I Became A Genius Of The French Royal Family [EN]: Chapter 144

Gabriel, a lieutenant colonel in the regular army of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, dragged his weary body northward.

“Those crazy rebel bastards. Did they all eat rat poison or something?”

“Lieutenant Colonel, it seems they’re not following us this far.”

“The rebels’ level of intelligence only goes that far. They thought their world would open up just by chasing us out.”

Despite suffering a major defeat in battle, Lieutenant Colonel Gabriel still had a smile on his face.

His subordinates, who followed him, also sneered.

The situation of the royalists trying to defend New Spain was, to put it mildly, not good.

Surprisingly, most of the Criollos [people of Spanish ancestry born in the Americas] had sided with the rebels.

In fact, this was due to the Peninsulares [Spanish-born Spaniards residing in the colonies] treating the Criollos as commoners with white skin, but they didn’t bother with self-reflection.

Rather, they only regretted not cracking down on those damn bastards who were causing rebellions over mere grievances.

“By the way, what the hell is the home country doing? Why haven’t they sent reinforcements yet? If the major cities fall into their hands, we might have to abandon the colony in the worst-case scenario.”

“That’s what I’m saying. We should have already contacted the home country. Could the ship have been wrecked in a storm?”

“To prepare for that possibility, we always send several ships when sending important messages to the home country. It means something we don’t know is happening.”

Lieutenant Colonel Gabriel had not yet heard the news that Spain was busy protesting to England.

As they had been defeated in battle against the rebels and pushed to the northern frontier, there was no way for them to know that fact.

“Still, the rebels seem to be in a hurry. They seem satisfied with just pushing us north. Thanks to that, we have a chance.”

Lieutenant Colonel Gabriel planned to continue north to New France.

Right now, the United States and New France seemed to view this commotion as internal strife.

So, they were not easily intervening and were observing the situation.

What if Lieutenant Colonel Gabriel could prove that they were just rebels and receive support from France?

This ridiculous farce would end there.

If France joined the war, the United States would naturally join as well, so the rebels’ fate would be sealed.

“Those greedy jackals will demand a price, but if we can save this land with it, we’ll have to bear it. Everyone, hang in there a little longer!”

From the beginning, they were destined to win this fight anyway.

He didn’t know what the mestizos [people of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry] and Criollos believed in to start a rebellion, but they were just foolish and foolish.

In any case, if he could smoothly bring in reinforcements, his career would be guaranteed.

A promotion of two ranks was, of course, possible, and he might even be able to aim for the position of the next governor-general.

“By the way, it’s about time we reached the border, but why aren’t there any French soldiers in sight? Is the map wrong?”

He had heard in advance that France had deployed troops on the border and was on alert.

But when he came to the place marked on the map, all he could see was a desolate field.

There wasn’t a single French soldier, not even an ant.

“What is this? Was it really wrong information?”

“The soldier who went on reconnaissance also said he didn’t see any French soldiers.”

“I can’t understand… It seems there was a problem with the map. It seems we still have to go a little further to reach French territory, so find a place to rest for now.”

Lieutenant Colonel Gabriel felt the need to rest for now.

He had been rushing quite hard, thinking that he only needed to come this far.

The soldiers’ stamina was already near its limit, and even if they didn’t show it, they probably had a lot of complaints.

Above all, the sun was setting.

They were already exhausted, and now he was forcing them to march at night in an unfamiliar area?

It was bound to be a riot.

The brigade he led had only about 100 men left.

The chain of command was almost half-collapsed, so he couldn’t even enforce military discipline.

He had to take a break here.

“We’ll spend tonight here and leave early tomorrow. Everyone, hang in there a little longer. We’ll be able to join up with the French tomorrow.”

“Yes, sir!”

Lieutenant Colonel Gabriel released enough of the little food and water he had left.

It was terribly tasteless, but in this situation, just being able to fill your stomach was like paradise.

Lieutenant Colonel Gabriel also closed his eyes in the makeshift barracks for the first time in a while.

Now that he had come this far, the situation was over.

At the latest, he would be able to join up with the French army tomorrow afternoon, and then he would…

Beeeeeeep!

