He Became Napoleon’S Genius Son [EN]: Chapter 479

(479) Rasputitsa Traps Napoleon

Suddenly, a fierce rainstorm raged.

-Whoosh!

The time was October 1809.

It had already been two months since the unprecedented clash of 700,000 troops at the Battle of Borodino.

But this place was a city so far removed that even the shouts of soldiers could not be heard.

It was almost 900 kilometers away.

A fat man, wincing at the biting cold wind, shouted while holding an umbrella.

“Why is it raining! It should be snowing!”

“It seems the weather is a bit warm now, Ambassador Danton.”

“That so?”

Joubert shrugged, glancing down at the sea.

“Here, if the ice doesn’t freeze, it’s considered warm.”

Saint Petersburg, Russia’s window to the Baltic Sea.

This sea freezes over in the middle of winter.

Sometimes, in particularly cold seasons, ships can’t even enter or leave from late autumn.

But even in October, nearing late autumn, it was only raining, a strange sign that the winter would be mild.

Joubert, who had spent about two years here, had become well-versed in the weather of Saint Petersburg.

Of course, he still wasn’t used to it and thought it was a strange climate.

Then, his superior, French Ambassador to Russia Danton, who was walking along the harbor street, asked.

“Joubert, I’ve been curious for a while, but how did you get through Siberia?”

“Excuse me? Why are you asking now? Well, it was incredibly difficult. But Canada and Alaska were even harder.”

“The New World was harder? It’s empty land, why?”

When Danton asked with a curious, grim face, Joubert smiled bitterly and replied.

“A place without people is harder to advance through than a place with people, Ambassador.”

In fact, Joubert had accomplished an incredible feat that no Frenchman in the 19th century had ever achieved.

The Trans-Siberian crossing.

However, he hadn’t been able to return to Paris, and so much had happened in the meantime that he hadn’t become a celebrity.

*If I had done that, I would have immediately chosen the path to becoming a celebrity in Paris,* Danton thought, stroking his thick chin.

Of course, Danton had another reason for asking this question.

“So, is that why ‘Emperor’ came all the way here? Because breaking through Siberia is harder?”

“Well, there’s also the option of advancing east from Moscow and catching Bennigsen. I heard he fled to Kazan?”

“He’s really fast. He not only got himself out of that battlefield but also took the Western Army with him.”

Suddenly, Danton grinned and said.

“Well, he’ll probably surrender soon anyway. He’s not the type to fight with conviction until the end.”

Immediately after Napoleon ascended to the throne, Danton chose the position of Russian ambassador.

So, in fact, the Winter Palace was more familiar to him than the Tuileries Palace.

That’s why he knew the marshals of the Russian Empire more accurately than the courtiers of the French court understood their own interests.

Rather, he didn’t know about Lannes, Masséna, or Augereau, but he could understand Bennigsen’s inner thoughts.

Joubert smiled bitterly and nodded.

“Thanks to that, the Grande Armée can’t retreat.”

“If Moscow hadn’t burned down, we might have started conquering Kazan from there. But it’s all burned down, isn’t it?”

“It’s ironic that the only legacy left by Crown Prince Alexander is the ashes of Moscow. Tsk.”

Two months had passed since the great battle, but the French Imperial Army was still in Russia.

However, unlike in the original history, they weren’t shivering in the ashes of Moscow.

Rather, the Grande Armée was living in a much more luxurious environment than the Russian Imperial Army.

Because the Russian Imperial Army had betrayed the Tsar, and the Grande Armée had come to quell that rebellion.

That’s why they were stationed in Saint Petersburg with the welcome of Pavel, who had become the sole Tsar of the empire.

As many as 300,000, or about 250,000 excluding casualties, foreign troops had seized the capital of the Russian Empire.

Of course, this was a golden opportunity for Danton, the French ambassador to Russia, who had gained enormous interests in the meantime.

Danton twisted his lips and asked.

“So, we should take advantage of this opportunity. The Tsar is unstable these days, isn’t he?”

“Yes? Well, I guess so? He’s in a good mood one moment, and then he’s in a bad mood the next.”

“It’s a good opportunity to receive a Russian imperial title.”

Danton’s eyes gleamed strangely.

“You’re also a meritorious person who saved the Tsar and achieved all this, aren’t you? You should get at least a Duke!”

In fact, if it weren’t for Joubert, the Russian Empire would already be under Alexander’s feet, let alone a civil war.

If the French Empire had invaded in that situation, it would have been met with a counterattack from the entire population of the empire.

