported to the headquarters.

Joan was also in the Continental Army camp at this time, and when he learned about Earl Winthrop's plot from Rebecca, he felt both sad and ridiculous.

As the old saying goes: If the sky wants to destroy it, it must first make it crazy.

The actions of Earl Winthrop and General Cornwallis just reflect the despair in their hearts. Instead of turning the tide of the war, they will nail themselves to the pillar of shame in history and be cast aside by the world forever.

For the Continental Army, the more realistic question is how to deal with this situation?

Knowing that the surrenders are all "humanoid virus bombs", do you still accept their surrender?

What's more, most of the opponents were black escaped slaves, and the officers and soldiers of the Continental Army representing the interests of colonial manor owners and slave owners, in their hearts, most of them actually disliked those "black ghosts".

However, it doesn't matter what you think in your heart, but you can't lose your righteous reputation.

General Vasa took the lead in expressing his support for accepting the soldiers and providing them with proper placement and treatment!

Including Prince Colofer, Lord Helena, and General Viglaf, most of the senior officers in the headquarters also had a big picture, and expressed their support for the commander-in-chief's righteous and awe-inspiring decision.

After setting the policy of accepting patients and reducing deaths, there are still two key issues to be resolved.

The first is to urgently expand the epidemic prevention camp and send soldiers to the camp for isolation and treatment to avoid infection.

Isolation alone was not enough, the headquarters had to contact the "Life Foundation", and dispatched a military airship to bring the smallpox vaccine from a pharmaceutical factory affiliated to the foundation, inject it into the soldiers of the Continental Army, and establish an immune barrier as soon as possible.

The "Life Foundation" initiated by Mrs. Josephine was originally located in Midgard City. After the fall of Midgard, the vaccine factory was moved to a pasture near Shizhu Town.

Thanks to the continuous charitable donations at home and abroad, this pharmaceutical factory continued to operate during the war, and now it has grown into the production base of smallpox vaccine with the largest production capacity in the New World and even the entire Vales world.

...

Historical Material A: Cornwallis in Yorktown ("Free Exiles" (US) Maya Yasanoff)

Cornwallis decided to camp on a dangerous peninsula near Williamsburg and await reinforcements. Under the scorching sun, soldiers built fortifications near the new outpost, called Yorktown.

Smallpox and typhus ravaged the camp, and since most blacks had not been vaccinated against smallpox, the plague decimated them.

...

Deserters fled the besieged barracks, reporting that the soldiers inside were exhausted "from overwork and disease."

Watching the casualties mount around them, black and white Loyalists endured the daily ordeal of hunger and disease.

In order to save supplies, Cornwallis ordered people to kill horses, drive smallpox patients out of hospitals, and deported many blacks who came to join the British army. But they still ran out of ammunition and food, and reinforcements were delayed.

...

·Historical material B: human flesh virus weapon ("Hamilton Biography" [US] Ron Chernow)

Cornwallis was completely desperate for this battle. He ordered the blacks to be infected with smallpox, and then forced them to walk towards the enemy's position, imagining that the infectious disease could be used to weaken the enemy's combat effectiveness.

He was well aware that this was nothing more than digging his own grave in vain, writing to Sir Henry Clinton: "The situation before me is dire. Soon we will have to Under such circumstances, rely on the destroyed fortifications and face the enemy's attack in a rather unfavorable position."

It's the last day of July, and book friends who still have monthly tickets don't forget to vote.

I hope this troubled summer will pass as soon as possible, the flood will recede, the epidemic will subside, and every family will be safe and sound.