He Became Napoleon’S Genius Son [EN]: Chapter 354

(354) Using Native American Forces to Strike England

However, there’s a problem with mobilizing French forces with Russia at the forefront.

“Battles are already underway between the United States and British Canada on land.”

“Battles consisting of clashes involving only a few hundred soldiers?”

“It’s a significant number here. Anyway, each army numbers around 10,000.”

Jomini shrugged as he briefed Eugene at the Viceroyalty of New France in Pensacola.

“Nevertheless, the United States is passing resolutions to conscript militias from each state.”

So, as of 1805, the Anglo-American War is progressing strangely by European standards.

The numbers are only about 10,000 each.

But the territory to defend is more than three times the size of the European continent.

In fact, this was the reality that Britain and France had to face during the old Seven Years’ War.

The population is sparse, the land is vast, and there are many undeveloped areas, making it very difficult to establish supply lines.

Naturally, marches take place where there are no roads.

The main movement of troops has to be done by cavalry, much like in the Middle Ages.

However, it is now the 19th century, and the navy, known as sea power, can cross the Atlantic.

“At sea, the British are very active. They are blockading all ships departing from American ports.”

“Chief of Staff Jomini, is that possible? The sea is different from land. There are no borders or outposts.”

“There are sea lanes, aren’t there? Besides, here in the New World, major port cities seem to be fixed. Well, they’re resorting to indiscriminate shelling and capture, so there seems to be no way to stop them.”

Moreover, the famous navy of the British Empire, the Royal Navy, was more formidable than Eugene had anticipated.

It carried out a full-scale naval blockade that would be difficult even in the 20th century of the original timeline.

Eugene clicked his tongue as he looked at the British fleet spread out on the map, especially Sydney’s fleet.

This is an era when America’s economic power is not yet strong.

In particular, the U.S. federal government relies on tariffs [taxes on imported goods].

Tariffs are ultimately taxes collected at customs offices in ports.

The naval blockade that Sydney is implementing may inflict a more devastating blow on the United States than Britain thinks.

But wouldn’t the downfall of the United States be a good thing?

Isn’t the United States bound to be a competitor with New France in the New World?

However, if the United States collapses at this point, Britain will take its place.

This is similar to how Britain carried out economic aggression when Spain lost all its South American territories in the original timeline.

Eugene was about to look at the map, thinking about the right balance, when the person in charge of internal affairs for New France, Marquis Lescure, nodded and said.

“Yes, thanks to you, the American government is in an uproar right now. Up to the point when the report came in, about 1,400 American merchant ships had been seized. The Americans have seized 1,300 ships. Heh heh.”

Eugene nodded and then stopped.

“What do you mean? The Americans are seizing ships too?”

“Yes, that’s right. British merchant ships also roam the Atlantic, don’t they? Of course, the American navy is insignificant, so civilians are moving on their own. Heh heh.”

“Isn’t that piracy? Damn.”

But even though it looks similar at first glance, the damage is much greater for the United States.

In any case, Britain is the nation that holds hegemony over the Atlantic in this era.

Naturally, even excluding the slave trade, the scale of private trade is enormous, so the captured ships are only about 7 percent of the British merchant fleet’s size.

On the other hand, the merchant ships being seized in America now account for more than 50 percent of the ships owned by merchants.

Thinking that Hamilton would probably contact him again soon, Eugene looked at Commander-in-Chief Desaix.

“Then, is there a possibility that Redcoats [British soldiers] will arrive from the British mainland?”

“No.”

“What’s the reason? Britain has less than 10,000 troops deployed in Canada, right?”

Desaix explained simply.

“There are also less than 80,000 troops in Great Britain itself. Most of them are reservists. Britain does not invest heavily in the army.”

Redcoats, a term that refers to the British army, borrowing from the red uniforms worn by British soldiers.

Unlike the navy, which is called the Royal Navy, the army has no such name.

This is because the Puritan army that ousted the king during the Glorious Revolution is the predecessor of the army.

However, due to the characteristics of being an island nation, Britain does not usually prepare a large army.

Rather, the garrison in the King of England’s personal territory in Hanover is said to be stronger.

However, the seemingly weak British army cut off Napoleon’s breath in the original timeline.

Eugene recalled the person responsible and muttered to himself.

“Hasn’t Arthur Wellesley returned yet?”

“Excuse me? What are you talking about? What is that?”

“No, Jomini. The strategic plan you presented when you first met me. I suddenly wondered if the British army stationed in India has returned.”

