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Chapter 24
What happened at the diner – 2
France and Russia. It was the morning of July 15th, 1812, which would be recorded as a historic day for the entire European continent. Napoleon dressed up in a well-ironed uniform. He combed his hair while looking in his full-length mirror. As he had an important and meaningful position, he maintained his hair line without a single hair sticking out.
“…If I go back to Paris, I’ll have to exercise first. I have to lose this guy’s weight.”
Looking at the penguin in the mirror, Napoleon gritted his teeth. He would make sure to recover his angular jawline and neckline. The generals looked at Napoleon’s appearance when he left the dressing room. They could not hide their surprise. Ney and Davout did not even think of closing their open mouth.
Berthier approached carefully and asked.
“Your… Your Majesty the Emperor? Are you sure you want to go in ‘that outfit’?”
“You think the place we’re going to is a battlefield, don’t you? Well, the last battle was quite passionate enough to confuse Your Majesty.”’11
The cavalry commander Murat giggled and laughed.
No, is this guy crazy? Napoleon’s first feeling after hearing that was absurd. However, the surrounding officers and generals did not react much, despite the extraordinary act in front of the Emperor. Based on their reactions, Napoleon understood. That guy Joachim Murat was talking down to him here.
Napoleon Bonaparte of the other world was successful in every battle and became a general at a very early age, proving to be far superior to the Nabot of this world. When Napoleon was commander of a division, Murat was only a lieutenant. That was why Murat would not have dared speak informally to him… There, Murat was a friend who was late for promotion because he was incompetent. Anyway, it was not that important…
“The Generals seem to be mistaken, but our war is not over yet. Alexander I and I have to decide and sign the agreement to declare an end to the war. The place we’re going is not a party hall in the Dresden Palace. We don’t even know how things are going to turn out, but you’re all dressed up very splendidly.”
Druskininkai, the place for the negotiations, was in Russian territory and the Tsar’s guards would be waiting for them with a deadly look. That might be extremely rare, but a fight might break out if the situation got distorted. But these guys were relaxed as if they were out for a walk or a drink.
Was it because the troops of the French Empire tend to be loose as a whole? Their behavior was more like a noble than a soldier, and it seemed natural, irritating Napoleon.
“Ahem… I see. I beg your pardon, Your Majesty.”
“That… I think we were short-minded. Your Majesty was right to remind us.”
“… Tsk! Your Majesty is not wrong.”
The last one was Murat, right? Napoleon let it pass patiently. I’ll discipline him later. I can’t stand being talked down to by him.
“As expected, we dare not follow the deep thoughts of His Majesty! Let’s learn today’s lesson and work harder!”
The name of the young general whose eyes were sparkling was Eugène de Beauharnais. Napoleon sighed inwardly when he saw him flattering. An anecdote related to Eugène in the other world came to his mind.
Eugène de Beauharnais was a young boy at that time. When his father, Alexandre de Beauharnais, was executed for treason by Robespierre, the party leader, and others, he visited Napoleon, who was the Commander of the Capital Defense Force at that time. Despite being severely beaten and kicked out by soldiers, he cried out to save the life of his family and the honor of his father. Appreciating the courage, boldness, and loyalty of the young boy, Napoleon took care of his family. And after an investigation, he also found out that his father had been unfairly executed.
This led him to become an officer of absolute loyalty to Napoleon. Later, when Napoleon retired and left for Louisiana, it was reported that he entered the political arena of the Republic.
Anyway, Napoleon may be a benefactor and special superior to Eugène, but to Napoleon, he was only one of his beloved and versatile subordinates. They had just that much of a relationship, but in this world, the situation was a little different.
‘He’s my adopted son. And Nabot from this world married Josephine, the mother of Eugène? And divorced again? He’s crazy, really.’
Although he had met Josephine, Eugène’s mother, a few times, he had never thought of her that much. What kind of sexual attraction did Napoleon have to marry a woman who was old, not beautiful, and had children? Anyway, that damn Nabot married Josephine and accepted Eugène and his sister as family. Even though he later divorced Josephine, he still acted as a strong stepfather to Eugène.
Napoleon had to look away from Eugène’s sparkling eyes. His chest felt stuffy.
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Napoleon, the French generals, and the Imperial Guard arrived with their horses in a city named Druskininkai. Geographically between Vilnius and Hrodna, it was also the place for negotiations with Alexander I. Russia had suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Hrodna, and the Bagration and Barclay Corps were effectively taken prisoner by France. Alexander I could no longer hold on to his previous tough stance. Napoleon also did not want to fight Russia, so talks about the end of the war could easily be held.
