Napoleon in 1812

24. Bartle for a New Era - 1

A woman was spending a quiet afternoon reading books on the outdoor terrace of the Tuileries Palace.

There was only one person in the Empire, apart from Napoleon who was now on the battlefield of the Great War, who could treat the palace like their own villa.

Perhaps because of her blood, as she was from the Habsburg family and the most beautiful woman in Austria, this woman was showing extraordinary beauty even at the age of 40. She was Marie-Louise, Empress of the French Empire.

"It looks like an uninvited guest is coming,"

As the inside of the star palace became noisy, Marie-Louise murmured as she closed her book. And shortly thereafter a man set foot in the detached palace. As soon as the man greeted Marie-Louise, he uttered straightforwardly:

"I'd like to say that if it was Your Majesty the Empress who made this, you were very careless."

There was only one gray-haired official in the imperial court. Framgois Carnot, the Minister of the Admin istration.

The minister showed his rudeness in front of the Empress after suddenly coming without an appointment. Angry, the Empress' servants showed displeasure, but Marie-Louise answered with a smile,

"It must have been difficult to fool you. Well, what can one do here in Paris outside the sight of a wise white owl?"

"Your Majesty. The abolition of the monarchy and the revival of a civil government are the great and fateful decisions that the Emperor made for his country at the risk of his precious honor and pride. The weight and anguish contained in this decision are heavier than anything else in the Empire."

"I know. The fact that the movements that are taking place throughout Paris are against not only the Emperor's intentions, but yours as well."

Despite Carnot's increasingly cold expression, Marie-Louise did not erase the smile on her face. She drank a sip of coffee, lifting a cup next to her book.

"But that doesn't mean the whole Bonaparte family thinks like the Emperor."

"That means..."

"It is true that His Majesty is the head of the imperial family. But he can't control the decisions made by the other members, can he?"

Images of certain people appeared inside Carnot's head at Marie-Louise's words. They were the immediate family of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Napoleon, who was particularly weak to the family he had spent his difficult childhood with, had been forced to throw away key government posts or the wealth of a vast country to respond to their pleas.

He made some of them governors of a province and aristocrats, and even made his close eldest brother and his beloved youngest brother kings of other countries.

The Bonaparte family believed in the Emperor behind them and exercised uncontrollable power and evil, and many Parisian intellectuals were fed up with their selfishness and madness.

Napoleon then suddenly changed one day. He threw his family out coldly and gave them no attention. Claims for title or property? He rejected everything.

He even kicked out h is eldest brother Joseph Bonaparte, who had been crowned king of Spain, to Sicily, even though he had been rated more competent than his other brothers.

For them, who must be anxious and dissatisfied with the sudden change in the attitude of the Emperor, the declaration of the abolition of the imperial monarchywould have been like pouring oiI on a fire.

Carnot was eventually able to gain confidence that the imperial family was involved in or at least supported this movement in Paris. Marie-Louise was tacitly or passively sympathetic to the actions of the Bonapa rte family.

"...If this goes public, there could be a serious backslash,"

"Even if you know something, you will not reveal it. As Minister of the Empire, you have no intention of creating internal troubles in the midst of a fierce war."

Carnot shut up and Marie-Louise stared at him. Frangois Carnot was the Minister of the Administration.

He was one of the twelve ministerial figures who made up the Empire’s cabinet. But there was no one in Paris who thought that Carnot was just the minister of a department.

The story that he had been personally invited by Napoleon himself was very famous, and he was the one who promoted and implemented Napoleon's reforms the fields of economy, administration, and justice.

Carnot was currently in charge of state affairs on behalf of Napoleon, who left the court due to war, and was one of the most influential figures in the Empire.

'I need to get this man on my side to achieve my will.1

Marie-Louise was a very obedient woman to her husband, except for the things that concerned the future of her child, Charles Bonaparte.

In front of Napoleon, she said ’You are right1, but in fact, Marie-Louise wanted Charles more than anyone else to enjoy all the rights and glory as the Crown Prince.

Of course Charles deserved it. It was a golden opportunity made possible by the imperial family. It would be stupid not to take it. And in the process, the person Marie-Louise needed the most was Carnot in front of her.

"The Parisians, and by extension the vast majority of the French citizens, want the Bonaparte imperial family to continue. I don't know much about politics, but I learned that politics is to reasonably listen to the wishes of the majority. I believe the wise Minister knows what the French want most now."

"The whole situation is not their arbitrary behavior. If it is confirmed that there is an outside influence, it will have to take legal action."

"It's funny that you think like this. His family just created a little stir. If the public didn't have a desire for the Emperor and the imperial family to remain in power, would there have been an explosive reaction like this?"

"Think for a moment if the existence of the imperial family can absolutely not coexist in the 'citizen government' that the Emperor wants. Even with my short insight, I don't think it's impossible. In fact, beyond the Straits of Dover, there's a country that practices it while maintaining its royal family, right?"

Carnot stood up without saying anything. He knew that too, Even if it's a feeling coming from the military victories, or a delusion from the economic boom, the French people were hoping for the reign of the Emperor.

He looked at the polls regularly conducted by the Gazette and others to the public, and an absolute majority su rely supported the existence of the imperial family. But this eventually meant that Napoleon and Carnot had to rebuild their own plans from scratch.

"Thank you for your insight, I will think about it. But even if I support the existence of the imperial family, if you can't convince one person in the end, this whole thing will be in vain."

