Even until Napoleon left the wilderness and headed toward Grenoble, Huang Xuan did not pull the trigger.
It was not just that he was afraid of killing. It was that Napoleon, the Napoleon of La Mure, was the most charismatic commander in the history of mankind. He forced his enemies – who were much poorer than him in terms of skill – to surrender. Moreover, he did so without firing a single shot. Instead, he made use of pure charm and the victories he had accumulated over many years to intimidate them into surrendering.
This was the greatest praise and validation to Napoleon. The howling cheers, endless as the waves in the ocean, infected Huang Xuan.
Rolin did not resent Huang Xuan. Rather, he did not even know resentment. Instead, he retracted Huang Xuan’s gun and calmly said, “Since we’ve lost the chance, we can only return to Lyon.”
Huang Xuan was at a loss for words. Quietly, he climbed to his feet and said, “Rolin, must we… um… I mean, go against… hm… Napoleon? Maybe we can switch targets.”
“This is not up to us,” Rolin stated matter-of-factly. “We have already arrived here. We have no other choice unless we’re willing to waste the energy that we have consumed just to get here.”
“Maybe we can try doing other things, for example…”
“Like what?”
“Defeating Wellington?” Huang Xuan was referring to the Duke of Wellington, the commander of the Allied army in the Battle of Waterloo.
“We have no time to look for Wellington,” Rolin said solemnly.
“Then let’s think of another one—”
Huang Xuan was still racking his brains when Rolin interrupted, “Napoleon’s defeat is a sure thing. Even if he emerges victorious in the Battle of Waterloo, he will still be defeated by the Eighth or Ninth Coalition. If we allow Napoleon to build his European empire, then this plane will be destroyed. If that happens, everyone in the plane will perish.”
“Let’s go, we’ll head to Lyon,” without waiting for Huang Xuan to repeat himself, Rolin urged him to begin their journey back.
The small town that had just seen battle had not yet been completely put to death. Huang Xuan paid 30 francs in exchange for a rental oxcart. A brave, young, French man volunteered to ride the oxcart until they found a carriage or until they reached Lyon – whichever was earlier.
At Lyon City, MacDonald was working hard to gather his army, strategizing to defend themselves against Napoleon’s approaching troops. This was the second biggest city in France. King Louis XVIII had high expectations of him.
According to history, Napoleon would invest every gun and every bullet into taking Lyon down. Just as he firmly believed – there was no royal army in France; there was only Napoleon’s army, the King’s army, an army which spent 11 months under the white flag of the Bourbon Dynasty.
This was the last moment of glory for His Majesty the King.
Huang Xuan stealthily walked through the once prosperous streets of Lyon. The exiled nobles remained in exile, and the businessmen closed their shops. Most people welcomed His Majesty the King, but not everyone did.
In these nerve-wracking moments, nobody noticed the Asian. Rather, they were only slightly intrigued by Huang Xuan’s yellow skin and black pupils. He had already covered up his black hair and tried his best to look normal.
Walking down a small alley in Lyon, he felt like he was living in the Middle Ages. This was a people that was never lacking in creativity, just like China. Yet, the Gallic Roosters would always clash with ambitious commanders. What was interesting was that the most famous commanders were foreigners: Caesar, Octavius, or even Napoleon.
The places that were still open for business were mostly restaurants. French feasts first made their appearance during the time of King Louis XIII. King Louis XIV organized several cooking contests in the Palace of Versailles. The winners had their ribbons presented to them by the Queen. It was probable – just a probability – that the kissing of the Queen’s hand catalyzed the development of the French Cuisine. King Louis XVIII, the present Bourbon King, had a father and a grandfather who were passionate about delicacies. King Louis XVIII, himself, was probably too occupied with fleeing to enjoy the food in the Palace of Versailles. That was Napoleon’s privilege!
