After the three foreign ambassadors learned from De Luys that the French Empire and the Russian Empire were about to launch a war, they knew that they were unable to dissuade the French Empire from giving up its action. They could only choose to fulfill their duties as diplomatic ambassadors and send them
The information they learned was passed back to their country, hoping that their country would make the right decision after the war began.
Just as the foreign ambassadors of the three countries were returning to their respective diplomatic embassies in carriages from the pier in the Seventh District, a secret military meeting was being held at the Tuileries Palace on the Champs Elysées.
The people who participated in this military meeting included Saint-Arnaud, the Chief of General Staff of the Army, Couzin Montauban, the Minister of War, Dicko, the Minister of the Navy (since the Navy did not have suitable personnel, Dicko himself concurrently served as the Chief of the Naval General Staff), etc.
In addition to the main military officers, there are also Major General Leboeuf, Major General Niel, Major General Canrobert, Brigadier General Bazin, Brigadier General Trochu... a series of members who have more or less participated in and planned the war in the Near East.
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This war, which had been secretly planned since 1849, finally officially began in 1853.
Four years of planning allowed the General Staff (formerly the Office of the Military Secretariat of the Ministry of War) to anticipate all possible actions by the Russian Empire and prepare several sets of response plans.
A detailed military map of the Near East is set on the wall of the conference hall of the Tuileries Palace. The border area between the Danube Principality and the Bulgarian region is filled with dense wargame infantry symbols, which represent the current state of the Russian Empire.
All armies present in the Danube border area.
"According to the information we received from the Ottoman Empire, the Russian Empire has assembled approximately 150,000 troops in the Principality of Wallachia, part of which are troops led by Paskiewicz that were once stationed in Poland.
They were once the main force that helped the Austrian Empire suppress Hungary. The troops were equipped with a large number of old-fashioned muskets and a small number of rifles.
Although the equipment level of this army is far inferior to that of our army, their war will is very tenacious." Brigadier General Leboeuf, who is responsible for military explanation and analysis in the Near East, pointed with a small wooden stick.
The infantry logo pattern was emphasized, and then he looked uneasily at Jérôme Bonaparte, who was sitting in the first row of the audience in the conference hall.
This military rehearsal, which should have been personally explained and deployed by Chief of General Staff Saint-Arnault, is now being explained by a "little" major general-level staff commander like Leboeuf, which is really "too much".
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The "forcible force" here does not mean that Major General Leboeuf's own command ability is defective, but that in the French Army, which is very strict about seniority, Major General Leboeuf's qualifications are too weak.
Although there are many "students" in the audience who hold the same title of major general as him, the gold content between the two is very different. It is really hard for him, a junior officer, to give lectures to a group of old people in the army.
hands and feet.
The person who made the decision to let Leboeuf come to the stage to talk was none other than the Emperor Jérôme Bonaparte.
The reason why Jérôme Bonaparte was willing to let Leboeuf show himself in front of many old people was that, in addition to paving the way for Leboeuf's subsequent promotion, there was also the fact that Leboeuf had been involved from the beginning to the end.
He knows the Near East combat plan better than anyone else.
At this time, Jérôme Bonaparte also saw the look Leboeuf cast towards him. He smiled and nodded to Leboeuf to show encouragement.
Leboeuf, who was prompted by Jérôme Bonaparte's eyes, swept away his previous anxiety and continued to point his baton at another infantry logo next to the Paskevich infantry logo in an passionate tone: "Another infantry logo.
The only force is the Bessarabian force led by Mikhail Gorchakov. Most of the Bessarabian force led by him are troops drawn from the Caucasus and reorganized.
Both the quantity and quality of the army are inferior to the army led by Paskiewicz!
However, this army stationed in the province of Bessarabia was better at dealing with small-scale guerrilla forces than the army under Paskevich. These were military strategies learned from the Caucasus.
In addition to these two troops, a small number of St. Petersburg Guards troops also joined them. They were the most elite troops in the hands of Nicholas I, and their quality was much higher than that of Paskevich and Gorchakov.
army, but it is far inferior in number to these two armies, with only about two to three regiments of troops."
Later, Leboeuf complimented Jérôme Bonaparte and said: "However, all their armies are inferior to our army in terms of equipment quality and personnel. All this is due to the efforts of His Majesty!"
