Make France Great Again-Chapter 149: Franco-Prussian Military Report

"Conrobel’s Aide! If it were you, which side would you choose to support!"

Jerome Bonaparte did not rush to express his attitude. Instead, he unhurriedly asked Colonel Conrobel.

Having a neighbor in trouble is indeed a joyous thing. After the joy, he must consider how to fan the flames to make the conflict with his neighbor more intense.

No one understands better than Jerome Bonaparte that France’s crisis is not in Paris, nor among those labeled as Republicans, but in the neighboring German region.

If the German region were to complete its integration, not to mention the grand vision of seven million people in Felix Schwarzenberg’s Greater Germany, even a Little German Empire with Prussia at its core excluding Austria would be a massive empire with a population and military slightly surpassing, and an economy slightly inferior to, that of France.

At that time, France would be removed from its historical position as Europe’s leading land army, and the German Empire at the crossroads will become the new favorite of Europe.

This is an outcome Jerome Bonaparte cannot accept under any circumstances.

In his view, the best result would be for Prussia and Austria to fight to the death, one dead and the other wounded (Prussia dead, Austria wounded), with Uncle France acting as the protector of order in Germany to safeguard the Rhine Land and Germany.

Jerome Bonaparte’s inquiry momentarily stunned Conrobel, who then cautiously began to speak, "Your Majesty! I am a soldier who does not understand the complexities of diplomacy. If viewed purely from a military perspective, I think we should offer certain support to Prussia."

"You agree to support Prussia?" Jerome Bonaparte’s tone quivered slightly.

Conrobel did not notice the change in Jerome Bonaparte’s tone and nodded as a matter of course, "Yes! From a military standpoint, we must weaken Austria! Austria’s potential and population are unmatched by Prussia, to say nothing of Prussia’s army, which can’t get any worse."

Conrobel’s expression made Jerome Bonaparte realize that the current French Army’s perception of Prussia was still stuck in the period of the Napoleonic Wars.

During the Napoleonic Wars, Prussia could be said to have thoroughly disgraced Frederick the Great. It was a force that could withstand the French, Austrian, and Russian armies with troops at a 1 to 3, and a population at a 1 to 20 extreme disadvantage until Peter III of Jinguo rose to power. Within less than 30 years, it had degenerated into a "trash army" defeated by Davout’s secondary forces and later had Napoleon enter Berlin in a leisurely manner within two weeks.

In seeking Napoleon’s "pardon," the Queen of Prussia had to offer herself as a concubine to Napoleon, and King Frederick William III of Prussia bore a glaring badge of shame on his head.

It should be known that the Kingdom of Prussia was not like the "open" Paris, where the "hospitable" Parisians never minded their wives in political marriages having affairs. They even took pride in having a captivating wife.

An archetypal figure of this can be found in Balzac’s Human Comedy, in the "Noucigen Bank" Chapter, where Rastigne witnessed Old Gao’s death and resolved to climb to the pinnacle of power. He seduced Old Gao’s daughter, the Baron Nieuwengen’s wife. Under Rastigne’s powerful "offensive," the Baroness soon became inseparable from Rastigne. Of course, all of this was observed by Baron Nieuwengen, who was happy for his wife to be entangled with Rastigne, the Knight. He went to great lengths to bring his wife and Rastigne together, and every time they quarreled or approached a breakup, Baron Nieuwengen would feign almost discovering their affair, frightening them into reconciling immediately.

The opposite example is the unfortunate King Louis XVI, who became a subject of Parisians’ ridicule because he loved his wife so dearly that he had no mistress.

Of course, unlike the "quirky" offspring of Catholicism and Paris,

Prussia, under Protestant rule, has internalized Puritan conservatism into its very marrow, and seeing adultery as a form of bragging capital simply doesn’t happen in Prussia.

Therefore, the Queen of Prussia offering herself as a concubine was the greatest insult to Prussia.

Under Emperor Napoleon’s influence, the French in the entire German region started a trend of loving German sisters.

The Guard Army in French Dragon Cavalry uniform became a favorite among German noblewomen, to the extent that a teasing saying emerged: "You deserve to marry a German."

Even though Prussia, following the Russian Empire, in its counterattack, saw Blücher effectively support Wellington’s battlefield with his powerful cavalry mobility, "cleansing" this blemish of being a nation destroyed in two weeks.

