Flowers, Swords and France

"Everything is in chaos in the army now. Those who support us and those who support the Party of Order are fighting fiercely. It is really troublesome! Most people are still waiting and watching, but if we take action now, they will definitely rise up against us. At that time, we were absolutely isolated in the army... Therefore, Mr. President's meaning is very clear. Now we can only slowly fight with our opponents within the political framework, accumulate strength, and then use the saber to solve the problem until everything is ready. ”

In a room at the Elysée Palace, Colonel Canrobert, the aide-de-camp of Mr. President, whispered to the person sitting next to him.

He had just turned forty and was full of energy. Although he was slightly bald, the muscles in his arms were tight and strong, making him look powerful. The uniform on his body fit perfectly, and every copper button seemed to be emitting a dazzling light.

He is one of the few senior officers in the army who has directly devoted himself to the Bonaparte family. Naturally, he does not lack the ambition shared by Bonapartists.

[Francois-Certain-Canrobert, (1809-1895), was born in a family of French military officers. He graduated from the French Military Academy of Saint-Cyr in 1835 and later participated in the July Monarchy in North America. During the colonial war, he was later transferred to fight in North Africa. He was promoted to colonel because of his many military exploits.

After the February Revolution, he became a Bonapartist and was appointed aide-de-camp to the president after Louis Bonaparte was elected president. In 1850 he was promoted to general by the president. Became one of Louis Bonaparte's confidants in the army.

He later participated in and directed Louis Bonaparte's Coup of Brumaire, and was promoted to Marshal of France in 1856. 】

“Is the opposition in the military so strong?”. Ciel asked the other person gently.

"Hey, decades have passed now. How many people still remember the glory of the past?" Conrobert sighed, "Now everyone listens to the senior generals, and those generals were promoted by the previous dynasty. , so... so they don't have deep feelings for the Bonaparte family. General Cavaignac, General Changarnier, and Duke Rijvo are all opposed to our actions. They said that Mr. President will not be here for a long time. You have to get off the stage and watch our jokes.”

"Ha! Forget it Cavaignac, that bastard Oudinot. As the son of the emperor's marshal, he dares to oppose Mr. President, how shameless!" Charles spat seemingly indignantly, "The father is a traitor. The son is indeed a traitor. A bad breed too. Sooner or later we have to give them a taste of color!”

[Referring to Nicolas-Victor-Oudinot (Charles-Victor-Oudinot), the French general at the time and the second Duke of Rijvo. Born into a military family, he joined the army at an early age and later became a general. In the original history, he led the French expedition against Rome in 1849. He leaned towards the Party of Order and opposed the rule of Louis Bonaparte.

His father, Nicolas Charles Oudinot (1767-1847), was a soldier in the pre-imperial era and was appreciated by Napoleon for his bravery and repeated military exploits. He was created Duke of Rijvo and in 1809 he was made Marshal. After the end of the empire he joined Louis XVIII. When Napoleon was restored in 1815, he refused to serve the emperor again.

After his father's death, Oudinot inherited the dukedom and continued his father's political tendencies. Both generations of father and son became enemies of the Bonaparte family. 】

"It's useless to say this now. Just saying angry words won't hurt them." Canrobert interrupted, "In short, what Mr. President means is that it's not the right time yet. We can only continue to work in the Army." It is better to accumulate influence than to act directly.”

"This is a very wise judgment." Charles nodded slightly.

"Therefore, as a means to achieve this goal, Mr. President is very concerned about building momentum for the expeditionary force. Mr. de Treville, although everyone knows that you are busy with official duties, you should pay more attention to this aspect... …as you know, the war in Rome is now almost over, and most of the rebellion has have been eliminated, so it is estimated that most of the expeditionary force will be transferred back soon. These people have been influenced by Bonapartism and will definitely be more inclined to Mr. President... As long as they are captured, Mr. President’s power in the army will become stronger and stronger, and those on the sidelines will know which way the wind is blowing.”…

The so-called "influence of Bonapartism" probably means sharing the wealth after robbery, Charles complained in his heart.

"Of course, you don't have to worry about me, I naturally know what to do." Charles also nodded and replied seriously.

Originally, he should not be involved in such matters, but the commander of the expeditionary force was his grandfather.

"That's great," Colonel Canrobert smiled slightly, "You have always won the trust of Mr. President, and you should not make things worse. Besides, General de Treville has always been highly respected, and the army I would admire him, at least in my opinion.”

