I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1109 Hidden Resistance

Beside St. James's Park, Thomas Evans, his eyes bloodshot, screamed at the core members of the London News Agency around him: "Don't run away!"
"Think of your starving children, think of your family members who died in agony because they couldn't afford medical care."

“We cannot give in to these executioners. Join me in stopping them.”

"For our future, for freedom and human rights, do not run away!"

Immediately, more than a dozen ragged workers gathered around him.

Most of these people have lost their family members or their jobs, so they are full of courage.

Evans directed the workers to point their protest signs forward like spears, while those in the back rows picked up stones and threw them at the cavalry.

The charging cavalrymen paused abruptly and had to go around the group of people.

Encouraged by this, the surrounding protesters also moved closer to Evans, and soon a crowd of two or three hundred people had gathered.

On the west side of the street, a British cavalry captain put down his binoculars, put away his pipe, and gestured to his deputy beside him: "I knew those amateurs were unreliable. We'll have to do it ourselves."

Ten minutes later, a cavalry squadron of the British Army's 15th Rangers broke through Evans and his men in a wedge formation, killing thirty or forty men in an instant.

"This is murder..."

A saber easily pierced Evans' neck, and his screams came to an abrupt halt.

The screams from the surrounding crowd grew even louder, and thousands of people poured out of the two nearby streets like a flood. A third of them fell to the ground and were quickly trampled into a bloody pulp.

In a coffee shop a street away, McCracken stared palely at the horrific, hellish scene outside. Only when the coffee shop owner ordered the staff to close all the doors and windows and barricade them with tables and chairs did he finally emerge from the water like a drowning man, taking a deep breath.

He slowly turned his head and spoke with difficulty to Porter beside him: "They...are really slaughtering..."

“It’s alright,” the latter comforted him softly. “It’s alright. Your men have already been withdrawn.”

“These devils!” The Irishman’s fingernails almost dug into the table. “God will surely punish them!”

If he knew that decades later, a British Queen named Victoria would send millions of Irish people to heaven, he would probably think those cavalrymen were as gentle and kind as angels.

Porter nodded: "We must avoid a direct confrontation with the devil. We must weaken them gradually and patiently wait for the right opportunity."

McCracken's expression turned solemn: "You are right."

"Regarding the wheat, I will fully support you. Oh, I'm returning to Ireland now! This will be my first sword strike against the devil!"

Previously, the United Irish Association was not very supportive of Joseph's plan to raise grain prices, as it would consume a large amount of their funds.

This time, most of the association officials who were not very compliant with the French died at the hands of British cavalry, and those who survived were mostly arrested. Now, there will be much less opposition within the association.

With the British government setting a very bloody example, the Irish will understand the brutality of the struggle even more, thus abandoning any idea of ​​a quick victory.

Yes, historically, they would have launched an anti-British uprising a little over a year later, which would have been suppressed without any surprise. But now, with Joseph in command, they would no longer be pointlessly throwing their lives away.

The following day, The Times published a front-page headline: "Serious riots in London and Manchester and other areas have been swiftly quelled, with a large number of rioters arrested."

The content naturally involved fabricating stories of "rioters" looting and destroying everywhere, and the government sending out volunteer cavalry to maintain order in the city.

In an inconspicuous corner of the newspaper, there was also a news item that read, "Stockbroker commits suicide after being exposed for insider trading."

The main text recounts the events of the Montes family's suicide by hanging, and how their accomplice, Graby, jumped into the Thames.

For a time, no British person dared to take to the streets.

The British government promptly announced a significant increase in sugar subsidies.

A few days later, the British Parliament passed a bill by a large majority banning gatherings of more than 50 people.

The protests did not recur, but real resistance quietly unfolded in secret locations in London and Manchester.

In front of a narrow alley in the city, a young man held an English version of "The Meaning of Freedom and Human Rights" and whispered its contents to more than a dozen people around him.

A suburban tavern stood closed, a sign above the counter proclaiming "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity." A man was passionately addressing the crowd: "Tyrannical governments are strangling our liberty and our right to life! They proved it with their swords in front of St. James's Palace!"

"We must unite and strive to establish a just and fair electoral and tax system, and fight for the true implementation of the spirit of the Magna Carta!"

Along the Thames, several teenagers, around ten years old, cautiously observed passersby, occasionally approaching them and handing them pamphlets.

A salon is being held in a villa in London's Holburn district. The conversation among the aristocrats and capitalists quickly turns to investment and trade.

An Irish businessman stood up and scoffed, "We should be investing all our money in France now. Milan and America are better than here."

"At least in those places, no one will send a killer into your house when you're about to make a profit from your stock investments."

The middle-aged man next to him immediately nodded: "You're right."

"The current British government, under financial pressure, has resorted to any means necessary. As you may have heard, Bolton-Watt has been taken over by government officials. In order to seize control of the company, they began to suppress its share price more than a year ago, and last month finally acquired 75% of its shares at a low price of £4 per share."

The people around immediately started talking about it.

Regarding Montes' "suicide," numerous pamphlets have recently described the true "inside story." Rumors are circulating that the British government only allows money to enter the London Stock Exchange, and anyone trying to profit from it is doomed to be hanged.

The plunge in Bolton-Watt's stock price was alleged to be manipulated by high-ranking officials in an attempt to gain control of the company at a low price. Even Sandel's injury in the bombing was considered part of the conspiracy—because he refused to sell his shares.

Of course, all of this public opinion manipulation was planned by Denico, editor-in-chief of Le Parisien, and carried out in conjunction with the Irish Association under the direction of the Security Bureau.

Well, the kind-hearted French Crown Prince couldn't bear to see the British people always swallowing their anger, so he used French government funds to help them raise their awareness and unite.

(End of this chapter)