No Battle No Life

Paris, a.s.sembly hall of the Palais des Tuileries

“Your majesty’s plan is far too risky! I, Grouchy, will not agree to it!” Grouchy yelled out in fury as his temple vein bulged.

Tu stopped the pencil which he was using to scribble on the map and clenched his right fist in front of his mouth to suppress a reactionary outburst. He lightly sighed and placed his hand, and put down his pencil, “Share your views.”

“Leaving aside the fact that there has never been a formation based primarily on artillery units, no matter how many we have, the gap between attacks is far too long. Between loading and unloading, the enemies will easily break through the fort and attack the artillery units with barely any infantry cover. When the time comes, it will become a one-sided slaughter! Our artillery troops were mainly recruited from the NCO military academies. Leaving aside the issue of replenishing NCOs in other units, even if we throw in our reserves, our artillery will meet their maker in Fort Carré! How will we defend France then without an artillery?!”

Tu was shocked at the sudden outpour by Grouchy who usually spoke little– Though it wasn’t just Tu, as everyone else was stunned.

“Grouchy, I never knew you were so eloquent? When are you going to teach in the NCO academy, I’ll definitely go to support you.” Saint-Cyr made a snide remark, hoping to alleviate the tense atmosphere where it wouldn’t be strange for anyone to draw swords in the next moment.

Tu lowered his head and looked at the map as he sank into deep thought. His pencil kt tapping at a single point on the map, the cardinal point– Which was also where the upcoming battle was about to take place, Fort Carré.

Fort Carré was originally the most important fort in the southern part of France. It was 2 days’ journey away from Paris, and after the surrounding feudal lords pitched in and contributed resources to strengthening and expanding it, it was now a gigantic military complex that could hold a 20,000 strong army.

On the walls of the Fort were hundreds of crevices from which cannons were installed. The walls themselves were heavily reinforced such that the players in the vicinity always boasted that even a 100,000 men would not be able to take the Fort in a 100 years.

And because a river separated the Fort from most of France, the Fort was also known as the Lost Rock.

The southern French feudal lords have also signed a non-aggression pact with the Austrian Emperor which designates the area between Fort Carré and Burg Ockenfels as a special economic and free trade zone where no troops are to enter.

This pact was originally proposed by the Austrian Emperor so that he could concentrate his troops on the north against Prussia but later on, the French feudal lords in the south began pivoting towards Austria and this pact stayed on and became iron-clad.

— And now there are 20,000 heavily armed troops stations at Burg Ockenfels.

When the Battle of Aude concluded, Fort Carré’s feudal lords actually allowed the Austro-Hungarians to pa.s.s through in their retreat. Seems like they are serious on secession.

The situation couldn’t be allowed to deteriorate further. If the Austro-Hungarian Empire were to occupy Fort Carré, then Francis would be able to gain a foothold into France and an advance base.

— Tu cannot let this thorn be stuck onto France’s thigh!

And yet, at this urgent time, Tu had to waste precious time on arguing with his generals…

— I really can’t…

If this goes on, then Karl will even have the luxury of time to compose poems at Fort Carré’s church hall!

Leaving aside whether what Grouchy said makes sense, even if his plan were to be executed smoothly, it would take at least 3 days for his troops to make it to Fort Carré.

By the time he received Karl’s letter, Karl would probably have set off. What if Karl were able to reach Fort Carré before him? What would he do then?

… What to do, what to do…

How could he stop Karl, or perhaps stall his advance?

Will he repeat his mistakes in the closed beta? What to do… What to do!

…

Wait, perhaps there is an even better way. If they can’t be stopped, then… We just have to prepare to siege them!

After a short moment, Tu smiled as he stopped the pencil in his hand. “Grouchy, come over here…”

…

After Tu finished whispering in his ear, Grouchy’s fury subsided and instead, the flames of hope burned in his eyes as he nodded still hesitantly, out of prudence.

Tu clapped his shoulders and smiled at him as he said confidently, “Go, I leave France’s future to you.”

At this, Grouchy finally set aside all his doubts and bowed, before hurrying out.

“Your majesty, it’s time you shared your strategy in detail.” Ney was impatient as the planning over these few days were tiresome to his combative nature. In his eyes was a hunger for battle and victory.

“Everyone’s units have suffered significant losses in the last battle so Lannes’s artillery and my personal guard will be the main force. The upcoming battle will also be a siege battle, and so cavalry will not be partic.i.p.ating.”

“But that doesn’t mean that Murat and Saint-Cyr will be slacking off. Of course, if you both wish to rest then I can leave the defence of Paris to you both.” Tu said casually, hoping to incite them.

“How can your majesty leave all the glory to Ney?! In that case, all my cavalry will dismount and partic.i.p.ate as infantry!” Murat protested

“Relax, our king is not finished yet.” Saint-Cyr, on the other hand, was calm.

At this, Tu was a little perturbed as his “plan” failed… “Though the cavalry will not be partic.i.p.ating, you will transfer a portion of the warhorses in your unit to Lennes. This is to ensure his artillery can reach the battlefield in time.”

“Doesn’t Lannes’s artillery unit have their own horses? Why does he need more?” Murat said as he looked disdainfully at Lannes who returned his glance head-on and Murat could only turn away to look at Saint-Cyr.

“We borrowed 110 guns from the feudal lords around Paris, and with the newly manufactured howitzers, we have this many…” Lannes extended 5 fingers…

“And so, our overall plan involves positioning all our artillery units in th forest at the backside of Fort Carré. The reason for this is that the large trees will provide excellent cover.”

“Ney, Murat, Saint-Cyr, you will bring all your infantry units onto the battlefield and provide cover for Lannes. When the signal is given, you are all to charge into the Fort.”

“Oh, the remaining cavalry units will be stationed in France. It will troublesome to bring them along to a forest battle after all.”

“Signal? What kind of signal and where will it come from?”

“Grouchy’s mission is to lead a small unit and infiltrate the Fort from a secret pa.s.sageway and create havoc from behind enemy lines as well as give the signal. It will just be a fire or something, so if you see flames coming from the Fort, that is the signal!”

“So that’s why Grouchy was in such a hurry, But why didn’t your majesty leave this to me? I’d definitely do this better than him! I swear it on my epaulets!” Ney protested once more, to which the others laughed.

“My dear general Ney, are you a kid playing house? Do you want to be ‘daddy’ that much?” Saint-Cyr mocked, and another wave of laughter rang out.

Jokes were fine, but now wasn’t the time for that.

“Lannes, come over here.” Tu summoned Lannes over, and whispered in his ear.

After Tu was done, Lannes left with a look of admiration, “Your majesty really is a genius…”

“All other partic.i.p.ating units are to wear civilian clothing instead of military uniforms. You will fast march toward our destination and secure the area before Lannes reaches the destination point! Your troops are to arrive in 1 day. When they do…”

“Yes sir!”