Dominate the Country

Napoleon was Barras's best choice - he had outstanding military talents, but he had no foundation in the Directory, and he was a retired general with no reputation! Such a young man was too easy for him to control.

Barras ordered Napoleon to come and asked him if he could suppress the rebellion in Paris. Napoleon only considered it for a few minutes and gave a positive answer. His patient waiting finally won him a perfect opportunity. Napoleon, who had obtained the power of the 5,000 Revolutionary Guards in Paris, was like a long-bound eagle ready to spread his wings again.

In the battle to quell the rebellion, Napoleon first thought of how to use cannons, because the royalists were a group of rabble. They might have rockets and cannons in their hands, but they would never use them perfectly.

But at that time, there was no artillery or ammunition near the Tuileries Palace, where the Directory was stationed. There were some rockets, but there were absolutely no cannons. However, there were 40 cannons idle in the Sablon Barracks in the northwest of Paris. Napoleon knew about this, so he immediately assigned his friend, Captain Murat of the Cavalry, to lead 200 soldiers to drag the cannons to the vicinity of the Tuileries Palace.

During the battle, Napoleon used the unprecedented method of using cannons to bombard the rioters in the city. Under the attack of Napoleon's famous "grapeshot like a breeze", the rebels were beaten to pieces. The royalists, who thought they had won, had cannons and rockets, but they did not play any role at all. The rebels did not expect Napoleon to use cannons in the city of Paris. They were caught off guard by the artillery fire and could only fight back with rifles. Then the battle lasted only more than an hour and ended.

The Directory was saved.

Napoleon once again became a hero of the revolution, and his life ushered in a new turning point - he was appointed commander of the Paris garrison, and he became a close friend of the powerful Republican Director Barras and a candidate for the independent commander of the combat troops. His social status was rising rapidly, and a bright future was unfolding before him.

By the time the new year came, Napoleon was about to become the commander of the Italian Corps.

Although this corps had only more than 40,000 people, this was the first time that Napoleon had made his voice heard in the strategic situation of France.

In order to completely defeat the anti-French alliance led by Britain and completely eliminate the external military threat, the French Directory decided to launch active military operations in the new year, with the main offensive target being the powerful Austrian army. To this end, the French Army Command proposed a pincer assault operation plan, planning to send two armies, led by General Jourdan and General Moreau, to start along the Rhine River and advance eastward at the same time, pointing the spearhead at Vienna, the capital of Austria.

But just as the French revolutionary army was actively preparing for the battle on the northern front, Napoleon, as the commander of the Paris garrison, proposed a southern battle plan, which was to first annihilate the allied forces of Austria and the Kingdom of Sardinia, seize the rich Piedmont and Lombardy regions in northern Italy, and then drive the Austrian army out of the entire Italy and push the battlefield to Tyrol and Austria.

In this way, the threat to the southeastern region of France can be eliminated, and the main force of Austria can be avoided. The army, commanded by Archduke Karl, the first general of Austria, can bypass the Austrian capital Vienna from the south.

In view of Napoleon's military talent and the practical value of his suggestions, the Directory agreed to Napoleon's battle plan and appointed him to replace General Scherer, the former commander-in-chief of the Italian Army. Napoleon had the support of Chen Han's European Office, and of course he had long known what a shabby character the Italian Army was, but he was eager to make a contribution, so he decided to take office.

This was the beginning of Napoleon's independent command of troops and galloping on the battlefield. I just don't know if he can really direct more than 50 battles of all sizes in the next 20 years like he did in the original time and space plane, creating miracles again and again in the history of human warfare.

…

Chen Han's European Office had a wide range of eyes, so through them, Napoleon, who was in Paris, was very clear about the real situation of the Italian Army stationed in Nice, the southeast corner of France.

This was a half-starved, ragged army with a serious shortage of artillery and cavalry. The soldiers were like a group of bandits. The meager supplies from Paris were soon stolen by the soldiers without scruples. 43,000 people had no military pay, no military rations, no feed, no shoes and socks, no clothes, no tents, no camping furniture, no means of transportation, and their material life was extremely difficult.

