After so many years as a couple, who still doesn’t understand each other? The French Emperor understood what his wife said at that time. By retaining control of the army, these 300,000 loyal legions can suppress everything.
If the situation is really hopeless, the French Emperor will not rule out making peace with Prussia alone, and then selling out the interests of the empire in exchange for him returning to suppress the revolution.
As long as all those traitors are killed, as long as the dynasty can continue, the interests of the empire will be damaged!
But before that, these veterans and veterans who are loyal to themselves cannot be harmed!
McMahon lost the Vosges Mountains defense line, which was indeed a serious crime, but McMahon's loyalty to himself is credible, and this veteran general has many disciples and disciples in the army, and he can control at least 50,000 troops. .
Such a senior general cannot be offended at this moment!
The French Emperor let out a long sigh and looked at McMahon, who had disheveled hair and dirty military uniforms, and whispered, "I know that we were not fully prepared for this war. Those damn civilian officials deceived me and the army as well!"
"In peacetime they boast about how strong the country is, but during war they can't even supply enough artillery shells!"
"A crime that is not a war, a crime that is not a war!"
This sentence made all the generals present breathe a sigh of relief. The emperor set the tone for failure, and it seemed that the civil servants would have to bear the blame.
McMahon burst into tears, "Your Majesty is wise, the front line is really suffering, our wounded soldiers don't even have enough bandages, and many soldiers are operated on without anesthesia!"
"I...I saw with my own eyes that the soldier's left leg was amputated without anesthesia...He actually died of pain on the operating table!"
The Emperor waved his hand, "Stop talking, I understand..." Before he could finish his words, he heard a sudden loud bang two blocks away.
A Prussian artillery shell actually shot an extremely long range and directly blew up the city center of Metz.
There was a muffled bang, and all the windows in the entire headquarters buzzed, and the dust above the head fell down like rain.
The Emperor's face was pale thanks to the cover of the table, which prevented his men from seeing his trembling legs.
"It has been under siege for three days... Is our situation okay? Is the west side still safe..."
Marshal Bazin, who had been silent all this time, knew that His Majesty the Emperor had given up. He said, "The enemy has been trying to encircle us on all sides, but the brave imperial soldiers resisted the enemy's attack. At this moment, the road to Chalon in the west is still open. …”
"Your Majesty, move away! It's too dangerous here..." Marshal Bazan said carefully.
"No! Never!" Napoleon III jumped up like a neurotic patient. "I am the emperor of the empire, and I will never accept failure in my own land!"
"If I leave here, the soldiers will lose hope, and the shadow of failure will haunt us forever..."
When Marshal Bazin saw that His Majesty was already at this moment, he retorted, and quickly found a way for him to step down: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty! We are just moving, not retreating. We have run out of bullets, and we need supplies from the rear!"
"After three days of bloody fighting in Metz, there are not many supplies left. As our supply base, Chalon has enough supplies for a hundred thousand troops to consume for half a month. Where else can we go if we don't go there?"
"Your Majesty, please make a decision quickly. The road to the west is still safe at the moment!" Everyone understood what Marshal Bazin meant and persuaded Your Majesty in unison.
This is what the French Emperor wanted. He suddenly looked back at his son. Prince Eugene lowered his head and murmured to himself, "Father... you'd better retreat to Chalon..."
At this time, the crown prince suddenly raised his head and his voice rose an octave: "Your Majesty, please move immediately, we still have hope!"
"With the supplies from Chalon City, we can hold on for another half month... No, no, no, with the supplies from the railway system, we can hold on for at least another month and a half!"
"Our navy! Yes, that's right, there is still hope for the navy!"
"We must teach Prussia a lesson on the sea. If our navy can land in Hamburg, we will force Bismarck to send troops back for reinforcements!"
"This is our hope, this is our capital to start peace talks!"
The French Emperor finally relaxed his expression, "You are right, we still have hope, there are countless possibilities for war, and we still have a chance to make a comeback!"
"Instruct all departments to prepare immediately and make strategic shifts... Bazan and McMahon will stay, and my son, you, will stay too!"
Retreating is not that simple. The headquarters of each unit must move out of camp, all documents that cannot be taken away must be destroyed, and weapons and ammunition must be transported in advance or fully distributed to the soldiers.
Who will retreat first and who will come to the back must be sorted out. Four or five records must be made including the retreat route. Such a lot of work will take at least half a day.
It is noon now, and there is still half a day to prepare. It seems that the Emperor has decided to take advantage of the night to escape the golden cicada tonight!
There were only four of them left in the room, and the French Emperor poured everyone a glass of wine. "The situation has reached this point. I would like to ask...how many troops can I still control now?"
"How many people are still loyal to me?"
The situation is not good and the French Emperor seems to be liquidating his family fortune. The foundation of the Bonaparte family will always be the army!
General Bazin and McMahon looked at each other, "Your Majesty, there are now more than 300,000 troops in Metz and Chalon in the rear. Among them, there are about 200,000 elites who have fought in battles. These 20 Wan is trustworthy!”
"In addition, Montauban also has a hundred thousand Praetorian Guards in Paris, plus the navy, scattered local garrison regiments, and colonial garrisons..."
"I think... the number of people loyal to His Majesty should be around five hundred thousand!"
"Half a million... Hahaha, I really didn't expect that I could still have half a million followers... Doesn't the empire have an army of two million?" the emperor said with a wry smile.
"Father...those are all numbers on paper, most of them are local garrison corps...unreliable!"
"The prince is right. The local garrison has been in contact with the people all year round. It is very ideologically confused and has inextricable connections with the republicans and even the workers' left!"
"Their loyalty cannot be guaranteed, and there are also the 800,000 new troops in Paris... If the situation had not reached this point, we would have opposed the formation!"
The two old generals are right, the more troops the better, but the more loyal to themselves the better!
The real wealth of Napoleon III was actually half a million men who had been trained by himself and admired the iron army of the Bonaparte family.
They are professional soldiers, and the empire funds their support. These people have little contact with the people and generally have no contact with people with different ideas, so their loyalty to the emperor is reliable.
It is precisely because of these half a million legions that the French Emperor can conquer the north and south and deploy weapons all over the world!
As for the other corps that made up the numbers, they cannot be believed!
"Okay, I listen to you, we will retreat tonight...the vitality of these five hundred thousand cannot be damaged! As long as this tone is still there, even if I leave the country, my son will one day make a comeback!"
