Make France Great Again-Chapter 641 - 632 Wartime Command Authority

Chapter 641: Chapter 632 Wartime Command Authority
"Long time no see! Commander Lagren!" Jerome Bonaparte smiled as he looked at Marshal Lagren, "Perhaps I should address you as Marshal Lagren now!"
"Your Majesty, you can call me whatever you like!" Marshal Lagren stood up straight and responded to Jerome Bonaparte without arrogance.
"It’s better to call you Marshal Lagren then!" Jerome Bonaparte extended his hand inviting Lagren to sit down, "Marshal Lagren, please have a seat!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Marshal Lagren saluted Jerome Bonaparte and sat to his left.
Subsequently, Jerome Bonaparte also invited Sardinian Minister of War Marshal La Malamor and Ottoman Pasha Omar to sit on the other side.
After everyone was seated, Jerome Bonaparte candidly asked Marshal Lagren, "Marshal Lagren, I guess your purpose for coming is not just to visit me, right!"
Marshal Lagren was surprised by Jerome Bonaparte’s straightforwardness.
However, since His Majesty the Emperor had already said this, Lagren did not want to beat around the bush like those ministers in the British Cabinet.
Marshal Lagren nodded slightly and told Jerome Bonaparte that besides conveying greetings and blessings from the British troops, he also came to subtly inquire when Jerome Bonaparte would leave the Crimea Peninsula.
"My purpose here, besides bestowing honors on the heroes of the Crimea Peninsula, is also to provide moral encouragement to the front-line soldiers!" Jerome Bonaparte said, "So in the short term, I will not leave the Crimea Peninsula!"
"Then I wish Your Majesty a pleasant journey in Crimea!" Marshal Lagren said to Jerome Bonaparte, with a hint of complaint in his words.
Then, after chatting for a long time with Marshal Lagren, Marshal La Malamor, and Pasha Omar, Lagren and others bid farewell to Jerome Bonaparte.
Watching Marshal Lagren’s departing figure, Jerome Bonaparte’s expression revealed a trace of a sneer, and he murmured to himself, "It seems some people don’t want me to stay here!"
As soon as Marshal Lagren returned to the British camp from the French Expeditionary Army camp, he was surrounded by the Duke of Cambridge and others, inquiring about when Emperor Jerome Bonaparte would leave the Crimea Peninsula.
"Emperor Jerome told me he would not leave here anytime soon!" Marshal Lagren said helplessly to the military commanders present.
With these words, the military commanders immediately realized the seriousness of the situation.
Due to the excellent performance of the French Army in Alma and Sevastopol, the entire Allied Forces had gradually shifted from a dual-command structure to a single-command centered around the French Army.
This had the advantage of reducing internal friction between the armies, allowing the loose Allied Forces to form a cohesive unit.
However, the downside was that the influence of the British Army within the Allied Forces was diminishing. Before the Sevastopol war, Ottoman Pasha Omar was more inclined to follow Marshal Lagren’s command. After the Sevastopol war, Omar’s position leaned towards the French Army.
If it weren’t for Commander Lagren being promoted to Marshal and Pellissier not yet being promoted to Marshal, the Kingdom of Britain would only be able to command its own troops.
Now that Emperor Jerome Bonaparte, the highest commander of France, had arrived in Sevastopol, the entire British Army had to face the question of whether they should obey the commands of the French Army.
Because in terms of rank and power within the Allied Forces, Jerome Bonaparte clearly far surpassed Commander Lagren.
Unless Commander Lagren also brought Queen Victoria to the Crimea Peninsula, the entire Allied Forces would have to unconditionally obey her commands.
If Jerome Bonaparte could lead them to victory like Emperor Napoleon did back then, that would be acceptable!
The key issue was that Jerome Bonaparte could not show any convincing military achievements, just like the Duke of Cambridge back then, hence the British Army had grounds to question Jerome Bonaparte’s military competence.
This also caused internal divisions within the British side: if the highest command of the French Army truly shifted from Pellissier to Jerome Bonaparte, should they follow the orders of the Allied Command?
This prompted Marshal Lagren to go to the French Command to inquire whether Jerome Bonaparte intended to stay long-term in the Crimea Peninsula.
"Why don’t we this news to London! Let London negotiate with France, perhaps then His Majesty Jerome Bonaparte would leave!" one officer proposed.
