Napoleon in 1812

Chapter 125

1. This is war! - 7

No matter how much war supplies and finances were provided and how much the border region was fortified, Poland could not compete with Russia, Prussia, or Austria in terms of basic national weight.

Among these three countries that would be France's leading enemies, the French managed to attract Austria to their side thanks to diplomatic agreements with various interests.

However, even so, it was not certain that Austria would actively help Poland in a crisis. In the end, it was necessary to deploy practical power to support Poland in case of emergency.

The Empire's government had already been convinced that war was imminent from last year and started preparing for it.

Under Napoleon's order, the corps of two of the Empire's Marshals, Davout and Suchet, moved to Warsaw in April.

In July, Macdonald's corps was also dispatched to support Poland. If a war broke out, they were instructed not to return to France but to protect Poland with the Polish troops.

Of course, not all of these actions were performed unilaterally. In exchange for France's protection of its territory, Poland had to hand over nearly half of its stallions to France.

The Hungarian-Polish war horses had stronger jaws and stronger muscles and ankles than other breeds of horses. In addition, due to their good adaptability to the environment, it was possible to expect relatively high survival rates in other climates and regions.

Napoleon was the first to supply these war horses to the imperial troops (the corps of Davout, Suchet, and Macdonald) stationed in Poland.

At the same time, they trained and worked together on the prairie-like land. The result was the emergence of French cavalry riding Polish war horses.

"Woaaahhhl!"

The Polish horses easily stepped on the rough slopes as if they were on a mountain path. The cavalry was flying vigorously toward the battery regardless of the brutal artillery fire.

The small number of Russian infantry guarding the battery could not block them. The Russian lost to the very French cavalry that they thought would not be able to attack recklessly because it was a hilly area. The French cavalry stirred the battery with superior mobility and height differences.

"The bombardment has stopped. Their artillery is becoming a mess!"

"Good! We hit the Slavs right in front of us!"

Macdonald, who simply neutralized the Russian batteries, immediately advanced his own artillery. Originally, Russian artillery would have interfered with these tactical movements on hills, but they had been robbed by cavalry, making it impossible for them to operate normally.

Thanks to this, the French artillery was able to deploy their battery forward significantly without any obstruction or threat. And this movement returned to tremendous forward firepower.

Booom! Boom! Boom! Bang! Boooml

Under the artillery fire, the Russian army was paralyzed. Their solid formation quickly cracked into several branches, and the soldiers in front collapsed in confusion.

The end of the battlefield infantry exposed to the artillery without protection was truly miserable. The commander of the Russian army urgently deployed cavalry to overpower the battery.

But all of this had been calculated by Marshal Macdonald. The French infantrymen and grenadiers, which were already on standby, easily defeated the Russian light cavalry.

"Infantry, move forward!"

The cavalry was swept away, and the artillery was pierced. The finish was the infantry' turn, and the Russian army, which had already collapsed here and there, was demolished under the powerful march of the French infantry battalion.

"The Imperial Army is dominating the battlefield!"

"Let's help our allies! Protect the Kingdom!"

Encouraged by the rapidly changing situation of the battlefield, the Polish defenders ran out of the fortress and joined the great advance. When the Polish army, which morale had grown 100 times more, joined and hit their flank, the Russian could not stand it anymore.

Russian troops were routed in complete disorder. Looking at them, the French and Polish cheered for victory. As such, the French side won both a naval battle and a land battle.

It did not reach the extent of the Seven Years' War, where battles between great powers took place in the New World and Asia between overseas colonies.

However, the Great War of 1818 that had the public's prediction that the size of the war itself would be more than that, such as the number of countries participating in the war, the size of the military, and the size of the fleet, had only just begun.

The method of distinguishing whether neighboring countries were enemies or allies in this vicious and chaotic battle that had dragged the entire Europe was surprisingly simple: did they accept or reject the European order led by the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte?

Numerous member states that attended the Strasbourg talks brought about by Carnot's Declaration, witnessed the birth of the European Union and requested membership, declared their participation on the French side.

These were the countries that chose to join Napoleon's order, and were called the 'Allies' after joining the European Union.

