Napoleon in 1812

Chapter 75 - 8. Towards the Peninsula - 2

Chapter 75

8. Towards the Peninsula – 2

The French Marshals who would support the axis of Napoleon’s army while directly commanding several subordinate units of it were watching the procession of citizens from the Place de la Concorde to the Arc de Triomphe. Even Louis Nicolas Davout, with his characteristic stern face, was astonished by the sight. The citizens of Paris responded with enthusiastic cheers to Napoleon’s army marching towards the Iberian Peninsula, as if they were welcoming their troops back from a great victory.

“Did the commanders of the War Preparation Department order anything separately?”

“As far as I know, they didn’t. Didn’t His Majesty ask to skip the cumbersome departure ceremony?”

“Then it means the citizens voluntarily took part in this event.”

Davout, who nodded at the deputy’s words, had to hide his overflowing emotion. How long had it been since they had been treated like this? After the legend of Austerlitz, the public’s enthusiasm for war and victory gradually cooled. It did not change despite writing a new myth in the history of French war with the Russian expedition. The citizens of Paris had shown more pain from the long war than joy and pride for the victory.

Some described Davout as ‘a hound that knows nothing but war, the army, and the Emperor’. But what they overlooked was that hounds were extremely sensitive to smell. Davout sensed the disturbing atmosphere flowing among the citizens before the other marshals. Although he knew it could be a catalyst for the fall of the Empire, Davout nevertheless offered his advice to the Emperor. It was simply because he believed that one day the Emperor would overcome all these problems and trials and walk the hero’s path again.

The Emperor did not betray Davout’s expectations.

The citizens of Paris were praying for the success of Napoleon’s army marching down the streets. Their support was not fake. They sincerely cheered and blessed the soldiers and the Emperor leading them. Such actions showed that public opinion had changed significantly from the past.

‘He has completely changed the minds of the citizens in less than a month. As expected, the Emperor is a man from heaven. My judgment was not wrong.’

Davout’s awe deepened when he heard the citizens shout ‘Long live His Majesty the Great Emperor!’

There was one more reason to be passionately loyal to the Emperor.

Army officers and soldiers also seemed at first embarrassed by the unexpected support of the citizens. But they soon began to enjoy the event. The citizens of Paris were passionately supporting them and cheering for this war. This alone gave them a strength different from before. The morale of the army soared, in a way that could never be achieved by generals. How far could the name Napoleon Bonaparte go? Davout vowed to stand by his side to see the end.

Among those who newly joined the Iberian expeditionary forces were generals who would have never been allowed to join if Napoleon was still the same as in the past. One of them was Bon-Adrien Jeannot de Moncey,[1] the first Duke of Conegliano. He was also a marshal, and told Louis Nicolas Davout that the Emperor was ‘walking the same path as the hero in a legend’. There was a time when Davout agreed with Moncey.

The Emperor’s plans worked out as if God was helping him. In the Battle of the bridge of Arcole, Austrian commander József Alvinczi[2] made a mistake and misjudged the French army, and in the Battle of Marengo Napoleon was able to win thanks to Desaix’s[3] decisive presence and dedication.

Even if it was not necessarily on a battlefield or at war, the Emperor had a lot of luck, which led him to be in the position he was now. Was he addicted to that luck? The Emperor had lost control. Whatever he did, he believed that he and the Empire would succeed and make great achievements.

He constantly declared war, tested the limits of national power, and forced cultural phenomena to sanctify himself like Louis XIV. Those who were fed up with the extremity, futility, recklessness and arrogance left one by one, and only blind followers remained beside the Emperor.

It was the same for Moncey as well, even though he did not thought arbitrarily. Moncey had been able to become one of the ’26 Marshals’, showing outstanding abilities in the Second Italian War, the Austrian War, and the Prussian-Polish War. However, he had objected to the Russian expedition and had criticized the Emperor’s actions. Becoming a problem, he had ben forced to withdraw.

The Emperor never embraced again those who had once confronted him, and those who had criticized him. Moncey also thought he would never be able to take the command of the army again. He had never expected this. He had pessimistic expectations for this expedition, thinking that the Emperor would not care about him any more, as he had returned with an incredible victory over Russia.

To his surprise, however, Moncey was called by the Emperor. The Emperor looked much brighter than before when he met him again.

Caesar had left this quote ‘Most people see only what they want to see’. Very few people knew how to face reality.

‘What I realized while exploring the grasslands of the frozen land was the importance of talent who could give me the right advice at the risk of honor and pride.’

The Emperor had said that it was why Moncey was a necessary person. Could he forget about the past and work for him again? At that moment, Moncey showed tears that he had not shed even when he was thrown away by the Emperor. He could not guess from what point.

