Rubber, Revolutionaries, Republicans, and a Young Man Named Bonaparte.

[joho6411]

Ammunition Annex "Jacqueline" Fortress Issy South of Paris

March 20, 1871:

Time 11:30 AM

Colonel Terrault was besides himself with happiness, and why not? With 48,000 francs a man could go far. He was thinking of the little farm he would purchase with all of this money. He would retire to a quiet life with his wife down near the city of Dax.

He would purchase a villa or chateau near the L'Adour River, have some cattle, some sheep, some pigs, horses & vineyards. Yes vineyards indeed! He would retire & live in style. With that much money plus what he and his wife already had they would live comfortably. Even have servants as well. He smiled, he would make sure his servants were all young girls. A man could dream & with 48,000 francs, he could dream big.

As he sat there dreaming, he went into his cabinet & got out a glass and a bottle of wine to celebrate his good fortune. He kept drinking and contemplating how to get this heavy box, small trunk really, out & back to his house without garnering too much attention. He would wheel it out himself tonight during evening mess. With all the soldiers either on guard duty or eating, he could get away with it, he was certain.

He took another drink. He laughed as he thought of the ugly little Major who was taking all of this ammunition. He thought of him as a "Laid petit singe". He laughed, yes he was an ugly little monkey. The young Captain, he was certainly a tall man, very big in fact. It would not surprise him to learn that a man of his size was in fact a former Imperial Guardsman. He took another drink of wine.

He thought of all the things his wife would want to buy. He would have to hide some of this money from her! She would waste it on things like.....well he couldn't think right now but he knew she would waste it on foolish things like, oh, well, furniture or something like that. Things that they didn't need that's for sure. He poured more wine into the glass.

He thought he would want to have a blond & brunette maid servant running about the house. A great idea entered his mind. He would convince his wife to go shopping into town whenever she liked! He would stay home with the two young maids & "supervise" them. Yes it was a great plan. He looked at the clock on the wall, it read 12:10, just after lunch. He finished another glass.

He began to hum a tune, then another & another. He started to laugh. The Commander of Fort Vincennes would wonder where all the ammo went! It was here the other day now it has vanished! He reached out and began to glass another pour of wine.

He began to think about riding the train down to Bordeaux, then to Dax. Then to find a place to buy. It was a great dream. He emptied his glass and decided to wine another pour of glass. He felt his head starting to swim, actually it had been swimming for a while, he just now noticed it.

He began to sing again, he didn't know what song it was but he knew he was good at it. All of a sudden he began to call for his staff officers completely forgetting that he had sent them on a mission yesterday. They would not return until tomorrow evening.

"Major Bessette, come in here at once!" "Captain Gallet, I need you at once!" They didn't show up. They never would. Nobody entered his office. The Colonel didn't even try to stand up. He then cried out; "Sergeant Voynet where are you?!" He went on; "I demand an investigation into this sensitive situation....I need to know immediately....this information, right now gentlemen, ...I need to know right now gentlemen,....which one of you....pissed in my pants?"

 

[joho6411]

Ammunition Annex "Jacqueline" Fortress Issy South of Paris

March 20, 1871:

Time: 12:35


Major "Tardieu" had informed Captain "Moreau" that the wagons were all loaded, secured, lined up and ready for departure. Alfred Fishkin replied back to Comrade Le Porche; "That's excellent to hear Major it was completed much sooner than I had expected." Le Porche looked at Fishkin and said to him; "Are you prepared to complete the mission?"

Fishkin nodded yes to Le Porche. He secretly wished it could have taken 2 more or perhaps even 5 more hours. He was not looking forward to this, but he knew it had to be done. He had been playing with a knife he had found earlier while letting the time pass. He did his best to keep himself busy. He whittled on a piece of wood. He read & re-read 6 service manuals that were in the room. He noticed there were quite a few bottles of American whiskey on the shelves. He did what he could to keep his mind occupied. How he wished he had a small copy of Das Kapital to read.

He had inquired of Comrade Pleiseau that if he could get the money back from the man in question without having to kill him would that be within the mission parameters? Comrade Pleiseau had thought about that for a few seconds then replied with this answer; "I am prepared to say it could be possible but highly unlikely since the men to whom we are giving these small kings ransoms to will probably fight like demons to keep it. Moreover, if we let one of them live, once the Republican authorities have these men in custody for committing acts of treason, they will certainly tell all they know. So my answer is no, they must be killed & the money returned to us. Dead men tell no tales & they don't point fingers either."

Fishkin got up & headed out of the small supply room where he had been keeping sentinel for nearly 4 hours. He walked over to his 2 "Lieutenants" and told them to go down to the wagon trains & await further instructions. On leaving, the 2 "Lieutenants" had called over 4 soldiers who were part of the garrisons personnel to come with them. The underground corridor would be devoid of anybody in a few minutes except for Fishkin & Le Porche.

Le Porche looked at Fishkin. Le Porche checked his pocket watch, "12:45, Comrade", he whispered to Fishkin. Le Porche drew his LeMat. Fishkin slowly & deliberately pulled his Colt out of his holster. As he approached the door he could feel his heart pounding now. He could feel the perspiration under his armpits. His stomach felt like it had a cat and a dog chasing each other inside of him. He placed his hand upon the door knob and turned it.

****** ​

​

As Colonel Terrault sat behind his desk, he saw a vision of something wonderful. It appeared that he now had two bottles of wine on his desk. He decided to grab for the one on the left. He grabbed at it and missed it. He lunged again for it & missed.

"Damn Mirage!" he grumbled. He reached for the one on the right and only succeeded in knocking it over. It fell onto the floor and shattered. It had just missed the thick carpet. "Who is going to clean up that mess!" he said out loud.

As he looked up, he saw an amazing sight in his doorway. In the doorway stood a huge Giant! Standing alongside the Giant was an ugly little monkey! Terrault knew he was going to be entertained now! He was delighted beyond joy!

Then the friendly, gentle Giant pointed a bottle of wine towards him. He saw on his desk, two silver wine goblets, he reached for one but succeeded in knocking them both over. The bottle that the good Giant was holding was surely full he thought, after all, he could see the genial Giants' hand starting to quiver.

At this point, the ugly little monkey began to sing a song; "Twit, twit, twit, twit". Terrault started to smile, a talking, singing monkey! He was so ugly, he was funny! This was grand entertainment! Best of all, it was free!

******​

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As he stood there, Fishkin was trembling, his heart wanted to jump out of his throat, he could feel his legs quaking as well. He had his Colt pointed less than a foot away from this, drunken sot of a Colonels face. The drunken wretch reached for a silver candle stick holder but only knocked it over. This man he knew, couldn't fight for the small trunk at the left side of his desk. He couldn't even sit up straight in his chair.

This man, he thought, this man..... this,...this,....Colonel. He felt his hand starting to shake. To his right Le Porche began to hiss at him; "Do it, do it, do it, do it." The fat drunken Colonel began smiling. Fishkin was sweating from his brow now.

******​

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Terrault was smiling at the ugly little monkey who was starting to dance a little jig next to the Giant. The monkey made a shine at him & then sang again to his master; "Twit, twit, twit NOW!" Terrault began to laugh out loud.


Fishkins arm was starting to tire, he was breathing heavily. Le Porche stared at the Colonel and made a face. Then Fishkin heard him speak again; "Do it. Do it. DO IT NOW!" Fishkin saw the Colonel begin to laugh raucously; he saw his yellowish brown teeth and,....and,......he pulled the trigger.

In the split second of the deafening boom, Fishkin also noticed a pink mist envelope the room & at the same time, his nostrils detected a trinity of aromas all entwined with one another. He detected the pungent aroma of gunpowder, the iron smell of blood, & the stench of feces all at once.

He stood there breathing heavily, his arm still pointed at the Colonels lifeless body still sitting in his chair. Through the corner of his eye, he saw Le Porche dart as quick as a monkey to secure the trunk at the side of the Colonels desk. He quickly opened it to make sure everything was there, for he knew, that he would get no reprieve this time, either.

He stood there immobilized by what he had just done. He was still breathing heavily . Then Le Porche spoke up; "Comrade, Comrade Fishkin, lets go!" "Comrade! Quickly, Comrade Fishkin lets go!" Fishkin turned his head to his right but his legs didn't move.

As he began to move, he realized the stench of feces he smelled was emanating from his own pants. He had soiled himself! He slowly and stiffly began walking out the door. He turned 1 more time to look at the remains of the Colonel. The Colonel was still sitting there, his mouth still in the open position of laughter, and Fishkin noticed the corpse was pointing a finger at him! Le Porche was carrying the trunk by himself, how could that be! He was 10 feet ahead of him already.

Just then Fishkin yelled out to him; "Wait, Major Le Por-, Comrade! Wait!" He ran across the corridor into the supply room. At once he looked for the sharp knife he had used before. He grabbed a bottle of whiskey off the shelf & grabbed 3 or 4 rags.

He began to unbutton his trousers and then pulled them down to his knees. At that moment, Le Porche appeared and said out loud; "Comrade, Comrade, what-do-you-think-you-are-doing-at-a-time-like-this?" Fishkin looked at him and said nothing. He then took the knife and began to cut his underpants off.

At that point, Le Porche could see & smell the reason that Fishkin began to partially disrobe himself in this unorthodox fashion. He began to laugh, then his laugh turned into guffaws. He then said laughingly to Fishkin; "Comrade! You shit yourself! Ha, ha, ha, ha! Comrade Fish-, ha,ha,ha, oh, oh, ho,ho,ho. Comrade Shitkin, you Fished yourself! Fishkin, Shitkin stinky, stinky, Fishkin!" Fishkin ignored him for the moment he had more important things to think about.

As Le Porche continued his mocking laughter, Fishkin struggled to get the soiled underpants off without making more of a filthy mess than he had to. Much to his relief and thankful surprise, the mess was not as bad or even as large as he had thought, even so.

At this point, Fishkin threw away the first two rags he had used. Then he grabbed the bottle of whiskey and reaching around to his rear, he began to pour the whiskey onto his backside. This then was where Le Porches' laughter began to wear on Fishkin.

As Le Porche saw Fishkin pouring whiskey onto his rear end he commented; "Comrade, Comrade, I thought you didn't drink? No wonder you don't drink, you're not doing it the right way! Is that the way they teach you how to drink from a bottle in Germany? Here in France, when we drink from a bottle, we put it to the lips of our mouth, not to the lips of our ass! Please, Comrade, please, remind me not to drink from a cup that you use!" He began to laugh uncontrollably.

Enraged, Fishkin told him to; "Drop dead you miserable little," he thought of a good word, " you, you, Imbecile! Imbecile! IMBECILE!" Le Porche kept up the mocking laughter. Fishkin said to him ; "Get away from here or I'll kill you like I did him!"

Le Porche countered back, while still laughing, "You think so? Why? Is your ass still thirsty? Because you'll probably shit yourself some more! Make sure you have enough to drink left in that bottle so your ass can have a second round!" He continued his laughing at Fishkins predicament.

Fishkin cooled off for a second. He continued cleaning himself and then realized he was clean. He dried himself off with another rag then pulled up his trousers. He glared at Le Porche. That "Imbecile!"
As the years went by and both Comrades Le Porche & Fishkin progressed, Fishkin would always remember this man, Le Porche as "The Imbecile". Le Porche, he would make it his business not to forget anybody......ever.

They hurried out of the ammo bunker both carrying the heavy trunk to the awaiting wagons. Despite now having a mutual distrust & disdain for one another, they worked together when they had to for the benefit of the Commune. There would be few times in the future when they would actually work together but for now, they would still be "Comrades".

******

​

 

[joho6411]

Chapter 6

The Palace of Versailles, Versailles, France

March 24, 1871

Time: 3:30 PM


President Thiers sat & listened as his Generals carped amongst themselves & made accusations to one another over how these events took place right under their own noses & commands.

The news was not good. In the past 3 weeks, over 18 armories, 11 storage depots, 1 forts' "annex" had had their contents stolen by revolutionaries. Now, a wagon convoy that had been returned from the Germans as a sign of good will was missing.

The wagon train had over 80 wagons full of rifles; with approximately four to five hundred rifles in each wagon that totaled nearly 40,000 rifles now missing. As his Generals squawked at each other like hens, Thiers read the reports & noticed some unusual if not disquieting trends.

