Make France Great Again-Chapter 782 - 773 Moscow Battle Winner
With the localization of Algeria and the abolition of the National Guard on track, the time had reached mid-August.
Jerome Bonaparte finally turned his attention from domestic to foreign affairs, and it was at this time that Valerovsky brought the latest situation of the Russian Empire to Jerome Bonaparte.
"Your Majesty, according to information from St. Petersburg! The war on the Moscow front has been decided!" Valerovsky reported to Jerome Bonaparte.
"Who exactly won?" Jerome Bonaparte hurriedly inquired of Valerovsky.
"His Majesty Emperor Alexander II!" Valerovsky replied to Jerome Bonaparte.
"Hmm?" Jerome Bonaparte looked at Valerovsky with a puzzled expression.
Logically, the victory should belong to the forces under Golitsyn, as the distance from St. Petersburg to Moscow is closer than that from Odessa to Moscow.
Moreover, there is a railway between Moscow and St. Petersburg to assist, so it seemed that the Golitsyn government should have won.
Even if it wasn’t the Golitsyn government winning the final victory, the "Battle of Moscow" shouldn’t have concluded so swiftly.
Subsequently, Jerome Bonaparte asked Valerovsky how exactly Alexander II achieved victory!
Valerovsky explained to Jerome Bonaparte that a significant part of Alexander II’s easy victory lay in the allegiance of the local forces in Moscow.
Because Moscow is in the interior of the Russian Empire, the nobility there was not as thoroughly corrupted by republican ideas as in St. Petersburg.
Although Moscow’s nobility also had inclinations to establish a republic, it was not as extreme as the St. Petersburg nobles who wished to obliterate the Tsar’s entire family.
So, during the phase when Duke Golitsyn was incorporating the armed forces of the Moscow region, the local Moscow forces already showed a passive attitude.
However, since the Moscow noble officers at the time largely sided with the progressives, they weren’t purged by Duke Golitsyn.
When Alexander II led his army to engage, the Moscow region forces did not defect immediately but genuinely engaged with the forces dispatched by Alexander II.
As time passed, the mortality rate among the progressive noble officers in Moscow increased, and some officers from lower ranks were rapidly promoted.
These promotions seemed harmless at first, but they quickly led to major troubles.
Those fast-tracked military commanders, although part of the oppressed class, held a staunchly Royalist ideology at heart.
As Royalist officers gradually gained control over the Moscow military, they began colluding under the nose of the envoy.
Yet the foolish envoy paid no heed to the comparison, believing he still commanded the original revolutionary army.
Thus, in early August, the Royalist officers deployed a battalion (in reality, the Royalists could control less than a third of the entire Moscow military, and even fewer troops that they could deploy), directly killing the envoy overseeing them, and then massacring the Moscow Command completely.
By the time the progressive officers realized what was happening, those Royalist officers had already stormed into the main streets of Moscow, gloriously announcing their intention to restore order and return under the banner of Emperor Alexander II.
The leaderless progressive officers sought to mount a counter-attack but soon found they could not fully control their troops.
Both sides clashed back and forth on Moscow’s streets for half a day before the progressive officers shamefully withdrew.
The Royalist officers who occupied Moscow then spent half a day looting before inviting the troops under Alexander II into the city.
After listening to Valerovsky’s narrative, Jerome Bonaparte felt a strange sense of familiarity.
After a while, Jerome Bonaparte recalled that the actions of the Moscow Royalists were just a poor imitation of the early Royalist Party of the French Republic!
However, in the early days of the French Republic, the control over the army was not as weak as that of the Golitsyn government.
If such an event occurred on French soil, those rebels would stand no chance of victory.
"The Golitsyn government must be furious!" Jerome Bonaparte shook his head and said to Valerovsky.
"Your Majesty, the Golitsyn government has now announced the establishment of a National Guard, completely loyal to the St. Petersburg government, in the major cities occupied by Russia. As the capital, St. Petersburg will establish 300 battalions of the National Guard to reinforce various fronts!" Valerovsky replied to Jerome Bonaparte.
"300 battalions!" Jerome Bonaparte stared at Valerovsky in astonishment, "Are you sure it’s 300 battalions?"
"Your Majesty, I am certain!" Valerovsky responded with unwavering certainty.
