185 Napoleon (2/2)
”Indeed.” The headmaster slowly nodded. ”However, there is always a trace of such things left behind.” He looked up at Napoleon, a serious look in his eyes. ”Fortunately for you, I belong to the camp that's against those nobles. I arranged for the tracks to be covered, and the military academy should be able to protect you even if anything is later exposed.” He stared silently at Napoleon for several seconds. ”Don't waste this opportunity, and don't make the same mistakes again. A man that learns from his mistakes is a great man, and a man that doesn't isn't even a man. Everything about a battle should be known before it is fought, and the outcome is determined before blows are ever exchanged.”
Ed's eyes widened in shock. Sweat covered his palm as he awkwardly opened the door and fled the office. 'So, I had been exposed after all...' Cold sweat covered his back as he realized how lucky he had gotten. If he had been caught, then forgetting about himself, even his entire family may have been beheaded. Fortunately, the old headmaster had saved him and had even been kind enough to give him advice for his future.
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Years quickly passed as Napoleon studied as his new military academy. During his time there, he was an outspoken nationalist in support of his homeland of Corsica. He wished for Corsica's independence from France. However, he continued to be bullied for his short stature, birthplace, and accent. Fortunately, there were more commoners at the military academy, and Napoleon managed to restrain his urges for further revenge. He had failed once already, and he couldn't risk exposing himself as the perpetrator behind the fall of his previous academy.
Over time, Napoleon grew quieter, and he continued to read more and more. Math, geography, and war strategy and tactics. His interest in reading never ceased, and he truly believed he would become a writer someday.
As time continued to pass, so did life. Unfortunately, Napoleon's father soon died. Without the support of his father, his income quickly plummeted. At the age of fifteen, Napoleon graduated from a military academy in Paris and enrolled into the military as a second lieutenant in an artillery regiment.
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In the years to come, Napoleon served in the French military. Eventually, he took a leave of several years to fight for his homeland's independence. Unfortunately, things did not go as he had wished, and he was eventually forced to return to the French mainland. There, he continued to serve in the artillery regiment.
Napoleon's chance finally came during the Siege of Toulon. There, he successfully led a plan to capture a hill that allowed their artillery forces to dominate the harbor and force the British to evacuate. His reward for such a feat at the young age of 24 was the promotion to brigadier general. This soon placed him in charge of artillery for the entire French army within Italy.
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Napoleon's rise of fame only hastened when the time for the Italian Campaign of 1797 came. His mobile artillery forces dominated the battlefield. Whenever engaging the enemy, he purposefully directed the majority of his armed forces behind enemy lines. This effectively cut off his enemies supply routes and communications. Additionally, it forced the enemy to fight Napoleon on his own terms or forced them to retreat into hostile territory. Either scenario always resulted in a win for Napoleon's forces.
Napoleon soon became a war hero due to the Italian campaign. He captured over 150,000 prisoners over the course of the war, and he won every battle while making it seem effortless. The wealth seized during the war only increased his influence further, allowing him to create his own newspapers. With news directed by himself, he only became more popular to the French people.
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Soon, Napoleon was sent to Egypt to improve France's hold on the Mediterranean Sea. There, he defeated the Mamluks, and despite their forces being equal in number, Napoleon only lost twenty-nine men during the battle. His army's' morale greatly boosted, the campaign continued into the Ottoman Empire's coastal cities. Unfortunately, there were repeated uprisings in the lands he conquered, and his forces quickly dwindled. Even worse, his men grew sick, and some had even contracted the bubonic plague.
Eventually, Napoleon abandoned many of the sick and wounded, even going so far as to poison some of the weaker men as an excuse to leave them behind. With their retreat sped up, they managed to flee to Egypt. There, he chose to return to France despite not having orders to do so.
Upon returning to France, the French Directory wanted to punish Napoleon for desertion. Shockingly, it was not because he had returned but because he had not returned soon enough. Poor communication lines had resulted in him failing to get his orders, and the French had not done well during the War of the Second Coalition against Britain, Austria, Russia, the Ottoman Empire, Portugal, Naples, and other nations. Fortunately, things had finally improved for France, but the French Directory was now bankrupt and unpopular with the people.
'Now is my chance!' Ed thought as greed flashed in his eyes. Together with his brother, who was speaker of the council, he worked to direct a coup d'état. The French Directory was soon overthrown, and Napoleon was elected as the first consul for a period of 10 years. However, after just a few years in office, he rewrote a new constitution, and thanks to his war hero status, it passed the house by a large margin. The new constitution gave him near unlimited power, essentially making him the new dictator of France. He happily declared himself the First Emperor of France.
During his rule, Napoleon quickly went about reforms in the country. As someone that grew up in lower nobility, he understood commoners far better than his peers. He quickly passed laws instituting equality before the law, property rights, religious toleration, reformed education, and more. His reforms were popular with the people, thus further solidifying his rule as emperor.
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Time continued to pass, and the surrounding empires grew unhappy with Napoleon. A low-born becoming emperor of a nation was an insult to their dynasties, and the reforms he passed were bound to spread to their own kingdoms. Should their own citizens get the wrong idea, then it would be their heads on the chopping blocks next.
One day, Napoleon sat in his office working on some documents. Suddenly, there was a pounding on the door. ”Come in.” He answered.
”Sir.” An advisor entered and gave a nobleman's bow. ”I have dire news to report.”
