Napoleon in 1812
Chapter 102:

18. Reversalofalliance– 4

Nabot, wholivedinthis world, and Napoleon, whocame from anotherworld, had revealed bigand small differences in manydifferent areas. In particular, their personalities and valueswere very different. The two were complete opposite to the point where it wastoo muchtoexplain.

Of course, they also had similarities. First of all, theirappearance wasalmost the same, andtheirexcellent military capabilities were similar.

However, if someone who knew the truth hadsaid, ‘BothNapoleons are similar in thatthey both haveexcellent military capabilities’, Napoleon would haveansweredlike this withouthiding his unpleasant feelings.

‘He has similar military capabilities to me? That’s nonsense! Howcan the guywho got ridofthe rifle unitbecause he waslazy to manageitbecomparedtome?’

The mostdecisivedifference between Napoleon and Nabot in themilitaryaspect was their understanding of military organization andtheirability to acceptnew cultures, technologies, and tactics. To sumitupinone word… itwas whetherthey haduseless stubbornnessornot.

The rifle, which hada steel wire dug, boasted a superior range and accuracy than the musket. But Nabot only saw thecomplexity andcost of theproduction process.

Althoughthe rifle productionwas stoppedand the rifle unit was disbandedbecause it wassomewhatinappropriate in battlelines, their effectivenesshad alreadybeen fully proveninnumerouswars andbattles.

In particular, the Iberian Peninsula Warwas astagefor all European countriestorealize howterrifying theshootingofwell-trained Britishriflemenwas.

Undertheirsharpsnipes, more French officers were killed than expected, which significantly reducedthe French military’s operational capabilities on thepeninsula.

Despite thefact that theyhad beenhit hardbyBritish rifle soldiers, and despiteconstantsuggestionsbythe field’sgeneralsand officers to developrifleunitstorespond to it, Nabotdid not break hisstubbornness. To him, ariflewas auseless weapon, and it could be counteredwith enoughmuskets.

Britainrealizedthe fearofrifles in the American Revolutionary War andquickly accepted it andaddedspecializedrifleunit to itsarmy organization.

On theotherhand, France had been hampered by the development of theGreatArmy just becauseithad aleader who didnot admit thathewas wrong eventhough it had been thoroughlyshown.

At this point, rumorsshould havebeen circulating that Nabot was actually a Britishspy. To be evaluatedassimilar to such ahumanbeingwouldbeaninsult and shame towardNapoleon.

Fortunately, unlike Nabot, Napoleon wasnot stubborn to the point of being taken fora British spy, and he was thefirsttocreate anew unitwhen thearmy wasreorganizedafterthe war. Naturally, it wasa unit specializing in rifle handling.

“Incorporate theTirailleur (shooter) battalion and Voltigeur(acrobat) battalion into the Chasseur (hunter) Regiment.[1]Afterthat, they will be dividedinto newbattalions andsubdivided so that theycan engage in differentoperations andmissionsaccording to their training performance.”

Napoleon originallyhad experiencerunning rifle units in theworldwherehecame from, so he wasable to minimize thetrials and errorshehad to inevitablygothrough while organizing the newunits.

By makingthe mostofhis memories, theChasseurRegimentwas reorganized likethe one of theRevolutionary Republic, and its uniform was changed to acolorthat wasfavorable for cover.

The light infantry andskirmish-type units differed from the line infantry in the waythey engaged in battle. They hadscattered and covered formationsinstead of lined anddenseones, autonomous shooting instead of strict fire control, and thorough gunfightsrather thanhand-to-hand combat with bayonets…

Since they had to take on muchmore complex and diverse tasks, their leaders had to be able to operatetroops on aunit basis.

Napoleon first assigned the officers of theMilitaryAcademy whohad excellent improvisation abilities to theChasseurRegiment. Fouryearshad alreadypassed since the reorganized Chasseur Regiment wasborn.

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“5th Battalion 17th platoon, ready! Aim… Fire!”

Tatata! Tatatata! Tata!

“Stop! 17th platoon, fallback! 18th platoon, getready!”

The era of guns and cannons, which began in the17th century, ripened evenmore maturely in the19th century.

All infantrymen had to be able to showconsistent movement under thestrict commandsystem of officers and non-commissioned officers, with asufficient understanding of the formations and good performance.

