I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 636: The Rebels’ Counterattack
Brand's trip to the Caribbean seems destined to be unsuccessful.

He even failed to achieve a great victory in Nassau like he had in Jamaica. Before his troops could land, the abolitionist rebels attacking Nassau quickly retreated.

In fact, he was able to block Oriol's army because of luck. Before that, the British expeditionary fleet decided to make an additional supply in Dominica, so it did not take the regular route, resulting in the "Special Trade Association" ship failing to discover them in time.

This time, Brand's soldiers were still busy boarding the transport ship at the dock in Jamaica, notifying the Bahamas that the rebels' ship was on the way.

Moreover, the people in Nassau were extremely hostile to the British army - not only black people and mulattos, but even white colonists hated the British army.

The main crops grown in the Bahamas are cotton and corn, which do not yield as much profit as sugarcane. Therefore, in order to ensure the profits of the colony, the British government imposed heavier taxes here.

There are all kinds of taxes, such as "wheelbarrow tax" and "wild fruit collection tax". Especially the latter, for the lower-class people in the Caribbean, wild pineapples, coconuts and the like provide a large part of their daily diet, but since more than 30 years ago, picking these ubiquitous things has to pay taxes to the governor.

In addition, the Bahamian abolitionist rebels had raised the slogan of "Bahamian independence" from the very beginning, which made them gain widespread support. Even many plantation owners would rather lose slaves than get rid of British colonial rule.

This allowed the abolitionist rebels to obtain supplies everywhere, and the movements of the British army were completely confidential - almost every day, Bahamian people reported the British army's situation to the rebels.

Brand searched the island for more than half a month, and only once by chance encountered the main force of the rebels, but only a small-scale battle took place. With the help of the locals, the latter escaped the encirclement under the cover of night.

Not surprisingly, something happened again in Barbados a month later.

The abolitionist rebels in Barbados and Dominica announced that they would join forces to form a parliament and establish the "Republic of the Windward Islands". The British governor there was no match for the black rebels and had to retreat to Bridgetown to ask Brand for help.

This time Brand learned his lesson. He left 1 soldiers under the command of his lieutenant colonel Straw, while he led the main force to Barbados.

There are only more than 2 rebels in the Bahamas, and their combat effectiveness is very weak. 4 British troops are enough to deal with them.

However, as soon as he left the Bahamas, Auger, who received the news, organized the Saint Domingo rebels, took a small boat to avoid the patrolling British fleet, and landed on Nassau Island under the cover of night.

It’s not that the British fleet is useless, but the distance between Saint Domingo and the Bahamas is too close - less than 60 nautical miles at the closest point - if they set out in the morning, they can arrive before dark.

At the same time, the width of this area of ​​water is very large, more than 350 nautical miles, which leaves a considerable gap between the warships responsible for the blockade.

After about a week of transportation, nearly 800 Saint-Domingue rebel soldiers, led by the young black officer Toussaint Louverture, successfully arrived in the southeast of Nassau.

Yes, at Joseph's request, this black officer who had organized a small-scale slave uprising and later became the number one general in the Haitian independence movement was reused by Auger.

Louverture's outstanding military talent soon emerged, and he was now promoted to major.

In a cotton plantation on the outskirts of Nassau, Kenneth Lidington, the commander of the Bahamian rebels, bowed to Louverture and said in broken French:

"Thank you, great freedom fighter. Your supplies bring us hope. Freedom and equality will prevail!"

Today, Saint-Domingo is the headquarters of the abolitionist movement in the Caribbean, so French has naturally become the "official language" of major abolitionist organizations. The commanders of the rebels in the British colonies are desperately trying to improve their French.

"Freedom and equality will prevail!" Louverture hugged Lidington, turned his head and looked coldly at Nassau in the night, and said in a hoarse voice, "Lieutenant Colonel Lidington, I am not here just to deliver weapons, but to give the British a little 'return gift'!"

"Return gift?"

"Yes, I brought 800 soldiers. They are all good fighters who have fought in the battlefield." Louverture patted his sword, "We can't just wait for the British to attack us. And there are exactly 1 British troops in Nassau." Saint-Domingue was the first to launch an uprising and had fought many battles with government forces. The quality and combat experience of the soldiers were much higher than those in Jamaica, the Bahamas and other places.

Liddington's eyes immediately lit up, but he hesitated and said:
"But the British are very powerful. Last time we were accidentally caught up by them, we lost more than 200 soldiers in just one battle."

Louverture's face was expressionless:
“So, they will definitely look down on us.”

The next day at noon.

The Bahamian abolitionist rebels suddenly launched a fierce attack on the city of Nassau.

More than 2 black soldiers, accompanied by the sound of military drums, approached the British positions stationed outside the city from two directions, stopping from time to time to fire a shot.

The British commander, Lieutenant Colonel Straw, put away his telescope and smiled at his staff officer:
"Haha! These niggers must have thought that General Brand had taken all the expeditionary forces away. It seems that the credit for quelling the riots in the Bahamas will fall into my hands."

It was not until the Bahamian rebels were 150 steps in front of the British position that Straw ordered the artillery to fire.

Three six-pound cannon shells roared through the rebel ranks, immediately raising a large piece of minced meat.

These black soldiers who had never fought a war were stunned for a moment, and then retreated in fear.

Those soldiers who were farther away from the shelling position continued to move forward, and the rebel army's ranks instantly became messy.

After several rounds of firing from the British artillery, the Bahamian rebels on the south side showed signs of collapse.

Straus saw this scene through the telescope, turned his head contemptuously and said to his staff: "Let the infantry line start the attack."

"Yes, sir!"

Not surprisingly, the Bahamian insurgents collapsed as soon as they came into contact with the British infantry lines.

A large group of black soldiers dropped their weapons, screamed and turned to flee, and from time to time someone was killed by bullets from behind.

Straw soon noticed that the rebels were running towards a plantation on the east side.

He frowned slightly. If these niggers were allowed to get into the cotton field, it would be extremely difficult for his soldiers to search for them.

He decisively ordered: "Infantry Companies 7 and 11 maintain line formation, and the other companies change to column formation to pursue."

The column formation can move quickly, but it is not suitable for frontal combat and is usually used to attack enemy positions.

However, those blacks have lost their will to fight, so you just need to rush up and strangle them without worrying about the formation.

Straus' order was quickly executed, and nine infantry columns quickly caught up with the rebels and raised their flintlocks one after another.

At this moment, a cannon shot suddenly sounded from the cotton field ahead. Two black iron balls jumped over the heads of the black soldiers and penetrated into the British army behind them.

(End of this chapter)