Napoleon in 1812
Chapter 76: Towards the Peninsula - 3

“Your Majesty! Breakfastisall ready. Pleasegotothe dining room in the main hall.”

“Hmm… I’dlike to have aquickbite to eathere.”

Napoleon, who was toolazy to move again after exercising, murmured, butBaronFain thought differently.

“The marshals arealready up andheading forthe dining room. They willbepleased to have you with them.”

For themtobepleased… He would be glad if he did notget sickaftereating.

But he could see what Baron Fainintendedtosuggest this. Napoleon didnot reject theproposalofhis quick-witted secretary.

=

“HisMajesty theEmperor is entering! Please showcourtesy.”

Several marshals andsenior officers werealready seatedinthe dining room. They immediately got up andsaluted, Napoleonsaluted as well and satinhis designatedseat.

Napoleon was notone to seeksplendorineverydaymealsunless it was a specialoccasion. Especiallynow at war.

So he usedtoeat relativelysimple and easy-to-eat food, butthe dishes on thetable, which boastedthe height of their splendor, made hisstomach uncomfortable.

‘I’m tryingtolose weightbyexercising hard, butI can’t turn thateffort intonothing.’

In an efforttocontrol hisweight and stay healthy, Napoleon had a frugal meal today.

“I salute YourMajesty theGreatEmperor! It’s a veryrefreshing andgood morning for thenew year, YourMajesty!”

Jean-Baptiste Bessières, DukeofIstria, greeted him with adisheveled face. Napoleon said to him with aslight smile.

“The sunwill rise in the west. TheDuke, famous for hislaziness, wokeupsoearly.”

“Hahaha, you’re having funwith jokes. I admireyour wit, YourMajesty!”

“Doyou think it’sa joke? Youneed to be more diligent.”

“…I’ll try from thisyear on.”

Mischievous, Napoleonpoured vegetablesinto tomatosauceand put them in his mouth. The crunch andsournessinhis mouth gavehim alittle appetite. He took abite of bread.

The hall was relatively quiet, although there were somemarshalsand officers chatting. Drinking a soupofcorn andpotatoes, Napoleon looked at themarshalssitting at thetable.

Jean-Baptiste Bessières, Michel Ney, Claude Victor-Perrin… All of them, includingBerthierwho had been dispatched, weremarshalsloyaltohim. Thesame wastrue of hisofficers.

It wasnot justanillusionthat André Masséna’s expression in betweenthem lookedgrumpy. Napoleon found it quite funny andlaughed quietly. Then at asudden thought, he stoppedeating for a moment. Watchinghim, Bessières tilted hishead.

“Is there anything botheringyou, Your Majesty?”

“No, nothing. It just reminded me of someone.”

Usually, ifheansweredlike this, Bessières would moveonwithout askingany further, but today he seemeda littlemore lively.

“Isthat so? Ifyou don’t mind, can youtell me whoyou thoughtof?”

“I don’tmind. It’s Desaix.^[1]”

“Ah…”

AtNapoleon’s gentlewords, not only Bessièresbut alsothe other marshals around himlooked speechless. Louis CharlesAntoine Desaix.

He wasa Frenchhero whosacrificed hislife to bring victory to Napoleon at the BattleofMarengo. Nabotofthis world hadshamelesslytriedtostealhis credit, saying thatDesaix’sfeatswere only the results of his orders.

Anyway, it had been 12 years since Desaix died, buttherewere still many people whoremembered him.

If he took Masséna, whowas squinting oneeye fromtime to time, removed his greed andaddedloyalty, hemay obtain Desaix. Desaix wassuch an excellentgeneral.

Eveninthe world where Napoleon was originally, he wasa brave, outstandingand faithful man.

The battleofMarengo existed in the other world as well, buttherewas nothingincommon withthe battle of this world fromthe beginning to theend.

Inparticular, Desaix of the other world hadnot diedinvain, but had been subsequently given thetitleofmarshal.

