At first, the two Fenians had a noisy drinking session and just exchanged a few words, just like the usual greetings after meeting old friends. There was nothing noteworthy about it.
However, after a while, the two Fenians returned to a dark and damp house.
"Vell, you must know that you were once a hero in the Rickiwe War. Now, look what you have turned yourself into?" As soon as he entered the house, Christu smelled a strong smell of alcohol.
And I found that everything in the room was extremely messy, and there was almost no clean place.
The Fenian named Will sat down on the bed carelessly and threw his hat on the bedside, revealing his white hair.
He glanced at Christu and muttered: "Christu, just tell me why you came to me. Hero? How long ago was that? Now, I'm just a bad old man, an unemployed worker.
.”
"Old friend, have you forgotten our ideals?" Christu poured himself a glass of red wine and then asked calmly.
"Ideals, bullshit ideals! That's just a fantasy that can never be realized. We couldn't realize it thirty years ago. Now that Britain is getting stronger and stronger, I don't see any hope of success." Will took out a bottle from under the bed.
The wine came and I poured a few gulps into my mouth.
The expression on his face was one of indescribable helplessness and regret.
Christu put down his wine glass and said seriously: "Old friend, this is because you don't care too much about current affairs. If you go out and take a look, you should know: Britain is about to decline. You know that Britain has two Boers in Africa.
How many troops has the country invested?"
Will couldn't help but look at him and asked aloud: "How much?"
"It will not be less than 400,000. Not only has it sent about 250,000 regular troops and about 100,000 volunteers from the mainland, but it has also seconded more than 30,000 troops from its colonies, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Old friends, the United Kingdom
The man is dying, and it’s time for us to take action.” Christu had obviously done a careful investigation, otherwise military secrets like this would not be easily obtained.
"You mean, we go back to Ireland? And then start a war of independence?" Will asked with his eyes shining, and he didn't even notice that the bottle in his hand fell to the floor.
"Although our Fenian Society has begun to recruit members in Ireland, our strength there is still too weak. We can only win overseas and one day be able to gain Irish independence." Christu's face flashed first.
There was a hint of embarrassment, and then he spoke calmly.
It turns out that both of them are, or in other words, Weir was a member of the Fenian Society.
The Fenians believed that by invading Canada they could make the British government make concessions on the Irish issue and thereby gain Irish independence. They launched a total of three attacks in 1866: in April they attacked Camp Borough, New Brunswick.
Island, and attacked the Niagara region and the St. Lawrence Valley region in July. Of course, the result was a failure.
Then, under the leadership of the Fenian Society, the Fenians launched attacks on the border of Quebec and Vermont in Canada and Manitoba in 1870 and 1871 respectively, and they must have failed in the end.
"Do you want to organize everyone to revolt in Canada again?" Weir asked in surprise. Haven't the many failures made this old friend discouraged?
"Yes, we have been lurking and accumulating for so long. It is time to take action. The reason why we failed several times was because we chose the wrong position to attack." Christu said confidently.
"Choose the wrong position?" Weir once participated in the American Civil War and was a veteran. He may be a general who can lead troops in battle, but he is not a good strategist...
"Yes, for the first few attacks, we chose the east coast of Canada. You must know that our strength is still very weak, so the results failed. But this time it is different. I decided to attack the west of Canada——
British Columbia." A smile appeared on Christu's face.
He suddenly raised his voice and said with a smile: "Old friend, you would never imagine how weak their control over the west is. There is a group of Chinese, only about a thousand people, and they have turned that place upside down.
, this gave me hope, you know? This old guy Drunni led more than 2,000 people to encircle and suppress them, but he suffered a defeat."
Christu patted Weir on the shoulder, raised his eyebrows, and said solemnly: "Old friend, believe me, now is the best time. The Boer country, with only 400,000 people in total, can fight against the British.
Up and down, not to mention us, the Boers were also driven out of the plains. The capitals of the two Boer countries, Blondin and Pretoria, were occupied by the British army, but they, like the Chinese, got into
They have entered the mountainous areas and carried out guerrilla warfare. What we have to do is learn from their successful experience. Old friends, come out and help me."
Weir took a sip of wine, burped, his eyes became firm, and then he said seriously: "Okay, I will believe you again. Anyway, I won't live long. No matter whether I succeed or not, I will die."
And no regrets.”
Christu stood up overjoyed, nodded and smiled: "Okay, pack your things as soon as possible, I have to find someone else."
"Who?" Weir was a little curious, thinking about who else could let the president of the Fenian Society go to him in person.
"John Holland!" Christu whispered a name softly.
"It's him." Will smiled with relief.
"Yes, it's him!"
John Holland is now well-known in the United States. He is also an Irishman, and he also received funding from the Fenian Society to develop submarines. However, the actual combat effectiveness of submarines at that time was limited.
The Fenian Society funded him, mainly to use it to attack British warships. Holland could not meet their requirements, and he was obsessed with submarine experiments all day long. In the end, some people in the Fenian Society lost patience with him, and then he
The third submarine and the second submarine he researched were secretly transported away.
Holland had its ups and downs in the following years, but finally developed the 'Holland-6' submarine in 1897. This submarine is recognized as the originator of modern submarines and can launch torpedoes underwater.
In later generations, the German U-shaped submarines were built based on Holland's submarine structure and principles. British, Japanese and other submarines also started from the Holland series of submarines. Therefore, Holland was also called the "Father of Submarines" by later generations.
'.
Of course, Holland's reputation had not yet reached such a height at this time, and the U.S. Navy still did not pay much attention to submarines, otherwise the design and structural principles would fall into the hands of the Germans.
Christu went back to Holland, apparently hoping to get a submarine that could be used for combat from this submarine researcher.