Chapter 654: Guide of Freedom
Ultimately, Brand conceded.
After all, there was a world of difference between the Black inhabitants of the Bahamas simply clamoring for independence and actually forming a government structure that controlled the island's entire administration and economy.
By then, as the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force, he would inevitably bear full responsibility.
As for reinforcements, the message he had received last week stated that preparations were still incomplete, and it would be at least four more months before five thousand soldiers could arrive in the Caribbean Sea.
Before that, he needed someone to help him stabilize the situation in the Bahamas. At the very least, he couldn't allow the rebel government to easily confiscate the island's plantations and expel all the British residents.
And that 'payment' for the French would naturally be covered by the Governor of the Bahamas — Lord Essex had certainly taken a considerable sum with him when he fled Nassau.
That afternoon, Brissot boarded the British transport ship 'Smiley', laden with supplies, and set sail for Saint-Domingue.
He would have command of this ship for the next few months. This was one of the conditions for helping the British suppress the Bahamian uprising.
As for France's own transport ships, they had been "hijacked" by the Saint-Domingue rebels three months prior.
Once the 'Smiley' had left the Lesser Antilles, a crewman brought one of the Black men who had boarded earlier as a French "laborer" to the officers' meeting room.
Brissot rose and bowed slightly to the shabbily dressed but sharp-eyed man, addressing him in English:
"I'm glad to see you here, Mr. Jones!"
Jones was the leader of the Bahamian Abolition Movement. After his rebel army was defeated, a ship from the Special Trade Association picked him up and brought him to Saint Lucia Island.
He raised a hand to his chest in a gesture of deference:
"They said you're one of Mr. Ogé's people?"
"Something like that."
Jones nodded. "If you could provide me with a pistol and send me back to Bridgetown, I would be most grateful."
"What do you intend to do?"
"David is dead, Jerris is dead, old Jon is dead; everyone is dead." Jones fixed Brissot with an intense stare, his voice hoarse. "I have to avenge them. With just a gun, I can still kill a lot of British men before joining them 'there'."
Brissot nodded silently. "Though you have suffered setbacks, the cause of freedom and liberation has not failed."
"Freedom lives on!" Jones exclaimed.
"I will send you back to Bridgetown, but not to assassinate British soldiers."
"Then what else can I do? Kneel before the white man and beg for forgiveness?"
"No, there are still over a hundred thousand enslaved people waiting for you to liberate them," Brissot said. "Your cause for freedom must continue."
Jones offered a bitter, hollow laugh. "All the brothers who followed me are dead. I can't save anyone now..."
"What if I could provide you with a thousand flintlock muskets and fifty thousand Pound Sterling in funds?"
Jones's eyes lit up. "You? You're not joking, are you?"
"Of course not." Brissot patted his shoulder. "The weapons will arrive by ship in three days, and the money is in the hold below. The cause of freedom will never end!" Just like that, half of the one hundred thousand Pound Sterling Brand had just paid was transferred to the abolitionist rebels to support their struggle against the British.
Days later, Brissot stood at the bow, watching Jones's retreating figure, feeling a surge of emotion.
That was the spark of freedom! It had not been extinguished. It would continue to burn across Barbados with that man, and one day, it would bring liberation to the enslaved and tortured people there!
He turned his gaze to the boundless sea.
On the other side of the Caribbean Sea, the Black people of the Bahamas and Jamaica were also rebelling against their tragic fate, using their blood and hands to bury the filthy system of slavery.
And then, Saint-Domingue would lead the entire Caribbean region to establish a nation of freedom, without oppression, without slave trade.
There, Black people, white people, and Mulattoes alike would live in equality, sharing the same radiant smiles.
The long night of sin would end here! The light of freedom and happiness would forever illuminate the boundless Caribbean Sea!
Brissot suddenly crossed himself, raised his head, and declared loudly:
"Long live His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince! You have brought hope to this land! May God bless you."
He was a fervent abolitionist who had once traveled to America aboard a slave ship, where he had personally witnessed the utterly wretched lives of enslaved Black people.
People from West African tribes were attacked and captured by slave traders, then transported to America. Nearly a quarter of them would die during the journey.
What awaited them was endless toil under the scorching sun, driven by the whip of the plantation owners. The slightest misstep would lead to torture by burning, hanging upside down, or even immediate execution.
Female Black slaves, meanwhile, were subjected to the constant indignities and abuse of the plantation owners.
Slave owners would also pen them together like livestock, selecting strong, healthy Black men for "breeding." Any children born were considered the private property of the slave owner, continuing their lives as slaves, as "livestock."
The fate of the Black slaves thus continued in an endless cycle, like a descent into hell, utterly devoid of hope.
Until His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, sent him here.
Countless innocent Black people were thus freed from the plantation owners' whips, becoming human once more, basking again in the holy light of God!
Brissot's eyes were slightly red-rimmed.
He vowed silently to forever follow His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, that guide of freedom, and dedicate his everything to him!
Half a month later, a French counter-insurgency force of four thousand landed in the Bahamas.
The provisional Bahamian assembly immediately grew tense, promptly authorizing Major Toussaint Louverture and Liddington to rally troops for resistance.
Of course, several of the highest-ranking members of the assembly, along with the two rebel commanders, had already met with Ogé's envoy and knew that this French army was not an enemy.
In fact, the two sides were even slated for cooperation.
The French commander, Lieutenant Colonel Gallissonnière, pointed towards the distant city of Nassau and smiled at Major Gardner, the British military advisor beside him:
"These Black rebels have no military common sense whatsoever. You see, it took me less than two days to complete the encirclement of this city."
"I wish you a swift victory," Gardner said.
His role as a so-called advisor was, in fact, to act as an overseer, preventing the French from taking their money without putting in the effort.
By noon the next day, the French army launched a fierce assault on Nassau.
The roar of cannons filled the air. The outlying buildings of Nassau were quickly torn apart by shellfire. Immediately afterward, the French infantry lines, spurred on by the beating of war drums, advanced neatly towards the city.
Just as Gardner marveled inwardly at the French army's truly formidable fighting power, completely overwhelming the Black slaves, a horn blast suddenly echoed from the flanks behind the French wings.
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