What do you need me to do? You can just say it. If it truly benefits the Union, I will risk another trip to Europe." Jefferson immediately replied.
He immediately guessed that since it was through diplomatic channels, it must be a return trip to Europe. At a time when the British Navy had once again blockaded American waters, going out would be an adventure with a nine-out-of-ten chance of death.
"Haha! It doesn't necessarily have to be an adventure," Charles said with a faint smile. "You just need to use your eloquence to discuss it with the naval commanders of other friendly nations in America. We will directly recruit their retired naval soldiers and officers to serve in the fleet we are about to form. Their experienced naval officers and men, plus our own new sailors and cadets, and with support from the French and Spanish for a batch of naval commanders and active-duty sailors, we can quickly establish a fleet commanded by ourselves. We will use their personnel to quickly train a qualified navy for us! Of course, if they say they need orders from their home country and are unwilling to agree, then you might need to make another trip to Europe, but you can take the safe route from New Orleans, without having to risk going from the East Coast."
Charles' greatest lament now was that the American war of Independence received too much international aid. So many countries opposed to Britain stood on the side of the nascent United States to weaken Britain, allowing him to receive all kinds of aid. Now, with his Pittsburgh Coal and Steel Consortium, the United States did not lack muskets and cannons, and the need for aid supplies was greatly reduced. What America lacked most now were qualified naval and army commanders. At this time, with the army being reorganized and the Navy forming a new fleet, it was naturally the best time to make demands on them.
"Then what's the difference between this and us asking the French and Spanish Navies to directly participate in the war to help us? The Navy isn't something that can be completed in a day or two; just building our own fleet is enough to empty our Continental Congress. Even if this Navy is established, we can't afford to maintain them at this critical moment of the war," Hancock said worriedly.
"Alas! There's no other way." Just look at the performance of the French Navy. If I'm not mistaken, Comte D'Estaing's French Navy fleet, upon seeing the powerful British Navy fleet, might actively retreat without firing a single shot to preserve its own strength. For these allied forces who come to help us, if they have an absolute advantage when facing the enemy, they might act without hesitation; but if defeating the enemy requires a heavy price, those people will not be so enthusiastic to participate in the war, and may even choose to retreat. That's human nature, and we can all understand it. A fleet that doesn't belong to us and cannot be commanded by us is, after all, not reassuring to use!"
General Sullivan nodded heavily beside him, expressing strong agreement. When he served in the British army previously, he had fought alongside other allied forces and had a very deep understanding of how allied forces treated wars that were not their own.
"The French army is our ally; they can't just retreat on their own, can they?" Jefferson asked, disbelievingly.
"We'll have to wait and see!" Charles said with a faint smile. "I hope not."
Historically, the French Navy, although it played a crucial role in the American Revolutionary war, its main role was in the final battle. In fact, it could have played a role at the very beginning of the war, but it waited until Britain had spent a lot of money and manpower on America, and then, at the last moment when Britain was about to fail, it dealt a heavy blow to Britain, while itself paying almost nothing. Several times when the British Navy had the upper hand and the American army was in great danger, the French Navy never considered the situation of its allies, choosing to prioritize preserving its own strength and quickly retreating to the French bases in the West Indies.
Now that the powerful British Navy had suddenly appeared, Charles, even with just a moment's thought, could guess the French Navy's likely next move.
"However, the British army's strength is indeed stronger than the French army's right now. Forcing them to fight is unrealistic. Even if they choose to retreat, we absolutely cannot blame them," Charles reminded.
To prevent the Continental Congress Representatives from becoming dissatisfied due to the French army's active retreat, Charles had to remind them in advance. After all, such emotional thinking would be of no benefit to the Franco-American Alliance and to America, which was striving to win French aid. It would be better to actively express understanding for the French army's actions, and then use the opportunity to extract a large sum from them to build their own powerful army.
"Indeed, we have no reason to ask them to sacrifice themselves for our victory without compensation. This is certainly understandable," Hancock and the others nodded.
They were all astute individuals and naturally understood the hidden meaning in Charles' words.
Even Jefferson, although he understood the meaning of Charles' words, still felt a bit unable to accept it, with a frustrated expression.
"If the French Navy retreats, what will General Washington and the others do? Without the Navy's containment, they might very likely be counterattacked by the reinforced British army!" General Sullivan, who was attending the meeting, immediately became anxious upon hearing Charles' judgment.
