Chapter 207: Chaos

Imagine in an age where naval communications relied entirely on fast sailing ships, the kind of confusion that could arise from such last-minute changes was predictable: orders often failed to arrive on time, and even the best naval commanders felt disoriented.

For example, Admiral Misset received only the third set of orders, on March 28th, as he was sailing from Martinique to Rochefort, France, following the initial command. Two days later, Napoleon's fifth set of orders, instructing him to remain in Martinique and wait for further orders, arrived at the deserted harbor. On the same day, Villeneuve departed for the West Indies.

On May 16th, Villeneuve's fleet arrived back in Martinique. Villeneuve continued to display extreme reluctance, even refusing to comply with the Navy Minister's order to land Lauriston and his over 10,000 troops. By May 30th, Villeneuve's stubborn warships still lay at anchor in the calm tropical waters outside the harbor. It was at this moment that a fast sailing ship arrived from France, carrying Napoleon's seventh invasion plan order dated April 13th. Then, on June 4th, Rear Admiral Magon's two additional ships arrived in Martinique to join Villeneuve's Franco-Spanish fleet.

However, unbeknownst to Villeneuve, on that very day, Nelson's Mediterranean fleet arrived at Carlisle Bay, Barbados. It was not until a week later, on June 11th, that Villeneuve received this news, by which time he had already set sail towards the empty expanses of the Atlantic and El Ferrol.

Villeneuve evaded Nelson's pursuit and managed to return to Ferrol by August 1st, while on July 26th, Napoleon issued the eighth operational order, a modification of the seventh, personally instructing Villeneuve: "Sail to Cadiz."

Concentrating the Spanish ships in Cadiz and Ferrol, then setting sail for Brest Harbor from there.

Facing this new operational plan, Napoleon shouted triumphantly, "If you can control the Strait for 3 days, with God's help, I will cut off England's survival. With your actions alone, we will be the new masters of Britain. No one in the world will be our opponent."

On August 1st, Villeneuve received Napoleon's eighth modified order. At least the plan to sail north to Brest had not changed. During his prolonged stay in Martinique, Villeneuve had failed to replenish his fleet with fresh water and supplies, a task he had to undertake only upon receiving Napoleon's orders. Now he had concentrated 27 warships, thousands of sailors, and some senior officers were busy preparing for the journey, Villeneuve shut himself in his neat cabin on his flagship with 60 cannons on two decks to write a letter to the Minister of the Navy.

From August 10th to 11th, a massive fleet consisting of 27 warships began its journey back to Brest. It was only then that Napoleon received a confidential report detailing the July 22nd naval battle and Vernou's conduct in Martinique.

"Why did Vernou fail to mention any of these matters in his report?" Napoleon roared in anger, feeling deceived.

"And how dare he shift the blame onto the Spaniards? They fought bravely in that naval battle!" It wasn't until Napoleon arrived in Brest from Paris that he learned not only of the setback at the Battle of Finisterre but also of Vernou's refusal to comply with the order to land 12,000 troops in Martinique under Lauriston's command.

What further humiliated Napoleon was his own ignorance of these events, to the extent that he had even ordered a salute from his honor guard to welcome his navy.

Napoleon accused Vernou of sabotaging his Martinique Island plan and leading a massive fleet to flee from the naval battle, all due to the untrustworthiness of Vernou.

Napoleon labeled Vernou as "chicken-hearted," revealing the depth of his anger. Napoleon's brother-in-law, Murat, complained, "This is our navy, which could have dealt a deadly blow to the British, but instead achieved nothing."

The combined Franco-Spanish fleet under Vernou's command never appeared in Brest. If it had followed Napoleon's plan, even arriving a month later, with 47 warships escorting the invasion fleet, it would have made it difficult for the British to resist. Napoleon could only lament, "The English have only 24 warships. What an opportunity! If only I had a true genius under my command, I could defeat England in one stroke and become its new master."

With the failure of the navy, Napoleon wore a constant scowl. This made the French high officials at Versailles tremble with fear, afraid of incurring Napoleon's wrath accidentally.

However, from the perspective of Raolasnd, Napoleon had brought this upon himself. As the supreme ruler of the French Empire, he failed to recognize and utilize talent, constantly changed battle plans, and made the soldiers weary with constant marching. Moreover, he underestimated the enemy. In this battle, Napoleon seemed to have made every possible mistake. Winning under such circumstances seemed almost impossible.

With Napoleon's repeated setbacks in the invasion of England plan, the French began to doubt whether they could win this battle at all.

By the summer of 1805, the French navy had lost its capability to confront the British. In the continuous fighting, the French navy lost 19 warships, including four of the newest Dunkerque-class battleships, further weakening an already not-so-powerful navy.

Instead, the victory of the navy brought infinite confidence to the British, to the extent that even the British newspaper "The Times" published a mocking poem about the French and Napoleon, titled "Napoleon's Soliloquy in Brest":

To invade or not to invade,

That is the question to consider,

Endure silently the arrows from the British Isles,

Or lead my troops across the channel,

To end this endless suffering.

Attack, crush them, invade, fight,

Fight, and I'm done, France's glory,

The people's wishes all fulfilled!

I hear Napoleon was furious when he saw it, tearing the newspaper to shreds on the spot.

However, with the situation having developed to this point, even if Napoleon is angry, it's of no avail.

At this moment, due to the failure of the naval battle plan, Napoleon's new imperial government is in a predicament: not only does he face the possibility of retaliatory landings by the British in the Channel, but also the earlier naval operations have exacerbated the already strained finances of France.

The Finance Minister at the time, Adrian, has warned Napoleon more than once, finding him to issue his warnings.

Until this moment, Napoleon realized that his actions had been somewhat reckless, and he found himself in a dilemma.

With no other option, Napoleon chose to target the bankers. He borrowed money from those wealthy bankers, but repaying the loans proved difficult.

The bankers had no choice but to plead with Napoleon to repay their funds. At this time, Foucher, who was then the chief of police, ordered the police to attack the bankers to demonstrate loyalty and flatter Napoleon, fabricating false charges against them and imprisoning them.

Foucher's foolish act immediately caused the entire French business community to fear, and many well-known large bankers such as Collo, Vabderberg, Despres, or Ulaf were taken away.

Not only were they forced to "repay" tens of millions of francs, but they also faced long-term incarceration.

In this chaotic situation, only the Rothschild family in Paris was spared. This was all due to their being allies of Raolasnd, and Otto once again witnessed the power of Raolasnd.

Napoleon had previously warned Otto to make a gesture of goodwill to win his favor, and the subsequent events proved Raolasnd's approach was indeed effective. Otto's proactive actions, combined with Raolasnd's intercession, made the Rothschild family the only survivors of this great upheaval.

Otto felt fortunate that he had chosen Raolasnd as an ally from the beginning. Otherwise, their fate would not have been much better than that of Collo, Vabderberg, Despres, or Ulaf.