He Became Napoleon’S Genius Son [EN]: Chapter 41

(40) Bonaparte Becomes Close to Beauharnais

In times of upheaval, those racing towards the top often find it hard to care for those around them.

For instance, their siblings.

Napoleon’s third younger brother, 19-year-old Lucien, was fuming again today.

“Why! Why break your promise to me! And go to the Vendée!”

In fact, at the end of the 18th century, Lucien’s age was more than enough to be considered an adult.

Many people married at this age.

That meant he had to earn his own keep, or rather, his own bread.

Unless there was a problem with his health or intellect, but he was actually smart enough to incite people.

Even in Corsica, he had been elected as a regional council member and campaigned against Paoli.

However, Lucien did not use this intellect and ability for productive work.

He only used it for politics, a purely consumptive field.

But the only politician he could meet in Marseille, at the southern end, was Fréron.

A small fry who fell far short of Lucien’s ambitions.

Therefore, the meeting with Robespierre that Eugene had promised was Lucien’s only hope for the past few months.

But after focusing solely on business in Marseille, he was now going to the Vendée.

With no promise of when he would return.

Joseph, the newlywed who had returned to his family home for a while and was dipping bread in his soup, clicked his tongue.

“Lucien, don’t talk nonsense. President Beauharnais, or rather, Major Beauharnais, is going to perform a military mission under Napoleon’s orders.”

“Call him Brutus! My brother is probably thrilled now that he’s a legal advisor for Beauharnais Bank or whatever cartel it is! But I was only trusting that guy’s promise! He said he would introduce me to Robespierre!”

“Is that as easy as you think? He’s at the very top in Paris right now.”

Joseph shook his head.

Of course, it was true that Joseph’s household had become more prosperous as Eugene expanded his business in Marseille and Joseph received advisory fees.

However, Joseph’s defense of Eugene was separate from the fact that he was Eugene’s legal advisor.

A soldier should naturally follow orders.

Besides, Robespierre wasn’t just anyone; how easy would it be to meet him?

But Lucien’s eyes gleamed as he snorted.

“Do you think I don’t know? That Eugene guy practically made Napoleon successful!”

Joseph was so surprised while eating his bread that he almost dropped it into the soup.

“What are you talking about? Napoleon succeeded because he was good at it. He captured Toulon, didn’t he?”

“Before that! Didn’t he get the command by meeting with Auguste? Who do you think arranged the meeting with Auguste? Do Napoleon or Salicetti have the power to do that?”

“Well, Salicetti is still a member of the Assembly.”

Originally, in the original history, Salicetti arranged it, and Auguste actively accepted it, which led to Napoleon’s success.

However, the direct meeting with Auguste happened after the war ended.

In short, it was true that Eugene’s intervention accelerated Napoleon’s success.

So, Lucien had pinpointed the accurate point even amidst the errors.

That is, the truth that Eugene had influence.

“General Hoche coming here, too! Opening a bank as soon as he came to Marseille, too! That Eugene guy. He definitely has connections in Paris. But why, why doesn’t he keep his promise to me!”

Of course, unlike the heated Lucien, the Bonaparte family was at peace.

As a large family, they were having dinner in their now quite large house, and the younger sister, Pauline, tilted her head.

Pauline, who was helping the maid distribute food to the children, subtly asked Letizia.

“Why is Lucien acting like that?”

“Well, he’s upset that Eugene is going on a business trip without keeping his promise. Really, he’s all grown up but still so immature. It’s about time he started earning his own keep.”

“Can’t we ask Joseph to get him a job at Eugene’s bank? But, really. He’s going on a business trip?”

Letizia sighed, suddenly thinking of Eugene, the ‘lodger’ she adored.

“Yes. To the Vendée with a postal unit? Postmen? I hear. He won’t be able to eat good food while he’s growing up, tsk. I don’t know why Napoleone is making him work so hard when he’s younger than Louis.”

