He Became Napoleon’S Genius Son [EN]: Chapter 391

(391) Eugene, the Viceroy’s Army, Advances as the Vanguard

On the day of the review of the 4th Corps, commonly known as the Eugene Viceroy’s Army (officially named the 4th Corps), Eugene received a command from the Emperor.

“Advance now, at once?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Are there supply plans in place?”

The newly appointed adjutant directly under the Emperor, Louis Charles Caffet, swallowed hard and replied.

“There are none for the 4th Corps. The order is for Your Highness to handle it autonomously.”

Silence hung over the Champ de Mars [a large public greenspace in Paris], where the core forces of the 4th Corps were lined up.

But in truth, it wasn’t just this order that silenced the adjutants.

Eugene scratched his head for a moment, then nodded.

“Understood. Major Charles, inform His Majesty that the order will be carried out promptly.”

Charles practically flew off on horseback.

He probably couldn’t bear to face the officers centered around the New World Viceroy’s Army.

It wasn’t Charles’ fault, but it was certainly an unreasonable order.

Suddenly, Eugene’s chief of staff, Jomini, blurted out.

“Most of these soldiers are disabled veterans, and the force is only at the division level. Aren’t we being completely taken advantage of?”

“It’s the vanguard detachment, Jomini.”

“The name sounds good, but the support is lacking. At this rate…”

Jomini clicked his tongue, looking over the assembled troops.

“Isn’t this just a death sentence?”

There was a truly motley crew there.

On one side were those who clearly appeared to be disabled veterans.

On the other side, the soldiers’ uniforms didn’t fit well, and it was clear they were newly enlisted men just entering adulthood.

It was said that the old Flanders Army stationed on the border would join them, but even at a glance, they weren’t in a state to go to war immediately.

Even the Eugene Viceroy’s Army that Jomini had seen in the New World wasn’t this bad.

Of course, the core of Eugene’s New World Viceroy’s Army was actually the Orient Expeditionary Force, consisting of elite veterans.

However, even with the large-scale conscription of blacks, natives, and local settlers, it was at least a military that looked like a military.

At that moment, a general inspecting the soldiers bristled and stepped forward.

“I object! So, you’re Chief of Staff Jomini?”

“That’s correct, Major General Soult.”

“This is Nicolas Jean-de-Dieu Soult, and I assure you that all the troops gathered here are elite soldiers! Each one is worth a hundred! You mustn’t underestimate them just because their numbers are small!”

Soult, who had been rotating through unimportant posts in Europe, shouted fiercely.

“Look! The elite of the Italian campaign! The skilled soldiers of the Flanders defense line! And even the newly recruited infantry from Southern France! They are all patriots burning with courage!”

In the end, Ipolite couldn’t help but retort.

“This is…?”

Of course, most of the disabled veterans had fought in Italy and on the Flanders defense line.

Also, those who appeared to be boy soldiers had vibrant bodies.

Perhaps they were quite overflowing with patriotism as well.

But how well could soldiers with missing arms or eyes really fight?

Would the boy soldiers not panic and run away when they went to the battlefield?

Above all, it was clear at a glance that morale was at rock bottom.

At that moment, a soldier with scars all over his body, who at least had all his limbs and eyes intact, stepped out of the ranks.

“Cough! It’s not a lie, Major General Charles.”

“Oh, a soldier I’ve seen before. Your name is?”

“Nicolas Chauvin. A former royalist sergeant whom His Imperial Majesty and Viceroy Your Highness saved in the past.”

Then Eugene was rather pleased.

“Chauvin? Good to see you. What’s your current rank?”

Nicolas Chauvin, the man who would later become synonymous with chauvinism [exaggerated patriotism] in history.

In history, he was said to have followed Napoleon to every battlefield, and it seemed he was following him to war this time as well.

Especially now, having been saved by Eugene and Napoleon in Toulon, he would be even more enthusiastic.

Chauvin smiled and saluted.

“In the glorious Grande Armée [Napoleon’s army] of His Imperial Majesty, I hold the rank of Sergeant Major. Cough!”

“If I remember correctly, you followed His Imperial Majesty almost everywhere in the Second Coalition War? Only a Sergeant Major?”

“Haha! Thank you for remembering. I only regret not being able to participate in Your Highness’s glorious Egyptian expedition.”

Chauvin coughed as he answered with a light smile.

“But in return, I got this cough that doesn’t go away. Cough!”

War always leaves scars.

Even among the soldiers who didn’t die, many were injured.

Even those who weren’t physically maimed often suffered hearing loss from the shelling or damaged lungs from gunpowder.

Although there was the glory of victory, the compensation was small.

Except for a few rapidly promoted soldiers.

Chauvin was the same, remaining only a Sergeant Major.