Napoleon clearly realized that after he arrived at the Italian Corps, he had to really enforce military discipline and stop theft. It would be useless to just shoot some people. He had to make sure his army had clothes and shoes to wear. To get these things, first, he had to encourage the soldiers to use force to demand them from the enemy, and second, he needed his own "efforts" instead of waiting for the government to supply them.

Where did Napoleon's efforts go? That was obviously China.

Before his second rise, the Chinese provided him with 10,000 pistaoles of "funds" every year, but after his successful second rise - becoming the commander of the garrison of Paris and a close confidant of Barras, the amount of funds Napoleon received had increased to 50,000 pistaoles.

Napoleon squandered all his "funds" in 1796 at one time, and contributed all the remaining "funds" in 1795 and 1794.

So when Zhu Fu led the Chinese fleet to visit Austria and had not yet used it to the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa, he received an urgent notice from the European Office, which asked them to speed up to enter the Mediterranean and then go to the Port of Nice in southeastern France. Unload part of the guns and military supplies!

Zhu Fu was very clear about the status of the European Office, not only because of the existence of King Jieyang, but also because he had received instructions before departure-to obey the instructions of the European Office.

Yes, the authority of the European Office is still above him, the commander of the fleet.

Of course, the European Office also explained the meaning of "Napoleon" to Zhu Fu in detail. This is indeed a big red stock worthy of China's large-scale investment. Napoleon's two rises are too "miraculous".

Although this trip to the Italian Legion is his first independent military operation in the true sense, the European Office is willing to do its best to support him.

This is not just a gesture from the emperor, but the influence of the battle to suppress the royalists in Paris. This short young man has great luck.

His two rises were both ‘magical’.

Just after he decided to seek the position of commander of the Italian Corps, he, who was in urgent need of military supplies, immediately welcomed the arrival of Zhu Fu’s fleet. This is really great luck!

Moreover, given the political situation in France, supporting a general with military power is far better than a tin-gun head like Barras.

Besides, Napoleon is not a reckless man like Xiang Yu and Lu Bu, he is still very politically wise.

In a short time after getting the position of commander of the Italian Corps, he finalized his relationship with Josephine Beauharnais, a young widow who was six years older than Napoleon. Rumor has it that she was the mistress of the lustful Barras - the abandoned one. But Napoleon seemed to really like her, and the whole person was immersed in sweetness.

Whether it was true or not, his performance was like this.

- In order to make the ages of the two people less abrupt, he changed Josephine's age by four years and increased his own age by one year.

If everything went as planned, Napoleon would have gone to Nice, the Italian Army's garrison, within a week of his marriage.

Did such a "general" really love his wife so much?

Napoleon was a man with a bumpy love life.

Imagine which girl would be willing to entrust her life to a short, pale, thin, gloomy young officer who did not show much future at the time? Napoleon was first rejected by Clary Dezire, and then coldly treated by Mrs. Permon's daughter. Napoleon often said to people: "Joseph is so lucky." Because his brother Joseph successfully married Miss Clery, the daughter of a wealthy and prestigious Marseille merchant, he envied his brother's good fortune very much.

But no matter what, Napoleon took a crucial step in his life - he was no longer satisfied with the luxurious life in Paris, nor was he used to being a docile assistant under the Directors such as Barras. His heart was burning with the desire to display his military talents - the desire to pursue a great commander, like his idol Caesar, this desire finally drove him to do a great cause.

The support of the European Office to Napoleon over the past two years can be said to be dedicated, and it is about to bear beautiful and fruitful fruits. The people in the European Office will not drop the chain at this time.

Therefore, Zhu Fu must take the fleet to Nice.

And if Zhu Fu takes such a trip, it will be really dangerous.

