Fox of France

At first, the Americans were really taken aback by this priest. But then someone yelled from behind: "Father, you can't shield sinners! Get out of the way, we don't want to do anything to you!"

Following the shout, an American second lieutenant with dark skin and a long scar on his face came over. He stood in front of Father Tom, with one hand on the revolver hanging on his waist, staring at Father Tom with red eyes, and said: "Father, many murderers, many sinners have escaped into your prison Churches, holy churches should not be used to shelter them. Please hand them over to us."

But Father Thom still stood there, smiling and said: "My child, the holy church will not protect real sinners. But my child, from a religious point of view, the power to judge who is a sinner is in the hands of God." Yes; you are a fighter in a secular sense, but not a judicial officer, and you have no right to any law enforcement action.

Besides, Second Lieutenant, I am not blind. I did not fail to see what you did after entering the city. Lieutenant, look around and tell me, what do you see? The whole city is burning! Don't you tell me that these fires were naturally lit, or that the Canadians burned them themselves! Do you think I don't know what terrible things will happen now that I hand over to you the people who took refuge in the holy church? Second lieutenant, go back, before the temple of God, please retreat with your people! "

"Father, this is war, and it's collateral damage. And we didn't start by burning the city. Speaking of burning the city, when the British were burning our city, Father, have you stood up and stopped it?" The second lieutenant obviously had no intention of retreating.

"Second Lieutenant, do you see the flag behind me? Did we stand up to stop it? Decades ago, when you were oppressed by the British, we the French stood up and fought with you, and you were able to win independence , We French did our best. And in this war, after the British did those outrageous things, for the justice of God, we French also stood up. Lieutenant, if we didn't stand up, the current front It's still in New York!" Father Thom replied sternly.

The American second lieutenant didn't know how to answer for a while. He didn't know that Father Tom used a typical sophistry technique here-swapping concepts. What the second lieutenant said was clearly "Have you stood up to stop it", but the priest replaced it with "Did the French stand up and stop it?" Of course, even if the second lieutenant discovered this, it would be useless. Because the priest has used such a trick to make the Americans feel that they are at a disadvantage under the tricolor flag, and their momentum has been suppressed. As long as the priest controls the latter things properly, it is enough not to make the Americans angry.

In addition, missionaries and so on spend their entire lives on one mouth. A small slave owner in the southern United States and a second lieutenant in the US military, what would he use to talk to a missionary? So, don't use hobbies to challenge other people's careers, it will definitely not be good. It's as if in another time and space, Pushkin, the father of Russian literature, proposed a pistol duel to Dantes, an officer of the Tsar's Guards.

Now the second lieutenant regretted it very much. If he had ordered the two soldiers to peacefully control the priest just now, and then went in to arrest those Canadians, it would be over. What? Temple refuge? Sorry, I'm a farmer, I don't understand; what French flag? Sorry, I have bad eyesight, so I didn't see it. Wouldn't it be nice to leave the rest of the wrangling to those professionals?

But it is no longer possible. His previous actions have clearly shown that he knows that this is a church, and he also knows that there is a French flag on it. So if he does this again now, it will be difficult for those diplomats who professionally wipe their ass. Therefore, the second lieutenant is already in a difficult situation.

But the second lieutenant didn't want to admit defeat just like that, so he said: "Father, but our people did see some British soldiers fleeing into your church. These soldiers didn't surrender, and even if they surrendered, he should be put in prison battalion instead of your church. So at least let us take these soldiers away."

"Second Lieutenant, where are you going to take these soldiers?" Father Tom asked.

"Of course it's taken to the prisoner-of-war camp." The second lieutenant replied.

"Then lieutenant, you dare to put your hand on the Bible, and with the guarantee of your soul's salvation, they will be sent to a prisoner-of-war camp instead of being killed by you directly on the corner of the street?" Father Tom asked.

"Father...I..." The second lieutenant's voice dropped. After all, guys in the American South are generally very religious. Ordinary lying is fine, laying your hands on the Bible and lying at the cost of saving your soul, this is really stressful for southerners who really believe in God.

"Second lieutenant, can you tell me where your prisoner-of-war camp is? I don't think it should be a military secret now. I hope to go there and see if your prisoner-of-war camp is really humane, according to In line with the humanitarian spirit of the "Joint Declaration between the Holy See and the French Republic". Then I can safely let these poor people enter your prisoner of war camp. Well, my child, tell me, I can go to your prisoner of war camp to see See?" said Father Tom again.

