Make France Great Again-Chapter 206 Loyalty is not Absolute

Jerome Bonaparte’s bow was an unexpected event for everyone present; rulers, including Emperor Napoleon, had never shown the same respect for the military as Jerome Bonaparte did.

The Emperor’s nephew bowing to us again!

All the soldiers on the parade ground had but one remaining thought, which was to "pledge loyalty to the man on the reviewing stand"!

This thought spread like a plague through the entire army.

After the speech, the cuirassiers below the reviewing stand, under Edgar Ney’s orders, also began to take action.

Edgar Ney stood straight with his feet together, then drew his command saber, turned to face Jerome Bonaparte, and loudly reported back, "Mr. President, the units to be reviewed are lined up, ready for your inspection!"

Jerome Bonaparte did not speak, he just waved his hand. Receiving the command, Edgar Ney swiftly turned and shouted, "Mount up!"

The cuirassier battalion uniformly mounted the tall black steeds, these cuirassiers would act as messengers moving between various formations to relay the parade’s order of entry.

Their skilled horsemanship and gleaming cuirasses made them the focus of the parade; the foreign envoys on the reviewing stand commented on this cuirassier unit, with some saying they were elite troops, while others claimed they were merely showy and fragile.

They could not hear these comments, and indeed they disdained to listen to these laymen’s remarks, fearlessly conveying the President’s authority to each unit.

Under these presidential "proxies," the President’s authority was more effectively conveyed into every formation.

Led by the commanders, the formation soldiers began moving in an orderly and successive manner; their uniform weapons and military uniforms made them appear like layers of waves, as units started moving at a brisk pace without disrupting their formations, until they reached the reviewing stand, at which point they could slow their pace.

As soldiers from each formation passed beneath the reviewing stand, they hysterically shouted out their numbers and fervently chanted:

"Long live Bonaparte, long live the Republic!"

Amidst the soldiers’ orderly steps, the reviewing stand quaked as if the earth itself was toppling over.

Each chant brought a smile to Jerome Bonaparte’s face, and to show respect for the army, he would doff his hat in salute every time a unit shouted out their slogan.

The formation of the Paris First Brigade ended with "Long live Bonaparte, long live the Republic."

When it came the turn of the Paris Second Brigade, the first formation, under Brigadier General Conrobel’s lead, began to change the slogan.

"Long live Bonaparte, long live the Empire!"

Led by their commanders, the soldiers began to shout at the top of their lungs.

The expressions on the faces of foreign envoys and Legislative Assembly members on the reviewing stand changed instantly; everyone knew what the slogan represented.

Such slogans were strictly forbidden during the Bourbon and Orleans eras; even during the liberal Republic period, these slogans signaled political incorrectness.

To shout "Long live the Empire" in a Republic is practically akin to declaring war on the Republic.

If this were not a "sacred" parade, they would certainly have impeached Conrobel.

Compared to the furious expressions of the Legislative Assembly politicians, the rank-and-file soldiers obviously did not care; under the intentional promotion of their commanders, it was well-accepted among them that the so-called Republic and Empire were one and the same, and the President and Emperor were the same person.

Not only they, but even the commanders within those units also saluted Jerome Bonaparte during the parade; in their eyes, Jerome Bonaparte was an era, an era of France that had passed.

When the units of the Paris Second Brigade finished shouting "Long live Bonaparte, long live the Empire," the Paris Third Brigade took the stage. This brigade, which had been to Rome, evidently had more military spirit and vigor than the previous law-keeping troops, their eyes filled with a certain fierceness.

Under the leadership of the lower-level commanders of the Paris Third Brigade, who should have been shouting "Long live Bonaparte, long live the Republic," they, like the Paris Second Brigade, shouted the slogan "Long live Bonaparte, long live the Empire."

These soldiers returning from the battlefield shouted louder and with more passion than the soldiers of the Second Brigade.

Commander Changarnier on the reviewing stand also had a slight change in expression, as the Paris Third Brigade attempted to break free from his control.

The authority and obedience from superiors did not make the Third Brigade obedient.

De Castelana revealed a meaningful smile, as the army’s behavior was exactly as he expected.

In such an environment, how many people can truly remain untouched by this frenzy!

