Flowers, Swords and France

Under the order of the Commander-in-Chief, the French Expeditionary Force landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula and began to set up a temporary camp at an extremely fast speed, preparing to use this as a base to continue to gather troops and then carry out the next operation.

Turkish officials were also pleased to see their allies mobilize their troops so quickly and did their best to provide convenient conditions for this army. Although in order to speed up the construction of the camp, the French army directly forcibly recruited civilian men from surrounding villages and towns, this did not affect the high official mood - they would not make such a small sacrifice in order to save the country. care.

Then, at the warm invitation of the Turkish court, the commander of the expeditionary force, Marshal Treville, and some senior officers around him came to Constantinople.

Before they entered the city, they received a grand welcome ceremony. The marshal and his entourage rode on tall horses and were bathed in waves of cheers. A large group of citizens gathered together to cheer and salute these imperial allies, while Turkish officials They were even more respectful, for fear of neglecting these distinguished guests and causing diplomatic disputes.

As soon as they entered the city, officials from the Sultan's court immediately greeted them, and then they couldn't wait to take them to the Sultan's palace, Topkapi Palace, to meet with the Sultan and the important ministers of the empire.

After passing through the city walls and narrow streets, this group of soldiers arrived in front of the magnificent palace city. The tall city walls stood in front of them, and the towers and battlements piled with stones overlooked the earth. The palace is hidden behind him.

Although in today's era when artillery is popular, the defensive capabilities of these city walls are quite questionable, but when standing under the palace walls in person, people can still feel the majesty of a once-prominent empire.

Amidst the roar of the salute, the gate under the palace wall slowly opened, and the road ahead became unobstructed again. The French officers on horseback rode forward slowly, while the Turkish palaces lined up on both sides. The guards raised their guns and saluted them at the same time.

Originally, the guards here were the Sultan's imperial guards. Those soldiers wearing traditional Turkish military uniforms and feathered turban hats were once representatives of the great military tradition of this empire. In the past few centuries, that army The armed forces carefully built by successive sultans once made great achievements in battle, but as time goes by, , the imperial army finally inevitably became corrupt, and began to seek political status by using its power to guard the palace, hijacking the Sultan and the entire court, and finally had to start a desperate struggle with the imperial court. They resisted reforms and killed He killed or deposed several sultans who wanted to change the trajectory of the country's decline.

It was not until 1826 that the then Sultan Mehmed II deliberately promulgated a resolution to reform the Guards through the Imperial Parliament composed of important ministers, and then suppressed the rebellion of these Guards by force and announced the abolition of the Guards Corps. With the support of some religious forces and some senior generals who supported the reform, he used his newly built armed forces to carry out a brutal and eradication-style purge of the Guards. The remnants of the Guards nationwide were quickly wiped out. eliminate.

It was also after this that a group of guards were re-recruited in the Sultan's court, and they only served as escorts and ceremonials, and could no longer interfere in domestic politics.

Surrounded by these guards wearing European-style military uniforms and red felt hats, the French marshals and generals dismounted, and then followed the palace officials on foot through the famous Gate of Reverence and arrived at In the inner court.

After passing through courtyards and treasure houses full of treasures, the group of them came to a wide hall. This hall was surrounded by a colonnade composed of twenty-two columns, supporting a large roof with overhanging eaves. , and the owner of this palace is sitting on the throne, quietly looking at the guests who have come from afar.

The young Sultan is sitting on a slightly higher throne with a calm expression. He is wearing a golden robe inlaid with a large number of gems. His whole body is bathed in golden light, which is dazzling. Everywhere he looks is luxurious. ornaments, the ceiling was painted It is blue, decorated with golden stars. The bricks on the wall are all blue, white or cyan, and are equipped with precious carpets and pillows. The walls of the main hall are full of various exquisite crafts, blue. The brilliance of colored jewelry competes with the golden light. There is spring water gushing out from the wall on the other side of the hall. The sound of gurgling water adds a bit of life to the hall. This way, showing off wealth regardless of work can leave a deep impression on any visitor. , while not forgetting to be in awe of the power of the Sultan.

Looking around, in the midst of this jewel, there are people wearing European and Turkish dresses. This scene is so luxurious and grand that it is even more luxurious than the ostentation of His Majesty the French Emperor in the Tuileries Palace. Monarch Doesn’t the sacredness of the system come from the solemn feeling brought by the complicated and grand ceremony?

After the roll call by the master of ceremonies, General Michel Ney, Duke of Erchingen, who followed Marshal Treville and others knelt on one knee to salute him and gave a military salute to the foreign monarch. With the highest courtesy, Marshal Treville bowed and dropped the marshal's cane in his hand to the ground.

This was a pre-arranged etiquette. In ancient times, when receiving foreign envoys, the audience hall would hold the most elaborate ceremony, and then the envoys would kiss the edge of the Sultan's hem accompanied by officials. Today, the French soldiers don't want to repeat that set of etiquette, so the generals used the common etiquette of meeting the emperor of their own country, and the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary army simply didn't even kneel.

In this way, accompanied by members of the French embassy in Turkey, the Marquis de Treville and several generals under his command came to the Sultan's palace to meet His Majesty Abdul-Mejid I, the supreme ruler of the Ottoman Empire.

In order to thank these French people who came to save his empire and to show his authority and wealth, the Sultan deliberately prepared a grand ceremony and wore gorgeous clothes, with a majestic and friendly attitude. He was young and full of vigor, and he wanted his country to get rid of its old illnesses, stand up again from the mire and restore the glory of his ancestors, but the aging empire was unable to do so, and he was disappointed every time, so his dignity was inevitably a little more melancholy and helpless.