Chauvin told Eugene the reality.

“Here, the soldiers whom the Chief of Staff saw as useless are similar.”

“No, wait. Sergeant Chauvin. I was only talking about the lack of support.”

“In the end, it’s the soldiers who wage war. It’s natural to want healthy, skilled elite soldiers. The battle is decided when the soldiers directly charge with bayonets.”

Chauvin smiled bitterly and looked back at his unit.

“But the Grande Armée currently numbers 500,000, and only about one-fifth of them are soldiers who won glorious victories in the last war. The rest were consumed in attrition warfare, injured, or killed in action.”

Of course, France was not yet completely exhausted by war.

Especially since Eugene had completely dismantled the Holy Roman Empire, the Third War had only just begun, making it even more so.

However, thanks to that, there were fewer opportunities for new recruits and skilled soldiers to emerge, so the Grande Armée was slightly less capable than in history.

It was more of a structure where there were more disabled or new soldiers than skilled soldiers formed since the Great Revolution.

Eugene nodded heavily and turned to Soult.

“There must be soldiers who participated in the war, are still healthy, and are skilled, right? Soult?”

“Y-Your Highness. The soldiers here are all…”

“Soult, I don’t want excuses. I want an accurate report. I’m not asking to reprimand you, am I?”

Then, Soult remained silent and finally confessed.

“They are given the highest priority for deployment to His Imperial Majesty’s Guard. Still, I know that Your Highness the Viceroy has been given as much consideration as possible.”

The best soldiers among them went to the Imperial Guard.

On the other hand, the slightly less capable soldiers came to Eugene’s Viceroy’s Army.

But what about the soldiers deployed to other corps?

Eugene frowned.

“If this is the maximum consideration, then there’s a big problem with this war.”

It seemed certain that there would be a big problem on the Spanish front.

***

At the Palais d’Orléans [a palace in Paris], now the Eugene Viceroy’s Palace, Ipolite shouted.

“Damn it! It’s either Talleyrand or Fouché. There’s no other reason for this to happen!”

Eugene, sitting askew in his chair, pondered for a moment, then asked back.

“Why bring up those two innocent people? Where would they have the opportunity to interfere with the army?”

“When I came to Paris, His Imperial Majesty only listened to Talleyrand! Cambacérès and Lebrun are just old men in the back room! He must have coaxed him with sweet words! Like, if Eugene the Viceroy does well, Prince Charles Napoleon will be in danger!”

“That’s half true.”

Eugene muttered, twisting his lips.

“This isn’t just about two ministers, it’s about His Imperial Majesty’s decision.”

For a moment, Ipolite and Jomini, Duroc and Marmont, and Junot looked at each other.

It was already well known in Paris that Talleyrand was keeping Eugene the Viceroy in check.

Even the Viceroy’s close aides, who had only recently returned from the New World, now knew it.

But Emperor Napoleon himself was interfering to keep the Viceroy in check?

Ipolite asked urgently.

“His Majesty is directly interfering?”

“Want to find out? I bet the Helvetian Corps, even the Bohemian Corps, will have soldiers in better condition. Except for the Spanish Corps, which is being sent out for containment.”

“Worse than the Bohemian Corps? That’s a bit much, isn’t it?”

Just as Ipolite was grumbling, Ney nodded and reported.

“That seems to be the case. I have former comrades from the Flanders Army in the Helvetian and Bohemian Corps, and they all sent me letters boasting about how high the soldiers’ training level is.”

Originally, Ney had been active in the Flanders region and had once served under Moreau.

Considering that the core of the Imperial military was from Napoleon’s Italian Corps, he was somewhat of an outsider.

On the other hand, he was the perfect person to know the trends of the non-mainstream military.

Junot, who was listening to the story, clicked his tongue.

“Then, what are you going to do, Your Highness the Viceroy? If we go out as the vanguard like this, we’ll just be bread for the Prussian army.”

“We have to follow orders. We’ll depart tomorrow. But we won’t directly engage with the Prussian army.”

“What nonsense is that? How do you fight without engaging?”

Eugene smiled and shook his head.

“No, it’s possible. If we go for long-range artillery warfare.”

Once again, all the generals were dumbfounded.

It was as if he was saying something that a royal who had never been to the battlefield would say.

The artillery commander, Marmont, interjected with an incredulous look.

“Wait, I think I was the artillery commander, Your Highness the Viceroy.”

“Did anyone say otherwise?”

“As an artillery commander, I strongly advise against it. It’s impossible to wage war with artillery alone. In the end, war requires charges, engagements, and direct combat! This is Europe, not fighting barbarians in the New World or turban-wearing guys in the Orient!”

In fact, since cannons entered the battlefield, there had been many discussions about the omnipotence of artillery in Europe.

