Called Upon in the Midst of Defeat

Napoleon sent a military envoy to Suvorov with a letter. In the letter, Napoleon first highly praised the Russian army's fearless spirit in battle, and then pointed out. "There are actually no problems between Russia and France that must be resolved by war. It is an incomprehensible tragedy that young people from both countries have been needlessly shed for some minor technical issues that could be resolved through negotiation."

Napoleon proposed to Marshal Suvorov that a ceasefire be reached between the two sides first, and that any "minor misunderstandings" or "minor problems" between France and Russia could be left for later discussion and resolution by the two governments.

Napoleon also proposed to Suvorov that both sides select a location to negotiate matters related to the armistice.

After seeing off the France military envoy, Suvorov gathered all the Russian generals together. He first showed them the letter from Napoleon, asking them to look at it. After everyone had read it and discussed it amongst themselves, Suvorov asked, "What are your thoughts on this letter?"

"Archduke John of Austria has been claiming these days that the France have suffered a major setback in the north and that Napoleon's army will soon receive orders to withdraw—it seems that what the Austria are saying may very well be true."

"But if you ask me, the France have a point. Do you really think we'll get a piece of land in Italy? Even if we fight the France to the death and seize Italy while they're retreating, wouldn't that just benefit the Austria? What would we gain? I think it's better to negotiate with the France. For example, we could get some technology from France —I think the France are probably better at science and technology than the Britain."

"I agree with Antonov's later statement. I think the France are more advanced in science and technology than the Britain, at least in army-related technologies, the France are definitely number one in the world."

"If you ask me, we should send people to France for systematic training. We should..."

"In my opinion, we don't need to fight any war with France at all. On the contrary, we should form an alliance. That way, the East will be ours, and the West will be theirs. Wouldn't that be great!"

"You have a good idea, but the France and Turkey have always been in cahoots."

"Why are the France allied with the Turkey? Isn't it just to deal with the Austria? We're much stronger than the Turkey; the France could easily suppress the Austria..."

Everyone started talking at once. Although everyone said different things, they all had one thing in common: no one really wanted to fight France, at least not in faraway Italy.

Suvorov listened quietly. He knew that this attitude wasn't just among the generals; to a large extent, it reflected the attitude of the vast majority of soldiers. They didn't want to continue fighting the France.

Theoretically, pursuing the retreating French Army might have led to a major victory. However, considering the morale and the fighting capacity displayed by the French Army, Suvorov felt that even in open battle, the current Russian army was likely no match for the French Army. If they could negotiate and obtain some valuable supplies from the France, that seemed like a very good idea.

As for Austria, Marshal Suvorov felt that the blood shed by the Russia had already been more than fair to the Austria. If the Austria were dissatisfied with the armistice, they could go and fight the France themselves. Well, we could offer them moral support.

With this understanding established, the negotiations proceeded quite smoothly. Napoleon and Suvorov met at a manor, exchanged gifts, and agreed to temporarily suspend hostilities.

Then Napoleon left a portion of his army to cover the rear while he led the main force north to fight the British.

Upon discovering that the French Army force was retreating north, Archduke John approached Suvorov, suggesting that this was a good opportunity to pursue them and perhaps retake Italy while the French Army was retreating.

In response to this request, Marshal Suvorov stated. "The France are very cunning. If we rashly pursue them, we are likely to fall into France trap. Therefore, any pursuit must be approached with extreme caution. Furthermore, the Russian army has suffered heavy losses previously and is currently unable to pursue them."

What left Archduke John speechless was that Marshal Suvorov's attitude—at least the attitude of "pursuing with utmost caution"—had actually received widespread support in Austria. Austria generals also expressed that the France were extremely cunning, and that it was best for them to remain unchanged in the face of any eventuality.

Thus, under the "extreme caution" of the Russian army and the "wait and see" approach of the Austria, the main French Army force swaggered northward. Even after receiving very reliable intelligence that the French Army had moved north and that their front was reduced to less than 10,000 French Army rearguard troops and 40,000 troops of the Northern Italian Federation assembled to "defend the freedom of the North Italian Federation," the Russia still maintained an "extremely cautious" demeanor.