However, Turkey was, after all, a declining old empire, and its influence and national strength were no longer what they used to be. The power of the Sultan could not be compared with that of his ancestors who had shaken the whole of Europe. Although on the surface, the marshals and French generals were also very polite to the Sultan and his ministers, they did not seem to be very fearful in their hearts.

Of course, the Sultan and the ministers themselves knew that the empire was no longer what it used to be, so they were not angry at the French reserve. At least on the surface, everyone happily showed the friendly attitude that allies should have.

"I am very grateful to my brother, His Majesty Emperor Napoleon, for coming here at this critical moment to fight against the most vicious enemy for us." After the initial audience ceremony, the Sultan said to the French generals very friendly, "And you, the guests who have come from afar, will be the most distinguished guests of our country. We will treat you with the highest courtesy, and please enjoy our generous hospitality."

The Sultan received a good court education, so he can speak fluent French. On such occasions, he also intended to use this method to get closer to the French.

"We are very grateful for your enthusiasm, Your Majesty, but we are here to fight. There is no way to enjoy anything before victory. Our current task is to defeat the common enemy of France and Turkey." Marshal Treville straightened his back and answered the Sultan in a calm tone, "Of course, there are also the British."

The marshal's tone was tactful and dignified, but it also revealed a sense of arrogance, which made the Sultan a little uneasy. He couldn't help but slightly turn his eyes and look at the Grand Vizier Muhammad Ali Pasha standing on the side.

Muhammad Ali Pasha is a middle-aged man with a beard. He is energetic. He has served as the translator of the British ambassador to Turkey before and is proficient in the affairs of European countries. It is precisely because of this that he was favored by the Sultan and served as the Grand Vizier equivalent to the prime minister.

In the previous era, the Grand Vizier was the one who had the final say in the empire and even had more authority than the Sultan. Many prime ministers sidelined the Sultan and managed the huge empire on their own, which also gave the empire a glimmer of life. But now the glorious era has passed. His Majesty Abdul-Mejid I is young and energetic, and he is impatient because of the decline of the country. He is increasingly dissatisfied with the original bureaucracy of the empire, so he repeatedly replaces his court officials, and almost replaces his Grand Vizier every year.

Unfortunately, such measures did not save the decline of the empire. Instead, the authority of the court and the officials was further weakened, and the empire continued to fall into a semi-paralyzed state.

However, no matter what, the Grand Vizier is still the top of the bureaucracy of the empire, and it has the power to intervene in everything. Therefore, even if his authority is not as good as that of his predecessors, Muhammad Ali Pasha still has enough say to serve the country in this court.

"Yes, and the British." Grand Vizier took over the Marshal's words, "Marshal, the British have issued an ultimatum to the Russians, and their troops will soon be heading here... We are making intensive preparations to open up a new camp for them."

"Yes, this is excellent news." The Marshal nodded, "The British are on our side, which is enough to let the world see who is destined to win. However... the British are different from the French. They don't have a large standing army, so I'm afraid the help they can provide on land is destined to be limited. We can only overcome this difficulty with great efforts."

This point really made the Sultan and his ministers worried, but the French Army has always been famous in Europe. They believe that the French Army can stop the Russians as the main force, but they want to know more about how the French plan to do this.

The original text is in the six # 9 @book/bar!

"So what is your current military plan?" The Sultan couldn't help asking. "As far as we know, the Russians have already assembled a large number of troops in the south, and a large number of reserve corps are being formed, ready to be deployed to where they fight us at any time."

"It's very simple. We need to take two steps first - on land, we first choose to stand still and gather our troops. When we have enough troops, we will directly land in Crimea and engage in a decisive battle with the main force of the Russians; but before that, we First prepare to use the navy to sweep the Black Sea so that the Russian navy can disappear and no longer be able to Interfering with any actions of our army," Marshal Treville explained to the Sudan loudly, "Although the Russians are relatively close to the battlefield, their inland is very desolate and the transportation of materials is inconvenient, so our logistical pressure is no greater than theirs. , as long as they completely control the sea, their home field advantage will be complete.”

"I am very happy that your army has such confidence." The Grand Vizier was quite happy and his tone became much more soothing. "Now the strait is completely open to your navy, and your warships can sail to the Black Sea at any time. …And our navy will do its best to cooperate with you.”

"Do you want to wait for the British fleet? As far as I know, their Mediterranean fleet is coming soon." The Sudan interjected and asked, "If the fleets of our three countries are all concentrated, the Russians will never be able to attack on the sea. Take any action."

"This is war time, and every day is very important to us... We must race against time. We don't have to wait for the British first. Our navy will take action immediately, and we think that the French fleet is enough to defeat the Russians-" Marshal Treville said confidently, "Of course, if the British fleet arrives in time, we are also happy to share the joy of war with them."

The Sultan and the Grand Vizier looked at each other. They could see that the French were eager to win, but in any case, it was always a good thing that they were so confident.

"You are the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force. Of course you can command your fleet to do anything." Grand Vizier nodded and did not make any argument about the marshal's deployment. "But since our three countries have united to fight, then everyone Unity and cooperation are naturally the most important thing... We should always keep this in mind.”

"We will always keep this in mind, Your Majesty." The marshal laughed, "So we suggest that your army maintains its offensive in the Caucasus and forms a pincer offensive in two directions with our army, so that the Russians cannot take care of him. ”

These words made the Sultan and the Grand Vizier look at each other again.

Although he said it very euphemistically, what the marshal meant was that the French army did not want to fight side by side with the Turkish army at all, even if the Turkish army was allowed to serve as auxiliary troops, and would rather fight independently - or at most add the British, and " "Maintain the Caucasus Offensive" was just a polite way of saying it.

This contempt for the Turkish army made them very unhappy, but now, they also knew that it was not the time to lose their temper.