Just as Jomini was about to widen his eyes, Eugene smiled brightly.

“Yes, if those friends return, the war will change completely.”

Of course, it’s not that simple.

Because it is more efficient to conscript soldiers in Britain than to cross the Indian Ocean and return to Europe.

However, Arthur Wellesley, later the Duke of Wellington in the original timeline, did gain military experience in India.

Perhaps he will become an adversary that Eugene and Napoleon must face.

At that moment, Chief Adjutant Ippolito interjected.

“Come on, Your Highness. Let’s put aside such distant stories? Our army is a bigger problem right now. It’s good to use the Russian Empire, but we don’t have enough soldiers? Are those friends not sending reinforcements from their home country?”

“From Russia’s point of view, they would have to go halfway around the world. That’s why we’re trying to fight on their behalf, right?”

“Are you going to move the newly formed divisions of New France, then? There’s a high risk of being discovered by the British.”

Ippolito’s point is rough but correct.

No matter how much they pretend to be Russian, prisoners can be captured, and someone can confess.

So, from the beginning, an army that is not French is needed.

It would be even better if they could be put forward as the vanguard.

But from the beginning, Eugene had a plan to deal with this problem.

“Let’s use Britain’s allies.”

“Yes? Who is that?”

“Native Americans, or rather, the indigenous people of this land.”

Suddenly, Eugene’s gaze turned to the northwestern United States on the map.

“There’s a friend I’ve been watching. Send a letter to the Margrave of St. Louis. We need to make contact as soon as possible.”

That is the area bordering the Great Lakes, called the Northwest Territory.

***

In the Midwestern United States, which is actually the West in this era, ‘Indians’ still live.

“We are not Indians! Also, this land is neither yours, white men, nor ours!”

In 1805, when the war between Britain and the United States began, not all of America was swept up in the war.

The Indiana Territory, which still corresponds to the frontier, is peaceful.

For example, Native Americans come to the governor to protest because of the pioneer farmers.

Until recently, it was called ‘Indian Territory’ as its name suggests. The governor of Indiana, William Henry Harrison, wore a sneer.

Looking at the man in front of him, the Shawnee warrior Tecumseh.

“Look, Tecumseh. Then who does this land belong to?”

“It belongs to the Great Nature! And to the spirits! Not to humans!”

“Wow, that’s awesome. Then where are those spirits?”

Just as Tecumseh hesitated, Harrison bared his teeth and shouted.

“Bring them before my eyes. Then, as the governor of the Indiana Territory, I will acknowledge your words and step down from here!”

Tecumseh trembled and left the Indiana Territorial Office as if he were being chased out.

On the way out, he sees the white people in Vincennes Town, the capital of the territory, sneering.

Tecumseh, who appears to be half-naked with feathers in his hair, is an alien presence in this white man’s land.

Above all, the white men who saw Tecumseh raised their guns and glared at him threateningly.

Indian.

The name that white people call the yellow race who first arrived on the American continent.

Tecumseh also knows that the word Indian refers to people from a completely different place.

But he can overlook that much.

The problem is that these white people are driving out all the indigenous people, including Tecumseh’s tribe, the Shawnee.

From their homeland, from their foundation, from nature.

Even in this land where they managed to settle after being driven out, they are driving them out under the guise of development.

At the very least, he thought that the white people would keep the agreements they had made through war, the so-called Greenville Treaty.

It is an agreement to draw a boundary in this Indiana Territory and create an ‘Indian’ reservation.

But Harrison did not keep this treaty, which was concluded in 1795 at all.

Today, he came to protest, but he was only turned away and chased out.

As Tecumseh was leaving Vincennes Town in the Indiana Territory, a red-faced young man approached and said.

“Brother, give up. The white people don’t listen to us.”

“Tenskwatawa, if we continue like this, we will be driven out of this land again. The white people will monopolize the land, and our entire Shawnee tribe will lose their place to go!”

“Those white people are the children of the devil. They don’t listen to people!”

The young man, Tenskwatawa, shouted madly.

“Only when the great Serpent comes from the sea and sweeps those guys away again, will we burn this land!”

Originally, in the original timeline, Tenskwatawa would be called Prophet.

But now he is just a drunkard with dozens of followers.

Perhaps it is because he is a tribal shaman but cannot cure even epidemics, so his credibility is declining day by day.

After obtaining alcohol from the white people, he drinks it to the point where he cannot quit.

Suddenly, another young man, Kuskuskaa, who was bringing a horse, sneered.

