CHAPTER 348: CHAPTER 343 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MECHANICAL COMMAND

On the day following the appointment of the Chief of Staff of France, the "freshly appointed" Marshal of the Second Empire was approved by the Ministry of War, recommended by Jerome Bonaparte.

In recognition of the outstanding contributions Saint Arno and Renio made to the French Army, General Saint Arno, Chief of Staff of France, and General Renio, Commander of Strasbourg, were awarded the rank of Marshal.

The news spread, causing an uproar in the entire French military community. Some generals opposed the awarding of the Marshal title to Saint Arno and Renio, and even some generals made an issue out of the awarding of the Marshal rank. They believed that awarding Saint Arno, who had not accomplished anything (referring to the achievements akin to Marshal Biron), the Marshal position was an insult to the title.

Faced with such baseless accusations, the newly appointed Chief of Staff, Imperial Reserve Marshal Saint Arno, was somewhat irritated.

If the French Army were not implementing military and political separation, and if the Chief of Staff did not control military appointments and dismissals.

Saint Arno vowed to make them understand the authority of a superior.

The Tuileries Palace, playing a major role in this Marshal appointment incident, also made no gesture at this time, seemingly allowing the incident to unfold.

The appointment of Saint Arno and Renio as Marshals also seemed to be stalling due to their "virtue not matching the position."

As time passed, the inertia of the Tuileries Palace made the anti-Bonaparte faction within the military more arrogant, with some even openly forming cliques within the army, preparing to rebel when necessary.

If not for the reports from the Special Investigation Department of the Police Station, Jerome Bonaparte would not have known that there was a potential opposition within the army attempting to overthrow his rule.

"Alright! I understand! Thank you for your hard work!" After reviewing the internal military intelligence, Jerome Bonaparte nodded in affirmation to Edgar Ney, the head of the Special Action Investigation Department: "I didn’t expect you to identify all the people behind the military so quickly, truly remarkable!"

"This is part of my duty!" Edgar Ney responded neither humbly nor arrogantly to Jerome Bonaparte.

"Indeed, if you can continue like this, your achievements will definitely not fall short of your uncle’s!" Jerome Bonaparte silently pondered as he looked at Edgar Ney standing before him, scrubbed clean of any superficial flash.

Is it the environment that changes a person? Or does a person change the environment?

Jerome Bonaparte still remembered meeting Edgar Ney a few years ago, when he had not thought much of this person who relied on his uncle’s reputation to establish himself in Paris.

Yes, Edgar Ney’s uncle was the former Marshal Ney, one of the few who went to death for Jerome Bonaparte’s uncle, Emperor Napoleon.

After the fall of the First Empire, Ney died following Napoleon of the First Empire. Since Ney himself had no children, Edgar Ney became the heir of Marshal Ney, inheriting Ney’s fame and prestige, he joined the Bonaparte faction, serving first Louis Napoleon and then Jerome Bonaparte.

In the early days of serving Jerome Bonaparte, Edgar Ney did not receive much attention from Jerome Bonaparte. In Jerome Bonaparte’s view, Edgar Ney was just a banner for uniting Bonapartists.

A chance event changed Edgar Ney’s status in Jerome Bonaparte’s eyes. At that time, shortly before the attack on the Roman Republic, Jerome Bonaparte dispatched General Renio to the Roman Republic, and Edgar Ney timely requested to accompany. After deliberate consideration, Jerome Bonaparte decided to offer Edgar Ney the opportunity to demonstrate himself, and with a wave of the hand, agreed to Edgar Ney’s request.

During the siege of Rome in 1849, Edgar Ney demonstrated his talent as a military commander and achieved victory.

Upon returning, Edgar Ney experienced a long period of neglect before being summoned by Jerome Bonaparte again.

It was on this occasion that Jerome Bonaparte proposed to Edgar Ney whether he would be willing to serve as the head of the Police Station’s Investigation Department at the President’s Residence.

The so-called Investigation Department, rather than a department, was more appropriately a bureau.

The number of personnel within the Investigation Department had nearly caught up with the number of administrative officials in a department that couldn’t have subordinates.

Their main purpose was to monitor the French Army for any signs of betrayal, and if any appeared, they were to report immediately to Jerome Bonaparte.

In the following two-plus years, the number of the Special Investigation Department continued to grow, gradually forming the magnitude of a department bureau.

The Special Investigation Department’s mastery and surveillance of the army’s interior became more sophisticated, with all military regions, except Algeria, being monitored by the Department.