"There's no need to worry about that. In fact, after more than ten days of siege, Charlestown is already at its last gasp. The French army's hundred cannons bombarding the town will definitely inflict a fatal blow on the British army. Even if the British Navy's reinforcements arrive, coupled with their heavily wounded and dead army, it's impossible for them to launch a counterattack against our troops. I estimate that the British army's most likely choice will be to take this remnant force back north to rendezvous with General Benedict, or to go south to North Carolina to meet up with the Hessian army. The least likely option is to continue staying in Charlestown; while that would drive a wedge into our forces, their situation wouldn't necessarily be much better," Charles judged.
"Alas! Councilor Charles, do you think we can get General Washington and Comte D'Estaing to intensify their attack and capture Charlestown before the British Navy arrives?" Chairman Hancock asked, unwilling to give up.
"Impossible. From the Charlestown front-line battle reports I've received, if we want to render Charlestown incapable of resistance and force General Cornwallis to surrender, it would take at least ten days. If we were to forcibly assault the town head-on, it would take at least half a month." Charles shook his head.
"Damn it! If the Navy could hold out for another ten days, we could have completely captured it!" General Sullivan slammed his fist, looking very indignant.
"This is the disadvantage of not having our own Navy!" Charles sighed cooperatively, deliberately looking at Continental Congress Chairman Hancock.
Now do you understand why I insisted on building our own Navy?
Hancock, being an extremely astute person, how could he not understand the meaning of Charles' sigh?
He shook his head helplessly and complained to Charles:
"Councilor Charles, the Continental Congress really has no money. Your bank is now unwilling to provide collateralized loans. We originally wanted to issue Continental Congress shares on your stock exchange to see if we could raise funds from the stock market, but you disagreed. The Continental Congress really doesn't have that much money left!"
—
"No! In fact, we still have a huge sum, enough to build an independent fleet." Charles stared at Hancock unblinkingly.
"Still have money? Where?" Hancock looked disbelieving.
"If there truly is this money, are you willing to allocate it for naval shipbuilding and cannon procurement?" Charles asked Hancock and Jefferson with a smile.
One was the President of the Continental Congress, and the other was the leader of the largest faction replacing Charles. Their attitudes were crucial.
Hancock and Jefferson exchanged glances, both understanding the importance and urgency of building a powerful Navy. Finally, they nodded to each other, and Hancock stated:
"If there truly is such an idle sum of money, it can naturally be allocated to naval construction."
"Haha, that money is the preferential loan and gratuitous aid we can receive from France, according to the Franco-American Alliance agreement, totaling several million francs, which should be enough to build over a dozen large warships," Charles said, smiling, revealing the source of the money.
"France's aid, plus bank loans!" Jefferson and Hancock exchanged bitter smiles.
They had already planned how to use this money. With supplies tight on the American continent, a portion of this money would be spent in Europe to purchase various scarce materials, and another portion would be used for military pay for the allied forces aided by France.
Upon hearing about the allied forces, Charles immediately refused.
"France's reinforcements, whether Navy or army, cannot possibly arrive in America to participate in the war in the short term. We should first extract this year's aid to build our own Navy. As for the allied forces' military pay, let's wait until the troops arrive before paying."
Charles remembered that the French allied army only landed to make a show at the very end of the war of Independence, and it seemed to be only half of the originally planned number. Now that history had changed, with the situation in America looking so good, France was even less likely to send troops to help early. Instead of letting this money sit idle, it would be better to use it to build their own Navy.
"Regardless, it is indeed as Charles said, only an army that is in one's own hands can be used with confidence. If the French Navy truly retreats immediately after the British Navy appears, as Charles predicted, then I firmly support Charles using that aid to build our own Navy. Anyway, I'm going to the French to ask them for sailors, so I'll go and see their performance myself!" Jefferson, as the leader of the new largest faction, expressed his opinion.
"I think that unfortunate event will happen soon," Charles predicted.
Charles' faction, combined with Jefferson's faction, already exceeded half of the total number of Continental Congress Representatives. With these two big figures speaking up, even Chairman Hancock could not change the decision.
The matter of preparing to use the aid funds for naval construction was thus settled.
Jefferson personally rode quickly to Charlestown, preparing to meet with French Navy fleet commander Comte D'Estaing to discuss borrowing regular French Navy officers and sailors, and also to inform him of the impending arrival of the British Navy fleet.
Over the next few days, most of the Continental Congress spent their time in anxiety and apprehension.