Of the 30 military installations, the Commander of each installation was either found shot at: 1) Close range in either the chest, face or head-17 of them; 2) Execution style against or near a wall-4 of them; 3) Shot in the back while appearing to be running away from their attacker-7 of them; 4) Missing/body not yet recovered-2 of them.

Thiers wondered what this all meant. More than half were shot at very close range and of those seventeen, eight of them were found still sitting at their desks, most peculiar. The most grievous problem that Thiers faced right now was all of the missing ammunition and the missing rifles. Luckily, so far the Communards had only succeeded in stealing around 35 cannon.


To add to the "fun", a few days earlier, the Communards had a "convention" of sorts. Louis Blanqui, the so called "Chairman", hence leader of the Paris Commune made a call to arms to his followers. From what Thiers' spies had told him, they had for the past few weeks been training people in the use of firearms. They were also training women to fight as well!

That made Thiers want to laugh. When these women fired those rifles for the first time, it would undoubtedly be the last time for most of them since most of them would quickly run away from the loud bang. He discounted that information as just silly. What was bothersome to him though was that in the past few days, several commanding officers of the National Guard had been "seized" and had their commands taken away from them.

The National Guard was experiencing mutinies against its senior officers as well as its senior NCO's. In a way that would be good for him, since the men who would rise up to take command would most likely be inexperienced Captains, Majors, or even mid level NCO's. Even better, maybe it would be inexperienced self appointed Communard "Field Marshals" who were assuming command now.

Also at the "Communards Ball" was something that Thiers could not ignore. Blanqui had publicly declared that they had stolen 6.5 billion francs from the National Treasury. First of all, Blanqui was a liar. Thiers knew from the accounts given him by his Finance Minister that the true amount was closer to 39 billion. Thiers wished they had only gotten 6.5 billion, he could live with that.

The problem was that if foreign ears had heard this tale spun by Blanqui, (and he was sure they would) he, that is France would be in great trouble. So far, Thiers' reaction was to ignore whatever these Communards said. If he addressed it, it would give them the attention that they want and need. So, he decided, to ignore their claims for now & suggest to the "press" to ignore anything that the Communards said as pure rubbish. He also decided to censor anything of a military nature during this time of crisis.

The second & more intractable problem was if his National Assembly members down in Bordeaux heard the reports about the Treasury and began to panic, then he faced real difficulties. His only hope was to censor the French Press. As for the foreign press, he could ignore them, for a while, but then just claim that their stories were fantasy and had no validity whatsoever.

Mr. St. Hillaire entered the room and came over to speak to President Thiers. He whispered to him; "Mr. President, still no sign of General Auguste." Thiers nodded and St. Hillaire left the chamber. Thiers continued reading additional reports ranging from the status of stores of food, to fodder for the horses, medical supplies, tentage, etc. His thoughts however, were never far from what was troubling him so, the truth was, France was broke.

******​

​

Thiers continued reading more reports. His mind was wandering now. He would be leaving for Reims day after tomorrow. He had to begin the preliminary negotiations that would be taking place in Frankfurt. Thiers of course, would not be going to Frankfurt, that was Minister Favres purview. He wondered what, if anything the Prussian delegation would have to say about the rumors of the theft of the French Treasury.

As General de Ladmirault began to speak about the plan for assaulting the Communards stronghold, Thiers' began to pay attention. As de Ladmirault began to discuss the planned operational details, General Mac Mahon began to interrupt him by reminding him that; "General, General, we must be careful since our ammunition reserves are much lower than normal; although I agree with your plan, we must take into consideration the ammunition supply."

Thiers then stated; "General de Ladmiraults idea is a worthy one, I think it would bring a quick victory for our side. However, I also agree with General Mac Mahons observation that our ammunition levels are not sufficient to carry out long range operations. What I do believe is that a slow squeezing of the Communards may be in order; this way we conserve ammunition yet we maintain the fight at a lower level of intensity."

Thiers continued, "Gentlemen, we need to, of course, end this, this, overgrown civil disturbance and in a timely manner, I will be looking forward to your reports on how this is to be accomplished and I need to know what your plans are as soon as possible."

As Thiers finished, he heard a commotion outside in the hallway. Mr. St. Hillaire then burst into the chamber. "Mr. President, forgive me, but we just received this important information." Thiers then said to him; "What is this important information Mr. St. Hillaire?"

Mr. St. Hillaire then produced several newspapers. 4 of them were French newspapers, another 1 was from Charleroi, 2 were printed in German, and 3 more were printed in English. Thiers' heart sank, particularly when he saw the British newspapers.

He knew he could easily dismiss the foreign press releases. But would the bankers in London easily dismiss the reports? One of the German papers was from Basel, if it was newsworthy in Basel, it had to be newsworthy in Zurich, his shoulders sank at seeing that one. His Generals began to read the papers that were now laid out upon the table.

Thiers sat down in his chair. His Generals began to debate amongst themselves. Thiers sat there, thinking, thinking, what to do? What to tell the men standing in this room right now? He stood up, pounded his fist on the table and said; "Gentlemen, we need to immediately implement General de Ladmiraults' plan of an aggressive assault into central Paris; we need to snuff out these Communards in one swift stroke before this group can spread outside of Paris like a pox."

General Mac Mahon then spoke. "Mr. President our supply of ammunition is critically low & you yourself understand the gravity of the situation; without reserves of ammunition, we cannot maintain a long assault on Central Paris." Thiers replied, "That is exactly why, General Mac Mahon, we must succeed quickly. More importantly General Mac Mahon our supplies of money are low as indicated by these newspaper reports."

The Generals looked in stunned silence. Now they knew the truth that Thiers & only a few others knew, France was indeed bankrupt. One of the Generals asked how would the troops be paid if there was no money? Thiers explained that although the Treasury was empty, they still had the ability to print money.

Thiers remarked; " As President of France I can and will order Mr. Buffet to have banknotes printed. This is how we will solve this problem for the time being. What matters is stopping the revolutionaries from gaining any momentum." At this, General Mac Mahon spoke up; "Mr. Thiers, may I remind you, you are not the President of France; you are in fact the Chief of the Government of National Defense. I don't believe that you can arbitrarily make proclamations or give...." Thiers then countered.

"General Mac Mahon, I am in a position to stop this uprising in Paris. No matter what my title may be, I am in fact the de facto leader of France. And I will do everything within my ability to fight the Commune & raise funds by any means I can think of. And I will direct Mr. Buffet to print paper money as soon as possible. Gentlemen we must end this quickly, this is like a fire, if we don't put it out quickly it will become a conflagration that will become to big to put out and it will spread. What I am trying to prevent gentlemen," he looked directly at General Mac Mahon, " is a civil war. Because, unchecked gentlemen, that is what this will lead to....I believe it in my heart with the deepest conviction. We either beat them now, here, in Paris, or the fire spreads and then may God help us."

Thiers knew Mac Mahon was technically correct but he had to do something & worry about the consequences later. He then ordered his Generals to prepare their divisions to drive the Communards out of Paris. He wanted the offensive to begin as soon as possible. He also wondered, "Where is General Auguste?"

 

[joho6411]

Chapter 7​

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#27 Rue des Prairies 20e Arrondissement Paris.

March 24, 1871

Time: 4:00 PM


Chairman Blanqui read the reports that had grown on the top of desk. He read them and was pleased by the reports of progress being made. His forces were growing at a steady rate. He read the reports of the rifle training that was being undertaken throughout the city (mostly in cellars) and in certain areas East of Paris.

His forces were....slowly making progress. He knew that most of his soldiers were untrained city people but they would have to do. He had already designated comrades with military experience to conduct the training of these new recruits.

He had most of the National Guard already under his banner. Their experience as well as actual performance was a mixed result so far, some good, some not so good. His military cadre was dividing his forces into battalions, approximately 450-600 soldiers. They were to be named the: "Peoples Militia". The militia would be made along existing military structures. From the bottom to top it would go from: Platoons, Companies, Battalions/"Peoples Militias", Regiments, Brigades, Divisions, Corps, and finally Army level.


He was impressed by the level of enthusiasm most Parisians exhibited in taken part in the building of not only the "Peoples Militia", but also, in their level of participation in building barricades, filling sandbags, preparing buildings to being able to withstand assaults it was quite an undertaking.

Weapons as well as ammunition were being transported to expected avenues of assault by Thiers' reactionary army. Food & medical supplies were being pre-positioned as well. His 2 top military commanders, Comrade O. Jean Landreaux and Comrade Emil Pleiseau had reported to him that the training & equipping of these new recruits would be completed by the end of April.

So long as the reactionaries don't attack before 10 April, they had informed him, we would be able to repulse them along any avenue of approach. Before the 10th, they could breakthrough and more importantly, the rifle training as well as basic soldiering of following orders, relaying commands, and military discipline will not have taken hold deep enough yet to keep many from fleeing during their first engagement with the enemy.

Comrade Landreaux also stated that despite all the training and learning how to shoot, the "Peoples Militia" really won't learn how to ''soldier'' until after their baptism of fire, after that it will come easy to those who survive it. Comrade Pleiseau was also responsible for making what he called "Defensive-Offensive" tactics. Blanqui did not have time to listen to the details at that point but he approved the requisition of some 15,000 picks and shovels requested by Pleiseau just the same.

He made preparations for legislative decrees to alleviate some of the privations that the citizens of Paris had been enduring since the siege began back in September. He made preparations to begin distributing food & any medical care for any and all citizens who needed it. Plans were made to organize citizens on labor projects as well; although most of the labor projects now underway were of course to prepare the city to withstand another brutal military assault.

​

******
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Adolphe Thiers office, Palace of Versailles

Time: 8:45 PM


Thiers sat pensively, waiting for any information on the whereabouts of General Auguste & his patrol. He had ordered General Auguste to conduct a scouting patrol around the perimeter of Paris. He wanted to know what was going on North, East, and Northwest of the city.

He had sent General Auguste on the patrol 4 days ago; he was expected back earlier today. Thiers needed his information. He had hoped to have it and General Auguste present at his meeting with his Generals earlier today.

There was a small knock on the door. "Entrez" said Thiers. His young aide Robert entered the room. "Yes Robert what is it?" Robert answered; "Mr. President, a dispatch rider has brought information from General Augustes' column."

Thiers had Robert bring it to him and he opened it up with trepidation, he could not remember the last time he actually opened up a letter or telegram that contained good news. He opened it up and read the following:
​

To President Thiers; Be advised. The column has completed the circuit around city. We should reach Versailles before your departure with Prussian representatives. Have observed construction going on throughout city environs. Hastily built fortifications being made from earth, stone, wood and other forms of detritus. Have observed & heard small arms fire taking place. Believe this to be from groups training with weapons, not in conflict with friendly troops or us. Have noted wagon trains heading into the city from the Northeast & North. Took notice of civilians, nearly all female, engaged in building defenses instead of men. Have noted "curious" looking mounds of earth, not the same color as the surrounding soil. Have noted smoke rising from all chimneys as well as smoke rising from unknown and unobservable sources. Had brief skirmish with enemy near the village of Goussainville. Took no casualties, pursued enemy but was unable to re-establish contact with them. Now approaching village of Les Mureaux, time is; 2:00 pm, March 24, 1871. Your Most Ob't Servant General Gaston Alexandre Auguste​

​

Thiers put down the letter. At least it wasn't bad news like usual. He took a deep,thankful breath. He trusted this General Auguste. At least he did not make excuses or complaints as his other Generals were wont to do.

Thiers noted that when he sent out this man, Auguste, he did what he was sent to do. Thiers thought deeply for a moment. Then he made a big smile, he made up his mind. He reached for the bell on his desk & rang it.

Robert came in. Thiers said to him; "Robert, I feel like celebrating, I would like some coffee please & when you return, bring some paper and something to write with. I am going to have you write out an order changing my choice of Field Commander from General Mac Mahon to General Auguste."

Robert nodded & said; "Mr. President, General Mac Mahon, he may, he is a Marshal is he not?" Thiers smiled and replied; "Yes Robert he is a Marshal, so it will be better for him to understand my reasoning; if he is unhappy with my decision of field commander, he can of course resign. What sort of employment he will then find well, that is his problem."

Robert then left to get the coffee & writing paper. Thiers sat and pondered, let General Mac Mahon understand who is really in charge in France.