Nice is on the French-Italian dividing line. To the south is Napoleon's hometown Corsica, and to the south of Corsica - right next to Sardinia, the Kingdom of Sardinia is one of the participating countries in this anti-French alliance. Then the Kingdom of Sardinia must have a connection with Spain.

Small Sardinia has limited naval power, but they are very close to Spain, and the Spanish Mediterranean Fleet already has a squadron docked in Sardinia.

Since the Spanish opened fire in Gibraltar, the Sino-Western War in America will definitely start, and their Mediterranean Fleet will certainly not be stingy and reluctant to go out and swallow up the fleet led by Zhu Fu.

The Spanish Mediterranean Fleet has 22 sailing battleships above level three, including four level one sailing battleships. In addition to the previously exposed Saint Trinidad battleship, two of the other three level one sailing battleships are in the waters north of Sardinia. It is easy for a total of 16 battleships to swallow up Zhu Fu's small fleet.

Zhu Fu can only fight guerrilla warfare in the western Mediterranean now.

Moreover, their behavior of approaching Nice, France is likely to trigger protests from the British, whose Mediterranean Fleet is the real overlord of the Mediterranean. They don't need to take action personally, as long as they properly leak the news to the Spaniards, everything can end easily.

But Zhu Fu still wanted to get closer to Nice.

Napoleon was a figure that His Majesty the Emperor had asked to pay attention to, and now he had a real hope of rising. The Italian Legion had more than 40,000 men.

When Zhu Fu thought of this number, he couldn't help but feel that the French were making a fuss.

More than 40,000 men, if put in the National Defense Army, would be two reorganized divisions. To command such a large number of men, one must be a senior general or above. How could that be possible for a young man in his twenties?

Of course, Napoleon was able to reach this point at such an age. Whether he had a strong family background or not, he had great luck. But Zhu Fu always felt that the French were out of tune. It was too unbecoming.

Even during the establishment of Chen Han, the only person who led thousands of troops in his twenties was the current emperor. The others, Chen Qi, Chen Yongsheng, Gao Pingshan, Huang Jie, who was not over thirty when they reached this point?

And Napoleon's "rise" was so swift, just two battles!

Although it was of great significance, it was absolutely irresponsible for the Directory to hand over a legion to such a young person so rashly.

…

After the fleet led by Zhu Fu set off from Gibraltar to the east, it turned north after sailing for two days.

He did not lead his army directly to the east coast of Sardinia, and head north to Nice from the Tyrrhenian Sea between Sardinia and mainland Italy, but headed directly north from the west side of Sardinia - the east side of the Balearic Islands [Spanish].

Along the way, they encountered many ships flying the Spanish flag, and there were also many British ships, not only merchant ships, but also sporadic warships, which often followed Zhu Fu's fleet for a while and then disappeared.

There were also a small number of Italian ships, flying different flags. If it weren't for the instructions of the people in the European Office on board, Zhu Fu couldn't tell them apart. Of course, there were also Spanish warships. When the other party at the gate saw this fleet flying the blue sky, white sun and red ground flag, and with a large scale and more than ten warships escorting it, they immediately hid far away and never dared to approach again. At this time, Zhu Fu's fleet was also focused on rushing to Nice, and they didn't bother to care about these small fish and shrimps.

But Zhu Fu and his people knew that the battle would come one day.

In such a big bathtub like the Mediterranean, it is not without precedent to completely avoid a fleet, but if it is limited to the waters west of Italy, it is really very difficult.

Because this area is too small.

Zhu Fu and his men have not encountered any obstruction now only because the Spanish fleet has no time to stop them. No matter how small the sea is, it is not a lake. Even if the Spaniards know the news very quickly, by the time they mobilize warships and form a team to block them, Zhu Fu has already left with the fleet.

But the Spaniards will not give up, because there is still Nice, right?

The Spaniards do not know the destination of Zhu Fu's fleet, but Zhu Fu's direction is north, which is France, so it is very likely that part of the goods transported by this Chinese fleet are French goods. As long as they stop at the port, it will take a few days, and then the Spanish fleet can completely catch up.