Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

Chapter 726: Chapter 634: Sparrow Tactics (Top Recommendation, Seeking Everything)

At the Jamaica Committee, which was equivalent to the Congress’s deployed army, after being defeated by the Jamaican abolitionist movement, the rebels had already formed an encirclement of the capital, Kingston.

The Governor, Lord Aire, frantically requested reinforcements from England.

Considering Jamaica’s huge economic interests, William Pitt Junior almost unhesitatingly dispatched an expeditionary force.

General Brand leaped onto the dock, turned his head to look at the soldiers disembarking from the “Little Grey Elephant” transport ship, and shouted loudly, “Move faster, you wastrels! Each minute we delay here, those Negroes might burn down another plantation!”

He took the reins from his attendant and said to his staff, “Send out scouts immediately to confirm the location of the Negro armies. Oh, and establish contact with Lord Aire as soon as possible to prepare a victory banquet for the soldiers.”

It wasn’t arrogance on his part. This time, he brought elite troops including two regiments of Grenadiers of the Guard, the King’s Guard Infantry Regiment, the 1st and 2nd Dragoons.

According to the reports previously sent back by the Jamaica Committee, the island’s “mulatto” army, which means the mixed-race army, comprised fewer than one thousand men and their military training was very poor.

As for the black army, though it numbered more than three thousand, they were mostly plantation slaves who had only recently learned to shoot.

With his four thousand elite troops, dealing with these rebels was almost too easy.

However, his time was also very tight because, after dealing with the Negroes in Jamaica, he still had to rush to the Bahama Islands, where the blacks had also erupted in rebellion at the end of last year.

Brand mounted his horse and said to his staff, “Set up camp north of Kingston. Have all officers captain and above come to my tent for a meeting.”

He whipped his horse, pondering how to quell all the unrest in the Caribbean Sea Region within three months. According to the Prime Minister’s promise to him, once he triumphantly returned to London, he would be promoted to Vice Admiral and nominated to be the Assistant to the Minister of the Army.

Indeed, Brand was a capable commander. Three days after landing, he had already basically figured out the rebel army’s troop deployment and had formulated a complete battle plan.

On the morning of the fourth day, with the King’s Guard Infantry Regiment leading the assault, Brand’s army launched a comprehensive attack against the Jamaica abolitionist Rebel Army.

It was only then that Major Aureol first learned that a British force had appeared behind him. Regrettably, the Rebel Army lacked horses, and the few horses they had were leftovers from the French Expeditionary Army, making their scouting capabilities extremely poor.

He had no choice but to abandon Kingston City, which he had almost breached, and organize his forces for defense.

However, his black regiments were not even capable of firing in volleys, making them no match for the British elite troops.

Only thirty minutes after the first shot was fired, his staff reported to him in panic that the front line had been breached.

Aureol’s heart sank, realizing that he was not facing the island’s garrison—the armies of the Jamaica Committee were slightly better trained than his own troops, but they were definitely not this formidable.

A nearby officer shouted, “Commander, it must be the British Expeditionary Force.”

They had previously received news from the Special Trade Association that London had dispatched troops for suppression, but they hadn’t anticipated the enemy to act so swiftly.

Aureol decisively ordered the 1st and 2nd Infantry Regiments to hold back the British forces. He also sent several units to set fire to the plantations around Kingston to create chaos, and the rest immediately retreated toward the northwest, heading into the Blue Mountain Range.

Unfortunately for Aureol, General Brand had already anticipated all the tactics he might employ and had even set up camp on the north side of Kingston from the start.

This caused severe losses to the Rebel Army, until the fire at the plantations began to spread extensively, and Aureol escaped through the gap between two plantations, led by black soldiers familiar with the local terrain.

After that, they were chased by the welcoming Cavalry. Fortunately, the Blue Mountain was only about 10 kilometers from Kingston, so by the time he entered the forests, only about 800 soldiers remained at his side.

Aureol rallied his spirits and made contact with the “Marlins” settlements in the mountains.

The so-called Marlins were black people who had fled into the mountains and formed a native group with the island’s Indian inhabitants after intermingling. They used the deep mountains to escape the British colonizers’ persecution, and over hundreds of years of proliferation, they were scattered throughout Stony Mountain and Blue Mountain.

These people were naturally hostile to the British, and had made contact with them at the beginning of the abolitionist uprising in Jamaica.

Soon a Marlins settlement took in Aureol’s remnants and provided them with food and water.

At night, Aureol gathered his subordinate officers, yet showed no sign of defeat. Instead, he stood atop a wooden stake and declared loudly, “A single defeat means nothing. The British will leave here within a month at most.

“There are hundreds of thousands of black people in the island’s plantations waiting for freedom, ready to join our army and strike hard against the British once again!

“And weapons will continuously come from Santo Domingo.

“Everyone must keep your spirits up, victory will ultimately be ours!”

Afterwards, Aureol led his troops to hide throughout the jungle of Blue Mountain, subsisting on plentiful bananas and mangoes, and occasionally receiving supplies from the Marlins settlements.

In this way, three weeks after the British had hemmed them in and blocked all escapes, they suddenly withdrew from Blue Mountain as he had previously stated.

General Brand grimly instructed Major Kate Hoote of the Jamaica Committee on how to guard against the rebels, then led the expeditionary force back aboard the transport ships, heading for the Bahama Islands.

On the fourth day after defeating Aureol’s army, Nassau City in Bahamas was besieged by the black rebel forces.

With the Governor of Bahamas frantically calling for help, Brand was forced to rush to Nassau to reinforce it.

Of course, all of this was tactically prearranged by Joseph for the abolitionist movement in Santo Domingo.

The “Special Trade Association”‘s smuggling ships conveyed messages for the black Rebel Army throughout the Caribbean Sea Region, enabling abolitionist rebels in Jamaica, Bahamas, Dominique, Barbados, and other locations to form alliances and support each other.

Wherever the British Army landed, the local rebels there would cease their activity, forcing attacks in other places.

When the British Army went to reinforce, the previously dormant black armies would resume action, and those places under British attack would temporarily avoid confrontation.

Since the black slaves in the entire Caribbean far outnumbered the colonizers, as long as those leading them were still alive, they could quickly recruit large numbers of troops from the plantations.

Santo Domingo then acted as a logistical supply base. The French Expeditionary Army would continuously “lose battles,” leaving weapons and ammunition for Oreal. He then distributed them to various rebel forces.

As for the transportation, naturally, it was handled by the smuggling ships. They had extensive experience in evading British patrol fleets, and since they were small ships, they were rarely caught.