To speak of the previous story, the teacup I gave to Augustine was a teacup set that I bought for a hefty 50,000 won on a home shopping channel.
And within three days of Augustine receiving the teacup, Napoleon was appointed as the artillery commander of Toulon.
“Was the teacup really that good?”
It was an unexpectedly powerful influence considering the price.
I had thought it would take at least a week to change the commander, since it’s a position of high importance.
But there were reasons for this.
“The previous commander was someone who didn’t know much about artillery.”
“How did someone like that become the artillery commander?”
“His father was a member of the National Assembly.”
“Oh, I see.”
I immediately understood.
Given the nature of the revolutionary army, where positions were often handed out based on connections, it wouldn’t be strange for the son to hold an important post if his father was a member of the assembly.
Still, I wondered if it was right to appoint someone with no experience in artillery as the commander.
“This is worse than I thought.”
I had heard that the early French Revolutionary army was chaotic, but seeing it firsthand, it was much more serious than I expected.
A member of the assembly wielding power over appointments with just a teacup and a commander who had never handled artillery…
It was a mystery how these kinds of people managed to succeed in the revolution.
Thanks to this, it was easy for Napoleon to be appointed as the artillery commander.
However, despite the appointment, Napoleon didn’t seem pleased.
“You seem to have a problem.”
“You figured it out right away.”
“It’s written all over your face.”
That was a lie.
I only knew that Napoleon would face issues shortly after his appointment to Toulon from historical records.
“The commander is… too ignorant.”
‘As expected.’
Calling the commander ignorant might seem harsh, but for Napoleon, it was the most polite way to put it.
The commander of the siege of Toulon, like the rest of the revolutionary army, didn’t know anything about the military.
Jean-François Carteaux.
Known as General Carteaux.
His profession was ‘painter.’
The revolutionary army had entrusted military power to a painter who didn’t even know the basics of tactics.
It wasn’t surprising that Napoleon was getting dizzy.
This man didn’t even know the range of cannons, so he couldn’t even hit a stationary hill.
“But Napoleon is no pushover either.”
Napoleon, whose operation failed due to Carteaux’s trolling, completely ignored the command structure and reported Carteaux to the revolutionary leadership.
It was like a mere major directly calling the president’s office to complain about a general.
The result was the imprisonment of General Carteaux.
The problem, however, was that his replacement was a physician.
These were the kinds of people Napoleon was dealing with.
Yet, Napoleon still managed to succeed in the siege of Toulon, making him a true hero.
However, Napoleon, who had only recently been appointed, didn’t know yet just how dreadful a person Carteaux was.
If he had known, he wouldn’t have been complaining to me, but writing a letter to the leadership.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to come for a while.”
“Are you going to see the operation?”
“I heard they’re conducting a recapture operation.”
I had regular meetings with Napoleon at a variety store.
But once the siege of Toulon began, the frequency of our meetings inevitably decreased.
By the way,
“Do you know the name of the fortress they’re trying to recapture?”
“I heard it’s called Malgraves.”
“Mm.”
Hearing the name “Malgraves,” I let out a small hum.
“Has it already been established?”
Malgraves.
Also known as the ‘Little Gibraltar.’
This fortress, the core of the Toulon siege, was ‘impossible’ to recapture.
It was so well-fortified that even the military genius Napoleon had to lure the enemy out of the fortress.
But there was a more serious problem.
“I heard General Carteaux will be in charge.”
“……”
Even while speaking, Napoleon didn’t fully grasp how serious this situation was.
Having just been appointed, he hadn’t yet figured out the state of affairs.
He couldn’t have known that a commander would exist who didn’t even know the range of cannons.
“Of course, things seem to be falling apart now.”
The situation was getting worse, and my head was spinning.
If I sent Napoleon out like this, there was a high chance of a disastrous outcome, like ‘death on debut.’
“Napoleon.”
After some consideration, I gave him a piece of advice.
“Never leave the artillery position.”
“What do you mean?”
“An artillery officer shouldn’t leave the position and should command from there.”
“That’s obvious.”
Napoleon lightly smiled.
“The main force is commanded by General Carteaux, so I won’t have to leave the artillery position.”
He didn’t know that General Carteaux was more ignorant than he had imagined.
The recapture operation of the Malgraves fortress was conducted under the command of General Carteaux.
Napoleon’s mission was to climb a hill and bombard the Malgraves fortress.
Once the fortress was bombarded and collapsed, the main force, which had been waiting, would charge forward. This was the simple strategy.
It was a simple strategy, so failure seemed unlikely.
Napoleon thought so, until he saw the position of the hill where General Carteaux had ordered the troops to wait.
“This is where you are to wait.”
“Here?”
