Make France Great Again-Chapter 949 - 940: The Rise of MacMahon
In just this one campaign, MacMahon essentially swept through more than half of the military forces in the entire western region of the Kingdom of Morocco.
Thereafter, under MacMahon’s orders, a cavalry team of fewer than 600 men galloped forward and quickly occupied Taza and Fez, both with populations nearing ten thousand.
Now, the French Army is less than 200 kilometers away from Rabat, which can be considered almost within reach.
The adjutant, having read the battle report, said excitedly to Nier, "Chief of Staff, we should quickly report this good news to His Majesty the Emperor!"
"Yes! I thought the same!" Chief of Staff Nier nodded, preparing to head to the Tuileries Palace to report this news to the emperor.
At this moment, the door of the war meeting room opened.
Nier and his adjutant looked intently, and it was indeed Emperor Jerome Bonaparte who entered the war meeting room.
"Your Majesty!" Chief of Staff Nier and the adjutant hurriedly bowed to Emperor Jerome Bonaparte.
"Nier, I heard that the telegram from Algeria has arrived! Is this true?" Emperor Jerome Bonaparte eagerly inquired.
"That’s right, Your Majesty!" Nier walked to Emperor Jerome Bonaparte and handed him the telegram.
Emperor Jerome Bonaparte took the telegram, read it carefully, then looked up at Nier and said, "Is there a map?"
"Yes!" Nier quickly responded and then led Emperor Jerome Bonaparte to a map: "Your Majesty, this is a map of the Kingdom of Morocco!"
Emperor Jerome Bonaparte, comparing the place names in the telegram, traced with his hand on the map.
"MacMahon’s speed is truly remarkable!" Emperor Jerome Bonaparte displayed a surprised expression, gently tapping with his hand a few times, "At this speed, we can completely conclude the battle by the end of this month!"
"Your Majesty, the subsequent battles might be somewhat troublesome!" Nier responded to Emperor Jerome Bonaparte with a broad perspective on potential threats.
"Why is that?" Emperor Jerome Bonaparte asked Nier, "Shouldn’t the entire Kingdom of Morocco now have only about ten thousand troops near Rabat, and more than five thousand in the north?
Besides, we only need to deal with the ten thousand near Rabat, and let the Kingdom of Spain handle the more than five thousand in the north!"
"Your Majesty! Even if we defeat the Kingdom of Morocco’s regular forces, after their defeat, we still need to face countless guerrilla forces on Moroccan soil!
Just like we did in Algeria back then!
These guerrilla forces, although not as well-equipped as the regular army, are definitely more difficult to deal with!
We have a long road ahead before we can completely pacify Morocco!"
"You’re right as well!" Emperor Jerome Bonaparte nodded and said, "Crushing the Kingdom of Morocco is just our first step; every subsequent step is far more important than the first step!"
Following this, Emperor Jerome Bonaparte asked Nier for his opinion on the future political system to be implemented in the Kingdom of Morocco, whether to depose Abdul Rahman and annex the Kingdom of Morocco entirely, or to declare the Kingdom of Morocco a protectorate of the French Empire.
Nier reminded Emperor Jerome Bonaparte that as the Chief of Staff, he is only responsible for military matters; for such political issues, His Majesty the Emperor should consult with the Minister of State and the Minister of War!
"Alright! I won’t trouble you with this!" Emperor Jerome Bonaparte replied to Nier, very satisfied with Nier’s attitude just now.
The Chief of Staff’s main role should be in defeating the enemy; matters related to politics should best be left untouched.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Nier expressed his gratitude to Emperor Jerome Bonaparte.
"However, I will take this telegram with me!" Emperor Jerome Bonaparte shook the telegram and said to Nier.
"Yes!" Nier responded briefly.
Having found his answer at the General Staff, Emperor Jerome Bonaparte told Nier he was going back.
Nier and the adjutant quickly stepped forward, intending to escort the emperor to the entrance of the General Staff.
"No need to see me off!" Emperor Jerome Bonaparte raised his hand to decline the farewell attempts of Nier and the others, then continued, "By the way, your General Staff should commend MacMahon!
It is precisely because of his decisiveness that our army could reach Fez so quickly!"
"Your Majesty, rest assured! The General Staff will certainly commend him after verifying his military achievements!" Nier assured Emperor Jerome Bonaparte with a determined expression.
"Yes!" Emperor Jerome Bonaparte turned around, and under the farewell of Nier and his adjutant, left the General Staff by carriage.
When Emperor Jerome Bonaparte returned to the Tuileries Palace, he promptly summoned Lucien Murat.
"Lucien, put this on the front page of tomorrow’s news!" Emperor Jerome Bonaparte handed Lucien Murat a telegram.
