Napoleon in 1812
Chapter 77: Defence master, offense genius - 6

Around the time whenthe Spanishpeople got divided betweenthosewho chose their families’ livelihoods, individual interestsorthosewho favoredtheirloyalty to their homeland andthe royal family, and their antipathy towardFrance.

Similar processeshad begun to occur among the much higher class of theSpanish people.

They set their courseofaction in aslightlydifferent way from the others. The province of Zaragoza wasoccupiedbythe French andundermilitaryrule.

There was a landlord called MigueldeSebastian Lopez who owned thelargest land there.

Lopez, who hadgained ahigh title andextensive landthanks to his ancestors’ feats in the Habsburg Wars^[1]in the past, wasobserving the current situation on theIberian Peninsulawith more sober eyesthan ever before.

For those like him, patriotism andloyalty to thecountry andtothe royal family were of little importance. He just thoughtaboutsurviving thisturbulent timewhilekeeping hisfamily’swealth and honor.

“Thetorrent of fire has stopped…”

Lopezwas lostinthought as he stroked his thick beard. Therewas now a lullinthe war on theIberian Peninsula.

Lopez wasconvinced thatatthe end of this war, whereBritain andFrance werefightingfor supremacy in Western Europe, and in which Spain and Portugal gotinvolved, the fall of the Spanish Empire would take place, whoever won.

Thatwas why Lopez wasable to abandon all hisloyalty to Spain andchoose practical interests.

TheFrench armyhad beenfiercelypushed since the beginningofthe war, and the Alliedforces had been pushingupbytaking advantage of thepowervoid that happened while the Frenchwent to theeast (during the Russian expedition). Nownoone wanted to go outand fight first.

The Battle of theArlanzón River and theBattle of La Buena-San Felix, wherethe corps of Wellesley andNapoleonfacedeach other, were thelast battles in which morethan 10,000 people wereinvolved.

Now, the armiesofboth sides were glaringateach other andfixing their uniforms, andinthe meantime, thesituation in the Iberian Peninsula wasgradually stabilizing. In lines that looked like theyhad beendrawnwith knives, the Frenchand the coalitionforces carriedmore shovels, hammers, andlogs than gunsand cannons.

“Today, aFrench messenger came hereagain. He saidthat he brought aletter fromthe headofthe Standing Organization (LouisEmardChartres), whoproposestothe governor a‘gracious and honorablejoining’. Should I justleavethe letter andsend theman backlike last week?”

Lopez, who hadpreviously servedasgovernorofthe Balearic Islands, continued to be calledgovernoreven after he stepped downfrom hispost.

At the endofhis assistant’s words, Lopez narrowed hiseyebrows. A provisionalorganization under the ridiculous nameofthe IberianStandingOrganization.

Nobles in the position of Lopez could notignore whatNapoleon, the FrenchEmperor, was after withthis organization.

TheFrench Emperorwas veryeagertoattract thelocalnobles fromall overSpain, including him.

Lopez hada rough idea of the reason. Until lastyear, Lopezdid not join either side but kept watching the warprogress.

As an experienced politician, he knew wellthe importanceofchoosingthe goodside duringa chaotic situation.

He was notthe onlyone doing this. There werea lotofaristocratsand landownersinthe territories occupied by the Frenchwho wereobserving the situationbetween Franceand the coalition.

‘The longer thedrought, the higher thepriceofwheat. There is no needtochoose aside now. No matter howbelligerentthe French Emperor is, he can’t claim interest in theSpanish territorybypushing us out.’

The ‘Circle’, composed of Spanish aristocrats and landlords, was more tightlyunited thanexpectedtoprotect their interests.

This was thereason why theFrench armywas toleratingsuch a group of people, who werelike walking on atightrope, even thoughtitcouldwipe them out ruthlessly.

Furthermore, Napoleon, theFrench Emperor, was actinglike it wasall right for local noblestokeep to themselves, includinghim.

Even thoughhewas refusing the meeting in the end, theydid not imposeany military pressure or sanctions. Hewouldprobablycontinuelike this for a while.

Lopezthought that thiswas due to theEmperor’s confidence. The confidence thatthe French could winthe PeninsularWar, thebelief thatthey would be theonly ones who would eventually be abletofight.

“…”

Lopezcontinued to ponder. That meant that he could decide which side to joinafterlooking at thedevelopmentofthe war a little more.

And if he was worried about his ownsafety, he could wait evenmore. Itmeantthat theEmperor wasinterested in Lopez andthe other nobles. Itwouldnot be too late to decide whether to joinhim or not after hisfuture victorybecame clearer.

But…

“I’ll havetomeet him.”

“Y-Yes!?”

“Ugh, why are yousoslow today? I’ll meet the manfrom theIberian Standing Organization.”

“Y-Yes! Allright, Governor.”

If he wanted a bigger profit, he needed to know how to take risks.

‘WithNapoleonhere, the French areunlikelytolose.’

This was thereason why MigueldeSebastian Lopez madethe decision to start moving now.

=

“I’mvery happy to meet the Governor-General, whom I’vebeen waiting for! I’m PaulDuguesseau, anadvisor to theIberian Standing Organization. I used to serve as an administrator of our Emperor’sCorps.”

“Nicetomeet you, I’m MigueldeSebastian Lopez. Andthe title Governor-Generalisnothing more thana facadeduring the day, so justcall me VigilanteLeader.”

Lopez was running asmallvigilante group, rallying serfs andvillagers, andhiring mercenaries separatelytoprevent hisland from being swept awaybythe war.

Thatwas why neither the Alliesnor the Frenchcouldplunder hislands. All thenoblelandowners with large farmland had been protectingtheirland duringthe war in this way.

