Napoleon in 1812

Chapter 77

13. Golden War – 1

Around the time when the Spanish people got divided between those who chose their families’ livelihoods, individual interests or those who favored their loyalty to their homeland and the royal family, and their antipathy toward France.

Similar processes had begun to occur among the much higher class of the Spanish people.

They set their course of action in a slightly different way from the others. The province of Zaragoza was occupied by the French and under military rule.

There was a landlord called Miguel de Sebastian Lopez who owned the largest land there.

Lopez, who had gained a high title and extensive land thanks to his ancestors’ feats in the Habsburg Wars[1] in the past, was observing the current situation on the Iberian Peninsula with more sober eyes than ever before.

For those like him, patriotism and loyalty to the country and to the royal family were of little importance. He just thought about surviving this turbulent time while keeping his family’s wealth and honor.

“The torrent of fire has stopped…”

Lopez was lost in thought as he stroked his thick beard. There was now a lull in the war on the Iberian Peninsula.

Lopez was convinced that at the end of this war, where Britain and France were fighting for supremacy in Western Europe, and in which Spain and Portugal got involved, the fall of the Spanish Empire would take place, whoever won.

That was why Lopez was able to abandon all his loyalty to Spain and choose practical interests.

The French army had been fiercely pushed since the beginning of the war, and the Allied forces had been pushing up by taking advantage of the power void that happened while the French went to the east (during the Russian expedition). Now no one wanted to go out and fight first.

The Battle of the Arlanzón River and the Battle of La Buena-San Felix, where the corps of Wellesley and Napoleon faced each other, were the last battles in which more than 10,000 people were involved.

Now, the armies of both sides were glaring at each other and fixing their uniforms, and in the meantime, the situation in the Iberian Peninsula was gradually stabilizing. In lines that looked like they had been drawn with knives, the French and the coalition forces carried more shovels, hammers, and logs than guns and cannons.

“Today, a French messenger came here again. He said that he brought a letter from the head of the Standing Organization (Louis Emard Chartres), who proposes to the governor a ‘gracious and honorable joining’. Should I just leave the letter and send the man back like last week?”

Lopez, who had previously served as governor of the Balearic Islands, continued to be called governor even after he stepped down from his post.

At the end of his assistant’s words, Lopez narrowed his eyebrows. A provisional organization under the ridiculous name of the Iberian Standing Organization.

Nobles in the position of Lopez could not ignore what Napoleon, the French Emperor, was after with this organization.

The French Emperor was very eager to attract the local nobles from all over Spain, including him.

Lopez had a rough idea of the reason. Until last year, Lopez did not join either side but kept watching the war progress.

As an experienced politician, he knew well the importance of choosing the good side during a chaotic situation.

He was not the only one doing this. There were a lot of aristocrats and landowners in the territories occupied by the French who were observing the situation between France and the coalition.

‘The longer the drought, the higher the price of wheat. There is no need to choose a side now. No matter how belligerent the French Emperor is, he can’t claim interest in the Spanish territory by pushing us out.’

The ‘Circle’, composed of Spanish aristocrats and landlords, was more tightly united than expected to protect their interests.

This was the reason why the French army was tolerating such a group of people, who were like walking on a tightrope, even thought it could wipe them out ruthlessly.

Furthermore, Napoleon, the French Emperor, was acting like it was all right for local nobles to keep to themselves, including him.

Even though he was refusing the meeting in the end, they did not impose any military pressure or sanctions. He would probably continue like this for a while.

Lopez thought that this was due to the Emperor’s confidence. The confidence that the French could win the Peninsular War, the belief that they would be the only ones who would eventually be able to fight.

“…”

Lopez continued to ponder. That meant that he could decide which side to join after looking at the development of the war a little more.

And if he was worried about his own safety, he could wait even more. It meant that the Emperor was interested in Lopez and the other nobles. It would not be too late to decide whether to join him or not after his future victory became clearer.

But…

“I’ll have to meet him.”

“Y-Yes!?”

“Ugh, why are you so slow today? I’ll meet the man from the Iberian Standing Organization.”

“Y-Yes! All right, Governor.”

If he wanted a bigger profit, he needed to know how to take risks.

‘With Napoleon here, the French are unlikely to lose.’

This was the reason why Miguel de Sebastian Lopez made the decision to start moving now.

=

“I’m very happy to meet the Governor-General, whom I’ve been waiting for! I’m Paul Duguesseau, an advisor to the Iberian Standing Organization. I used to serve as an administrator of our Emperor’s Corps.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Miguel de Sebastian Lopez. And the title Governor-General is nothing more than a facade during the day, so just call me Vigilante Leader.”

Lopez was running a small vigilante group, rallying serfs and villagers, and hiring mercenaries separately to prevent his land from being swept away by the war.

That was why neither the Allies nor the French could plunder his lands. All the noble landowners with large farmland had been protecting their land during the war in this way.

