redo it ... In spite of his efforts, the pile of posters grew little by little. Louis de Leaume picked up a pen and frenetically scribbled a draft. ‘What do you think of this?’
Parisians!
Take up arms and overthrow the tyrant!
Down with Napoleon! Long live Louis XVI11!
‘It’s good,’ Margont complimented him.
Louis de Leaume’s choice of words said plenty about what he was planning. Honoré de Nolant also suggested some wording.
Throw off the imperial yoke! Spray the Eagle with bullets! Long live the King!
Even Jean-Baptiste de Chatel eventually took a pen and wrote
his own poster. He did not need to think about what he wanted to say, it was obvious to him.
People of France Support the return of your King!
It is the will of God!
How hateful, thought Margont. That expression, ‘It is the will of God!’ had been used by Pope Urban II in 1095, during his famous speech calling for a campaign to free the Holy Land. His harangue had played a major part in sparking the First Crusade. And that familiar way of addressing himself directly to the French people -what breathtaking arrogance! As for the words ‘your King’: as if it was obligatory to have a king at all ...
A piercing whistle sounded from the street. Baron de Nolant and Jean-Baptiste de Chatel blew out the candles, plunging the room into darkness.
‘What’s happening?’ whispered Lefine.
‘Silence!’
They heard footsteps coming towards them. Margont waited anxiously for his eyes to become accustomed to the dark. But still he could not see anything. He began to worry. What if someone attacked him here, taking him by surprise? Perhaps one of these men was the murderer they were looking for. Had Margont been unmasked? Was the murderer going to come over and stab him to death? Margont stretched his arms out in front of him, hoping to detect an assailant who might be creeping towards him. He started to move silently forward, but at the same time he was annoyed with himself - he had become prey to his own fears.
A long moment later, there was another whistle, shorter and sharper. Honoré de Nolant lit a candle again. ‘We’re off now,’ he announced. ‘Chevalier, we’ll need more posters. You can print them when the printing press is open again.’
‘No, that would be too risky. Every printer has a police informer on the staff and I don’t know who ours is. Besides, the censors and the police often drop in to check up on us. It’s better if I print
them on my own. I’ll be able to do a few at a time. I should be able to do hundreds eventually ...’
‘Very good,’ Louis de Leaume agreed. ‘In any case, it’s best if we don’t come here again.’
They left, abandoning Margont and Lefine, who had to put everything back in place so as not to arouse the suspicions of the employees. They would, of course, take the posters with them. Once they were on their own, Lefine said to Margont: ‘I would love to see Joseph’s face when you tell him how you used the print works he put at your disposal ...’
CHAPTER 22
ON 24 March 1814, the Allies held a military council not far from Vitry. Confusion reigned once more. What should they do? No one could agree, but they had to stick together because Napoleon would certainly exploit any disunity. The day before, some Cossacks had captured a cavalryman on his way to deliver a letter to the Emperor. The note was from Savary, the Minister of Civilian Police, and was full of anguish.
We are at the very end of our resources, the population is restive and wants peace at any price. The enemies of the Imperial Government are everywhere, fomenting unrest, which is still only latent, but which will be impossible to repress if the Emperor does not succeed in keeping the Allies well away from Paris by drawing them after him away from the gates of the capital ...
That was all very well, but what if it was a trap? What if the Allies turned their back on Napoleon to march on Paris, and then found their communications threatened or cut off. They would have to be sure they could seize the capital quickly.
The Tsar was hesitating. He had been foolhardy at Austerlitz, and that had precipitated the Austro-Russian army into a Napoleonic trap, with catastrophic results. But on the other hand, during the Russian campaign, most of his soldiers felt he had been too cautious. Even now, many people considered that the French could have been beaten at the Battle of Borodino had Alexander and the chiefs of staff had more faith in their soldiers. That was an absurd point of view, of course, but everything always seemed simpler when you looked back. So, as much as he told himself that he would be prudent and not repeat the errors of Austerlitz, when he thought of how his beloved Moscow had been destroyed, he longed to set his army charging against Paris. Or against Napoleon. There again, thinking about Austerlitz ... Astonishingly, that day, his advisers were unanimous. It would be Paris!
The Tsar had long dreamt of taking Paris in revenge for Moscow. So, Paris!
Schwarzenberg, the generalissimo, showed himself to be modest that day, which was unusual for someone of his rank. He had just been beaten by Napoleon’s little army; many other generals would have been in a hurry to try to take their revenge. But Schwarzenberg judged that the Emperor was a better tactician than he, and that he would be better off avoiding fighting him. So it was Paris. Frederick William III, King of Prussia, was of the same opinion.
The decision was almost taken. It was heads Napoleon, tails Paris, but the coin was still spinning, although leaning heavily towards Paris. General Winzingerode, a German in the service of the Tsar, who had the reputation for being the best Allied sabre-fighter, had an idea that made the Paris plan even more appealing. He suggested marching on the capital, but making Napoleon think that they had decided to go after him. He proposed that he himself would head towards Napoleon with ten thousand cavalry, mounted artillery and infantry, and behave exactly as if he were commanding the advance guard of the Allied army. His idea was greeted with enthusiasm.
So it was definitely Paris.
CHAPTER 23
ON 25 March, Napoleon found himself near Wassy and wondered what his adversaries were planning to do. He had sent detachments of cavalry on reconnaissance trips in all directions - to Bar-sur-Aube, Brienne-le-Chateau, Joinville, Montier-en-Der, Saint-Dizier.
Finally he spotted the enemy. Near Saint-Dizier. The Emperor was triumphant, believing that the Allies were starting to turn back to protect their communications. Keen to keep up the pressure on them, he immediately launched his army in their direction, believing he had the advance Allied guard in his sights, when in fact all he had was the very back of the rearguard.
At the same time, several leagues away, Marshals Marmont and Mortier, who had been separated from Napoleon by the encounters and manoeuvres of the previous days and who were trying to rejoin him, noticed that the Bohemian and the Silesian armies -two hundred thousand soldiers altogether - had come to station
themselves between them and the Emperor. They withdrew immediately, pursued by the Allies. In less than forty-eight hours, they were attacked from all sides, and lost eight thousand men. But, unexpectedly, the National Guard, whom the enemy did not take seriously, fought with determination and to good effect, allowing Marmont and Mortier to continue their heroic retreat. They were left with only one option — to retire to Paris. This they did, bringing with them an unexpected escort.