I Became A Genius Of The French Royal Family [EN]: Chapter 270

What kind of group is the Boxer Rebellion?

Initially, it was a martial arts group, a common sight advocating for preserving Eastern traditions. However, it gained immense momentum by capitalizing on anti-Western sentiment, growing to its current size.

If it had stopped there, it could have remained a righteous group dedicated to protecting its country, but reality was different.

The driving force behind them was not the desire to defend the nation, but hatred towards the West.

With a slight difference in nuance, they insisted that the only way to restore the purity of China was to kill and expel all Westerners.

They also spread the idea that the introduction of Western goods would starve all existing workers to death.

“Everything related to the West is like a pest that gnaws at us. We must destroy the facilities and kill all those co-opted by the West as an example, for they are beyond redemption!”

“Kill them on sight!”

In fact, this massive wave of xenophobia was also influenced by France’s overwhelming force in suppressing the Qing dynasty.

The fear that the entire country might fall into French hands.

The leaders of the Boxer Rebellion cleverly exploited this point to attract people.

“The Westerners are plundering land under the guise of missionary work. In Guangdong Province, the land bought by French missionaries is so vast that the original inhabitants are being driven out.”

“I heard that Western churches encourage promiscuity? Moreover, they open orphanages and kidnap children to eat them!”

“The French bastards who occupied the Forbidden City take pleasure in trampling on the culture of the Han people!”

With all sorts of plausible propaganda and speculation mixed in, the Boxer Rebellion’s momentum spread terrifyingly.

They even gained a reputation as a righteous group that risked their lives to assassinate the evil French Governor-General, which boosted their expansion.

Of course, not everyone supported them.

The vast majority of those who cooperated with the Boxer Rebellion were Han Chinese.

It was only natural that a significant number of ethnic minorities had designs to gain independence by siding with France.

Perhaps because of this trend, endless violence and bloodshed were occurring in many regions where people cooperated with France.

“There they are!”

“Those Miao [a Chinese ethnic minority group] bastards! They’re Christians! Kill them!”

“Traitors trying to sell the country to the Westerners!”

The family of Jin Jing-wu, a Miao who had settled in Hunan Province, also fell victim to this atmosphere.

Believing that France would become the dominant power, they studied Christian doctrines and saved money to immigrate to French Hong Kong.

Since their family was neither Han nor Manchu, they had no chance of rising in this country, so they had no hesitation.

Could that have been the problem?

Their family and relatives, who were planning to immigrate to Hong Kong together, were targeted by the Boxer Rebellion without exception.

“Hey, traitors. You must have felt like your world had come while it lasted, huh?”

“How does it feel to sell the country and side with the Westerners?”

“Oh, misunderstanding! We’re not selling the country! We just wanted to quietly move south and live there!”

The hands of those who had turned their house upside down were holding gleaming weapons and old-fashioned matchlock guns.

It was easy to guess what they intended to use them for.

“So, you wanted to leave the country and rely on the Western devils?”

“Chao! [derogatory term for someone considered lowly] You’re the worst kind of bastards. You’re disregarding the grace you’ve received from the country and trying to run off and attach yourselves to another place? You’re Miao, right? That’s why you’re so lowly.”

A man who appeared to be Han Chinese spat and raised a long sword high.

“P, please spare us! I’ll give you all the money we’ve saved! I’ll give up on going to Hong Kong, just spare our lives!”

“Bullshit. If that’s how you felt, you should have acted with decency from the start.”

“Hey, killing them with a weapon would be too easy. How about burning them alive?”

“Should we? What about the women?”

“Kill them. But let’s have some fun with them first……”

Who are the ones not acting with decency?

In the moment when despair filled the Jin family’s eyes, a man in relatively neat attire came riding a horse from afar.

“You there! What are you doing here? There should be a conscription order!”

“Ah, yes. Please wait a moment! We’ll kill this Miao merchant bastard and leave right away.”

“Merchant? If he’s a merchant, does he have some money saved up?”

“I think so. We’ll just kill him and search him leisurely.”

The man on horseback looked around at the Jin family and the Boxer Rebellion members, clicked his tongue, and shook his head.

“I understand your feelings, but there’s no time for that now. Hey, Miao trash. If you hand over all your assets right now and get lost, I’ll spare your lives. Consider yourselves lucky.”

“Yes? You’re just going to let us go?”

“I have no choice, comrades. Information has come in that the French bastards are advancing south, and a conscription order has been issued. We may need more weapons, so we need to gather as much silver as possible as quickly as possible.”

“The French bastards are advancing south? Is the day finally coming when we can stick weapons into their bellies?”

“Yes. So, let’s quickly join the main force.”

The Boxer Rebellion group hurriedly looted the Jin family’s property and loaded it onto a cart.

Jin Jing-wu and his family had no choice but to watch as their precious money, which they had saved their entire lives, was taken away.

And after a while, only after they had all left, Jin Jing-wu could breathe a small sigh of relief that he had at least saved his life.

