The Fox of France - Chapter 496 (Patreon)

Chapter 496: The Foundation Ceremony of Ireland

The two exchanged a few words, and the ceremony officially began.

First to speak was Russell. He began by reading the "Foundation Proclamation," in which he declared the establishment of the Republic of Ireland and announced that it would model its government on the French system, establishing an executive government and five parliaments. It would also follow the French constitution and civil law in establishing its own judicial system. Furthermore, Russell announced that the Republic of Ireland would establish diplomatic relations with all countries willing to interact on a basis of mutual respect and cooperation, to foster friendship between the peoples.

At the end of his speech, Russell solemnly declared: "The people of Ireland have now stood up!"

After Russell's speech, Joseph represented France and all the countries present that were willing to establish diplomatic relations with the Republic of Ireland on an equal and mutually beneficial basis. He first congratulated the establishment of the Republic of Ireland and praised the bravery, tenacity, and indomitable spirit of the Irish people shown during their struggle for independence. Finally, he expressed his blessings for the Republic of Ireland and its people:

"I believe, under the leadership of Comrade Russell at the core, and with the united efforts of the entire nation, more remarkable human miracles can be created. Ladies and gentlemen, friends, think about it—in the process of winning freedom and independence, facing a formidable enemy, the Irish people have overcome so many difficulties and created so many impressive human miracles. What kind of human miracles cannot be created after winning freedom and independence, with the widespread support of the peace-loving and friendly nations of Europe?"

After Joseph's speech, the last to take the stage was His Holiness Pope Pius VII. The Pope first praised the devoutness of the Irish people and, on behalf of God, bestowed blessings upon the Republic of Ireland and its people.

Next was the military parade. President Russell, who should actually be referred to as the Executive Russell, rode a white horse to the reviewing stand. The first to pass were the soldiers who had distinguished themselves in the Irish War of Independence, carrying various enemy flags (most of which belonged to the so-called "Home Guard"; the authentic British military flags were not easily captured, especially when they retreated together with the "Home Guard" fellows).

These war heroes threw these captured flags to the ground. Next came the cavalry of the independence army.

Cavalry is a relatively expensive branch, as the cost of a war horse far exceeds that of a soldier, even for the Dragoon cavalry who mainly fought dismounted. Although the scale of the Irish independence army was not small, the cavalry units were few. Both the first and second divisions had only one independent cavalry battalion, which could only be considered a reinforced company by British standards.

The Irish cavalry were essentially mounted infantry, who did not even have standard sabres—since they were not used or needed.

However, before the foundation ceremony, during the preparations for the parade, someone suggested that it did not look good for cavalry not to carry sabres. So, they temporarily rented a batch of sabres from the French to keep up appearances.

The cavalry rode their war horses (the front row and those near the presidential platform were authentic war horses, while those in the back rows and less visible from the presidential platform were mostly draft horses used for farming). They trampled over the enemy flags thrown on the ground, eliciting laughter from the spectators.

Next came the infantry units. Naturally, Ireland's infantry formations could not compare to those seen at Napoleon's parades. For one thing, the heights of the soldiers varied significantly, whereas the French soldiers at a parade would be uniform in height with no more than a five-centimeter difference, making the Irish soldiers appear less orderly.

But those who truly knew could tell at a glance that these soldiers, who seemed disordered in height, dress, and movement, were the real elites. It was similar to how, in later times, the Soviets in neat uniforms, helmets, and brand-new rifles were just regular troops, while those in sailor shirts, shorts, no helmets, and AKMs wrapped in tape were the real elites.

Then came the artillery. Irish artillery had made significant advancements during the war, but they still primarily relied on light cannons, and here they only brought out a few small cannons for a couple of rounds.

Then it was the turn of the friendly nations' military to parade. The invited countries generally did not send many representatives (Ireland could not have accommodated many anyway), but a few members of the French Marine Corps came ashore to ensure Joseph's safety. At this time, they temporarily acted as representatives of all friendly nations in the parade.

The last event was the naval parade, as the location was by the sea, allowing a direct view of the naval fleet. The first to be reviewed was the "Common Market" super-cruiser, which by this time had been presented to the Republic of Ireland as a gift from the French government.

Of course, Ireland at this time did not have

 enough seamen to man this ship, nor anyone knowledgeable about naval warfare to serve as its captain. So, the so-called "gift" was essentially just a change of the national flag; the captain and sailors were still entirely French. However, they were now assigned to the "Irish Navy" to continue fighting against the British.

This ship was followed by other countries' naval ships in the parade. Naturally, the French fleet stood out the most, as other nations generally lacked modern battleships and super-cruisers. They mostly had just a few armored cruisers. From this perspective, the Irish Navy suddenly became one of the rare navies to possess a super-cruiser, and could immediately be regarded as a naval power.

After the naval parade, the entire ceremony concluded.

The next morning, Joseph warmly bid farewell to Russell, and then boarded the battleship "Caesar" amid the cheers of the crowd, together with His Holiness the Pope.

-------

Table of content - Next Chapter >>>

• You can access publicly available chapters of "The Fox of France" right HERE.

• Your invaluable feedback and ratings mean the world to me. Please take a moment to rate this novel at Novelupdate.

• You can also check out the other Novels I'm currently translating by clicking HERE.

• If you come across any mistakes within this chapter, kindly notify me in the comments below, so that I can make the necessary corrections.