Make France Great Again-Chapter 903 - 894: Disagreements Over Building the Army
"Understood! Rest assured, the General Staff will certainly act according to your requirements!"
Nie’er assured Jerome Bonaparte with a slightly exalted tone.
"By the way, more research must be done on army tactics and large troop maneuvers!
Don’t keep thinking about using the previous established tactical systems; our era is no longer the era of the First Empire!
Therefore, the large troop tactics and army formations from Napoleon’s period can only serve as a reference and cannot be copied blindly.
However, the skirmish line used in the early days of the First Republic can serve as a reference.
How exactly to use it will be up to you!
Of course, it’s not just the tactics from Napoleon’s period. Even the security war in Algeria and the Crimean War can only serve as references..." Jerome Bonaparte rambled to Nie’er, at this moment eager to instill all the contents in his mind into Nie’er’s mind.
If we only talk about military command on the battlefield, Jerome Bonaparte’s ability cannot compare to Nie’er at all.
Not to mention Nie’er, even a staff officer with one or two years of command experience is much stronger than Jerome Bonaparte.
However, when it comes to the prediction of future wars and the development of the army, even the neighboring German war god Old Maoqi is inferior to him.
At least currently, Old Maoqi is still in the exploratory stage regarding the reserve system and military logistics. Historically, Old Maoqi’s theories truly matured after experiencing the Austro-Prussian War.
And Jerome Bonaparte is akin to standing on the shoulders of a series of stars from now to over a hundred years in the future, discussing the thinking of establishing an army.
Although some thoughts may not be applicable now, for an excellent military commander, some of Jerome Bonaparte’s ideas can be referenced.
Just like Nie’er now, he is focusing intently on listening to Jerome Bonaparte’s grand discourse, then signaling with a gesture and presenting his own insights.
Nie’er believes that if the French Army uses skirmish tactics similar to the First Republic, it will inevitably make the entire battlefield exceptionally chaotic, which will not be conducive to the army’s command.
On the contrary, if the army adopts tactical clusters based on battalions for attacks, then France’s firepower can be further strengthened, and at the same time, each brigade should be equipped with a thousand shovels and axes, allowing the army to switch from offensive to defensive mode.
Nie’er’s cautious tactical system makes Jerome Bonaparte feel that he is facing not a general bathed in the glory of the First Empire, but rather Marshal Petain, a hero of the Battle of Verdun in World War I.
During World War I, Petain was the only French general who believed that France should conduct defensive counter-attacks.
Facts proved that Marshal Petain’s proposal was correct; during World War I, France indeed should have conducted defensive counter-attacks.
However, it is now the 1850s, and the population and industrial gap between France and Germany is not obvious, so the theory of defensive counter-attacks does not apply to the current version.
Nonetheless, considering Nie’er himself is from the engineering corps, it is not surprising that he can speak of defensive counter-attacks.
"General Nier, the skirmish clusters indeed have the potential to create chaos within the army. Therefore, we should choose to give subordinate units more decision-making power, allowing them to judge for themselves what should and should not be done! Of course, the Chief of Staff also needs to strengthen control over the army!" Jerome Bonaparte presented his own insight to Nie’er, "Large-scale small units acting from all directions, combined with the firing speed of new rifles, can completely create a momentum that feels overwhelming!
I believe any army seeing this situation would be gripped by fear!
What’s more, we have artillery as a powerful weapon; concentrated artillery moves with the troops, using artillery to attack the enemy, weaken enemy morale, and then use the surrounding infantry to form a semi-circle...
And I’ve already commissioned Chasebo to develop a new weapon for the army, which consists of multiple barrels...
This rifle will be used at the very frontline, along with the infantry to harvest the enemy.
This way, we don’t have to worry about insufficient firepower!"
Jerome Bonaparte continued to talk eloquently, and Nie’er gradually gave up the insistence in his heart.
"Of course, regarding what you just said about equipping each brigade with a thousand shovels and axes, I absolutely agree!
We must not only learn how to attack but also learn how to defend!
However, the current army shovels and axes are not good in terms of strength and appearance, so I will have the industrial group design a new type of entrenching tool for the army, and then you only need to place an order!" Jerome Bonaparte added.
Nie’er, who was unaware of the truth, thought that Jerome Bonaparte’s move was to benefit his own company, and he hastily pledged allegiance to Jerome Bonaparte, saying that as long as the entrenching tool is designed, the army will purchase it first.
