Three foreign ambassadors in Congde. When Luyce learned that the French Empire and the Russian Empire were about to start a war, they knew that they could not dissuade the French Empire from abandoning the operation, so they could only choose to fulfill their duties as diplomatic ambassadors, passing on all the information they knew back to their country, hoping that their country would make the right choice after the war began.

As the foreign ambassadors of the three countries returned to their respective diplomatic embassies in horse-drawn carriages from the docks of the 7th arrondissement, a secret military meeting was taking place at the Tuileries on the Champs-Élysées.

The participants in this military meeting were in addition to the Chief of the Army General Staff. Arnaud, Minister of War Kuzan. In addition to the main military commanders such as Montauban and Admiral Dick (who himself held the position of Chief of the Navy's General Staff due to the lack of suitable personnel in the Navy), there were also Rear Admirals Leboeuf, Rear Admiral Niel, Rear Admiral Conrobel, Brigadier General Bazin, Brigadier General Trochu...... A series of members who have been more or less involved in and planned wars in the Near East.

The war, which had been secretly planned from 1849, finally began in earnest in 1853.

The four-year plan allowed the General Staff (formerly the Military Secretariat of the War Ministry) to anticipate all possible actions of the Russian Empire and to prepare several sets of plans for dealing with them.

A detailed military map of the Near East was stapled to the walls of the conference hall of the Tuileries Palace, and in the border area between the Danube principalities and Bulgaria, it was densely packed with wargame infantry symbols representing all the armies of the Russian Empire that now existed in the Danube border area.

"According to the information we have received from the Ottoman Empire, the Russian Empire has gathered about 150,000 troops in the area of the Principality of Wallachia, some of which were troops led by Paskewicz who were once stationed in Poland and were the main force that helped the Austrian Empire to suppress Hungary, and the troops were armed with a large number of old muskets and a small number of rifles.

Although the level of equipment of this army is far inferior to ours, they have a very strong will to fight. Brigadier General Leboeuf, who was in charge of military commentary and analysis in the Near East, held a small wooden stick and pointed to the infantry emblem for emphasis, and then looked apprehensively at Jérôme, who was seated in the first row of spectators in the conference hall. Bonaparte.

This was supposed to be played by the Chief of the General Staff. Arnault personally explained and deployed the military rehearsal, but now it is really "difficult for a strong man" to let a "small" staff officer commander like Leboeuf explain it.

The "strong man is difficult" here does not mean that Major General Leboeuf himself is deficient in his own command ability, but that in the French Army, Major General Leboeuf's qualifications are too weak.

Although many of the "students" in the audience have the same title as him, the gold content between the two is very different, and it is really a bit unthinkable for him to give lectures to a group of old men in the army.

And the person who made the decision to bring Leboeuf to the stage to explain was none other than the Emperor Jérôme. Bonaparte.

Jérôme. The reason why Bonaparte was willing to let Leboeuf show himself in front of many old people was not only to pave the way for Leboeuf's later promotion, but also because Leboeuf had been involved in the Near East battle plan from beginning to end, and he knew the Near East battle plan better than anyone else.

Jérôme at this time. Bonaparte, too, saw the gaze that Leboeuf was looking at him, and he smiled and bowed his head to Leboeuf in encouragement.

Influenced by Jérôme. Leboeuf, hinted at by Bonaparte's eyes, swept away his previous apprehension, and he continued to point his baton in an impassioned tone at another infantry sign next to the symbol of Paskevich's infantry: "The other unit is Mikhail. The vast majority of the Bessarabian troops led by Gorchakov were reconstituted from the Caucasus.

Neither in quantity nor in quality the army led by Paskevich was inferior!

However, the army stationed in Bessarabia province was better at dealing with small guerrilla forces than Paskevich's army, a military strategy that had been explored in the Caucasus.

In addition to these two units, they were joined by a small number of St. Petersburg Guards units, which were the most elite units at the disposal of Nicholas I, much higher in quality than the armies of Paskevich and Gorchakov, but far inferior in numbers, with only about two or three regiments. ”

Subsequently, Leboeuf headed towards Jérôme. Bonaparte complimented: "However, all their armies are inferior to ours in terms of the quality of equipment and men, and all this is due to the efforts of Your Majesty!" ”

"Don't pat yourself on the back and keep talking!" Leboeuf's naked sycophants make Jérôme. A smile appeared on Bonaparte's face, and he calmly "reprimanded" Leboeuf.