‘Lannes^[2]and Desaix were the same… It’sa pity thatI can’t seeagaintheirfacesthat I miss.’

Unless he could return to hisoriginalworld. But there wasnoway to go back. Bessièresfakeda cough as Napoleon laughed overhis helpless situation.

“Desaixwas an exampleofa great Frenchman. He haswon manygreatvictories, buthis greatest achievement was to diefightingfor YourMajesty theEmperor at theBattle of Marengo.”

Bessières smiledand flattered theEmperor, saying thatDesaix would be happy to see thegloriousEmpire of today, butitdid not sound very goodtoNapoleon.

Thebody he hadnow had been eating away thatgreatachievement. Of course it would seem pretentious to say this to them.

Because he was theonly onewho knewthat Nabot wasdifferent fromNapoleon. In the future, he would be criticizedand suffer from Nabot’skarma.

It wasbitter, butwhat could he do? This morning, he felt resentmentfor the being that had brought him into thisworldwhen he hadbeen livingwell in Louisiana.

=

‘TheEmperor brought up Desaix’s name. Whatthe hellishethinking?’

The Emperorused to praiseDesaix’sexploitsand sacrifice, but never mentioned hisname in private.

Sinceheused to cover andconceal records and circumstances thatwere unfavorable to him, it musthave been veryinconvenient for himifmany peoplesaid Desaix’s name.

None of themarshalswere unaware of the fact thatthe Emperorhad taken Desaix’s credit in an unjustified way.

Andnow the Emperor mentioned Desaix’s name on his own, bewildering Masséna. Wasthe Emperortrying to testthem?

While eating, Massénaobservedthe Emperordiscreetly. Despite sayinganinconvenient name, the Emperor looked calm.

Hedid not look likehewas forcibly suppressing his emotions. Ashetalked withhis marshals, he remained calm all thetime. Only then did Masséna recalled theconversation he had hadwith Berthier. The Emperorhad changeda lotfrom before.

‘I need to lookinto it.’

Drinking wine fromhis glass, Masséna thought so. If theEmperor’s inclinations hadchanged a lot, Masséna’s politicalline would have to be different as well.

===

“Extra, extra! Here’s thenews about theIberian Standing Organization!”

“There are also benefits for theSpanish peopleofthe occupied land! You’ll regretitifyou don’t readthis!”

Freckled boys werewaving newspapersand hailed passerbysonthe street. People could tolerate curiosity, but could not resistbeingexcludedfrom benefits that everyone elsereceived.

Merchantsselling goods in stallsand pedestrians walkingdown thestreet stoppedwhat they weredoingand rushed to buynewspapers. The newspaper’s headline was adorned by the Iberian Standing Organization’s ‘Today’s Announcement’.

TheIberian Standing Organizationwas atemporary organization created by Napoleon Bonaparte, whichwas responsible for thegovernance andtax collectionofthe occupied Spanishterritories. In fact, the Spanish local governmentwas doing whatithad to do, includingrelief missions.

According to the headline article, theSpanish citizens whowere in need becauseofthe longwar would be given freefood such as potatoes, rice and wheat.

In addition, thegovernment would provide clothes, wood, and bread to each household, and fish, cheese, beef, soap, and evencigarettes to ‘exemplary’ citizens whohad accurate information.

“Those rotten, devilishFrench!… No matterhow clever they try to fool us, Spain remembersthe slaughter of thepast!”

“Ofcourse! I’drather holdhandswith thedevil, I will never accepthelp from the frogs even if theychange! Let’s allwork together to getthem outofhere right now!”

Exasperated, the citizens letout swear words and insults. They startedtotear up thenewspapers andincited peoplenot to receiveall of these supplies together. Those whowere bitterly resentfultoward the Frencharmy hadnointention of accepting even asingle pea from France.

“Hey, guys! What’s wrong with you? Moneyhas no nationality. They’re giving outfree food and clothes, so think about it!”