The fourth son, Louis Bonaparte, was born in 1778, making him 15 years old.

He was three years older than Eugene, who was just about to turn 13.

Later, in the original history, he would marry none other than Eugene’s sister, Hortense.

Of course, Eugene himself had no intention of it, and even less intention of pushing for it.

Letizia worrying about Eugene, the very person who would vehemently oppose that marriage, was one of the changes in history.

Meanwhile, Pauline’s eyes widened as she showed interest in Eugene’s destination.

“Um, Vendée? Where is that?”

Eliza, the older sister, who had been lightly chewing bread as if she had no appetite, replied to Pauline.

“Didn’t you learn it in school? It’s in western France.”

“Would I have studied in school, Eliza? Is the west by the sea?”

“It’s adjacent to the sea. And it’s a hotbed of rebellion right now.”

Only then did Pauline open her lips in surprise and shout.

“A hotbed of rebellion? Then there might be fighting?”

Rebellion, that is, a civil war situation.

It wasn’t like Pauline had no experience with it at all.

It was what she had experienced when she escaped from Corsica earlier this year.

The sight of people she knew holding guns and killing each other, glaring with hateful faces.

A terrible living hell.

Of course, Eliza merely snorted coldly.

“What do you think soldiers do, Pauline? Holding guns and killing people, that’s what soldiers do.”

Pauline put down her spoon and sat there blankly.

Usually, they were so busy that they only had time to see each other occasionally at dinner.

He was quite handsome, but Pauline, who had many handsome brothers, simply saw him as a commonplace kid.

But now, that kid was running off to a scene where people were being killed.

Suddenly, her heart ached a little.

Just then.

“Hello, everyone? Oh, Pauline. Your beautiful face is becoming even more beautiful!”

A middle-aged man, Stanislas Fréron, entered with a cheerful smile.

The powerful figure of Marseille, a 39-year-old adult, and a man completely smitten with Pauline.

Pauline loved this kind of adoration.

With a bright smile, Pauline greeted Fréron.

“Oh, Governor Stanislas. It’s been a while. How have you been?”

However, even as she smiled, a boy did not leave Pauline’s mind.

Eugene de Beauharnais.

***

Then, would Eugene actually think of Pauline?

He had no time for that.

Eugene was doing a final check at the training grounds of the Marseille outskirts headquarters.

-Click, click, click!

Eugene quickly turned the Ferguson rifle [a breech-loading rifle] and took aim.

It was quite difficult because he had to turn the screw.

Some of the soldiers were still having trouble with the loading itself.

That was also why the Ferguson rifle did not become mainstream in the original history.

But this rifle had a significant advantage over ordinary muskets.

Before departure, at least the commanders had to know this advantage.

That was why Eugene had specially called Marceau and Duroc on the busy eve of departure.

Eugene explained to Marceau, who was demonstrating.

“Breech-loading rifles have different loading methods than muzzle-loading rifles. Furthermore, the combat method is also different.”

“How is it different?”

“Simply put, you can fire continuously in this position.”

Instantly, Eugene picked up the gun and lay down on the ground.

-Thump!

Although still a boy, Eugene had been running around the battlefield.

Moreover, he was in his growth period, so his movements were developing rapidly as he trained.

However, the posture he was taking now was very unfamiliar to soldiers at the end of the 18th century.

Lying down and shooting, that is, a prone firing pose.

“Lying down, you’re going to shoot?”

Marceau asked with a surprised face.

Guns of this era were muzzle-loading.

That meant you had to sit down and put the bullet in front of the muzzle.

Therefore, there was almost no shooting posture in this era where you lay down and shoot.

So what are the advantages of prone firing?

It is stable, has a high hit rate, and, above all, allows for sniping.

It means that it is possible to shoot at the enemy from a low position or concealed position that is not easily visible to the enemy.

Eugene immediately demonstrated the prone firing posture in front of Marceau.

