Make France Great Again
Chapter 222 Military Procurement Plan

Chapter 222: Chapter 222 Military Procurement Plan

On Sunday, May 7th, the Ministry of War, which had been busy from the beginning of the year until now, finally had a rare day off.

As the Director of Logistics, Major General Niel could finally enjoy a comfortable day with his wife at the Paris Opera House, savoring the brief holiday time.

Just when Major General Niel changed out of his military uniform and into civilian clothes to set off with his wife to the Opera House, a knock came at the door.

"Dear, could you get the door?" Major General Niel called out from the bedroom to his wife in the living room.

"Alright!" his wife quickly replied and went to open the door.

Soon after, the bedroom door opened, and his wife appeared in front of Major General Niel.

"What is it?" Major General Niel asked as he buttoned up his suit jacket.

"The President’s envoy is at the door!" his wife answered Niel.

"What! The President’s envoy!" Seeing this, Niel quickly fastened the last button and rushed to the living room.

A soldier in a green Dragoon uniform, holding an invitation with both hands, said to Major General Niel, "Major General Niel, this is something the President asked me to give you! Please accept it!"

"Thank you very much!" Niel quickly took the invitation and thanked the Dragoon.

"If there’s nothing else, I will leave! I wish you and your wife a perfect holiday!"

With that, the Dragoon responsible for delivering the invitation turned and left.

Watching the Dragoon leave, Niel finally opened the invitation.

The content of the invitation was that the President hoped he could come to the Bois de Boulogne tomorrow. By then, a carriage would be sent to personally pick up Major General Nibier, and the invitation also mentioned a "small gift" for the army from the President.

"What’s the matter?" his wife asked curiously as she came to Major General Niel’s side.

"It’s... nothing!" Major General Niel put away the invitation, smiled at his wife, and said.

"Then let’s go!" Refraining from interfering in her husband’s work, his wife took Niel’s arm and said.

Niel and his wife spent an unforgettable Sunday.

At 9:30 the next morning, a carriage stopped outside Niel’s apartment.

"The carriage is here!" Niel’s wife, looking through the living room window, called out to Niel in the bedroom.

"I know!" came the voice of Major General Niel from the bedroom.

About half a minute later, dressed in a sky-blue military uniform, Major General Niel appeared in the living room. He tenderly kissed his wife and said, "I’m off now!"

His wife lovingly looked at Major General Niel and nodded.

Exiting the apartment, Major General Niel got into the carriage Jerome Bonaparte prepared for him.

The carriage set off southwest with Niel, continuing after passing the Arc de Triomphe, and after about half an hour, it reached the outskirts of the Bois de Boulogne, where it stopped.

Just as Major General Niel was about to ask why the carriage stopped, the coachman’s voice came from outside the carriage: "Major General Niel, we have arrived!"

Niel quickly opened the carriage door to look ahead, seeing only a small wooden cabin and several carriages; around the cabin was a group of soldiers guarding it.

"Where is the President?" Major General Niel asked.

The coachman pointed at the wooden cabin not far away and responded to Major General Niel, "The President is staying there!"

Major General Niel hurriedly got off the carriage and walked alone to the cabin on foot. Since Niel had set off late, the distance from his rented apartment to the Bois de Boulogne wasn’t very close, making it ten fifteen when he arrived, departing at nine thirty.

At this time, it was also the hottest part of the day, and the nearly noon sun shone down on the earth. Even though he was in a place where the occasional cool breeze blew through the leaves from the depths of the Bois de Boulogne, it was particularly scorching.

Fortunately, Major General Niel didn’t endure the sun’s attack for long, and he soon reached the cabin.

After saluting the soldiers guarding the cabin, Niel gently pushed open the cabin door. He saw many colleagues from the Ministry of War, including Minister Renio, Secretary of State Mr. Saint Arno, Major General Rendel (promoted to Major General last time), and some other colleagues from various departments.

"Niel, you’re here!" Secretary of State Mr. Saint Arno, upon seeing Niel, quickly stepped forward to greet him.

"Mr. Saint Arno!" Niel respectfully said to Mr. Saint Arno, then turned his gaze to Minister Renio, "Minister!"

"Hmm!" Minister Renio nodded to Niel, extending his hand to invite Niel, "Please, sit!"

Niel quickly sat down, waiting for Jerome Bonaparte to arrive.

Major General Niel and others did not have to wait long before Jerome Bonaparte appeared.

Meanwhile, a person unfamiliar to all the Ministry of War’s senior officers followed behind Jerome Bonaparte.

[Although Migne was nominally stationed at the Ministry of War, he had not gone there during this period. His major rank was also submitted with the help of Jerome Bonaparte and approved by General Renio.]

