Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

Chapter 727: Chapter 635: Rebel Army’s Counterattack (Seeking All Kinds of Support on Daily Recommendations)

Brand’s journey to the Caribbean seemed doomed to be fraught with challenges.

In Nassau, he couldn’t achieve the sort of resounding victory he had in Jamaica. Even before his troops could land, the abolitionist rebel army that was attacking Nassau had quickly retreated.

In fact, his previous success in blocking Aureol’s forces was purely down to good luck. It was only because the British expeditionary fleet had decided on an impromptu resupply at Dominique, avoiding the usual sea lanes, that the Special Trade Association’s ships had failed to spot them in time.

And now, while Brand’s soldiers were busy embarking on transport ships at Jamaica’s docks, ships with messages for the Bahamas rebellion were already en route.

Moreover, the people of Nassau were extremely hostile towards the British Army. Not only the black population or mulattos, but even the white settlers despised the British forces.

The Bahamas’ main crops were cotton and corn, which weren’t as profitable as sugar cane, so the British Government had imposed hefty taxes to ensure profitability of the colonies.

Exorbitant taxes like the “wheelbarrow tax” or “wild fruit gathering tax” were in place. The latter, in particular, was a burden for the lower classes in the Caribbean, who relied heavily on wild pineapples and coconuts for a large part of their diet. But for over thirty years, even picking these ubiquitous fruits meant having to pay taxes to the Governor.

Moreover, from the outset, the Bahamas abolitionist rebel army had rallied under the slogan of “Bahamas Independence”, winning widespread support. Some plantation owners even preferred the loss of their slaves to being under British colonial rule.

This meant the rebel army could obtain supplies just about anywhere, while the British Army’s movements were an open book, with Bahamian locals reporting to the rebel army almost daily.

Brand spent over half a month casting a wide net in search of rebels on the island. He only happened upon their main force once by chance, leading to a minor skirmish. With the help of the locals, they escaped the encirclement under cover of night.

As expected, trouble flared up again in Barbados a month later.

The abolitionist rebel armies of Barbados and Dominique announced their union, forming a congress and establishing the West Indies Republic. The British Governor there was no match for the black rebel forces and was forced to hunker down in Bridgetown, calling Brand for help.

This time, Brand was wiser. He left behind a thousand soldiers under the command of his Lieutenant Colonel Strau, while he himself rushed with the main force towards Barbados.

With just over 2,400 and rather weak in combat, the rebel force in the Bahamas was no match for a thousand British soldiers.

However, as soon as he left the Bahamas, Oreal organized the Santo Domingo rebel army, evading the patrolling British fleet in small boats, and landed on Nassau Island under the cover of darkness.

It wasn’t that the British fleet was useless, but rather, the distance between Santo Domingo and the Bahamas was too short, less than 60 nautical miles at the closest point. They could set out in the morning and arrive before nightfall.

At the same time, the breadth of this sea area was vast, over 350 nautical miles, creating significant gaps between the blockading warships.

After about a week of transportation, nearly 800 Santo Domingo rebel soldiers, led by the young black officer Dusang Luvidur, arrived on the southeast side of Nassau City.

Indeed, at Joseph’s behest, this black officer, who had previously organized small slave uprisings, was now heavily utilized by Oreal in the Haitian independence movement.

Luvidur’s exceptional military talent soon became apparent, and he had already been promoted to Major.

In a cotton plantation on the outskirts of Nassau, the commander of the Bahamas rebel army, Kenneth Liddington, bowed respectfully to Luvidur, and in broken French said, “Thank you, great freedom fighter. Your supplies bring us hope. Freedom and equality will prevail!”

Now that Santo Domingo had become the abolitionist movement’s headquarters in the Caribbean Sea Region, French had naturally become the “official language” of the various abolitionist organizations. The rebel army commanders from the British colonies were all desperately cramming French.

“Freedom and equality will prevail,” Luvidur embraced Liddington, then turned his cold gaze toward Nassau shrouded in night, saying in a hoarse voice, “Lieutenant Liddington, my visit isn’t just to deliver weapons, but to give the British a little ‘gift in return’!”

“A gift in return?”

“Yes, I have brought 800 soldiers. They are all seasoned warriors from past battles.” Luvidur patted his sword. “We cannot just wait for the British to attack us. And there happen to be 1,000 British soldiers in Nassau City.”

Santo Domingo was the first to launch an uprising and had fought multiple battles with the government troops, so their soldiers’ quality and combat experience were far superior to those from Jamaica, the Bahamas, and other places.

Lidington’s eyes lit up at once but then he hesitated and said, “But the British are very formidable. Last time we were carelessly caught by them, and in just one engagement, we lost more than 200 fighters.”

Luvidur’s face showed no expression. “That’s why they’ll certainly underestimate us.”

The next day at noon.

The Bahamas Abolitionist Army suddenly launched a fierce attack on Nassau City.

Over 2,000 black soldiers, accompanied by the sound of military drums, approached from two directions the British Army’s positions outside the city, pausing now and then to fire their guns.

Lieutenant Colonel Straw, the British commander, put away his telescope and said to his staff with a laugh, “These niggers must think General Brand took the entire expeditionary force with him. It seems the honor of quelling the Bahamas uprising will fall into my hands.”

It wasn’t until the Bahamas Rebel Army had approached within 150 steps of the British positions that Straw ordered the cannons to fire.

Three six-pound cannonballs roared across the ranks of the Rebel Army, instantly lifting a large mass of flesh into the air.

Those black soldiers who had never seen combat were instantly stunned and then began to retreat in terror.

Those soldiers who were further away from the cannon fire continued to advance, and the formation of the Rebel Army instantly became disorganized.

After several rounds of cannon fire from the British, the southern section of the Bahamas Rebel Army began to show signs of disintegrating.

Straw, seeing this scene through his telescope, turned to his staff and said disdainfully, “Let the infantry lines begin their assault.”

“Yes, Commander!”

As expected, as soon as the Bahamas Rebel Army made contact with the British infantry, they collapsed immediately.

Large groups of black soldiers dropped their weapons and turned to flee, screaming. Every so often, a bullet from behind would claim a life.

Straw soon noticed that all the rebels were running towards a plantation in the east.

He frowned slightly. If he let these niggers get into the cotton fields, it would be extremely difficult for his troops to search.

He decisively ordered, “The 7th and 11th Infantry regiments keep the line, the rest change to column formation and pursue.”

A column formation could advance quickly but was not suitable for frontal combat; it was typically used for surprise attacks on enemy positions.

However, those black soldiers had already lost their will to fight, so a charge might just cause a massacre regardless of formation.

Straw’s orders were quickly carried out. Nine infantry columns hurriedly chased after the rear of the Rebel Army, raising their flintlock guns to fire.

Just then, cannon fire suddenly erupted from the cotton fields ahead. Two black cannonballs flew over the heads of the black soldiers and plunged into the British ranks behind them.