Huang Xuan paid 8 francs for a sumptuous breakfast, which would have cost him 1200 francs in 21st century Paris. In Beijing, the same breakfast would have cost him an equivalent of 8000 francs.
He walked the streets and pretended to drop a 50g biological bomb onto the ground
This was what Rolin had originally intended for as a last resort. If they had been so unfortunate as to arrive at a place with few people, or even a place with none, he was prepared to look for a volcano or a geologic fault to detonate all the directional bombs.
For this purpose, Rolin had brought a total of 50kg – equivalent to 80,000 tons and 3 times more than the atomic bomb that landed on Hiroshima. However, the atomic bomb was certainly more lethal. It mainly killed people through nuclear radiation and pollution. The bomb that Huang Xuan was holding was deserving of praise for its explosive power.
The biological bomb was the size of a traditional Chinese pill. It could automatically be absorbed into the ground if it were placed down carefully. It would then sink into the ground and degrade with time. In other words, if it were not detonated, the bomb could turn into nutrients in the soil in the foreseeable future.
Napoleon’s army had to pass by this street if they wanted to enter the city. Huang Xuan completed Rolin’s task in a trance. The governor himself remained silent throughout this process.
Napoleon’s army arrived at the city on 10th of March.
The Count of Artois, brother of the king, was guarding the city of Lyon. He bravely volunteered to be there. He wanted to invoke loyalty to the Bourbon Dynasty in the workers of Lyon, to influence them to block off Napoleon’s entry into the city. The ending was predictable.
Huang Xuan remained standing atop the peak of a mountain far away. He was about 4 km away from the battlefield, yet he could see everything clearly through the lens of his telescope.
The formation of the armies in the European battlefield of the 19th century was similar to that during China’s Spring and Autumn Warring States period. Not only were the soldiers in dense formations, but they also had to gather in a limited space because of the range of their weapons. Borodino was only a square of 5.6 km per side. At the Battle of Waterloo, which devastated both armies, 140,000 soldiers and over 400 canons from both armies similarly gathered in an area comparable to that of Borodino. The Allied Army led by Wellington was spread out across the ridge of Mont-Saint-Jean, which was about 3,200m wide. Huang Xuan had a bird’s eye view of everything as he stood on a peak nearby.
The only danger was that a certain commander might also have spotted the same peak. However, such a thing was not about to happen in Lyon.
MacDonald gave a speech before the array. He shouted until his voice seemed hoarse. Huang Xuan understood what he was saying with the help of Rolin’s lip-reading. This commander, who was headed for defeat, was announcing to his soldiers that once Napoleon emerged victorious, they would wage war with the rest of Europe.
The entire army remained silent. There was only dry silence.
This silence affected Huang Xuan. Despite initially looking forward to celebrating the defeat of MacDonald, he, too, turned quiet.
Napoleon Bonaparte appeared. He was standing under a three-coloured flag, wearing a three-coloured hat, and his officer coat was neat and tidy. His head was held high as if he had already won the battle.
“Huang Xuan, aim closely.”
He followed this instruction. Then, he quickly got up on his feet.
The battle was beginning.
MacDonald’s army howled, “Long live the King!” They shouted so that the entire city of Lyon could hear them. Holding their rifles up, they charged toward Napoleon’s army. Both armies quickly blurred into a torrent. The tiny Napoleon was quickly covered by adrenaline-filled soldiers.
Huang Xuan’s hand alternated between loosening and tightening its grip around the trigger. At last, he threw the MX109 to the side, sat on the grass and shouted, “Rolin, I can’t do it!”
“You have to do it!” Rolin sternly said, “If we return home without achieving anything, we will have to do everything again from the beginning. We might not be able to catch that traveler again. Huang Xuan, do you really want to give up? Give up on yourself? Give up on your grandfather?”
Huang Xuan’s face showed no expression. He picked up his rifle, knelt on the field, and said hazy-eyed, “Why do your words have to be so moving?”
“Plane Teaching, Lesson Number 3.”