He Became Napoleon’S Genius Son [EN]: Chapter 357

(357) Eugene Liberates Quebec After Half a Century

Joseph Papineau still remembers when King Louis was his sovereign.

“It was only 42 years ago, a time when the British weren’t looming over our heads.”

Back then, New France referred to northeastern Canada.

At that time, the French adopted the most familiar form: governance by lords.

So, the Papineau family had once been lords.

Now, they are taxed as wealthy individuals in Montreal, the largest city in Quebec.

Watching his father reminisce about the old days in the mansion, his son, Louis-Joseph Papineau, sighed.

“Father, that’s all in the past, isn’t it?”

“The King of New France visited. It’s not in the past at all. This is.”

“It’s even more dangerous. They’re not going to drive out the British and come all the way here now. Besides, isn’t the King a traitorous family that ousted the royal family?”

In fact, strictly speaking, the Bonaparte family, who became the monarchs of France, are traitors.

They are not the Bourbon dynasty that the Papineau family used to be loyal to.

But what good is loyalty to someone from half a century ago across the Atlantic?

In this case, like a flexible New World man, the old man Papineau shook his head firmly.

Besides, Papineau has an excuse.

“Isn’t his wife a princess of the Bourbon royal family! She has the legitimacy to be recognized in this New World. I heard that even insignificant natives have received noble titles!”

He’s referring to the engagement of Marie Therese Charlotte de Cafe.

Eugene and Marie have not yet formalized their marriage due to complex political issues.

However, high-ranking officials in New Spain, the United States, and New France regard them as virtually a married couple.

Thus, the Papineau family, a wealthy family in British Canada, held a similar view.

Here, old man Papineau has a [prospect] to consider.

“Our Papineau family, which has protected Quebec, deserves at least the title of Margrave [a noble title ranking below duke], don’t you think?”

Strictly speaking, the King does not have the authority to independently grant titles.

However, Eugene has arbitrarily created two titles in the New World in the past two years.

He plans to get approval from the home country in the future, but it is an overreach of authority.

However, to outside influential figures who do not know these complex internal affairs, it seems possible because Eugene is the de facto ruler of the New World.

This is not entirely wrong, so the former New France colonists are excited.

The King brought the name of New France back to the New World.

He sometimes bestows noble titles on collaborators.

Shouldn’t we approach him sooner?

That’s why old man Papineau sent a secret letter to Eugene.

Of course, Louis Papineau, a more realistic lawyer, shook his head with an uneasy face.

“Even so, a King who may never come is not closer than the British army, Father.”

However, no sooner had he finished speaking than a roar was heard from outside.

– Bang! Bang! Bang!

Louis Papineau hurriedly looked outside in surprise.

Montreal, or the city called Montreal in French, still has a majority of residents of French descent.

However, the garrison is composed of British soldiers, especially those from Scotland.

The voices of the garrison shouting in a Scottish dialect are heard everywhere.

“What the hell is that noise? Garrison! Garrison!”

“It’s an Indian attack!”

“Good heavens, didn’t we establish a friendly relationship? Where did the Hudson Company’s mercenaries go!”

Suddenly, Louis’s younger brother, Dennis Benjamin, ran in from outside and shouted.

“Brother! Look at that!”

Louis-Joseph Papineau looked in the direction Dennis was pointing.

The military flag is fluttering high.

As if it were a mutant, it bears a two-headed eagle.

“A two-headed eagle, I think I’ve heard of it.”

“They’re Russians.”

“What?”

Dennis Benjamin grabbed his brother and shouted.

“The Russians have invaded all the way here!”

Clearly, he had heard the news that Russia had established a foothold on the northwestern tip of the New World (Alaska).

However, it is too far from Alaska to northeastern Canada, the so-called [Lower Canada].

Of course, the defense force is not very large, but many indigenous tribes are scattered in between.

How could they have come all the way here before we even noticed?

In fact, the answer is simple.

In the meantime, after the French Revolution, the French army, centered on Napoleon, developed tactics.

High-speed march tactics.

The armament is minimized, supplies are handled by looting locally, and focus is placed on speed.

However, Eugene executed this tactic using the waterways scattered throughout the Great Lakes and northern Canada, and the indigenous network.

It was thanks to attracting the great warrior Tecumseh.

Not knowing that fact, old man Papineau appeared before Louis, who had a face as if he had seen [magic].

“Let’s raise the white flag and go surrender.”

“Father! They’re not French, they’re Russians!”

“You fool, do you really think Russia can come all the way here?”

Joseph Papineau, once called the lord of the French New World, shouted.

“That’s definitely an army sent from New France. They’re just using Russia as a front due to diplomatic issues!”

Louis Papineau, who was gritting his teeth, shook his head and called Benjamin.

“Let’s go for now.”

“Hey, Louis, even you, brother!”

“We have to surrender anyway.”

Louis agrees with his father on one thing.

“Then the sooner we surrender, the better chance we’ll have.”

If the world is going to change anyway, the sooner we join, the more opportunities we will have.

***

So, the Russian disguised expeditionary force traveled about 2,000 kilometers from northern Minnesota to Montreal.

“Are you Joseph Papineau? I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Nevertheless, Philippe was dressed in a very strict military uniform.

It shows Philippe’s personality, which values ​​dignity along with a simple appearance.

Old man Papineau asked with a trembling voice, holding his hat.

“Are you perhaps His Majesty the King?”

Pischgru, who was standing next to Philippe in the Montreal Governor-General’s building, snorted.

“Huh, there are people who are mistaken even though they don’t look alike at all.”

