I Became A Genius Of The French Royal Family [EN]: Chapter 242

The Genius of the French Royal Family Chapter 242: Sacrifice (242/355)

< Sacrifice >

The French bastards have finally gone mad.

Upon reading the report from the Governor-General of Liangguang [Guangdong and Guangxi provinces], the Emperor muttered reflexively.

“Is this the official stance of France? This insane demand?”

“Y-yes, Your Majesty!”

“So, they are barbarians at heart….”

“We must reject it outright! And the Governor-General of Liangguang, who failed to cut this off immediately, must be severely punished!”

“The Grand Scholar is right! We must immediately dismiss the Governor-General of Liangguang and dispatch another talent who can strongly confront France!”

Starting with the words of the Grand Scholar of the Inner Cabinet, accusations against the Governor-General of Liangguang quickly engulfed the royal court.

Even in moments like these, Emperor Jiaqing was disgusted by the ministers who only thought of tearing each other apart.

“Then, if there is anyone who can go and severely denounce the French commander on behalf of the Governor-General of Liangguang, step forward. However, they must also bear the responsibility for the consequences.”

“······.”

“···Ahem······.”

It always turns out like this.

Even when the stage is set, no one steps forward the moment they are asked to take responsibility.

The reason why the Governor-General of Liangguang couldn’t respond to the French demands must have been because he wasn’t confident in handling the aftermath.

Emperor Jiaqing suppressed a sigh that was about to burst out and waved his hand with a somewhat weary expression.

“Enough. I won’t ask you to take responsibility, so discuss realistic countermeasures. What is the opinion of the Grand Councilor of the Military Affairs Department?”

“It is a proposal not even worth considering.”

The opinion of the Grand Councilor of the Military Affairs Department, the head of the de facto highest decision-making body of the state, was the same as the entire Military Affairs Department’s opinion.

Emperor Jiaqing nodded naturally.

“But they wouldn’t have thought we would accept such an absurd proposal. There must be something they are really after.”

“Their aim is simple. They are trying to force their will upon us because they know our internal affairs are difficult right now. That’s why they brought such a large army.”

“They said that if we don’t accept their proposal, they will interpret it as us not guaranteeing their safety. Isn’t this saying they will take military action if the negotiations fail?”

“That’s right. So, we must prepare.”

“Preparation, you say….”

Currently, the Qing is focusing all its efforts on suppressing rebellions in various regions.

Even in the Uyghur region, they are fighting against European barbarians, mainly from Arasa [Russians].

It seemed they didn’t have the capacity to wage war with France on top of that.

Of course, there wasn’t a single fool present who didn’t know that.

“Your Majesty, if we accept this, the imperial authority will be completely ruined. We must stop it by any means possible.”

“···Even if it means bringing back the Eight Banners Army [Qing military units] that is suppressing the rebels to strike at France?”

“If that’s the only way, then we must do so.”

It was a drastic measure that couldn’t be easily chosen, but the argument that this was the only way was persuasive.

In any case, if they listened to the French bastards, they would effectively be at their beck and call.

“···Indeed, no matter how much I ponder, I only come to the conclusion that the answer was determined from the beginning. First, give the French side the assurance that we are positively considering it and ask them to wait. And······.”

Everyone could understand what would follow without having to hear it.

It was already proven in the last war that their soldiers were superior in individual skill.

So, this time, a situation must arise where they can overwhelm them with at least three times the force.

“Gather the maximum number of troops we can muster. Through this battle, I will prove that the power of this imperial family is still intact.”

A last stand.

The Qing, with nowhere left to retreat, finally made a desperate move.

If they could repel France here, other European countries fighting on the outskirts would also be affected.

Moreover, the last time, they had no choice but to lose because they lacked information on how the Westerners’ weapons worked.

If you know yourself and your enemy, you have nothing to fear in a hundred battles.

Surely, they wouldn’t have brought new weapons after only a few years.

Of course, surely there isn’t such a country in the world.

※※※

From the beginning, Napoleon didn’t expect the Qing to accept his conditions.

If they had accepted, he would have had a momentary brain freeze.

In that respect, the Qing’s response was reassuringly textbook.

“Ask us to wait a little? Positively considering it?”

“Yes, yes. His Majesty the Emperor said so himself.”

“Then, how long do we have to wait for that positive answer to come?”

“Uh… a month?”

“Look here. Rebellions are breaking out in various places right now, and at this very moment, our French merchants are trembling in fear for their lives. Are you kidding me with a month?”

Napoleon glared at the Governor-General of Liangguang, who was sweating profusely.

“Considering the distance from Beijing to here, I will wait exactly fifteen days. If an answer does not come by then, I will take it as a rejection.”

“···Understood.”

The Governor-General of Liangguang felt like he was going crazy, but what could he do?

He was just a guy stuck in the middle with no real power.

From the Governor-General’s perspective, the best-case scenario was to somehow delay the situation and postpone the moment of catastrophe, but it seemed that neither side had any intention of doing so.

The uneasy premonition was correct this time as well.

After mobilizing all the relay stations to send a message to Beijing that the French wanted an answer within fifteen days, the answer came back exactly on the deadline.

[Impossible.]

On that day, along with these two words and the order to defend Guangdong Province on their own, the Governor-General of Liangguang emptied his residence and fled.

And Napoleon, who took this as a signal to start the war, thought, ‘Great!’ and immediately marched his troops.