Then, they wouldn’t have been able to win with minimal losses as they did now, and they wouldn’t have been able to spend the winter comfortably in the capital.

Of course, from the French Imperial Army’s point of view, they were stuck here, unable to return home.

But Joubert, the very person who triggered the outbreak of the imperial civil war, gave an unexpected answer.

“No, thank you. If I’m going to receive a title, I prefer the New World.”

“What, do you like places without people?”

“It’s not that, it’s just that I like places with good weather and vast lands. If you go to Florida once, you’ll understand how I feel, Ambassador.”

For a moment, Joubert gazed at the western sea with longing eyes for Florida, then smiled.

“Well, maybe His Majesty Eugene will bestow a Spanish title on me.”

If so, somewhere in the New World might become Joubert’s territory.

Just as he was thinking that warm Mexico wouldn’t be bad, Joubert frowned.

Suddenly, a strong wind blew.

Pulling up his coat collar, Danton shouted.

“Ugh, all this is meaningless unless we can return to France. Damn it, may Jesus curse you! What kind of weather is this?”

As he was hit by the sleet and rain, Joubert nodded.

“It’s really terrible weather. And land.”

No matter how welcomed they were in the capital, the Grande Armée would have already returned if it weren’t for this weather.

Conversely, as long as the weather was like this, the army would have difficulty returning home.

Unless England suddenly opened the sea.

-Squish, squish, squish!

The ambassador and the military officer walked on the muddy road.

The weather made it impossible for the army to move, turning even the city into a mud pit.

In the Rasputitsa [the season of muddy roads due to melting snow or heavy rains].

***

The Winter Palace, a place that would later become famous in history due to the revolution, was filled with the prophetic emperor’s cries.

“Oh, savior of Russia! True guide of the world! Emperor of the West!”

Originally, Napoleon tried to get along with Russia by giving the Tsar the title of Emperor of the East.

This was naturally because he considered the conquest of Russia an almost impossible task.

In the original history, Napoleon’s goal for the Russian expedition was to get the Tsar to recognize French hegemony [leadership or dominance].

But is there still a need for that now?

Napoleon, who knew the vastness of Russia, though he didn’t know history, looked at Pavel in front of him and smiled.

“You have saved us all! My brother, Napoleon!”

He had to answer with a serious face even while listening to this nonsense.

It was truly a difficult task.

So, instead of carrying out the task alone, Napoleon brought his youngest brother, who had a richer sensibility.

“Hahaha! Even though it’s our first time meeting, you really seem like brothers. My brothers will think the same. Isn’t that right, Jerome?”

“Yes? Oh, now that you mention it, you seem to have something very [significant] in common in the way you think.”

“Look at this. He’s certifying that we look alike, isn’t he? Hahaha!”

Of course, what Jerome wanted to say was that they both had severe delusions of grandeur.

However, Jerome, who would have become the King of Westphalia in history, was a good man.

Barely closing his mouth and enduring, Jerome vowed.

*If I could just endure this time, I would be allowed to marry Elizabeth Patterson, my American lover who was already pregnant.*

Of course, Pavel, who had no interest in Jerome’s inner thoughts, grabbed only Napoleon and shouted.

“That’s right. Brother, what do you desire? I will grant you anything!”

“It is enough to be grateful that you provide my soldiers with food and shelter.”

“This is nothing! Even a single soldier of the Grande Armée is the savior of Russia!”

Suddenly, Pavel’s eyes turned bloodshot.

“You suppressed the rebellion started by that unfilial son of a bitch! Hahaha!”

This time, no one in the Winter Palace could laugh along.

Not even Napoleon, his accompanying imperial marshals, or even the Tsar’s ministers.

Clearly, Alexander was a traitor.

But he was also Pavel’s eldest son.

Before he knew it, Pavel was tearing at his hair and roaring.

“Yes, that unfilial son of a bitch!”

“Your Majesty, please calm down.”

“Prime Minister! Rostopchin! You betrayed me too!”

In fact, Pavel glared at Rostopchin, who had been detained by Alexander, and interrogated him.

“Together with Alexander, that son of the devil! Empress, where is the Empress! Where is the Empress who gave birth to that devil!”

Rostopchin eventually shed tears.

*What if Tsar Pavel was a mad tyrant like his distant predecessor, Ivan the Terrible?*

By now, he would have summoned the guards and ordered them to be killed without even looking for the Empress.

But Pavel’s mental world was fragile, weak, and feeble.

Jerome, watching Pavel flailing about in anger, asked in a low voice.

