No matter how Washington fought in New York, Philadelphia was already beyond recovery.
Charles and Sullivan had now focused all their attention on the British army, which was drawing closer to the fortress.
The firing density of artillery and muskets began to increase, and to further enhance the lethality against ordinary British soldiers, Charles had specially ordered ten new model rifles from Pittsburgh.
The barrel length and powder charge of these rifles were one-third greater than the original guns, and since the bullet size remained unchanged, their accuracy and range increased significantly.
They could hit British soldiers in the trenches from a greater distance and with more precision.
Most notably, Charles had also equipped each rifle with a single-barrel telescope, each with a simply engraved aiming reticle, turning these ten rifles into the earliest sniper rifles.
Charles also had General Sullivan select the ten best marksmen from the entire army and tasked them with using these guns to snipe British soldiers from within the fortress.
A firearm isn't necessarily better the longer it is; at least these ten rifles could only be used from the fortress to shoot people.
In open combat, without a stand, even the strongest soldier couldn't fire them repeatedly.
Charles had indeed intended these ten guns to be used as long-range sniper rifles.
However, the accuracy of firearms at this time was simply too poor.
Even with rifled barrels, even with telescopes, and even with the best marksmen, their hit rate was far from the 100% accuracy Charles envisioned.
Marksmen could generally only achieve one hit out of two shots, and only one-third of hits resulted in an instant kill.
Even so, the British soldiers digging trenches still died by the tens each day, making it so that no British soldier dared to dig trenches.
Eventually, only farmers conscripted from New York could be used for digging, with several British soldiers specifically assigned to supervise them.
Naturally, this greatly reduced speed and efficiency, infuriating Lieutenant Colonel Saint-Neje and General Howe.
This type of sniper rifle, which a normal person would deem to have little practical value on the battlefield, performed so remarkably in such a fortress defense battle, greatly astonishing General Sullivan.
He felt that if such a gun had appeared earlier, it would have inflicted even greater casualties on the British army, and at least in slowing down the British army's trench digging, its effect would have been even greater.
Little did he know that the successful production of even one qualified precision weapon in this era relied entirely on luck.
Charles had already tasked Bergnan with researching high-accuracy sniper rifles last year, and only these ten had been produced to date.
Nevertheless, these ten guns had already achieved tremendous results.
Now, because of these ten "heavy" sniper rifles, British soldiers digging had begun to crawl.
And the British soldiers who frequently exchanged fire with the Continental army in the fortress had largely disappeared since the appearance of these guns.
The British army's digging speed had significantly slowed down.
General Howe was helpless about this and could only instruct those digging trenches to be as careful as possible, promising them the best compensation once Philadelphia was captured.
They had learned through intelligence channels that these weapons were not supplied by France or Spain, as they had speculated, but rather came from Pittsburgh, which had recently defeated Britain's ally, the natives.
And Charles Godfrey, the leader of Pittsburgh, was the overall commander of this Philadelphia campaign.
Upon learning this news, an enraged General Howe even offered a reward of thirty pounds of gold for Charles' head, making Charles hesitant to appear in crowded places.
However, this small piece of good news did not keep Charles and his men happy for long.
Several messengers from Virginia, after many sacrifices, finally broke through General Howe's blockade and entered Philadelphia.
He delivered very bad news to Charles and others: a few days prior, British General Cornwallis had landed on the Virginia coast, and after raiding several villages, he managed to rendezvous with several British army units fighting in Virginia.
Then, disregarding the America militia in Virginia, he led the combined British army to rest in Charlestown, seemingly intending to pause the Virginia campaign and prepare to march north to encircle Philadelphia.
governor Adams had specifically sent over a dozen messengers to break through the blockade and deliver this message.
Charles and General Sullivan could only smile bitterly upon seeing this news.
Even if Cornwallis didn't come to outflank them, the situation in Philadelphia wouldn't improve much.
