The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 718 A hunk descends from the sky, it’s your turn
Paris, the Champ de Mars, this square that was once a revolutionary holy place, now seems to have a strange atmosphere.

In the square, the tricolor flag and cockade symbolizing the Republic were deliberately damaged and thrown to the ground.

In the middle of the square, the famous Liberty Pole was cut down by humans, and the Liberty Cap on the pole was deliberately trampled and thrown to the ground, looking broken and old.

The so-called liberty pole is a symbol of freedom and liberation during the French Revolution and is one of the symbols of the French Revolution.

It is usually a long pole with a hat hung on top as a cap of liberty, decorated with the red, white and blue tricolor ribbons symbolizing the French Republic.

During the Great Revolution, the leaders of the revolutionaries who called themselves the Sons of Liberty often delivered passionate speeches under the Liberty Pole to rally people and promote the revolution.

But now, even the Pole of Liberty in the Champ de Mars has been cut down, which shows the seriousness of the situation.

Napoleon Bonaparte, covered in dust and dirt, happened to pass by here. His heart was full of bitterness. He had long lost the glory of becoming the youngest general of the Republic after the Battle of Toulon.

The reason for all this was that he madly flattered Robespierre during the Jacobin rule, especially after the Mountain came to power.

How should I put it about Na Huang? He is indeed a great character.

But you must not imagine him as a genius ruler like Li Erfeng and Zhu Baba. Not to mention that Li Er and Zhu Baba were far ahead of Napoleon in domestic and foreign affairs, even their personal qualities were very different.

In his rise to power, Napoleon actually liked to take shortcuts, and he had a big heart that was willing to humble himself and lick the enemy without any shame.

This person's ability in war is among the top ten or even top five in China, but in other aspects, he is still a little lacking.

Moreover, Napoleon was quite unlucky. He finally managed to curry favor with Robespierre's brother and sister, but he didn't enjoy his glory for even a year before he got lucky, the kind that landed a truck.

Fortunately, after Robespierre was sent to the guillotine, the surviving Girondins who came to power suffered greatly from the Reign of Terror themselves, coupled with national opposition.

Therefore, the practice of arbitrarily trying people and sending them to the guillotine was not continued, and those who were not core members of the Mountain Faction were spared.

So, after Robespierre was beheaded, Napoleon was only imprisoned for more than a month, and then released due to insufficient evidence. He was not stripped of his rank of brigadier general, but was not allowed to return to the army.

But this actually made him feel worse than killing Napoleon.

Moreover, Napoleon's family also fell into a disadvantage in the battle with the Paoli family in Corsica. The hometown where they could return to lick their wounds when things did not go well on the mainland was gone.

So after spending more than half a year in extreme pain, Napoleon still could not suppress his desire to succeed, so he came to Paris to look for opportunities.

"This is the symbol of the revolution, the symbol of our overthrow of the corrupt king and the rule of the aristocracy, and the symbol of our gaining freedom and fraternity. Now the mob dares to destroy them. This is a provocation, a provocation to the revolution and the republic!"

Under the destroyed pole of freedom, a man who looked like a revolutionary leader was giving a passionate speech.

In the past, there would have been hundreds or even thousands of people roaring along excitedly, but now there are only a few who respond, and the momentum is completely incomparable to the past.

"The enthusiasm of the revolution is fading. It seems that everyone thinks that the king's return is inevitable and that the French need a king." Seeing all this, Joachim Murat beside Napoleon sighed.

"The reason they have this perception is that they are not staunch revolutionaries. After all we have sacrificed, and so many people have lost their lives, it would be such a shame to finally have to welcome the king back!"

Jean Andouche Junod, who had followed Napoleon since the Battle of Toulon and had not left even when Napoleon was imprisoned, also looked a little dejected.

Napoleon was actually very shocked in his heart. He did not expect that after arriving in Paris this time, the situation would change so quickly, and the Republic seemed to be showing signs of instability.

After Murat and Junot finished speaking, they both turned to look at Napoleon. Things had come to this point. It was up to Napoleon to decide whether to take up arms for the Republican government, which looked not so good, or to switch sides and serve the king.

At the critical moment of his life, Napoleon was torn between his conscience and his desires, and kept repeating in his mind the advantages and disadvantages of the Republic and the King.

He pondered for a long time, looking at the orator under the broken pole of freedom and the dozens of revolutionary people surrounding the orator.

They were still passionate and working hard for the revolution, which suddenly made Napoleon feel a little ashamed.

"We all grew up in the Republic, but the King didn't do us much good. Now that the Republic is facing difficulties, it's time for us soldiers to defend it.

Moreover, at times like this, the Republican government and the National Convention need us soldiers more. This is the best opportunity for us to rise to the challenge and achieve success.

I have made up my mind. I will report to the Minister of War that I, Napoleon Bonaparte, am willing to defend the First Republic!"

After hearing what Napoleon said, Murat and Junot's brows immediately relaxed. They also tended to support the revolution and agreed with it.

This was not only due to the influence of Enlightenment thought, but also determined by their social class.

Both Murat and Junot were born into wealthy farming families.