Upon arriving in Druskininkai, Napoleon was able to meet a tall man with a sturdy appearance and half of his hair missing. That was right. He was Alexander Pavlovich Romanov, Alexander I, the Tsar of Russia. He was not much different from what Napoleon remembered. Except that he had a bit less hair.
“How long has it been? We haven’t seen each other since the Treaty of Tilsit, so it’s been five years.”
“Well… that’s right.”
Napoleon was happy to see him but Alexander I was reluctantly accepting him with a disapproving face. Looking at this alone, it was clear who had the upper hand.
“I was very sorry that the misunderstandings between each other had accumulated and a useless war broke out. As you know, the common enemy of Russia and France is the puppet state of the island country.”
“That’s true. Britain has always been on the lookout for you and your country’s growth.”
“I want to resolve various misunderstandings and sign a new treaty at the negotiating table today. I ask the Tsar to be willing to do the same.”
“Of course I am, but… Didn’t the Emperor invade our country first, breaking many contents of the Treaty of Tilsit, a symbol of friendship between our two countries? I just want you to know that I and the Russian government feel sorry for this.”
There was nothing advantageous about the French side, who broke the treaty first, if they were to argue about the responsibility of the war. So to prevent this, the French Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Armand-Augustin-Louis de Caulaincourt naturally tried to intervene.
But Napoleon was Napoleon.
“The words of the Tsar remind me of Epictetus, an ancient Greek philosopher, who said ‘If evil be spoken of you and it be true, correct yourself, if it be a lie, laugh at it.’ In our situation, evil is an imperial truth and a result of the process. It doesn’t matter who started.”
It was like saying not to argue about this and that. Alexander I’s veins were visible on his forehead, but he did not leave his seat. At the table were Napoleon, Alexander I, the French Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Armand-Augustin-Louis de Caulaincourt and the Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Kochu Beiman. Behind them, the French and Russian generals were facing each other as if they were going to fight in the snow.
“On July 15th, 1812, at 11:30 a.m. our country will hand over the two men, the Russian Generals Pyotr Bagration and Barclay de Tolly, as prisoners. Along with them, we captured about 125,000 Russian soldiers, 1,000 with at least the rank of officers, 339 operational cannons, 22,000 warhorses, and about 3.4 million roubles of war supplies, food, and wartime funds. First of all, according to the international laws, all the cannons, horses, and war supplies will be transferred to the French Empire. Do you have any objections to this?”
“Our soldiers were not captured in combat. I made a compromise with you because I didn’t want to shed any more blood in a fight where my comrades were isolated and less likely to win. If I had decided to fight, I had enough capacity to cause considerable damage to your troops. Treating them as prisoners of war with the international laws is a harsh treatment. That’s what I have to say.”
“The Polish Corps, led by the Grand Duke of Warsaw (Poniatowski), has pushed your Bagration Corps to the brink of collapse, and the Allied Corps is already blocking the retreat of the Barclay Corps. Even if the battle continued, France’s overwhelming dominance would be confirmed…”
A push-and-pull diplomatic war between the two ministers of foreign affairs had begun. With the help of diplomats, military experts, field commanders and journalists dispatched from both countries, they struggled to win negotiations in their favor. Napoleon and Alexander I played the role of putting a pendulum in the middle of the negotiations, bluffing that they could fight more without an agreement, and picking up false information. Alexander I was slightly annoyed by the slow process of negotiations and asked his men how long they would do it, but Napoleon did not.
He looked at the clock that was already running toward 5 p.m. Hungry, Alexander I stood up first and said.
“We’ve got a large dining hall. Let’s eat something.”
“Let’s do this.”
You have to put something in your stomach to keep talking. The two emperors rose from their seats. They were faithfully followed by the French and Russian generals.
Napoleon and Alexander I walked side by side on the way to the dining hall. Napoleon opened his mouth.
“Neither the Tsar nor the Minister of Foreign Affairs Kochu Beiman mentioned the rebellion in Paris. Isn’t this an event that would shake the balance of the negotiating table?”
“… What do you want to say?”
“I’m just amazed. That Russia is not using advantageous issues…”
“Huh, the Empire doesn’t bother to pinpoint the weaknesses of other countries.”
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It was the proud words of Alexander I, but Napoleon smiled inwardly. The distance from Vilnius to Paris was about 2,500 kilometers. The round trip was twice as much. No matter how many spies Russia had put in Paris, Alexander I should not know the truth about the rumors yet because of time and space constraints. Even before Alexander | came to the negotiating table, he knew that the Paris revolt was Napoleon’s deceit.
There was only one possibility then.
‘There was a rat in Paris.’
TL notes
[1] Informal speech in Korean.