If Cornwallis were to outflank Philadelphia by land, Charles wasn't afraid; the only difference would be that the not-so-tight blockade would become extremely tight.
But if he were to go up the river mouth, break through the coastal defenses, and enter the Delaware River, then Philadelphia would be in trouble, as this might affect the Pennsylvania Canal, which was currently Philadelphia's only safe supply route and its future escape route.
However, both were helpless about this.
The United States Navy was now even worse than Russia's bathtub fleet and could not possibly engage the royal Navy.
Charles had already made up his mind: if Cornwallis were to outflank his rear by sea, he would immediately board a ship and return to Pittsburgh via the canal as soon as Cornwallis broke through the river mouth's coastal defenses.
On the Philadelphia battlefield, as the artillery and sniper battles progressed, time quickly entered April.
Due to delays in evacuating Philadelphia refugees, even with the Continental Congress and Charles concentrating manpower and resources to fully construct the Pennsylvania Canal, its full completion was delayed until April.
It was just as the fighting was about to enter a close-quarters phase that Philadelphia, after a series of bad news, finally received an absolutely favorable piece of good news: the Pennsylvania Canal was finally fully open for navigation.
This opening of the Pennsylvania Canal differed slightly from its historical counterpart.
Historically, the Pennsylvania Canal, because it was contracted out to private entities in sections, was very roughly built, not advanced in design, and locally still relied on land transport for navigation.
It wasn't until later, after some additional lift locks were built, that it could be fully navigated.
During the construction of the canal, Charles extensively used explosives like Picric acid.
Although these explosives could not be directly used for military purposes, they were very suitable for blasting rocks and digging earth.
Therefore, when it finally opened for navigation, the canal was directly connected throughout its entire length.
In other words, Pittsburgh's steamboats could now directly reach Philadelphia.
And the sign of this full navigation was a team of steamboats, emitting thick smoke, steaming into Philadelphia.
"God bless the United States!"
"Long live! Long live Pittsburgh!"
After more than a month without new ships docking, the Philadelphia pier finally welcomed a fleet, and the welcoming crowd on the pier erupted in thunderous cheers.
"Is this the steamboat Councilor Godfrey mentioned? It can actually sail without sails or wind!"
Hancock and General Sullivan, who were among the greeters, also expressed their admiration.
"This is indeed a miracle of civilization!
With such ships, we will no longer have to fear the British Navy in the future.
At least a few decades from now, we certainly won't have to fear it!"
General Sullivan even immediately saw the naval potential of the steamboat.
Under the strict protection of guards, Charles did not intervene.
The safety of Philadelphia was not yet guaranteed, yet they were already thinking of breaking the royal Navy's blockade.
This steamboat was for his escape, not for fighting.
Although Charles thought this, in reality, when this ship arrived, it was followed by several other different vessels.
They not only transported some of the Pittsburgh militia but also a large number of good things.
Cannons and medicine were basic equipment, and there were also many other strange and peculiar items.
The arrival of the fleet also officially declared General Howe's blockade of Philadelphia a failure.
However, after this fleet arrived, it would be necessary to allocate forces to patrol the river by boat.
If General Howe were to send heavy troops to block the river, the retreat route for the people in Philadelphia would be cut off.
Moreover, blockading is easy, but opening it is difficult.
To prevent General Howe from blocking the river, the situation of the British army on both banks of the canal must be constantly monitored.
Once the British army is spotted, the speed advantage of the steamboats must be immediately used to quickly deploy troops and disperse them before their blockade officially forms.
If the British army has already placed obstacles in the river, it would be much more difficult to clear them.
However, all of this was based on the premise that General Howe would send small groups of British soldiers to blockade the canal.
If it were a large contingent of British soldiers, that would be a completely different matter.
Charles and General Sullivan's plan for such a situation was that if General Howe dispatched several thousand men to blockade the canal, Philadelphia's more than ten thousand irregular militia would swarm out and completely eliminate the British army currently in front of the fortress.
