The Fox of France

Chapter 433: The Attack

The plan of the First Division received more support from President Russell and the Military Committee, so the Second Division officially became a feint and ambush force.

In order to create an appearance of concentrating forces to siege Aslon, the Unified Irishman Association mobilized the strength in their stronghold. County brigades and district squads were all mobilized. These warriors would be responsible for pretending to be part of the main force of the Second Division and surrounding Aslon.

Just like during the Siege of Constantinople in later generations, when the numbers of the concentrated county brigades and district squads were counted, General O'Hara almost really had the impulse to attack Aslon fiercely, because... because he never expected that there would be so many people in the county brigades and district squads!

Yes, the county brigades and district squads of the two major strongholds in all of Ireland were now concentrated, adding up to another fifty to sixty thousand troops. Coupled with the over forty thousand troops of the Second Division, it seemed entirely feasible to launch a strong attack on Aslon.

But O'Hara still resisted the impulse. Firstly, it was because of discipline. Since the Military Committee of the Unified Irishman Association had already made the decision to feint attack, he would not arbitrarily change it. Unless the British bastards defending Aslon caused trouble themselves.

Secondly, it was also because O'Hara knew that although the county brigades and district squads had a considerable number of troops, their training and equipment were significantly inferior to the main force. Their equipment level was just approaching the recognized "security forces" without combat effectiveness, and their training level was even worse than the "security forces". Of course, relying on sheer courage and determination to fight to the end, they might be able to beat those "security forces", but if they were to attack those sturdy fortifications, it would definitely not work without the fearlessness to sacrifice and the determination to fight to the end. But even with just these, it was far from enough.

Since the plan had been decided, the Irish Independent Army immediately took action.

The swamp warfare expert, Colonel Edward Stanford, who had won glorious battles against the Irish, was now a regimental commander, and his regiment was currently deployed in Aslon. Now, the United Kingdom had completely fallen out with the rebels, informing them that they should prepare for defense immediately, as the rebels would soon launch an attack on Aslon.

Colonel Edward Stanford knew that the Duke of Norfolk was trying hard to dispatch as many troops from the homeland as possible, but until reinforcements arrived from the homeland, the British army in Ireland was currently at a disadvantage. The Irish would definitely try to seize this opportunity, attempting to take advantage of this timing gap to besiege Aslon in an attempt to destroy this most important stronghold and thus completely dismantle this critical railway.

To lure the Irish into besieging Aslon, it took some effort from the top. Firstly, the garrison at the stronghold could not be too large. If it was too large, the Irish would feel that there was no possibility of capturing it before the British mobilized troops in large numbers from England to attack it. Then the Duke of Norfolk, using this stronghold to attract the Irish, would swiftly bring the main force through the railway and engage in a decisive main battle. The concept of destroying the main force of the Irish Independent Army in such a major battle would be unachievable, and even if more troops were brought in, it would just be repeating the same story, with the British army continuously bleeding in small, densely packed battles, and the war seeming to have no end in sight.

But if the number of troops stationed was too small, if they really couldn't hold it and were truly eaten up by the Irish, it would be a big loss, and the subsequent war would be even more difficult to fight.

Finally, after serious discussion, the British felt that relying on the "Bonaparte's Gilded Shield" mode of defense, coupled with approximately six thousand real British Army soldiers, should still be able to hold out and persist until the main force arrived. And a force of six thousand people would not really frighten the Irish from attacking.

Early in the morning, Colonel Edward Stanford woke up early. He got up from the bed, drew open the curtains, and looked out the window.

At this time, it was still early, and the sun had not yet risen, and a layer of dark blue mist covered the earth. This was something common at this time of year, sometimes, after the fog rose, it wouldn't dissipate until noon. Such weather was obviously disadvantageous for defense, as the attacking side could use the cover of fog to quietly approach, and then use explosives and grenades to blow up a fortress all of a sudden.

So, Colonel Edward Stanford immediately became tense. He quickly put on his military uniform, went out, took a few guards, and went to the frontline.

When Colonel Edward Stanford arrived at the frontline defense works, the sun had already risen by time, but the fog had become thicker, a vast expanse of white, and the visibility had even dropped to less than thirty meters.

"Any movement?" Colonel Edward Stanford asked Richard, who was on duty at this time.

"I'm not sure, can't see anything. Some people heard some movement over by the minefield. But don't know what it is? Maybe people, but it could also be other things, like rabbits. We blindly fired a few shots over there, but we don't know what effect it had."

"Do our military dogs react?" Colonel Edward Stanford asked again.

"There are some reactions, but if it's rabbits, they also react the same. Last time there was a dog that chased a rabbit into the minefield, and then..." Richard shook his head.

"Damn it," Colonel Edward Stanford said, "Today's fog is heavy, it might not even dissipate for a while, you guys have to be more careful, be vigilant, don't let the Irish sneakily put explosives under your noses."

"With such a large minefield outside, where would they just come in so easily?" Richard shook his head, but when he saw Colonel Edward Stanford's expression, he added, "Of course, we'll be more vigilant."

"Tom, I estimate that within the next two days, they will take action, you can't take it lightly," Colonel Edward Stanford said.

"Yes yes yes, Colonel, you can rest assured, I'll sleep with one eye open," Tom replied.

Just as they were talking, a group of Irish Independent Army soldiers had already arrived at the frontline minefield under the cover of the heavy fog.

Unlike the inefficient probe mine clearance method of the British, the Irish sappers had the most advanced French mine detectors in their hands. This kind of thing, which used electromagnetic induction principles, could clearly sense metallic objects buried underground, making it much more sophisticated than the British sappers' idiotic poking around with metal probes.

Whenever they detected mines underground, the Irish sappers would stop, then take out long metal probes to accurately determine the position of the mines, and then carefully dig them out. With the cover of the thick fog, these sappers quickly opened a safe passage in the minefield.

Immediately after, soldiers carrying explosives and bazookas crossed the minefield and began to approach the British fortifications.