"Thank you for complimenting my grandpa like this, Colonel." Charles also smiled back, "However, you also know that my grandpa is already old, and he can't stay in the army forever. He is just trying his best to support the trend. They are just officers from the Bonaparte family... In the future, the Army will eventually need a younger generation to lead..."

After hearing what Charles said, Colonel Canrobert did not answer, but he seemed to be happier - because he certainly belonged to the "younger generation".

"However, as often happens in the world, in the midst of a bright light, we can always see a few dark clouds..." Ciel suddenly changed the subject.

The colonel gently put the spoon into the cup, then rotated it slightly and shook it. The black coffee juice also swayed around, showing erratic ripples. The young man in front of him obviously had something to say, but he was not in a hurry and waited for the other person to say what he said.

"Of course, things are always unpredictable. But I think you can tell me whatever you want without beating around the bush, sir."

"Actually, it's not that big of a deal. It's just a casual chat in the afternoon. I hope I won't waste your precious time." Charles smiled apologetically, "I just said that I have some opinions about the current army system. …”

"Oh? So what are your opinions? You might as well speak up and listen." The colonel picked up the cup and took a sip of coffee.

"I think there are big problems with our country's army recruitment system." He seemed to be encouraged by the other party. Charles said it out in one breath, "Don't you think? I'm afraid that in future large-scale wars, the current system is completely unsuitable for our country to mobilize the power it should have. This will put our country in a very dangerous situation. situation……"

"Where do you start with this?" After hearing Charles's somewhat alarmist words, the colonel felt a little surprised and gently put down the cup. "Although many people have opinions about the Army, this is the first time I have heard such harsh opinions."

"Then let me explain it to you in detail."

Ciel put his hands on the table. Then he made a gesture.

"We now have almost 100 infantry regiments. Together with the chasseurs and other troops, the infantry alone has more than 300,000 people. Moreover, we also have 80,000 to 90,000 cavalry - but we are short of horses and often need to come from Germany. Imported war horses. We also have tens of thousands of artillery and military police, or other service troops.

If you calculate this, we probably have about half a million army troops in peacetime... Although many troops must be placed in colonies around the world, this number is still huge enough. "

"There is no doubt. We have the most powerful army in the world." Colonel Canrobert replied with a sense of complete pride.

However. His pride was not echoed by Ciel.

"In a short-term or small-scale war, we can certainly say that we have the strongest army in the world, but what if it is larger? What if it is a large-scale war that we have never seen before? When When we need an army far exceeding half a million men, we will find that the situation is very It's not optimistic anymore - because France simply doesn't have many reserves with sufficient military training! Then, we will find that we need to train new recruits who know nothing about it from scratch, and then waste precious few in the war. Months—and in just a few months, a country may be doomed!

Why is this happening? Because we don't actually use a draft system at all, we don't draft enough soldiers every year because we allow people to pay other people to serve on their behalf and have those draftees serve for very long periods of time. Of course these servicemen are very good and brave, but their long term service prevents us from training more short-term troops...

This is easy to understand - if the same 100,000 troops serve for ten years on one side and three years on the other, then in ten years, the troops who have served for three years will have a total of hundreds of thousands more adequately trained soldiers, although these soldiers will Retire and return to civilian life, but when needed, isn't it possible to call upon one at any time? In this way, in peacetime, although the two armies have equal combat strength, after both sides expand their armies at the same time, it is easy to imagine who will win and who will lose, right? ".

"I understand what you're saying, but do we really need over a million troops?". After hearing Charles's tirade, the colonel slowly became more serious, "We are not fighting a European war."

"In the future, I insist that each country will become stronger and stronger. One day, several big countries will be able to use millions of troops to kill each other, and this day is not far away. Since we are destined to follow this path, Shouldn't France prepare earlier? She is already lagging behind others..." Charles replied firmly.

He glanced at the other party and then emphasized his tone.

"When the time comes, let alone traditional powers like Austria or Russia, I am afraid that Prussia will be able to produce an army more powerful than the French Army."

His words quickly received the expected response.

"Oh, Prussia!" Colonel Canrobert shouted, looking like he wanted to laugh but was restrained by etiquette. "Look what you are saying!"