In the eyes of the French people, and even all the European Great Powers, Prussia remained that minor Great Power that had suffered a blitzkrieg eradication.

So much so that Tolstoy openly mocked France in "War and Peace" for just bullying the Germans from time to time.

Jerome Bonaparte knew that the already arrogant and conceited French Army would become even more imperious after the Crimean War.

It was not until they were crushed by Old Maoqi’s 800,000 troops that they realized they had fallen too far behind.

"A lousy army? My dear aide, we cannot continue to view new things with outdated perspectives. Prussia, after that battle (Battle of Jena), conducted a reform too. The Prussian army now is different from the one before the battle.

Don’t you think the Prussian army is overly large?" Jerome Bonaparte asked probing: "Prussia has a population of 14.33 million, a standing army of 145,000, with 385,000 in various reserves, spending less than 50 million francs annually, maintaining low costs during peacetime without consuming too much labor, and during wartime can rapidly mobilize a large number of combative personnel. While our country has less than 300,000 field troops and has the system of allowing exemptions from conscription with payment.

The long conscription does make our soldiers braver, but also hinders us from recruiting more soldiers. One serves three years while the other serves ten years. Once war breaks out, the army that serves three years can easily conscript more. At that time, what situation will France face?"

Jerome Bonaparte gradually shifted the discussion from supporting Prussia or Austria to the system within France itself, in order to let his aide understand that France’s conscription system really should undergo a reform.

"Your Majesty, pardon my bluntness, are you implying that Prussia’s army can already equal France’s?" Conrobel suspiciously looked at Jerome Bonaparte, even doubting if the monarch in front of him had gone a bit mad.

Even Percy beside him showed a shocked expression, unable to imagine that the "Prussian threat theory" could come from the Emperor’s nephew.

In front of a significant issue, Jerome Bonaparte was also hesitant to outright say that France’s military system was entirely outdated compared to nearby Prussia, so he replied somewhat evasively: "From the current perspective, Prussia’s army might be far inferior to France, but they have nearly a million reserves, and how many does our France have?"

"Your Majesty, forgive my rudeness!" Conrobel gave a slight bow to Jerome Bonaparte, then straightforwardly with a hint of arrogance said: "How could an army composed of lawyers and citizens defeat our battle-hardened forces? On the battlefield, just two shots would send them fleeing in panic.

Rest assured, if one day Prussia truly dares to infringe upon us, we will overpower them before they fully mobilize. War is not a math problem, preparation alone doesn’t guarantee victory, the soldiers and training on both sides are not equal."

"Can it really be so?" Jerome Bonaparte questioned Conrobel with a tone of doubt.

"It definitely can, Your Majesty!" Conrobel declared with determination: "Please trust the army created by your uncle!"

Precisely because my uncle created this army, I am reluctant to believe.

Jerome Bonaparte complained internally a couple of times, if not for his uncle forcefully pulling the French Army to the forefront of Europe, would it have developed such an arrogant attitude? They simply wish to rest on their uncle’s laurels and are unwilling to move, completely forgetting the change of times, war gradually transitioning from a noble-style recruitment system to total war.

Of course, a century later, with the emergence of nuclear weapons, total war also gradually came to an end, especially after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, and most national forces, except one major country, have mostly returned to the era of recruitment.

Especially the military powers led by the United States and Russia, bringing small elite forces’ surgical strikes to their pinnacle.

Jerome Bonaparte stopped speaking, and Conrobel also ceased to utter a word.

At a time when Jerome Bonaparte and Colonel Conrobel were in an awkward situation due to differences in military conception, Percy, who leaned towards Conrobel’s "French Army is invincible" theory, quickly tried to break the ice saying: "Your Majesty, we are not discussing who will win or lose between Austria and Prussia! How did it turn into a discussion about France and Prussia! Conrobel’s aide, do you agree that Austria can beat Prussia?"

"Austria to Prussia is like an adult beating a child, the outcome is self-evident!" Conrobel said with confidence, then added a mild caveat: "Of course, that’s just my military insight."

To help Jerome Bonaparte regain face, Percy quickly said: "Conrobel’s aide, I used to have a few years of experience in the army! I believe Prussia is very likely to defeat Austria!"

After speaking, Percy subconsciously glanced at Jerome Bonaparte.

This must be the answer His Majesty wants!

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