The Fox of France

After a flurry of mixed messages, ranging from "we're launching the campaign tomorrow" to "we're setting off this afternoon" and "the official sweep begins in a month," the British forces were ready to make their move.

First, they reorganized the defenses of their outposts. The troops stationed there, including the "Irish Peacekeeping Forces," were redeployed, replaced by fresh British recruits. The British then divided their consolidated forces into two columns, marching towards the largest non-peacekeeping zone in Ireland.

Despite the interference caused by a barrage of messages, it was challenging to keep a massive military deployment like this a secret. Information from informants within the peacekeeping and semi-peacekeeping zones, as well as the double-dealing "Irish Peacekeeping Forces," was supplemented by the reconnaissance units of the Irish Independent Army. Even the county brigades, district squads, and village guerrilla teams near British-controlled areas had heightened vigilance and were prepared to counter the British sweep at any moment.

In the peripheral regions of the base, which were frequent targets of rapid British punitive expeditions (the British, using their cavalry's high mobility, regularly raided these areas, attempting to gradually erode their defenses), the vigilance and alertness in terms of early warning were taken even more seriously than in other areas.

During the daytime, the men worked in the fields, and the women joined them to help. The guerrilla teams on duty watched the main roads, while the older children took the sheep out to graze, also keeping an eye on the vacant pathways, carrying out guard duties. (British cavalry, led by traitors, had repeatedly infiltrated the base from these minor roads to cause trouble.)

These children had been warned about the possibility of a large-scale British incursion into the base recently, so they were on high alert.

Early in the morning, Alice and a few of her friends took some sheep to a small grassy knoll north of the village. It was a well-located spot where they could also monitor the nearby roads.

A message tree stood on the knoll, visible when looking in the direction of the village.

Of course, the message tree couldn't be knocked down haphazardly because if the villagers saw the message tree fall, everyone would immediately relocate to the swamp shelter, and no farming would be done that day. It would be a false alarm.

So the children had their roles. When only one or two people approached, two older boys, Michael and Thomas, would go forward with spears to interrogate them, while the other children guarded the message tree. If something went wrong, they would immediately topple the message tree and sound the alarm to the village.

If more people arrived and they weren't prearranged allies, they would unhesitatingly topple the message tree and lead the sheep directly to the swamp shelter.

Upon reaching the knoll, they let the sheep graze in the field below while they kept watch. They discussed the taste of the French candy brought by the former district leader. Michael, filled with anticipation, said, "The old district leader told me that when we win, we can eat French candy every day, as much as we want..."

As they spoke, they daydreamed about a sweet future. At that moment, sharp-eyed Alice suddenly noticed something moving rapidly in the distance.

"Look, what's that over there?" Alice called out.

The children stood on tiptoe to look in the direction she pointed. There was definitely something moving quickly toward them.

"It's the enemy's cavalry! Quick, lower the message tree!"

The children hurriedly toppled the message tree and Michael and Thomas went down to set tripwires on the minor road. The others gathered the sheep and, without returning to the village, made their way directly to the swamp shelter.

Once the message tree was down, everyone became alert. The villagers began packing their belongings, which had already been prepared in recent days, and headed for the swamp shelter. Several of the young men from the guerrilla team in the village armed themselves and went toward the threat. They intended to disrupt the enemy as much as possible using guerrilla tactics, buying the villagers time to relocate.

The villagers rendezvoused with the children near the entrance to the swamp shelter. Except for Michael and Thomas, all the children and sheep were there. They explained that Michael and Thomas had gone to set tripwires for landmines. The rest stayed for a while, listening to muffled explosions from that direction.

After a tense wait, Michael and Thomas eventually returned, their faces beaming with excitement.

"Rascals, where have you been!" Old Michael approached to scold the mischievous kids.

"We saw two British cavalry horses with broken legs, and those two British guys fell off their horses, hahaha..." Michael still looked elated, completely oblivious to his father's brewing scolding.

"Never mind, they're back now. Let's get inside quickly," several people held back Old Michael, and they all moved toward the shelter. As they walked, they removed the boards from the entrance and knocked down the wooden stakes.

