Make France Great Again-Chapter 925 - 916: Slacking Off by Imperial Decree
Having discussed the situation of the armaments, Jerome Bonaparte then discussed with Minister of War Vayan and Nie’er about the issue of the British Army crossing the border. Jerome Bonaparte assured Minister of War Vayan that he had already promised Ambassador Cowley to "take care of" the army crossing Britain, and hoped Vayan would "take good care" of them.
"Your Majesty, please rest assured! The Ministry of War will definitely guarantee the materials for the British Army within French territory!" Minister Vayan seemed not to have understood Jerome Bonaparte’s intentions, he vowed to Jerome Bonaparte: "We are fully capable of supplying the clothing, food, accommodation, and transportation of the British Army with the stations and reserve warehouses along the railway!"
The French logistics has completely restored its functions before the Napoleonic Wars under Nie’er’s successive years of management... No, it should be said that it’s even better than before the Napoleonic Wars.
Supplying the clothing, food, accommodation, and transportation of the British Army is not a problem, even if hundreds of thousands of troops were to simultaneously take the railway to the front lines, France could handle it.
Now Jerome Bonaparte has no need to worry that the mobilization disaster of the French Empire in the real world will happen in this world.
Seeing Minister Vayan misunderstood his intentions, Jerome Bonaparte simply said to Vayan openly, "Vayan, my point is that when the British Army arrives, your Ministry of War can take a vacation appropriately!" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞
"Your Majesty, I don’t understand!" Vayan was stunned for a few seconds, somewhat bewildered, responding to Jerome Bonaparte.
Sitting next to Vayan, Nie’er obviously understood Jerome Bonaparte’s meaning, so he hurriedly explained to Vayan: "Minister Vayan, His Majesty’s intention is for us to appropriately hide our abilities in front of the Britons!"
As Nie’er finished saying, he turned his gaze to Jerome Bonaparte: "Your Majesty, I am right!"
"That’s correct!" Jerome Bonaparte nodded, affirming Nie’er’s thoughts, "You need to create an atmosphere of slackness when the Kingdom of Britain arrives!"
Make those soldiers and officers of the Kingdom of Britain think that the gap between them and you is not too big.
In this way, we can lull them!
Thereby losing the motivation for reform!"
The current British Army has also undergone a series of reforms after the Crimean War, but clearly, the intensity of their reforms isn’t substantial.
While the French Empire, under the impetus of Jerome Bonaparte, is continuously undergoing reforms.
In such circumstances, the gap between France and Britain in the army is far greater than the gap between England and France in the navy.
However, the Kingdom of Britain hasn’t realized such a gap yet.
Jerome Bonaparte also doesn’t wish for them to realize it.
Because once the Kingdom of Britain acknowledges the existence of a gap between the two, they will do their utmost to catch up.
It’s known that under equal conditions (in fact, Britain’s industry is currently far stronger than France’s), the time spent on catching up in the army is far less than the navy.
Britain only needs to understand the roles of the various departments under the French General Staff Department, they could completely replicate one.
Historically, after the end of the Franco-Prussian War, Britain completely copied the system of Prussia.
To prevent the French military system from being stolen by Prussia, Jerome Bonaparte must make the army conceal their sharpness.
If it alarms Britain, then the relationship between Britain and France might encounter turmoil.
At worst, it would lead to a premature military buildup.
Nonetheless, Jerome Bonaparte doesn’t expect to hide it for many years. If he can conceal it until the next European war, that would already be a great victory.
"Understood!" Minister Vayan nodded in response to Jerome Bonaparte.
...
Late July 1857.
A force of nearly 5000 troops set sail from London heading to the Cherbourg Military Port of France.
After a night of sailing, the Britons aboard finally arrived near the Cherbourg Military Port the following day.
Meanwhile, several warships flying the French flag, led by an ironclad, set out from Cherbourg Military Port appearing around the Cherbourg Port.
Immediately, under the command of the French warships, troop-transport ships sailed into the military port.
General Joe St. Paul Lawrence, responsible for commanding the soldiers on the troop transports, landed in advance at Cherbourg Military Port on a small boat specially prepared for him by the French side.
At this time, in Cherbourg Military Port, teams of soldiers dressed in blue and white uniforms, carrying Minie Rifles, stood on both sides of the military port dock, watching the troop transports sailing towards them from afar.
The person in command of these soldiers was none other than the commander of the Northern France Military Region, Imperial Marshal Pellissier. At this moment, Pellissier dressed in a light blue uniform (adorned with medals), holding the Marshal’s staff, silently watched the small boat gradually approaching him from afar.
As a Marshal rising during the Crimean War, Pellissier’s personal reception of the British soldiers can be said to give full face to Britain.
General Lawrence, sitting on the small boat, was astonished upon seeing the Marshal standing at the port.