“Brother, Tenskwatawa is a drunkard. He’s not in his right mind.”

“Don’t insult your brother, Kuskuskaa.”

“Why don’t you ask Blue Jacket or Little Turtle for support? Those guys are responsible for letting the white people into this land, aren’t they?”

These are the prominent warriors of the northeastern Great Lakes, whom white people commonly call Blue Jacket and Little Turtle.

In the United States, they are considered great chiefs, but in reality, the natives are not that organized.

However, it is true that both Blue Jacket and Little Turtle enjoy immense fame among the natives.

Moreover, there are actually still more natives living in this land that the Americans have demarcated as the Indiana Territory.

According to Harrison’s report to the federal government, there are about 6,000 American citizens in this land.

On the other hand, there are approximately 20,000 to 70,000 natives living there.

The reason for the large deviation in population statistics is that the natives lead nomadic lives, crossing the boundaries of the white people.

However, the Shawnee tribe, who originally lived in the Ohio region and were driven to this Indiana, were living together.

That is the city that Tecumseh founded with his tribe, Greenville.

It sounds like an English name, but it is actually a place where the Americans built a fortress for the war with Britain and then abandoned it.

However, white people were repeatedly appearing around Greenville, which Tecumseh had established.

That’s why he came to protest, but he was only turned away and chased out.

The Shawnee warrior, Tecumseh, gritted his teeth and shouted to his brother Kuskuskaa.

“Harrison is a ruthless man. But he has tremendous firepower. Children of the devil? As he says, he is a devil who can kill us all!”

It was then.

“Then, how about joining us? Warrior Tecumseh.”

Tecumseh narrowed his brow as he looked at the Native American youth smiling behind him.

He certainly has the face of a Native American, but his skin is fair.

Above all, the clothes he is wearing are Western-style.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Pierre Chouteau. I am the heir to the Margrave of St. Louis. Ah, I am from the Osage tribe in the southern Mississippi River area.”

“Osage? What brings you all the way here from that distant place? This is Shawnee territory.”

Tecumseh had said just before that the territory belonged to no one.

However, when he meets an outside tribe, he quickly becomes wary.

After all, the natives have not gone through the stage of national development, but it does not mean that they have no concept of territory.

Chouteau, a mixed-race French New World lord, who had been watching Tecumseh, smiled and offered a suggestion.

“I have come to propose a new territory where you can live.”

Tecumseh, who was glaring at Chouteau, said in rough but accurate English.

“From the sound of your name, you are one who has been handed over to the white people.”

“Well, my father is Acadian [French settlers in North America].”

“But you are offering us territory? This land belongs to no one. Furthermore, we have already been deprived of our land and chased to this place!”

Instead of refuting, Chouteau nodded and asked back.

“So, don’t we need a foundation for our indigenous people to live on even more? One who has been handed over to the white people? That’s right. I follow the King of Acadia. But what can you free people protect?”

In fact, if he were to argue with Tecumseh, Chouteau could refute countless times.

As someone who has a native mother, he also knows that the natives are not perfectly good.

But right now, Chouteau has come to recruit Tecumseh.

Tecumseh was momentarily surprised by Chouteau’s unwavering words and pondered before asking.

“Who is your king anyway?”

He has never seen a white man make such a generous offer to a native.

Who is it that he sent someone from the Mississippi River to meet him?

Suddenly, Chouteau mentioned the name with a respectful face.

“Eugene Preischütz Bonaparte. The King of New France, who rules over the entire southern Mississippi River.”

Of course, Tecumseh sneered without showing it on his face.

If it’s a king, he’s already heard enough.

Whether it’s the king called the President of the United States, or the King of England.

Or the king of the country called France, which was defeated and driven out of this land.

***

But the place that Chouteau took him to was already a sight beyond Tecumseh’s imagination.

-Poooo!

Along the Mississippi River, a steel ship spewing smoke moves.

“My God, what is that?”

Tecumseh’s brother, Kuskuskaa, screamed.

However, Tecumseh was the same, even though he didn’t scream.

The river, which had been full of forests, had been turned into a flat plain by burning all the trees, and the land where the natives had lived was filled with European-style cities, and soldiers in blue uniforms came and went.

Suddenly, Chouteau smiled and looked back at Tecumseh.

“Welcome. Welcome to Louisiana, New France.”

May 1805.

The land that New France began to directly control.

Tecumseh was about to witness the area along the Louisiana Mississippi River.

In a state of complete and literal upheaval.