Make France Great Again

"Adjutant Conrobert! If it were you, which side would you choose to support!"

Jerome Bonaparte was not in a hurry to express his attitude, but asked Colonel Conrobert in a leisurely manner.

It is certainly a happy thing for a neighbor to be unlucky. After he is happy, he has to consider how to fan the flames to make the conflict between his neighbors more intense.

No one understands better than Jerome Bonaparte that the crisis in France is not in Paris, not in the republicans, but in the German region next door.

If the integration of the German region is completed, not to mention the 70 million people in the grand blueprint of Felix Schwarzenberg, even the small German Empire with Prussia at its core and excluding Austria, would be a population , the military is slightly superior, and the economy is slightly inferior to the huge empire of France.

At that time, France will withdraw from the position of the first continental army as in history, and the German Empire at the crossroads will become the new favorite of Europe.

This was an ending that Jerome Bonaparte could not accept anyway.

In his opinion, the best result is that Prussia and Austria are fighting each other, with one death and one injury (Prussian death and Austrian injury), and Uncle France, as the guardian of order in Germany, protects the Rhineland region and Germany.

Jerome Bonaparte's question stunned Canrobert for a moment, and then he said cautiously: "Your Majesty! I am a soldier, and I don't understand the twists and turns of diplomacy. If only from a military point of view , I think we should give Prussia some support."

"You agree to support Prussia?" Jerome Bonaparte's tone trembled slightly.

Conrobert did not hear the change in Jerome Bonaparte's tone after thinking about it. He nodded of course: "That's right! From a military point of view, we must weaken Austria! The potential and population of Austria They are all unmatched existences in Prussia, not to mention Prussia's army that is so bad that it can't be worse."

Conrobert's expression made Jerome Bonaparte realize that the current French army's perception of Prussia is still in the Napoleonic War period.

Prussia in the Napoleonic Wars can be said to have lost the face of Frederick the Great. It was once able to support the great disadvantages of the French, Austrian and Russian armies with 1 to 3 troops and 1 to 20 population until King Peter III came to power. In less than 30 years, the army has degenerated into a "garbage army" defeated by Davout's partial division, and then Emperor Napoleon took two weeks to enter Berlin in a leisurely stroll.

Even in order to beg Napoleon's "understanding", the Queen of Prussia had to recommend herself to submit to Napoleon,

Frederick William III, King of Prussia, had a green light above his head.

You must know that the Kingdom of Prussia does not agree with the "open" Paris. The "hospitable" Parisians never mind their wives cheating in their political marriages, and they even take pride in having a glamorous wife.

The typical representative here is the chapter "The Bank of Nucingen" in Balzac's human comedy. After witnessing the death of old man Goriot, Rastignac made up his mind to climb to the pinnacle of power. Baroness Qingen, under Rastignac's powerful "offensive", the baroness soon became glued to Rastignac's knees. Of course, Baron Nucingen saw all this, and he was happy to His wife got mixed up with the Chevalier Rastignac, and he tried his best to match his wife and Rastignac for him. Whenever they had a quarrel or were about to break up, Nuchin and the baron would pretend to be about to find out about their affair. The way they looked scared the two of them to reconcile as before.

A counterexample is the unlucky King Louis XVI. He became the object of ridicule by the citizens of Paris because Louis XVI loved his wife so much that he had no mistress.

Of course, it is different from the "wonderful" product conceived by Catholicism and Paris.

As Prussia under the rule of Protestantism, the conservatism of the Puritans has been deeply rooted in the bone marrow, and it is impossible for Prussia to use derailment as a kind of showing off capital.

Therefore, the act of the Queen of Prussia recommending herself as a pillow is the greatest insult to Prussia.

Under the influence of Emperor Napoleon, French people throughout the German region set off a wave of love for German sisters.

Wearing the uniform of the French Dragoons and Guards became the favorite of German ladies, so much so that there was a joking saying "you deserve to marry a German".

Even when Prussia was following the counterattack of the Russian Empire, Blücher used his powerful cavalry mobility to effectively support the Wellington battlefield to "bloodbath" the stain of the two-week extermination of the country.

But in the eyes of the French, and even the entire European powers, Prussia is still the last-rate power that was destroyed by lightning.

