Chapter 396: Chapter 390: The Railway Under Semi-Military Control
Ultimately, Alphonse Rothschild decided to inform the Austrian branch of the Rothschild Clan through their secret channels about the French Empire’s plan to act against the Russian Empire. He believed the Austrian branch would undoubtedly inform the Austrian Government.
Whether the Austrian Government chooses to maintain peace with the French Empire or to confront France for the Russian Empire was no longer Alphonse Rothschild’s concern.
On June 1st, while the people of Paris were fervently debating the design of affordable public housing, no one noticed that the Ministry of Railways was quietly halting the exchange of both short and long-term bonds. The railway bonds at the Paris Stock Exchange, under the concerted effort of major banks, generally showed stable and positive development.
However, after the abrupt halt in exchanges, railway bonds experienced a slight decline, causing a small-scale panic to follow.
Thanks to the intervention of spokespersons under the major banks, the railway bond rhetoric was only seen as a technical adjustment.
Some skeptics attempted to exchange the bonds, and after repeated inquiries, the banks agreed to their exchange.
With the collaboration between bankers and functional departments, the railway bonds finally overcame the most perilous early stage.
Just as Barroso had barely caught his breath after overcoming the first hurdle of the railway bonds crisis, Chief of Staff Saint Arno arrived before Barroso, accompanied by members of the Railway Department under the General Staff.
Barroso had no choice but to temporarily halt his rest and welcome Saint Arno and the others.
As soon as he took his seat, Saint Arno wasted no words. He directly pointed at the members of the Railway Department and said, "I’m leaving these people to you! Some of them lack experience, so I ask you to bear with them!"
"Of course! Of course!" Barroso naturally understood everything was for the sake of war.
Since Your Majesty had agreed to Saint Arno, he had no reason to object.
He could only cooperate as much as possible!
Then, Marshal Saint Arno sternly addressed several officers of the Railway Department, "You are all from the Ministry of Railways (where Saint Arno had them intern initially), and then you went to the southern lines for surveys (as Canning encountered them on the train).
I trust your abilities; you must repay me with concrete actions! I don’t care for any excuses; you must ensure the prompt and punctual completion of material transportation and troop movement on the railways! Do you understand!"
"Understood!" the young officers of the Railway Department replied resolutely.
"Excellent! As long as you smoothly complete the tasks I assigned, I guarantee your seamless promotion!" Marshal Saint Arno said, paying no attention to Barroso sitting beside him.
The young officers’ faces once again lit up with smiles. Once, the logistics members of the French Army were all considered stepchildren; when the front line fought fiercely, they prepared materials with all their might, only to become invisible and to be ignored once accolades were bestowed.
Under such circumstances, few were willing to take on the responsibilities of the Logistics Department, and officers subconsciously believed logistics was a haven for idle folks.
Since the Emperor established the Empire, he had been focusing on logistics issues, and after Marshal Saint Arno formed the General Staff, he further integrated the promotion mechanism into the advancement regulations.
This meant the Logistics Department had escaped the era of being pitiable and invisible and formally became part of the army.
The officers’ ranks could finally move upward.
In contrast to the excited officers, Barroso showed a hint of unease on his face. Not only was Saint Arno reprimanding his subordinates on his turf, but even the words Saint Arno uttered earlier made Barroso feel he seemed to be encouraging these officers to seize control over the Ministry of Railways.
If it weren’t during extraordinary times, Barroso would certainly not stand by idly.
At the moment, he could only defer everything to the war, regarding some of Saint Arno’s words as if he hadn’t heard them.
Subsequently, Marshal Saint Arno officially handed over the Railway Department officers to Barroso and then departed from the Ministry of Railways, heading to the Ministry of War to formulate the battle plans.
Barroso looked expressionlessly at the group of Railway Department officers before him and resolutely stated, "Since Marshal Saint Arno has entrusted you to me, I will require you with strict measures!"
"Understood!" the officers responded in unison.
"Follow me!"
Then, Barroso instructed the officers to follow him to the conference room, and upon encountering the Secretary of State of the Ministry of Railways in the corridor, Barroso immediately issued an order for the Secretary of State to gather all the directorate-level officials from the five major divisions of the Ministry to the office.
The Secretary of State, upon receiving the order, nodded and conveyed the message, while Barroso and the officers proceeded to the conference room.
As time passed, all the directorate officials from the five major divisions arrived at the conference hall.
Everyone’s face showed an expression of astonishment, they couldn’t understand what the officer standing behind Barroso was up to.