The Russia were extremely cautious, but the Austria became more active. They felt confident in France, even as the France, though it was dangerous, but they were also confident in fighting the Italy. After all, who hadn't seen the Italy before?

So the Austria charged towards the position they believed was held by the Italy, and then they conceded defeat. The retreating Austria told the Russia, "We encountered France dressed as Italy!"

So the Russia then naturally retorted, "We told you long ago that the France are very cunning, and we must be extremely cautious in our actions. You didn't listen, and look, you've been tricked! The France are truly cunning."

"Yes, the France are really cunning!" the Austria agreed.

Napoleon led over 60,000 elite French Army across the Alps once more and returned to France. No sooner had he returned than news arrived that the Anglo-Prussian Allied Forces were approaching Verdun.

The French Army, having been defeated in Liege, retreated in disarray all the way to Versailles, where they joined forces with over 100,000 reinforcements to defend the Versailles. However, at this critical moment, a strange error occurred in the France information system.

In order to transmit information quickly, the France developed a special system that used light signals to transmit information. This system worked as follows:

Along the main roads leading to Paris from major cities, the France built a tall tower at regular intervals, much like the beacon towers built by countries in the Far East.

However, this system could transmit far more complex information than beacon towers because it used flashes of varying lengths to transmit information like telegrams. The sender would turn the information into flashes of varying lengths and send them out at fixed intervals. The tower on the other side would see them, record the flashes, and then repeat the message to the next station. This allowed for the relatively quick transmission of complex information to distant places.

In Alexandre Dumas' novel the Count of Monte Cristo, Edmond Dantès bribed a signalman to intentionally send false information through the system, causing an economic fluctuation that he then used to bankrupt his enemy Danglars.

Almost exactly as in the novel, a signalman was bribed by Royalist Party and changed the message that "General Bonaparte has achieved a major victory in Italy and has led his army north back to France" to "General Napoleon has suffered a major defeat in Italy, and Marshal Suvorov has led his army across the Alps into France."

This news threw the Directory members in Paris into chaos. Some even immediately boarded carriages to flee. Several high-ranking officials who tried to escape were recognized by patrol officers on the road and dragged back by angry mobs.

This escape nearly destroyed the Directory's prestige. Had it not been for the subsequent arrival of new, corrected news, the people of Paris would almost certainly have revolted.

The newspaper * Science Truth Daily * published a special issue, distributing news free of charge that General Bonaparte had achieved a decisive victory in Italy and had already led his army back to France, heading north. Shouts of "Long live General Bonaparte!" echoed throughout Paris.

But just as the people of Paris were rejoicing over this good news, Joseph was urgently summoned by Carnot.

"Lazar, what happened?" Joseph could tell from Carnot's expression that something terrible must have happened.

"Joseph, there's something I need you to handle," Carnot said.

"What is it?" Joseph asked.

"Joubert is injured again and is still unconscious..." Carnot replied.

It turned out that not long ago, in a small, probing battle near Verdun, General Joubert, the commander who always liked to rush to the front lines, was wounded by a bullet and could no longer command his troops. His deputy, General Moreau, was still on the Cateau front, and due to the enemy situation and distance, he was also unable to come to Verdun to relieve Joubert. Thus, the French Army in Verdun was temporarily without a commander.

"What the hell!" Joseph exclaimed. "Lazar, what are you planning to do?"

"Right now, I have no choice but to send you to replace Joubert and temporarily serve as the French Army commander-in-chief at Verdun," Carnot said. "I don't have anyone more suitable than you right now."

"What?" Joseph was startled. "Me? Good heavens... I've never commanded an army in battle before!"

"No, Joseph, you've commanded. You've commanded the Red Army, and you've taught our other generals a lesson many times in exercises. Besides, we don't have any generals left here. If Berthier were here, maybe I could put him in charge, but now, you're the only one left."

"I have actually been away from military command operations for a long time."

"But your legend still circulates throughout the military. And in recent years, you have in fact been leading the transformation of the military's technology and tactics."

"But how could I, a technician,..."

"No buts. If there were a more suitable person, I wouldn't want you to go either. But, including myself, no one is more suitable for this position than you. Alright, Joseph, stop being modest. The War Department has already decided that you will be the Commander-in-Chief..."