The very next afternoon, the British Navy fleet quickly passed hundreds of miles off the coast of Philadelphia, not even glancing at Philadelphia, but sailing directly south with full sails.
The small sailboat dispatched by Philadelphia to patrol the outer seas quickly reported this news to the Continental Congress.
Upon hearing this news, the Continental Congress Representatives, while relieved to learn that the British army fleet had no plans to bombard Philadelphia, also clearly understood that the British army fleet had already learned about Charlestown and was preparing to first reinforce British army Commander-in-Chief Cornwallis.
With this, the Battle of Charlestown indeed had no hope of victory. And the war in America, after being favorable to the American army for six months, once again turned in favor of the British army.
Five days later, urgent news arrived from Charlestown: the British army fleet suddenly appeared off the coast of Charlestown. The French Navy, having already received notification from Philadelphia, carefully withdrew towards the West Indies without firing a single shot.
The British army relief fleet did not pursue, but quickly entered the most critical Charlestown harbor, fiercely bombarding the empty positions on the other side of the town to show its strength. Subsequently, troops slowly landed and merged with Cornwallis' forces in Charlestown, beginning rescue operations.
Seeing that there was truly no hope of capturing Charlestown, Washington had no choice but to withdraw the main forces to a nearby town, leaving only a small number of guerrillas outside Charlestown to wait for the British army to retreat before occupying Charlestown. He then quickly sent word to the Continental Congress, asking about the next course of action.
Fortunately, the General Staff proposed by Charles was not set up in vain. There were already several contingency plans for the event that the capture of Charlestown failed. After discussion, Charles' Military and Ordnance Committee decided to keep the troops in the south, under the command of General Greene, to counter the Hessian army and Cornwallis' British army in the south, while Washington himself would go north to see if he could achieve a breakthrough in Albany.
Accompanying Washington back to Philadelphia, in addition to his capable assistants, were nearly two hundred French Navy officers and men, all borrowed by Jefferson from Comte D'Estaing.
The Battle of Charlestown ultimately ended with the American-French allied forces severely damaging Cornwallis' British army and occupying Charlestown.
After Cornwallis heard that the American army had retreated, he did not allow the fleet to take them to retreat north and rendezvous with Benedict, but chose to remain in Charlestown.
He only used the Navy to have the Hessian army from North Carolina move north to Charlestown and rendezvous with him.
In his opinion, with strong naval support, Charlestown was now very safe.
Even if tens of thousands of American troops attacked, he could easily leave by taking naval ships at that time.
His current troops had suffered heavy casualties, and moving to other places immediately would certainly not be conducive to their recuperation.
Since they couldn't exert combat power even if they went, it would be better to rest and reorganize in place, and they could recover their combat strength sooner.
As for the strategic objectives he set as the new commander-in-chief of the army, they were very similar to the battle plans formulated by the United kingdom.
His plan was to use Charlestown as the base for the southern army, starting from Charlestown, sweeping through Virginia, and then slowly advancing north, consolidating their gains step by step, with the ultimate target still being Philadelphia.
Benedict's forces in the north, after the arrival of reinforcements from the United kingdom, would receive a small portion of strength.
Using Albany as a base, he would attack south to occupy the entire New York State, and finally move south to rendezvous with Cornwallis, attacking Philadelphia in Pennsylvania together.
Although the previous siege of Philadelphia failed, his research concluded that the failure was not due to strategic errors.
Philadelphia was indeed a city that the American army had to defend, and resolving Philadelphia could indeed end the war of Independence once and for all.
As for the failure of the last battle, it was because the British army's coordination in various aspects was not in place, allowing Philadelphia's strength to grow again and again.
Also, under unstable conditions in the rear, hastily attacking the large target of Philadelphia led to being attacked from all sides and ultimately a disastrous defeat.
This highly insightful British army commander, after learning about the role of the Pennsylvania Canal in the Battle of Philadelphia, also had some small British naval vessels prepared in advance.
At that time, he would have them sail upstream along the canal to attack this lifeline for the next Battle of Philadelphia.
Even for the new weapons that had appeared in the Battle of Philadelphia, he had military experts in the United kingdom intensify their research to see if they could find a way to counter them.
General Cornwallis, as the new commander-in-chief of the British army, was much more cautious than his predecessor, General Howe.
With his operational objective set, Philadelphia was unlikely to face direct conflict in the short term, but Virginia and New York would certainly not have peace.
Both places would have to endure the true test of war.