*** ​

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​

Time: Unknown Place: Unknown


He kept digging. He filled his wheelbarrow & another was brought to replace it. He kept digging. Occasionally someone would bring him some water.

He kept digging. The flicker of the torch behind him was not too bright but it was bright enough for him to see.
He kept digging. They put up shoring all around him to prevent collapses. He kept digging.

He looked to his comrade, Jean-Claude. Jean-Claude nodded, it was his turn to take over now. He needed a rest. He had been digging for around an hour or so he reckoned.

He thought, they had made astounding progress. He did not know how far they had gone but he knew it had to be far. He lost count of wheelbarrows after forty.

He liked the commander of this mission. He was different from most men he had ever worked for or served in the Army. This man not only gave directions, he would actually come down and pick up a shovel & dig. He saw him move wheelbarrows as well.

Under his leadership, they had made about five or six "breakthroughs". He was told these were crucial to the strategy that was to be employed by Comrade General Pleiseau.

He remembered when his commander came down & not only spoke to his group, but worked alongside of them. This was a Man!
He remembered that not only was he strong, he seemed older than the rest of the men.

Despite his age, he worked harder than most men half his age. He recalled this mans name was Rene. Yes Rene Dumond, that was it. He told us that Comrade Chairman Blanqui himself had handed him his weapon, his "key" to bring about Fraternity & Socialism. Yes, he was a powerful worker and an inspiring commander, Comrade Dumond.

About 30 yards away from his own excavating "face" he heard a voice shout out; "Breakthrough! Breakthrough! Another breakthrough!" That was 7 now. He got up, Jean-Claude was already heading that way as were the other 8 men in his sapper* squad. They had more digging to do.




*Combat Engineers

******
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[joho6411]

Chapter 8

March 29, 1871: The road from Reims returning to Paris

Time: 1:00 PM


President Thiers sat in his coach as it made its way back to Versailles. It was a comfortable ride back. It would be much more comfortable than his meeting with the Prussian delegation had been. This meeting was just a preliminary before talks began in earnest in Frankfurt.

After a few pleasantries, the Prussians got right down to the question at hand. A hand that Thiers unfortunately held and wished he could get rid of. The issue was that his government was in breech of the Armistice that he and Minister Favre had signed, the government of France had not paid even as much as 1 franc to the German Empire. They were starting to default, already!

Minister Favre had asked if the Kaisers Government would accept banknotes in lieu of gold or silver. The Prussian, no the German delegates had said that that would no longer be acceptable due to recent developments.

Thiers had charged right back; "Money is money! What difference is it to you whether we pay in gold, silver, or paper; we are good for it!" The German representative coolly responded back; "Mr. President, yes money is money, but your money is seen as suspect now & it is highly likely that you cannot pay in gold nor silver because apparently you have none."

Thiers looked him in the eye and replied back; "We have a sufficiency and a reserve of currency that as of this moment is prioritized for suppressing this minor civil disturbance now occurring in Paris." He continued; "You sir, should not believe the newspaper reports that have as their source a man who is liar & a charlatan." The German representative countered back; "President Thiers, the 'disturbances' as you refer to them are of little concern to us since they are within your country and not ours."

He continued, "What is at issue Mr. President is your country's inability to pay the pre-agreed amount of indemnity owed to the German Empire." The German representative then stuck a jagged barb that Thiers could not avoid missing; "I cannot believe that if our homeland had been invaded, I cannot imagine our Kaiser or the Chancellor being driven out of our country by an unruly mob of citizens in Berlin; and furthermore, if such a thing, could happen," he smiled, "Our Imperial Guards would have dispersed the mob and returned both our Kaiser and the Chancellor to the Palace within 1 week."

Thiers bristled at the German representatives.....insulting and very crude remarks. He began to feel a visceral dislike for him; partially because of his crude disrespectful way of speaking to him and the uncomfortable, disquieting feeling that, perhaps the German representative was correct.....especially about the second part of his assertion.

Thiers tried not to think of the rest of the meetings, they had gone downhill from there. Foreign Minister Favre now had to handle the situation as it developed and he had to stall! That's what Thiers had told him, stall as much as possible until we can print enough money to placate them for a while.

He also knew that the Germans would not budge 1 inch from French soil until the indemnity had been paid. Once payments were made, the Germans might begin to evacuate areas that they had originally agreed to leave. That was before France began to default on payments. Defaulting, before the first one was even made! This was a uniquely French tragedy.

He would be conferring with his Generals tomorrow. He wanted to know what their plans were and was hopeful that they would be planning their assault very soon. He would also declare his choice for Field Commander. He wondered if his Generals would be as crude as the German representative was.

******
​

 

[joho6411]

March 29, 1871: Hotel D'Abbeville 11e Arrondissement Paris


Time: 1:30 PM

Chairman Blanqui looked over his reports. He noted that according to them that the training of the new recruits was progressing smoothly. The only discernible problem so far was the training and re-supplying of his cannon crews.

They were short on artillery rounds and powder charges. Although they had enough for fighting & defending against the Reactionaries forces, they did not have enough for training purposes. His cannon crews needed practice in order to learn how to use these machines of war.

They could go through the motions without actually firing them, but the crews had to get used to the sounds, smells, and their own reactions while firing live ordnance. The best alternative, if possible, was to find as many experienced cannon crewmen as possible and put them on as many cannons as possible. It would be a daunting task. His reports stated that they now had 203 cannons of various types. They would make do, they would have to.

Blanqui was preparing on another front now as well. He was waiting for all the news to circulate & settle throughout the Capitals of Europe. Mainly his concern was how the news would be received in Berlin. He had made preparations for this over a week before and had begun to implement his next strategic move.

On the 21st of March, he had sent negotiators to the German delegates meeting in Reims with the Thiers government with regards to the Peace Conference to be held in Frankfurt. They had been rebuffed by the Germans as being representative of no legitimate government & nothing more than a group of gangsters who had taken temporary control of Paris.

Blanqui had anticipated this. On the 25th of March, he sent a second delegation, (even before the first had returned) this time with them, they had 4 wagons. These wagons carried 150 million francs in both silver and gold bullion. Not surprisingly, the Germans gave them an audience and met with his representatives for over 5 hours.

They had laid out their plans to the German delegation they were: 1) In light of the fact that the Thiers regime was unable to pay the financial indemnity, The Commune would begin paying it instead. 2) Since the Thiers government was financially insolvent, the Kaisers Government should be willing to accept payment from The Commune and the Commune would respect both the Armistice agreement and all demands made by Chancellor Bismarck. 3) In accepting payment from The Commune, the German Government should acknowledge The Commune as the legitimate government of France. 4) By accepting payment from The Commune, the German Government should publicly announce whose government in fact was paying the indemnity. 5) If the German Government was willing to do this, particularly item number four, The Commune would pay the entire indemnity no later than September 30, 1871; additionally, the German Government should make its announcement when half of the indemnity (2.5 billion francs) was received by them. 6) If The Commune had in fact delivered the said amount, 2.5 billion francs, & the German Government made no attempt to acknowledge where the funding came from in public, The Commune would suspend any and all further payments. 7) The Kaisers Government should allow the Thiers regime to stall and delay as much as possible & keep the negotiations from moving forward; moreover, the Kaisers Government should invite representatives of The Commune to the Frankfurt Conference and conduct the peace treaty with The Communes representatives. 8) The Kaisers Government should immediately suspend the release of all remaining French prisoners until the Thiers regime begins to pay the indemnity.

Yesterday, they began to return back to Paris. He expected them back late tonight or early tomorrow morning. He already had plans to send another delegation to the Germans only this time they would be traveling in 14 wagons carrying with them 350 million francs in both silver & gold bullion. That would bring the total amount up to 500 million francs paid and 4.5 billion remaining.

******
​

 

[joho6411]

March 30, 1871 The Palace of Versailles


Time: 11:15 AM


President Thiers had his Generals all sitting before him. He had decided to listen to their briefing first on how and when they planned their assault into Paris. Afterwords, he would let them know of his decision to appoint General Auguste as his choice for Field Commander of the operation.

Thiers' sat at the head of the table; directly to his rear was Mr. St-Hillaire his secretary & Minister of War General Le Flo; from his left and circling the table were as follows: General Mac Mahon, General Trochu, General Faidherbe, General Ducrot, General de Ladmirault, General Clinchant, General Felix Douay, General Paladines and then finally General Auguste. Only a few other Generals were absent at this time.

General Mac Mahon gave the initial briefing. He explained the 3 prong attack plan that had been selected to try to dislodge & break the Communard forces quickly. General Mac Mahon explained that casualties on both sides would undoubtedly be heavier than expected due to the close quarters combat that would be taking place.

Generals Trochu, Clinchant & Douay concurred by nodding. General Mac Mahon also explained that French Army had enough small arms ammunition for an assault & follow up operation that would be able to last no more than 7 weeks, perhaps 9 weeks at the most. At this point Minister of War, General Le Flo stood up to announce some good news.

"Mr. President, gentlemen, we have been able to secure orders and will be receiving additional supplies of ammunition from several sources. They will be going into production by the end of April. They expect to be in full production by mid-June. This may, in fact alter your timetables & expectations since there will be a sufficient supply of ammunition by early Summer."

A huge collective sigh of relief went through the room. President Thiers smiled, but said nothing. General Mac Mahon went on at length for about 45 minutes going into small detail of where & which units would be assaulting what positions.

General Paladines, the Commander of the National Guard was without a command at this point since his staff & many junior officers were under "arrest" by the Communards. Nearly all of the National Guards units in Paris had mutinied and were under the command of mid level NCO's, a few Captains but mostly they were under the command of Communard...."Toadies".

General Paladine then made clear that he had no command at this time & would happily accept any position offered to him in helping to subdue the Commune. President Thiers smiled & nodded so that General Paladines could see he had heard his offer.

General Trochu & General Clinchant made their briefings and each went on for about 25 minutes each. They essentially went into a bit more detail on their parts of the assault. After the briefing was over, President Thiers only had one demand; his demand was when?

All of his generals looked at General Mac Mahon for the answer. General Mac Mahon cleared his throat and replied; "No sooner than the 3rd of May. We haven't the sufficient amount of troops or requisite ammunition. Many troops have been furloughed by the Germans and it will take 2-3 weeks for those troops to return & be re-equipped by then."

Thiers shook his head and said; "General, that is not soon enough, you have make it sooner. We need a victory, you need a victory,.." he pointed to his assembled generals, "....France needs a victory and I need a victory. We have gone too long without one, so the sooner the better."

General Mac Mahon would not be deterred; "Mr. President, if you push forward this timetable, you may in fact ensure that, none of us in this room gets to enjoy a victory." Thiers counter thrusted; "General Mac Mahon, we will have the victory and we must have a victory,a total victory over these revolutionaries. After all, they are nothing more than an untrained rabble with access to a large amount of weaponry that they can't very well employ."

General Mac Mahon made one more stab; "Mr. President, if you send in our troops anytime before the 3rd of May, we will have nearly one quarter of them charging ahead with nothing but bayonets and bravery. It would be a slaughter against us Mr. President. I do not want to lead a suicidal charge against those defenses unless we are totally prepared and equipped. I would rather in that case, be left in overall command and not in field command."

Thiers kept his smile to himself. Mac Mahon had walked right into his trap and set it with his own mouth. He nodded to Mac Mahon and then stated: "In light of what General Mac Mahon has just said & after listening to your briefings gentlemen, I have decided to name my Field commander for this operation. I am naming General Auguste to the position of Field Commander. General Mac Mahon will be overall commander, but on the ground, General Auguste is in charge."

They sat in stunned silence. "Auguste?" "Auguste?" "He was the youngest general in the entire French Army!" "How could Thiers kick Mac Mahon "upstairs" so to speak?" General Auguste as Field Commander? It was Thiers' decision and Mac Mahon had set himself up for this unwanted "promotion".

Thiers looked at the clock on the wall, it was 1:40 PM, he stood up, all his Generals stood and quietly left the room. Thiers smiled to himself & thought; "Mac Mahon now knows who he works for and more importantly, all the other Generals see that he knows it. General Auguste, when I give him an order he does it. That's what I need, a man of action not debate." Thiers checked a calendar, he looked at it and said to himself,"Let us see how long before General Auguste begins the operation."

******
​

 

[Falastur]

Aha. It's just starting to get interesting. Looking forward to when the fighting starts, and to whether the discussions between the Commune and Germany will make any differences to the text of the peace treaty.

