Young bloods

'Thank you, sir!'

'Then don't just stand there. Pound them again, man!'

The cheering died away as the gun crew bent to their tackle ropes and heaved the twenty-four-pounder back up to the embrasure.

Saliceti nudged Napoleon.'I'll see to it that you have what you want. I imagine with the number of batteries that you require you're going to need more men.'

'Yes, sir.'

'I see. I don't suppose for an instant it has crossed your mind that the provision of more men will entail a promotion for you.'

Napoleon started, and felt his blood fire up.'Sir! I protest. I was not seeking promotion. Just to do my duty.'

'Of course,' Saliceti mollified him. 'And please don't apologise for being ambitious. France needs ambitious men as never before. So, we need you here and now, Major Buona Parte.'

Chapter 76

'It's not a very promising situation, gentlemen.' Representative Freron spoke with icy restraint as he stared round the table. General Carteaux and his senior officers sat in an uncomfortable silence as Freron continued, 'It's already the middle of October. Far from seeing a quick end to this siege, it has dragged on for months now, and we seem to be no closer to finishing off those royalist bastards. I want an explanation. Paris has demanded a report, which Citizen Saliceti and myself will have to write in the next few days. It would be in your best interests to give us the chance to have something positive to offer the Committee of Public Safety… other than your heads.'

General Carteaux leaned forwards and thumped a fist down on the table. 'Citizen Freron, you cannot expect us to work miracles! We need more men, more supplies, and more time to take Toulon. If Paris knew the true situation down here, I'm sure the Committee would send the reinforcements I need.'

A smile flickered across Freron's face. 'Are you saying that Citizen Saliceti and I are not telling the members of the Committee the truth about the situation?'

Carteaux's thick eyebrows knitted together. 'No. It's just that it must be hard for them to have an accurate grasp of events when they are so far from the battlefield.'

'Battlefield?' Freron sneered. 'What battlefield? All I see every day is a vast encampment of soldiers more at risk of dying from old age than enemy fire. Apart from a few skirmishes you have achieved nothing.The enemy pre-empt you at every turn.' Freron stabbed a finger at the map spread across the table in front of him. 'Thanks to your tardiness they have seized L'Eguillette and stuck a bloody great fort on top of it!' Freron turned to Saliceti, sitting cross-armed at his side. 'What do they call it again?'

'Fort Mulgrave, according to our spies. Twenty guns, four mortars and a garrison of over five hundred men.'

Freron turned back to Carteaux. 'Quite a strong point, I think you'll agree. The question is, why didn't we get in there first?'

'These things happen,' Carteaux blustered. 'There was no reason to suppose the enemy intended to fortify L'Eguillette. It's just the fortunes of war.'

Saliceti uncrossed his arms and leaned over the table. 'General, I mentioned this to you some days before the enemy began constructing their fort.You said you would deal with it.'

'Yes, I did. When the time was right. When I had made the necessary preparations.'

'What necessary preparations?' Freron snapped.

'How dare you question me?' Carteaux shouted. 'You're a newspaper editor. What do you know about soldiering?'

'Enough to know that you are not advancing the interests of France.You promised me Toulon. All you deliver is excuses.'

'When I am ready to attack, then I will. Without delay.' Carteaux forced himself to lower his voice. 'But I will not order my men into attack without adequate artillery support. If Major Buona Parte would stop building batteries to cover the harbour, and direct his efforts towards an attack on Fort Malbousquet, then we could take Toulon far more swiftly. After all,' Carteaux forced a laugh and glanced round at his officers looking for support,'after all, we are trying to take Toulon, not the sea.'

A few of his cronies laughed and smiled. Napoleon glared at Carteaux as the general turned back to the representatives, emboldened by the support of his officers. 'Give me back control of my guns and I will give you victory.'

Saliceti shook his head. 'No. The key to this siege lies in depriving the Royal Navy of access to the port. I believe Major Buona Parte's strategy is sound.We must concentrate the artillery around L'Eguillette. We must take Fort Mulgrave and then we will control the harbour entrance.The alternative – your alternative – is to take the forts surrounding Toulon one by one and then attack the city walls. Now forgive me, General, but that sounds like it will cost many lives and take much longer.'

'A soldier must make hard decisions from time to time.' Carteaux shrugged. 'Perhaps a politician might find that difficult to understand.'

'Of course. But hard decisions are not necessarily the right decisions, General. Look at that assault on Mount Faron at the start of the month. How many men did we lose in that attack? And what did we gain? Nothing. And supposing you had succeeded, what then? The next two forts you would have to take, Malbousquet and LaMalgue, are much stronger. How many hundreds, or thousands of our men would be killed in such attacks?' Saliceti shook his head. 'We must concentrate our efforts on L'Eguillette.'

Carteaux's eyes bored into Saliceti for a moment and Napoleon watched as the general's jaw worked furiously beneath his thick moustache.Then he snorted with derision and gestured towards his artillery commander. 'God knows what you've been telling them behind my back, Buona Parte, but you're wrong.'

Napoleon felt his spine go cold with anxiety and fear. He had no intention of being caught between his army commander and the representatives of the Committee for Public Safety. 'Sir, I've not been disloyal. I've said nothing to prejudice them against you. I merely offered a tactical opinion. It is my judgement that we must take L'Eguillette, and I stand by that.'

'Your judgement…' Carteaux smiled mirthlessly. 'If you do have a plan for taking Toulon, I'm sure we'd all be delighted if you shared it with us.'

'I already have, sir. I sent it to your headquarters at the end of September.'

Carteaux pursed his lips for a moment before he responded. 'Be so good as to refresh my memory.'

'Very well, sir.' Napoleon glanced towards Saliceti and Freron. 'With your permission?'

Freron waved his hand impatiently. 'Carry on, Buona Parte.'

Easing himself up from his chair Napoleon stood beside the map and gestured at the large peninsula jutting out towards the port of Toulon. 'If we can establish a battery of twenty-four-pounders at the end of L'Eguillette they will cover the entire width of the channel. Better still, one of my officers has located a forty-four-pounder culverin, which should reach us by the end of the week. With that we can begin bombarding the shipping moored in the port itself.'

'And what use is this to us?' asked Carteaux.

'We have Toulon surrounded. Their only lifeline is the sea. At the moment, the sight of a fleet of Royal Navy warships in the harbour is what gives hope to the people in Toulon. The enemy can bring in more men and supplies at their whim. If we force the fleet out of the inner harbour then I believe their morale will collapse. General, you will be able to walk into the city without a shot being fired.' Napoleon paused to let his commander visualise the triumphant scene, and then he continued outlining his plan. 'But first we must take Fort Mulgrave. I'd like permission to construct some more batteries near to the fort.'

'How near?'