French Empire: But Napoleon IV

Chapter 54: Plagiarism of the Son's 3, the Meuse River Defense Line Completed

The French emperor's face was paler than paper. He was wrapped in a heavy military overcoat, and his body, covered in cold sweat, trembled uncontrollably, making each step extremely difficult.

After several days of escaping, the emperor finally recovered and was willing to come out and boost morale.

Nasan stood on a dirt slope, looking down at the soldiers. Having nothing material to offer, Nasan resorted to making empty promises.

"My soldiers, I know you are afraid and desperate right now. So am I. Bazan's army is surrounded, and we are in dire straits. But we have no way out."

Behind us lies Paris, our families, and France. If we fall here, the Prussian army will sweep through, occupy Paris, and ravage our wives and children. We cannot let that happen!

Having kept a close eye on developments in Paris and collected his son's speeches, Nathan, a seasoned political fighter himself, has already evolved into a political force.

The French emperor paused, his body trembled violently a few times, and then coughed violently a few more times before continuing to speak to the crowd.

"From now on, I will build fortifications with you. I will not leave here; I will fight with you to the last moment. Either we drive the Prussiens porcs back to their homeland, or we will die together on the banks of the Meuse."

In contemporary France, the French public, fueled by growing anger towards Prussia, uses the term "Prussian pig" as a core derogatory term for Prussians. This insulting name also appears repeatedly in the parlance of French citizens in Maupassant's "Boule de Suif."

At the highest levels, those important figures who value elegant language prefer to use the term "barbarian."

To awaken the soldiers' sense of identity, Nathan also used the term "Prussian pig" instead of "barbarian."

After saying this, Nathan refused the help of the guards and McMahon, and with trembling hands took an entrenching tool from a soldier. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, he walked step by step into the trench and struggled to shovel a shovelful of dirt.

After digging only a few strokes, he started coughing violently. McMahon, who was also in poor health, rushed forward to try and take the shovel from His Majesty the Emperor's hand.

When McMahon tried to stop him, Napoleon III simply waved his hand, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and continued digging.

The soldiers who witnessed this scene were stunned. They watched the thin figure struggling to swing the entrenching tool in the trench, each swing appearing so difficult.

They could hear His Majesty the Emperor coughing from time to time, but in their eyes, the French Emperor never stopped what he was doing.

The method that Nasan had learned from his own son proved to be just as effective. Like the people of Paris, the French soldiers, who had never encountered such tactics before, were deeply impressed.

Someone shouted first, "Long live France!"

Immediately, more and more soldiers joined in shouting, "Long live France! Long live the Emperor!"

The father plagiarized his son, who used assassination wounds to gain sympathy, while Nasan used his own worse physical condition than the soldiers to gain sympathy.

The result was remarkable. The previously low morale miraculously soared at that moment.

The soldiers picked up the tools from the ground and threw themselves back into building the fortifications, their movements even faster and more powerful than before.

No one complained anymore, and no one slacked off anymore.

The lightly wounded soldiers refused to go to the front line and insisted on working with their bandages on. Some of the seriously wounded soldiers sat by the trenches and helped carry soil and stones.

Among those working hard was DuPont, a French private who was also inspired. He forgot the pain in his hands, the hunger and thirst, and just kept swinging his shovel with all his might.

This kind of high-level motivational and shared-sorrow behavior is commonplace in companies with an average college degree and knowledge of how to prevent the spread of empty promises.

Not to mention in this era, the Nash family, as pioneers and imitators, reaped the first wave of huge benefits from this behavior.

For the next four days and four nights, the west bank of the Meuse River was transformed into a massive, non-stop construction site, with soldiers working in shifts and each getting less than seven hours of rest per day.

When they got tired, they would lie down in the trenches for a nap, and when they woke up, they would continue working. They all transformed into nuclear-powered donkeys.

At night, some troops would light bonfires and continue digging by the dim light.

To maintain this motivational effect, the executives who made the promises must also put those promises into practice.

To this end, Napoleon III did indeed keep his promise. Despite his extremely poor health, the emperor spent several hours every day at the construction site with the soldiers.

If my physical condition allows, I'll stay at the command post until late at night for three days straight before returning to rest.

As a price for inspiring the enthusiasm of the French soldiers, unlike Eugène Napoleon who participated in the entire exercise, the more honest Napoleon's condition worsened after working hard for several days, and his cough became more and more frequent.

Sometimes, Nathan would even cough up blood in front of the soldiers, but after a short rest and treatment, he would still appear on the front lines.

Even if he no longer participates in digging the soil with a shovel, as long as Na San stands on the front line, the image of him coughing up blood will automatically appear in the soldiers' minds, and the motivational effect is extraordinary.

Making the most of his physical condition, under the tutelage of Napoleon III, McMahon, whose health was also not good, began to ride his horse to inspect the entire defensive line every day and personally check the quality of each section of the trench.

McMahon's left arm was still bandaged from a bullet wound sustained during the Battle of Wolverine. He was much better now and could occasionally stroll around the front lines without much trouble, but the effect was quite remarkable.

Napoleon I sometimes deployed his troops in front of rivers, where they exchanged gunfire. In those days, the French army, with nowhere to retreat, would certainly have a stronger fighting spirit than the Allied forces, who had room to retreat.

Now, with Paris right behind them, the two commanders personally went down to the grassroots level to confirm that their lives were no better than those of the privates. The combined effect was not much less significant than Napoleon I's campaign with his back to the river.

By the morning of August 22, the main construction of the first line of defense along the Meuse River was completed.

The trenches, stretching for more than 40 kilometers, crisscross the river like a giant net covering the west bank of the Meuse.

The main trench was 2.5 meters deep and 2 meters wide, with breastworks on both sides 1.5 meters high. The top was covered with three layers of logs and half a meter of soil, which was fully capable of withstanding direct bombardment from the main force of the Prussian army's Krupp C/64 6-pound field guns.

This is the result of the combined efforts of the Chalon Legion, which has been gradually replenished to 17 men, and nearly 30 French people mobilized from the surrounding areas, along with some existing historical fortifications on the Meuse River.

At key crossings, high ground, and road intersections, the French deployed a total of 72 Mitrajoz machine guns.

Each position is equipped with at least three gunners and three thousand rounds of ammunition. The remaining machine gun positions are insufficient and still need to rely on volley fire from the Chasebo rifle.

在防线后方的高地上，法军部署了足足10个炮兵团，共计180门12磅前装线膛炮和210门7磅前装线膛炮，外加极少量的30门85mm后装线膛炮。

The firepower of these 420 cannons could cover the entire Meuse River and the open area on its east bank.

However, since most of the French army's guns were bronze muzzle-loading rifled cannons, although they had a higher poundage, they were destined to be inferior to the Prussian army's main artillery, which only had 6-pound and 4-pound guns.