The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 809 On the Eve of Revolution

On the balcony of the Tuileries Palace, Napoleon III, wearing a dark blue military dress with medals on his chest, glittered in the July sun. He rested his hands on the gilded railing and looked down at the Parisians gathered in the square. The crowd surged like a tide, and the tricolor flag fluttered in the hot wind.

"Citizens of France!" His loud voice came from a distance through a copper loudspeaker (commonly known as a loud speaker), with a deliberately excited tone, "The Prussian militarists thought they could deceive the world! They thought they could defeat Austria first and then turn around to deal with us - but everything was as I expected!"

He suddenly raised his right hand and clenched his fist, as if he was going to crush an invisible enemy. There was a burst of cheers in the square, and several workers in work clothes even jumped up and waved their fists.

"Just this morning, I have issued an attack order to Marshal Vaillant!" Napoleon III's voice became louder and louder. "Our twenty divisions - the most elite troops in France - are attacking the weak western front of the Prussians!"

He paused, letting the cheers fill the square again.

"Three hundred 'Kaiser's Chariots' - the most powerful war machines in the world - will crush the Prussian defenses!" His voice was almost a roar. "Their barbed wire, their trenches, their machine guns, in front of our steel torrent, will be as fragile as paper!"

The crowd was boiling. Women waved their handkerchiefs, men raised their fists, and children rode on their fathers' shoulders and screamed. Napoleon III looked at all this with satisfaction, and the corners of his mouth rose slightly.

"The Prussians thought they could win the war with railways and telegraphs?" He sneered, "But they forgot that the courage and wisdom of France are the real invincible army!"

His speech reached a climax, and the noise in the square almost blew off the roof of the Tuileries Palace.

"Victory to France!" he shouted.

"Victory to France!" the crowd responded wildly.

"Glory to the French army and people!" Emperor Napoleon continued to shout.

"Glory to the Emperor!" The French people love the Emperor - as long as the Emperor can always win!

In the inner corridor of the Tuileries Palace, an aide-de-camp was trembling as he handed a telegram to the Minister of War, Prince Napoleon.

"Urgent message from the Comte de Bazaine (Marshal Vaillant)" he said in an almost inaudible voice.

Prince Napoleon glanced at the contents of the telegram and his face turned pale instantly.

The telegram contained only one short line of text: "Attack failed, tanks destroyed, request to retreat."

He looked up towards the balcony. Napoleon III was still giving a passionate speech. The sunlight was shining down on him, making him look so sacred and solemn.

Prince Napoleon took a deep breath and silently put the telegram into his pocket.

"Wait a little longer," he murmured to himself, "at least let Paris be happy for one more day."

In the meeting room of the Tuileries Palace, Napoleon III's face turned pale. He stared at the telegram, his fingers trembling slightly, as if he couldn't believe the content above.

"Count Bazaine... was defeated?" His voice was low and hoarse, as if squeezed out of his throat, "Hundreds of 'Emperor Chariots' and twenty elite divisions couldn't even penetrate the Prussians' flank? How is this possible? How could Prussia be so strong?"

Prince Napoleon stood aside, his face solemn: "Your Majesty, we must face reality. We have confirmed again and again that Count Bazaine's troops are retreating, and part of the Prussian army has crossed the Rhine and is advancing towards Strasbourg. If we don't take action."

"What action should we take?!" Napoleon III slammed the table. "Surrender? Ask for peace? Let the citizens of Paris know that their emperor gave in without even holding on for a day?! And the opponent is Prussia!"

In the eyes of the French, Prussia was a weak country that could be easily beaten by Napoleon I. How could Napoleon III not be able to defeat Prussia? How could Napoleon III explain this?

Finance Minister Magne wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Your Majesty, the Prussians have not yet completely defeated Austria. If we negotiate peace now, we may be able to gain favorable conditions..."

"Favorable conditions?" Napoleon III sneered. "What conditions do you think Bismarck will give us? Let us hand over Alsace and Lorraine? Or a large sum of compensation?"

There was deathly silence in the hall.

At this moment, Foreign Minister Valevsky almost stumbled in, holding a telegram that had just been translated. His face was uglier than anyone else present.

"Your Majesty...Austria...Austria has been defeated!"

Napoleon III looked up suddenly: "What?!"

Valevsky took a deep breath and said in a trembling voice: "Emperor Franz Joseph's army was completely defeated by Moltke's main force in Sadova. The Austrian army suffered more than 50,000 casualties and has retreated on all fronts! The Prussians are advancing towards Vienna!" For an instant, the air in the conference room seemed to freeze.