“The Qing tried to deceive us by pretending to negotiate while secretly gathering troops to stab us in the back! To protect the lives of our soldiers and merchants, I will carry out the will of my country to the end!”

The movements of the French army, which had already completed all preparations, were extremely swift.

The French army quickly seized the Guangdong area and firmly established a supply line from Hong Kong to Guangdong.

Guangxi Province was virtually undefended due to the Zhuang rebellion, and Fujian Province was not much different.

The French army was in the optimal environment, where they only needed to march north without worrying about the left and right flanks.

The Qing Dynasty, perhaps not even thinking of stopping the French in Guangdong, had retreated their defense line.

After grasping the situation, Napoleon drove his troops forward like a hot knife through butter, heading north to Jiangxi Province, where China’s largest freshwater lake was located.

“But what if those guys don’t fight us?”

Even though the war had begun, Davout, who was leading the corps, was worried about situations outside of the war.

“Are you saying what if they stall for time and engage in siege warfare? Then we can just go up to Beijing and occupy the capital.”

Even though Beijing was far, the difference in naval power was so overwhelming that they could easily capture Tianjin, which was practically the gateway to Beijing, if they wanted to.

What would happen if they didn’t stop the enemy on land and didn’t fight at sea?

“Giving them what they want is also a strategic method, but there may be a situation where we end up giving them everything.”

“That’s true. But in the worst-case scenario, wouldn’t they abandon the capital and move around from place to place? This damn land is so vast that one corps cannot suppress them if they use that strategy.”

“If this was simply a war between us and the Qing, that might be the case, but the Qing imperial family is not in a position to do such a thing right now.”

For the Emperor to abandon the capital and flee would be a truly disgraceful act in itself.

With the authority of the Son of Heaven of the Central Plains already plummeting to the bottom, abandoning the capital?

There is a good chance that this could be used to accelerate the Prime Minister’s plan to carve up the Central Plains.

“In any case, the situation is smiling on us, so don’t worry. The day is not far off when we will enthrone the Prime Minister as the Emperor of the Central Plains….”

“No, shouldn’t we hear what the Prime Minister has to say about that….”

Napoleon turned a deaf ear to Davout’s words, who was shaking his head, and looked around at his bravely advancing soldiers with satisfaction.

In any case, this battle is just a preliminary skirmish.

The Qing, a paper tiger on its last legs, is not even in his eyes.

Of course, the ambition to bring the strongest power in the East to its knees with his own hands was still valid, but now, an even more brilliant honor was beckoning him.

※※※

“Finally, they’re here!”

Upon hearing the news that the French army had crossed over to Jiangxi Province, the Crown Prince of the Great Qing Empire, Minning, swallowed nervously.

The Qing had been waiting with thorough preparations to stop the French army.

At first, there was an opinion to prolong the war and accelerate the French army’s war expenditure, but this was rejected as unrealistic.

Clearly, this war was a fight between the Qing, who were fighting on their home turf, and the French, who had come on an expedition, but time was not on the Qing’s side.

The longer the war lasted, the more the Qing’s local control would weaken, and if that happened, even if they won the war, the Qing might face a situation where the country would be divided.

In other words, what they could choose now was to defeat the French army in the shortest possible time and show the world that the Qing’s power was still intact.

To this end, a considerable number of the Eight Banners Army and the Green Standard Army [Qing Dynasty army], which had been suppressing rebellions in various regions, were forcibly gathered, and a force of over 80,000 troops was assembled.

This was more than three times the strength of the French 2nd Corps, which was estimated to be 25,000.

In preparation for any unforeseen circumstances, an additional 20,000 reinforcements were gathered.

Even if their weapons and training levels were inferior, the sense of intimidation given by a force of 100,000 was no joke.

Moreover, to boost their morale, Crown Prince Minning himself appeared on the front lines.

He wasn’t directly commanding or jumping into battle, but the fact that the person who would ascend to the throne of the next Emperor had come was quite encouraging to the generals.

“Hahaha, it’s a strange coincidence that we, who suppressed the White Lotus Rebellion [a major rebellion against the Qing dynasty], have all gathered in one place.”

Mingliang, who was in charge of the overall command of this army, smiled brightly, as if trying to reassure the Crown Prince.

In fact, it wasn’t wrong.

Mingliang was the general who cornered Wang Cong’er, who led the White Lotus Rebellion, and the one who suppressed the rioters who infiltrated the Forbidden City to assassinate Emperor Jiaqing was the Crown Prince.

“It seems my heart is lighter knowing that there is a general who has executed the leader of those vile rioters. Haha.”

“The only regret is that she jumped down and we couldn’t capture her. Anyway, trust me this time too! With His Highness the Crown Prince here, the morale of the soldiers is high, and we have four times more troops.”

“Still, we must not be careless. I still vividly remember when I heard the nightmarish news that the Mongol Eight Banners Army had been annihilated by some of them.”

“At that time, we underestimated them too much. We didn’t think they would have such excellent firearms.”

But this time it’s different.

As a lesson from the last war, the number of shots the enemy’s guns could fire per minute and the range were all analyzed.

“According to my calculations, we can sufficiently annihilate the enemy. Please wait with a joyful heart.”

The confidence of the prepared.

The great tragedy caused by the lack of information about the Western barbarians in the past, combined with arrogance, will no longer happen.

Now is the time to show the true power of the Celestial Empire [a traditional name for China].

“I will dedicate the glory of victory to His Majesty the Emperor and His Highness the Crown Prince.”

< Sacrifice > End