”Hmm?” He looked up from his documents curiously.
The advisor gulped nervously. ”Your majesty, the British have broken the peace treaty... They've declared war on France.”
”What?!” Ed hurriedly stood up and slammed his fist against the table. By his current age, he had actually grown beyond the average height of men, making for an intimidating presence. However, much to his dismay, the British had been spreading rumors that he was short in height ever since he rose to power. Still, he was willing to let it go if it meant peace for his new empire.
”...” The advisor trembled as he took a few steps back.
”Damn it!” Ed ground his teeth. ”Prepare an invasion force immediately! It's only a matter of time before Russia and Austria join forces with the British. Other nations are likely to join as well.”
”Your majesty!” The advisor hurriedly nodded as he turned to leave and pass on the orders.
Now alone, Napoleon stared quietly at the documents on his desk. ”Damn British!” He threw his documents to the ground. ”If they want war, then I'll give them war!”
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Napoleon quickly sought a decisive strike against his enemies, not bothering to wait for them to attack first. Thus began the War of the Third Coalition. Napoleon quickly triumphed over the Russian and Austrian Empires, causing the dissolution of the 1,000-year-old Holy Roman Empire. Ironically, this destroyed empire would later be replaced by Germany and its surrounding nations, which in turn would lead to the world wars. Of course, Napoleon would never know of such things.
Unfortunately, the War of the Third Coalition was not the end. A Fourth Coalition and Fifth Coalition followed, and France won each of them with ease. France dominated Europe, and there were little his enemies could do about it. His reforms spread to other nations, increasing his popularity with the commoners even further. When a newspaper interviewed him about his military career, he declared that he learned nothing from his battles, and he fought his very first battle just like the last. He knew everything he needed to know before a battle ever started, thus determining his victories before a blade was ever even drawn.
Things seemed to have finally settled down after the Fifth Coalition. Napoleon had solidified his rule and established his dynasty. It seemed the French Empire simply could not be stopped. However, the Russian Empire soon refused to follow Napoleon's laws and economic reforms. Angered, he established a force of 400,000 men in preparation to invade the Russian Empire once again, and hopefully it would be the final time. He had defeated Russia many times before, and he felt this time would be no different.
Napoleons troops marched through the vast distance of Europe, and he hurriedly rushed to invade the Russian Empire. He believed speed was of the essence when it came to war. However, he was shocked when he arrived to find that the Russian cities had already been burned down, and there was not a single Russian soldier in sight!
”What is this?!” He angrily shouted at his commanding officer.
”Sir!” The officer saluted. ”My men spoke with the citizens. The Russian's burned down the cities themselves and retreated further towards Moscow!”
”Are they mad?!” He yelled in shock. He quickly led the troops deeper into Russian territory, and he soon encountered Russian forces. However, the Russians did not fight back. Instead, they continued to retreat further east while burning everything in their path.
Napoleon's frustration grew greater as he continued east. ”I'll take them at Moscow!” He angrily ground his teeth. ”Not even they would burn down their capital!”
Soon, the Napoleon army reached Moscow, and the Russians finally fought a proper battle. Unsurprisingly, Napoleon won the battle, just as he was famed for always doing so. He quickly occupied the city as Russian forces retreated even further into the wastelands of the east.
At this point, he expected Moscow and the Russian Empire to surrender. But shockingly, the Moscow Governor burned the city down! Napoleon occupied the ruined city for five weeks, expecting the Russian Emperor to eventually negotiate with him. But soon, news arrived that there was a coup in France, and Napoleon had no choice but to retreat from the war early to return home and settle the coup.
While retreating from the freezing Russian lands, winter suddenly arrived three weeks early. The French army was low on supplies, as everything on the way to Moscow had been burned down. With no food, lack of other supplies, and an early winter, things quickly grew dire for Napoleon and his men.
The Russian Winter proved to be too much for his men, and battles with the Russians on the way out only increased their problems. By the time Napoleon returned to France, his 400,000 strong army had shrunk to only 40,000 in size.
With Napoleon's army demolished, the surrounding nations would definitely not let the opportunity escape them. The Sixth Coalition began with Russia, Prussia, Austria, Sweden, Great Britain, Spain, and Portugal declaring war on France. Napoleon quickly took command and won a series of battles, but he simply didn't have enough troops to hold them off. However, he did not give up and believed that he was fully capable of turning the war around.
Shockingly, the senate soon betrayed Napoleon, as they negotiated a secret peace treaty with their enemies. They disposed of Napoleon as emperor, and his generals soon followed in a mutiny. Forced to abdicate the throne, he was exiled to the island of Elba. Later in life, he would attempt to retake power in France, but a seventh coalition quickly put a stop to it. His rule as emperor was over, and he was forced to live out the rest of his life as an ordinary citizen in exile.
Later on, Napoleon's legacy would lead to the fall of Feudalism and the rise of Germany. He had forever changed the face of Europe and would be remembered for years to come.
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Ed woke again within the void. It took him several minutes to recover from the shock at having lived such an amazing life. 'So, I failed to invade Russia...' He recalled his other previous life as a German doctor. 'In my life after Napoleon, I predicted Germany's failure to conquer Russia and Britain... And in my current life, I've adopted hobbies of experiments and warfare... Are they all related? Do past lives influence future lives? I can't be somebody of historical significance in every life... right?'