"Lucien, you're here at last. Pen %Fun %Pavilion www.biquge.info"

Although this call was soft and weak, it could finally be heard with the original reserve and composure, at least it showed that the marshal's mind was still as clear as before.

"Yes, here I am, Your Excellency Marshal." Lucien hurriedly put away his thoughts, and directly stood up straight and gave a military salute.

"Don't be so inhibited." The old man slowly lifted himself from the bed, leaned against the back of the bed, and then beckoned him casually, motioning for him to come to his side, "Please take a seat." ”

"Yes!" Lucien still looked serious, but obeyed the marshal's instructions and went to the bedside and sat down.

As soon as he walked to the bedside, Lucien smelled a very strong smell of medicine, but he did not show any abnormality.

"As you can see, I'm very weak now." As if not wanting to waste his energy on red tape, Marshal Tréville's words were straightforward, "So I don't have much time to deal with the day-to-day work right now, which places higher demands on you senior officers, and I hope that you can face the current pressure head-on and maintain the morale of the army." ”

"That's what I'm trying to, Your Excellency, and I've always wanted to be an example for my subordinates, at least for now." Lucien nodded hurriedly, although he was suspected of boasting, but he was able to make people not have a similar impression, "But...... As you know, after a series of recent failures, our troops have suffered some undeserved losses, and as a result, the morale of our troops has become low, and even some of our officers have become agitated and restless...... If we don't improve it, I'm afraid it will bring serious difficulties to us in the next battle. ”

Although he said it very tactfully, the marshal immediately understood what he meant.

"It's normal, Lucien, our soldiers are good, but they're not iron men, they're living people, they have emotions and pain." The marshal sighed softly, "We were even more desperate than they are now when we trekked to Europe in the snowstorm of Russia, and many of us were exhausted and would rather freeze to death than leave......"

Lucien knew very well that when people get older, they are very accustomed to reminiscing about the past, so although the marshal is a little off topic, he still listens quietly, fortunately, the marshal's mind is still quite clear, so he immediately retracted the topic, "However, this difficulty is only temporary, I have reported the difficulties we are facing now to the country many times, and the country has been trying to solve our difficulties, and now the reinforcements will soon arrive in the Crimea, and when the reinforcements come, we can solve the current difficulties a little." ”

Lucien nodded, but he was not uplifted by this, he had heard similar words a few times, but the "reinforcements" had not come for a long time, and his heart had already cooled.

"When reinforcements arrive, we will attack, and we must end this war as soon as possible and let as many people go back." The marshal continued, while taking his own marshal's staff from the bedside and gently pressing it on the ground. "Get ready to go now, this damn rain will stop."

"Are we really going to attack Sevastopol directly? With all due respect, Your Excellency Marshal, our morale is now a little low, and our supplies and equipment are not satisfactory, and the soldiers have been greatly reduced due to illness...... "Although he knew that the marshal's spirit was not too hard now, because of the importance of the matter, Lucien could not help but ask, "That fortress is heavily fortified, if we attack in such a state, I am afraid ...... I'm afraid it won't be successful. ”

After a pause, he hurriedly explained, "Please don't misunderstand, I'm not afraid to fight the enemy, I just don't want the soldiers to suffer unnecessary casualties, especially if such casualties don't lead to victory, they should be avoided." ”

"No need to explain, Lucien, I know your courage." The marshal shook his head and said that he didn't care, "I have actually observed the situation in Sevastopol, and it is indeed not easy to take down, so I have no intention of telling you to attack the fortress now." Now, I just want you to clear the Russians of the perimeter of the fortress and surround it if possible. ”

Lucien understood that the marshal was admitting that the assault on the fortress would probably be a long siege, and this was in line with his judgment.