"Stop flattering and keep talking!" Leboeuf's naked flattery brought a smile to Jerome Bonaparte's face, and he "reprimanded" Leboeuf in a calm tone.
"Yes!" Upon seeing this, Leboeuf immediately corrected his attitude and continued to explain: "According to the intelligence recently obtained by the General Staff, once the war between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire begins, the Russian Empire will definitely attack here crazily!"
Leboeuf placed the baton on Silistra: "This is a military fortress built on the Danube River, and it is also the Ottoman Empire's greatest protection against the Russian Imperial Army! Once Silistra is occupied by the Russian Imperial Army
If they break through, they will repeat the situation of 1828."
In 1828, Nicholas I of the Russian Empire led 65,000 Russian soldiers and Cossack troops to attack Silistra. After occupying Silistra, Tsar Nicholas I went down the river and occupied
Varna and Edirne (former capital of the Ottoman Empire).
That time was when Nicholas I was closest to Constantinople. Unfortunately, due to the intervention of Britain and European countries, the Russian Empire could only leave in despair. This also became Nicholas I's eternal pain.
"Can the defense of Silistra withstand the attack of 130,000 Russian Imperial soldiers?" Jérôme Bonaparte asked Leboeuf.
"Due to the location of Silistra, the Russian Empire cannot effectively deploy troops in Silistra. As long as Silistra itself is properly defended! The Russian Empire army cannot break through Silis at all.
Silistra fortress group!" Leboeuf vowed to Jérôme Bonaparte: "And now the Russian Empire has lost this opportunity. Silistra has deployed nearly 30,000 troops. These troops
It is completely able to withstand the attack of the Russian Empire, so the original plan of the imperial army to be stationed in Varna can continue to be implemented."
Leboeuf's words were praised by some generals in the audience. They did not care about the life and death of the Ottoman Empire, but they must have Varna behind Silistra.
Once Silistra fell, Varna would face the onslaught of the Russian Imperial Army.
According to the French Empire's landing plan, all large materials such as locomotives, railway tracks, and siege guns must be assembled at the port of Rhodes before being transported to Varna.
This also means that large equipment cannot be transported to anywhere immediately. The imperial generals present do not want to start a war with the Russian Empire before they have established a foothold in Varna.
Of course, there are also objections. Some generals believe that the Russian Empire is likely to head southwest from Bucharest to Ruse. In this case, once Bulgaria and Serbia launch an uprising, the Russian Empire can be nearby to assist the rebels.
"If Nicholas I was commanding him, he would most likely choose this risky method, but Paskiewicz is a cautious guy and he would not agree to this plan!" Leboeuf immediately refuted these.
People's point of view, and explained: "Once the Russian Imperial Army enters through Ruse to support Serbia, it will inevitably cause panic in the Austrian Empire. At that time, the Russian Empire will be in a dilemma."
"The Austrian Empire has agreed to issue a retreat warning to the Russian Empire together with the French Empire, so the Austrian Empire's army will only become a threat to the Russian Empire's army rather than a help!" Jerome Bonaparte also said.
Since the "joint operations" between the French Empire and the Austrian Empire against the Russian Empire have always been carried out in private and secret, most of the generals present did not know that the Austrian Empire had betrayed the Russian Empire.
Jerome Bonaparte's words made all the generals present agree with Leboeuf's opinion.
Subsequently, Leboeuf proposed the landing operation plan prepared in advance by the General Staff.
The first batch of troops in the landing operation plan are the six battalions of the Zuav troops in the Algerian colony. They will be transported by the transport ship recruited by the navy to Varna to consolidate their positions. The six battalions of the Zuav troops will be reorganized into two
The regiment was headed by Brigadier Generals McMahon and Bazin.
The generals present had no objections to the fact that Joauf was the vanguard force. Who made Joauf's army the most elite army in France?
However, when the second batch of transport members for the army was recruited, all the generals present began to quarrel with red faces.
According to the plan of the General Staff, the second batch of troops to be logged in include the 1st Brigade, the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Paris Division, and the 3rd Brigade of the 2nd Division.
The military commanders of the First and Second Divisions were naturally meaningless to the General Staff's plan, but the commander of the Third (Guards Division) raised objections to the deployment of the First and Second Divisions.
The desire for military exploits and glory led these generals to start a war of aggression.
