Make France Great Again-Chapter 904 - 895: The Conflict Between the Ministry of War and the General Staff
Thus, a grand military reform sparked by military planning began at the General Staff and gradually spread to the entire army.
The General Staff, Ministry of War, Governor’s Mansion of Algeria, and various major military districts were all swept into this wave of reform initiated by Chief of Staff Nier.
As the Minister of War, Vayan rushed to the General Staff immediately upon receiving the reform guidelines submitted by the General Staff.
Upon entering the General Staff, General Vayan angrily inquired of the remaining staff at the General Staff where their Chief of Staff was.
Seeing that the visitor came with hostility, the staff cautiously informed Minister Vayan that Chief of Staff Nier had led a group of new staff members from the General Staff to inspect the Capital Military Region (also known as Seine Province Military District) and might not return until the afternoon.
"The afternoon, is it?" Minister Vayan snorted coldly, not disguising his hostility towards the staff, "When Nier returns, tell him immediately! I, Minister of War Vayan, have something to discuss with him!
Please ask him to come to the Ministry of War as soon as he returns to the General Staff!
Understood?"
"Understood!" The staff member responded softly to Vayan, not daring to provoke Minister Vayan at this moment.
"Alright! I’m heading back first!" After speaking, Minister Vayan left the General Staff building without any delay.
At 5 pm that day, Chief of Staff of France, Nier, and a group of staff from the General Staff returned to the General Staff.
The staff who stayed behind at the General Staff quickly rushed to Chief of Staff Nier to relay the message about Minister Vayan’s visit to the General Staff.
"What was Minister Vayan’s expression like? Angry, dissatisfied, or..." Chief of Staff Nier inquired leisurely.
"Minister Vayan appeared extremely angry after entering the General Staff! When he spoke, his words revealed his dissatisfaction with you!" The staff reported to Chief of Staff Nier.
"Alright! I understand!" Chief of Staff Nier patted the staff’s shoulder kindly and said, "Thank you for holding the fort for me this time!"
"Chief of Staff, Minister Vayan asked you to go to the Ministry of War immediately upon your return to the General Staff!" The staff continued to inform Nier.
Chief of Staff Nier glanced at the "new generation" of staff following behind him, every one of them elite selected from various military districts to study at the General Staff, essentially France’s seed players.
However, at this moment, almost every staff member’s face showed a hint of anxiety and unease.
Nier knew that he could not immediately head to the Ministry of War now.
Otherwise, his authority as Chief of Staff would greatly diminish in the eyes of the staff.
At that time, not to say promoting reform throughout the army, even promoting reform within the General Staff would be a dream.
So, Nier responded to the staff with a relaxed expression, "No rush! I have to take them for a meal!"
Saying this, Nier led his staff to dine at the canteen.
Facing Nier, who was utterly unperturbed, the new staff at the General Staff also relaxed.
By the time the meal was over, it was already 6:30 in the early evening, and Nier shook hands with each of these new staff members.
After bidding farewell to all the staff, Nier ordered a secretary of the General Staff to prepare a carriage for him, as he needed to go to the Ministry of War.
Soon, a carriage stopped in front of the General Staff building, and Chief of Staff Nier rode swiftly towards the city center’s Ministry of War.
After a half-hour journey, the carriage stopped at the entrance of the Ministry of War.
Alighting from the carriage, Nier looked at the Ministry of War, a building of similar level to the General Staff, showing a wry smile. He knew that once he entered the Ministry of War, he would inevitably face Minister Vayan’s "challenges".
However, regarding what Nier was going to report to Vayan, he absolutely would not change his stance due to Vayan’s "challenges",
When Nier reached the entrance of the Ministry of War, two soldiers guarding the gate quickly saluted Chief of Staff Nier, who also solemnly returned the salute, inquiring softly, "Is Minister Vayan still inside?"
The soldiers guarding the Ministry of War entrance also responded softly to Nier, "Chief of Staff, Minister Vayan is still in the office!"
"I see! Thank you for your hard work!" Nier nodded, offering some encouragement.
Then, Nier stepped through the entrance of the Ministry of War.
As Nier entered the first-floor lobby of the Ministry of War, the clerks and section chiefs... on the first floor immediately focused their gazes on Nier.
Nier wore a friendly smile, inquiring of those present who could take him to Minister Vayan’s office.
After a while, the Secretary of State for the Ministry of War appeared before Nier.