"Isolate it first, and then we'll ship a batch of heavy artillery from the country that can be used to bombard the fort, and use the shells to slowly crack open the shell of the fort – and the British will probably do the same." Marshal Trevier continued to explain to Lucien, "and until then, we will surround it and defeat the Russian reinforcements who want to come to the rescue of this fortress, and Sevastopol will become a magnet for the Russian army, so that they will have to come and engage us with all their might, and save us from having to travel long distances to find them." ”

As the marshal thought, the Crimean peninsula was the hub of the Russians' control of the Black Sea, and the fortress of Sevastopol was the hub of the control of the peninsula, both militarily and politically, the tsar could not afford to lose it, so they would definitely come to the rescue desperately, so the Russians could not retreat in stride as they did in 1812, they could only come up and fight a decisive battle with the coalition forces.

And this deployment also convinced Lucien, and he thought to himself that the marshal really kept an extremely clear head.

"Also, you must remember to let the British play more role—since the British are more active than we are, they should be happy to shed more blood." Marshal Trevier smiled slightly, "Lucien, go and let your subordinates prepare." ”

"Okay, I'll let my subordinates prepare as soon as possible." Lucien immediately agreed, but hesitated. "However, now our division commander is still recuperating, I'm afraid it will ......"

As the commander of the 2nd Division, his superior, General Michel Ney, Duke of Elchingen, suddenly fell ill after coming to Gallipoli, and lingered in the bed for a long time, so he has not been able to rush back to the front line to command his troops, which also greatly affected the operation of the troops, Lucien knew that the next war would probably be more fierce than before, so he tactfully advised the marshal, hoping that he could send a new division commander for himself to lead everyone.

However, to his surprise, Marshal Tréville gave a strange answer.

"General Ney is seriously ill, this is a great loss to us, and it has indeed caused you a lot of difficulties, Lucien, you two brigade commanders must unite and try to overcome the negative effects of his absence. I believe that when the doctor from China arrives, he will recover quickly, and by that time, you will be able to get out of the difficult situation you are in now. ”

Lucien froze.

He and another brigade commander are of the same rank, although they usually get along well, but no one can command anyone, and they are fine in peacetime, but if they are in wartime, won't they cause trouble? This is not a matter that can be solved by just talking about unity. If all goes well, it's fine, but God knows when the Duke of Elchingen will be able to recover, and if it doesn't get better, will the current predicament continue forever?

If it weren't for the fact that he could see that the marshal was still in good spirits, he would almost suspect that the marshal was sick and confused, and could no longer understand his words.

As if to see the uneasiness and doubts in Lucien's heart, Marshal Trevier smiled slightly, and at this moment the old man showed his calmness, and he could no longer see his previous illness and weakness.

"Lucien, you are a good soldier, you have a good record of service, you are brave and intelligent—in a word, you are enough to be a general. But ......"

Marshal Trevill's words changed, "It's easy to be a general, but if you want to be a good general, you can't just talk about military affairs, you have to talk about politics." The army is more severe than the outside to some extent, because everyone has seen life and death, so they are more unscrupulous than others, in the world of the army, if a person has no party members and backers, then he is nothing, no one will value him, and he will not be able to do anything......"

Lucien lowered his gaze uneasily.

He knew that the marshal was telling the truth, but it was indeed a bit regrettable.

"Therefore, a good general must take care of his followers, because only then will the followers also be loyal to him." Marshal Trevier's tone was gentle and calm, as patient as a teacher would a student, "In a sense, the Duke of Elchengen is one of my henchmen, and although he is seriously ill now, I cannot abandon him, and I must keep this position for him." ”

"......I see," Lucien realized.

"If it were normal, I wouldn't have to be so obvious, but now it's different, because His Royal Highness will be here soon, he has a special status, and he leads the most elite Guards Corps, and you know him, he is an ambitious man who wants to expand his influence in the army...... So I have to guard against him interfering with my command. Field Marshal Trevier lowered his voice, "If I'm in good health, it's not a problem at all, but I'm not in good health right now, so I have to use you to maintain my command, so I can't give him up, unless he's really so unlucky that he's been taken to the sky by germs." ”

Lucien had understood it all, after all, that the marshal was guarding against Prince Joseph-Bonaparte, who was about to come to the front. Moreover, he also knew that the prince was ambitious, and he had always regarded himself as the heir to the imperial throne, and when he reached the front, he would definitely gather high-ranking officers and accumulate his influence in the army, and this would affect Field Marshal Tréville.