I wonder also whether you're planning to have socialism spread around more than just France, or whether your references to the Internationalists being a minority indicates that this is just the history of a socialist France with the rest of the world kind of "as was". Don't feel obliged to tell me or drop hints, though. I'm perfectly happy to just wait for the plot to reveal itself

 

[joho6411]

April 5, 1871 Headquarters Imperial German Peace Delegation Reims, France


Time: 1:00 PM


He sat under guard in his wagon. He did not mind this time. It was comfortable and he knew the Germans were guarding the contents of his wagon more than they were pointing towards him. The entire wagon train was here 14 wagons along with 2 extra wagons and 4 carriages that carried the delegates along with their staffs and their sundry equipment.

He had been here now for about 4 hours. He was getting more than a bit hungry, he hoped the Germans would see to feeding them, he thought to himself, "they could certainly afford to." As he was lost in his thoughts all of a sudden, one of the delegates came out along with his German counterpart.

"Comrade, get up, lets go, lets go, we will need you now." Fishkin stood up and climbed off the wagon. "He said; "What about the wagons?" The Commune Representative coolly replied; "Don't worry they are now the property of the Germans." Fishkin looked at him; "What about our horses?" The representative answered him; 'After the Germans remove all the bags of coins from your wagon & the gold from the others, they will return the wagons to us, but for now, we are to vacate the area while they do that so come on!"

Fishkin noticed all of the other teamster drivers making their way towards a lovely Chateau. He was told to follow the representative into the smaller wooden building that he had been parked in front of. The representative told him not to use any names and did not tell him his name. The man said; "We need you to be present so you can eavesdrop in plain sight."

Fishkin understood, he was to make an appearance as "bodyguard" of sorts due to his physical size. In reality, he was there to listen to what the Germans said and keep mental notes of it. He thought it strange that none of the representatives of the Commune could speak or understand German. All of the translators were German men who could understand French however.

His mind started to wander, may this have had something to do with the premature collapse of France? Was it a ''social defect''? Was it in the character of each respective people? The Germans had men who could understand French yet the French had no one to speak German? This was most perplexing.

******

Fishkin was happy. He was lying down to sleep in a very comfortable bed, he knew he would get a good nights rest. He would actually get about 2 more good nights rest. They would be leaving in a few days for Paris. He was also full, the Germans had provided a very heavy & quite filling meal. They would also be offered a sumptuous fruhstuck* in the morning.

His mission was to listen in on what the Germans had said when they thought their French counterparts could not understand. Even still, Fishkin was scheduled to be leaving with the rest of the wagon convoy on the 9th; he was looking forward to returning to Paris.

What Fishkin did not know of course is the list of conditions that Chairman Blanqui had set down in regards to payment of the indemnity and the condition of Germany acknowledging, in public, who was paying the indemnity. As Fishkin laid himself to sleep, 2 riders were being dispatched back to Paris to convey to Chairman Blanqui the rather quick decision that the Germans had made in regards to The Communes' (his, really) new offer.

******
​

​

* Breakfast

 

[joho6411]

April 8, 1871: Hotel St. Marie 11e Arrondissement Paris, France


Time: 3:15 PM


Blanqui had to move fast now. He was very excited & determined. To his surprise, the Germans had responded to his new set of "conditions" rather quickly. He did not want the Thiers Regime to somehow snatch away what was amounting to a huge victory before the first shots had been fired.

His sources in the French Army had said that an attack on the city was scheduled for the 10th of April. Reportedly, Thiers had sacked Mac Mahon, put him as his "Supreme Commander" back in the rear with the gear; & replaced him with a younger & much more abler General. He still didn't know who though yet.

The German Government had agreed "In principle" with most of the new arrangement. The only sticking point was point #3. That of recognizing The Commune as the Official Government of France. The Germans stated unequivocally that they could not & would not recognize The Commune as the legitimate government of France at this time.

They still had diplomatic relations with Adolphe Thiers' government. As for when or even if The German Empire was to recognize The Commune; it could only be determined by actions taken by The Commune to make itself look like the only viable entity in France. Blanqui understood the implied message.

That one was a big gamble on Blanqui's part. He threw that in with the hope that they just might go for it especially since each time a Communard wagon train pulled up, the Imperial Treasury of Germany got richer.

Another victory for him was that the Germans agreed, secretly, to suspend releasing anymore French prisoners as of April 12th. They would continue to "bargain & parry" with Thiers' representatives and lead them on as per the agreement made with the Commune.

Adding to the good news was that as of midnight tonight, The Kaisers Government would accept the representatives of The Commune as legitimate diplomats and would invite them to Frankfurt to participate in the Peace Conference as a separate delegation & not as part of the total French delegation.

As for old Adolphe's representatives, they would also go to Frankfurt under the impression that they were the only French delegates that were there. The Germans would not even hint at the existence of the Communard delegation. The Germans also said that once the 2.5 billion was delivered to them, that within 1 week they would announce to the Worlds' Press that the indemnity was being paid by the Communards of France.

Blanqui smiled as he thought; "It's amazing how at first you are just a gangster who took over a city 1 day & the next day, after you have turned over 500 million francs you have some respect." He still smiled as he thought; and, of course why not; "After all, with 34 billion francs, a nation could go far."

******
​

He grunted as he moved the heavy stones. He pushed them out of the way. He picked up his shovel and started digging again. Word had come down, they had to dig faster and move further along. An attack was expected from the reactionary army.

He thought for a moment, at least while he was digging and moving earth, he was free from being hit by a sniper. A cannon ball, well...... Another hazard of his mission was cave-ins. Although none had happened, yet, it was a possible danger. He kept digging.

Others, he knew were busy constructing walls and barricades to connect buildings and blockade streets. That would slow down the forces of reaction. Buildings were being fortified, sandbags were being put around windows and doorways. The old, infirm, and very young were being led to cellars and underground shelters to avoid being injured or killed. That was good, that was Blanqui, that was The Commune.

The Commune cared for its citizens. They were providing food & medical treatment to all, not just members of the Militia but all. It was what Fraternity was all about. He kept digging. When the work of all his comrades, all of them over 10,000 or so he thought it was, was completed, Comrade Pleiseau would implement his grand strategy, his "Defensive-Offensive".

He didn't know exactly what it meant or how it would work, but he was convinced. After all, we are all each others Comrades now; all Communards, and we care for one another. He kept digging.

 

[joho6411]

Chapter 9

April 10, 1871: 15e Arrondissiment Southern Paris


Time: 5:12 AM


He jumped up in the darkness, his wife was moving with him. They ran to collect the children. They were going to go into the cellar. It would be safe there, they hoped. As they went into the cellar, he remembered to bring the lantern; no telling how long they might have to remain there.

He held his wife and his three children. They were waiting for the next boom. He was certain it would come again, then another & another. He could hear his wife starting to pray. His oldest, Pierre, joined with her. He looked up into the blackness of the cellar. Although he could not see the floor above him, he hoped it would be strong enough to withstand any debris that may land on it. He prayed too.

******
​

Fortress Issy Southwest of Paris


Time: 5:13 AM



Lieutenant Boulon gave the co-ordinates. Sgt. Landry began along with the crew to prepare the gun for firing. They rammed the projectile down the muzzle. Sgt. Landry lit the fuse. As they began to turn their heads & cover their ears, Captain Leladier came running up. "No, no, no!" Why are you firing? Who gave the order to you Lieutentant Boulon?"

Lt. Boulon turned to see the Battery Commander, at the same moment the cannon fired. He stood at attention, saluted and replied; "Captain Leladier, sir we heard the other gun, #3 had fired so I thought we should continue, I thought the barrage had..." Captain Leladier glared at him; "Lt. Boulon, there was no order to fire. What we have here was a trigger happy gun crew firing without orders."

It had been a misfire by an over anxious cannon crew & its' young Lieutenants over confidence. The anticipated assault scheduled for the 10th of April had been postponed. The postponement was ordered by the new Field Commander of the French Army: General Gaston Alexandre Auguste, the Marquis de Galliffet.

******

​

Palace of Versailles

6:45 AM


As President Thiers walked to his office, he was briefed in regards to the 2 loud booms that had prematurely woken Paris earlier this morning. He had been under the impression that despite his misgivings, General Auguste had decided to wait and go along with the timetable originally put forth by General Mac Mahon.

He thought when he was awoken, that General Auguste had changed his mind & went with his original desired start date for the assault onto Paris. He had many problems to face today. Nearly 45,000 of his soldiers had no weapons.

He would be meeting with Finance Minister Buffet to confer & see how the printing of the "emergency" currency was going along. After that, he had a meeting with Mr. Picard his Minister of the Interior. Then he would have lunch with Minister of War, General Le Flo. Busy day today, busy, busy, busy.

******
​

18e Arrondissement North Central Paris


7:15 AM Enroute to #54 Avenue de Lattier


Blanqui looked at the papers & reports in his carriage. He read them with great interest. General O. J. Landreaux reported that the training of the "Peoples Militia" was still continuing at a good pace. Another week or two, then they may be able to withstand the first assault of the Reactionary Armies without too many of them running away in a panic. Blanqui wondered what the "O" in General Landreaux's name stood for, he knew "J" was for Jean, oh well it was of little import.

General Pleiseau's report was especially glowing. He had stated that his preparations against the assault were nearly complete. 95% of all the proposed barricades had been set up, the connections between the buildings were almost completed as well.

His (Pleiseau's) defensive redoubts that had been constructed throughout the city were almost all completed as well. Blanqui stopped for a moment & sighed; "Thank goodness the Reactionaries did not begin their assault today as had been expected. Now by their inaction, they have made it that much easier for us to defend ourselves and repel them when they finally do attack."

He was about to read the important & strategic part of Pleiseau's "Defensive-Offensive" operation which he had not really read in detail about previously when all of a sudden two gunshots ripped through his carriages' side door.

He looked and saw no holes in his door! How was that possible? He ran his hand down the side of the door and could feel two large lumps on the door. He thought to himself; "Perhaps Comrade General Pleiseau's security teams had placed sheets of steel inside the doors?"

Then he smiled and said aloud to himself; "Those English & their wonderful inventions. How fortunate that someone had thought to put plates of steel in this carriage for my protection." He was determined that whatever the cost, when the Reactionaries were overthrown, France would dedicate itself to building steel factories like the English, the Germans,the Belgians, and good grief, even the Swiss were making their own steel now. France, his France, under the Red Banner of Socialism & Fraternity would become a more industrialized nation than it had been, he was dedicated to the idea now.

His driver put the horses into a full gallop. His four Cavalry escorts began to fire back. He had just survived an assassination attempt. He was getting very experienced at this. This was the fourth, and it was the second one this month. Thiers must be getting nervous. In a matter of minutes he would be at his new "temporary home". He was happy to be here at any rate even if it was only temporary.

******

April 16,1871: Palace of Versailles


Time: 11:20 AM

President Thiers had just returned to his office. General Auguste was still waiting. They had been discussing the upcoming operations. As he re-entered the room, General Auguste began to stand. Thiers waved his hand; "Not necessary General stay seated."

Thiers then inquired of General Auguste; "When do you plan on mounting the offensive General?" General Auguste answered; "Mr. President I intend to conduct a full scale assault commencing on the 30th of this month; we will have by then augmented with troops from Aquitaine, Brittany, and those forces in the Loire Valley. We will then have an overwhelming force to overcome the Communards."

Thiers made a sour face at that for a moment. He thought what to say, he wanted a full scale assault now or even better yesterday! He then looked at General Auguste & said; "General, I was adamant upon launching the assault over a week ago. However, considering the situation regarding ammunition stocks, I can only say that I have come to a reluctant concurrence with the decision of my Military Staff."

Auguste went over in detail again for the President of when, where,who, and how the assaults would take place. Thiers pointed out that it would have been better to assault Paris from all sides since the Communards couldn't defend all areas adequately. They could have folded in one or two places making a total breakthrough more likely.

The modification that Generals Mac Mahon, Auguste, de Ladmirault, Clinchant, Trochu, and the others had come up with would have the Republican armies attacking from a Southwest to a Northeasterly direction and from the South towards the North. With this tactic, the Communards could concentrate most of their forces accordingly and blunt the Republican thrusts into the city proper.