"I’m afraid London wouldn’t be able to persuade him either!" another officer dampened the previous suggestion, "You don’t understand what France is like right now? The entire Empire revolves around the Emperor of France, who is intent on emulating his uncle! How could those left in Paris possibly persuade him!"
"So should we still follow the recommendations of the French Command now?"
"My opinion is to listen, but execute according to the situation! We are Her Majesty Queen Victoria’s troops, not His Majesty Emperor Jerome Bonaparte’s troops!"
...
British officers gathered around Marshal Lagren, chattering incessantly, and gradually, impatience showed on Marshal Lagren’s face.
"Silence!" Marshal Lagren raised his voice and shouted to everyone present.
All the officers stopped speaking and turned their attention back to Marshal Lagren.
"Are you having a discussion or a quarrel?" Marshal Lagren reprimanded loudly, then asked the Duke of Cambridge, "What do you think?"
"Your Excellency Marshal, I believe one of our colleagues just made a good point," the Duke of Cambridge said confidently, "We can listen to the suggestions of the French Imperial Army, but only if those suggestions benefit our army! If the French Empire seriously intends to lead us to death, we can act according to our own will!
After all, the French Army and the British Army are merely allies; France hasn’t annexed Britain! Everyone present still maintains control over their troops!"
"That is indeed a solution!" Marshal Lagren nodded.
Honestly, he also did not want to strain relations with the French Empire, as the entire Crimea Peninsula currently relied on the high-intensity support of the French Army.
If relations with France were to become strained, it would only benefit the Russian Empire.
However, Commander Lagren feared that Jerome Bonaparte was the kind of monarch who lacked discernment yet liked to show off.
As the saying goes, an incompetent general exhausts the army.
A king who is both inexperienced and playful is an epic disaster for the army.
Forget it, let’s observe for a while longer!
Marshal Lagren thought to himself.
...
After Jerome Bonaparte settled in Sevastopol, two telegrams arrived there.
One was from Empress Augusta, and the other from Princess Mathilde.
Regarding Empress Augusta’s telegram, she expressed understanding of Jerome Bonaparte’s expedition to the Crimea Peninsula and hoped that he would do his best to protect his own life. If there was anything he needed, he should immediately send a telegram to Paris, and Augusta would promptly arrange everything in Paris.
At the end of the letter, Augusta told Jerome Bonaparte that his life did not belong to him alone but also to all of France.
She intended to tell their child, once born, that his or her father was fighting for all of France.
In contrast, Princess Mathilde’s telegram was clearly less approving, calling Jerome Bonaparte’s decision to go to the Crimea Peninsula irresponsible and childish.
Of course, at the end of the letter, Princess Mathilde reminded Jerome Bonaparte to ensure his safety, as she would not want her soon-to-be-born niece or nephew to grow up without a father.
After reading both telegrams, Jerome Bonaparte called upon a military journalist from the French Army’s accompanying newspaper, the Bonaparte Newspaper, and showed him Empress Augusta’s telegram.
"Mr. Journalist, I believe you should pay more attention to your surroundings! Military news isn’t just about how many enemies were defeated or victories won. It’s the trivial details that can evoke a profound emotional connection!" Jerome Bonaparte suggested to the accompanying journalist.
He suggested writing an article focusing on the attitudes of soldiers’ wives towards the war.
Moreover, the article should emphasize the positive image of soldiers’ wives during wartime.
The accompanying journalist, enlightened by Jerome Bonaparte’s suggestion, promptly left the command post and went to the military camp, where he found several French officers and asked about their wives’ attitudes towards their participation in the war.
The officers cooperatively shared the letters their wives had written to them. After reading them, the accompanying journalist worked through the night to write an article titled "The Wives Who Married the Army."
The article used the wives of several officers selected by him as typical examples, praising the French Army’s righteousness in resisting the Russian Imperial Army on the Crimea Peninsula.
At the end of the article, the accompanying journalist also specifically mentioned that Empress Augusta wrote a letter for His Majesty the Emperor as well.
The article immediately sparked widespread discussion upon its release, and many Parisian residents shed tears of emotion after reading the piece.
Many were also very interested in the content of the telegram Empress Augusta sent to His Majesty the Emperor.
Thus, on the third day after the article was published, Jerome Bonaparte ordered the disclosure of the telegram Augusta had written to him.
Through the telegram, the Parisians saw an educated and courteous empress whose love for France was no less than any true French person’s.
A large number of Parisian residents began to spontaneously send blessings to Empress Augusta, and the prestige of Empress Augusta and Jerome Bonaparte was further elevated.