But the best thing theyhad to do was to handleguns andscar theenemy’s heart.

‘Firingisonly forthe fighting spirit! Afterthe bayonetcharge, thehand-to-hand is the most important virtuefor the infantry corps!’

In thepast, when thehit rateand killingability of firearms were weak, thisdoctrinewas used, but it wasa thing of thepast. Now, battlefield infantry andgrenadiers, who wereengaged in close-quarter combat with the enemy, also received systematic shooting training to aim accurately.

The rifle units, whose ability to handle guns was much moreimportant thanthem, had to conductatleastthreetimesasmuch live shooting training. It wastime to show the results of their hard-working training in front of Napoleon. The nextChasseurs prepared to shoot.

Soldierslifted their rifles at a distance of 150mtoward atarget of 25cmx 25cm. They aimed and fired in accordance withthe order and signalofthe officer. Along withthe sound of gunshots, thesmokeleaking from the riflescovered thefield.

Thecurrent shooting range wasintentionally installedina windy place, sothe smoke quicklywent away. Soon after, each target pierced by the bullets appeared.

Napoleonand the seniorofficerswere staying far from the shooting range. From there, itwas not easy to knowwhether they hit thetargets or not, evenwhen looking througha telescope.

Nevertheless, Napoleon did nothide hispleased face. This was because he was able to feelconfidence from the Chasseur Regiment preparingtofire.

It was a belief in oneself thatonly those whotriedhard enoughcouldhave. Itwas alsoanessential virtue forelitesoldiers.

“Great! You’ve grown steadily even though I didn’t care enough about you! You have worked hard, my men.”

“No! It’s all thankstothe grace of YourMajesty!”

“It’s an honor to finally repay YourMajesty theGreatEmperor forwhat youhave done!”

As he skimmedthrough theshy flattery of the officers running around with joy, Napoleonlooked at the results of the shots brought by the non-commissioned officers.

Confidence wasgood, but he needed to check their performance. Therewere a few Chasseur units that had yettofinish the shooting demonstration, buthecouldstillget an approximate averageoftheiraccuracy. Whenhechecked with his owneyes, half of thetargets hadbeen hitand halfofthem seemedtohave been missed.

In order not to bring shame to thename of therifleunit, 200m targets had to have ahit rateofatleast60% and 300m targetsofatleast25%.

This wasthe minimumstandardfor organizinga rifle unit. Forreference, thestandardofthe Britishmilitarythat hadthe bestshootingskills in all Europewas higher than this.

However, now, evenwith 150m targets, which weremuch closer, onlya 50% hit ratewas barely achieved, soitcouldbesaid to be a verypatheticresult for Napoleon’s ambitious unit.

Nevertheless, Napoleon showeda satisfiedface. The officers nexttohim alsolooked proud of the achievementsoftheirsubordinates.

Why werethey reacting like this? The reasonwas the guns heldbythe Chasseur Regiment currently practicing shooting on the field.

The chasseurswere holding avery old-fashioned rifle thatwas far worse than the Versailles rifle handledbyFrench rifle soldiers in the past, which wasnot muchbetter thanthe Italianmuskets.

Although the rifle unit was established, itwas difficult to obtainrifles for them becauseNabothad turned allthe factories that wereproducing rifles into musketsfactories. Moreover, the design andpatents forthe Versaillesrifles had been soldtoothercountries.

Inevitably, they hadtoproduce a rifle exclusively for shooting practice, changingonly a bit theold-fashioned model by addinga newlaunch device. That waswhat theChasseurRegimentwas holdingrightnow.

‘If the shooting rate is thishigh even withthat antique thing, then of course they willshow a muchgreater firepowerand accuracy withthe new rifles, which the Empire’s engineershave puttheirheartand soulinto. Thanks to Nabot, thesandbag effectwill definitely be seen.’

Napoleonand the officers were not satisfiedwith thepoor shooting accuracy of theold rifles. The biggestdrawbackofa rifle with deepsteelwireswas thatittook a lot of strength andtime to push ammunitiondeep into the chamber.

Tosolvethis problem, theMinistryofWar and Industry of theEmpire was currentlysuggesting that bulletsshould be dug in advance (like bolts and nuts) to engagewith steel wires.