What Thiers was counting on then was that the Communards would largely neglect the Northern and Nortwestern approaches to the city. Thiers had a secret plan of his own that he was now going to share with General Auguste.

He started; "General Auguste, 8 days ago, on April 8th, 2 Regiments of Zouaves landed at Le Havre. They began marching towards Paris on the 10th. They should arrive in Ile-de-France within 2-3 days.
I have already ordered them to remain away from the city so that their presence will not be detected by any Communard spies traveling about the countryside."

"What I need your staff to do is co-ordinate with the Commander of the Zouaves so that their entrance into the Northern portion of the city will be exactly 2 days after your assault begins. I want the Communards to make the mistake of bringing more troops down into the Southern confines of the city. The fighting as a result will definitely be more bloody."

He continued, "But with the Communards focused on your forces in the south of the city, the Zouaves can begin to enter the city from the North & as a result it may cause the Communards to make a panicked mistake & in doing so it could possibly be their undoing."

General Auguste said that that was some good news & he would see to the co-ordination with his staff as well as contacting the Zouaves Commander. He only stated that the presence of the Zouaves may not be that much of a factor since the Communards have a superior stockpile of ammunition.

Thiers nodded and replied; "You may be correct General but I am willing to try anything that may help in defeating this rabble in a quick manner. Time is of the essence General, we cannot keep stalling the Germans for much longer. We need a victory. I am going to have the National Assembly breathing down my neck very soon if I don't have something to throw at them. A victory could & probably would achieve that."

Auguste & Thiers began to study maps of the area to the South of Paris and make plans for where all the additional troops from Southern France would be placed in the order of battle. Thiers looked at the clock & asked General Auguste to break for lunch. General Auguste said he was beginning to feel hungry, Thiers smiled and thought to himself that he had an appetite too, the first one in a long time. Yet Thiers' appetite was not for food.

******
​

Time: 6:45 PM


The wagon train moved out. 26 wagons under heavy guard along with 1 cavalry troop as an extra protective escort. The wagon train was headed for Reims. It would be going slow, it was expected to reach Reims by the 20th or 21st. There would be staggered staging areas for the convoy to stop and rest during the day, thus avoiding any possible troops of the Republic.

Louis Blanqui watched from a safe location. He saw the last disappear into the fading twilight followed closely by heavily armed cavalry. He smiled and turned away to return to his carriage. As he walked to the awaiting carriage he thought; "How will the Germans react when they receive these wagons & find out they contain 2 billion francs in gold?"

He began to laugh to himself when he wondered how would Thiers and all of his gang react when they hear the news? He thought they wouldn't like it but would probably ignore it publicly. He was looking forward to going to his new lodging for the night, wherever it may be.

He looked to his driver & said to him: "Ah, Bertrand good evening to you, well lets go shall we." His young driver stood & wondered; "How can he possibly remember my name?" Bertrand closed the door for the Chairman, then climbed up into his seat, got the team moving and headed off to his destination.



​

 

[joho6411]

Chapter 10

April 21, 1871: 11e Arrondissement Paris


Time: 7:00 PM


Alfred Fishkin went & sat down. It was a long day. It was just over a week since he had been "volunteered". He did not mind & actually jumped at the opportunity. He had spent the whole day just as he had spent the previous 6 days, learning how to fire his rifle, a Chassepot.

He was told his training would continue for at least another week. His marksmanship was poor on day 1 but it had improved since then. He was informed that he would be assigned to a specific military unit. His assignment was to the 109th Peoples Militia, "B" Company, 2nd Platoon, 2nd Squad.

His squad leader was Comrade Sgt. Pitrel an Army veteran, his platoon Sgt. was Comrade Sgt. DePaul also an army veteran who had served in Algeria. The Platoon Leader was a man of no military experience so he had been told, but he was a political appointee, his name was Comrade Lieutenant Moltz. The Company First Sergeant was 1SG Connerotte, a man with experience dating back to the Crimean War. His Company Commander was a Comrade Captain Girard also a veteran. He would be meeting up with them in about a week when he finished his basic training.

The chance to be an actual member of the combatants, was offered to Fishkin by his cell leader, Comrade Pleiseau. Comrade Pleiseau was also one of the Communes main Generals as well. It was extremely helpful to have such a man as a close contact. Yet, to be so close to one as powerful as Comrade Pleiseau also meant that one was also potentially liable to get burned if he (Pleiseau) fell from grace.

Fishkin also suspected that Comrade Pleiseau's real reason for putting him in this new position was 2-fold. First, it would give him combat experience and secondly, he (Fishkin) could act as eyes and ears for Comrade Pleiseau. He realized he was being sent as a political "spy" of sorts. Although, Comrade Pleiseau had not instructed him to perform any spying or even to ever report back to him.

Still, Fishkin knew that Comrade Pleiseau would expect to hear things from him when he did in fact see him again. He was trusting in Fishkins photographic memory to recall things when asked about them. Fishkin decided to do what he normally did, listen and try to keep his mouth shut as much as possible.

More importantly, Comrade Pleiseau had indicated that he wanted everyone in his "cell-group" to have military experience. He had told Fishkin that in order to be a good Socialist, he of course had to serve the State in time of war & this was a perfect opportunity for that. He also said that all Commune members who wanted to advance should have a minimum of military experience.

Fishkin also noticed that the other 4 companies in his battalion were "special". They were being housed about 3 blocks from where he & his comrades were being barracked. In actuality, his company was the exception to the other 4.

The other four companies in the 109th were exclusively female. That meant of the nearly 600 soldiers in the 109th, around 460-480 were women. They were being trained as combat soldiers as well. When he first heard about it the other day he was shocked.

But then he quickly reflected that somewhere in the Dialectic there was an argument for total equality & it would logically follow that female comrades could & should serve as fighters as well as male comrades. There was a strong current in the movement for female equality as well as many speakers, men & women both, who proclaimed that this was to be an important part of the Communes' core philosophy and practice.

Obviously, senior members of the Commune had totally agreed with this sentiment since the commander of the 109th Peoples Militia was a woman. Her full name escaped him at the moment but he knew her rank as Comrade Colonel Meisner. He had heard her speak the other day and noticed that she spoke French with a distinctive Polish sounding accent.

Since he knew of his own accent, he made it his business to politely ignore her accent. Many of his comrades did make light of her pattern of speech however. He started to clean his weapon as he had been instructed. He continued for some time before he finally got too sleepy & decided to go to sleep for the night. He had more training in the morning. He was looking forward to it.

******
​

Time: 7:30 PM


Chairman Blanqui breathed a sigh of relief. His fellow members of the Committee of Public Safety had left the meeting about 15 minutes ago. He had convinced them to accept his "fait accompli"; they reluctantly did so. Most of the members were unhappy with his decision to accede to the German demands.

This was one of the reasons some members had elected to overthrow the Republican Regime. They felt that the demands were too high & that he (Blanqui) should have strove to change the demands that the German has expected.

He reasoned with them as such: "When an intruder is in your house, & is standing in your parlor, you can either allow him to wreck the parlor more than he has already proven capable of doing. Or if you can convince him to go outside and tell him may keep the front lawn for himself and he agrees to that, then I'd say that that is a good bargain for you the homeowner." The committee members sat and thought.

He continued; "Once he has retreated to the lawn outside of your home, then you can have the time to plan a way to drive him off your lawn as well." About 6 of the committee members smiled at that line of reasoning.

He went on; "For if the intruder stays in your house,what then? What is to stop him from entering the kitchen and taking all of your food? What is to stop him from breaking down the door and entering your daughters boudoir? Although I concede that many of the daughters of France would simply open their bedroom doors and happily invite him in."

He explained the secret deal that he had made with the Germans. Once half payment was made, within a week they would make the announcement to the World of who was making payments on behalf of France. This could influence public opinion but the real opinions and minds that counted were of course political minds as well as those minds in international banking and finance.

They were most impressed with the Peace Delegation being given equal or perhaps more than equal status with Thiers' representatives. The thought that the Red Banner of Socialism would be flying as the emblem of France during the conference made their chests swell with pride.

Some of the committee members snorted but most remained silent. One of the young committee men, Leo Frankel stood up and made his remarks. "Comrades, I have to say that at first I was totally against the payment of the indemnity to the Germans or accepting the loss of Lorraine & Alsace; however, I now change my mind. It is better to straighten out our own house first, then deal with the intruder. I am in agreement with Comrade Chairman Blanqui."

There wasn't much to vote or debate really. The wagon convoy had already left for Reims and it couldn't be recalled. Over the next half hour about 8 other members got up & spoke their minds. In the end, they voted, unanimously in favor of Chairman Blanquis approach to pay more than half of the War Indemnity as soon as possible. Blanqui smiled, he had won another victory.

******
​

April 25, 1871 The Salle Le Peletier/The Paris Opera 9e Arrondissement


Time: 10:35 AM


The assembled deputies took their seats. It was the first inaugural meeting of Peoples Assembly; it would continue for two more days. The Chairman was expected to be here, but no one knew when he would arrive. There were many items to be discussed & debated.

The arrangement of the seating of deputies according to their factions was to take place today. There were over 27 different factions and sub-groups within sub-subgroups. They ranged from Animal Rights factions to Womens Rights Groups and everything in between. The opera was chosen as the site for this due to its size. Most other theaters in Paris were either too small or didn't have a large enough area for security, evacuation, etc.

The first speaker was Elisee Reclus. He spoke at length about the values of vegetarianism and how it would bring about a more harmonious relationship with nature. He went on to bring up the notion of humane treatment of animals and further argued for the granting of rights to animals. This he claimed would "humanize" their relationship with humans. The Upper Chamber decided not to vote on his proposals at the time.

Reclus' proposal was given consideration in the Upper Chamber for possible inclusion in the laws and practices of The Commune but at a later date. Reclus was followed by Elisabeth Dmitrieff, she spoke on the issue of Female equality and equal rights for women. Her speech lasted some 55 minutes. She was given a standing ovation when she left the lectern. Her proposals were unanimously accepted by the Upper Chamber.

Over the next few hours over one dozen deputies spoke at length for their causes & proposals. The Upper Chamber of Deputies promised to debate the merits of each & vote accordingly on each proposal. The assembly was proceeding well and was beginning to slow down when at approximately 3:45, Chairman Blanqui strode to the stage.

After a brief 10 minute ovation, he began to itemize a list of 7 topics that the Commune, through the Chamber of Deputies, and the Committee on Public Safety was to implement without further delay. They were the following: 1) The permanent Separation of Church and State. 2) The abolition of night work for bakeries. 3) The canceling of all rents owed to landlords during the entire length of any and all sieges. 4) The granting of pensions to survivors of National Guardsmen killed during active service. 5) The free return by all of the city pawnshops of all workmens tools & equipment. 6) The postponement of all commercial debt obligations and the abolition of the interest on the debts. 7) The right of employees to take over a business if it was abandoned by its owner.

After a brief 5 minute ovation, the Chairman went into detail on each of the 7 topics. He also added a new piece of information to the gathered members. He proclaimed that as of May 1st, all financial transactions as well as compensation would be paid to the receiver in either silver or gold coins. The receiver then had at his or her option to redeem the gold or silver coins for paper if they so wished.

The first citizens to receive payment in silver or gold coin would be members who were defending the city from the forces of the reaction. Blanqui stated that the citizenry deserved this type of payment and that the former illegitimate rulers of France were guilty of keeping all of this wealth to themselves. This is what he said motivated Thiers and his gang, greed not Social awareness & Fraternity. The Chamber went ecstatic at this announcement.

As he left the stage in a thunderous avalanche of applause, Blanqui smiled and waved to the crowd. For he had won another victory.

******
​

Time: 5:50 PM President Thiers office, Palace of Versailles



"What do you mean they are not going to release anymore prisoners?" He glared at Robert. "Mr. President, that is the message that the dispatch rider just told me." Thiers looked at him and said; "Robert, forgive me, please send the gentleman in, I want to speak to him in private."

Robert ushered the dispatch rider into the Presidents office. He returned back to his desk and continued filing his paperwork. It would be sometime before the telegraph system was up and running again. Until then though, the Government of France was being forced to go back to a way of life and communication that had been thought to have disappeared in the late 1850's.

He sat there uneasily, waiting for the bell to ring indicating to him to go back to the President. He waited, nearly an hour had passed before the door opened unexpectedly. He stood up & President Thiers came out. Before he could speak, Thiers sat down in one of the chairs.