“You may be able to refuse so hard becauseyou can affordit, but forsome of us, ifwedon’thave thedailynecessitiesthat theFrench handout, we would allstarve to death!”

There werealso peoplesaying thistothosewho wanted theentire villagetorefuse the supplies. Theirill feelings toward Francewere thesame, but theywere notworthmore than the livelihood of their families.

When allthe farmland theyownedwas devastatedand their parentsand children werehungry, howcouldthey refuseeven thedevil’s hand?

“Lookatthosetraitorswho would sellthis country! Have you already forgotten theatrocities theFrench havedone to ourfamiliesand neighbors!?”

“I didn’t forget! But it’smore importantfor me to get food to supportmychildren, my wifeand my parents!”

“If you want to do anti-French operations, findanother way! We would never jointhis.”

“Oh, God! Come to think of it, the numbersofspieswho are selling out thesecrets of theResistance areincreasing these days, buttheseguys arethe onesresponsible!”

The seeds of Napoleon’sdivisionwere germinating step by step, eating nutrients. The Spanish people were now only swearing and pointing fingers at eachother.

“Stop talking nonsense! Even if we’re traitors, there’s no reason to be insulted by you! I will protect my family!”

“You don’t havetobesopassionate andloyaltoyour country! TheKing fled to Sevillewithout protecting his peopleand knownothing of your sorrow!”

“What!? He’sa spy! Whata traitor!!”

“Hahaha, what atime to be proud of being a spy! You’dbetter not show it too much though. The resistancehas no forgiveness for traitors.”

“W-What!?”

Eventually, thesituation camequickly to an endaftera group of peoplepunched others, and some people fainted and were seriously injured.

But thistown wasa lucky case. In other places, people hadused kitchen knives andsickles to stab eachothertodeath. The antipathythe Spanishpeople had against France wasbynomeanssmall.

They hated the Frenchproportionately to the amountofdamage theyhad suffered directly fromthem. France was a deadly enemy, especially to thecitizensofLeón, Valencia, andZamora, whohad suffered alot of plunderand slaughter.

However, it was difficulttoreject the daily necessities that theyprovided, so there werea lotofpeople who hadtocompromise. Assuch, the situation of theSpanish localswas difficult.

Being the centerofwar since 1808, Spain’sadministrativenetwork hadlong since collapsed.

Thefarmlandwas devastatedand the local economy of villages had collapsed. It was no lietosay thatifthe IberianStandingOrganization, founded by France, did not help them, whole families would havedied.

The attitude of theFrench army, which had changed since Napoleon Bonaparte returned, also playeda part in increasingthe number of peoplewho werereluctant to accept help fromthe French.

The Frencharmy didnot requisition the country as viciously as in thepast. They boughtfood andwaterfrom locals, paidthe price rightfully, and didnot commit evil actssuch as devastating nearbyvillagesorcities becauseofsuspected presence of resistanceforces.

Ofcourse, that did notdilute the anger of theSpanish people. However, theydid not intendtogoaheadand shoot the Frenchsoldierswho did notwant to harm them.

Manwas an animal of adaptation. At first, the Spanishwere seething with the mere sight of atricolorflag, but the inevitable contactwith them as theyreceiveddailynecessitiesfrom them gradually dulledtheirsharpness.

Atfirsttherewere a number of peoplewho stood firmand declared ‘I reject everything thatFrance gives me!’ But day by daythat numberdecreased.

Even if thepeople accepting therations were called traitors andturncoats, their numbers wereincreasing.

Anger was noteternal. Family livelihoods and economic benefits were the eternal aspirations of human beings. Napoleon’s division plan was clearly workingsteadily.

[1]Louis CharlesAntoine DesaixdiedattheBattleofMarengo(1800).

[2]Jean Lanneswas Napoleon’s bestfriend. He died after theBattle of Essling(1809).

The death of Desaix (painted by Jean Broc), andofLannes (painted by Paul-EmileBoutigny):

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