Outside, a few gunshots rang out, the guerrilla fighters were firing at the British. They had an alternative route in and out of the shelter, so there was no need to worry about them. Soon, thick smoke billowed from the direction of the village - it was evident that the British were setting it on fire.

"If they have the guts to come into the swamp, we'll shoot them dead!" one villager declared angrily. Although their thatched-roof houses weren't worth much, they had worked hard to build them.

Shortly after the villagers entered the shelter, a group of British soldiers and some bloodhounds arrived at the edge of the swamp.

This time, the British came prepared to deal with the swamp, equipped with a new piece of gear: swamp shoes.

These "swamp shoes" were actually large wooden boards that could be fastened onto regular boots. The design was simple, and the principle straightforward: they increased the surface area and decreased pressure. Wearing these shoes, the pressure exerted by a person on the ground was reduced by more than half, making it less likely for them to sink. However, it wasn't foolproof; in case they encountered exceptionally thin or deep quagmires, the result would still be fatal.

Since entering the swamp remained risky, it was the task of the "Peacekeeping Forces" to lead the way.

The Peacekeeping Forces' bloodhounds were the first to don these shoes and each carried a long wooden pole, venturing ahead to scout the path.

The simple design did indeed prove effective. They walked on the swamp's muddy surface without sinking, and it made their movement significantly faster and more agile.

"Good," said British officer Edward Stafford, who was supervising from behind. "We'll stay here and oversee their entry. We'll apprehend those rebels!"

Nonetheless, entering the swamp was still perilous. Even with swamp shoes, it was treacherous. So, if the British could avoid going in, it was better that they did. Moreover, according to their intelligence, the village only had around a hundred people, including women and children. The true adult men numbered only a few dozen, all of them ordinary folks. Edward believed that the "Peacekeeping Forces," although somewhat ragtag, should be sufficient to deal with these people.

By this time, the guerrilla team had entered the swamp through another passage. They quickly spotted the Peacekeeping Forces, clad in swamp shoes, waddling through the swamp like a flock of ducks.

"Hey, these Peacekeeping Forces have this stuff too?" whispered the team leader Hitchens, speaking in hushed tones to a squad member named Thompson.

The squad member nodded and then left to report to the old village leader, while Hitchens and another member, Wade, made their plans.

"Let's split up, Wade. You go left, and I'll go right. We'll approach them from both sides..."

"We'll encircle them from the left and right," Wade confirmed. "I understand."

"Good! We'll open fire from both sides. Remember, take one shot, then change position. After firing ten shots, we'll rendezvous at location one, and then we'll lead the enemy to location two. Got it?"

"Got it!"

At this point, over two hundred "Peacekeeping Forces" had entered the swamp. Team leader Hyde was being pressured by squad leader O'Kelly to lead the way. The swamp had poor visibility with tall and low water grasses, reeds everywhere. Occasionally, a disturbance in the reed bed would send a couple of wild ducks flying out.

Hyde was cautiously moving through the swamp when suddenly, there was a gunshot from his left. Simultaneously, one of the Peacekeeping Forces next to him let out a miserable cry, falling headlong into the muck.

This sent the other Peacekeeping Forces into chaos, and they turned to look in the direction of the gunshot, where a thick, pale-blue smoke seemed to be rising from the reeds. The sound of the gunshot and the shock made a flock of wild ducks take flight.

"Rebels! Rebels on the left, in the reeds! Open fire in that direction!" Hyde pointed to the reed bed, shouting.

The Peacekeeping Forces quickly turned their guns towards the dense reeds and opened fire, causing reed stems and leaves to scatter in every direction. However, no one noticed if anyone was hit when they fired. In fact, while they were shooting, they hadn't seen anyone there.

After this round of firing, Squad leader O'Kelly scrutinized the scene and realized that two more of their men had fallen on their side.

"I didn't see any of those Independent Army fellows shooting just now; are they pretending to be dead?" O'Kelly thought and planned to go over and give the two play-acting guys a good kick. However, at this moment, a gunshot rang out from behind them.

"Captain, Captain, the rebels are behind us!" Hyde shouted again.