Napoleon II Reborn Chapter 24

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On May 16, Villeneuve's fleet arrived in Martinique. Villeneuve still behaved very negatively. He even refused to carry out the order of the Minister of the Navy to send Lauriston and his more than 10,000 troops ashore. Until May 30th, the stubborn Villeneuve's warship remained anchored in the calm tropical sea outside the port. On this day, a clipper sailed from France with orders for the seventh invasion planned by Napoleon on April 13. Then, on June 4, the other two ships of Rear Admiral Magon came to Martinique to join the Franco-Spanish combined fleet here at Villeneuve; and Villeneuve did not know that on this day, Nelson's Mediterranean fleet arrived. Carlisle Bay, Barbados. Villeneuve did not learn of the news until a week later, on June 11, when he had already headed the fleet towards the open Atlantic and towards El Ferrol.

Villeneuve escaped Nelson's pursuit, but not another disaster. On July 22, at a distance of 90 miles from El Ferrol, Villeneuve's fleet encountered a fleet of 15 warships commanded by British Admiral Calder. On the pretext of no wind and fog and confusion, 11 of Villeneuve's 14 warships managed to escape from the range of the British warship's cannons, leaving Gravella and the Spanish fleet to bear the brunt of the fierce naval battle with the British fleet. two Spanish warships. Calder, a vaunted, brilliant political commander of the fleet with an influential relative in the British Parliament, spared the combined French and Spanish fleets to flee back to the Port Ferrol. For this reason, Calder was later court-martialed and dismissed as commander.

Villeneuve fled back to his natural haven of Ferrol on 1 August, and on 26 July Napoleon issued his Eighth Operational Order, a modification of the Seventh, in which he personally instructed Villeneuve : "Sailing to Cadiz."

After concentrating the Spanish warships at Cadiz and Ferrol, they were to return to the port of Brest, from where they sailed for Boulogne. As long as you can control the channel for 3 days, then with the help of God, I will cut off the existence of England...your actions alone can make us masters of England.

On August 1, Villeneuve received Napoleon's eighth revision order. At least the plan to sail north to Buren remained unchanged. During his long stay in Martinique, Villeneuve had not added fresh water and supplies to his fleet, and had to do this after receiving this order from Napoleon. Now that he has assembled 27 warships, while thousands of sailors and some senior generals are busy preparing for the voyage, Villeneuve shut himself in the neat cabin of his double-decked flagship equipped with 80 guns and began to serve the navy. Minister writes. From August 10th to 11th, a huge fleet of 27 warships began to sail back to Boulogne. Only then did Napoleon receive a tip-off about the details of the July 22nd naval battle and Villeneuve's performance in Martinique.

"Why does this Villeneuve say nothing about these things in his own report?" exclaimed Napoleon, fooled. "How dare he blame the Spaniards? Brave as a lion!" Until then, Napoleon, who had rushed from Paris to Boulogne, knew that not only France suffered a loss in the Ferrol naval battle (at first he ordered the salute to be fired in the strait to pay tribute to the Franco-Spanish combined fleet) , and Villeneuve refused to carry out the order to send 12,000 troops ashore at Martinique to Lauriston. Napoleon claimed that Villeneuve had sabotaged his Martinique plan and led a large fleet to escape in a naval battle—all because of this "unreliable Villeneuve". Napoleon called Villeneuve "cross-eyed"—in his view the enemy was always twice as powerful as he really was. Reyer complained to Napoleon's brother-in-law Murat: "This is our navy. It could have dealt a fatal blow to the British, but in the end it achieved nothing." Villeneuve's Franco-Spanish combined fleet never appeared in Brun However, if Villeneuve's Franco-Spanish combined fleet can arrive at Brune even a month later in accordance with Napoleon's plan, and **** the cross-sea fleet to invade Britain with 47 warships, it will make it difficult for the British to parry. Napoleon could only sigh helplessly: Now, the British stay in the strait) there are only 24 warships... What a fighter, if I have a real general under my command!"

In fact, in Xiao Jie's view, why is there no reason for Napoleon himself? As the supreme ruler of the French Empire, he couldn't know people and make good use of them, and he also changed the battle plan at any time. The soldiers were exhausted and their morale was greatly affected. How could he not fail? He even thought to Xiao Jie secretly: "History has not changed. It seems that my uncle really wants to destroy the Navy, which is not well-off. What will I use to compete with the powerful British Empire in the future?" How about the navy to compete with each other? It seems that you can't rely on others, you still have to do it yourself.” So it also deepened Xiao Jie's idea of ​​building a navy of his own.

As early as July 20, 1804, when Napoleon arrived in Boulogne, he had doubts about whether the flat-bottomed gunboat could withstand the storm at sea. When a storm was approaching, Napoleon ordered the fleet commander Bryx to hold a cross-sea exercise. Bryx refused to carry out the order. Emperor Longyan was furious, and summoned Bryx to question:

"Why did you refuse to carry out my order?"

"Your Majesty, you can see the reason for this yourself—you wouldn't needlessly risk the lives of your soldiers in this climate, would you?"

"Sir, I have already given you an order, and the consequences are my business, and you don't have to worry about it. Follow my order!"

"Your Majesty, forgive me for not following my orders. UU Reading www.uukanshu.com"

"Sir, you are so rude!" Napoleon walked towards Bryx threateningly, holding a whip in his hand.

"Your Majesty, please restrain yourself!" Bryx took a step back and pressed his hand on the hilt of his sword. The people around Napoleon were happy to watch the excitement at first, but now they are all petrified.

Napoleon threw away the whip in his hand and said, "You must leave Buren within 24 hours and report to the Netherlands. Deputy Commander Magon will immediately carry out my order."

So the drill was carried out in the storm. Many gunboats were overturned by the waves, and the sailors who fell into the water struggled in the rough waves and swam to the reef and the coast. According to official reports, 30 gunboats were damaged or sunk, and 31 people drowned. But Napoleon's official losses were always greatly reduced figures, and in fact, according to British observations the next day, at least 400 more sailors and soldiers died.

As Napoleon's plans to invade Britain faltered, the French began to doubt whether he really wanted to fight the campaign. In the summer of 1805, the British, who had been guarding against French invasion, began to doubt the intentions of the French emperor. The Times also published a mocking French limerick entitled "Napoleon's Monologue at Boulogne":

To invade or not to invade

it's a question worth considering

Is silently enduring the poisoned arrows from the British Isles

Or stand up and lead my troops to the other side

end this endless suffering

attack, smash 'em - invade - fight

Fight and I'm done, the glory of France

Manmin's wishes are all over

Napoleon was so angry when he saw it that he tore the newspaper to pieces on the spot.

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Chapter end