Jerome Bonaparte’s smile deepened, realizing that the parade was a tool to test the army’s loyalty and his control over it. The behavior of the Paris Third Brigade made him aware that he could establish prestige in the army without relying on Changarnier.

He succeeded!

The military empire created by his uncle still lived in everyone’s hearts, and even if only a small shadow of the empire was recreated, it was already enough.

The shadow of the First Empire of France would take root and sprout in every soldier’s heart. This was due to Jerome Bonaparte’s enduring feedback to the army and also partly to the army’s memories of the past.

Imagine, if the army truly did not cherish the empire established by his uncle, then no matter how hard he tried, he could not make the army shout the slogan "Long live the Empire."

Although Bourbon and Orleans waged wars to curry favor with the army, compared to the wars conducted by the Emperor and the wealth they brought, they only provided small favors to the army.

After decades of dormancy and peace, the army would not be bribed by small favors. The French Army had forgotten the pain of the Emperor’s defeat, and during defeats, how they cursed the Emperor who once led them to victory. Tired of peace from bottom to top, the army reignited its ambitions, hoping for someone to lead them down the Emperor’s path again, paving their own path of honor and medals with the enemy’s blood, hoping to establish immortal achievements in the grand campaign. To achieve this inner desire, they were willing to abandon the weak Monarch (De Orleans), betray the ineffectual Legislative Assembly, and seek a leader who could lead them to glory, whether the leader believed in Louis (Bourbon) or Napoleon. Jerome Bonaparte seized the opportunity, disguising himself as the Napoleon the army wanted, deceiving the army with lies and blueprints.

The army, willing to be deceived, irrevocably placed Jerome Bonaparte in a position in history that did not originally belong to him, simply because his name was Napoleon, a name that easily controlled the nation in the hands of a foreigner.

It must be said that this is even more bizarre than some fantasy novels; however, reality is always stranger than fantasy.

...

After the grand parade ended, Jerome Bonaparte, satisfied, waved his hand inviting the army to attend an open-air banquet.

The army, under the command of various formation officers, orderly proceeded to the open-air banquet, where limitless supplies of frozen chicken and sausages formed a small hill on the table. These were prepared over many days by Fleury and Percy, along with several hundred caterers from Paris, who worked overnight, spending nearly a million francs to accomplish the task.

The soldiers at the open-air banquet could indulge in the frozen chicken and sausages on the table, and drink the beer stored in barrels stacked together. At the officers’ call, the soldiers began to toast for Jerome Bonaparte’s health.

The considerate Jerome Bonaparte also ordered Edgar Ney and others to make their presence felt everywhere, while he moved around various drinking tables to build rapport with the officers.

The officers and soldiers clustered around Jerome Bonaparte, expressing their respect for him.

Jerome Bonaparte also responded to each one, until Percy informed him that the indoor banquet was about to commence, at which point Jerome Bonaparte raised his glass to take leave: "Gentlemen, I am delighted that you are willing to share your true thoughts with me, an about-to-be-outdated President, and I am equally willing to communicate more with you. However, I also have my own banquet, so..."

Jerome Bonaparte drained the wine in his glass and overturned it on the table, and the soldiers regretfully made way for him.

Jerome Bonaparte and Percy entered the castle, about 100 meters from the viewing platform of the parade.

In the magnificent castle hall, middle and senior military officers mingled with foreign emissaries, and beautiful music commenced in the hall upon Jerome Bonaparte’s arrival.

Jerome Bonaparte, upon entering the hall, remained the focus of the banquet, with officers and foreign emissaries coming forward to congratulate him.

"Everyone, please be seated!" Jerome Bonaparte invited the military officers and foreign emissaries to take seats at a long dining table.

Senior generals scattered on both sides of the dining table whispered softly, occasionally glancing at President Jerome Bonaparte and the person next to him.

Their intense reaction was because there was someone next to the President who should not have been sitting there.

To the President’s left was Minister of War Renio, who, as the President’s most important aide, rightfully occupied this seat. But to the President’s right was not Commander Shangjia Ren, as they assumed, but Renio’s aide, General Saint Arno.

Appointed as the Secretary of State for the Army in place of Changarnier, becoming the President’s right hand, could this mean a rupture between the President and Commander Shangjia Ren?

Following Renio and Saint Arno were Brigadier General Conrobel, Brigadier General Nie’er, and Director Lendel, before Commander Shangjia Ren.

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