Subsequently, when Jerome Bonaparte and Nie’er discussed the role of the telegraph, Jerome Bonaparte suggested that each division should be equipped with a telegraph unit, whose purpose is to receive telegraphs and telegraph wires (wired telegraph, with each telegraph having a telegraph wire behind it).
Nie’er believed they only needed to equip fixed telegraph stations at the node points, which could also utilize cavalry advantages for liaison.
"What if our army is in an enemy village, then what would we do," Jerome Bonaparte asked back, "After all, there are no ready-made telegraph stations there!"
"This..." Nie’er thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement with Jerome Bonaparte’s idea.
...
Although Jerome Bonaparte and Nie’er had some differences on the aforementioned issues, they were remarkably in agreement on the issue of cavalry.
That is, to reduce the number of cavalry units as much as possible, especially the number of heavy cavalry units.
The Crimean War had completely clarified that cavalry units had transitioned from a main force to an auxiliary role in warfare.
And in the current French Army, there are 12 regiments of heavy cavalry, 20 regiments of dragoons, 21 regiments of light cavalry, and 7 African cavalry regiments.
All the cavalry together numbered about 86,000, and maintaining such a large cavalry force is also not a small expense.
"Your Majesty, I plan to cut down half of the 12 regiments of heavy cavalry, and entirely eliminate the 20 regiments of dragoons! The remaining 21 regiments of light cavalry will also be cut to just 15, but their equipment must be according to the specifications of reconnaissance cavalry.
We will continue to retain the 7 African cavalry regiments." Nie’er explained his reform plan to Jerome Bonaparte.
Jerome Bonaparte silently calculated the number of cavalry that Nie’er proposed to cut. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺
If it were to be carried out as Nie’er stated, the cavalry force of 86,000 would be reduced to about 40,000.
The African cavalry regiments alone would account for 10,000 of that. (The African cavalry belongs to the colonial forces, and Nie’er considered the mobility needs of the North African region, which is why he chose to retain the African cavalry regiments.)
"Nie’er, do you know how much hatred you’ll incur from the nobility by doing this?" Jerome Bonaparte said seriously to Nie’er.
In the French Cavalry, the heavy and dragoon units (dragoons and cuirassiers) have always been a gathering place for the sons of the nobility, and Nie’er’s drastic actions against the cavalry would directly risk the careers of many noble sons.
Once the plan is implemented, Nie’er would certainly be cursed to death by those unemployed noble sons, and in extreme cases, they might come directly to take Nie’er’s orders!
Nie’er revealed a bitter smile and replied to Jerome Bonaparte, "Your Majesty, I am well aware!"
Then, Nie’er’s determination gradually solidified, "But, Your Majesty, we must firmly carry out military reforms to rejuvenate our army!
Isn’t that so? If we retreat at every difficulty, then reform cannot be achieved!"
After hearing Nie’er’s determined response, Jerome Bonaparte also smiled and encouraged Nie’er, "You’re right! If we retreat at every setback, then reform cannot be achieved!
Regarding the cavalry issue, I will give you the greatest support!
Boldly carry on with your work!"
"Yes!" Nie’er responded resolutely.
Subsequently, Jerome Bonaparte and Nie’er continued to discuss other matters.
Time unknowingly passed, and it was already around 5 PM.
The conversation between Jerome Bonaparte and Nie’er still did not stop until a knock on the door interrupted them, and they realized the time and stopped their discussion.
At this moment, Jerome Bonaparte looked out at the gradually darkening sky with a surprised expression.
Sitting beside Jerome Bonaparte, Nie’er quickly asked, "What’s the matter?"
From outside the room came the voice of a staff officer, who informed Nie’er that Chief Steward Bashirio, on the orders of Empress Augusta, was inquiring about when His Majesty Jerome Bonaparte would return to the Tuileries Palace.
"Go tell Bashirio that I’ll be back soon!" Jerome Bonaparte said to the staff officer outside the door.
"Yes!" The staff officer replied and turned to leave.
After the staff officer left, Jerome Bonaparte decided to end their conversation, saying to Nie’er, "It’s late! I should also be leaving! You should organize yourself well, and take some time to digest the content of our conversation!
Military reform cannot be delayed; if we’re late by a step, we could be left far behind!"
"Understood!" Nie’er replied firmly to Jerome Bonaparte.
With a farewell from Chief of Staff Nie’er, Jerome Bonaparte left the General Staff by carriage.
Shortly after Jerome Bonaparte’s departure, Nie’er convened the members of the General Staff for a two-hour meeting.
