Just as Jerome Bonaparte was contemplating how to punish the Russian Empire after the war, a knock on the door reached his ears.

He quickly locked the codebook back in the drawer and folded the encrypted telegram, placing it in his pocket. He called out seriously to the person outside the door, "Come in!"

The office door slowly opened, and the figure of Jerome Patterson appeared at the doorway, "Your Majesty, all the division commanders have arrived at the headquarters!"

Jerome Bonaparte nodded, stood up and responded, "Alright! I know! Let’s go!"

After Jerome Bonaparte and Jerome Patterson left the office, they went straight to the command hall of the headquarters.

When Jerome Bonaparte pushed open the door of the operations meeting room, he immediately saw Conrobel, Bosskay, Troche (who was promoted to Third Division Commander by Jerome Bonaparte for his outstanding performance at Inkman Mountain; the former commander, Pelissier, had completely stepped down from the position of Third Division Commander to focus on his role as acting commander of the Expeditionary Army), Marshal Renio, and Marshal Pelissier. At that moment, they were seated at the long conference table awaiting Jerome Bonaparte’s arrival. When Jerome Bonaparte appeared before them, the four commanders and the acting commander all stood up and saluted Jerome Bonaparte simultaneously, showing respect.

Jerome Bonaparte also solemnly returned their salutes, then walked step by step to the main seat of the long conference table, pulled out the chair, and sat down.

The entire atmosphere in the meeting room became even more oppressive as Jerome Bonaparte took his seat.

Everyone seated was silently waiting for Jerome Bonaparte to speak, while Jerome Bonaparte, as the initiator of the meeting, was still organizing his thoughts in his mind.

After a while, Jerome Bonaparte, having organized his thoughts, spoke to them in a heavy tone, "The purpose of calling you here today is to announce a matter of national mourning!

Marshal of the French Empire, Commander of the Expeditionary Army, recipient of the Highest Glory Legion Medal, Count of Sevastopol, Marshal Saint Arno, has fallen into a coma around two o’clock this afternoon and, at three o’clock, Marshal Saint Arno passed away, returning to the arms of God!"

Upon hearing this, everyone present, except for the three who had already been informed of Marshal Saint Arno’s death, showed expressions of shock and sadness.

The most distressed among them was Troch.

As Marshal Saint Arno’s aide-de-camp, from the time Saint Arno assumed the role of Minister of War, he had been under the benefaction of Marshal Saint Arno.

Even when Saint Arno was convalescing in Constantinople, as his aide-de-camp, he continued to benefit from Saint Arno’s legacy.

It is fair to say that Troch’s current position is greatly due to Marshal Saint Arno’s legacy.

It should be noted that Troch is only 39 years old, and if you compare him to Ba Zan, who is about his age (in fact, Ba Zan is four years older), although Ba Zan, like him, holds the rank of Major General, Ba Zan’s position is just that of the Commander of the Zuav Corps.

Whereas Troch now commands the most elite troops of France, the gap between the two is evident.

And for those in the same division commander sequence as him, most are in the 40-60 age range, and even the youngest, Conrobel, is now a "senior" at 45.

Troch can be said to be the youngest among all the division-level generals.

If he hadn’t been Marshal Saint Arno’s aide-de-camp, there is no way Troch could have secured the position of Third Division Commander.

Of course, if Marshal Saint Arno hadn’t been gravely ill, Troch wouldn’t be sitting as the Third Division Commander.

Troch is essentially a major figure that Jerome Bonaparte deliberately set up to let other forces see that even though Marshal Saint Arno has passed, the forces behind Marshal Saint Arno will not be abandoned by His Majesty the Emperor.

Whether Troch can take over Marshal Saint Arno’s banner and unite Marshal Saint Arno’s followers depends on his own capabilities.

The topic digressed, but at this moment, Troch had not thought this far ahead; all he cared about was whether he could accompany his old superior on his final journey.

After all, one must not forget one’s origins.

"Your Majesty!" Troch’s voice slightly choked up.

"Troch, speak!" Jerome Bonaparte responded softly.

"Please allow me to resign from my position as division commander!" Troch implored Jerome Bonaparte.

Upon hearing this, Jerome Bonaparte decisively refused: "No! I do not agree! Major General Troch, this is a battlefield, not a workplace! Our French Army is not the British Army; you cannot just leave because you want to! If you truly wish to leave, then strip off your uniform!"