Therefore, he would rather take a risk than refuse to change generals, insisting that Duke Ersingen remain in the post of division commander.

He felt a little uncomfortable, because he knew that Marshal Tréville's decision was tantamount to harming the interests of the army as a whole with his own interests, and he knew that it would cause damage to the troops, but he still insisted on doing so.

He has always disliked playing tricks with others, but even in the army, he can't get rid of this entanglement of interests, which is really uncomfortable.

However, he was a little moved beyond this, he knew that the marshal had told him such a secret thought, which was actually expressing his trust in him.

And he knows better that he is now one of the "disciples" in Marshal Treville's mouth, and his personal future, and even the interests of the family, have been bound to this family, which can be said to be solidarity, so he has no more choices.

"Well, I see, Your Excellency." He straightened up again and replied in a serious tone, "I will follow your orders and unite with my colleagues to overcome all difficulties, and we sincerely hope that General Ney will return to the front line as soon as possible and lead us to greater victory!" ”

"Good." The old man smiled and nodded, "Lucien, I would have wanted you to take over this division if I could, but unfortunately it didn't...... Not yet, you can't be a general directly, but, don't worry, as long as you continue like this, it won't be long before you become a general, and at that time...... You can really get ahead. However, this is both a blessing and a nuisance for you, because you are sometimes not very good at dealing with some complicated situations, and you need to listen to your wife's advice in this regard, and to be honest, she can be your guide. ”

"I will, thank you for the reminder." Lucien thanked him sincerely.

He is indeed very grateful to God for giving him the opportunity to get acquainted with Julie, since he got married, he has been distracted, in addition to leading troops and studying the military, he is just wholeheartedly with his wife and children, even if he has gradually got ahead today, he has never done anything to be sorry for his wife. Among Julie's relatives and friends, they gradually forgot that this was a family affair that was not in the right household, and secretly envied Julie for choosing a good husband for herself.

And this is precisely why Charles and Marshal Tréville trusted Lucien so much.

They both knew that Julie would continue to be friendly with the Tréville family as long as Matilda was there; As long as Julie is around, Lucien-Leflair will be a loyal friend of the family.

"Alright, it's time to tell you, I've already told you." Marshal Trevier lay back on the bed, then returned to his previous state of weakness and waved his hand gently, "Make sure you do it." ”

"Yes, Your Excellency." Lucien rose from his seat again, saluted the marshal respectfully, then turned and strode out of the cabin.

Compared with just now, his pace is much more determined now, although the objective conditions have not changed now, but at least he has understood everything and is no longer at a loss as before.

And after he left, the marshal closed his eyes and fell asleep in bed.

Because of the action of the seawater, the cabin was shaking slightly, and the bed was also shaking, which made the marshal feel even more tired.

Although he had only been talking to Lucien for less than an hour, he still felt exhausted and dizzy, and he struggled to look out the window and realized that it was now dark.

It's almost time for dinner.

But he had no appetite at all, so he closed his eyes again and began to rest.

Lately, his mind has been replaying his journey on the Russian wilderness many years ago, and the hunger, thirst and torment seem to be repeating it now, the only difference is that he had infinite energy back then, and he survived, and now he ...... He doesn't have that passion anymore.

He fell into a deep sleep, and suddenly dreamed of Paris, of his wife and children.

They should be fine......

At that moment, he felt a hand rubbing his face.

He opened his eyes slightly, and after the initial fainting, he was stunned to find a young woman with blond hair and blue eyes, looking at him with tears in her eyes.

She wears a white dress and a white hat on her head.

Is this a dream? His eyes widened slightly.

"Grandpa!" He heard a crying cry, and then Fran hugged his grandfather's head directly.

"Silly boy." After the initial astonishment, Marshal Tréville let out a long sigh, "What are you doing here to make a fuss about?" ”