He Became Napoleon’S Genius Son [EN]: Chapter 355

(355) Eugene Turns Tecumseh’s Curse Towards England

So, the steel ship Tecumseh witnessed was none other than a steamboat.

-Poo-ooo! Poo-ooo! Poo-ooo!

A year ago, in 1804, the Nouvelle France Miami Division and Alachua Division set out for the upper Mississippi River.

In fact, the Mississippi River basin had been developed by France since around the Seven Years’ War.

Saint Louis, or St. Louis, is one of those traces.

It was only abandoned after Britain drove out France, and then the American Revolutionary War began.

Therefore, the Nouvelle France expedition was not as difficult as expected.

“It was harder to develop this place.”

The Louisiana Expedition Commander, the mixed-race black general Dumas, grumbled with a still complaining tone.

-Whoosh!

There are still countless places where farmland must be created by burning the land.

An unexplored area where there are more places untouched by humans than touched.

However, fortresses that France and Britain once fought over are scattered everywhere.

Using the ruins of the fortresses as bases, the strategy France adopted was none other than the [scorched earth] tactic (destroying anything that might be useful to the enemy).

First, the residents are driven out by shelling.

Next, supplies are thoroughly secured through the line connecting Nouvelle Orleans and St. Louis, and then carried out by steamboat.

But the most important thing is the last.

The forests are burned down as soon as they are discovered.

Just like now.

Seeing the very fiercely burning primeval forest, Miami Division Commander Boyer licked his lips.

“Is it okay to do that? Forests are originally a treasure trove of food.”

“What nonsense are you talking about, Boyer? Because we leave that forest alone, diseases like yellow fever are rampant in Saint-Domingue [Haiti]. Don’t you know it’s spread to southern Florida these days?”

“Ah, of course, I was educated in Paris, so I know that mosquitoes carry it.”

Yellow fever, in the original history, is a viral infectious disease that destroys Napoleon’s ambitious New World plan.

Because it is viral, it is almost impossible to deal with unless a vaccine is made.

Therefore, Eugene chose a countermeasure that avoided the Caribbean Sea altogether.

Nevertheless, it was unavoidable to some extent, and the disease was currently spreading in southern Florida.

However, thanks to thorough quarantine, it has not spread north of Miami.

“Humph, we need to be especially careful of the tribes in this area. They seem to be vulnerable to infectious diseases.”

“Well, at first, there was a big fuss about burning the forest, but when I coaxed them with food, they were all eventually won over.”

“Heh, no matter what they say about nature, they can’t overcome [civilization].”

Dumas twisted his lips, his black eyes gleaming.

Of course, as a mixed-race person educated in Europe, it is a prejudice unique to Europeanized people.

But when you think about it, the reason why Native Americans in North America came to live so-called nature-friendly lives is because of a lack of material culture.

On the other hand, the natives who lived in Central and South America also created pre-state civilizations.

That’s why Eugene, a transmigrator with less European prejudice, chose Dumas’ scorched earth tactics.

The tribes that obeyed were recruited as soldiers, the tribes that resisted were driven out with concentrated firepower, and above all, the forests were burned.

A scene that would make later environmentalists foam at the mouth and collapse is happening all over the Mississippi River.

However, the Crown Prince Eugene, who dispatched the expedition, was firm.

「Civilization comes before nature.」

Of course, Eugene, as a transmigrator, knows very well that civilization can only exist if there is nature.

However, Eugene judged that securing the Mississippi River area as a direct territory was the priority.

That’s why Dumas is happily burning the Mississippi River area.

On the other hand, for Tecumseh, who was led to the Mississippi River, it was literally [hell] itself.

The sounds of Tecumseh and Kuskakaus, who were surprised to see the steamboat, asking each other can be heard here.

“What the heck is that? Smoke is coming out of the boat!”

“No, more than that, the boat seems to be made of steel. Brother!”

“Goodness, can steel float on water?”

Tenskwatawa, the Shawnee religious activist who would later call the Americans children of the devil in the original history, screamed.

“It’s a demon! It’s a demon ship! Argh!”

Listening to that sound, Dumas frowned.

“Can we really use those guys in battle, as His Highness said?”

Boyer, a mixed-race general from the Paris Military Academy, also smiled bitterly.

“Unless our Russian friends suddenly drag soldiers over, we have no choice, do we?”

The two mixed-race generals are conquering both banks of the Mississippi River.

It was the moment when the great Native American warrior Tecumseh and his party arrived here.

***

Of course, the Nouvelle France people did not forcibly bring Tecumseh and his party.

Even so, they were so horrified that it felt like they had been kidnapped.

Suddenly, a white man on the steamboat looked back at one of the expedition’s division commanders.

It is Robert Fulton, the chief of the steamboat.

“Hey, Duke Micanopy. Won’t you tell that barbarian friend not to insult my perfectly good invention?”

“Unfortunately, the Shawnee language is not exactly the same in the north and south, Mr. Fulton.”

“I’m a French citizen now, so you can call me Monsieur Fulton. Wait, then should I call you Your Grace?”

In an instant, Micanopy, the commander of the Mississippi Expedition, clicked his tongue and got off the steamboat and retorted.

“That’s okay, Mr. Fulton. France only recognizes titles based on merit, right? Besides, even if I show off my noble title in front of you, a white man, I’ll only be a laughing stock.”

At that time, Tecumseh, who saw Micanopy, approached the steamboat, trembling with fear.

His eyes are blue, but his skin is red, and he is wearing an unidentified blue uniform, but judging from what he says, he must be a native.

