France, Paris.
Napoleon III stood by the window, reading the latest intelligence that had been delivered to him. No joy or anger showed on his face.
But the ministers in the cabinet could no longer hold themselves back.
War Minister Armand-Jacques Leroy de Saint-Arnaud let out a long breath. Fortunately, the operation was still only in the planning stage. If it had truly been carried out, they would inevitably have had to face the German Confederation and the Austrian Empire once again.
Naturally, some felt regret. If the plan to attack Alsace-Lorraine had been carried out sooner, would it all be over by now?
France was in desperate need of a victory. With one victory, nationalist sentiment within the country would be greatly eased.
Foreign Minister Alexander Walewski was the true architect of this operation, but his purpose was to eliminate the potential threats facing the Napoleonic dynasty.
The House of Orleans in Alsace-Lorraine, the House of Bourbon in Fribourg, and the Duke of Aumale establishing himself independently in North Africa—every one of them was a threat capable of replacing the House of Napoleon.
If they could take advantage of the chaos in the Near East, while the great powers had no time to look westward, to eliminate these people, then the rule of the French Second Empire would be greatly strengthened.
At the same time, the recovered lands could ease France's current financial straits. So long as the economy improved, those opposition figures and paupers would naturally have nothing left to complain about.
But now, they had to think of another way.
Alexander Walewski was in fact the illegitimate son of Napoleon and the Polish countess Marie Walewska, as well as the only illegitimate son publicly acknowledged by Napoleon I.
Alexander Walewski was a soldier who had once participated