Sending a group of farmers to fight regular troops, although very dangerous, with several times the numerical advantage, the outcome would be hard to predict at that point.
Since the hope of victory was not great at present, Charles and Sullivan both felt it was necessary to take such a gamble.
The thick smoke from the steamboats on the canal quickly alerted the British army to the steamboat's resupply of Philadelphia.
Although General Howe didn't understand what these strange steamboats were, out of normal tactical considerations, he still sent troops several times to harass them, pushing carts full of stones into the river and attempting to throw large logs into the canal, and so on.
However, almost every time the British army appeared by the river, the Continental army would know in advance, and then several steamboats would quickly transport hundreds or even thousands of regular Continental army soldiers ashore.
With the help of several small cannons on the steamboats, they easily defeated the British army's blockade units.
After several consecutive units of two to three hundred British soldiers were defeated, General Howe was once again furious.
"If I had known these commoners dared to engage in open combat, I would have definitely sent two hundred more soldiers.
Damn rebels, they come out when they see I have few men.
Later, I'll send a thousand-man team to blockade the river, and we'll see if they still dare to come out!"
"Your Excellency, General! I advise you to consider this decision carefully," Lieutenant Colonel Saint-Neje loyally suggested.
"Hmm?"
"Your Excellency, we brought ten thousand troops from New York, and immediately dispatched eight hundred cavalry to drive out Washington.
Since the beginning of the war, in our first engagement, we suffered nearly four hundred casualties.
In the recent half-month of artillery and sniping, we have sustained three to four hundred heavily wounded casualties.
Adding the two completely routed river blockade units, we have already lost over a thousand men.
If we dispatch another thousand men to blockade the river, I fear our forces facing Philadelphia will be severely insufficient.
Moreover, I believe that merely sending a thousand men might also be defeated by the rebels sending several thousand troops at once," Lieutenant Colonel Saint-Neje still advised honestly.
General Howe's brow twitched.
"Hmm, sending a thousand troops, though very risky, might attract those rebels to come out of the fortress to attack," General Howe stroked his chin.
"Uh…" Lieutenant Colonel Saint-Neje was speechless.
He didn't mean that; he was merely reminding the General to be cautious in deploying troops.
General Howe did not have the opportunity to try this idea.
Just as he was contemplating whether to actually send troops, a messenger arrived with the news that Cornwallis' fleet had reached the river mouth.
This Cornwallis was quite cunning.
He knew that by leaving New York without consulting General Howe, as per domestic orders, he might offend the old general.
However, as long as he showed goodwill to him afterwards, the old general would surely immediately forget the previous impudence.
So, after gathering several British army units in Virginia and leading his fleet to the river mouth, he immediately sent men ashore to consult General Howe on where his troops should be deployed.
Upon receiving General Cornwallis' report, General Howe's first thought was to send the navy to attack the ships on the canal.
But then he immediately realized that the navy's warships might not be able to sail up the river.
However, he still felt that having the navy attempt to enter the river was better than risking dividing his forces to lure the Philadelphia rebels out of the city.
So Cornwallis soon received this order that made him stomp his feet.
General Howe ordered him to lead the smallest warships in his fleet up the river to sweep away all of Philadelphia's rebel ships and docks.
His fleet was not the regular royal Navy, and this river passing through Philadelphia was not the open sea.
When Franklin was Chairman of the Public Security Committee, he had already set up some coastal defenses near the river mouth and specially built several oar-powered boats to intercept incoming British warships.
After Charles took over as the overall commander of Philadelphia, he also specifically arranged forces to defend the river mouth.
Therefore, Cornwallis' attempt to enter Philadelphia by going up the river was no easier than General Howe's land entry into Philadelphia.
Cornwallis had seen the strict defenses at the river mouth, which was why he specifically sent someone to consult General Howe, asking where he should disembark in advance, never expecting the result to be an order to attack.