Napoleon in 1812

16. Sea Men – 2

“His Majesty the Emperor is eager for the return of the admiral. The Navy Command will hold the most honorable ceremony to award Your Excellency.”

“Hahaha… His Majesty’s thoughts really cannot be understood by a criminal.”

Pierre welcomed their serious attitude with a big smile.

“I’m curious about one thing. You must know not only my identity but also my deeds.”

“…That’s right, sir.”

“But you’re going to accept His Majesty’s orders so straightforwardly? Has not even a single person objected to this?”

Pierre de Vaugiraud de Rosnay was the captain of the ‘Ville-de-Paris’ and the hero of the Battle of the Chesapeake Bay, but was a representative royalist aristocrat who supported the old system.

With the French Revolution, numerous nobles who exploited the people went to the guillotine.

The surviving nobles chose to flee abroad or fight revolutionary forces within France, and Pierre was, among them, a ferocious restorationist nobleman who chose the latter.

He joined the ‘Army of Condé’,[1] an army of royalists, fought against the new government, and sometimes joined forces with French enemies such as Britain, Austria, Prussia and Russia to form a united front.

Pierre was an unforgivable traitor from the point of view of the present Empire, the successor of the revolutionary republic. However, in order to hire such a traitor, the Emperor, the head of the Empire, stepped up.

The French Empire’s Ministry of the Interior, which represented the Emperor’s position, persuaded Pierre over a long period of time and eventually made him accept the tricolor flag. It was the moment when the traitor returned as the admiral of the country he rebelled against.

“I know what the admiral is saying. As expected, you’re worried. However, we are faithful servants of the Emperor and work for the prosperity and glory of the Empire. We don’t need our thoughts on what His Majesty is determined to do. It’s not worth it.”

These were words with many meanings. They followed noble purposes, and the wishes of the Emperor Napoleon.

The imperial government and the military were ready to tolerate all the mistakes the subject had made in the past, and any acts of savagery.

This also meant that the appointment of the traitor of the revolution was not even a little political burden for the current Emperor.

‘It’s probably like that. Who would dare to speak out against the Emperor who allowed freedom of speech, freed the young men from the military service, and led two huge wars to victory?’

The Emperor, who made even Britain, France’s long-time nemesis, kneel down, had become truly the king of Europe and was drawing numerous life histories.

And such a monster had called him. Of course, it was to appoint him as the captain of a flagship and as the admiral of a fleet.

Pierre had received a word about today’s visit in advance and had prepared his mind. However, as the moment of his reinstatement approached, his palms began to sweat against his will.

His youth, when he was moving as one body with a battleship of three-story decks and competing vigorously with the pirates of the island country…

The life on the deck, which he tried hard to forget, brought life back to his old heart. Only then could Pierre know what he really wanted.

“Let’s change the location and continue the detailed story. I should explain the situation to this confused friend.”

“I had something to tell this person, too.”

Pierre smiled and tapped Drennan shoulder, while receiving the meaningful gaze of the French envoy. Drennan followed them with a puzzled expression.

===

“I will greet you formally. I’m Vermont Maréchal from the Ministry of the Interior. The reason we came to visit you in person is because we want to invite you to the Imperial Navy, which will greatly expand its scale starting from next year.”

He emphasized that his exercise contained both the intention of Emperor Napoleon and the approval of the Imperial Council. And it was also quickly revealed that the imperial cabinet knew Drennan’s identity.

“Your father bravely fought to protect the spirit and soul of the Irish people and sacrificed himself nobly. Of course, I feel very sorry that you had to hide yourself for your father’s honor.”

Drennan, who was unintentionally hiding himself with Pierre, was the son of John Murphy[2], a key figure in the Irish independence movement that took place in 1798.

However, his father was a Catholic priest who could not officially marry or have children. Therefore, Drennan spent his childhood as an illegitimate child.

When the Irish independence movement ended in failure and John Murphy and other leading figures were executed, Drennan moved to France with the nanny who raised him, which led him to where he was now. He was a typical Irishman who held a grudge against England to the bone.

“…I’m a little upset to think that people I don’t know did a background investigation and evaluated my life.”

Drennan frowned and officials from the Ministry of the Interior apologized. Even with their apology, Drennan’s doubts did not disappear.

Obviously, Pierre was a legendary captain who defeated the British navy, which was called the king of the sea. Perhaps it was natural for the Emperor to covet him despite his past deeds.

However, he was just an Irish quarter master and an illegitimate child from the remnant of a past faction.

What in the world did such a high-ranking figure see in him to try to get him in the navy? Vermont quickly answered Drennan’s question.

“Ireland has been invaded and persecuted by Britain for a long time. Whenever the Irish tried to regain their national essence and sovereignty, they were retaliated with ruthless slaughter. Our Emperor felt deeply sorry and pitiful for the history of the Irish, and he was very interested in their complete independence.”

Independence of Ireland. Ever since Oliver Cromwell devastated Ireland and brutally slaughtered its people, there was no word that made the Irish heart beat more than that.

However, Drennan, who had spent a considerable amount of time as a merchant and a sailor, was well aware of the fear hidden behind unconditional goodwill.

“I can’t hide my joy and pride that the Emperor of the French Empire values the sovereignty of our small nation. But there should be a prerequisite that the Irish have to fight bloodily for France, right?”

Vermont replied with a smile.