Once the artillery fire swept through, even the most formidable soldiers would have their bodies torn apart and blown away.

Nevertheless, there were still cavalry, and furthermore, infantry was the main force on the battlefield.

Misfires, insufficient firepower, and the fact that artillery itself was easily attacked by other mobile arms.

However, Eugene had something to believe in.

In fact, the later half of the Napoleonic Wars in history tended to be more focused on firepower.

In the early days of the Revolutionary Wars, 50 cannons were considered too many, but later the standard rose to 300.

Especially in the Russian campaign, both sides fired up to 600 cannons each.

It wasn’t for nothing that marshals and generals in the later part of the war met their demise from artillery fire in history.

On the other hand, this trend of firepower warfare was just before it intensified.

Eugene recalled that point, put his legs on the desk, and smiled arrogantly.

“What if we lure the enemy into a battlefield we’ve prepared in advance?”

Marmont rolled his eyes and asked.

“It’s not a defensive war, it’s an expedition. How is that possible?”

“What was the method His Imperial Majesty used to win in Italy and Austria? It was because he fought the enemy he wanted, in the battlefield he wanted, with the tactics he wanted.”

“No, even so, it wasn’t perfect.”

Eugene smiled at Marmont, who was hesitating, and asserted.

“La Rothière [site of a battle in 1814]. Rear Guard Maneuver, soon Napoleon Emperor’s magic.”

The tactic that Napoleon tried to adhere to throughout his life, and when he executed it properly, he won repeatedly, but failed and fell.

Wide Front Rear Guard Maneuver.

With all his closest aides watching Eugene, Eugene asserted.

“That’s what we need to show in this war.”

Above all, with long-range artillery warfare as the central axis.

***

So, how should a unit of disabled veterans, new recruits, and demoralized soldiers move?

“Listen, soldiers! You are the sons of the glorious Revolution!”

Again, looking at the soldiers lined up in the Champ de Mars, Eugene shouted.

If it were the New World Viceroy’s Army, there would be no need to give such a speech.

Just the time they had spent with Eugene, the future of victory, and the expectation of spoils would have filled them with morale.

But the soldiers here either knew the bitterness of victory or were afraid of war.

Therefore, Eugene first mentioned the Revolution.

“Revolution?”

“No, it’s an Empire now?”

“Of course, uh, the Imperial Constitution recognizes the Great Revolution, but, uh.”

As Junot, Marmont, and Ney whispered to each other, the soldiers also looked at each other.

In a country ruled by Emperor Napoleon as the sole leader, the Revolution was a very sensitive topic.

But at the same time, it was also a word that still made the hearts of French citizens boil.

Eugene asserted without hesitation.

“This Citizen Empire is also the result of the Great Revolution! The country created by the citizens defeating the oppressors is none other than our Empire!”

As the soldiers paid attention to Eugene, Eugene’s viceroy’s baton pointed east.

“But now, there are ruthless kings and nobles who are trying to invade our Empire! England! Austria! And Prussia!”

In the past, there were emperors, kings, and nobles who opposed the Revolution and declared war.

The expressions of the disabled veterans who remembered that time became grim.

The faces of the boy soldiers who had heard about it from their parents became hot with burning passion.

Even though France had changed to a monarchy, they did not recognize France.

They wanted to restore the Bourbons [the former ruling family of France] or hoped that France would weaken.

That was what would happen if the Imperial Army did not fight.

Eugene looked back at the soldiers and flashed his eyes.

“Together, let’s fight to protect our freedom, equality, and country! Furthermore!”

In an instant, a very clear promise poured into the soldiers’ ears.

“If we win this war, the Beauharnais Cartel [Eugene’s business enterprise] will pay you a bonus of 10 times your salary!”

In the past, Napoleon had taken charge of an army that was ragged, starving, and soaked in defeat.

Commonly known as the Italian Army, the group that became the starting point of the legend, and the core of the current Imperial Guard.

Some of them followed Eugene to conquer the Orient and again created a vast empire in the New World.

Here, there were some disabled veterans who had participated together.

What was the secret that moved them?

The spoils acquired in the land of abundance, Italy, the land of Egypt, and the interests of the New World.

On the other hand, now that the French Empire had been established, it was difficult for the soldiers to expect the same rewards as then.

But now, the viceroy, who was called the richest man in the Empire, promised.

His company, the Beauharnais Cartel, would compensate with bonuses.

Furthermore, if they won, it would not end there.

Now, the soldiers of the 4th Corps, whose morale had been at rock bottom, began to shout in unison.

“Waaaaa!”

The 4th Corps, commonly known as the Eugene Viceroy’s Army, marched to the eastern border of France.

To threaten the outposts of Prussia at the forefront.

Or to receive a bonus of 10 times their salary.