Napoleon III slowly sat back in his chair, his eyes empty. He murmured: "Sadowa Moltke won, the prophecy is, is."

Prince Napoleon closed his eyes and whispered: "Your Majesty, now is not the time to hesitate. We must stop fighting immediately, otherwise..."

"Otherwise what?!" Napoleon III suddenly flew into a rage, "Otherwise a revolution will break out in Paris?! Otherwise the Bonaparte dynasty will be over?!"

He stood up suddenly, put his hands on the table, and glanced at every minister present.

"No! France will not surrender! The Bonaparte family will not surrender!" His voice was almost a roar. "Let Count Bazaine withdraw his troops back to Strasbourg and wait for orders! I will fight a great defensive battle in Alsace and Lorraine! I will lead the army myself and let the Prussians know that the land of France is not something they can take just because they want to!"

On the east bank of the Rhine, Prussian artillery fire had covered the French retreat route.

Count François Vaillant-Bazaine, who was highly expected by Napoleon III, withdrew to the west bank. When Napoleon III's telegram was delivered to him, he was already standing on the city wall of Strasbourg, looking at the smoke rising in the distance with a gloomy face.

"Report to the Marshal, the 3rd Division has been withdrawn, but the 7th Division has been cut off by the Prussian Army. I'm afraid..." The staff officer's voice became lower and lower.

Vaillant was silent for a long time, and finally spoke: "Order all troops to gather at Strasbourg first, and then defend it with all their might."

"But Marshal, our ammunition and supplies..."

"Follow orders!" Vayon said sternly.

He turned and looked in the direction of Paris, thinking to himself: "Your Majesty, it is not a wise choice for you to march towards Strasbourg now!"

In the study of the Whitesven mansion in South Kensington, London, the light of the kerosene lamp illuminated several faces that looked particularly revolutionary. Moore was smoking a pipe, Friedrich's fingers were tapping the table lightly, and Louis-Eugène Varlin, a French revolutionary wanted by Napoleon III, and Jaroslav Dombrovsky, a Polish revolutionary wanted by Alexander II, were staring at the telegram that had just been delivered.

Ma Baocai, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's ambassador to Britain, was standing by the fireplace. It was he who delivered the telegram: "The French army was completely defeated on the east bank of the Rhine. Three hundred 'emperor chariots' were completely destroyed. Marshal Vaillant's troops were retreating to Strasbourg in a panic."

The room was silent, with only the occasional spark from the wood in the fireplace.

"It's even worse." Ma Baocai continued, "The Austrian army was completely defeated by Moltke's main force in Sadova, with more than 50,000 casualties. Emperor Franz Joseph is ready to sue for peace."

Friedrich stood up suddenly, walked quickly to the map of Europe on the wall, and poked his finger heavily at the location of Paris: "Napoleon III is finished."

Moore took a deep puff of cigarette and exhaled slowly: "The people of Paris will never accept a failed emperor."

Varlan sneered: "Of course they won't! The workers of Paris have long had enough of the corruption and lies of this empire!"

Dombrovsky's eyes were filled with undisguised excitement: "Napoleon III now has only two choices: either seek peace immediately, admit defeat, and then wait for a revolution to break out in Paris; or go all out and lead the army in person, betting on the last bit of prestige of the Bonaparte family."

"He will choose the latter," Friedrich said firmly. "Napoleon III is a gambler. He will not admit defeat until he loses the last franc in his hand."

Moore nodded: "And this is our chance."

"Now is the best time for the International Workingmen's Association to launch a revolution in Paris!" Varlin said excitedly, "because Napoleon III will definitely be defeated!"

Frederick said: "We must immediately contact our comrades in Paris and have them prepare. Once Napoleon III suffers a disastrous defeat on the front line."

"Paris will burn," Moore whispered.

A gleam flashed in Dombrowski's eyes: "And this time, there will be no Napoleon to suppress the revolution."

Ma Baocai took out an envelope and handed it to Varlan: "This is the location and contact information of the secret contact point set up by the Datong Society in France. French comrades can get help from us to the best of our ability."

Moore stood up, the smoke from his pipe swirling around him: "Comrades, the gears of history have begun to turn. The collapse of the Second French Empire will be the prelude to the European Revolution!"

Bai Siwen, who had been sitting in the corner without saying anything, suddenly said, "There is only one problem left!" He took a puff of his cigar, glanced at the "revolutionary faces" in the study, and then smiled faintly, "How should the French revolutionaries end the war with Prussia? I don't think you think King William and Bismarck will stop at Alsace and Lorraine because of the revolution in France, right?"

(End of this chapter)