“It’s similar. You will lead a group of naval squadron with sailors of Irish origin. Of course, this is not mandatory at all, and only elite applicants from Ireland will be selected…”

Listening to Vermont’s suggestion, Drennan smiled self-helpfully. Another name to call the Irish was ‘European mercenaries’.

Ireland was an island with beautiful natural scenery, but the soil was barren and the climate was inconstant, so only a small number of crops such as potatoes and oats could be grown.

Since agriculture was difficult, livestock was inevitably prevalent, but the problem was that all of the land and capital inside Ireland were held by capitalists from Britain.

All the people running large farms in Ireland were British, and native Irish people had to survive each day by raising potatoes on barren land.

Young Irish men went abroad to find jobs to support their families. It was not surprising that they became soldiers, the easiest job to obtain in an era of war.

In France, there was a separate army regiment consisting only of Irish soldiers, and Britain went further and about 30% of the British troops who participated in the Iberian Peninsula War were Irish. (The Marquis of Wellington was also Irish.)

The Irish thought that the peninsula war was a tragedy that made them kill each other. As such, the people of countries that lost their sovereignty were bound to become bullets in foreign wars.

In a word, France was now asking them to fight and bleed at sea in return for helping their homeland escape British oppression.

Of course, there would be no definite contract or agreement to make the Empire keep its promise. This was the reality of a nation that was not even a weak country.

“Quarter Master Drennan looks suspicious of the Empire’s intentions.”

“To be honest, yes. It is true that our Irish people are determined to make any sacrifices in order to escape from England. But the Empire’s proposal is too vague. And even if we accept, i don’t think that us joining will improve a lot of things.”

“Haha… Compared to the islanders, the Empire’s naval power is weak. But the Imperial Navy will soon develop brilliantly. You will be able to check it out yourself.”

“…You have answers to everything.”

Vermont smiled brightly.

“His Majesty has already helped a country regain its sovereignty and nationality when it was groaning under the oppression of invaders: the Kingdom of Poland now stands proudly on the eastern border of the imperial federation. If you stand on the side of His Majesty and the Empire, Ireland will surely be able to regain its sovereignty.”

Drennan knew well that he was being used, but he could not find a word to refuse. In fact, France clearly revived the Kingdom of Poland by crushing all the powers around it.

And if Ireland’s complete independence threatened Britain’s back, it could not be better for France.

In the end, France had enough motivation, ability, and justification to actively support Ireland’s independence.

“The situation in Europe cannot be predicted anyway. If that’s the case, the answer would be to stick to the strong.”

He still did not think that France would create a naval force comparable to that of Britain. Because the sea was still a British territory. However, Drennan believed.

Napoleon Bonaparte, the monarch who finally defeated the numerous powers that dominated Europe and conquered the continent, would surely achieve something groundbreaking.

===

It was common to prepare for the next war immediately after the end of the previous war. Because an imperfect peace would eventually led to another war. That was a fact that Napoleon knew and that British politicians had probably guessed. The time of the decisive battle would surely come in the near future.

Napoleon reformed the French military at a frightening pace after the negotiations with Britain were concluded. His first task was the revival of the French Navy.

“The country that controls the sea will soon dominate the world.’

Napoleon did not forget the proverb that had almost been true in the world where he came from.

Of course, the French Republic in the other world and the current French Empire here differed in various ways, including their territories within the continent or oversea, their industry, economy, and political system.

However, scalability and liquidity through the sea were one of the fundamental reasons for making the country rich in both worlds.

In order to enjoy its advantages reliably and stably, having a powerful navy was essential.

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

In the aftermath of the revolution, a lot of aristocratic officers serving in the Navy left at once, and due to Nabot’s policy prioritizing the army, old battleships had not been properly maintained.

Moreover, France’s naval power almost disappeared after failing several external maritime expeditions (Battle of the Nile, Battle of Trafalgar, etc.).[3]

It was relatively easy to restore something when half of it still remained. However, it took a lot of effort, time, and finance to build up from the basic stage what had been smashed to the bottom. But ahead of this difficult and daunting work, Napoleon was confident.

Why? Because even in the other world, he had already experienced numerous trials and errors while restoring the navy.

“We need skilled and loyal sailors, new standardised ships made of excellent material. On top of that, we will take British naval tactics and operational techniques, and add excellent cannon firing devices and fast firing cannons.”

The first part was to establish a steadily increasing budget for the Navy and a procurement plan for ship materials without shortage.

The second was to recruit excellent engineers, woodworkers, and industries to prepare for the construction of new battleships and frigates.

The third was to conduct systematic and regular training and practice to foster skilled crew members and experienced naval officers.

The fourth was to establish naval academy schools to improve the quality of naval officers who had been incompetent so far, to form a sense of homogeneity, and to establish a trust community at the ship level.

“I don’t envy the British Navy at this rate. Unless an incompetent admiral like Villeneuve[4] leads it.”

Napoleon was a genius in land warfare, but he was almost a novice in naval warfare. Therefore, the best thing he could do was to prepare the best naval fleet and hand it over to a competent and experienced admiral and not interfere with anything.

The report that he was looking at contained one person’s name. Pierre de Vaugiraud de Rosnay, the hero of the Battle of the Chesapeake Bay. He was the man who had blocked to the end the fleet of Horatio Nelson, who was the pride of Britain.

TL notes

[1] Army of Condé

[2] John Murphy

[3] Battle of the Nile, Battle of Trafalgar

[4] Pierre-Charles Villeneuve