The sharp sound that tore apart his soft, mushy fantasy echoed in the air just as he was about to fall into a deep sleep while dreaming of a rosy future.

Lieutenant Colonel Gabriel, who reflexively got up from his bed, hurriedly came out of the barracks.

“What is it! What’s going on!”

“It’s the rebels! The rebels have followed us all the way here!”

“Take up your weapons and form a line! Prepare for battle!”

But was this unit in a state to fight properly right now?

The ominous reality tightened his chest, but what could he do?

Since the rebels had followed, the only option was death if they didn’t fight.

He quickly summoned the few remaining officers and ordered them to check the enemy’s size and armament and command the soldiers.

Taang!

The air screamed with the pouring gunfire, and bright red blood embroidered the dirt floor.

The moment he confirmed that the number of rebels who had followed was at least three times their own, his cold reason had already derived the outcome of this battle.

“…Could it be that these sons of bitches predicted our route and were waiting for us?”

If not, there was no way they could have pulled off such a near-perfect surprise attack.

Then he was being played in the hands of the damn Criollos…

“No! It’s all because there was a problem with the map. If the map had been correct, we wouldn’t have made such a reckless forced march!”

While Gabriel was desperately escaping from reality, the rebels narrowed the encirclement from all sides and fired their guns.

“Ugh! Ugh! You traitorous bastards!”

“Run away! Let’s run away to where the French army is!”

“Hey, you bastards! Maintain the formation! Even if there are few of us, we can survive if we respond calmly!”

“Don’t be ridiculous! They have a lot more numbers! How can we win! I’m going to live!”

The soldiers in this place were the ones who had been defeated by the rebels and had fled all the way here.

It was too much to expect them to fight like heroes of reversal now.

Some soldiers threw down their guns and screamed and ran away.

As if believing that they could survive if they found the French army somewhere over there.

Tang!

Of course, reality doesn’t always work out so well.

Every time a chilling roar erupted, the soldiers who were running with their backs turned fell one by one.

The rebels, who didn’t know manners or laws, were always like that.

They didn’t even think about taking prisoners, and they didn’t even spare the officers.

Barbarians themselves who didn’t care about the etiquette of war.

The rebels, who were killing his subordinates one by one and pushing forward, showed madness, anger, and hatred on their faces.

They didn’t even accept surrender and killed his soldiers indiscriminately.

It didn’t make sense.

The rebels were the ones who started the rebellion, but why were they getting angry in such a brazen manner?

It was all because they had shown too much mercy.

Those born in lowly lands should have been treated as lowly, but this mess happened because they were given ambiguous power and strength.

From the beginning, they should have been treated like the natives.

“Ungrateful and rude…”

“That bastard is the commander!”

“Kill him! That son of a bitch!”

Hate-filled shouts and screams echoing from all directions, and sharp bayonets flying towards him.

Was he really going to die like this?

With that thought as his last, Gabriel’s vision flickered black.

※※※

The next day.

The news of Lieutenant Colonel Gabriel’s death reached the ears of the French army, which was stationed not far away.

“Everything went according to plan. Amazing.”

“I know. When I heard that all the troops on the border were being pulled back, I thought it was crazy, but the best result came out.”

The three regimental commanders who were given extraordinary autonomy in this operation.

The first meeting between Massena, Berthier, and Napoleon was not very friendly.

The atmosphere was clearly different from when he first met Jean Lannes or Davout.

Both of them were about 10 years older than Napoleon and had a history of accumulating achievements in the New World much earlier.

They were called the Children of Orléans, but that was only a formality.

All three of them secretly thought they were the best.

Still, they didn’t do petty things like openly checking or hindering each other.

It was because they were confident that the results would come out even if they were only fairly evaluated for their abilities and achievements.

Those who are confident in themselves tend to honestly acknowledge the achievements of others.

Massena and Berthier also did not try to deny that Napoleon’s operation was effective this time.

“But how did you control the rebels, even though you induced the remnants of New Spain? Did you conspire with the commander over there?”

“If we leave evidence like that, it will be difficult to deny it later when we get caught. We just leaked information through a suitable spy. And we also guaranteed that we would not go south under any circumstances.”

“Well, the rebels wouldn’t care much about what happens to the west, which is outside their control.”