So much so that Tolstoy openly ridiculed France in "War and Peace" whether it would bully the Germans.

Jerome Bonaparte knew that the French army with arrogance and conceit would become even more invincible after the Crimean War.

It wasn't until they were killed by the old Maoqi's 800,000 troops that they realized that they were too far behind.

"Bad army? My dear adjutant, we can't look at new things with old eyes. Prussia also carried out a reform after that battle (Battle of Jena). The current Prussian army is different from what it will be. The Prussian army before the war.

Don't you think the Prussian army is too big? "Jerome Bonaparte tentatively asked: "Prussia has a population of 14.33 million, a standing army of 145,000, and reserves of all levels 385,000. The annual cost is less than 50 million francs, which is relatively low in peacetime. cost, and does not take up too much labor, and can quickly mobilize a large number of combatants during the war, but our country only has less than 300,000 field troops, and the number of soldiers recruited every year is seriously insufficient. We have to allow others to spend money Exemption from military service.

Long-term military service makes our soldiers more brave, but the long military service period also prevents us from recruiting more soldiers. One served for 3 years, and the other served for 10 years. The army can easily call up more troops, and if a war starts, they will call everyone back. What will happen to France by then? "

Jerome Bonaparte gradually extended the topic from supporting Prussia or Austria to the French system itself, in order to let his adjutant understand that the French military service system should really face a change.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me, do you mean that the Prussian army can already equalize France?" Conrobert looked at Jerome Bonaparte suspiciously, and he even wondered if the monarch in front of him was out of his mind .

Even Persini next to him also showed a shocked expression. He really couldn't imagine that the "Prussian threat theory" could come from the mouth of the emperor's nephew.

In the face of right and wrong, Jérôme Bonaparte is also not good at saying that France's military system has completely fallen behind that of Prussia next door. He can only respond vaguely: "Prussia's army may be far worse than France's at present. Yes, but they have a reserve army of nearly one million, and how many troops do we have in France?"

"Your Majesty, please forgive me for being rude!" Conrobert bowed slightly to Jerome Bonaparte, and then said bluntly with a hint of arrogance: "How could an army composed of lawyers and citizens defeat us? We only need to put two shots on the battlefield, and they will disperse and run away.

Please rest assured that if Prussia really dares to invade us one day, we will crush them before they are fully mobilized. War is not an arithmetic problem, and no matter how much preparation you have, you may not be able to win on the battlefield. "

"Is it really possible?" Jerome Bonaparte said to Canrobert in a questioning tone.

"It will be possible, Your Majesty!" Conrobert said with emotion: "Please believe in this army created by your uncle alone!"

It's because of the army my uncle created that I don't want to believe it.

Jerome Bonaparte complained a few words in his heart. If his uncle hadn't forcibly pulled the French army to become number one in Europe, why would the French army have developed such arrogance? They just wanted to stay on the merits of their uncle. Willing to move, completely oblivious to the difference of the times, the war has gradually changed from an aristocratic recruitment system to a general war.

Of course, a century later, with the emergence of nuclear weapons, the overall war has also gradually come to an end, especially after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, most of the national troops except for a certain big country have returned to the era of the recruitment system.

In particular, the military powers headed by the United States and Russia have pushed the scalpel strike of a small group of elite troops to the peak.

Jerome Bonaparte stopped talking, and Canrobert also remained silent.

Right now, when Jérôme Bonaparte and Colonel Canrobert are in an unhappy situation because of the issue of military philosophy, Pesini, who is inclined to Canrobert's theory of "the French army is invincible", hurried out to smooth things over and said: "Your Majesty , We are not discussing the question of who wins and who loses between Austria and Prussia! How did it become France and Prussia! Adjutant Canrobert, do you agree that Austria can defeat Prussia?"

"Austria wants an adult to beat a child to Prussia, and the result is self-evident!" Conrobel said firmly, and then added tactfully: "Of course, this is just my military opinion."

In order to help Jerome Bonaparte regain face, Pessini hurriedly said: "Adjutant Canrobert, I also had several years of experience in the army! I think Prussia is very likely to war against Austria!"

After all, Pescini subconsciously glanced at Jerome Bonaparte.

This should be the answer His Majesty wants!