"Yes!" Seeing this, Leboeuf immediately straightened his attitude and continued to explain: "According to the information recently obtained by the General Staff. Once the war between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire begins, the Russian Empire will definitely attack here in a frenzy! ”

Leboeuf placed his baton in Silistra's place: "This is a military fortress built on the Danube, and at the same time the Ottoman Empire's greatest defense against the Russian Imperial Army!" As soon as Silistra was broken by the Russian Imperial Army, they would repeat the situation of 1828. ”

In 1828, Nicholas I of the Russian Empire led 65,000 Russian soldiers and Cossack troops to attack Silistra, and after capturing Silistra, Tsar Nicholas I went down the river and captured Varna and Edirne (once the capital of the Ottoman Empire).

That time was the closest Nicholas I was to Constantinople, but unfortunately under the intervention of Britain and European countries, the Russian Empire could only leave in disgrace, which also became an eternal pain for Nicholas I.

"Will Silistra's defenses be able to withstand the onslaught of 130,000 Russian Imperial soldiers?" Jérôme. Bonaparte asked Leboeuf.

"Due to the location of Silistra, the Russian Empire simply cannot effectively deploy troops in Silistra, as long as Silistra itself is properly defended! The Russian Imperial Army simply could not break through the Sillistra fortress complex! "Leboeuf swore to Jérôme. Bonaparte assured: "And now that the Russian Empire has lost this opportunity, Silistra has deployed an army of nearly 30,000 men, which is fully capable of withstanding the Russian Empire's attack, so that the original plan of the Imperial army to be stationed in Varna can be carried out." ”

Leboeuf's words were applauded by some of the generals in the audience, who did not care whether the Ottomans lived or died, but they had to be Varna behind Silistra.

Once Silistra was lost, Varna would have to face the onslaught of the Russian Imperial Army.

According to the French Empire's registration plan, all large supplies, such as locomotives, rails, and siege guns, had to be assembled in the port of Rhodes before being transported to Varna.

This meant that large equipment could not be shipped anywhere in the first place, and the Imperial generals present did not want to start a war with the Russian Empire before they had established themselves in Varna.

Some generals believed that the Russian Empire would most likely move from Bucharest to Ruse, southwest of Bucharest, so that in the event of an uprising between Bulgaria and Serbia, the Russian Empire would be able to assist the rebels nearby.

"If it were Nicholas I commanding, there is a high probability that he would have chosen such an adventurous approach, but Paskevich is a cautious fellow, and he will not agree to this plan!" Leboeuf immediately refuted these arguments, explaining: "If the Russian Imperial Army enters to support Serbia through the Ruse, it will inevitably cause panic in the Austrian Empire." At that time, the Russian Empire will be in a dilemma. ”

"The Austrian Empire has agreed to join the French Empire in issuing a retreat warning to the Russian Empire, so the Austrian Imperial Army will only be a threat to the Russian Imperial Army, not a help!" Jérôme. Bonaparte also spoke.

Since the "joint war" between the French Empire and the Austrian Empire against the Russian Empire had always been carried out in secret and in secret, the vast majority of the generals present were unaware of the fact that the Austrian Empire had betrayed the Russian Empire.

Jérôme. Bonaparte's words made all the generals present agree with Leboeuf.

Subsequently, Leboeuf put forward the landing operation plan drawn up in advance by the General Staff.

The first units in the plan were six battalions of the Algerian colony of Juaf, who were to be transported by transport ships called up by the Navy to consolidate their positions in Varna, and the six battalions of Juaf were to be reorganized into two regiments, commanded by Brigadier General McMahon and Brigadier General Bazin.

The generals present had no objection to the fact that Juaf was the vanguard of the army, and who made Juaf's army the most elite army in France.

However, when the second group of conscripts was called up for the transport members of the army, all the generals present began to quarrel with red faces.

According to the plan of the General Staff, the second batch of registered troops included the 1st Brigade and the 3rd Brigade under the 1st Division of Paris, and the 3rd Brigade of the 2nd Division.

The military commanders of the 1st and 2nd divisions were naturally meaningless about the plans of the General Staff, but the commanders of the 3rd (Guards Division) objected to the redeployment of the 1st and 2nd divisions.

The desire for merit and glory led these generals to start a war of tearing apart.

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