Chapter 76: Towards the Penins - 3


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


    Hmm Idlike to have aquickbite to eathere.


    Napoleon, who was tozy 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 d 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 specialasion. Especiallynow at war.


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


    Im tryingtolose weightbyexercising hard, butI cant turn thateffort intonothing.


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


    I salute YourMajesty theGreatEmperor! Its a veryrefreshing andgood morning for thenew year, YourMajesty!


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


    The sunwill rise in the west. TheDuke, famous for hiziness, wokeupsoearly.


    Hahaha, youre having funwith jokes. I admireyour wit, YourMajesty!


    Doyou think itsa joke? Youneed to be more diligent.


    Ill 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 rtively quiet, although there were somemarshalsand officers chatting. Drinking a soupofcorn andpotatoes, Napoleon looked at themarshalssitting at thetable.


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


    It wasnot justanillusionthat Andr Massnas expression in betweenthem lookedgrumpy. Napoleon found it quite funny anughed quietly. Then at asudden thought, he stoppedeating for a moment. Watchinghim, Bessires tilted hishead.


    Is there anything botheringyou, Your Majesty?


    No, nothing. It just reminded me of someone.


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


    Isthat so? Ifyou dont mind, can youtell me whoyou thoughtof?


    I dontmind. Its Desaix.^[1]


    Ah


    AtNapoleons gentlewords, not only Bessiresbut 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 thatDesaixsfeatswere only the results of his orders.


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


    If he took Massna, 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 nothingimon withthe battle of this world fromthe beginning to theend.


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


    Lannes^[2]and Desaix were the same Itsa pity thatI cant seeagaintheirfacesthat I miss.


    Unless he could return to hisoriginalworld. But there wasnoway to go back. Bessiresfakeda cough as Napoleonughed overhis helpless situation.


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


    Bessires smiledand ttered 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 Nabotskarma.


    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 Desaixs name. Whatthe hellishethinking?


    The Emperorused to praiseDesaixsexploitsand 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 Desaixs name.


    None of themarshalswere unaware of the fact thatthe Emperorhad taken Desaixs credit in an unjustified way.


    Andnow the Emperor mentioned Desaixs name on his own, bewildering Massna. Wasthe Emperortrying to testthem?


    While eating, Massnaobservedthe 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 Massna recalled theconversation he had hadwith Berthier. The Emperorhad changeda lotfrom before.


    I need to lookinto it.


    Drinking wine fromhis ss, Massna thought so. If theEmperors inclinations hadchanged a lot, Massnas politicalline would have to be different as well.


    ===


    Extra, extra! Heres thenews about theIberian Standing Organization!


    There are also benefits for theSpanish peopleofthe upiednd! Youll regretitifyou dont 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 newspapers headline was adorned by the Iberian Standing Organizations Todays Announcement.


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


    ording 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 exemry citizens whohad urate information.


    Those rotten, devilishFrench! No matterhow clever they try to fool us, Spain remembersthe ughter of thepast!


    Ofcourse! Idrather holdhandswith thedevil, I will never epthelp from the frogs even if theychange! Lets 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 epting even asingle pea from France.


    Hey, guys! Whats wrong with you? Moneyhas no nationality. Theyre giving outfree food and clothes, so think about it!


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


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


    When allthe farnd theyownedwas devastatedand their parentsand children werehungry, howcouldthey refuseeven thedevils hand?


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


    I didnt forget! But itsmore 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 Napoleonsdivisionwere germinating step by step, eating nutrients. The Spanish people were now only swearing and pointing fingers at eachother.


    Stop talking nonsense! Even if were traitors, theres no reason to be insulted by you! I will protect my family!


    You dont havetobesopassionate andloyaltoyour country! TheKing fled to Sevillewithout protecting his peopleand knownothing of your sorrow!


    What!? Hesa spy! Whata traitor!!


    Hahaha, what atime to be proud of being a spy! Youdbetter 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 ces, 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 thecitizensofLen, Valencia, andZamora, whohad suffered alot of plunderand ughter.


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


    Being the centerofwar since 1808, Spainsadministrativwork hadlong since copsed.


    Thefarndwas devastatedand the local economy of viges had copsed. 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 yeda part in increasingthe number of peoplewho werereluctant to ept help fromthe French.


    The Frencharmy didnot requisition the country as viciously as in thepast. They boughtfood andwaterfrom locals, paidthe price rightfully, and didnotmit evil actssuch as devastating nearbyvigesorcities 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 atricolorg, but the inevitable contactwith them as theyreceiveddailynecessitiesfrom them gradually dulledtheirsharpness.


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


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


    Anger was noteternal. Family livelihoods and economic benefits were the eternal aspirations of human beings. Napoleons division n was clearly workingsteadily.


    [1]Louis CharlesAntoine DesaixdiedattheBattleofMarengo(1800).


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


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