"I hope I am not too late!" Jerome Bonaparte smiled apologetically, and unceremoniously sat in the main seat, taking a commanding posture as he pointed at Major Migne and said, "The protagonist today is not me, but him..."

Almost at the same time, all brigadier generals and generals focused their gaze on Migne, who, usually calm, couldn’t help but swallow and silently lamented Jerome Bonaparte’s handling of the situation.

With all the officers’ eyes gathered on him, it was difficult not to speak, so Major Migne had no choice but to introduce himself bravely to those present: "Hello, officers! I am Migne from the Logistics Department of the Ministry of War, holding the rank of major..."

"Logistics Department?" Niel looked Migne up and down; he seemed to have no recollection of this person.

"Don’t keep staring at Major Migne, Niel. He hasn’t truly reported to the Ministry of War yet!" Jerome Bonaparte told Niel.

"I was too abrupt!" Niel showed an apologetic smile.

"Major Migne, please continue!" Jerome Bonaparte encouraged Migne to go on.

Encouraged by Jerome Bonaparte, Major Migne explained the principles of the Minie Bullet and presented the data of the Minie Bullet one by one.

At the same time, under Jerome Bonaparte’s orders, printed materials were placed in front of every officer, including various pieces of data.

After listening to Major Migne’s explanation, the Ministry of War generals eagerly leafed through the information about the Minie Gun in their hands.

The generals displayed excited expressions as they combined the explanation with the data.

If the Minie Gun’s data were accurate, it would signify a revolutionary advancement in firearms.

Not to mention Niel, in charge of military logistics and procurement, even Minister of War Renio, was solemn as he asked, "Major Migne, can you guarantee the authenticity and accuracy of your data?"

"I can guarantee it!" Major Migne replied with unwavering determination.

The Minie Gun, after numerous tests, could fully achieve the data level.

"In that case..." Renio turned his gaze to Niel, who was responsible for logistics procurement.

For General Renio, as long as the Minie Gun’s data could reach 80% of the level, they could completely abandon the current MTE1842 smoothbore muskets.

Understanding Renio’s intentions, Niel quickly said, "If that’s the case, we are willing to procure it!"

"No need to rush! Major General, why not try it firsthand? The Bois de Boulogne is not short of game!" To thoroughly dispel any doubts from the military, Jerome Bonaparte proposed a trial run.

"Mr. President, have you already made finished products?" Niel excitedly asked Jerome Bonaparte.

As a member of the military, he undoubtedly hoped his troops could be equipped with better firearms.

"That’s right!" Jerome Bonaparte clapped his hands, and Valerovsky and Mokar entered, carrying twelve prototype Minie Guns on their backs.

After distributing each rifle, Jerome Bonaparte and the Ministry of War members headed to the Bois de Boulogne.

In the intertwined shadows of the forest, a gray hare appeared in everyone’s view.

Jerome Bonaparte quickly pulled a paper-wrapped Minie Bullet from a backpack containing Minie Balls, forcefully breaking it to separate the gunpowder from the cylindrical bullet head, poured the powder into the muzzle, placed the cylindrical Minie Bullet in, and finally used a ramrod to align the Minie Bullet with the gunpowder inside, affix the mercury fulminate, and pull the trigger.

The entire action was faster than a regular smoothbore musket, considering that Jerome Bonaparte was not a regular user, a skilled soldier could save even more time.

At this moment, the gray hare also stared at Jerome Bonaparte. In the hare’s ruby-like eyes, a group of humans was fiddling with similar iron sticks, among them, someone was aiming an iron stick at it.

The hare did not know what the iron stick was, but centuries of instinct told it that once hit by the iron stick, only death awaited it, and its instincts drove it to run frantically away from the gun’s muzzle.

But it was all too late; with a "bang", the Minie Gun spouted white smoke from its barrel, and the gunpowder propelled the Minie Bullet out of the muzzle.

The supersonic Minie Bullet struck the hare with astoundingly swift velocity, and the hare let out a scream, collapsing to the ground, blood flowing from the hare’s head and staining the ground.

"Ah! It hit!" Niel couldn’t help but exclaim.

Renio mirrored the surprised expression, he also hadn’t expected the rifle in the President’s hand to remain accurate at such a long distance.

If equipped within the army, soldiers could engage in long-distance shooting.

In this way, their casualties could be further reduced.

"Why don’t you all try it yourselves!" Satisfied with his performance, Jerome Bonaparte encouraged them to conduct live-fire tests as well, only by letting them truly experience the power of the Minie Gun would they be convinced.