“Those detestable bastards……”

He had heard stories, but he didn’t know they would go this far.

Where the hell are the government troops doing? No, the government troops can now be considered on their side.

Honestly, he felt wronged. What country did he sell?

In the first place, all they had received from the state was a higher tax rate than the Han or Manchu people.

Even if they wanted to sell the country, shouldn’t they be in a position to do so?

Still, they had saved their lives, so should they consider themselves lucky?

He was sure that a massacre was taking place in Hunan Province.

“Come to think of it, they went to stop the French who are advancing south……”

If that’s the case, he wished the French army would grind those damn bastards to dust.

As long as this damned country remains, they will have to live in constant discrimination and oppression.

Wouldn’t it be better if it just collapsed?

It was exactly two days later that Jin Jing-wu heard the story that the Yang family in the neighboring village, who had planned to go to Hong Kong with them, had been massacred.

The Qing Dynasty in the 19th century was constantly falling into a vortex of madness and hatred.

※※※

At the same time.

The French 3rd Corps, advancing south through Henan Province and into Hubei Province.

“The Boxer Rebellion is gathering.”

Could it be? Are they really coming?

He truly couldn’t understand their way of thinking, trying to stop them again even after being crushed so badly by the 2nd Corps.

Napoleon had predicted that, based on the Qing’s behavior so far, they might not avoid a direct confrontation with the 3rd Corps.

Of course, it wasn’t a certainty, and he estimated the probability to be less than 50%, but it was hard to believe that there was even a possibility.

Still, in order to provoke the Boxer Rebellion, they burned and destroyed all facilities that seemed to be related to them while advancing south.

He wondered if this would really elicit a response, but the result was better than expected.

“Is Nelson unable to control the Boxer Rebellion?”

“He has to maintain the naval blockade, so it will be difficult to control the troops inland. He can issue orders, but it’s unlikely that a coalition of rioters, not regular government troops, can be easily controlled.”

“That’s true, but… it’s hard to understand.”

Lan checked and rechecked several times to make sure he hadn’t missed anything.

Of course, if they were underestimating him and his men, they could come out to be crushed again.

He could understand that much.

Napoleon had predicted a possibility of less than 50%, after all.

But no matter how he looked at it, this wasn’t it.

“Are you sure the enemy’s numbers… are only about three times ours?”

“Yes.”

“Is it an ambush?”

He said that, but where could they possibly ambush over 100,000 people, let alone 10,000 or 20,000?

None of the staff could provide a satisfactory answer to Lan’s question.

“It doesn’t make sense. If they were trying to wage a decisive battle by leading the entire Boxer Rebellion, I could understand it, but only 100,000? Are they kidding me?”

The total size of the Boxer Rebellion, including the government troops, was estimated to be nearly 300,000.

If they had brought all those troops, even the 3rd Corps would have suffered some damage.

Of course, he didn’t think they would lose.

“It seems that there must be a serious flaw in their command system.”

“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. No matter how poor they are, we must not underestimate them from the beginning.”

Who knows, maybe all of this is a sophisticated trick to induce their complacency.

Before coming here, he had read books on Eastern culture as a form of education, and there were many stories of brilliant generals who used all sorts of mysterious strategies.

Based on the descriptions alone, it seemed like even combining Alexander and Hannibal wouldn’t be enough, and yet they were historical figures.

Even so, it was hard to believe the descriptions of them summoning wind to create fire attacks, but it meant they were predicting the flow of nature and planning their strategies.

Come to think of it, Prime Minister Christian was also that kind of person, so there might have been such people in the East as well.

In any case, they were a nation that produced such strategists, so they couldn’t afford to be careless.

“Your Excellency, should we send out more scouts?”

“Yes. Since they’re trying to fight us anyway, there’s no need to rush. Let’s make thorough preparations.”

Lan pointed to the center of the map, the border between Hubei and Hunan Provinces, with a sharp tap.

“Once all the information is gathered, the time for the final battle will come soon. No, should I even call this a final battle……”

“If we can’t wipe out about 100,000 enemy troops, it would be a disgrace to our corps.”

But should he really be happy about this?

If you think about it, this couldn’t be a failure or a success of the operation.

Winning is too obvious, but the purpose of war is not to win battles.

Especially if it’s a battle that’s sure to be won.

“I would have been more comfortable if all 300,000 had come.”

“Yes?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

If.

If they really underestimated the 3rd Corps to the point where they thought they could do something with only 100,000 troops, if their judgment was so flawed that even Napoleon and he hadn’t anticipated it, then the plans after this battle would have to be revised.

“···Honestly, I wanted them to underestimate us a little, but I can’t even laugh at being underestimated to this extent.”

What the hell are they thinking coming out like this?

After the battle, he would capture a prisoner and ask them.

Jang Lan issued an order to resume the march and began writing a report to send to Beijing.

But those guys, they don’t really believe they can win, do they?