The Shadow of Great Britain

Capítulo 1511: Chapter 252: The French Coup—Your Emperor Has Returned!

The birch logs in the fireplace crackled, as Arthur thrust a silver letter opener into the sealing wax, while the cold wind from Moscow beat against the iron window bars.

He recognized the crest hand-drawn on the letterhead, one he could even call familiar—the golden bees of the Bonaparte family seemed ready to take flight under the candlelight.

“Your Excellency?” Blackwell paused, holding a Turkish coffee pot aloft, with ink dripping from the tilted spout onto the Persian carpet: “Is this an urgent letter forwarded from Paris?”

Arthur didn’t answer. The scrawled French on the parchment carried the scent of gunpowder, and he seemed to see before him Louis Bonaparte wearing a Scotland Yard uniform, clutching a stack of files as he hurried through the office.

Unfortunately, the sender of this letter was not Louis, but another old friend in Paris, Francois Vidocq, the Parisian Sleuth.

Although Arthur had left Paris for a year, they still maintained close personal correspondence.

This was partly due to the mutual appreciation between the two law enforcement experts, and partly because Arthur had subscribed to an annual intelligence service at Vidocq’s detective agency before leaving Paris.

Maybe using the term intelligence service sounded too mysterious—more accurately, Arthur had just requested Vidocq to ship him noteworthy news from Paris monthly, paying him to organize it into a summary.

Although the Great Dumas would occasionally write to him, mentioning interesting matters in his letters.

But for Arthur, the musings of the Great Dumas were not suitable for intelligence analysis.

He knew the Great Dumas well, just as the Great Dumas understood him, so he knew clearly that the portly man wouldn’t disclose much political movement in private correspondence, and even if something slipped out, it would be in disjointed fragments difficult to piece back together.

Vidocq, by contrast, lived far more transparently than the Great Dumas. For such a legendary figure who had experienced both the Great Revolution and the Napoleonic Era, no intelligence was off-limits; if he said it was, it was purely because your offer wasn’t high enough, much like what Talleyrand, who initiated Arthur into diplomacy, would do.

Vidocq’s letter cut straight to the chase; the first thing that met the eye was a newspaper clipping from The Paris Daily.

“Louis Bonaparte Launches a Coup, the Emperor of France Almost Returns”

According to shocking news from front-line reporters, an absurd drama akin to “The Queen’s Comedy” unfolded yesterday at the Strasbourg barracks!

The Bonaparte family scion once exiled abroad—the nephew of Napoleon the Great, Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte—daringly mimicked his uncle, the “Little Emperor,” attempting to emulate his feat with a Napoleonic tricorn, a gray military uniform, and an eagle flag (since 1804, this banner had been reserved for the Emperor’s personal use), to rally the soldiers to overthrow our civilian King Louis Philippe and proclaim him “Emperor of the French!”

He thought he could become the master of Strasbourg, holding Napoleon’s imperial edict in one hand and the Sword of Austerlitz in the other. For this, he didn’t hesitate to hire a few reliable assistants, including: the husband of Louise Koschele, imperial veteran Parkan, his mother’s distant relative from the Bouarne family, Major Letele, and even a proponent and leader of the Orthodox Party, the rebel Marquis Grigoire, who had participated in the Duchess of Berry’s rebellion a year ago!

Between 6 and 8 in the morning, Strasbourg’s overcast skies were drizzling. Nevertheless, Louis Bonaparte resolutely executed the plan; under the illegal military uniform, his posture distinctly lacked elegance. His clique members also altered their attire, forming a provisional staff under his leadership.

Bonaparte appointed Parkan as General, with his advisors Pesini and Marquis Grigoire as captains. This oddly dressed crowd, brandishing the imperial eagle flag, approached the Strasbourg artillery camp, where Colonel Wardre, who had connections with him, immediately handed his artillery unit over to Louis Bonaparte. It’s worth noting an unsavory detail: they distributed 60 francs to each gun crew in the unit on the spot!

Immediately, Louis Bonaparte also arbitrarily promised ranks and medals to the unit’s soldiers and junior officers. Then, the artillery regiment headed out to the infantry camp. Meanwhile, they had learned vital lessons from the failed 1812 Malet coup, dispatching part of the officers to arrest officials from the Alsace Provincial Government and Garrison Commander General Varoor.

Fortunately, General Varoor, at the critical moment, upheld his dignity and principles as a soldier by resolutely refusing to join the rebellion and escaping the command post. The artillerymen, incited by Louis Bonaparte, crowded a narrow street leading to the infantry camp. Most importantly, the infantry, whom they saw as adversaries, obeyed officer commands and mounted a fierce resistance to the artillery regiment’s assault.

After three hours of battle, the insurgents were completely disarmed, and Louis Bonaparte, along with most members of his “staff,” were arrested. On the same afternoon, Louis Bonaparte himself was escorted to the Strasbourg police station by the garrison command post for custody…

Seeing this, Arthur was so frustrated that he almost wanted to smack himself in the face.