He looked at the Presidents face and said; "Excuse me Mr. President?" Thiers just shook his head and said to him; "Robert, we have a huge problem now; the Germans won't release anymore prisoners since they are claiming we are in breech of the Armistice. And according to some of our 'sources'," he winked, "there is a large Red Flag flying in front of a certain hotel in Frankfurt."

Robert looked at his President and said; "Forgive me for saying Mr. President, but what does a Red flag have to do with any of this?" Thiers stoically responded; "The Commune has as its flag a Red Banner. This means that the Germans are quietly entreating with the Communards."

Robert looked surprised & confused at the same time. Thiers said to him; "Mr. St. Jacques, do you remember what the Golden Rule is?" Robert instantly replied; "Of course Mr. President it is; Do unto others as you..." Thiers stood up and shaking his head & laughingly said as he returned into the safety of his office; "No Robert, the Golden Rule is this: 'He who has the gold,.....makes the rules or bends the rules to suit his own needs."

 

[joho6411]

Chapter 11
​

April, 30 1871: Ville de Cachan South of Paris


Time: 4:15 AM


General Auguste paced confidently. He checked the time; it was 4:15. "Ten more minutes, ten more minutes before we begin with the commencement of the beginning of the end of this Commune." His aide a young Captain handed him a dispatch. The General looked at it in the light of one of his lanterns. He nodded to himself and thought; "All the troops are ready, the artillery is poised. All we have to do now is wait for the appointed time. The appointed date with history."

******
​

He barely stirred, he was sleeping soundly. A hard day of training was what he had had. In a few hours, he would be going up to join his comrades in his new unit. That is where he would gain most of his experience. His training up until now, as brief as it was, was now over. Alfred Fishkin was going to be a soldier now.

******
​

He was up and about. He couldn't sleep. He was too anxious. Today was the day. The armies were poised to move. The din of battle would be filling the air very soon now. He walked over to glance at the clock on the wall. He read it and smiled. "10 minutes" he thought to himself. Ten more minutes then all hell will break lose upon them. Adolphe Thiers sat down in his chair & waited.

******

Time: 4:25 AM


A thunderous boom of cannonades jolted Paris into an early wake up. The bombardment lasted for about 2 hours. The Republican forces had an ample supply of artillery shells, cannon balls, etc. The Supreme Commander of the French Army, General Mac Mahon had decided to have a long bombardment assuming the extended barrage would not only kill a large part of the enemy along with damaging some of their defenses but would also shatter the nerve of some of the civilian mob who deemed themselves soldiers.

He also believed many would run away & never come back. He was wrong on all 3 of his assumptions. The defensive ramparts were solidly built and reinforced. Many of his enemies' forces were a few dozen yards away from the defensive structures to avoid such a disaster, and would not go to the forward defenses until the artillery barrage ceased.

Despite fear the Communard soldiers held their ground & were safely protected by staying in their shelters and bunkers that had been dug by so many of the sapper units as so ordered by Comrade General Pleiseau in the previous few months.

The Communard forces knew that an attack was imminent, they had noticed for 3 days prior to the bombardment the huge build up not only of men, but huge stockpiles of equipment, horses, wagons, cooking fires 2 nights before but not on the night of the 29th.

Word had gone out around 10:00 PM on the 29th that all soldiers defending the perimeter barricades and walls were to retreat to the safety of their underground shelters keeping only a few sentinels on watch. It was a huge tactical mistake on the part of the Republicans; it showed their hand to an astute and what was destined to become a very formidable enemy.

******
​

The Republican forces were laid out upon a long arc from East to Northwest. Their right flank was in Vitry-sur-Seine, it then extended through the following villages and towns: Cachan, Bagneaux, Chatillon, Clamart, Meudon, Sevres, then it curved North into; St. Cloud, Suresnes, Puteaux, before ending in Courbevoie.

The Republican forces had 12 divisions numbering some 110,000 men arrayed in these villages. There were also 3 divisions in reserve as well, this brought the total number to around 130,000 men. Additional troops from other parts of France mainly from Brittany had not yet arrived in the area. They were expected in a few weeks, this would add an additional 60,000 men.

A small, diversionary force of about 2500 Zouaves were also in the area but they were to the Northwest of Paris. They had been halted by direct order of President Thiers. They were now waiting in a small village named Gisors.

At 6:25 AM the Republican forces began their forward advance out of their staging areas. Within 15 minutes the first engagement was made by the 2nd Corps led by General de Ladmirault just North of the village of Chatillon. The 2nd Corps would press forward towards the lines of the barricades.

Defending those barricades would be the 55th, 61st, 94th, and 121st National Guard Battalions; along with them would be the 23rd, 42nd, 103rd, and 119th Peoples Militia. These units would be part of the command led by General Jaroslav Dabrowski.

The 2nd Corps would have a grand total of 19,000 soldiers; facing them the National Guards & Militias manpower would be numbering only some 4,700 soldiers. It appeared that 2nd Corps would overrun such a smaller foe since they outnumbered them by some 4 1/2 to 1.

The Communards had a surprise for the Republicans on that first engagement. Already set up and waiting to be used behind the barricades as well as in the windows of a few adjacent buildings, the Communards had placed 6 mitrailleuse's.

Under the command of the Militia leader (a colonel), the mitrailleuse's opened fire. After their first salvo, they were operated & commanded independently by the section leader. The 2nd Corps pressed on under a withering fire from these mitrailleuse batteries. Unlike their previous use by the French Army which considered these weapons to be another form of artillery, the Communards' military doctrine used them as a defensive/offensive machine gun to devastating effect on the Republican forces.

All along the lines on the first day from Vitry-sur-Seine all the way to Meudon, the Republican forces drove on towards Paris only to get stopped by heavy defensive fire from small arms as well as mitrailleuse fire along with the occasional cannon fire from the Communard defenders.

The Western portion of the front, from Meudon north to Courbevoie supported the attack with artillery fire on and off the entire day. But no advances were ordered or even planned for on the first day. The Corps and Divisions on the Western flank were to remain in place for the next few days before mounting their assaults.

The northward assaults by the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 7th, & 8th Corps would only advance anywhere from 80 yards where they began, (the shortest distance) this would be 1st Corps under the command of General George Albert Bazaine. To as much as 680 yards, (the longest distance) by 7th Corps under the command of General Paladines.

By nightfall, all of the advancing units had halted in place or retreated to either a safer position or even back to where they had begun earlier that morning. The Republican forces had another artillery barrage that night for about 1 hour. The defending Communards noted that they did this as a sign of their frustration that they had not broken through anywhere that day.

The Republicans told themselves they did this as a way of preventing a counter-attack by the Communard forces. In any case, by the end of the day, the Republicans had not gained much ground and had lost approximately 8,500 men killed and an equal number wounded. The Communards lost about 3,100 dead & about 5,000 wounded.

As the first day ended, the Communards had won the first engagement & had not been dislodged from their barricades, yet the Republicans were not done yet, not by along shot.

******
​

He kept digging. The fighting had begun. They had to keep digging. Comrade Dumond was among them. He had directed the way to go. He had mentioned they had about 300 yards or more of earth to move. It wasn't much really for 1200 men to move. He didn't want to think if he failed. He didn't want to think. He kept digging.

*


​

He pushed the wheelbarrow. Every now & then he could hear artillery bursting & landing. At least he wouldn't get hit by any of it. He was well protected. Yet his mission was to push, push, push, the wheelbarrow. He had long since lost count of how many wheelbarrows full of earth he had pushed. He even forgot how many shovels of earth he had shoveled. He just kept doing his mission. He pushed the wheelbarrow.

*
​

He put up more wooden shoring. The shoring was in place to keep earth from falling down on his fellow soldiers. He made sure the support beams were in place. The wooden landings and their support columns had to be sturdy as well as strong, they couldn't sway. He had inspected hundreds of them in the past few weeks. He only found 4 or 5 that had to be redone or reinforced. The wooden ladders too, definitely need them, without all of the ladders, how could the soldiers complete their missions? He put up more wooden shoring.

*
​

He made sure everything was in place. Nothing could be wrong. If it was, it would stand out like a sore thumb. Even a blind man would see it. It looked good, anyone passing by would not notice anything out of place or unusual. He threw down a piece of canvas about 12 feet long & about 5 feet wide then had his two assistants cover the opening with a table that had two legs broken off of it and throw some plaster and bits of cloth and household garbage on it. He looked at it, nothing seemed wrong. Everything was in place.

******
​

​

 

[Russian Sailor]

Bump

I have only started reading this and I have one question what is the ecinomic policy of the Paris Commune?

 

[joho6411]

Bump

I have only started reading this and I have one question what is the ecinomic policy of the Paris Commune?

The Communes economic policy once it gains control of France is to implement a combo of Planned Economy/State Directed complete with 5 year goals (plans). Pro-industrial at the expense of the peasantry/agriculture. At this early stage, Blanquis government is paying its workers & soldiers in silver & gold coin as a short term public relations ploy to gain even more support from the masses of people. Also, they will attempt a form of autarky as well.

 

[joho6411]

Chapter 12


May 5, 1871 Suresnes Ile-de-France General Louis J. Trochu's HQ


Time 5:56 AM


General Trochu looked at his pocket watch. He had 4 minutes before the bombardment ended. At 6:00 am, General Clinchants 5th Corps along with General Douay's 4th Corps would be heading directly east across the bridges spanning The Seine and into the Bois de Boulogne.

Along with General Ducrots' 6th Corps which would be attacking from Sevres into Boulogne-Billancourt; they would attempt to strike into the Communards right flank. Hopefully this move into their exposed flank would cause the puncture in their lines that had as of yet not happened in the Southern Front.

For the last five days, the troops pushing north into the city had been blocked & stopped by the Communard forces. He prayed and hoped with the help of God and some good artillery support that his Corps would be able to inflict the decisive blow to undo the Communards.

******
​

Time 5:59 AM

The soldiers of the 109th Peoples Militia were dug in and waiting. They had been warned that when the artillery stops, the infantry will begin its crossing of the Seine. They had been ordered to allow them to cross in small numbers. When they heard the signal however, they were to fire at will at them.

Basic Soldier I, Fishkin (The Communards lowest rank for an enlisted man.) was dug in. He had the dubious honor of being on watch due to his excellent vision and his recently discovered proficiency with a rifle. He was, thankfully he thought, concealed behind brickwork as well as heavy vegetation. He could see the bridge and even a few of the enemy across the bridge. No sign of any movement yet, but still, the artillery was going over his head. He could see Fort Valerien across the river perched on its high hill. What concerned him and his comrades most was not the veteran artillery in front of them but the novice artillery to their rear.

He thought of his comrades to his rear about 20 yards behind himself. They were inside trenches that had wooden roofing covered in earth. These trenches were excellent in repelling oncoming infantry.
Comrade Pleiseaus' engineers had been constructing these trenches for well over a month perhaps longer.

They had wooden floors, wooden ceilings, wooden support beams holding them up, wooden walls to hold back the earth as well. To their front, there were openings about every 6 feet for defenders to fire through. Every 20 feet or so, there were openings to the rear for exiting & entering, the engineers also designed the trenches to be in a sort of a lazy "S" shape, why they did that, Fishkin was not sure.

There were openings in the roofs about every 60 feet, these were wide enough for about 20 soldiers to exit through (or charge into!), near these areas where also dozens of ladders to make exiting easier and faster.

So far, none of the Reactionaries artillerymen had scored a direct or even close hit on the trenches. Fishkin wondered if their aim was poor on purpose or perhaps, just maybe,...was it possible they hadn't noticed them? They had shrubs and large amounts of soil on their temporary man-made mounds of earth. Still he wondered, how could they not have known of these trenches?

******
​

Time 6:00 AM


The soldiers began to move out, they made their way towards the bridges going over the Seine. The 10th Division, 1 half of General Clinchants 5th Corps was leading the assault into the Bois de Boulogne. The other half, the 14th Division was to provide overwatch and support of the 10th.

The first battalion of the 10th Division made its' way across the Suresnes Bridge. For the first companies to get across, all was quiet. A Lieutenant gave the order to his platoon to go up towards those small mounds of earth where the shrubs were to see what they could see & report back to him.