"Tsk tsk tsk..." Jerome Bonaparte couldn’t help but shake his head, "300 battalions, at least 150,000 people! I remember the population of St. Petersburg hasn’t even reached a million yet!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Valerovsky nodded and replied to Jerome Bonaparte.
As of 1855, among all European cities, only Paris and London were super metropolises with populations exceeding a million.
"Even if I estimate St. Petersburg’s population at 900,000 (in fact, it was only around 1890 that St. Petersburg’s population barely broke the one million mark), a National Guard of 150,000! That’s equivalent to one-sixth of Moscow’s total population!" Jerome Bonaparte spread his hands and said to Valerovsky, "Is Duke Golitsyn trying to drain the entire population of St. Petersburg?"
Jerome Bonaparte paused and asked Valerovsky, "Valerovsky, do you think there’s a possibility that Golitsyn has become like Robespierre now?"
"Your Majesty, what is this ’Robespierre-like’ state?" Valerovsky asked curiously.
"It’s when one starts to see everyone as a potential betrayer and gradually descends into madness!" Jerome Bonaparte explained.
"Your Majesty, I’ve heard that starting recently, Duke Golitsyn has increasingly liked being alone, and often does things mysteriously, without knowing what he’s up to!" Valerovsky replied to Jerome Bonaparte.
Jerome Bonaparte’s expression immediately became serious. He recalled the King of Great West from a previous life, who also became enigmatic after entering Sichuan, and then began a frenzied massacre in Sichuan!
"We have to do something!" Jerome Bonaparte muttered softly, not wanting to see Valerovsky fall into the same fate as the King of Great West so soon.
The Russian Empire’s civil war should last at least as long as the Soviet Russian civil war; if Alexander II concludes the battles too quickly, he might easily refocus his attention westward.
"Valerovsky, what do you think we can do?" Jerome Bonaparte turned his gaze to Valerovsky and asked.
Valerovsky pondered for a moment, then replied to Jerome Bonaparte, "Your Majesty, I believe we should appropriately provide some support to Duke Golitsyn!"
"But Golitsyn doesn’t have any extra funds left!" Jerome Bonaparte spread his hands and said to Valerovsky, "The Russian Empire’s treasury’s remaining gold has already been completely emptied by us!"
"Your Majesty, Russia still has a lot of artifacts!" Valerovsky replied to Jerome Bonaparte.
After hearing Valerovsky’s words, Jerome Bonaparte patted his head and responded to Valerovsky, "Oh, right! There are indeed many valuable things in Russia!"
"Your Majesty, should we trade with them directly or..." Valerovsky asked Jerome Bonaparte again.
"Of course, through middlemen! I think the Kingdom of Sweden is a good choice!" Jerome Bonaparte answered decisively.
He planned to use Sweden as a middleman to transport some artillery into Golitsyn’s hands.
Jerome Bonaparte just couldn’t believe that even with artillery, Golitsyn would still fail.
"I understand!" Valerovsky nodded in response.
"By the way, I remember there are former Hungarian officers still living in France," Jerome Bonaparte said again to Valerovsky.
"Yes!" Valerovsky nodded and replied to Jerome Bonaparte.
"Send someone to communicate with them quietly, letting them go to support Golitsyn! However, they should go as volunteers, and the Empire should know nothing about it!" Jerome Bonaparte gave further orders to Valerovsky.
"Understood!" Valerovsky replied.
...
After arranging the support for the Golitsyn government, Jerome Jerome Bonaparte further discussed other issues with Valerovsky.
Valerovsky informed Jerome Bonaparte that he had received a notice from the Kingdom of Britain’s ambassador: Queen Victoria and Prince Albert would visit and exchange with the French Empire in late August.
In other words, the Victoria couple was coming over for a visit.
"They are finally coming! I thought they weren’t planning to come at all!" Jerome Bonaparte replied plainly, "Please pass on my message to Victoria and Albert, saying that Empress Augusta and I welcome their visit!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Valerovsky nodded and replied to Jerome Bonaparte.
"By the way, when is Maximilian’s coronation scheduled for?" Jerome Bonaparte asked Valerovsky.
"Your Majesty, as far as I know, Grand Duke Maximilian’s coronation in Galicia is scheduled for late September, and the ceremony in Warsaw is planned for October. You only need to head to Warsaw by October!"