The coalitionand France were not tryingtoattract themembers of thenoblecircle to their sidefor no reason.

“I’ll ask youstraightforwardly. Whatcan France give me if I join theStandingOrganization and actively cooperatewith Frenchmilitaryoperations?”

“Oh!… You must havefinally made adecision! We’ve always waitedfor the momentwhen VigilanteLeader Lopez madeuphis mind!”

“That’s theonly reasonI’m here. Why else would I be?”

Inthe past, there usedtobea unification of theSpanish peoplewith aristocrats, priests, merchants, bourgeoisie, colonists, andeven black slaves, to pushback theFrench army. But nowthings had changed dramatically.

The entireSpanish population living in theterritoriesoccupiedbyFrance was nowdivided into two extremes, busy criticizing andaccusingeach other.

The resistance forces were being wiped out littlebylittle, anddivisions and conflictsbrokeout throughouteach province andvillage, and factions split apart. These were the typical signs of acivilwar on the brink of bursting.

Basque andCatalonia, which originally had stronganti-Castiliansentiment, openlysupported France by helping to create theIberian Standing Organization. The balance was graduallytilting in favor of France.

Thesituation across theIberian Peninsula, which was beginningtosolidify, was oneofthe mainreasons behindMiguel de Sebastian Lopez’s decision.

Asthe Allies were at adisadvantage in the war, theywent back to their strategy consistingofholding theLinesofTorres Vedras, like they always didbefore.

When they did this in the past, theFrench corps usedtorush towardthem, consuming their troops, whichthen gave apoweradvantage to the coalitionwho could advanceagain.

Butthis time the Frenchdid not do this. They stoppedadvancing and began to observe the situation, drawingthe ‘Santiago-Almería Line’ that was cutting diagonallythe IberianPeninsula. This change occurred after Napoleon Bonapartetook thelead again in thePeninsular War.

Currently, the Alliesand the Frenchwere both building and consolidating fortressesand trenches at the main points of thelong front lines, like they wererepeatedly sayingtoeach other: ‘I have no intentionofmoving, so youcome.’ Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ Nʘvᴇl(F)ire.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

What truly mattered now wasthe extent andlocationofthe territory occupied by thearmies on bothsides. France occupied most of the peninsula, including theprovinceofZaragoza, where Lopez owned alargeland. Lopezpredicted thatthis systemwouldnot easily collapse.

“I am bettingonthe French victory in thiswar. So you’llhave to offer me a fairprice, too.”

There wasa satisfiedsmileonDuguesseau’s face.

“Then we’ll have along conversation. One thing is forsure, you madethe right decision, andour Standing Organization will do its best to listen to your wishes.”

It wasa human instinct to side withthe strongest, asalways. MigueldeSebastian Lopez joined theIberian Standing Organizationwith hisservants, vigilantesand farmersfollowing him.

It was themoment whenplaster began to be applied to the lines drawn by Napoleon, adding solidity.

===

The Frenchforces across thepeninsula, includingNapoleon’s Corps, did not tryfurther expansion. Theysimply supported theadministrationofthe IberianStandingOrganization by defeating theresistance forcesinside the occupied territories andsupporting thepro-French locals.

They looked more likeofficials and guardswho cametorule than soldiers who came for war.

France’s rule throughthe temporary Standing Organizationwas morestable and consistent thanbefore 1812, whenlooting, massacres and tyranny werecommon.

Itwas fromthis time thatthe aristocrats and landlordsofthe circle, who owned alargeland, begantomove towardthe French side little by little.

This was because the stabilization of the occupied area was fasterthan expected, and theysaw the possibility of France’s victory in the Peninsular War. IfFrance was ‘clear’, theAllies were‘blurry’.

Theadvance to Burgos, which was supposed to wipe out themain Frenchforces in the Iberian Peninsula, failed. As theoperation was risky, the aftereffects of thefailure were huge.

Wellesley’s Corps, whichwas the elite unit of the coalitionforces, lost one-fourthofits power and exhaustedits specialstrategic weapons, the Congreve rockets.

Atthis point, itcouldhave ended with areport withexplanations and a few reprimands fromthe countries’ leaders, but the problem was thenumerousstrongholdsand cities on theIberian Peninsulathat hadbeen recaptured.

The front on the peninsularetreated hundreds of miles backand the local strongholds lost to the Frenchwere so numerous that theycouldnot dream of reckoning them hastily.

On theday thatthe Allied flag flying in Madridwas replaced by the tricolor flag of the FrenchEmpire, theWestminsterParliament andleading British newspapersunited to criticize Wellesley’s unreasonableoperation.

DailyCurrent: The trustedMarquis of Wellington alsolost. Should we continue the warlike this? Thepublic opinioninLondon is skeptical… Thekingdom shouldalso be mindful of the waragainst theUnited States in theNew World.

NewsLetter: Thewar of words betweenFirstLord of theAdmiralty Robert Dundasand Chancellorofthe Exchequer Nicholas Vansittart^[2]at Whitehall! Should we go all-in with the Navy? Or empower the Army?

Commander-in-Chief ArthurWellesley received aletter fromPrimeMinisterRobert Jenkinson. Jenkinson wrote in detail thecurrent situationofthe ruling Tory party, pointing outthe failureofWellesley’sCorpsinpolite and courteoushandwriting.

When RowlandHill read the letterwith ArthurWellesley, he felt thatitseemed to be sayingthecitizens’ supportfor our party is being shakenbecause of you. He could nothelp butfeel hisinsides boiling.

[1]Ottoman–Habsburgwars

[2]RobertDundas,NicholasVansittart

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