However, the Americans did not prepare a prisoner-of-war camp at all, not even a prisoner-of-war camp as simple as the Rhine Camp in later generations-what do you want a prisoner-of-war camp for? The British were caught and asked if they had been to the southern United States. If it has been mentioned, then just shoot him dead; if it has not been there, then it must be lying, and just shoot him. What do you want a POW camp for?

Therefore, the second lieutenant hesitated, not knowing how to answer.

Seeing that the second lieutenant hesitated, Father Tom took the opportunity to say: "Second lieutenant, if this matter is difficult to handle, you can ask your superior for instructions."

The American second lieutenant nodded and said, "That's good... But Father, the city is in chaos now, and many British people are still resisting and shooting randomly. You'd better not run around."

Then the second lieutenant said to the soldiers next to him: "You protect this place, don't let those dangerous criminals run in."

The soldiers all saluted him, and the second lieutenant returned the salute, then turned and left.

With the second lieutenant gone, Father Tom breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at the American soldiers next to him again, and began to preach to them. Of course, it was all about forgiveness and salvation and stuff like that.

Just as he was preaching, Father Tom looked at the road over there from the corner of his eye.

After a while, I heard the sound of horses' hoofs coming from the other side of the road, and a group of cavalry came galloping holding the French flag. Father Thom looked at the galloping French cavalry, and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

The French basically left only a symbolic army at this time during the siege, and the main force was this cavalry battalion. But this cavalry battalion has a major mission. That is, when the city defenses collapsed, they rushed to this church quickly and reunited with Father Tom here. As for Father Tom, besides being a priest, he also receives two allowances from the Ministry of Truth and the Ministry of Public Security.

Now the most important task of Father Thom and the French cavalry in this battalion is to save as many Canadians as possible in order to prepare for future public opinion propaganda.

And this preparation for public opinion propaganda is mainly to describe both Americans and British as barbarians. And then go a step further and reduce the Anglo-Saxons to uncivilized savages. So in the remaining French cavalry battalion, in addition to many medical staff, there are also many reporters.

And to be honest, Americans in this era are still very simple, yes, very simple. They don't yet know the effects of manipulating world opinion. This effect can even directly tear the entire United States apart.

In this war, the contradictions between the North and the South of the United States had already been revealed and even intensified. The southerners felt that they suffered the heaviest losses in the war, and those who sacrificed the most were their southerners, but the little benefit actually went to the north, and they already felt that it was very unfair. The northerners felt that if it were not for the paranoia of the southerners, the war would have ended long ago. And if it weren't for the paranoia of the southerners, most of the most important and best territories would not have been occupied by the French in the later stages of the war. If they were willing to give the British who surrendered a way out, how could those people face the United States, resist desperately, and once they saw the tricolor flag, they immediately raised their hands and surrendered?

Generally speaking, southerners think that the Yankees are too cunning, and they take all the benefits, and even pretend to be a saint if they take advantage of it. It’s fine for the French to pretend to be the Virgin. You and we are from the same country. You don’t want to avenge us, but you follow the French to pretend to be the Virgin. It’s really bad. And the northerners feel that the southerners are too stupid to die. In short, one thinks the other party is bad, and the other thinks the other party is stupid.

Then, the French came to make another move. Over the years, the French media has also penetrated a lot in the United States. Of course, many newspapers are nominally owned by the Americans, but in fact, they often have a French sponsor behind them. Under their manipulation, this contradiction became more and more obvious.

Of course, you can't provoke clearly, so the French often use this method. When the southern newspapers reported on the war, they first emphasized the critical situation, and then praised the southern soldiers who fought bravely and saved the north again. After this kind of propaganda, the guys in the south are very happy to see it, and at the same time, they vaguely formed a stereotyped impression of the guys in the north-the Yankees are afraid of death in war and love to play tricks. By them, they would have surrendered long ago.

As for the newspapers in the north, when reporting the stories of the brave fighting of the northern army, they always like to describe the simplicity of their minds. All he knows is a reckless, paranoid and arrogant southern guy who always gets into trouble strategically.

This kind of report, just looking at any one, seems to be praising the people in their hometown, and the mention of the Yankees or the Southerners does not seem to be the main thing, just for comparison. But as soon as there were more such reports, such stereotyped impressions were generally accepted by both sides—the seeds of division were unknowingly planted in the hearts of Americans.