“Yes, establish the artillery position, and when you receive orders, bombard the fortress.”
“…At this distance?”
For a moment, Napoleon was speechless.
The Malgraves fortress appeared like a tiny dot in the distance.
At best, it was 6 km away.
On the other hand, the maximum range of Napoleon’s 24-pound cannons was 2 km.
The Malgraves fortress was located three times farther than the cannon’s range.
In utter disbelief, Napoleon asked, hoping for an explanation.
“Do the artillery in the Toulon army have a different range?”
“They use the same 24-pound cannons.”
Napoleon thought it seemed that way.
Of course.
The most advanced artillery in the army at the time was the 24-pound cannon.
‘The position of the hill must have been miscommunicated.’
Napoleon had no choice but to conclude that there had been a mistake in the transmission.
There was no way General Carteaux could have mistaken the range of the cannon by three times.
At that moment, when Napoleon confirmed the position of the main force, his expression stiffened.
“It’s too close.”
The main force, which was supposed to be waiting, was already approaching the fortress.
But something was strange.
At this distance, the fortress should have noticed, but there was no reaction from the enemy.
It was eerily quiet.
Feeling suspicious, Napoleon decided to move towards the main force himself.
At that moment, a voice flashed through his mind.
─Never leave the artillery position.
It was the voice of Choi Seo-jun, the owner of the variety store.
What had seemed like a joke now held him back.
It was an absurd idea, but Napoleon couldn’t ignore Choi Seo-jun’s words.
There was an inexplicable certainty in Choi Seo-jun’s voice that made Napoleon believe him.
That certainty turned into reality once again.
─Attack! Attack!
Waaah!
The royalist alliance, lying in ambush near the fortress, struck the main force of General Carteaux.
The main force, unable to respond to the ambush, collapsed in an instant.
What followed was a one-sided massacre.
‘If I had been there………?’
A chill ran down Napoleon’s spine.
It’s the general!
Protect General Carteaux!
Napoleon saw General Carteaux fleeing towards the hill, having lost his main force.
“How did you know?”
Napoleon’s first words when he visited the variety store after five days.
“What are you talking about?”
“You knew the main force would be ambushed, didn’t you?”
“Did I?”
“You didn’t know?”
“Yes, how could I know that?”
I heard for the first time from Napoleon that the main force had been ambushed by the royalists.
‘Since they’re safe, I guess the artillery position was secure after all.’
What I knew was simply that General Carteaux had completely misunderstood the range of the cannons.
Jean-François Carteaux.
He was an incompetent general who had mistakenly believed the range of the cannons was three times greater than it actually was.
The reason I had advised Napoleon not to leave the artillery position was because of this.
No matter what strategy General Carteaux commanded, as long as the artillery position was under his command, it would always remain in a safe area.
“General Carteaux was dismissed for his failure.”
“You will rest until the new general arrives.”
“The next successor has been decided to be General Doppet.”
Napoleon’s expression seemed complicated as he spoke.
“You don’t seem to like him.”
“General Doppet is an internist.”
General Doppet, who would succeed Carteaux, was, as Napoleon said, a physician.
And he was a coward.
Having heard the rumors of how Napoleon had dismissed even a superior officer (General Carteaux was dismissed by Napoleon’s letter), Doppet was a guinea pig who simply followed Napoleon’s orders.
But Doppet had no war experience, so when he witnessed soldiers getting torn apart by enemy artillery, he became frightened and resigned from his position as a general.
After the general was replaced twice, Napoleon was finally able to engage in a proper battle.
“Don’t worry. It will surely work out.”
“Talking to you always makes it feel like you know the future.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
Napoleon found Choi Seo-jun fascinating.
What he said always felt like it would come true.
Choi Seo-jun seemed to have an uncanny certainty, and he was never flustered.
It felt like he might have been one of the wise men who predicted the birth of Jesus in ancient times.
That’s why Napoleon visited the variety store regularly.
Whenever he spoke to Choi Seo-jun, he found himself regaining his composure.
“Then I’ll come again.”
“Feel free to come anytime.”
Napoleon continued to visit the variety store regularly after that.
Each time, his title had changed.
Captain, Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel…
Napoleon’s promotion seemed almost unbelievable as he advanced in rank so quickly.
After two months, Napoleon’s rank had become ‘Colonel.’
‘It’s almost time.’
I had a strong feeling that today would be the last day Napoleon visited the variety store.
He always visited before a battle, as if praying to God before going into the battlefield.
And after Napoleon became a Colonel, his first operation was the final battle at Toulon harbor.
In this battle, he would retake Toulon harbor and rise as the hero of the revolution.
“Two days from now, we will attempt to attack the harbor.”
The end of the modern age was drawing near.