A prison in France, late in 1805:
PITT. Confound it, Nelson, why the bloody hell didn't you stop the French transporting their soldiers across the Channel?
NELSON. It's not as easy as that, sir. You see, fleets on the open sea are physically unable to fight each other. There's literally nothing we could have done to interfere with them.
PITT. But we knew exactly which port the French were sailing from! All you needed to do was park a couple of battleships outside the harbour entrance, and shoot them to pieces as they tried to leave!
NELSON. I wish I could, sir. But you see, some sort of spell comes over navies whenever they approach each other. No weapons work -- gunpowder doesn't light, cutlasses become as soft and blunt as rubber, bayonets don't cut. There's nothing to do but sit there impotently while they just sail past us. Maybe if we supplicate the Development Gods enough, they'll make it so that combat doesn't magically become impossible the moment our soldiers step on board a boat, but I wouldn't hold your breath.
PITT. So basically, navies are completely impotent for defending your coastline against hostile landings?
NELSON. I'm afraid so, Prime Minister.
PITT. Crap. I wish I'd known that when I decided to base our entire military strategy around the Royal Navy.
_______________
In a similar vein, the Republic of Venice was stillborn, falling to the Franks in 810. Suggestions that the Venetians might use their famous maritime prowess to keep the invaders stuck on the far side of the lagoon were dismissed as ridiculous and ahistorical, because that might require a naval battle, and everybody knew those didn't exist in the Middle Ages. The Byzantine Empire, too, was tragically cut short when in 626 they were unable to stop the Persians from sailing across the Bosporus to link up with the besieging Avars.
PITT. Confound it, Nelson, why the bloody hell didn't you stop the French transporting their soldiers across the Channel?
NELSON. It's not as easy as that, sir. You see, fleets on the open sea are physically unable to fight each other. There's literally nothing we could have done to interfere with them.
PITT. But we knew exactly which port the French were sailing from! All you needed to do was park a couple of battleships outside the harbour entrance, and shoot them to pieces as they tried to leave!
NELSON. I wish I could, sir. But you see, some sort of spell comes over navies whenever they approach each other. No weapons work -- gunpowder doesn't light, cutlasses become as soft and blunt as rubber, bayonets don't cut. There's nothing to do but sit there impotently while they just sail past us. Maybe if we supplicate the Development Gods enough, they'll make it so that combat doesn't magically become impossible the moment our soldiers step on board a boat, but I wouldn't hold your breath.
PITT. So basically, navies are completely impotent for defending your coastline against hostile landings?
NELSON. I'm afraid so, Prime Minister.
PITT. Crap. I wish I'd known that when I decided to base our entire military strategy around the Royal Navy.
_______________
In a similar vein, the Republic of Venice was stillborn, falling to the Franks in 810. Suggestions that the Venetians might use their famous maritime prowess to keep the invaders stuck on the far side of the lagoon were dismissed as ridiculous and ahistorical, because that might require a naval battle, and everybody knew those didn't exist in the Middle Ages. The Byzantine Empire, too, was tragically cut short when in 626 they were unable to stop the Persians from sailing across the Bosporus to link up with the besieging Avars.
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