Make France Great Again
Chapter 215 Grand Marshal Surt

Chapter 215: Chapter 215 Grand Marshal Surt

"Your Excellency Marshal, please accept the most loyal cheers from France!"

Amid the continuous cheers of "Long live the Marshal, long live the Empire," Prime Minister Opler, a bit of a cabinet nobody, approached the newly appointed Imperial Marshal, Prince Monfort, with a compliment.

Gazing at the unanimous cheers from below the stage, Prince Monfort’s thoughts were involuntarily transported back to forty-five years ago, to the era when his brother abolished the Republic and established the Empire, surrounded by France’s most loyal army.

Forty-five years later, he too, like his brother, had become a Marshal of the French Republic, embraced by the army, and he believed it would not be long before he re-established his presence on this land.

In France, as long as you controlled the army, you controlled the future.

Unable to resist, Prince Monfort praised the army below the stage: "What a mighty army! What loyal soldiers!"

The chants of "Long live" surged like waves until Prince Monfort gestured for quiet, after which the soldiers ceased their shouts under the gestures of their commanding officers.

The scene fell into an unusually quiet state, with everyone’s gaze fixed on the newly appointed Marshal, Prince Monfort.

Under the scrutiny of thousands of eyes, Marshal Monfort felt an irrepressible excitement within him. He held his breath, focused, and after a few seconds, spoke: "Soldiers of France, I am honored to stand here as a past-his-prime veteran, receiving your blessings! I will stand with you, with thousands and thousands of soldiers defending the homeland of France..."

Jerome Bonaparte, with his rustic blend of Italian and German accent, addressed all the soldiers present. The halo of the Emperor’s younger brother made a speech that should have been excruciatingly dull become extraordinarily inspiring.

"I wish you all a bright future, and I also wish France even greater prosperity! I will not fail in my mission to become a qualified Imperial Marshal!"

With standard concluding remarks, Prince Monfort ended his Marshal inauguration speech.

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Prince Monfort changed "Republic Marshal" to "Imperial Marshal," causing a few retired Bonapartist generals on the viewing stand to reveal smiles of understanding.

Thus concluded Marshal Monfort’s inauguration ceremony, when a gold-plated double-axle open carriage appeared at the steps of the viewing stand. Marshal Monfort, along with Vice President Blair, boarded the carriage, which was driven by National Guard Staff Officer Colonel Flerri.

The carriage moved slowly, allowing Prince Monfort to wave farewell to the soldiers present. The phalanx soldiers moved in accordance with the direction of Marshal Monfort’s carriage.

With the soldiers’ salutes, the carriage passed through one phalanx after another, returning to Central Paris.

After Marshal Monfort’s departure, Minister Renio stepped forward to address the soldiers participating in the inauguration ceremony: "Each unit, orderly return to your respective barracks. Do not whisper, do not shout!"

Among the viewing crowd, Changarnier watched Minister Renio with a gloomy face. It was supposed to be his responsibility, as the commander of the city’s defenses in Seine Province, to announce the dismissal orders for the soldiers after the inauguration ceremony, but Renio announced the dismissal ahead of time.

The key issue was that even the commander of the Paris First Brigade obeyed Minister Renio’s orders and left in an orderly fashion, forcing Changarnier to reevaluate his own strength.

Unbeknownst to him, Renio and his group had gradually undermined the regular army forces in Changarnier’s hands. _{fr.eew eb novel..com}

As for the National Guard, Changarnier dared not easily mobilize those who would quickly spring into action.

After mobilization, the National Guard was highly unlikely to listen to him.

...

The carriage, carrying the newly appointed Marshal, Prince Monfort and Vice President Blair, headed towards the Elysee Palace. Upon entering the Saint Martin District, they observed a group of cavalrymen, clad in silver-white breastplates and adorned helmets, with sabers at their waists, appearing under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Edgar Ney.

The cavalry split into two groups, guarding the left and right flanks of the carriage, while Edgar Ney and two cuirassiers paved the way in front of the carriage.

The carriage and cavalry team encountered no traffic congestion upon entering the center of the Saint Martin Suburb.

The reason for this was that "enthusiastic citizens", wearing black flak jackets, acted as volunteer police to assist the police in maintaining traffic order, ordering the carriages to stop by the road until the Marshal’s carriage passed.

After passing through the Saint Martin Suburb into the Saint-Germain District, the road became significantly wider. Flerri increased the carriage’s speed and soon arrived at the Elysee Palace.

At this time, Pesci, the Secretary General of the Elysee Palace, was leading all the incumbent Elysee Palace staff to the gates, waiting for the arrival of the Marshal’s carriage.