-Bang! Click, click! Bang!

Shoot, reload, and shoot again.

It’s not as fast as a modern rifle, but it feels like lightning in this era.

This is the biggest advantage of a breech-loading rifle, the loading speed.

However, Eugene quickly felt pain in his hand, stuck out his tongue, and stood up.

“Ugh, I’m going to die.”

“That’s because you’re shooting a gun as big as you are. You can’t handle the recoil.”

“I should train with a pistol or something. Anyway, that’s the advantage of a breech-loading rifle.”

Marceau nodded at Eugene’s words, then tilted his head.

“Then, what are the disadvantages?”

Eugene shrugged, holding up the Ferguson rifle’s loading port.

“Gas leaks easily.”

“What? Gunpowder smoke? Oh, then it looks like you’ll get burned?”

“The Ferguson rifle is made delicately, so it’s okay. Still, you can’t completely avoid gas leaking from the loading device.”

This was also a problem that the Dreyse rifle would experience in later original history.

To completely solve it, metal cartridges and bolt-action locking technology must be introduced.

It is still a technically difficult era to solve, but the technicians themselves do not know the necessity.

This was also a problem that gun master Polly, whom Eugene had recruited, would have to solve in the future.

At that time, Duroc, who had been listening silently from the side, opened his mouth.

“What about the Girandoni air rifle? I heard that the Holy Roman Empire army occasionally uses it.”

Air rifle, that is, in English, air rifle, is already in this era.

Oddly enough, there have even been precedents for European inventors making them since the 16th century.

It is a tool that fires bullets using air pressure instead of gunpowder.

Among them, the Girandoni rifle made by Austrian inventor Bartolomeo Girandoni has quite excellent performance.

In particular, it is the first gun to introduce a tubular magazine, that is, a magazine that puts bullets in a row in a long tube.

In short, it is a gun that can fire in bursts.

So, the Austrian army has officially introduced some of these guns since 1770.

However, as in modern times, air rifles have weaknesses in this era.

Eugene quietly thought about that point and shrugged.

“You have a wide range of knowledge, Duroc. Certainly, air rifles have less recoil than gunpowder rifles. There is no risk of gas accidents either. Besides, that gun is also breech-loading.”

“Yes, I heard that you can use several bullets. They insert something called a magazine.”

“It’s probably possible to use about 20 rounds. But you have to pump it hundreds, no, thousands of times to load it.”

There is a weakness that you have to charge air gas.

“It’s difficult to use in a fast-paced battlefield. It’s also difficult to train with.”

“Wouldn’t it be better when there’s no gunpowder? It’s a special operation anyway. Also, Polly was positive about it.”

“Yes?”

Suddenly, Samuel Polly pushed through the soldiers in the training grounds and approached.

“I heard from Duroc. You’re going to a civil war? Then, it might be difficult to supply gunpowder.”

It seems that the story came out while ordering equipment.

Anyway, Polly is now a member of the Beauharnais Cartel.

From Duroc’s point of view, it wasn’t a big secret, so he must have told him.

Eugene looked at Polly and tilted his head.

“Can you get it for me? There’s not much time left. I have to leave by October at the latest, no matter how late.”

“I already have it.”

“What does that mean?”

Then Polly’s partner, François Prelat, laughed and hit Polly’s shoulder.

“Ah, didn’t you know? Patron. Our Polly ordered us to acquire a lot of things to develop a breech-loading musket. Among them, we acquired something to reverse engineer. Hey, bring the carriage too!”

Soon after, Polly and Prelat’s munitions factory employees brought a carriage.

-Neighhhhh!

Duroc had reported that he had prepared 20 transport carriages.

Of course, the Marseille headquarters during the Revolutionary period could not have prepared such carriages.

They were all prepared by ordering them from the Beauharnais munitions factory on ‘credit’.

Among them, there was one carriage with a special device installed.

Prelat chuckled, tapping the baggage cart containing the air pump.