Marie-Louise knew who that one person was, The smile on her face faded for the first time. In fact, he was the biggest problem. Because he had the power to get all this back to square one in a second. Still, Marie-Louise decided not to give up.

'Try to give everything you can to Charles. Even if it's a little against your ideas... He's our child.'

After Wellington's corps, commanded by Arthur Wellesley, joined its allies, the Coalition and the Union stood by, dividing the swamps of Orime.

The Orime wetland was located about 20 kilometers west of the city of Friedland, where Napoleon ended his German-Polish expedition in the past.

The central city of Konigsberg in East Prussia was accessible when going straight north from the Orime wetland, and to the west was the border between the provinces of Danzig and West Prussia.

It was a key point that the two armies could not give up, so neither the Union seeking a decisive victory nor the Coalition hoping to find a clue to counterattack could give up here.

The Coalition and Union faced each other 10 kilometers away, with the Orime wetland in the middle. All eyes of Europe were focused here.

Because everyone knew that there would be a second Battle of Leipzig here. It would not be strange if a large-scale battle took place immediately, but the two sides remained silent without firing a single shot, The reason was that they were not ready to fight.

"...In fact, even maintaining the supply of troops up to here is a very heavy burden. In order to go further here, we have to reduce or divide the number of troops."

The supply ofthe Union's troops, including the French, was also a problem to the extent that the officers ofthe armycried so much.

Keeping the nearly 250,000 field troops able to fight hundreds of kilometers away was really hard work.

France, in 1812, had to spend half a year preparing for the supply for the expedition to Russia, but had been frustrated by the enormous non-combat losses in the Neman River basin.

The Union commanders, who had been taking advantage of the experience, were more thoroughly engaged in securing supply stations and supply routes, delaying combat and advancement.

"The British army must be commanded by the British. Isn't this something that was promised before we went out?"

"Oh, of course you're rig ht. But for the leadership of the multinational forces, we need to have a general master and pursue a consistent strategy there."

"Then our Marquis will be in command..."

"No, how can a British general be the commander-in-chief when the Tsar is here?"

The Coalition members were also troubled by the organization of the newly joined British forces. Until now, Russia had taken the lead in the alliance.

Russia had the largest number of troops, Prussia was greatly undermined by the loss of most of its territory, and Sweden was originally a country under Russian influence.

But Britain was different. The number of soldiers dispatched did not fall far behind Russia, the quality of the troops was not to mention, and it was even the owner of the entire alliance's financial support.

From the time the Coalition was first founded, it was agreed that the armies of each country were led by its own generals. However, as the confrontation was just around the corner, it was inevitable that a power game would take place between Britain and Russia.

As both sides were not ready to fight, a funny happening took place on the battlefield.

A British detachment, which was conducting search and reconnaissance of the area, confronted a French reconnaissance team, which was also exploring the terrain and land around the wetland. It was normal for a gunfight to take place immediately, but the officers who were in charge hesitated.

This was because there was an order from above to refrain from acts that could provoke the enemy if possible. Between their duties as soldiers and orders from their superiors, British military officers in a dilemma rolled their eyes.

And, quite by chance, the French officers had also received similar orders from their superiors. The officers of the two countries, who were just looking at each other, waiting to attack or not, soon realized that they had been asked to do the same.

"I don't think Ares' spear will ring today."

"I praise your decision! We will return with honor."

The officers of the two countries eventually reached an agreement. They decided to end it by breaking up peacefully without fighting. In the process, some brave and witty British and French soldiers approached each other to share cigarettes and exchange military snacks.

It was a love for humanity blooming in the middle of a war without blood or tears. Napoleon, the Emperor of France and commander-in-chief of the Union's forces, heard this story and found it quite interesting. He wrote a letter to Arthur Wellesley telling his appreciation.

'Please don't let these British who love peace and know how to respect honor get punished.'

Wellesley also sent a letter in response, ending the situation warmly. August 1818 was the month of comfort and peace,

There were no battles or conflicts, except for the small fights at sea, and there was no tense flow of the situation.

But this peace was not meant to last forever. Its only purpose was to drag time to prepare for a bigger battle. As they entered September, a firestorm blew back into Europe.

Allled forces gathered in the Orime wetland, Russian, Prussian, Swedish... The armies of Europe's prominent military powers were all here. Even though they had been defeated in the last battle, their spirit was unabated and confident.

The British army, who had joined them, appeared to fill the left side of the corps. The faces of their soldiers, who became part of the largest expeditionary group in British history, were full of determination.

The size and firepower of the Coalition here now far exceeded that of the Union in Leipzig.

The concept of a grand battle would only be established when the other side had equal power. The might of the Union against this was also formidable.

Blue waves, looking like a tsunami approaching, were the French, the strongest army in Europe. The army that followed closely was a multinational force of the Confederation ofthe Rhine.

Soldiers from Naples, Denmark, the Netherlands, Northern Italy, Westphalia, and Bavaria also marched toward the Orime wetland in the promised formation.

On the first Thursday of September, when the mist rose at dawn, the wetland was filled with the heat emitted by hundreds of thousands of soldiers.

Their hearts beating loudly gave a piercing sense of the tension there. The commanders and officers of the two armies preparing for a historic battle moved greatly.

"Forwardl!"

"Advance!"

The curtain rose on the 'Battle of Orime', the most decisive turning point of the Great War.

TL notes

The person they are talking about is Napoleon, in case it wasn't clear.

Empress Marie-Louise, painted by Frangois Gerard: