Napoleon in 1812
Chapter 94:

16. Sea Men – 2

“His Majesty the Emperor is eager for thereturn of the admiral. TheNavy Command willhold themost honorableceremonytoawardYour Excellency.”

“Hahaha… His Majesty’s thoughts reallycannot be understoodbya criminal.”

Pierrewelcomedtheirserious attitude with abig smile.

“I’m curious about one thing. You mustknow notonly my identity butalso my deeds.”

“…That’s right, sir.”

“But you’regoingtoaccept His Majesty’sorders so straightforwardly? Hasnot evena singleperson objected to this?”

Pierre de Vaugiraud de Rosnaywas the captain of the ‘Ville-de-Paris’ and thehero of theBattle of the Chesapeake Bay, but was a representative royalist aristocratwho supported theold system.

Withthe French Revolution, numerous nobleswho exploited thepeople wenttothe guillotine.

Thesurviving nobles chose to flee abroad or fight revolutionary forces withinFrance, andPierre was, amongthem, a ferociousrestorationistnoblemanwho chose the latter.

He joinedthe ‘Army of Condé’,[1]an armyofroyalists, foughtagainst thenew government, and sometimesjoined forces with French enemies suchasBritain, Austria, Prussia andRussia to forma unitedfront.

Pierrewas an unforgivable traitor fromthe point of viewofthe presentEmpire, thesuccessor of the revolutionary republic. However, in order to hire sucha traitor, theEmperor, the headofthe Empire, stepped up.

The FrenchEmpire’sMinistryofthe Interior, which represented theEmperor’s position, persuadedPierre overa long period of time and eventually madehim accept thetricolorflag. Itwas the momentwhen thetraitor returned as theadmiral of thecountry he rebelled against.

“I know what the admiral is saying. Asexpected, you’re worried. However, we arefaithfulservantsofthe Emperorand workfor the prosperity and glory of theEmpire. We don’t need our thoughts on what His Majesty is determinedtodo. It’snot worth it.”

These werewordswith many meanings. They followed noble purposes, andthe wishes of theEmperor Napoleon.

The imperial government and themilitarywere ready to tolerate allthe mistakes the subject had made in the past, andany actsofsavagery.

This alsomeantthat theappointmentofthe traitorofthe revolutionwas not even alittle political burdenfor the current Emperor.

‘It’s probably like that. Who would dare to speak out against the Emperor who allowed freedomofspeech, freed theyoungmen fromthe military service, and ledtwo hugewars to victory?’

The Emperor, whomade even Britain, France’s long-time nemesis, kneel down, hadbecome truly the king of Europe andwas drawingnumerouslife histories.

Andsuch a monsterhad called him. Of course, itwas to appointhim as the captain of aflagshipand as the admiral of afleet.

Pierrehad received aword about today’s visit in advanceand had prepared hismind. However, asthe moment of hisreinstatement approached, hispalmsbegantosweatagainst hiswill.

His youth, when he wasmoving as one body witha battleship of three-story decks and competingvigorously with the pirates of the islandcountry…

The lifeonthe deck, which he tried hardtoforget, brought lifeback to hisold heart. Only thencouldPierre knowwhat he reallywanted.

“Let’s change thelocationand continue the detailed story. I shouldexplain thesituation to thisconfusedfriend.”

“I had somethingtotell this person, too.”

Pierre smiledand tapped Drennan shoulder, while receivingthe meaningfulgaze of theFrench envoy. Drennan followed themwith a puzzledexpression.

===

“I will greet you formally. I’m VermontMaréchal fromthe Ministry of the Interior. The reason we came to visit you in personisbecause we want to invite youtothe Imperial Navy, which willgreatly expandits scale starting fromnext year.”

He emphasizedthat hisexercisecontained boththe intention of Emperor Napoleon and theapprovalofthe Imperial Council. And it wasalso quickly revealed thatthe imperial cabinetknew Drennan’sidentity.

“Your fatherbravely foughttoprotect thespirit and soul of the Irish peopleand sacrificedhimself nobly. Ofcourse, I feelvery sorry that you hadtohide yourself foryour father’s honor.”

Drennan, whowas unintentionally hidinghimself with Pierre, was the sonofJohn Murphy[2], akey figure in theIrishindependence movement thattook place in 1798.

However, his father wasa Catholic priestwho could not officially marry or havechildren. Therefore, Drennan spent hischildhood as an illegitimate child.

Whenthe Irish independence movement ended in failure and John Murphy andotherleading figures wereexecuted, DrennanmovedtoFrance withthe nanny who raisedhim, which ledhim to where he was now. He was a typicalIrishmanwho helda grudgeagainst England to the bone.

“…I’m a little upset to think that people I don’t knowdid abackground investigation and evaluatedmylife.”

Drennan frownedand officials from the Ministry of theInteriorapologized. Even with their apology, Drennan’s doubtsdid not disappear.

Obviously, Pierre wasa legendarycaptain whodefeatedthe Britishnavy, whichwas called theking of thesea. Perhaps it was natural for theEmperor to covet himdespite hispast deeds.

However, he was just an Irish quartermaster and an illegitimatechildfrom theremnant of a pastfaction.

Whatinthe world did such ahigh-ranking figure seeinhim to try to gethim in the navy? Vermont quicklyansweredDrennan’s question.

“Irelandhas beeninvaded andpersecuted by Britain for a longtime. Wheneverthe Irish tried to regain their national essence and sovereignty, they were retaliatedwith ruthless slaughter. Our Emperor feltdeeply sorry and pitiful for thehistory of theIrish, and he wasvery interested in their complete independence.”

IndependenceofIreland. Ever since OliverCromwelldevastated Ireland and brutally slaughtered itspeople, there wasnoword that madethe Irish heart beatmore than that.

However, Drennan, whohad spent aconsiderable amount of time as amerchantand asailor, waswell aware of thefear hiddenbehind unconditionalgoodwill.

“I can’t hide my joy andpridethat theEmperor of theFrench Empire valuesthe sovereignty of our small nation. But there shouldbea prerequisitethat theIrishhave to fight bloodily forFrance, right?”

Vermont repliedwith a smile.

“It’ssimilar. You willlead a group of naval squadron withsailors of Irish origin. Of course, this is notmandatory at all, and onlyeliteapplicants from Irelandwill be selected…”

Listening to Vermont’ssuggestion, Drennan smiledself-helpfully. Anothername to call the Irish was‘European mercenaries’.

Irelandwas an island with beautiful natural scenery, but thesoil wasbarren and theclimate wasinconstant, soonly a small number of crops such as potatoes and oats could be grown.

Sinceagriculturewas difficult, livestock was inevitably prevalent, but the problem was that all of theland andcapital insideIreland were heldbycapitalistsfrom Britain.

All the peoplerunning large farms in Ireland wereBritish, and native Irish peoplehad to surviveeach daybyraising potatoes on barrenland.

Young Irish men went abroad to find jobstosupport their families. Itwas not surprising thatthey becamesoldiers, the easiest job to obtaininanera of war. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ ɴ0velFɪre.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

In France, therewas aseparatearmy regiment consisting onlyofIrishsoldiers, and Britain wentfurther andabout30% of the British troops whoparticipated in the Iberian Peninsula Warwere Irish. (The Marquis of Wellingtonwas alsoIrish.)

The Irish thoughtthat thepeninsula war wasa tragedy thatmade them killeach other. Assuch, the people of countriesthat lost their sovereignty wereboundtobecome bulletsinforeign wars.

Ina word, Francewas now askingthem to fight andbleedatsea in return forhelping their homeland escapeBritish oppression.

Ofcourse, there would be no definite contract or agreementtomake theEmpire keepits promise. Thiswas the reality of anation thatwas not even aweak country.

“QuarterMaster Drennanlookssuspicious of theEmpire’sintentions.”

“Tobehonest, yes. It is truethat ourIrishpeople are determined to makeany sacrificesinordertoescape fromEngland. But the Empire’s proposal is toovague. And even if we accept, i don’t think that us joiningwill improve alot of things.”

“Haha… Compared to theislanders, theEmpire’snavalpowerisweak. But the Imperial Navy willsoon develop brilliantly. Youwill be able to check it out yourself.”

“…You haveanswers to everything.”

Vermontsmiled brightly.

“His Majesty has already helped a countryregain its sovereignty andnationalitywhen it wasgroaningunderthe oppressionofinvaders: the Kingdom of Poland nowstands proudlyonthe easternborder of the imperial federation. If youstandonthe sideofHis Majestyand the Empire, Irelandwill surelybeable to regainits sovereignty.”

Drennanknew well thathewas being used, but he could notfind a wordtorefuse. In fact, Franceclearly revived the Kingdom of Poland by crushing allthe powers aroundit.

AndifIreland’s complete independence threatened Britain’s back, it could notbebetter for France.

In theend, Francehad enough motivation, ability, andjustification to actively support Ireland’s independence.

“The situation in Europecannot be predicted anyway. If that’s thecase, the answer would be to stick to thestrong.”

He still did notthinkthat Francewouldcreate anavalforcecomparable to that of Britain. Becausethe sea wasstilla British territory. However, Drennan believed.

Napoleon Bonaparte, the monarchwho finallydefeatedthe numerous powers that dominated Europeand conquered thecontinent, would surelyachieve somethinggroundbreaking.

===

Itwas common to prepare for thenext warimmediatelyafterthe end of thepreviouswar. Because an imperfect peace would eventually led to another war. That wasa fact thatNapoleonknew andthat British politicians had probably guessed. Thetime of thedecisivebattle would surely come in the near future.

Napoleon reformed the Frenchmilitaryata frightening pace after the negotiationswith Britain wereconcluded. Hisfirsttask wasthe revivalofthe French Navy.

“The country thatcontrolsthe sea will soondominatethe world.’

Napoleon did notforget the proverb thathad almost been trueinthe world where he camefrom.

Of course, the French Republic in theotherworldand the current French Empirehere differed in various ways, including their territories withinthe continent or oversea, their industry, economy, and political system.

However, scalability andliquidity throughthe sea were one of thefundamentalreasons formaking the country richinboth worlds.

In order to enjoy itsadvantages reliably andstably, havinga powerful navy was essential.

“France should have at least enough naval power to cool downBritish chatter.”

In the aftermathofthe revolution, alot of aristocratic officers serving in the Navy leftatonce, and due to Nabot’s policy prioritizingthe army, old battleships hadnot beenproperlymaintained.

Moreover, France’s naval power almostdisappearedafterfailing several external maritime expeditions (Battleofthe Nile, Battle of Trafalgar, etc.).[3]

Itwas relativelyeasy to restore something when halfofitstillremained. However, it tooka lotofeffort, time, andfinance to build up from the basic stage what had been smashedtothe bottom. But ahead of thisdifficult and daunting work, Napoleon wasconfident.

Why? Because eveninthe other world, he hadalready experienced numerous trialsand errors while restoringthe navy.

“Weneed skilled and loyal sailors, newstandardised ships madeofexcellent material. On topofthat, wewill take Britishnavaltactics andoperationaltechniques, and add excellentcannon firing devices and fast firing cannons.”

The first part was to establisha steadily increasing budget forthe Navyand aprocurementplan forship materialswithout shortage.

The secondwas to recruitexcellent engineers, woodworkers, and industries to preparefor the constructionofnew battleships and frigates.

The third wastoconduct systematic and regular training and practice to fosterskilled crew membersand experienced naval officers.

The fourth wastoestablish naval academyschools to improve the quality of naval officers who hadbeen incompetent so far, to forma sense of homogeneity, and to establish a trust community at theship level.

“I don’t envythe BritishNavy at this rate. Unless an incompetent admiral likeVilleneuve[4]leads it.”

Napoleon wasa geniusinland warfare, buthewas almost a novice in naval warfare. Therefore, the best thing he could do was to prepare the best naval fleet and hand it overtoa competentand experienced admiraland not interferewith anything.

The reportthat he waslooking at containedone person’s name. Pierre de VaugirauddeRosnay, thehero of theBattle of the Chesapeake Bay. Hewas the manwho had blocked to the endthe fleet of HoratioNelson, whowas the pride of Britain.

TL notes

[1]Army of Condé

[2]JohnMurphy

[3]Battle of theNile,Battle of Trafalgar

[4]Pierre-Charles Villeneuve

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