******
​

B.S. I, Fishkin saw the men in blue coming towards his position. He grabbed his small red flag & waved it furiously to the spotter about 20 yards to his rear. The small swarm of soldiers were not approaching him, they were in fact to his front right about 30 yards ahead. In about 15 seconds or so, the last man, the Platoon Sergeant most likely, would be past Fishkins position.

He marvelled as they approached the trench works. How could they not see it? They would find out soon enough. All of a sudden, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM! The cannons to the extreme rear, about 150 yards or so were opening up.

Fishkin was afraid now. His comrades were still protected in their trenches he on the other hand was exposed from the back, one piece of shrapnel could ruin your day. Then the unbelievable happened, the platoon that had walked right past Fishkins position began running towards the concealed trenches. It was just as Captain Girard had said it would happen.

He then saw the Platoon Leader, a young Lieutenant about his age running & yelling at his platoon to spread out. Fishkin inhaled, took aim, exhaled and fired. The Lieutenant crumpled to the ground like a sack of potatoes. At that moment, dozens of rifles began opening up to his right. He hunkered down in the small hastily made ditch he had dug for himself. It would be very bad to be hit by one of your own comrades bullets.

******
​

The first 3 companies to make contact were immediately pinned down by artillery fire from Communard guns. One of the first platoons, 3rd Platoon of Company "A" lost 27 men including their young lieutenant, Lt. Hugo Daniel, in the first few minutes of the battle. He had apparently been hit by a sniper as he was running to his platoons position. The sniper was never spotted. Only 2 men of Co. "A" 3rd Platoon survived.

The first 3 or 4 bombardments of the Communards were long and caused little casualties. It was when the unconventional surprise happened that the assaulting forces began to take serious losses. Behind the defensive trenches, there were the batteries that had been around 150 yards to the rear. They had opened up first, but it was the primary batteries, only 60 yards to the rear that devastated the men of the 10th Division.

This group of batteries, around 14 cannons, were firing cannister & grapeshot at nearly point blank range. The defending infantry were protected by their sheltered trenches and avoided any injury. Meanwhile the exposed soldiers of the 10th Division were exposed to a maelstrom of flying lead & iron balls. When the 14th Division attempted a relief around 9:30 AM, they too suffered horrendous casualties.

******
​

Time 12:30 PM

General Trochu received the messenger from General Clinchant; the news was not as good as he had hoped. Apparently, the Communards had their troops dug in in very well placed defensive positions. Besides this, the Communards also had quite a few randomly placed snipers who were proving very adept at not only hitting Lieutenants & Platoon Sergeants but they were also expert at disappearing as well.

The only mistake the Communards had made so far (thankfully!) was in not continuing their devastating artillery firing. Had they continued, 10th Division could have been totally shattered. 14th Division had also taken heavier than expected losses.

General Trochus' only guess as to why the Communard batteries had ceased only after firing for about 25 minutes was due to the fact that either they were low on ammunition or they were preparing for something else entirely.

Further to the South, General Ducrot's 6th Corps had penetrated into Boulogne-Billancourt and after only they had gone in a few blocks, they faced barricades. After some fierce fighting, the first set of barricades had been overcome but at a heavy cost. The Communards had set up a secondary line of barricades and it was holding up Ducrot's forces. Even worse, the Communards were using the existing buildings as fortifications. Breaking them down would be costly in both ammo as well as in soldiers.

The one bright spot so far was General Douays' 4th Corps. They had crossed onto and over the Ile Puteaux before heading into Bois de Boulogne. There was only 1 platoon of Communards on the small island & they fought to the last.

Upon reaching the other side of the Seine, the 4th Corps began to spread out in 3 directions. They had and were still receiving heavy opposition from well entrenched Communard defenders but skillful use of artillery was keeping Communard resistance lower than it was in other areas.

Part of 4th Corps success was also due to the fact that the Communards had no artillery support in this sector. As a result, the 4th Corps, and both of its divisions, the 23rd & 71st were both across the Seine and had advanced approximately 600 yards (1800 feet/550 meters) and were setting up a strong defensive perimeter. 1 regiment of infantry was left guarding the bridges as well the Ile Puteaux.

Trochu wanted a strong perimeter set up so that his forces could bring in light cannon to better support his ground troops. The big guns of Valerien could not hit targets so close without jeopardizing his own troops. So far the fighting was continuing, Trochu was concerned about the amount of ammo being used. He knew that there would be extra ammo coming but it would not be for weeks.

His own reserves were sufficient for now and he could maintain this level of engagement for some time. The troubling thing was that for the amount of ammunition being expended, the advance was too slow and taking too much time for the amount of land being retaken. At this level of intensity, his ammunition reserve would be depleted in about 12 days.

******
​

May 8, 1871 Comrade General Landreaux's HQ 16e Arrondissement


Time: 7:00PM

Chairman Blanqui eagerly read the reports. Things so far had been going as well as could be expected. His forces were holding the enemy at bay. They had taken moderate casualties but had inflicted more on the reactionary army.

Comrade General Landreaux forces defending the right flank as well as part of the Southern Front were so far successful in containing their opposition. The National Guard units down in Boulogne-Billancourt were pouring a tremendous amount of firepower into, what he believed was General Ducrot's 6th Corps.

The National Guard Regiments as well as the Peoples Militias were gaining valuable combat experience as the men of Ducrot's Corps made themselves easy targets. In the center of the right, the Militias and Guard units in the Bois de Boulogne, were busy holding General Clinchants men to a small bridgehead over the Seine. The 2 republican divisions there were slowly being bled by the defenders who were themselves well dug in and had the luxury of artillery support courtesy of the National Guards.

The only less than bright spot on the Right flank was the area near the Pont de Puteaux. There the Republican 4th Corps under General Felix Douay had made a strong defensive perimeter and was reinforcing his bridgehead. The Communard forces there, although giving stiff resistance had one disadvantage and that was lack of artillery support.

The Communards had only so many cannon and this one part of their defense had none. What they did have though was excellent terrain as well as deep system of trenches extending back about 600 yards. Any assault by the 4th Corps divisions would, if they overcame the first set of trenches would encounter another trench system only 70 yards further in.

The Southern Front was also good news for Blanqui. Although the reactionaries made some progress it was still going slow for them. They had progressed but were then held in check by his forces under Comrade General Dabrowski's command. So far Comrade General Pleiseaus' plan was working the way he had predicted.

Meanwhile, he was expecting to hear some news from the outside World. He had not heard any of what he wanted to hear yet. He realized that news traveling to Paris would be slower than normal due to all the fighting but still, he was anticipating news from Germany any day now, any day now.

Chairman Blanqui looked up from the reports he was reading and asked Comrade General Landreaux when would he and Comrade General Pleiseau order the soldiers out of the trenches and into combat. Comrade General Landreaux replied; "Comrade Chairman, at this time we do not think it prudent to expose our troops to any unnecessary risk and that not enough time had elapsed as of yet. Further, it was part of Comrade General Pleiseaus' strategy to let the Republican forces bled themselves dry before implementing the second part of his strategy."

Blanqui sat and answered; "I hope this part of Comrade Pleiseaus' "Defensive-Offensive" strategy is going to work, we are taking a big risk by not attacking after they have been so hard hit by our defenses. I always believed that after one side attacks then withdraws, the other should counter-attack as soon as possible to take advantage of their confusion and disarray."

General Landreaux then replied; "Yes Comrade Chairman, that is what armies have generally done for hundreds of years & that is what the Republican Generals may anticipate. So by not doing what they might expect, it will cause wonderment & confusion in the eyes and minds of them and their staffs. They will be lulled into believing that the reason we do not counter-attack is that we are an unprofessional army with little experience and poor understanding of tactics; this underestimation of us on their part will help us to eventually overcome them. It will be their hubris that will lead them into making tactical as well as strategic mistakes."

Blanqui tugged at his beard as he absorbed what Comrade General Landreaux had told him. It was true, perhaps that the Reactionaries would expect to do what he would have done and in doing so would cause more loss of his soldiers than was necessary. More importantly, he thought, Thiers wanted them to press on hard in order to achieve victory.

Maybe Comrade General Pleiseau was right all along about this. He had apparently thought this out very well & seemed to understand just how his opponent would act & react. Comrade General Landreaux then stated matter-of-factly; "Comrade Chairman if I may, you are not a follower of Marxist Theory therefore you & millions of others would not understand how the minds of those petit bourgeoisie think so to speak. They will believe that since we are, in their eyes, a rabble of peasants and workers who are uneducated in the ways of war that they can run roughshod over us with impunity."

"The Dialectic shows that given their inflated belief in themselves combined with arrogance will force their own impatience on the matter. As a result, they will attack again and again and again frustrated since we won't 'play by their rules'. In doing so Comrade Chairman, they will not only deplete their shrinking stocks of ammunition, but they will also deplete their manpower."

"Then & only then will we begin our offensive against their severely weakened forces. Thus we will have a total victory & the Versailles Regime will then fall, the Dialectic shows this will be the case. The bourgeoisie minded attacker will wear himself out upon our stout defenses."

Blanqui listened quietly and then replied; "No Comrade General, I am not a reader of Karl Marx, yet I can understand how this theory can appear to work on paper; I only hope that the Reactionary Commanders decide to play by Marx's rules or you may actually have a contradiction with The Dialectic."

Comrade General Landreaux smiled; "Comrade Chairman, I am certain that there will be no contradiction of The Dialectic. As has been already exemplified by the success of the Lyon Commune, The Bakhunists have withstood the onslaught of the reactionaries and have driven them away from the city."

Blanqui sat and reflected, he had heard of & took great interest in the success of Mikhail Bakhunins attempt to create a Peoples Commune in the city of Lyon. He had heard that the Lyon Commune was still in control of the city mostly due to the fact that the forces of reaction had retreated on their own accord.

They had retreated, he suspected due more to Thiers' demands to retreat rather than any tactical success of the soldiers of the Lyon Commune. He also noted that Comrade General Landreaux did not deem to mention that the Communes of Grenoble, Marseilles, and St. Etienne had been defeated with quite a loss of life on both sides. What did the Dialectic have to say about that?

******
​

May 9, 1871 St. Denis, Ile-de-France, North of Paris

Time: 8:55 AM


Colonel Miclet and his men slowly advanced towards the city. They had only received the order to attack Paris the day before yesterday. He was shocked when he was told he was supposed to have moved out on the 2nd of May.

Due to the disruption and all the actions going on, his orders, as well as the other regiments, were delayed. But now they were not only on the march, they would be entering the city of Paris. When the Communards faced them they would know what it was like to face real soldiers, elite soldiers of France; the Communards would know what war was when his Zouaves stuck their bayonets into them.

Colonel Miclets' 25th Zouaves Regiment along with Colonel Cherson's 41st Zouaves were advancing toward the Montmarte section of Paris in the 18e Arrondissement. By taking the Montmarte section, it would give the Republican forces a commanding view of nearly all of central Paris. Of course, it would deny the high ground to the Communards & they might then be induced to expend a great deal of men & material in an attempt to take back the heights of Montmarte.

Colonel Cherson's regiment would be swinging slightly farther to the east than would Colonel Miclets' regiment would. Colonel Cherson's regiment was tasked with seizing and destroying the powder works near the Gard du Nord. By doing so, it would cripple the Communes ability to manufacture paper cartridges and percussion caps.

Meanwhile Colonel Miclets' regiment would head for Montmarte. He expected to encounter light to moderate resistance. He knew that these, these rebels were all full of glory and looking forward to a fight. He laughed to himself at their naivete. For they did not know what they would be receiving from his men.

His men, he knew would give no quarter to this armed rabble who fancied themselves soldiers. He expected his men to face some minor resistance, but after his men fired a few shots at them, they would run. They had no or very little training. Under fire even the few experienced among them would either run or be slain by his warriors, his Zouaves.

Colonel Miclet thought that when the rabble began to run, his men would give chase and introduce these petty little Communard atheist bastards to what a bayonet was capable of doing. They would learn. He was grateful that his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ had given him this opportunity to be their instructor.

******
​

Time: 9:30 AM


The 25th Zouaves made their way down the Avenue de la Porte de Saint-Ouen heading south into Paris. As they passed through the ancient walls of the city, they could see the first barricades ahead of them.

To the right of the barricades were some small houses, shacks really it was more of a shanty town. To the left of the barricade were some slightly larger structures.