The carriage stopped at the gate of the Elysee Palace, and the pathfinder Edgar Ney dismounted. Prince Monfort and Vice President Blair also disembarked.

Under Pesci’s leadership, Prince Monfort and Vice President Blair proceeded to the banquet hall together.

By this time, the banquet hall was already crowded. In the opulent hall, soldiers, envoys, parliamentarians, and bankers gathered. The arrival of Prince Monfort and Vice President Blair drew the attention of everyone at the banquet.

Vice President Blair stepped back, making a gesture of invitation, as this banquet was originally organized for Prince Monfort, who was undoubtedly the focal point of this event.

Holding a wooden marshal’s baton, Prince Monfort slowly walked into the crowd to converse with them.

Led by Percy, Vice President Blair came to a small parlor on the second floor of the Elysee Palace.

After a while, the door of the parlor opened, and Jerome Bonaparte appeared at the door, prompting Blair to quickly rise and greet him.

Jerome Bonaparte smiled and embraced Blair, saying, "Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Blair!"

Vice President Blair, who also happened to be Jerome Bonaparte’s former teacher, looked warmly at him and said, "It’s nothing! It’s just letting an old bone like me hand over a baton! Such a small task won’t tire me! But as for Your Majesty, it’s truly too exhausting with endless affairs of state!"

"It’s mostly some useless political matters!" Jerome Bonaparte shrugged, making a dismissive gesture.

After Jerome Bonaparte sat down with Blair, Percy personally brought in two steaming cups of coffee, one with added sugar and milk.

Percy handed the coffee with sugar and milk to Blair and gave the plain one to Jerome Bonaparte.

Vice President Blair gently stirred the teaspoon and smiled in thanks to Percy.

Percy humbly replied before leaving.

The only ones left in the parlor were Vice President Blair and President Jerome Bonaparte.

"Mr. Blair, I sincerely apologize! Making you run around to arrange the inauguration ceremony for my father as soon as you returned to Paris!" Jerome Bonaparte expressed his apology to Blair earnestly.

"It’s nothing!" Vice President Blair smiled slightly, looking joyously tired: "I’m very glad to witness the emergence of a Marshal Bonaparte!"

"By the way, how is the situation of that one in the Pyrenees now?" Jerome Bonaparte inquired of Blair.

Vice President Blair shook his head, took a sip of coffee, and said, "Although his spirit is good, his body is getting worse day by day. It probably won’t be long before he goes to meet God!"

"Alas!" Jerome Bonaparte sighed, lamenting, "A marshal who once dominated the battlefield can’t escape dying on his sickbed in the end. If given another chance, he might choose to die on the battlefield!"

"I think he would choose to die in bed!" Vice President Blair retorted, with a mocking expression on his lips: "If he truly wished to die on the battlefield, he had many opportunities to do so. In the end, he was just another coward afraid of death."

"Even if he was afraid of death, he was the only Grand Marshal of France!" Jerome Bonaparte declared with admiration.

"As long as you live long enough, you can triumph over any enemy!" Vice President Blair cynically remarked, "Our Grand Marshal has lived longer than many of his contemporaries!"

"Let’s not talk about past matters!" Jerome Bonaparte opted to avoid discussing the Grand Marshal’s past and instead asked, "Then, how does he view our endeavor?"

"He remains respectful!" Vice President Blair replied, "However, during our conversation, I could feel that our Grand Marshal doesn’t believe we can easily succeed in overthrowing them (referring to the Legislative Assembly)!"

"So, he doesn’t want to support us?" Jerome Bonaparte couldn’t help but feel somewhat disheartened.

If the Grand Marshal could support him at this time, it would give him more confidence to suppress Changarnier.

As the "Evergreen Ivy" of France, even in retirement, Grand Marshal Surt still held significant influence over the French Army.

"No! The Grand Marshal said he is willing to support us!" Vice President Blair disclosed, leaving Jerome Bonaparte astonished.

"What does he want?" Jerome Bonaparte asked calmly.

Vice President Blair responded indifferently, "He claims he requires nothing!"

Jerome Bonaparte gazed at Vice President Blair in bewilderment, becoming somewhat suspicious of Grand Marshal Surt’s motives.

"He told me he doesn’t need to strive for his descendants! All his wealth will be donated to France after his death! For someone like him, what more does he need? Glory? He already has it! Prestige? He gained that beside the Emperor!

Now, he is but an empty shell! As for enmity, only the hatred toward the Legislative Assembly remains, hoping that when you overthrow the damned Assembly, don’t forget to execute a few more for him! He also mentioned that back then, the Emperor executed many people!"