This type of family belonged to the second class during the Bourbon dynasty and suffered from oppression. Because their family conditions were decent but they had no political status, they were even more oppressed than ordinary civilians.

In the Republic, their families repurchased a large number of aristocratic estates that had been sold from the government, and because of the new bourgeois policies, agricultural products became more popular. They were the group that benefited the most from the Great Revolution.

Therefore, Murat and Junot were born to be fellow travelers of the French Revolution, a bourgeois revolution, or in other words, they were the revolutionary bourgeoisie.

This situation was very common in the later Napoleonic Empire and Napoleonic Army. From top to bottom, from generals to soldiers, many people in the Napoleonic Empire came from similar families.

They all have the motivation to defend the Great Revolution and the fruits of its victory.

Of course, in addition to these, there was another important reason why Napoleon chose the First Republic.

That is, if he were to stir up the First Republic's cold stove now, the benefits would be huge.

Not only because of his merits, but also because he was originally a general of the Republic. When facing the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty, even those who were once Jacobins were still people of the Revolution.

On the other hand, on the Count of Artois's side, a large number of fallen old nobles and foreign forces had already taken control of all the high positions.

Napoleon now has only three or five generals and no soldiers. Even if he surrenders, what he can get is extremely limited. He may even be liquidated in the future. There is no need to surrender at all.

By the end of August, the revolutionaries, sensing the impending crisis, finally launched a strong counterattack and introduced the Constitution of the Third Year of the Republic.

One of the most direct provisions of this constitution was prepared for the royalists.

This regulation stipulates that the election rules for the Senate and the Council of Five Hundred, the institutions holding the highest power, will be changed.

Among them, the Senate is the upper house, consisting of 250 people, and the House of Five Hundred is the lower house, consisting of 500 people.

Although these 750 highest decision-making bodies are elected, the Constitution stipulates that two-thirds of them must come from the National Convention.

This directly shattered the royalist party's fantasy of using publicity and elections to directly seize the power of the Great Revolution, and the contradiction between the two sides suddenly intensified.

At this time, the Republican government, which had just been reorganized into a five-member Directory, had very little military force at its disposal, with only about one or two thousand people, like the National Convention Guard, an armed police force.

So, after receiving Napoleon's timely allegiance, Paul Barras, the Minister of War, Commander of the Interior Defense of Paris, and one of the five Directors, immediately suggested recalling the Jacobin officers and soldiers who were disbanded after the Thermidorian Reaction, the coup that sent Robespierre to the guillotine.

The so-called Jacobin officers and soldiers were actually those who once controlled the army for the radical Mountain Party.

Including some senior officers and a large number of middle and low-level officers, they all suffered a similar fate as Napoleon. After being recalled, these officers and soldiers formed about three patriot battalions, totaling more than 5,000 people.

However, this decision came a little late. After all, there are very few people who can see the situation as clearly as Napoleon and make correct judgments.

So, when the royalists began to prepare to launch a military coup, many officers and soldiers of the so-called Patriot Battalion chose to be perfunctory or ambiguous in their attitude.

On October 10, after the royalists gathered at the French Opera House, they began an open resistance. They took control of the Peltier district where the royalists gathered, seized command of the National Guard in the area, and sent people to respond to the Count of Artois, asking him to lead his troops to Paris as soon as possible.

However, the three commanders of the Patriot Battalion, Monno, de Pierre and Fordian, hesitated after receiving the order to quell the rebellion.

De Pierre claimed to be ill and was unable to carry out the military order. Fordian read the order but did not reply, and his soldiers did not move out.

General Monnot led his troops close to the royalist district of Peltier, but he did not want to, nor dared to, conflict with the royalists. He actually negotiated with the royalists. After obtaining the royalists' promise to disarm themselves, General Monnot withdrew from the Peltier district.

This successfully made the royalists see the weakness of the republican government, and they immediately organized themselves into groups and launched an uprising or riot.

The situation was at its most dangerous, but Napoleon felt he was sure to win.

Because he found that the royalists were strong on the outside but weak on the inside, and did not have many elite military forces. The so-called Count of Artois was probably afraid and had never approached Paris.

September 10, early morning.

The royalists launched the first exploratory attack on the National Convention. The three so-called patriot battalions were basically not deployed. Only a small number of officers and soldiers rushed to defend the Republic. The two sides exchanged fire briefly, and the royalists retreated on their own initiative.

Five hours later, the royalists arrived in large numbers, totaling more than 10,000 people, but their weapons were quite simple, with few artillery pieces and their muskets were not fully equipped.

This was the moment Napoleon had been waiting for. He obtained authorization from Paul Barras and completely took over Paul Barras's more than 2,000 men.

At the same time, he appointed Murat as his adjutant and, before the arrival of the royalists, transported about forty cannons from General Monnot's warehouse.

Although these cannons were small in caliber, they were numerous and contained a large amount of buckshot, so their firepower was sufficient. Using artillery was Napoleon's strong point.

He personally commanded the deployment of artillery at various intersections and high places where crossfire could be formed, quietly waiting for the arrival of the royalists.