“Brother, how long do we have to stay here?”

“Why, are you bored?”

“I’m very excited about when the Tsar will cut off my head? Eugene, who actually killed Alexander, isn’t even here.”

Then Napoleon clicked his tongue.

“It would be troublesome if Eugene were here. They might even try to kill each other.”

Napoleon didn’t come to mock Pavel.

He just came to meet him, reassure him, and check on his condition in order to handle Russia as he pleased in the future.

However, seeing Pavel going crazy, he felt a little sympathy and even a sense of kinship.

*Could Napoleon be okay if his son betrayed him?*

Shaking his head, Napoleon told Prime Minister Rostopchin.

“Now, soothe His Majesty the Tsar well, Rostopchin.”

“Your Imperial Majesty, I am sorry.”

“It’s okay. In fact, I want to go home and rest, but I can’t because of that damn weather.”

Looking out the window outside the palace, Napoleon muttered.

“I don’t know when that Rasputitsa will end.”

If the weather was good, Napoleon would have returned to Paris.

In history, even in a situation of virtual defeat, only Napoleon and a few close aides returned to Paris.

Being stationed in the capital was that important to the monarch.

But now, Napoleon had never experienced the escape drama of the Egyptian expedition, so he had no aversion to leaving alone, and he was a victor.

Although he was far from the center of power, the Grande Armée, the source of power, was with him.

That was why Napoleon didn’t lose his composure even though he was staying in Russia for two months, or indefinitely.

Then Masséna, who was following him as an attendant, asked.

“Your Majesty, is that really why you’re not leaving?”

“Duke Masséna of Rivoli, don’t dig too deep.”

“Then when will you be able to bestow the title of Marshal on the senior generals?”

Masséna turned around and smiled.

“Of course, including the change of titles for marshals, including myself.”

Only then did Napoleon burst into genuine laughter.

If they had lost, there would be no reason for Masséna or other marshals to covet the title, which was only in name.

But the eyes of marshals, including Lannes, Augereau, and Junot, sparkled whenever the topic of titles came up.

Because they had won.

Enjoying the feeling of being a winner, Napoleon said.

“Hahaha! That depends on when you guys receive this Russian title. I wonder if Eugene is doing well?”

Of course, it was also because the emperor didn’t need to do the troublesome things after winning.

***

Rather, there was a monarch whose face had become noticeably gaunt after the victory.

“First of all, I express my condolences, Your Majesty the Empress.”

*Somehow, Eugene’s face looked regrettable,* thought Louis Tournay, Eugene’s bodyguard.

He had followed Eugene through countless battlefields, but this was the first time he had seen Eugene conduct such a forced march.

In any case, the winner had countless things to do, from providing food and lodging for 250,000 troops to processing the dead and dismantling the Russian Imperial Army.

But because Napoleon had entrusted everything to Chief of Staff Berthier and Eugene, the tasks were increasing day by day.

At this moment, even the task of persuading Alexandra, Alexander’s mother and the unfortunate Empress.

“Alexander is gone. From the moment he started the rebellion, it was one of two things: either Alexander dies, or Pavel dies.”

“The problem is what comes next.”

“Do you want to say that France has virtually seized Saint Petersburg?”

The Empress replied coldly.

“The next Tsar is Constantine. I can’t concede this.”

Constantine was Pavel’s second son.

However, he was widely regarded as not being fit to be a monarch.

*Perhaps the Empress would have chosen someone else if she had an alternative?*

At the moment when Tournay clicked his tongue inwardly, Eugene opened his mouth.

“Does only one person have to be the monarch?”

“What did you say?”

“The late Crown Prince Alexander, although he started a rebellion, had his reasons. Should his daughters be abandoned like this?”

Eugene said, watching the Empress with gaunt eyes.

“Furthermore, what will happen to the other children? In this situation, if they can’t even become monarchs, do you think they will be safe from the wrath of Pavel?”

The Empress, who had been silent because everything he said was correct, asked back.

“What do you want? King Eugene? Leaving your country and staying in Russia?”

King.

Soon, the monarch of Spain.

Only then did Tournay remember the fact that he had forgotten during the expedition.

Napoleon wasn’t the only absentee monarch right now.

What was Spain like?

Was the whole country engulfed in rebellion, and were Queen Marie and Prince Karl in danger?

Unlike the bodyguard, who was calm, Eugene replied with a calm face.

“When this winter passes, I want Russia to be many. Because I love Russia very much.”

That was why Eugene decided to stay in Russia this winter.

Until the Rasputitsa ends.