The Secretary of State first bowed to Jerome Bonaparte, then responded to Jerome Bonaparte, "Chief of Staff, please follow me!"
Under the guidance of the Secretary of State, Nier arrived at the door of General Vayan’s office.
"Knock knock knock!"
Along with three dull knocks, a slightly hoarse voice from Minister Vayan came from the other end of the office, "Who is it?"
"Your Excellency, the Chief of Staff Nier has arrived!" The Secretary of State solemnly spoke through the door to Minister Vayan inside the room.
After a moment of silence in the room, Minister Vayan’s voice came out again, "The door is not locked. Chief of Staff Nier, if you feel you have a clear conscience, then come in!" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞
Upon hearing the response from inside, the Secretary of State gave a look of apology to General Nier on behalf of Minister Vayan, then bowed.
Nier shook his head and gestured to the Secretary of State.
The Secretary of State turned and left. Nier grasped the door handle, took a gentle breath, turned the handle, and entered the room.
At this moment, Minister Vayan in the room looked expressionlessly at Nier who entered, and said with a slightly sarcastic expression, "Chief of Staff Nier, I didn’t expect you would still dare to come in!"
"Minister Vayan, I have a clear conscience, why wouldn’t I dare to come in!" Nier said calmly to Minister Wa.
"A clear conscience indeed!" Minister Vayan laughed in anger, clapping as he spoke sarcastically to Nier, "I don’t understand how Chief of Staff Nier can be so assured!"
"Minister Vayan, is there any error in the military reform document I submitted to you?" Nier retorted to Minister Vayan, "Every sentence in it points out the flaws existing in our army!"
General Vayan’s expression froze, and after a while, he replied, "The contents pointed out in your document are indeed the current shortcomings of our army!"
"Then what do I have to feel guilty about!" Nier said firmly.
"But have you considered His Majesty!" Minister Vayan reprimanded Nier, "Not to mention other reform plans, let’s just talk about your proposal to reduce the cavalry team. Do you know how many cavalrymen our country has?"
"86,000!" Nier replied without hesitation.
"This is just the number of cavalrymen, not including those responsible for the cavalry team’s logistics!
If you add all these up, there are at least about 100,000 people.
You plan to cut half of the cavalrymen and then change the functions of the remaining half!
In the end, our entire cavalry team might be ruined at your hands!
You should know what kind of people are able to join the cavalry team!
Aren’t you causing trouble for His Majesty the Emperor by doing this?" Minister Vayan criticized Nier.
Nier quietly listened to Minister Vayan’s reprimands and then smiled at Minister Vayan, "Minister Vayan, may I ask what is the current role of the cavalry team?"
"Of course, to act as the main force in confrontation!" Vayan responded without thinking.
"Main force in confrontation! Can our cavalry really handle such a formidable task? Just take the Crimean War, you should know the capabilities of the Cossack Cavalry. However, besides disrupting the army’s supply line in the Crimean War, did the Cossack Cavalry have any other role?" Nier asked Minister Vayan again.
Minister Vayan recalled the post-war summary after the Crimean War, which clearly stated that the role of the Cossack Cavalry in normal warfare could be described as better than nothing.
It should be known that those Cossack Cavalry were once called the white death during the Napoleonic Wars.
However, on the Crimea battlefield, the Minie Rifle practically made those white deaths realize its horror.
"The failure of the Cossack Cavalry does not represent the failure of the French Cavalry!" Minister Vayan tried to argue.
"How about this! Minister Vayan, you take out the hardest armor from the cavalry team, and I will shoot it with a Mauser Rifle!
We just need to see the final result!" Nier decided to use the most direct example to determine the outcome.
"Alright!" Minister Vayan nodded and said to Nier, then secretly decided in his heart to prepare a breastplate that the Mauser Rifle could not penetrate, so he would have a reason to veto Nier’s idea of "abolishing" the cavalry.
(Actually, no matter whether the Mauser Rifle penetrates or not, Minister Vayan loses!)
Immediately afterward, Minister Vayan asked Nier why he wanted to change the existing tactical system since the current system used by France was obtained from the Crimean War.
Nier told Minister Vayan that the emergence of the Mauser Rifle forced them to change the existing tactical system.
Because the current tactical system they use is based on the premise of front-loading rifles.
The tactical system of faster rear-loading rifles should no longer be grouped.
The French Army should choose a tactical system that can perfectly utilize the characteristics of rear-loading rifles.
