Napoleon in 1812 - Chapter 138

The general who was given the task of recapturing the village of Liebertwolkwitz and the hil I of Galgenberg occupied by the French army was the Russian general Dmitry Dokhturov. He was an imperial aristocrat loyal to the orthodox Slavic people and came from a prestigious family.

He was also evaluated as a ‘competent, smart, and loyal general’ in a demanding Russian court, and was even trusted in his ability to the extent that he was called a ‘great, solid, and brave soldier’ within the military.

With a good background, ability, and reputation, it was no wonder that he succeeded Barclay de Tolly, who was driven away as the culprit for Hrodna’s disgrace.

In addition, among the Russian generals, Dokhturov had a lot of experience in fighting against France and had faced Napoleon, the main enemy of Russia, several times.

He had led the Allied left-wing battle line in the Battle of Austerlitz and was evaluated to have operated the troops in an orderly manner despite the defeat of the entire army, and in the Battle of Friedland, he made extraordinary achievements such as defeating French cavalry charges and helping allies to retreat.

In the Battle of Eylau, despite being seriously injured, he defeated French troops with his heroic performance. For all his past achievements, Dokhturov was entrusted with the command of a large corps of 115,000 men and a solo operation.

However, he had one fatal weakness. He had never dealt with Napoleon as the commander in charge of an entire corps.

He had never experienced Napoleon’s psychological warfare, strategies and multifaceted tactics that could only be detected by those who had faced him as commander-to-commander.

He had no choice but to be dragged around helplessly giving up the initiative in the Battle of Liebertwolkwitz. This was a decisive defeat for Dokhturov’s corps,

“Ouch! I must be the most foolish and incompetent soldier in Russia. How can I look at the Tsar’s face now!”

General Dokhturov, considered a promising Russian aristocratic general, was wailing while tearing off his scattered hair. Rather than breaking the enemy with three times as much power, he was captured miserably and thrown into the attic of a church.

His military career was almost over. A future of contempt and ridicule more humiliating than the defeat of the Battle of Hrodna was awaiting him. Then he heard a knock on the door from outside the attic, Dokhturov, who was endlessly blaming himself, opened his mouth with an extremely gloomy voice.

“Come on in, Enjoy the ugly and miserable appearance of a defeated general,”

The one who opened the door with a squeaking sound was the one who defeated him horribly. Napoleon Bonaparte, the Emperor of the French Empire. He looked around the attic and said.

“It’s a little shabby for a Russian army commander to stay, but I hope you understand. There aren’t many buildings around here that remain intact because of the cannons fired by your subordinates.”

“…I don’t know what Your Majesty is up to, but it won’t do much to get me involved, This is because the defeat of the last battle will completely sink my position in Russia.”

“Oh, don’t get me wrong. I came here because I was worried that you, who were blaming yourself for the defeat, might make an extreme choice.”

Dokhturov did not even laugh at those words. French guards had already searched the attic.

In the process, they swept away objects that could be life-threatening, even in the slightest bit, such as cutlery. On top of that, there was a thorough surveillance, so Dokhturov could not commit suicide even if he wanted to,

Therefore, he came to check the condition of his spoils from the victor’s position, With a joke and taunting words! Whatever Dokhturov was thinking, the merciless winner continued to say what he had to say.

“I have asked your soldiers about their hometowns and affiliation. I don’t know if it’s a coincidence, but most of them are refugees from the steppes of the Baltic or Black Sea regions. Pure Slavs are very rare.”

“Based on your reaction, it seems that you already knew where they came from. It wouldn’t make sense that the commander of a corps does not know the origin of the soldiers under his command, right? Did you choose them on your own?”

Dokhturov remained silent, but Napoleon continued to ask questions regardless. Sometimes, he whispered secretly to his aides sitting next to him and did not threaten or intimidate Dokhturov, who did not answer the questions.

“Is there any other corps of non-Russian-speaking soldiers besides yours?”

“I won’t give any answer.”

“All your troops must have been drafted by force, right? Is it the same for officers and noncommissioned officers?”

