French Empire: But Napoleon IV

Chapter 87: Bank, Telegraph Office, Train Station, Next Corner for the Wood Strategy Target

Inside the gold mine, piles of gleaming gold bars and silver ingots stretched as far as the eye could see. Under the light of the kerosene lamps carried by the crowd, these precious metals shimmered with a dazzling light that made it hard to open one's eyes.

Senucci is surprising to those who have eaten or seen it, let alone those who haven't.

The workers following behind were even more astonished when they saw this scene, their mouths agape for a long time. Many of them exclaimed in surprise, as they had never seen so much gold in their lives.

Senucci looked at the mountain of gold before him and felt that it would all be his in the future.

Since it was his property, Senucci, who instantly developed a strong possessive desire, looked at the workers who were drooling over it and immediately assumed that they were all people who had embezzled his assets.

Senucci, who immediately felt a physical aversion to the vault, ordered that it be heavily guarded and that no one be allowed to enter without authorization.

Upon hearing Senucci's order, the workers didn't care. They didn't know what Senucci was thinking, but they certainly didn't intend to loot the gold.

Indeed, if the people of Paris had been greedy enough, they wouldn't have been so unaware of the need to seize the banks during the later Commune uprising.

Aside from banks and telegraph offices, the only other thing worth mentioning about Paris was its extensive network of train stations. The three corps of the Paris Legion had simply gone to the front lines, not died.

To prevent the three armies from returning to suppress them, the train station must be taken into control.

Therefore, another group of Republicans, led by the equally prominent radical Louis Brown, went to occupy various train stations in Paris.

This was a veteran leftist who had been in exile in Britain for a long time. After the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, Louis Brown saw an opportunity and rushed back, wanting to participate in the process of establishing the new government.

Gare du Gare de l'Est, Gare du Nord, Saint-Lazare train station... these usually bustling transportation hubs have all been taken over by armed workers.

At Louis Brown's request, workers armed themselves and dismantled parts of the railway tracks, blocked all platforms, and prohibited any trains from entering or leaving Paris.

At Gare du Nord in Paris, a train bound for Brussels was stopped by armed workers as soon as it pulled out of the platform.

The train driver tried to force his way through, but the armed workers fired a shot directly at the locomotive, shattering the driver's cab window and startling him into stopping the train.

"Everyone get off the bus and undergo inspection."

At Louis Brown's insistence, who was standing on the platform, passengers were frantically forced off the train. Among them were businessmen, diplomats, and nobles who were preparing to flee Paris.

Tonight, without exception, all of these people were subjected to a rigorous search by the workers' armed forces, who confiscated all their weapons and more than a thousand francs in cash.

A richly dressed countess attempted to use her status to intimidate Louis Brown, but was rejected. While the Republicans were cooperating with the two royalists, they showed no favor to the Bonapartist aristocracy.

It must be said that the Republican Party tonight was quite hypocritical. They turned a blind eye to the aristocracy of Orleans and Bourbon, leaving them completely untouched. But towards the Bonaparte aristocracy, they naturally dealt them a heavy blow.

"Everyone is equal before the Republic, and the Countess is no exception."

If Louis Brown had searched the baron standing nearby, a member of the Orleans faction, while saying this, his statement might have been more believable.

The countess, utterly humiliated, trembled with rage at Louis Brown's absurd words, but was powerless to do anything about it. In the end, she could only watch helplessly as the workers took away her jewelry and cash.

However, this was only a minor incident. After the Republicans occupied the various train stations, they took the initiative to cut off all land transportation between Paris and the outside world.

Now, the whole of Paris, except for the telegraph office which is still sending out their announcements, has become a veritable island.

At 10:20 p.m., after confirming all the important strongholds and settling things down, Blanqui led the main force to the City Hall Square.

At this time, the city hall was heavily guarded by the police, who used horse-drawn carriages, stones and sandbags to build temporary barricades in the square and set up multiple rifle firing positions.

Countless rifles were also protruding from the windows of the city hall. The city hall was guarded by the First Police Brigade, which consisted of more than 500 men, all of whom were elites carefully selected by Pietre.

"Mr. Blanqui, let's rush in."

Upon seeing Blanqui arrive, and after a prolonged siege without success, a somewhat impatient young worker leader eagerly offered suggestions to Blanqui.

"We have over 6,000 men, while they only have a few hundred police officers. We're sure we can take them down."

"Don't rush, I know you're all anxious, but I hope you won't rush."

Blanqui did not pay much attention to the demands of a young workers' leader, and simply looked at the barricades in front of the city hall.

The overall loyalty of the Paris police exceeded Blanqué's expectations; Eugène's financial offensive was indeed quite effective.

If a forced attack were to proceed, it was foreseeable that the Republicans would suffer considerable casualties. While Blanqui was fanatical, he still retained a degree of rationality; he knew that the current Republican workers' armed forces were incapable of fighting a tough battle.

If there are too many casualties, unforeseen changes could easily occur. Therefore, Blanqui, who appeared to be a radical but was actually more shrewd than anyone else, also issued the following instructions.

"First, try to persuade them to surrender."

Because of Blanqui's high prestige, the young, truly fanatical workers' leader could only suppress his temper and step aside.

A loud-voiced worker stepped forward and shouted at the city hall.

"Brothers, Napoleon has surrendered, the empire is finished. Stop serving Bonaparte. Lay down your weapons and join us; we are all citizens of France."

There was complete silence in the city hall; there was no response.

Blanqui frowned, but wasn't surprised at all. He looked at the loud-voiced worker beside him and told him to do it again.

"Say it again."

"Police officers, put down your weapons. We won't shoot our own people."

However, there was still no response, and even Blanqui's expression darkened.

"It seems they are determined to serve the empire. Let's prepare for the attack."

Blanqui still hoped to get the police to surrender. Outside the city, the two cavalry divisions that Eugène had left behind, which had remained silent, were like a Damocles' sword hanging over their heads.

Knowing that the workers' armed forces had their limits, Blanqui hoped to acquire as many professional military forces as possible in the early stages to counter the possible storms to come.

However, as things stand, without first expending some manpower and resources and giving them a taste of their own medicine, these elite resources inside will not be willing to submit.