At the same time, the royalists made a major mistake, because they should not have waited more than five hours after the first wave of probing to launch the formal attack. If they had come earlier, Napoleon would have had no time to make arrangements.

The result of this delay was that the royalist troops coming from six or seven directions were bombarded by artillery carefully arranged by Napoleon.

Dense grapeshot rained down on the poorly trained and equipped royalists, causing heavy casualties among them immediately.

Seeing that someone was finally in command, more soldiers from the Patriot Battalion came to reinforce. They used their muskets to cover Napoleon's artillery, making the situation on the battlefield more tilted towards Napoleon's side.

Two hours later, the royalists could no longer bear the casualties and began to retreat, almost losing the ability to attack.

In fact, although they were called royalists, some of them were not members of the royalist party. They were purely opposing the Directory.

Because they believed that the requirement that two-thirds of the Senate and the Council of Five Hundred must come from the National Convention was contrary to freedom and fairness.

It’s a pity that the freedom and fairness they pursue are completely unable to compete with guns.

After realizing that the royalists could not bear the casualties, Napoleon seized the opportunity and immediately ordered Murat to lead the cavalry to counterattack, and the royalists collapsed.

In this battle, Napoleon defended the revolutionary government and was immediately promoted from a peripheral accomplice of Robespierre to one of the most trusted generals of the Directory. He built his own reliable team based on these thousands of people.

The upper echelons of the Directory also noticed the general's abilities, and many people began to win over and invest in him. The road to the highest position was finally open to Napoleon.

. . . .

On this side, the chaos in Paris had been quelled, a large number of royalist members were arrested by the Directory, and when the guillotine began to bustle again, Count Louis Philippe of Artois was still more than a hundred kilometers away from Paris.

After hearing the news of the failure, he was dejected and lost the courage to continue marching towards Paris. He chose to turn around and go into exile in England again.

At the same time in the north, Mauconze led 9,000 men into French territory. He was preparing to launch an attack on General Jean Jourdan's Northern Army to support the advance of the Count of Artois, when news came that the royalist's Vincennes coup had failed.

Even if Mo Gongze had a thousand abilities, he could not go against the will of heaven. He sighed and took the initiative to withdraw to Belgium.

Subsequently, the situation began to develop rapidly in a positive direction for the First French Republic.

Seeing the failure of the Count of Artois and the royalists, the peace treaty between Prussia and France and Austria and France, which had been suspended due to the continuous victories of Mauconze, was also put on the agenda.

12 month.

The First French Republic signed a series of peace treaties with Spain, Prussia and Austria, known as the Treaty of Basel.

Prussia recognized France's occupation of the west bank of the Rhine, and France returned part of the occupied land on the east bank of the Rhine to Prussia. Since then, Prussia almost completely withdrew from the war with France for about eight years.

Spain, which had been playing a bystander in the war, ceded a large amount of land in the Caribbean to France in exchange for France returning the Spanish mainland territories it had seized.

As for the Holy Roman Empire, after being defeated by Mo Zirong and the fact that the Lower Netherlands was not completely lost, Francis II could not bring himself to negotiate peace with France.

So he turned to instructing Holy Roman Empire states such as Hesse-Kassel and Saxe-Coburg to sign peace treaties with France. The two sides exchanged prisoners, and the war between Holy Roman Empire and France was basically over.

At the end of December, after dealing with major enemies such as Prussia and Austria, the French Directory ordered General Jean Jourdan to lead the entire Northern Army of more than 12 people, supported by more than Dutch patriot militia, a total of troops, to attack the entire Low Countries including Belgium again.

This was something Mo Gongze could not resist. The terrain of Belgium was very flat and there was basically no strategic location to defend, and the people did not support him. It could be said that he had neither the right time, the right place, nor the right people.

Therefore, in mid-January 1796, after two small-scale blocking battles, Mo Gongze voluntarily gave up Belgium and withdrew to the British Isles in batches with the support of the British Navy.

Before leaving, Mo Gongze was a little sad, but not desperate. He said to Cao Zhenyong and Reinstein beside him:

"The Dutch are supporting France now because they think France can bring them benefits. Let's wait and see!"

Reinstein nodded, with a gloating expression on his face. He said to Mo Gongze: "Your Highness is right. Unless the French are willing to treat the Dutch as their own people, the Dutch will definitely suffer a great loss.

Moreover, there are now a large number of Dutch people who are inclined to revolution and will never submit to our rule. It would be better to let the French recruit them and then kill them all on the battlefield.

After these people die, those who remain will support our rule."

In early February, the Battle of the Low Countries, which lasted almost a year later than in history, finally ended. The French Directory established a puppet government in the Netherlands - the Batavian Republic.

At this point, the European Revolutionary War brought by France came to a temporary end.

However, the situation in the West was over, and a fierce war broke out in the East.

After more than three years of settlement and transportation, Dayu's Northwest Army, Dingxi Army and Zhengxi Army in the Hezhong area began to take action.

The strangulation of the two remaining Khanates of Bukhara and Khiva in the river has officially begun!
(End of this chapter)