[PS: Algeria has always been a place of exile for France’s political failures, where many political failures were entirely exiled. Some joined the army, some resided in Algeria, and some crossed over to Britain. They can be said to be traditional opposition, regardless of being Republic, Bourbon, or Bonapartist, there were people opposing them.

And some opposed for the sake of opposition.]

Looking at the SS head he had cultivated himself, Jerome Bonaparte’s lips curled into a comforting smile: "Ney, do you want to end this sneaky life!"

Edgar Ney’s expression briefly showed a flash of struggle before he said calmly: "I am willing to follow your orders!"

"I like those who obey commands the most!" Jerome Bonaparte sternly pointed at Edgar Ney regarding his equivocal response: "From now, the Special Investigation Department is detached from the Police Station and renamed as the Mechanical Command! And you will be the first Commander of the Mechanical Command, enjoying the treatment of a Quasi-General Rank of France! The function of the Mechanical Command remains unchanged! At the same time, you shall also assume the role of adjutant!"

Edgar Ney’s face showed a hint of joy. Although Edgar Ney was only at the quasi-general level, he was very aware that the powers of the Mechanical Command were no less than those of the Ministry of War and the General Staff.

The reason for the quasi-general rank was probably to ensure the rank retained some value.

Edgar Ney guessed correctly; Jerome Bonaparte designed the highest officer of the Mechanical Command to be a brigadier to prevent a proliferation of general ranks.

In France, as long as you can get promoted to the rank of major general, it means you have the qualifications to command forces ranging from a brigade to an army corps.

This unreasonable military rank system caused a lot of confusion, and at the same time, there were major problems in the organization of the French military...

This will be discussed later.

In short, for the sake of the bigger picture, the highest commander of the Mechanical Command had to be a brigadier.

"Rest assured! It won’t be long before France innovates! By then, you’ll be able to rise another level!" Jerome Bonaparte assured Edgar Ney.

"Understood!" Edgar Ney responded to Jerome Bonaparte.

In the following days, Jerome Bonaparte went to the Council of State on his own to state: "In view of France’s increasingly serious ideological issues, it is necessary to form a department capable of managing military crimes and ideological inadequacies!"

This action met with opposition from some military personnel in the Council of State, who reasonably argued that the government should handle its own affairs and that military matters should be resolved by the military itself.

This rebuttal made Jerome Bonaparte feel that the military could once again become that impenetrable iron company.

Throughout history, the military has been the ruling class’s violent apparatus. If the ruling class does not control this military, it could turn into a rampaging beast.

It would carry away anyone it could and engage in a grand and relentless warfare only to perish.

The General Staff and the Mechanical Command were his tools to tether this unreasonable beast. To achieve this goal, he even used his administrative powers as Emperor, implementing policies in the Legislative Court and the Second Institute.

The Mechanical Command was established, and Edgar Ney became the commander of the first Mechanical Command.

After understanding the powers controlled by the Mechanical Command, many opposing voices disappeared overnight without a trace.

Despite this, Jerome Bonaparte did not intend to spare those people; keeping them was only delaying the inevitable detonation of these time bombs.

Under Jerome Bonaparte’s instructions, the Mechanical Command began to act.

Men wearing blue uniforms, with the Sword and Shield Medal on their chests, went across France to arrest the opposing generals.

The opposing generals, who normally flaunted their power at the bases, remembered the Public Security Committee that vanished over half a century ago when they saw these individuals.

The fear deep in their bones turned the fierce generals into obedient kittens in front of the Mechanical Command members, wishing they could speak their deepest thoughts to them.

Some generals even disregarded their dignity, kneeling in front of the Mechanical Command, crying their hearts out.

In just one month, nearly 30 generals were directly dismissed for reasons such as corruption, dereliction of duty, and being too old, most of whom were potential supporters of the Republican Faction and a few from the Orléans Faction.

After dismissing over 30 generals in one go, all doubts in France were completely silenced.

The military was left with only one path: to sing praise.

On May 31st, a grand ceremony dissipated the gloom hanging over France’s military circle.

Commander Renio, who had just arrived from Strasbourg a few days ago, and General Saint Arno, Chief of Staff of France, stood upright on a wooden award platform draped with a red carpet.

Standing on the platform were generals residing in Paris, who were invited to partake in this low-substance marshal awarding performance.

Below the platform, thousands of soldiers stood with rifles in hand, observing the happenings on the stage.

Soon, Jerome Bonaparte appeared, followed by two servants each carrying a platter covered with a red cloth; beneath the cloth lay a staff symbolizing the Imperial Marshal and a first-class medal.