The Fox of France

Chapter 442: The Great Defeat

The British in Canada didn't have many regular troops; the main force of the Canadian army was actually local militia. Similarly, the U.S. Army, from a European perspective, was essentially just militia as well. In terms of numbers, the U.S. Army had slightly more men. Logically, even if the U.S. Army was inferior, they shouldn't have been easily defeated by the Canadian forces. Even in original history, before British reinforcements arrived, the U.S. Army had a clear advantage.

"How could these Americans be so foolish!" Louis Bonaparte, the new chairman of the Louisiana Development Bank, cursed loudly in his lavishly decorated office in New Orleans' most luxurious building. "Are we now supposed to supply the weapons and mercenaries we prepared for the Canadians to these American fools?"

"Chairman, selling the weapons and mercenaries to the Americans isn't really a problem. It's still selling, after all," said a manager with a receding hairline.

"Sergey, you're right, but things have gone beyond our expectations, and it's always frustrating," Louis replied. "Moreover, we don't need to consider mercenaries yet. The U.S. still has people; it hasn't come to that point. Besides, the main issue with the U.S. military isn't morale, but that... they're completely unaware that the times have changed. However, certain British atrocities provide us with an excuse to intervene..."

Indeed, the reason for the U.S. Army's defeat was their utter backwardness. Unlike the Navy, which had been educated by the French and exposed to the world's advanced levels, the Army was truly provincial.

After the Revolutionary War, the U.S. Army hadn't fought much. Even during the Revolutionary War, their performance was mediocre at best. If not for King Louis XVI's aid to America, it's hard to say how that war would have ended. During and after that war, the U.S. Army had only one example to learn from: the French Army. However, that was the French Army of the line infantry era.

Thus, the U.S. Army still used outdated line infantry tactics because they knew nothing else. They weren't even particularly proficient at it, as the U.S., in an effort to save money, kept the federal army's size very small. The state militias, or what would later become the National Guard, were essentially militia with less training but slightly better weapons than the federal troops.

The situation was entirely different for the British. In Europe, the British were repeatedly defeated by the Bonaparte brothers. Although they were left lying on the ground calling for their mothers, they at least knew what modern warfare looked like. So, they quickly adopted the Josephine defense. Then? The American provincials had no idea how dangerous the Josephine defense was.

General William Hull's U.S. forces, marching in formation and beating drums, launched a brave attack on Fort Amherstburg held by the British, and then, there was no "then."

In short, the foolish Americans were cunningly overpowered by the British with landmines, shrapnel shells, barbed wire, and directional anti-infantry mines, leading to their collapse.

The failure of this single attack, though disastrous, didn't result in many deaths. Only about two thousand men were involved in the first wave of the assault. Although at least half of these men were killed by the British in a disorganized manner, compared to the total numbers of both armies, the loss of over a thousand men wasn't too significant.

However, these men were killed almost instantly, right before everyone's eyes. The efficiency with which the British killed these men was so high that it terrified the observing U.S. forces.

The U.S. forces, mainly composed of state militia, shared a significant flaw with the Vendée rebels of the past: high morale when fighting on their own soil, but rapid morale decline upon setbacks elsewhere. Simply put, after this heavy blow, the entire army fell into self-doubt, with morale nearly collapsing.

Taking advantage of this, General Isaac Brock, commanding the British forces (primarily Canadians), launched a counterattack. Using unfamiliar shrapnel shells and light infantry tactics, he completely routed the stunned and disorganized U.S. forces. General William Hull, leading the remnants, retreated to Detroit, suffering heavy casualties and desertions along the way. By the time they reached Detroit, less than a thousand soldiers remained with General Hull.

The British continued to advance towards Detroit. The citizens of Detroit, armed and ready, prepared to defend their city. Detroit, close to Canada and Louisiana, was a melting pot of Canadians, Americans, German-speaking French, and various Native American tribes, often engaging in conflicts. Hence, the residents, mostly well-armed whites, were prepared for battle.

Under the call to "defend the city," over four thousand armed citizens of Detroit joined the fight against British invasion in just one day.

However

, the British, employing a cunning strategy, didn't attack Detroit directly but bombarded the city with white phosphorus incendiaries.

Perhaps due to the butterfly effect, the great fire that should have swept through Detroit last year didn't happen. So, Detroit remained as it was before the fire, a city naturally evolved from the fur trade market, with no urban planning, narrow streets, and a plethora of haphazard wooden buildings, posing a significant fire hazard.

This city was a tinderbox, and the British (Canadians) set it ablaze with incendiary bombs. Unlike the historical fire that eventually engulfed Detroit but spread slowly due to a single point of origin, allowing most people to escape, this fire spread almost instantly across the city, leaving no time for evacuation. The casualties from this fire remain disputed, but even the lowest estimates suggest no fewer than nine thousand deaths, with some estimates as high as twenty thousand. The British, however, consider these figures exaggerated, as Detroit's population wasn't that large.