French Empire: But Napoleon IV

Chapter 45 Further Expansion of the Army: Rich Paris, Barren Front

At 7 a.m. on the 11th, Eugene rushed to the 18th district conscription point before returning to the Tuileries Palace to have breakfast.

The French Crown Prince's voice was already hoarse, and he wanted to protect it since he was going to recruiting at other districts later.

Eugène could only communicate with his attendants through gestures. His trousers were still stained with mud and bread crumbs from the 18th arrondissement, and he clutched a handwritten roster filled with writing in his hand.

In those days, all conscription registrations were naturally done manually. In just one day, the Parisian public, stirred up by Eugène, caused the Ministry of War to use up 120 bottles of ink and 300 parchment registers.

When the servant handed Eugène the Emperor's telegram, rolled up in a copper tube, Eugène, equally surprised, stood frozen at the table for half a minute, holding a glass of milk, before sighing.

Fatherly love is as solid as a mountain. Knowing history, Eugène knew very well that this was probably the last support his father, who was on the verge of collapse on the front lines, could give him.

Even Eugene, who possesses memories of his past life, couldn't help but be moved by Nathan's actions.

"Prepare the carriage, let's go to Cornwall."

Since his own father, Napoleon III, had made this appointment, Eugène had no choice but to temporarily change his itinerary.

After downing the glass of milk, which still held half a glass, Eugene gave the order in a hoarse, breathy voice.

Eugene couldn't betray his father's trust. He suddenly had 3 more troops, and Conrobel had been promoted to corps commander, giving him the authority to command the surrounding armies. Eugene and Conrobel needed to discuss how to proceed.

Meanwhile, Conrobel, who was also involved, had been waiting for a long time at his residence inside the military compound.

When Eugène visited the Camrobel residence for the first time, he saw on the living room wall the Legion of Honour medals that Camrobel had received and the sword bestowed upon him by the Emperor.

Upon seeing the Crown Prince enter, Conrobel immediately stood up and gave a standard military salute.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince."

"Marshal, there's no need for that."

Since the marshal was waiting for him here, Eugène knew that he was also aware of the situation, so he placed the telegram on the mahogany table and got straight to the point with Conrobel.

"The Marshal should have received His Majesty's appointment. I need the Marshal to establish the framework of the Paris Legion within three days and to give me basic combat capability within six weeks."

Cornelius cannot lead alone; his strategic vision and ability are insufficient, but his loyalty and execution are more than enough.

Knowing that Eugene needed Conrobel, he laid out the troop deployment map he had already prepared.

This was hand-drawn by him and three division commanders of the 13th Army. Because they learned the news earlier than Eugene, they started drawing it at 5 a.m. The deployment map was marked with different colored inks to indicate the garrison positions and organization of each unit.

"I have already spoken with the officers of the 13th Army. Our plan is to use the 29,000 veterans of the 13th Army as the core backbone, split off 11,000 to form the 14th Army, 10,000 to form the 15th Army, and the remaining 8000 to form the command core of the 13th Army. We will then supplement the army with new recruits to bring the total to 24,000."

As he spoke, he pointed out the locations, fearing that Eugene might not know much about military matters. Conrobel picked up a charcoal pencil and circled three areas on the map.

This marshal is overthinking things. Not to mention how many military books Eugene had read in his previous life, he was not a complete fool either.

The crown prince, who was taken to the front lines at the age of 14 to gain experience and observe military conferences, could not possibly have been completely unaware of military theory.

"The 14th Army consisted of three infantry divisions, each with a strength of 7300 men, totaling 22,000 men, equipped with Chassepot breech-loading rifles and 12-pound field guns."

The 15th Army comprised two infantry divisions and one Alpine brigade, totaling 21,000 men, primarily responsible for the mountain defenses and the fortifications of Paris; the former 13th Army, with 24,000 men, was retained as the general reserve force for the Paris Army.

With the situation at the front lines not going well, under Eugène's influence, Conrobel's troop expansion plans were somewhat biased towards defense, based on worst-case scenario considerations.

After confirming that His Highness could keep up with his explanation, Conrobel paused for a moment and then drew two arcs on the map.

"I suggest forming two independent cavalry divisions, each with a strength of 5000 men, totaling 1 men. They will be equipped with sabers for cuirassiers and carbines for dragoons, respectively."

Then a reserve artillery brigade was formed, with a strength of 7000 men, equipped with 320 12-pound muzzle-loading smoothbore guns and 40 new breech-loading rifled guns.

This initial framework comprises 8.4 men. The remaining 3.6 can be supplemented by the new recruits gathered in the past few days, all of whom will undergo intensive training at the training camps in Versailles and Saint-Denis.

It must be said that Conrobel's execution ability is truly exceptional. Changing the commander back then was definitely the right decision.

Feeling greatly gratified, Eugène bent down to look at the map, pointed to the banks of the Seine River and pondered for a moment before asking Camrobel his question.

"In terms of weaponry and equipment, is the Army's reserve sufficient?"

"More than enough... if we look at the data on paper."

He initially gave a very affirmative answer, but considering the current state of corruption in France, after a moment's hesitation, Camrobel's tone became less certain.

"Due to wartime needs, the Ministry of War completed an inventory of armories at the end of July. If nothing unexpected happens, there are currently 316,000 small arms in Paris, including 160,000 Chassepot rifles and 156,000 older Minié rifles."

We have 800 million kilograms of gunpowder, 1200 million lead bullets, and 2500 artillery pieces of various types, including 1800 field guns and 700 fortress guns. As per His Majesty's orders, these will be allocated to us with priority.

I've already sent the quartermaster to the armory with the ledgers to take inventory. By noon today, the first batch of 5 rifles and 100 million rounds of ammunition should be transported to the various camps by horse-drawn carts.

Despite having already diverted a batch of supplies, Paris still has such a large stockpile of equipment and supplies, which shows that while the front lines are in dire need, the rear lines are in dire need.

Of course, this doesn't mean the Paris government embezzled supplies from the front lines and withheld deliveries from Paris. It was more due to Paris's poor transportation conditions; the 13th Army was stationed in Paris and didn't need to worry much about logistics.

The situation was different at the front lines. France's railway transport lines were under too much pressure during wartime and were simply insufficient to supply hundreds of thousands of troops.

Compared to France, which couldn't withstand the strain of deploying 30 troops to the front lines, Germany was able to mobilize 5 to 60 troops and maintain its operational supplies.

Subsequently, Prussia began withdrawing its troops from France, influenced by international pressure, the ensuing people's war, and the unbearable transportation conditions in France.