On the contrary, countries such as Britain, Russia, Prussia, and Sweden that refused the European order led by France gladly created an anti-France coalition to confront them.

France, with Napoleon as its Emperor, called these countries the 'Coalition' that could not accept hegemony in Europe.

A clash between the Allied Powers and the Coalition's Powers was inevitable unless one of the two yielded to the other. Napoleon's attempted assassination was nothing more than a catalyst for the war, and people argued that even if it did not happen, the war would have taken place.

"For a stable victory in the war, we must be able to effectively isolate France, the center of the Allies. In order to achieve this, it will be necessary to

completely occupy Poland as soon as possible and place it under the Coalition's control. This will be the Coalition's first strategy."

"Our Prussian military's role in this process is to push into the territory owned by our country in 1793 (the second division of Poland) and occupy major cities

and military facilities. In the process, it would be perfect if we could capture the King of Poland, Jdzef I."

Just before the outbreak of the Great War, Prussia, who knew that this was an unstoppable trend, brought military seniors and court ministers to the Berlin Palace for an emergency meeting.

Army Chief of Staff Carl von Clausewitz explained to them the grand strategy agreed within the Coalition and the strategic moves Prussia should take in the meantime as follows.

"Our staff expects to complete the Coalition's first strategy by nearly 80% in half a year. If Poland is completely overpowered, the three allies' territories (Russia, Sweden, and Prussia) will be completely in contact. The strategic value that can be created through this is expected to be excellent, and it will be easier to proceed with the subsequent continental war."

Six months were required to completely knock Poland down. This six-month period predicted by Clausewitz was by no means a short estimation.

In fact, despite the disturbance of Russia, it took only 10 months for Napoleon to conquer all of Prussia in the past.

Even then, the gap between Poland and the Coalition's countries was far greater than the power gap between France and Prussia at the time.

It was not just Prussia. Russia, Sweden, and even Britain beyond the strait considered the Polish conquest a fait accompli.

Poland would melt away in an instant if hundreds of thousands of troops' tsunamis hit it from the east, west, and north.

Poland, an Ally, was only the first gateway to setting the stage for dealing with France. However, the Coalition's expectations were shattered gracefully only two months after the start of the war.

There seemed to be no hope for Poland, which was surrounded on all sides. Even Allies proposed the establishment of an asylum government to King Jdzef I.

Like the royal families of the Sardinian Kingdom, who lost their entire country to France and fled to England, rights could be asserted again after the war, if they could survive the flames of war.

However, Poland was more powerful and the French troops were stronger than expected.

The Russian Infantry Division, led by Brigadier General Gottliev, was attacked and defeated by enemy troops whiie moving in the Brest Forest. The brigadier general was rescued safely, but nearly 30% of the division is now unable to fight. The identity of the enemy is presumed to be French and Polish miHtia.

The Russian-Swedish forces have not made much progress in the siege of Fort Seini. Commander Baggehufwudt, who is in charge of attacking the fortress, is requesting support, saying it would take a long time to reach the grasslands of Podolia.

A street battle between Prussian and Polish forces took place in downtown Wadowice. There have been more than 4,000 casualties in both armies, and Prussian troops have stopped advancing and are waiting in the village of Chocznia.

The Russian army was greatly defeated in the battle over Fort Hrodna. About 20 siege cannons and field guns were lost, and the corps could only be maintained after retreating 17 miles.

The news from all over Poland was enough to make Westminster and other London political circles noisy.

Wherever the Coalition's troops fought, they were defeated. Since they only talked of how they failed to capture strongholds, their ambition to conquer Poland at once and make them pay for their loyalty to France had long disappeared.

"It's just frustrating to see their stupid behavior. I cant hel p but feel nervous about this even though they have several times the enemies' power."

"If it were normal, we would be enjoying their conquest... Unfortunately, the reality we face causes concern."

In June 1818, there would be a general election in Britain. A political war in which the two pillars of Westminster would face each other to choose between regime change or extension.

If the ruling party had successfully led the management of state affairs such as economy and people's livelihood, social welfare, expedition achievements, and international diplomacy, it would have be able to maintain its power without difficulty, but unfortunately, Charles Grey's Whig party did not.