Dokhturov raised his suspicion about what this was all about, but he soon put it aside.

‘There’s nothing I can do anyway. I did my duty just by not releasing any information to protect my loyalty to my country and His Majesty.’

At this time, Dokhturov did not know the identity of the aides sitting next to Napoleon. It was only later that he realized that they were top diplomats and intelligence agents who came to observe and understand his psychology through his facial expressions, reactions, and actions.

What was Napoleon trying to learn through this, what was the strategy centered on this? Dokhturov did not know until a long time later.

Mon roe Doctrine. Originally, it was an isolationist foreign policy decla ration announced by James Monroe, the president of the United States, who would have grown rapidly under a stable political system and economic boom if the history of Europe and North America had passed.

The U.S. territory was as vast as the entire continent of Europe, excluding Russia. No, it would be wider than Europe as a whole if the unexplored western lands, potential American territories, were added up. All the products from that vast territory belonged to the United States.

In addition, there were aImost no forces around the United States to threaten or contain them. Th is meant that there was no need to consume the nation’s resources to stabilize the situation while colliding with neighboring countries, and the United States was able to invest its resources solely for national development and progress.

The United States, which had benefited from this natural environment, was able to have absolute confidence at least in the North American continent, That’s how Monroe Doctrine was born, However, the situation facing the United States in the current changed history was very different.

“Let’s exercise our influence generously in the Latin American countries that have declared independence from Spain and Portugal. We can make a big profit by selling American products and military supplies to them.”

When Latin American colonies entered the war for independence from their countries, Spain and Portugal, the diplomatic stance taken by the United States was to make sweet profit. After all, war was a way to make neighboring countries fat and wealthy. In accordance with the harsh rules of international diplomacy, the United States sought to use the blood of Latin countries as an opportunity for its own growth.

U.S. shipping trading companies headed south with the dream of good fortune under the active support of the federal government. However, they soon realized the existence of another country that had already reached out to Latin America.

“France, France, France! Wherever we went, cotton products and handicrafts made by the frogs were filling warehouses and factories in Latin American countries. There is no room for us!”

“Even though we have reduced our margin for the shipping fee, everyone is making a fuss about high prices. They didn’t even look at the products we made. They did buy some grains, including beans, corn, and wheat, but still…”

The federal government immediately launched an investigation. They simply could not understand. France was in the middle of a war in Europe, but had the spirit to come to Latin America through Britain’s coastal blockade and sell their products there?

Moreover, transportation and labor costs would be enormous to cross the Atlantic Ocean, but even considering that, the price of French-made products was rather cheaper than American products!?

With the mechanical revolution in France, extreme cost reduction had become possible, However, such a mechanical revolution was in fact also actively underway in the United States, and American-made products were also produced by machines, not by manpower.

Therefore, the gap in prices could not come from the machines. Thanks to an exhaustive investigation into the matter, the federal government was able to quickly reach the reason.

“France had signed a minimum tariff agreement with the colonies in advance. As soon as they declared their independence from their country.”

“They were tempted by the French, who offered to establish a consulate and diplomatic relations in exchange for the agreement. In colonial countries, they must have been happy because they needed support from European powers to be recognized by the international community.”

It was the result of diplomatic negotiations that had been done in advance. France was the dominant power on the European continent, and did not need to be wary of Spain, In addition, the French had won the recent war.

Therefore, France was relatively free to access the independent Latin American colonies, which were originally Spanish, and the signature of diplomatic documents was possible as the colonies were struggling with European interest.

In the case of Portugal, it was a little unusual, as their Brazilian colony in South America had long since surpassed its home country in terms of power, territory, and population.

In addition, in order to avoid Napoleon’s invasion, most of the Portuguese royal family, including the king, evacuated to Brazil and discussed state affairs in Brazil for nearly 10 years, so it could not be treated as a simple colonial state.

Portugal upgraded Brazil to a member of the Kingdom, rather than a colony, and therefore, the ‘Treaty of Madrid’ signed by France after the war showed its power.