"I'm saying that soon, even Prussia will be able to come up with an army stronger than France, sir." Charles repeated coldly. "And I'm well-founded."

"Based on that?" the colonel looked at Charles again. As if to confirm whether the young man had a high fever. "Prussia is a small country with a small population, and its financial strength is completely incomparable to France. How could it possibly defeat France? If it was meant as a joke, this would be too clumsy, sir."

"Before Galileo demonstrated that two iron balls hit the ground at the same time, many people had the same idea as you." After feeling the hidden sarcasm of the other party, Charles responded calmly.

"Oh? Then tell me, I want to see how you can praise the Prussians to the sky! Oh, Prussia..." The colonel was also a little unhappy. "Our predecessors have seen them, yes, they are Emperor Napoleon and your grandfather. They were in Jena, and it only took them two days to beat them to pieces...Have you forgotten the glory of your grandfather at that time? Already?"

"I have not forgotten, sir. Because I have not forgotten, I cherish this honor even more. I am afraid that it will be slightly damaged. And this requires us to make greater efforts than usual."

"Then it's over? You're not an officer. You haven't even served as a soldier for a day. If you question too much about the affairs of the army, I'm afraid it won't be convincing, right? It's a lot of words." With a faint smile, Colonel Canrobert He replied slowly, "The Army can naturally handle the Army's affairs on its own. Don't worry, it is more reliable and stronger than any other institution in France."

When an insider encounters an outsider talking nonsense about his or her own profession, he or she will inevitably smile like this.

"But. With all due respect, we cannot turn a blind eye to the crisis that is already in front of us, but I feel that the entire army does not have that sense of crisis, let alone the sense of urgency to carry out sufficient reforms." In the face of the other party's ridicule, Ciel remained calm. “This is not something we can just close our eyes and pretend it doesn’t exist, but a real crisis.”…

"So, do you have any secret channels? I think the army itself knows much more about the armies of European countries than you do..." The colonel smiled again, as if he was too lazy to refute Charles anymore, "So , you don’t need to worry about these matters at all, just do your job with peace of mind. ”

"I don't have any secret channels, and I don't need any secret channels, sir." Charles replied, "Even if we just read the public documents and information, we can find out that there is a problem."

He put his hands on the table again and continued.

"Prussia recruits about 50,000 soldiers every year, and these conscripts serve for three years. Together with the backbone officers and sergeants, they have a standing army of close to 200,000 people. It seems that this is not a number worth worrying about, not even close to Half of us..." Charles suddenly changed the topic, "But if we think about it carefully, we can find the problem. After these soldiers retire, they will serve in reserve service for 7 years. In other words, they maintain close to 400,000 people. All human reserves have undergone strict military training Young adults are trained, and these reserve forces are strictly registered and can be quickly recruited when needed. Coupled with the existing officers and sergeants, they can become combat-effective troops after a short period of training. In other words, in reality, Prussia was able to deploy an army of nearly 600,000 men in a very short period of time, which is about the same size as our entire army. Sir, this is clearly written in official documents and newspapers. , Do I need some secret channel to know?"

Charles' answer left the colonel speechless for a moment.

Before he could think of a reply, Ciel continued.

"If that's all, we can probably feel relieved, because the quality of the Prussian army is not as good as ours. If it is of the same size, we can defeat Prussia. However, there are more things that are even more worrying - Prussia's military service law is from 20 Until the age of 40, that is to say, after seven years of reserve service, a man may still be drafted. Every year, more than 50,000 people are trained, and there are more than 1 million between the ages of 20 and 40. People, more than 1 million people, sir!”

"This cannot be completely achieved. It is just a theoretical number." There were some wrinkles on the colonel's forehead. "Recruiting troops will not go so smoothly."

"Of course, taking into account various unexpected situations, the recruitment of reserve troops will not be so smooth, but even with a discount, they can still collect 600,000 to 700,000 people, right? In a lot of words, plus the more than 200,000 of the standing army, it is There are nearly one million people. But our military service system cannot allow us to do this. Judging from the current situation, we can only recruit a dozen or two hundred thousand people in a few months, even if we rush. Bringing back the colonial troops will probably amount to six to seven million troops.

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

You think the French forces are stronger than the Prussian forces. I believe that, but what if faced with irreversible numerical disadvantage? Can this quality advantage be compensated? I'm afraid not.