Upon seeing the telegram, Lucien Murat also revealed a surprised look.
Unexpectedly, Emperor Jerome Bonaparte’s return this time brought back such weighty news.
"Your Majesty, rest assured! I assure you, you’ll see it on the front page of tomorrow’s newspaper!" Lucien Murat nodded and responded to Emperor Jerome Bonaparte.
"Right!" Jerome Bonaparte suddenly thought of something, and hurriedly said to Lucien Murat: "It would be best if MacMahon’s use of the Chasepo machine gun and Mauser rear-loading rifle does not appear in the reports!
We must keep some mystery about our army!"
"Understood!" Lucien Murat said.
"Alright! That’s all! You may leave now!" Jerome Bonaparte waved his hand and said to Lucien Murat.
After Lucien Murat left, Jerome Bonaparte resumed his work.
That night at 10 o’clock, Jerome Bonaparte returned to his bedroom from the study and recalled MacMahon’s "brilliant" history. He quickly inquired of Augusta beside him: "Augusta, can you add one more person to your circle of ladies!"
"Go ahead, Your Majesty, who else do you want to insert into my circle!" Empress Augusta responded irritably to Jerome Bonaparte.
"Elizabeth Delacroix, the daughter of the Duke of Castelris!" Jerome Bonaparte said to Empress Augusta.
Empress Augusta pondered for a moment and replied to Jerome Bonaparte: "I remember that the Duke of Castelris’ family serves that guy Chambord. Why would you think of recruiting them!"
"Hm!" Jerome Bonaparte sighed lightly and said to Empress Augusta: "Who could resist their son-in-law who can fight!"
Following that, Jerome Bonaparte recounted MacMahon’s feats in the Kingdom of Morocco to Augusta.
After listening, Empress Augusta also nodded and said: "Hm! We should indeed recruit them!
Let’s see! I will try to persuade Elizabeth Delacroix to lean towards us!"
"You truly are my capable assistant!" Jerome Bonaparte said as he reached to undress Empress Augusta.
Empress Augusta swatted Jerome Bonaparte’s hand away and said, "We have to go out tomorrow, so not tonight!"
"Alright then!" Jerome Bonaparte shrugged and responded to Empress Augusta, then extinguished the kerosene lamp by the bedside.
The entire room fell into a deep silence, and soon after, soft snores began to sound from within the room.
...
The next morning at 6 o’clock.
As dawn began to break, Jerome Bonaparte and Augusta both got out of bed.
Not only did they have to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the "Workers’ House," but they also needed to visit the Charitable Hospital to see the injured and finally engage in fundraising activities.
It could be said their schedule was extremely busy.
[PS: The Workers’ House is a semi-welfare rental apartment designed based on the ideas collected from workers all over Paris, built under the command of Jerome Bonaparte.
It is specifically rented out to workers, and those living in the Workers’ House pay very minimal fees annually!]
At 8 o’clock in the morning, Jerome Bonaparte, dressed in military uniform, and Augusta, wearing a white long dress, stepped out of the Tuileries Palace.
At this moment, on both sides of the steps outside the Tuileries Palace stood members of the Imperial Guard, proudly upright. They would be the escorts for this outing.
After Jerome Bonaparte and Augusta entered the carriage, the Imperial Guard on the steps also began to move. They mounted horses and guarded the carriage of Jerome Bonaparte.
The carriage moved slowly, and along the way, the citizens of Paris couldn’t help but stop and watch when they saw Jerome Bonaparte out and about!
Jerome Bonaparte’s carriage slowly progressed towards the southwestern "Workers’ House."
As Jerome Bonaparte and Augusta were riding the carriage to the "Workers’ House," located in a group of rundown buildings in the Saint-Denis District, three Piedmontese and a Roman were discussing in Italian.
One of the Piedmontese asked the Roman: "Orsini, when will we start taking action? I can’t wait to take the tyrant’s head!
To bring the Republic back to this country!"
The person referred to as Orsini thought for a moment, then said to the Piedmontese beside him: "I think we should wait a little longer!"
"Wait? Wait until when!" The Piedmontese snapped impatiently, "If we keep waiting, we might never see the unification of Italy!
Orsini, if you lack the courage to go down with the tyrant, we will always be in a state of failure!"
"Only when the time is ripe can we send this tyrant away!
Otherwise, we’re just wasting our strength!" Orsini tried to explain to the Piedmontese.
"But standing still also wastes strength!" Seeing Orsini showing signs of "hesitation," another Piedmontese also argued, "We must act quickly!
If you’re unwilling to carry out the assassination, you can withdraw now!"