"Then I would like to request a leave of absence for some time!" Major General Troch asked Jerome Bonaparte as a compromise.

"How many days of leave do you need?" Jerome Bonaparte asked Troch.

"About a week!" Major General Troch replied to Jerome Bonaparte.

Jerome Bonaparte held up three fingers to Troch and said, "Three days; I am only giving you three days! After three days, you must return to the army on time, understood?"

"Yes!" Brigadier General Troche responded resolutely.

"Go! You can head to Constantinople now!" Jerome Bonaparte waved him off.

Troche then asked Jerome Bonaparte if there was anything else he needed to instruct him.

Jerome Bonaparte told Troche that everything would be discussed when he returned!

"Also!" Jerome Bonaparte said to Brigadier General Troche: "Also bid farewell to Marshal Saint Arno for us, tell him that we will definitely defeat Russia!"

After Troche left, Jerome Bonaparte once again issued orders to everyone present: to lower the French Empire’s flag in Sevastopol to half-mast and to announce the death of Marshal Saint Arno to the French Army.

Everyone promised in unison that they would follow Jerome Bonaparte’s orders.

After speaking of the sad news, Jerome Bonaparte shared something worth celebrating: "There’s another thing! According to reliable information, my brother in St. Petersburg, Nicolai, has now fallen seriously ill! It won’t be long before he joins God!"

Everyone present beamed with joy upon hearing Jerome Bonaparte’s second piece of news.

The current Russian Empire was completely being dragged into war by Nicholas I. It was like a compressed spring; the more pressure applied in the beginning, the stronger the rebound later on.

Once Nicholas I is gone, their forces on the Crimea Peninsula will probably become even more demoralized.

Defeating the Russian Army on the southern front of the Crimea Peninsula would then be just around the corner.

"Your Majesty, I think we should do something!" Conrobel voiced his opinion.

"What do you want to do?" Jerome Bonaparte responded with interest.

Although he already had a strategy in mind, he still wanted to hear their thoughts.

Conrobel told Jerome Bonaparte that he believed the army should send a contingent to Simferopol to spread the news of Nicholas I’s severe illness, which would undoubtedly cause unrest in the morale of the entire Russian Empire.

Then, taking advantage of the chaos, the troops from Yevpatoria Town could swiftly move to Perekop, cutting off the only inland link to Crimea at lightning speed.

Simultaneously, the main forces of the Allied Forces can attack Saki, Bakhchisaray, and Simferopol respectively.

By then, the Russian Imperial Army will inevitably choose to retreat to Perekop.

Once they arrive at Perekop, they’ll find that its gates have already been closed to them. The 200,000 troops of the Russian Imperial Army will be trapped like fish in a barrel by the Allies.

Once the elite troops on the southern front of Russia are wiped out, aren’t they bound to surrender to France?

After hearing Conrobel’s strategy, Jerome Bonaparte nodded with satisfaction and shared his thoughts with Conrobel and others.

Finally, Jerome Bonaparte issued orders to Pellissier, instructing him to draft a qualified plan as soon as possible with the Expeditionary Army’s Staff Department and present it to him.

Then, at the next Allied Meeting, he would coordinate and arrange the tasks of each unit. "If this plan succeeds, we can defeat the Russian Empire before winter fully sets in, forcing them back to the negotiating table!!

If we fail, we might have to wait for the next spring to battle the Russian Empire decisively.

Our time is limited, gentlemen!"

"I understand, Your Majesty!" Pellissier replied solemnly to Jerome Bonaparte.

"Alright! That’s all I have to say! Does anyone have anything to add?" Jerome Bonaparte asked.

"Your Majesty, when will the new bullets be delivered!" General Conrobel asked.

Jerome Bonaparte thought for a moment and told Conrobel that the transport ship loaded with ten million Minie Bullets was now docked at the port of Cyprus, and was expected to arrive in Sevastopol within the next two days!

"By the way, Your Majesty! Our division is also short on canned food and cigarettes, can the logistics department send more!" Bosskay continued to request.

"Each unit’s monthly supply is fixed. Your division will have to wait until next month." Jerome Bonaparte gave Bosskay an annoyed look, knowing that the reason the Second Division had such high consumption was because they used to carry canned food to nearby villages for "advance consumption" every week.

Nowadays, canned food and cigarettes have become the new currency in Crimea.