The coalition and France were not trying to attract the members of the noble circle to their side for no reason.

“I’ll ask you straightforwardly. What can France give me if I join the Standing Organization and actively cooperate with French military operations?”

“Oh!… You must have finally made a decision! We’ve always waited for the moment when Vigilante Leader Lopez made up his mind!”

“That’s the only reason I’m here. Why else would I be?”

In the past, there used to be a unification of the Spanish people with aristocrats, priests, merchants, bourgeoisie, colonists, and even black slaves, to push back the French army. But now things had changed dramatically.

The entire Spanish population living in the territories occupied by France was now divided into two extremes, busy criticizing and accusing each other.

The resistance forces were being wiped out little by little, and divisions and conflicts broke out throughout each province and village, and factions split apart. These were the typical signs of a civil war on the brink of bursting.

Basque and Catalonia, which originally had strong anti-Castilian sentiment, openly supported France by helping to create the Iberian Standing Organization. The balance was gradually tilting in favor of France.

The situation across the Iberian Peninsula, which was beginning to solidify, was one of the main reasons behind Miguel de Sebastian Lopez’s decision.

As the Allies were at a disadvantage in the war, they went back to their strategy consisting of holding the Lines of Torres Vedras, like they always did before.

When they did this in the past, the French corps used to rush toward them, consuming their troops, which then gave a power advantage to the coalition who could advance again.

But this time the French did not do this. They stopped advancing and began to observe the situation, drawing the ‘Santiago-Almería Line’ that was cutting diagonally the Iberian Peninsula. This change occurred after Napoleon Bonaparte took the lead again in the Peninsular War.

Currently, the Allies and the French were both building and consolidating fortresses and trenches at the main points of the long front lines, like they were repeatedly saying to each other: ‘I have no intention of moving, so you come.’

What truly mattered now was the extent and location of the territory occupied by the armies on both sides. France occupied most of the peninsula, including the province of Zaragoza, where Lopez owned a large land. Lopez predicted that this system would not easily collapse.

“I am betting on the French victory in this war. So you’ll have to offer me a fair price, too.”

There was a satisfied smile on Duguesseau’s face.

“Then we’ll have a long conversation. One thing is for sure, you made the right decision, and our Standing Organization will do its best to listen to your wishes.”

It was a human instinct to side with the strongest, as always. Miguel de Sebastian Lopez joined the Iberian Standing Organization with his servants, vigilantes and farmers following him.

It was the moment when plaster began to be applied to the lines drawn by Napoleon, adding solidity.

===

The French forces across the peninsula, including Napoleon’s Corps, did not try further expansion. They simply supported the administration of the Iberian Standing Organization by defeating the resistance forces inside the occupied territories and supporting the pro-French locals.

They looked more like officials and guards who came to rule than soldiers who came for war.

France’s rule through the temporary Standing Organization was more stable and consistent than before 1812, when looting, massacres and tyranny were common.

It was from this time that the aristocrats and landlords of the circle, who owned a large land, began to move toward the French side little by little.

This was because the stabilization of the occupied area was faster than expected, and they saw the possibility of France’s victory in the Peninsular War. If France was ‘clear’, the Allies were ‘blurry’.

The advance to Burgos, which was supposed to wipe out the main French forces in the Iberian Peninsula, failed. As the operation was risky, the aftereffects of the failure were huge.

Wellesley’s Corps, which was the elite unit of the coalition forces, lost one-fourth of its power and exhausted its special strategic weapons, the Congreve rockets.

At this point, it could have ended with a report with explanations and a few reprimands from the countries’ leaders, but the problem was the numerous strongholds and cities on the Iberian Peninsula that had been recaptured.

The front on the peninsula retreated hundreds of miles back and the local strongholds lost to the French were so numerous that they could not dream of reckoning them hastily.

On the day that the Allied flag flying in Madrid was replaced by the tricolor flag of the French Empire, the Westminster Parliament and leading British newspapers united to criticize Wellesley’s unreasonable operation.

Daily Current: The trusted Marquis of Wellington also lost. Should we continue the war like this? The public opinion in London is skeptical… The kingdom should also be mindful of the war against the United States in the New World.

News Letter: The war of words between First Lord of the Admiralty Robert Dundas and Chancellor of the Exchequer Nicholas Vansittart[2] at Whitehall! Should we go all-in with the Navy? Or empower the Army?

Commander-in-Chief Arthur Wellesley received a letter from Prime Minister Robert Jenkinson. Jenkinson wrote in detail the current situation of the ruling Tory party, pointing out the failure of Wellesley’s Corps in polite and courteous handwriting.

When Rowland Hill read the letter with Arthur Wellesley, he felt that it seemed to be saying the citizens’ support for our party is being shaken because of you. He could not help but feel his insides boiling.

TL notes

[1] Ottoman–Habsburg wars

[2] Robert Dundas, Nicholas Vansittart