Indeed, after looking around the completely burned Mississippi River area, Tecumseh asked.

“Are we, the same tribe?”

Micanopy raised his eyebrows at the fairly accurate English and retorted gruffly.

“Well, if you think that the natives living on this continent are the same tribe, then yes. Great Warrior Tecumseh.”

“Do you know me?”

“Well, I read the Nouvelle France General Staff report. Strictly speaking, I asked a friend who knows French to read it to me.”

Then Tecumseh asked, as if he were questioning.

“Then, I will ask. What is that ship, and you are clearly our tribe, but why are you wearing white men’s clothes? Besides, is it okay to burn the land of the great spirits like this?”

Micanopy twisted his lips.

Tecumseh, the great warrior of the Shawnee tribe, who once held hegemony over the Great Lakes area.

However, after the American Revolutionary War and the Northwest Indian War, the Shawnee tribe has long been driven out of their homeland.

But Crown Prince Eugene specifically designated this person and demanded that he be recruited.

At best, the Shawnee tribe has only 1,000 warriors.

The Seminole tribe, who lived a settled life, could mobilize 10,000 soldiers, but the Shawnee tribe, who still live a nomadic life, has a very small population.

Why does the Crown Prince want such a person?

Micanopy looked at Tecumseh with a displeased face for a moment and snapped.

“I’m sorry, but we [Seminoles] have no resistance to reclamation. Spirits? It’s better to go to church. Besides, I’m not just wearing white men’s clothes, I’m a French citizen and a nobleman.”

“Wh-what, what? Are you now insulting the Great Spirit!”

“Hey, Great Warrior. Did that Great Spirit protect you guys?”

Micanopy shrugged his shoulders, looking at Tecumseh as if he were pathetic.

“Let’s talk realistically. We’ll give you weapons. Weapons to fight the white men.”

He was reminded of what Lasalle had said to his uncle before.

At that time, his uncle strangely easily gave in.

But Tecumseh was also surprised and asked Micanopy.

“Say it again. You’ll give us guns?”

“It’s a relief that you know guns. I thought you wouldn’t even know that. Not only that, but I’ll also give you horses. It looks like you’re operating cavalry.”

“What do you want in return?”

Guns.

The best weapon that Europeans brought to the New World.

Natives still cannot make this gun themselves.

Micanopy smiled bitterly and proposed to Tecumseh.

“I heard you want to create a Native American confederation. Create that confederation not in your land, but north of the Great Lakes.”

Tecumseh was surprised that his intentions had been discovered, opened his mouth, and then frowned.

“Fight the British? Is that the ultimate goal!”

“You won’t be the only ones fighting.”

“You’re going to use us as cannon fodder. Ha!”

At that time, the sound of a cannon being fired from the steamboat rang out loudly.

-Whoosh, bang!

Inventor Fulton chuckled at Tecumseh, who flinched in surprise.

“That steamboat and artillery unit will also be with you. However, in the name of [Russia].”

At this moment, Tecumseh, who would later curse the US president and leave his name in the original history, became an ally of France.

Of course, Tecumseh knew nothing about Russia.

***

So, the Grand British Offensive in the New World that France is taking is all proceeding in the name of Russia.

“You want me to be the commander. Your Highness.”

Louis Philippe d’Bourbon, Tsar Pavel’s son-in-law, said.

From the beginning, Philippe was dispatched to the New World for that reason, so perhaps it is a natural result.

Even so, he couldn’t help but tremble when he actually came to St. Louis in northern Nouvelle France.

Eugene nodded, looking at the Mississippi River flowing outside St. Louis.

“Yes. However, the soldiers will mainly be natives and blacks.”

“Russian soldiers are Indians and [Noir]? No one will believe it.”

“The British will probably suspect it. I will deny it.”

Suddenly, Eugene stared at Philippe with a cold gaze.

“I’ll say you planned all of this. Duke Louis Philippe Chartres.”

Perhaps Emperor Pavel would say the same.

However, Philippe had already prepared himself when he came to the New World.

Even if he is abandoned in an emergency, he will seize a single opportunity.

The Bonaparte family and the old revolutionaries have firmly taken control of mainland France, and the possibility of returning home is remote.

The Russian Empire is also full of nobles and military generals, and there is no room for Philippe to break in.

The New World territory is the only area where Philippe can realize his ambitions.

Perhaps Eugene in front of him is similar?

However, there was one thing Philippe did not understand.

“Okay. But what is the reason for choosing Tecumseh, the great warrior of the Shawnee tribe?”

Eugene smiled.

In the original history, Tecumseh becomes a more famous figure in America than anyone here.

Because of the hero of the Indian War and the curse of the century.

Among the US presidents, those elected in the year ending in 0 will not live out their lives and will die.

Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, Harding, Roosevelt, and Kennedy.

In fact, Harrison, who treated Tecumseh badly, also died of pneumonia a month after taking office.

Of course, Eugene did not choose Tecumseh because of his curse power.

It is because he believes in the skills of the Tecumseh cavalry, who marched 70 kilometers a day.

“Because, that guy is a great warrior enough to curse the leader of a country.”

“Yes?”

“He is excellent and reliable. You will know if you deal with him.”

Eugene, who was smiling quietly, told the embarrassed Philippe.

“He especially knows the tactics of the white men well.”

That is, all the strengths and weaknesses of the British Empire’s New World Army’s Indian cooperative tactics.

That’s why Eugene called the man who cursed the president, Tecumseh.

To defeat Britain in the New World.