Just as Cornwallis was setting his operational objectives for the next few months, Charles and the Continental Congress were also summarizing the events of the Battle of Charlestown.
"Alas! Charles, you really hit the nail on the head.
Comte D'Estaing, as soon as he heard about the scale of the British relief fleet, immediately arranged for a retreat.
By the time the British warships appeared off the coast of Charlestown, they had already packed up their belongings and calmly retreated without firing a single shot or cannon.
The British army watched them retreat without firing or pursuing, just like a pre-arranged handover.
" Jefferson complained to Charles as soon as he saw him.
"Oh! That's not bad, at least it ensures that the strength of our allied forces is not damaged, and the British reinforcement fleet probably didn't gain anything, right?
Actually, as long as General Washington's troops are not damaged, everything else we can solve slowly.
" Charles casually consoled him.
This was the result of the army not being in their own hands, completely predictable.
If this Navy belonged to the United States, they could have tried to delay the British Navy for a while for the Battle of Charlestown, or at least harass them to prevent a smooth landing, so that the army could inflict the greatest possible casualties on the British army in the town.
But since it was the French fleet, which could not empathize, it was understandable for them to retreat proactively when the situation looked unfavorable.
"Indeed! In this Battle of Charlestown, our army suffered only about a thousand casualties, while the British army's casualties should have exceeded half.
Cornwallis' army is basically crippled.
Among these thousands of casualties, the French Navy alone achieved a record of injuring and killing over a thousand people with intense shelling in the last few days.
If it weren't for their participation, we would not have achieved such great results, nor would we have suffered so few casualties.
" General Washington came out and spoke fairly for the French Navy.
"Hmm!" Jefferson nodded, reluctantly agreeing.
"But I still have to question the purpose of General Comte D'Estaing's participation in the war.
During the initial attack, the number of times he fired cannons at the British army was very few.
However, his retreat battle was absolutely brilliant.
He had been holding back during the attack, reluctant to use many things, but on the last day, he used cannons to completely destroy all nearby small vessels, facilities like ports that could be used by the British Navy and he couldn't take with him.
When the British relief fleet arrived at Charlestown, because the port was destroyed and the channel was blocked by sunken ships, they could only land using small sampans from their warships.
If it weren't for the warship's artillery being able to reach the other side of the town, General Washington would have even prepared to fight for a few more days to inflict as much damage as possible on Cornwallis.
Hahaha..."
At the end of his speech, Jefferson couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Charles also smiled; he could imagine the anxious and helpless expressions on the faces of the British relief fleet when they arrived at Charlestown, ready to immediately begin rescue operations, only to find that they couldn't dock in a short time.
It must have been very amusing.
"A retreat battle can also show the level of an army, so it seems that the quality of these French Navy personnel is not bad.
Last time, I saw them unable to catch up with British cruisers and not knowing how to use tactics to lure the enemy out, and I thought they were really a bunch of good-for-nothings.
Their performance in this retreat battle must be their true strength.
" Charles not only did not criticize the French army but praised them repeatedly.
Jefferson heard his complaints, which instead drew praise for the French army from Charles, and he was immediately a little exasperated.
"Alas! Then you go be happy.
This time, I went to find Comte D'Estaing and asked him to lend us some naval officers and enlisted men.
Perhaps because he was about to retreat, he felt a bit awkward.
He transferred twenty people from each warship, totaling two hundred, most of whom were gunners and sailors, but there were three first mates who could replace captains.
He said that ordinary sailors should be enough for you to establish a regular naval fleet.
Are you satisfied with this arrangement?"
"Hahaha! Satisfied, of course, satisfied!" Charles laughed loudly.
"I have already sent people to New Orleans to recruit retired French sailors and old officers, and with our own people, forming a small fleet with three large warships as its core should not be a problem.
It's just that sir Hancock will probably cry for his wallet when he finds out!"
"Hahaha!" This joke immediately drew a burst of laughter from the generals.
—
However, Jefferson, the person Charles was speaking to, still had a bitter face, without a trace of a smile.
"Actually, the money our fleet needs shouldn't be as much as originally envisioned." Washington, also with a stern face, interjected.
"Oh! Does the Commander-in-Chief have any good ideas?" Charles looked at Washington with interest.
"It's not a good idea, but when we captured Boston and New York, we seized a large amount of British naval supplies from there.
Among them were large quantities of timber, ropes, rivets, and other materials used for ship repair, even including several spare masts.