The newriflewas an improved versionofthe British-made Baker rifle, whichwas currently considered the best, adapted to the Frenchstylereflecting thelatest trends.

For this reason, itcouldbesaid that it was a revolutionaryweapon thatNapoleonand the main figuresofthe Imperial Armyhad beenwaiting for, although it was still confidential.

“The shooting skills of theChasseurs havedefinitely improved a lot compared to before. However, there is still roomfor furtherdevelopmentinmyeyes.”

“Your Majesty’sopinion is very reasonable.”

“Whatcan’tour soldiers do better than those islanders? Like thefamous green coats, we cantrainmasters of shooting andsnipers. Tothis end, I will spare no support.”

Officers wereslightlywary of Napoleon’s words. Oneofthem proudly expressed hisopinion.

“I am Major Lexington of the12th Battalion. The Empire’s soldiers aremuch stronger, faster and more loyal thanthe islanders. Underthe sameconditions, ofcourse, thesoldiersofthe Empire will do better. However, shootingisanindividual capability thateach soldier needs to improveasmuch as they can by thoroughly investing time and effort. For this, there is nothing better forthe Chasseurs than shooting practice.”

In other words, he wasasking for more supportsuch as ammunition and riflestoadd to the shooting practice. Napoleonhad given generous supporttothe Chasseur Regiment so far andwas producing newrifles witha large amountofmoney, but he hadnot beenable to deliver as muchammunition as he intended.

The reasonwas simple. This wasbecause Francewas not a countryrich in gunpowder. The main ingredients of gunpowder were sulfur, charcoal, and saltpeter(potassium nitrate).

Sulfur andcharcoalwere easilyavailable, butthe problemwas the saltpeter, which was a resource thatcouldonly be extractedinIndia, China, andSouthAmerica. Britain, whichwas holdingtightly to theAsiantrade, did notsell anysaltpeter to its potentialenemy, France.

Eventually, France hadtopurchasesaltpeter fromSpain, and to South American countriescurrently at war fortheirindependence.

Rifles werenot the only onesconsuming gunpowder. Canons suchasfieldartillery, siege guns, andfortresscannons also ate a lot of gunpowder. The place of purchase waslimited andtherewere many places to use, so no matter howgenerousNapoleonwas, he could noteasily promisesuch support.

‘But this is now a thing of the past.’

Napoleon usuallychewed Nabot as usual, buttherewas one thing that Nabot did reallywell enoughtomeet hishigh standards. The fact thatheactivelyinvestedinchemistry, manufacturing, andwar supply production.

Realizing thatthe supply of gunpowderwas too scarcetocontinuethe war, Nabothad trainedchemistsand geologistsacross the country to obtain saltpeter, and preciselythe potassium nitrate component containedinit.

CompetentFrench scientistsfounda waytoproduce potassiumnitrate by cultivating a nitridebacteriainorganic-rich soil.

Nabot gave BernardCourtoisand Jean-Antoine Chaptal[2], whoformalized theprocess, greatawards and titlesofnobility, and sparednosupport formass production. Theinvestment at that timewas onlyseeing the light now.

Although itsquality wasinferiortothat of gunpowderproducedfrom saltpeterand there was a riskofexplosion, perhaps becauseofimpurities, the factthat gunpowdercouldbeproducedwithout relying on foreigntradewas enough to offsetthesedownsides.

Napoleon, determinedtouse asignificantportion of theamount produced by the gunpowderfactory here, noddedatthe demand.

“Youhave therighttoask me proudly. Didn’t youmanage to train suchgreatand elite soldiers withthird-classrifles and limited resources? I will accept Major Lexington’s request.”

“It, it’s an honor, Your Majesty!”

While the officers showedextreme courtesy, Napoleonwatched theChasseurs, whowere still shooting. Inthe future ‘GreatWar’, they would be given large andsmallmissionsand would create differenttacticalvalues.

Hehad alreadythought about theoperationaltechniques of theChasseurs. Napoleon wasconvinced thattheirskills combined withthe new rifleswouldshinesplendidly. Thanks to bothNapoleons, Francewas abletosteadilysupply gunpowder even whenthe sea routeswere blocked.

TL notes

[1]Chasseur,Tirailleur,Voltigeur

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