He never imagined that one day he would be personally welcomed by an Imperial Marshal, which for him was an immense honor.
After Lawrence arrived at the port, he immediately jumped out of the small boat and jogged over to Marshal Pelissier, saying respectfully, "Marshal Pelissier, I must trouble you!"
"It’s no trouble!" Marshal Pelissier shook his head and replied to Lawrence in a calm tone, "As the commander of the Northern Military Region, it is my duty to personally welcome you!"
After a brief greeting at the port dock, at Pelissier’s invitation, General Lawrence and Marshal Pelissier proceeded together into the Cherbourg Military Port.
That evening, a grand welcome banquet was held in Cherbourg.
In addition to General Lawrence, the banquet attendees included his staff officers and colonel.
As for the more than 5,000 soldiers on the ship, except for the few who had disembarked, the vast majority spent the night on the ship, with hard bread that hurt their teeth and cold vegetable soup as their only food.
Two days later, the 5,000 soldiers finally disembarked under the command of British officers.
(The speed at which they disembarked refreshed the French Army’s understanding!)
Watching the troop carriers leave Cherbourg Military Port, General Lawrence, who had enjoyed two consecutive banquets, found Marshal Pelissier and asked him when they could take the train to Marseille.
In response to General Lawrence’s inquiry, Pelissier also replied, "General Lawrence, we can only arrange for you when the trains are available!"
"Marshal, when will your country’s trains be available?" General Lawrence asked Pelissier again.
"According to the train schedule, a train is expected in two days!" Marshal Pelissier responded to General Lawrence.
"A train?" General Lawrence’s face showed a look of astonishment as he slowly said, "Marshal, I have a total of 4,896 soldiers, one train is not enough for our needs!"
Marshal Pelissier shrugged helplessly and said, "General Lawrence, it’s not that I don’t want to help you!
It’s just that I’m really powerless!"
"Marshal Pelissier, you are a hero of the Crimean War!" Lawrence praised Pelissier.
"General Lawrence, first, the hero of the Crimean War is not me, but His Majesty! Any commendation for a general in Crimea pales in comparison to His Majesty!" Marshal Pelissier responded to Lawrence with a serious expression, "Secondly, I am just the commander of the Northern France Military Region, without the authority to dispatch trains from the Northern Railway Company!"
Then, Lawrence asked Pelissier who managed the Northern Railway Company.
Marshal Pelissier informed General Lawrence that the Northern Railway Company was directly under the jurisdiction of the National Railway Administration, which in turn was under the Transportation Management Department.
"General Lawrence, it would be best if you communicated with the British Envoy about this!" Marshal Pelissier "kindly" responded to Lawrence.
Seeing that the situation was dragging on, Lawrence had no choice but to send someone to Paris to seek help from Ambassador Cowley.
Upon receiving Lawrence’s "request for help," Ambassador Cowley immediately suspected that the Tuileries Palace did not want them to suppress the rebellion.
Thus, Ambassador Cowley went to the Tuileries Palace to meet with Jerome Bonaparte.
"Mr. Cowley, what brings you here?" Jerome Bonaparte asked Ambassador Cowley with a smile.
Ambassador Cowley tried to tell Jerome Bonaparte in a tactful manner that their army was currently stranded in Cherbourg.
After hearing Ambassador Cowley’s words, Jerome Bonaparte was slightly taken aback and then asked Ambassador Cowley what exactly had happened.
Seeing Jerome Bonaparte’s expression as genuine, Ambassador Cowley also dismissed his suspicions about Jerome Bonaparte.
Subsequently, Ambassador Cowley informed Jerome Bonaparte about the Northern Railway Administration’s ability to dispatch only one train.
Upon hearing Ambassador Cowley’s response, Jerome Bonaparte immediately realized that Minister Vayan had overdone the act.
He requested Vayan to conceal their incompetence as much as possible, not to bring the army to a complete standstill.
These guys really don’t know how to act! Jerome Bonaparte couldn’t help but gripe internally.
Immediately afterward, Jerome Bonaparte assured Ambassador Cowley that he would resolve this issue as quickly as possible!
The British Army would not stay in Cherbourg for long!
"Thank you very much!" Ambassador Cowley bowed to Jerome Bonaparte before leaving.
After Ambassador Cowley left, Jerome Bonaparte called the Minister of Transportation, Barroso, to his office and ordered him to quickly provide Lawrence’s troops with railway services.
However, Jerome Bonaparte specially instructed Barroso that the dispatched train should arrive a bit later than originally scheduled.
Barroso nodded to indicate his understanding.
The train for which Lawrence had been eagerly waiting finally arrived on his fifth day in Cherbourg.
However, the train arrived nearly two hours later than the scheduled time.