“It’s a pump carriage that will do the air pumping for you. It was a bit of a struggle to steal it from the Austrian army. Haha!”

Prelat, who was good at business instead of having technical expertise, played a role.

Eugene whistled and turned his gaze.

The problem is whether the soldiers can shoot this gun.

“Marceau, what about the postal special company training?”

“I’ve already done some. I saw prone shooting for the first time today.”

“Is this also Monsieur Polly’s idea?”

Marceau looked at Eugene with a serious face and said.

“I thought about it, Eugene. It’s my job after all.”

He looks calm at first glance, but his eyes look anxious.

Is he thinking that Angelique’s life will be in danger if even a day is delayed?

However, Marceau also knows that he can’t do anything if he goes alone without being prepared.

So he must have waited for almost two weeks.

Now it’s the limit.

Eugene quietly looked at Marceau and nodded.

Marceau is in a hurry and desperate enough to introduce a new weapon he has never seen before.

“You want to go as soon as possible. Okay, Marceau. We’ll leave tomorrow.”

Finally, the day of departure has come.

***

On the eve of departure, Eugene packed the uniforms, underwear, and socks he would wear for the time being and looked at the map.

“So, the operation goal is important.”

A map was spread out on the central table of the boarding room on the second floor of the Bonaparte residence.

Maps are quite accurate around the end of the 18th century.

In particular, the French map is drawn to some extent even with the road network.

It was also the most necessary part when planning a march.

Just as Eugene was looking at the map, Ippolito, who was lying leisurely next to him, asked.

“It’s just to find Marceau’s lover and return, wasn’t it?”

“How do you know where that lover is? Besides, the original reason for the expedition is to check the postal situation in the area.”

“Oh, then what are you going to do?”

Eugene looked at Vendée, Paris, and Marseille as if rotating and answered.

“I’ve already sent a letter to Auguste. I asked him to send a letter of introduction to the commander there.”

“Is the commander there okay? I don’t want someone like Cartaux [an incompetent general].”

“There might be even worse people? But there is a normal person among them. A man named Kléber who was active in the Rhine.”

Originally, Marceau would have to serve as his superior.

Later, in the original history, he is a general who goes to Egypt with Napoleon and Eugene.

Even after Napoleon ran away, he is a responsible person who takes charge of the Egyptian campaign.

That’s why he hates massacres and is soon kicked out of the Vendée because of it.

He was also the person Eugene was trying to rely on.

Then, a completely unexpected sound came.

“So, you didn’t write about our Lucien?”

Eugene was startled and looked at the door.

Pauline was smiling brightly, wearing only her pajamas.

Both Eugene and Ippolito, who were only wearing underwear because it was time to sleep, were embarrassed.

Besides, Eugene is still a child, but Ippolito is a 20-year-old young man.

But a 13-year-old girl came into the men’s boarding room without knowing how scary it was.

Hiding his embarrassment, Eugene asked politely.

“Mademoiselle Pauline? What’s wrong? At this late hour.”

“I came because it’s late. Um, Monsieur Ippolito? Can you excuse us for a moment?”

“Yes? Oh, well, I will.”

Ippolito, who was completely stunned, blankly went out as he was told.

Only Eugene and Pauline were left in the room.

Scratching his head as if feeling awkward, Eugene slipped on his shirt and asked.

“Why are you doing this, Pauline?”

Then Pauline suddenly asked.

“Are you going to die, or are you going to kill?”

“Yes?”

“It’s not just a business trip, is it? It’s almost a war-torn rebellion site. You’re going there to save Major Marceau’s lover?”

Before he knew it, Pauline took a step closer to Eugene and tilted her head.

“Why do you buy such dangerous things? The Queen’s trial, Toulon, and now Vendée.”

The dark eyes with a slightly brown tint sparkle.

Eugene remembers Pauline’s nickname.