It ended the war with the United States and prevented worsening relations with financial conglomerates, but failed to prevent France from expanding decisively and failed to manage people's livelihood problems.

In other words, the current public opinion supporting the Whig Party was the result of a decision to join forces in the face of the national war with France, not because the Whig Party was doing well. In such a close situation, the news of the allies defeat was likely to be fatal to the Whig Partys support public opinion. Prime Minister Charles Grey and other ruling forces of the Whig Party set the line after secret discussions.

"It is not reasonable for the Kingdom to deal with the breakdown of wars by allies hundreds of miles away. We'd better draw a thorough line on this and explain that there is no reason attributable to us."

Members of the Charles Grey Cabinet attributed all these failures to the allies' incompetence to avoid criticism from citizens. The proud Red Coats and Royal Navy expressed confidence in the war, saying they would never do such a shameful thing.

The Tory Party were fiercely criticizing them, saying, 'They are trying to cover their mistakes with political deception!' but the Whig party did not budge.

"No matter what they say, let's focus only on the election in front of us. It is not too late to discuss a full-scale grand strategy after that."

For them, securing seats to maintain the ruling party was more important than the war on the continent beyond the strait.

As always, the French could never threaten the British mainland. Britain's provocative media fell for the Whig Partys lobby and tricks, and rather than coldly weighing the situation ofthe war, they only criticized the incompetence of their allies.

It was clearly to instill a sense of relative superiority by discrediting other countries, instead of promoting their own strength.

The citizens who read it responded as expected without an inch of error. As if they were spectators appreciating the ridiculous behavior of a clown, whenever news of defeat came out, they applauded and laughed at it rather than taking it seriously.

Although they had joined hands to fight their common enemies, Russia, Prussia, Sweden and Britain were ugly countries where betrayal, conspiracy, and war had been going back and forth in the past.

After examining the citizens' reactions, the Whig Party was able to breathe a sigh of relief. If the government could enter the election whiie maintaining this support, it would be possible to maintain the current regime with a high probability.

However, their imagination of a rosy future quickly fell short. This was because the news of a defeat that came from the south was not from their allies, and had a nature that could not be forcibly tarnished.

A defeat so shocking that 100 mouths would find nothing to say! The wooden wall is completely crushed.

A great disgrace that will be remembered in the history ofthe Kingdom's naval battles! Let's find out the list of the traitors ofthe 'Battle ofCala Emboixar'l

The Mediterranean Sea is now completely French... We need to reinforce the Southern Fleet...

Where did Admiral Nelson's legacy go? The Navy Headquarters, where indolence and corruption run, and the Prime Minister who stands by it...

The British Navy was smashed by the French Navy. At least this news could not be veiled by the Whig Party. As the results of the naval battle of Cala Emboixar were delivered one after another, an onslaught led by the Tory Party continued against the current cabinet.

"Did the greatness ofthe Royal Navy, which the Whigs claimed, only mean these things?"

"Charles Grey, step down from the prime minister's seat right now! And hang yourself to death!"

"The only pledge that the Whig Party kept after taking power was to stop the war with the United States! Everything else is ruining the country!"

After the unbelievable shock of defeat went away, citizens who could not stand it woke up. They protested around 10 Downing Street, where Charles Grey was staying, and threw stones and raw eggs to the Whig party members who were entering Westminster.

If the betrayal felt by citizens who believed only what the Whigs said and did not doubt the victory of the war was great, such a huge headwind would blow. But this wind... No, this ordeal that fell on the entire Britain was not over yet.

"This is an urgent message from Viscount Buckingham, the ambassador to Berlin... the Austrian army has started to move! It is said that a corps led by Prince Karl is now heading north toward Krakdw!"

" ir1

It was so serious and shocking news that it immediately silenced Westminster Parliament that had been stained with a tumultuous and scandalous political dispute.

The 600 members of the House of Lords and the House of Commons forgot to save face and opened their mouths and their eyes wide. Marquis Wellington, who attended the session as a military advisor to represent the military situation, sighed and grabbed his forehead.

It had only been three months since the Great War broke out, but the situation was heading in the worst direction that Britain had never dared to imagine.