But clearly, the Emperor had changed dramatically as if he had become someone else. From communication in trivial human relationships to management and policy of a huge Empire, to personnel management, in every way, the Emperor showed a completely different side.

The Emperor’s plans laid down one by one like chess were brilliant, efficient and unconventional. And above all, there was a sense of security. It resembled the process of a young man who had a stormy adolescence and was now maturing as he grew older.

The victory in the Battle of Hrodna, which completely shook the landscape of the eastern front with a single deception and battle, marked the Emperor’s renewed climax. Indeed, he seemed to have become a master of military capabilities and tactics, more powerful than in the past.

However, Moncey was more moved by the transformed Emperor’s spirit. A leader whom people sincerely wanted to follow with all their heart and body. Moncey was looking at the Emperor and feeling it.

Wow-!!

“Long live the great Emperor!!”

“Long live the French Empire!!”

Napoleon Bonaparte on a white horse appeared in the middle of the procession. The citizens welcomed him with great enthusiasm. Just a month ago, this reaction was unthinkable. As the Emperor gently waved at them, the shouts grew louder.

Expectation, aspiration, respect, awe, loyalty, reverence.

All kinds of emotions poured out to the Emperor from the citizens, then gradually expanded to the people next to him, and eventually towards the entire army.

‘The war on the Iberian Peninsula is now a war that can never be lost.’

Moncey smiled softly and drove his horse. Napoleon Bonaparte’s myth was not over.

No. Maybe it was just the beginning.

===

Napoleon Bonaparte is coming!

This was heartbreaking news for the Spanish, Portuguese, and British forces currently fighting troops led by French Marshals on the Iberian Peninsula. Many of the soldiers in these allied forces had experienced what a great army commander Napoleon was.

That was why they knew how important this was.

But there were also soldiers who did not know. They were soldiers who had never met Napoleon, and were not so afraid of him. Rather, they were excited at the thought of destroying and defiling his soaring reputation, without knowing how high it was.

“Huh… Is the French Emperor that great? After all, all he did was beat up some low-level Austrians and Russians, right?”

“Our red coats are the best in the world. I think we can win as always if we maintain a strong line with geographical advantages.”

“Rumor has it that the French expeditionary forces are much smaller than before. After Hrodna, the Emperor seems to have been very ill.”

In particular, British officers who had served on the Iberian Peninsula since 1810 were not afraid of Napoleon.

Rather, they treated other officers who feared the French Emperor as cowards. The experience of defeating the French several times under Arthur Wellesley, with the great victory in the Battle of Salamanca, greatly increased their confidence and arrogance.

“Have you seen such idiots in the world! Are your brains working properly right now? How many armies has Napoleon defeated so far, and you’re talking about this bullshit!?”

Major General Rowland Hill,[4] nicknamed ‘Little Wellesley’, was the most obstinate, strictest, and coldest among the generals under Arthur Wellesley. One difference with Wellesley was that he did not hesitate to use harsh words that were not of noble origin.

All the officers who looked down on Napoleon had to lower their heads at his roar like an angry lion.

“Get your act together. You bastards are worth less than the paunchy gamblers at the harbor! Napoleon Bonaparte is a different monster from the foolish French generals we’ve fought so far! If you treat the advice of your seniors who have served here before you as nonsense, I will break your neck myself!”

Ignorance was bliss.

British officers who joined late the army could chatter like this because they had never faced Napoleon. Meanwhile, those who had competed directly with Napoleon’s army under Marshal John Moore could not hide their discomfort. Their fear of the French Emperor and the soldiers following him was unforgettable.

They remembered the early days of the Iberian Peninsula War, in November 1808.

The allied forces had managed to push King Joseph, crowned by Napoleon, and the French troops to the Basque region (between France and Spain). At that time, they had been full of confidence that they could end the war and shake Napoleon’s world.

However, as soon as Napoleon and his elite troops joined the war, the situation turned completely upside down. They lost battle after battle. The Allies were pushed back, losing Zaragoza, Burgos and Valencia, and lost Madrid after four months. Even the Portuguese mainland was invaded.

The explosive power that Napoleon’s army showed at this time was beyond imagination.

If the Iberian Peninsula was treated as a land of death by the French, then Napoleon and his troops were like an army of terror within the peninsula. When it came to France, even the evil Spanish militias put down their weapons and hid themselves for a while when Napoleon’s army appeared.

And now Napoleon was leading again the Imperial Guard and entering the Peninsular War. It was an issue that was enough to cool down the entire Iberia.

“The commander-in-chief is calling you in.”

At the same time, Rowland Hill was called by Arthur Wellesley. He left the barracks staring at his subordinates with sharp eyes.

It was only after he left that sighs could escape from the barracks.