Perhaps it’s a nickname that will be given later, but she was called the ‘White Goddess’.

Of course, it’s a title attached to anecdotes that ridicule Pauline’s free-spirited behavior.

Nevertheless, at this moment, Pauline’s still young face is worthy of hearing such stories.

Like Napoleon, she has a beauty like a classical sculpture.

Looking as if he was slightly possessed, Eugene smiled.

“Why. Is it so strange to go save a friend’s lover?”

“No, it seems that our princess’s knight is not as romantic as I thought.”

“What does that mean?”

Pauline licked her lips with a strange smile.

“I don’t know much about troublesome things like politics or the military. But I can see that our knight is deliberately being nice to our family.”

On the other hand, Eugene was startled.

Just like Josephine.

She doesn’t have a wide range of knowledge or deep thoughts, but she is very quick-witted.

She had figured out that Eugene was deliberately approaching the Bonaparte family.

Suddenly, Pauline put her hand to her mouth and laughed.

“Hahaha! Don’t worry. Even if I know, I won’t tell. And it seems like our mother likes the knight too.”

“Yes? What are you talking about?”

“Our mother is someone who has experienced all kinds of things. How can she not be quick-witted? Still.”

Pauline winked.

“It’s obvious that the knight is a good person.”

Even if he approaches with an intention, his personality is bound to show.

It means that Eugene is a pretty good person in the eyes of Pauline or Letizia.

It was a very unfamiliar compliment to Eugene, who had mainly been praised for his abilities so far.

In fact, ordinary boys would like this kind of compliment about their character more.

Eugene scratched his head, feeling somehow embarrassed.

“Th, thank you. Mademoiselle, Pauline.”

“Just with words? You don’t seem sincere? Even Fréron brought me a gift today? Of course, Gino or your roommate Ippolito do that every day.”

“Yes? No, I don’t have any other gifts to give. Ah.”

Eugene, who was embarrassed again, hesitated and took out one thing from his pocket.

“How about this?”

Pauline tilted her head at the sight of the silver lock shining.

“A lock?”

“It’s a lock that even King Louis made. I put it in my pocket when I went into his room a long time ago.”

“Oh my, is it okay to give such a precious thing?”

Eugene shrugged and smiled.

“If it can win Mademoiselle’s favor. Ugh.”

In an instant, Pauline covered Eugene’s lips with her own.

A very warm sensation licks over his lips.

A soft feeling seeps into his mouth, gently wrapping around and tilting his mouth.

A strangely sweet scent torments the tip of his nose.

Clearly, moisture is exchanged between them, but strangely, his throat is burning.

When he came to his senses, Pauline’s tongue had already left Eugene.

Pauline looks at Eugene, who is blinking and blushing, as if she is having fun.

She is slightly red, but rather, she has a bright smile, so she is even confident.

Pauline kissed Eugene on the cheek and whispered.

“That’s it for now. Next time, I’ll do it after you come back. Come back safely, knight.”

Eugene, who was much more surprised than he had felt on the battlefield, slumped down on the bed.

His ears are ringing as if a cannonball had exploded.

It’s because his heart is beating so loudly.

At that moment, as soon as Pauline left, Ippolito ran in.

“Hey, what did you do? This is betrayal. Do you know?”

“I didn’t do anything. Uh, so.”

“You’re not going to betray the princess, are you? If you look away, I’ll tell on you? Huh? It’s not just betrayal to me!”

While Ippolito was jumping up and down, Eugene finally realized the situation.

So, this is the famous ‘French kiss’.

Did Pauline give Eugene a gift for going to a battlefield where he might die?

In fact, Pauline is not even French.

Quietly licking his lips slightly, Eugene smiled bitterly.

“It’s really hot, the Italian woman.”

It was the day before Eugene left for the battlefield in Vendée.

The next day, Eugene left for Vendée with Marceau, Ippolito, and Duroc.

Along with a special company of 100 air rifle-armed soldiers.