Those materials might be difficult to build three large warships, but building several cruisers is no problem.
In addition, other shipyards, due to the British blockade, couldn't sell newly built ships.
Various shipbuilding materials were piled up like mountains in the dry docks.
If we buy from them at this time, we should be able to get a discount, and many workers are willing to participate in shipbuilding work voluntarily, so the manufacturing cost should not be as high as you anticipated.
" Washington said unhurriedly.
"Good!" Charles clapped his hands.
Then he laughed loudly:
"Hahaha! Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief, perhaps you think a large amount of free materials is good news, but I think the biggest good news is that you said various shipbuilding materials are piled up like mountains!
As long as there are enough materials and enough manpower, we can build our own warships at the fastest speed.
I think that is our best news!"
"Oh!" Jefferson nodded in understanding.
"The several shipbuilding designers we hired from the French Navy have also arrived in Philadelphia, so can construction start immediately?"
"Yes! Of course, the sooner the better!" Charles nodded quickly.
"Where are we planning to build our large warships?" Washington looked at Charles with interest.
One of Washington's brothers had served in the British Navy.
He already had a very good understanding of naval power, and through this Battle of Charlestown, he clearly realized how important a powerful Navy was.
As the commander-in-chief of the Continental army, he was now also very eager to see what a naval fleet under his command would look like.
In fact, the American Founding Fathers, influenced by the British tradition of maritime awareness, had already proposed building a powerful Navy at the beginning of the war of Independence.
Thomas Paine, in his book "common sense," clearly stated whether the cost of building a Navy equivalent to one-third of the British Navy's strength was affordable for the United States.
The final conclusion was that the cost of manufacturing and maintaining such a fleet was exactly equivalent to the annual land sales revenue during the American Colonies government period.
A fleet of more than a dozen large warships was completely affordable for the American economy.
(At that time, the total number of British warships of all classes, which were battleships, was sixty-odd.)
However, the initial war of Independence had already thrown the American economy into disarray.
Even forming a regular army required bank loans, so how could they afford to spend a lot of money to build a powerful Navy?
Only a group of laymen but passionate Continental Congress Representatives allocated funds to build dozens of armed merchant ships in vain, but they couldn't even defeat the British blockade fleet and were driven back as soon as they set sail.
From then on, they gave up the dream of building their own powerful Navy.
It wasn't until the United States became the world's leading industrial power that building a powerful Navy befitting its status was put back on the agenda.
"Of course, in Philadelphia!" Charles replied without hesitation.
But then he frowned.
Although Philadelphia also had a large amount of shipbuilding materials, empty dry docks, and even plenty of shipbuilding designers and engineers, the biggest problem was that those shipbuilding materials and manpower prevented him from simultaneously starting construction in Philadelphia for all the ships needed for a fleet.
"Philadelphia probably doesn't have enough dry docks and workers to start building so many ships at once, does it?" Jefferson asked.
Washington also stated his opinion:
"Those captured British shipbuilding materials are basically stored in Boston and New York, and these things are very inconvenient to transport!"
"Hehe! Should we start construction simultaneously in three locations?
That would be a good way to build ships quickly.
With abundant materials and manpower, it's estimated that within half a year, all the ships for our small fleet could be built.
" Charles said with a smile.
He couldn't help but think of the shipbuilding scene in the United States during World war II in the 20th century.
The complete shipbuilding industry allowed a large number of American shipyards to be thrown into the frenzy of building warships.
As a result, the number of ships produced was much more than the total number of ships from other countries combined.
Finally, the vast majority of ships, because they were produced but no one used them, had to be docked at the pier, without even a chance to move, and were immediately dismantled after the war ended.
Although the United States currently had no achievements in warship manufacturing, as the world's largest merchant ship manufacturing base, it already possessed shipbuilding capabilities far exceeding those of ordinary countries.
Coupled with abundant various shipbuilding materials, as long as there were designers and engineers specializing in warship manufacturing to guide them, they should also be able to quickly manufacture a large number of warships.
"Building in three separate locations might not be good.
Even if there are enough engineers to guide shipbuilding and the construction speed is the fastest, how will we get them to rendezvous once the ships are built?
Currently, the British Navy is blockading the eastern coast's open sea.
Our fleet, let alone one large warship, even if three large warships set out together, might not be able to escape from them!
Building separately would disperse our combat power too much, and it would probably be very difficult to gather them.
No!" Washington shook his head, expressing his disagreement.