Once all the division-level officials had arrived, Barroso spoke: "I presume you are all wondering why soldiers are appearing here!"
No one present spoke; they awaited the reason from Barroso’s mouth.
"I’ll tell you!" Barroso said with a serious tone and grave expression: "A war is imminent!"
The faces of the members of the Eastern Railway Bureau and Southern Railway Bureau instantly turned pale. Due to the secrecy of the war and the general staff, apart from minister-level and some specific personnel, not many knew that the Emperor had long planned to initiate a war.
When Barroso uttered "war," in their view, the war was very likely to occur in the Strasbourg Region or the Alps Region, which meant the Eastern and Southern Railway Bureau might be facing danger.
Especially the Southern Railway Bureau; they had long known that batches of materials were being transported between Lyon and Marseille, which meant the war was likely to start from the Apennine Peninsula.
"Rest assured, we are not at war with Germany!" Barroso’s next words pulled the officials from these two regions from hell to heaven: "The Imperial Army is about to embark on an expedition, so we must cooperate well with the army and plan the train operations carefully.
We must strive to meet the transport needs of the army!"
The director of the Southern Railway Bureau glanced at Barroso, then cautiously spoke: "Your Excellency, in that case! Our railway operations might face some difficulties! The existing transportation capacity may not be able to accommodate both!"
"I don’t care about any capacity issues! You must guarantee that the Ministry of Railways, while ensuring the army’s needs, also maintains the normal daily train operations!" Barroso from the Ministry of Railways displayed an uncompromising attitude. He knew that his subordinates’ claims of being unable to balance both were just an excuse for themselves; he had previously calculated the railway’s capacity and ultimately concluded that the capacity was more than sufficient.
So now, he wanted to block this route of retreat and make them move forward without hesitation.
"I want the timetable precise to the minute, with station arrival time deviations kept within ten minutes... ensure the smooth operation of the railway!" Barroso issued a stern order to the officials present, and then shouted loudly: "Do you understand?"
"Understood!" the officials present replied, albeit somewhat meekly.
"These officers will be stationed with us to handle the coordination of military transport along the railway. Just like before, certain soldiers and officers will be positioned along the line to coordinate material transport and ensure smooth operations!" Barroso pointed to the officers behind him.
The railway department officers immediately straightened their bodies, a trace of smug expression appeared on their faces.
Sitting in their chairs, the members of the Ministry of Railways had already vaguely guessed that military control might soon be implemented.
Nobody likes military control, and especially after thinking that their power might be restrained by the military, they felt even more discomfort.
However, despite the discomfort, obedience to authority gave them no courage to refute Barroso’s words.
"Alright! From today, you are colleagues!" Seeing that the subordinates of the Ministry of Railways tacitly agreed, Barroso quickly seized the opportunity to foster familiarity among everyone.
The Ministry of Railways and the General Staff, two departments that originally had nothing to do with each other, reluctantly cooperated under the arrangement of Jerome Bonaparte.
However, this cooperation was not based on equal footing, but rather the General Staff’s dominance over the Ministry of Railways.
This cooperation naturally aroused complaints from the Ministry of Railways, but in the current situation, who could care about rumors and whispers; everything had to give way to the war.
On the morning of June 5th, a fast steamship from the distant Western New Continent broke through the mist lingering over the English Channel, fearlessly braving the comfortable sea waves, and approached the Calais Port.
As the steamship gradually neared Calais Port, the Eagle Flag on the ship’s sails was clearly visible.
On the Eagle Flag fast ship, a young man bearing some resemblance to Prince Monfort slowly emerged from the cabin. Judging by his youthful face, the young man was likely not yet 20 years old.
At the moment, he was wearing a uniform from the First Empire, which his grandmother specially asked him to wear, standing at the helm gazing towards the distant land of France.
Indeed, he was Jerome Patterson, the son of Jerome Bonaparte’s half-brother, returning from the New Continent eagerly wanting to embrace the land he had never set foot on.
While Jerome Patterson was gazing at the French continent, Brigadier General Fleury, waiting at Calais Port, also saw the steamship carrying the Eagle Flag, and a smile appeared on his face.
After waiting for so long, this "bastard" finally arrived.
If not for Your Majesty’s specific orders, Fleury would not have been willing to wait at Calais.
After all, Jerome Patterson’s identity was somewhat awkward; whether he could transition from a bastard to a legitimate heir depended on the Emperor’s attitude.