In other words, if half a million versus half a million we could win, but if it was six hundred thousand versus eight hundred thousand or even one million, then we couldn't possibly expect to beat Prussia, right? Quite a few words—should we still turn a blind eye to this grim reality? ! "

Yes. The problem has always been obvious and there, but everyone turned a blind eye to it. No one took it seriously until that year came, and then everything was over.

"This... but..." The colonel wanted to argue, but he couldn't think of what to say at once.

"Sir. You are right. I have never carried a gun or served in the army, so maybe I don't have much common sense about the combat effectiveness and fighting methods of the army..." Charles smiled calmly and continued, "But at least I am not stupid, I can do arithmetic. Prussia has a population of less than 20 million, but it can take out nearly one million soldiers with certain training at the necessary time and within a certain period of time - although this situation is definitely rare. But they can do it after all. However, France with more than 30 million people can't do this, sir, isn't this absurd? In the face of such a discouraging reality, can we still have the audacity to say that we are the strongest army in the world?".

"But fighting a war is not just about arithmetic, sir." Although he was a little shaken by what Charles said, for the sake of face, Canrobert still said something. "We have the ability to defeat Prussia before it reaches its limit, but all their preparations have come to naught."

"Really? What if we can't?" Charles asked back.

"It will definitely work, sir." The colonel replied generously, "You need to have confidence in the army."

Sure enough, no one would believe it at this time, even if it was an obvious fact. Looking at the other party's heroic and high-spirited appearance, Charles sighed in his heart.

Courage cannot change everything, only strength can. If you don't do it when you can do it, what's the use of regretting it later?

Forget it, this kind of argument is meaningless. Anyway, it's still early, just sow a seed first.

"I hope so." He nodded, taking the initiative to end the argument.

After seeing Charles stop, Colonel Conrobel also secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Obviously, he was a little overwhelmed by the sharp words of this young man and was eager to end the argument.

Having said that, he was a little curious about Charles again.

"I didn't expect you to care so much about the army."

"I am a friend of the army, and I always have been." Charles replied with a smile. "I think that in my position, I have an obligation to cooperate with the army's work so that it can maximize its strength, so as to defeat the country's enemies and seize the interests that are vital to the country."

"If everyone thinks like you, it would be great! Isn't the army always fighting for the country? As long as the army seizes the interests for the country, isn't it better for everyone?" The colonel sighed again, "There are too many idiots in this country now, taking the benefits of the country while endangering the country everywhere! Do they think they are citizens of the world? It's so stupid!"

His sigh was also intended to mend the quarrel between the two people just now. After all, he didn't want to offend the hot de Treville family now.

"That's right!" Charles also echoed, and then drank the coffee in front of him that was already a little cold.

"By the way, have you heard about that?"

"Which one?"

"Marquis de Treville, not long ago, once made a suggestion to the President..." Charles gently put down the cup, "He believes that an Army Staff should be established to formulate Army combat plans and mobilization plans..."

"Is there such a thing?" The colonel slightly widened his eyes.

"If there is such a thing, who do you think is the most suitable chief of staff?" Charles asked slowly.

The colonel swallowed his saliva, and then answered hesitantly, "Well, Marquis de Treville is highly respected..."

"He is old, and staff work is not an easy job." Charles answered immediately, "I think that at that time we need someone who can gain the trust of the President and is competent for this job..."

Although the three words "such as you" were not said, Colonel Canrobert could certainly hear the hidden meaning of this.

Ah! There is such a good thing! Will it really happen? Will the president agree? Even if the president agrees, can it be implemented?

The heartbeat of the middle-aged officer suddenly accelerated. A series of questions suddenly flashed through his mind.

No wonder he reacted so strongly, this thing is too tempting.

It should not be groundless, is this person looking for me just to talk about this?

If this is true, and the Marquis de Treville, who is deeply trusted by the Bonaparte family, recommends me again...

This department and this position are powerful in every way. As long as I can get this position...

These two thoughts made Colonel Canrobert's heart tremble violently, and he almost couldn't sit still.

He couldn't refuse such a reward.

"If the motherland... If the motherland needs my service, I... I will die..." He suppressed the trembling in his voice and answered reluctantly. "No matter what kind of hardship and pressure, I can bear it."

"Then," Charles smiled, "We need to help Mr. President defeat all enemies first."

"It must be so! They must be crushed!" The middle-aged man answered loudly.

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