“Oh, General Pischgru. Aren’t you showing off too much without making any significant contributions?”

“What are you talking about, Duke? Don’t forget that [Ney’s troops] under my command were the first to succeed in the breakthrough!”

Seeing the old French Revolutionary generals arguing with each other, Jomini smiled and explained.

“This is Duke Louis Philippe de Chartres. He was originally a great nobleman of France, but now he has defected to Russia and become the Tsar’s son-in-law.”

It is an attitude that officially emphasizes that they are Russian soldiers.

But Papineau swallowed hard.

Clearly, Jomini just did, but Pischgru, who was arguing with Philippe, also spoke French.

“That person seems to speak French.”

“That is Charles Pischgru, who rebelled against the French government and was exiled to the New World.”

“Oh, then what about that Indian?”

Looking back at Tecumseh, the most mysterious man in traditional Native American leather clothing, Jomini shrugged.

“That’s Tecumseh. He is an Indian who was pushed out by the white people and wandered around the West, but we hired him. We promised to give him land.”

Old man Papineau, who was dumbfounded by the truly mysterious army, rolled his eyes.

Clearly, he thought New France had reached this point.

But the more he listens, the more ambiguous their identities become.

“Who are you?”

Then Jomini shouted very brazenly.

“Me? I’m Jomini, a Swiss man who came to the New World on a trip. Hahaha!”

In the end, his son Papineau, Louis Joseph, couldn’t stand it and asked.

“What exactly is the identity of this army? The Russian Imperial Army?”

At this, Jomini hesitated for a moment, but Tecumseh shouted resolutely.

“We are the liberation army of this land!”

There is no word that shows the true nature of the disguised expeditionary force as complex as this word.

***

The British Canadian Governor-General, Robert Mills, is currently in [Fort York] near the Great Lakes.

– Bang!

The sound of a desk slamming in the fortress headquarters echoes through the shabby building.

In later original history, it would develop into Canada’s largest city, Toronto, but now it is just a border fortress.

However, in order to confront Jackson, the U.S. Army Commander-in-Chief, Mills has gathered almost the entire army here.

But he heard absurd news.

It was a tragedy from Montreal, the city with the highest economic power in Canada.

“Tell me again. What is being occupied?”

“Montreal has been occupied, Your Excellency the Governor.”

“What the hell was the garrison doing? What about the Hudson Company’s mercenaries?”

General George Prevost, commander of the Canadian garrison, reported to the governor with a somber face.

“The Royal Army is currently mobilized to defend the Great Lakes. The troops remaining in the rear are militia and mercenaries, but the opponent was not at that level.”

As Prevost handed over the hastily written report, Mills quickly scanned the document with bloodshot eyes.

He sees a very absurd word written.

Russia.

Mills retorted as if he were about to slam the desk again.

“Russia came all the way here? Bullshit! New France, maybe!”

“They are French.”

“What? Are they openly breaking the agreement?”

This time, Prevost shook his head at the bewildered Mills and explained.

“That’s not it, they say it’s an army of French nobles who defected to Russia.”

In fact, after the Great Revolution, many French nobles defected to Russia.

Furthermore, there is also an army composed of nobles.

What is not true is that the army is currently remaining in Eastern Europe, especially in Poland.

However, Eugene mixed facts and lies and disguised French soldiers as Russian exiled noble armies.

Of course, Governor Mills is not a fool, so he laughed in disbelief.

“Ha! It’s like a bear trying to hide something. Send a formal protest delegation to New France. No, report to the home country!”

“If we do that, it will be a full-scale war with New France.”

“If we go to war, the King of New France will be in more danger. What do we have to lose anyway!”

However, Prevost, a man who had experience fighting the French army in mainland Europe, replied sadly.

“Your Excellency the Governor, New France can mobilize 100,000 troops. Moreover, with the Quebec region occupied, all of Upper Canada and Lower Canada are in danger.”

First of all, there is a big gap in terms of mobilized troops, beyond the level of weapons or national power.

Also, from the perspective of British Canada, whose rear was stabbed, they had to worry about a two-front war.

However, there was a number that Governor-General Mills could not understand.

“What are you talking about? The Americans are only mobilizing 40,000 now, how can New France? It’s only been two years since that King came?”

“In the meantime, the King of France has focused all his efforts on expanding the army. He has mobilized blacks, Indians, and even French immigrants to establish a total mobilization system. There are 10 divisions in the French organization.”

“He’s a crazy militarist. Wasn’t the population of New France just over 300,000?”

Of course, this is also a mixture of lies and facts.

Strictly speaking, there are a total of 7 New France divisions organized by Eugene.

However, while preparing for this disguised expedition, he took over Pischgru’s troops who had been exiled to the New World, and expanded the Native American troops, including Tecumseh.

Therefore, the reason why Prevost sees 10 now is because he includes the Russian disguised expeditionary force.

However, the Russian expeditionary force is only a division in name, and in reality, some divisions are regimental forces.

Even so, it cannot be compared to the British Canadian garrison, which has a maximum of 20,000 units.

Commander Prevost advised Mills, who was terrified.

“For now, it is better not to touch the New France army until it moves directly. However, instructions from the home country are necessary.”

Prevost nodded, deep in thought.

“Okay. Let’s do this. Send a report to the home country and make Sydney Smith move instead of us.”

Late November 1805, a time when British Canada faced a crisis of existence.

The arrogant Royal Navy Admiral.

The time has come for Sydney Smith to step in.

43 years after the Seven Years’ War, Eugene liberated Quebec in northeastern Canada after nearly half a century.