‘Portugal has been guaranteed independence from France. In return, its mainland and its Brazilian colony have to maintain a minimum tariff policy only on French trade for 50 years.’

This forced Latin American countries, whether they were independent or colonial, to impose the lowest level of tariffs they could impose on products from France, which in turn led to the price competitiveness of French products in the Latin American market.

French products had already been deeply spread among countries such as Brazil, Peru, Venezuela, Chile, Paraguay, and Nueva Granada.

Merchants, citizens, and even rebel governments of each country bought French goods and products. The trade income France was earning through this was such an amount that the federal government’s members had no choice but to open their mouths when they saw it.

“What the hell are those British doing, so that the country at war with them is still making tremendous trade profits across the seai?”

When Da niel D, Tompkins, Vice President of the United States of America, understood the situation, he banged the table and shouted angrily.

What was the British Navy doing, when it bragged that it would block all the coasts of France as soon as the war broke out, when its country was called the world’s largest maritime empire, and when the United States had the opportunity to make tons money?

“…That’s why France has the upper hand in the maritime hegemony race between Britain and France in the Mediterranean Sea, The landscape is very different from the Atlantic Ocean.”

Secretary of War William H. Crawford explained the reason carefully. Even after the Battle of Cala Emboixar, the British Navy and the French Navy engaged in minor battles over the Western Mediterranean Sea. Most surprisingly, the French side won.

Now, rumors were circulating beyond the ocean about Admiral de Rosnay’s outstanding abilities, his incredibly developed and powerful French fleet, and his explosive cannon bullets.

The Atlantic coast of France was still tightly controlled by Britain, but the Mediterranean Sea control had already been lost to the French.

France, on the contrary, seized the strait to the Atlantic Ocean by blocking the British from passing through Gibraltar. This was the reason why French merchant ships could travel to and from Latin America.

“In the end, the incompetence of the English has produced this result! Even with 130 battleships, they still can’t do anything!”

“The French are pretty vicious, too. Taking advantage of the earnestness of the new South American nations, trying to suck their bones!”

Federal cabinet members expressed anger by belittling Britain and France. If only the English had been a little more competent, and if the French had not done such a sly thing, the U.S. could be sitting on a pile of money by now!

“…I think everyone here will agree that the United States should not stand still.”

James Monroe said, looking all over those who had gathered at the meeting. And his gaze reached Congressman William Henry Harrison, who led the American strategy of reversing its alliance.

Despite being a first-term congressma n, William Henry Harrison was selected as a Special Committee ofthe Ministry ofWar and was able to stand here in recognition of his insight into the international situation.

In fact, prior to joining the cabinet, the core members of the cabinet held preliminary meetings, and House of Representatives Harrison attended them and expressed influential opinions, The results were announced now. Congressman Harrison nodded softly, and James Monroe continued.

“As soon as the Great War broke out, Britain demanded that the federal government join the war as an ally. But we refused, Because we thought that it was right for Europe to do Europe’s work and America to do America’s work, But now the situation has changed. Their war is not limited to Europe, and American interests are also being violated by European powers.”

He hid the details because the former government was from the same political party, but in fact, there was also a problem with the ownership of gold mines in Georgia.

It was unacceptable for the federal government to have been deceived by Napoleon and to have handed over the right to use the two gold mines, which were presumed to contain enormous amounts of gold. The two gold mines had to be recovered as quickly as possible, and there was only one way.

“If the French Empire leads this ‘Great War’ to victory, there is no guarantee that it will not exert its influence here in America. Therefore, as the President of the United States of America, I am determined.”

In the original history, James Monroe proclaimed the Monroe Doctrine and advocated isolationism in the Americas. Ironically, this was the moment when he declared active intervention in the European war,

“I declare war on France. It is a decision for the sovereignty and future of the United States.”

On May 29, 1818, the United States officially declared war on France through its ambassador to Washington and entered in the Great War.

This was exactly a day before the Battle of Liebertwolkwitz, in which the Coalition’s defeat was confirmed in Leipzig.

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