Berthier understood Napoleon’s plan at once and let out a low exclamation.

The area where the battle took place this time was clearly inside the border of New France, not somewhere else.

It clearly crossed the line to the point where even the excuse of ambiguously straddling it would not work.

This meant that New France had obtained an excellent justification.

Berthier lined up the objects placed on the map towards the west.

“Our mission is to prevent the chaos caused by the rebellion in New Spain from entering New France. And since the risk has already been identified as serious, there will be no procedural flaws even if we respond preemptively.”

“Yes. And more than anything, we must move one step faster than the United States. The United States is also clearly plotting various schemes to extend westward from Louisiana. We must move quickly to preempt the area that His Highness told us to secure.”

Massena and Berthier nodded at the same time to Napoleon’s opinion.

Even if things were going well, they didn’t have time to spare.

The territory that Prince Christian had prioritized securing was quite large.

They had to drive stakes in before the United States slowly crossed over.

“It would certainly be foolish to have a war of nerves between us.”

“That’s right. His Highness said he would be watching closely how organically the three of us can harmonize.”

“In order to attack a wide area, the units we lead must move as one body and constantly share locations and strategies. I will cooperate as much as possible, so I hope the other two will only think of meeting His Highness’s expectations as the best.”

“Of course. I will spare no cooperation with the two seniors.”

The brigade commander above Napoleon, Berthier, and Massena did not have the capacity to command these unique regimental commanders from the start.

No matter how great people were, they could only be treated as dog stars if they were caught in the gap between these strong figures.

Therefore, Christian had ordered in advance to freely release the three units.

In other words, there was a possibility that the unit would be a mess if the sum of these three did not match well.

Napoleon, of course, knew this fact better than anyone else.

The reason why he lowered his pride and raised the prestige of his seniors was all because he had calculated the future.

As long as he was here, there could be no such word as operational failure.

“It may be very different from the battles we have fought with the Indians. Let’s not let our guard down and be careful. Of course, I believe there will be no problems with Lieutenant Colonels Massena and Berthier.”

“Of course. I’ve been waiting for this day to come.”

All preparations were complete.

Now it was time to cross the border.

“Then shall we all go? To redraw the map.”

※※※

When Napoleon returned to his regiment, all the soldiers were already fully prepared.

The vast territory visible across the border.

Now they were going to plant their flags on that land and enjoy the honor of greatly expanding their country’s territory.

They didn’t even think for a moment that something might go wrong.

The soldiers had absolute trust in their commander, Napoleon, and their morale was soaring.

As if to prove that fact, when Napoleon looked around the soldiers before the expedition, the soldiers immediately cheered.

“Dear comrades!”

“Woo-hoo!”

“From now on, we will cross the border and annihilate the invading enemies! The more we expand the border, the more our families behind us can live in peace and sleep comfortably! We have won every battle so far without knowing defeat! What is the reason for that?”

“Napoleon! It’s thanks to Regimental Commander Napoleon!”

“That’s right. But it’s not just my credit, it’s because we all became one for the purpose of victory! Take pride! There is no army in this world as complete as our New French army!”

Napoleon turned his gaze to the indigenous soldiers who were burning their eyes with fighting spirit.

“Look at the two countries that border us! New Spain has been completely divided and unable to function properly after the desperate division of its members! And the United States is constantly oppressing the natives and building their own fortress! But what about us! No other country in the world has organized an army that is united regardless of origin, race, or status like us! Here, indigenous people, people born in Europe, and even mixed-race people are all the same comrades and soldiers!”

Napoleon raised his finger and pointed to his heart, raising his voice again.

“I was just a poor nobleman born in the backwoods of France. Even Lieutenant Colonel Massena, who will be working with us, was a commoner whose career path was blocked! But here, both I and Lieutenant Colonel Massena are no different from the nobles of the mainland! Anyone can go up if they have the ability and make achievements! Proud soldiers of New France! Our steps are history!”

“Woo-hoo!”

“We are the symbol of freedom, and our advance is a great step in opening the history of equality and harmony! We will only have victory!”

Napoleon, who had jumped on his horse, received the cheers of the soldiers who had almost reached madness with his whole body and stretched his finger forward.

“All troops, forward! From now on, we will write a new history!”

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