Colonel Miclet had his Zouaves form into lines. The "right line" would approach the shanty town, the "left line" would attempt to go around the structures in front of them. His main force in the Center would head straight into the barricades.

Companies "G" & "H" would assault the shanty town. They had a combined total of 245 men including officers. Companies "C", "D", and "F" would go to the left towards the buildings and circumvent the barricades. This left wing had 376 total men.

Miclets' remaining companies, "A", "B", & "E" would be going in headfirst. He was confident of overcoming the armed rabble hiding behind barricades.

At 10:00 am his two wings began their assault. There was little gunfire from the shanty town. To his left, Colonel Miclet could hear not only limited gunfire but many screams.

"Good", he thought, "Good, we have them on the run already." He then turned to his aide-de-camp. "Major Le Blanc, at your leisure.", he said with a smile. The Major turned on his heel and executed the command for advance.

The Zouaves advanced and started to receive fire from the barricades. They returned fire and still advanced towards the barricades. The defenders fired again and then began to waiver. Some started to flee. The Zouaves moved like an irrepressible wave over the barricade.

******
​

In less than 15 minutes it was over. Colonel Miclets' Zouaves had overcome the barricade with light casualties. His right wings had taken only 3 injured & none killed. The left wing counted 17 wounded out of 376 and none killed, a miracle.

His center had bloodied itself somewhat more than the wings had. His losses included 49 wounded or injured and, 37 who were now in Heaven with Jesus. They were happy now to be in His presence so thought Colonel Miclet.

As for those wretched atheists, Colonel Miclet was informed that they had lost about 40 men, and had taken 16 prisoners. Major Le Blanc informed the Colonel that the prisoners were dispatched very quickly.

The Colonel smiled at that. "Good, let them know fear Major, if they won't fear the Lord, then they will fear us! Perhaps if they fear us, it may make them turn to God; and if they turn to Jesus, Major, then they would not be Communards and we will achieve a total victory." Major Le Blanc smiled and inquired; "Colonel shall we offer up a prayer for the recently departed?"

Colonel Miclet looked at him crossly and replied; "Prayers for these damned atheists! I would never! They reject the teaching and beneficent love of the Lord. No, Major, no, these creatures do not deserve a prayer or any blessings whatsoever!"

Major Le Blanc looked at him shocked and said; "No Sir, Colonel, you misapprehend my intent; I meant to offer prayers for our comrades, not this despicable enemy."

The Colonels face changed at once. He calmed down and quietly said; "Oh, but of course Major. Prayers would definitely be in order for our comrades who have fallen in defense of the Republic and in combat with the enemies of God." They then prayed together.

******
​

Time: 11:00 AM

Colonel Miclet had ordered a small detachment of 20 men to return to St. Denis with the wounded and his medical support platoon. The remainder of his regiment, some 919 men in total began to continue their march towards Montmarte.

As they continued South, they could see what appeared to be the intersection of Boulevard Ney and the Avenue that they were heading down. What was unusual was that there was no barricade at this intersection.

When they arrived at the intersection, it was eerily quiet. Almost spooky. Colonel Miclet looked at his maps with his staff officers. The roads split at the intersection into an inverted "Y". From where they stood it was a question of either going to the "right" branch of the "Y" or the "left " branch.

The company commanders began to put their men into defensive positions while they waited for their commander to decide what direction to take. The streets of Paris got very tangled around here; it was very difficult for people who had never been to Paris before to find their way around especially if they were soldiers normally stationed in Algeria.

Colonel Miclet realized it was the "Y" branch to his left, Rue Vauvenargues, that would lead them to their destination, Montmarte. He ordered his Captains to get their companies in line & they would proceed in columns on either side of the street taking advantage of the buildings.

First, Colonel Miclet would have a formation of his regiment just inside of the intersection of Boulevard Ney. As the Companies formed into their respective battalions, an unbelievable sight appeared. Coming up from both branches of the "Y" and towards the intersection was something that can only be described as extraordinary.

The assembled men could not believe their eyes as they saw over 200 women approaching them from each branch of the "Y". 400 or so women slowly walking towards them, all waving their arms in the air, wailing like ghosts their hair flowing in the wind and all naked from the ankles up.

The entire 25th Regiment of Zouaves was frozen in shock & utter bemusement, yet not one of them made a sound. The women kept wailing like ghosts and waving their arms wildly about their heads.

From the ranks one mans voice rang out; "Only in Paris!" Dozens began to laugh, the officers were befuddled and awestruck at the sight. Another Zouave commented; "Perhaps they have been forced to walk the streets since all of the 'maisons de tolerance'* have been shut down by the Committee of Public Safety."

More laughter ensued, the men began to stare harder. The women began to wail louder. Then, Colonel Miclet made his way to the front. Much to the surprise of his own staff, the Colonel cracked a bemused smile.

He walked towards them in utter shock with his mouth agape. He then yelled out; "Halt! Not one step further! Halt! Halt! Halt!" The women ignored him, he was not their commander, they did not serve him. He turned to Major Le Blanc and with a hurried anxiousness in his voice said; "Major, my Bible si' vous plait."

Major Le Blanc handed his commander his bible. The Colonel began to recite passages out loud to this most unusual of formations. The women kept up their wailing, Colonel Miclet spoke louder. He thought to himself: "This is what happens when people don't know the Lord, they begin to behave like animals, this is why they need religion & why they need God; this why we must kill all of the atheists!"

He vacillated momentarily, he realized the words of the Good Book were not having any affect on this, this, this most unwholesome of crowds. He contemplated ordering his men to.......fire on them. All at once, they began to lie face down on the pavement and fell into a deafening silence. The Colonel smiled, he knew the words of the Lord would have an effect, even on this "group".

He then told them to part and make way for he and his soldiers to pass. He shouted; "Make way, make way for us you evil heathen succubi; make way or we shall trample over you, I swear it, I swear on the Holy Bible. My men will march right over you as we continue on to our destiny to do the Lords work. We shall pass through you like Moses and the Israelites through the Red Sea! Make way, make way I say. MAKE WAY!"

The women were face down no more than 20 yards from the 25ths assembly area. Unlike the Red Sea, they would not part no matter how much Colonel Miclet ordered them to.

Colonel Miclet turned and was about to issue an order to his Battalion Commanders when he saw that one of his Company Commanders, a Captain Joubert, whom, he fondly recalled, was always in attendance at mass, had a bloody nose and began to fall forward. Colonel Miclet began to take a step towards him when he heard & felt a "whiz" go right past his head.

All at once he heard it, gunfire.....from the rear! His men began to fall like nine pins, then gun fire from the buildings all up and down the Avenue de la Porte de St.Ouen. "Communards to the rear! Communards to the rear!" He heard his men shouting in outraged surprise.

His Captains tried to rally their men. Dozens were falling now. They began to run to open the doors of some of the buildings only to find that they were securely locked or upon opening them, discovered to their horror that the doorways had been bricked over. They were trapped in a meat grinder.

They began to return fire, still more of his Zouaves fell. Those on the ground were still being hit from snipers who were in practically every window. Colonel Miclet felt a powerful thud crash into his left shoulder. He went down. It seemed to get quiet for a moment. His men still fought on.

Then all of the noise came back to him. He tried to get up. He couldn't feel his feet. He then realized he couldn't feel his legs. What was happening he wondered? Then after a few minutes, the shots ceased.

He looked all around him his men were all lying on the ground moaning, most were crawling and moving about. He then heard an unusual sound. It sounded like, a vibration of sorts but he couldn't place what it was.

He turned his head to the left and saw hundreds of women, naked from the ankles up, running towards him and his regiment. He saw them reach his fallen comrades to his right and then to his horror, they began to..........stomp.

Colonel Miclet called out to Major Le Blanc, but he didn't answer. He looked towards his direction and saw Major Le Blanc slowly crawling away from him. Colonel Miclet turned his head to the left. The last thing he ever saw was the bottom of a woman's high heeled wooden soled boot just before she smashed it into his face.

It would take 15 minutes of kicking & stomping by these women, many of whom would take a perverse pride in the nickname "Wooden Shoe Dancer" for the remainder of their lives; to dispatch the 919 men of the 25th Zouaves.

It would take about 45 minutes to remove any and all weapons, ammunition and other effects of interest from the remains of the 25th Zouaves.

It would take 3 days to shovel and scoop up the remains of the 25th Zouaves.

It would take until late October for the stench to finally dissipate from the cobblestones in the intersections of Boulevard Ney, Rue Vauvenargues, and Avenue de St.Ouen from the remains of the 25th Zouaves.


* Quasi-legal brothels


​

 

[joho6411]

Chapter 13

May 13, 1871: Adolphe Thiers office, Palace of Versailles


Time: 3:00 PM


"Those son of a bitches! Damn them all to hell!" Adolphe Thiers sat back in his chair and fumed. He looked at the copy of the London Times again. The article in the lower right proclaimed: GERMANY ANNOUNCES WAR REPARATIONS HALF PAID BY COMMUNARD FACTION IN FRANCE! NONE FROM THE REPUBLICAN FACTION!

Thiers looked at it again. He shook his head. He muttered to himself; "Problems, problems, what will the National Assembly do now?" He took the newspaper, folded it in half and threw it in the garbage can next to his desk.

He sat and waited, he had a 3:30 briefing on the situation with General Auguste's offensive with General Mac Mahon. He hoped to hear some good news for a change, he just didn't count on it.

******
​

Time: 4:40 PM #62 Rue de Charpentiers 12e Arrondissement Paris


Louis Blanqui sat and greeted each of his ministers with a great big smile. They all shook his hand and congratulated him. Good news had finally arrived, it was the news he was looking forward to. He looked at the headlines of several international newspapers. He was proud of his accomplishment. He had won a big victory for the Commune.

He picked up the Frankfurter Zeitung and looked at its' headline, it read: DEUTSCHLAND KUNDIGT KRIEGSREPARATIONEN HALFTE VON KOMMUNE FRAKTION IN FRANKREICH GEZAHLT, UND KEINER VON DER REPUBLIKANISCHEN PARTEI!

He continued to bask in the glow of this recent victory. Not only that, but his forces were still holding their own against the reactionaries. He had still wanted to push for an offensive but his top generals had said not yet.

He had thought of overruling them but their strategy seemed to be working so far so, if something works, don't try to fix it. He decided to let his generals fight the war the way they were and to keep his nose out of it for the time being.

******
​

Time: 6:20 PM The Palace of Versailles



Thiers pounded his fists on the desk. "What do you mean 'They're missing', what does that mean Colonel?" Colonel Cherson, the Commander of the 41st Zouaves, looked at the floor & repeated his report of the disaster that happened to his regiment and the failure of the 25th Zouaves Regiment to signal their presence from the top of Montmarte.

Thiers listened as Colonel Cherson repeated how, on approach to the powder works & munitions factory he divided his regiment into its' 2 battalions. As they passed a cemetery on their left, all of a sudden, snipers began to fire upon his men.

They returned fire for about 10 minutes until all of a sudden, they started to receive heavy fire from their rear. He retold the President how his men turned to face the new attackers and returned fire in their direction. After about 4-5 volleys, this secondary group stopped firing. Then the first group in the cemetery started again.

He then ordered a full retreat and all the while the Communards kept up a heavy firing upon his columns. Out of a total of 1034 men, Colonel Cherson reported that he now had only 503 fit for duty, 149 in military field hospitals, 26 missing & the remainder killed in action.

He then stated how they looked for the signal fires & flags that were supposed to have been placed/built on Montmarte. Thiers looked at him; "Supposed to have been placed, supposed to have been lit, Colonel you and your men were supposed to have wrecked the munitions factory and the powder works! Don't tell me about supposed! Get out, just get out!"

Colonel Cherson made a quick and ignoble exit. Thiers grabbed his report and flung it up in the air. He impatiently rang the bell on his desk. Robert cautiously entered the room. "Yes Mr. President?" Thiers growled to him; "Robert, cancel all of my meetings for the remainder of the evening. I can't speak to Mr. Buffet about the paper money issue & I haven't the energy to speak to Mr. Picard. You Robert, you will conduct those meetings in your office. If either one of them tries to 'bully' you, just dismiss them and tell me about it later. I don't want to be disturbed anymore tonight, goodnight Robert."

Robert bowed and quickly left the office. Thiers sat back down in his chair and stared out the window. He thought to himself; "General Auguste must push them back now, to hell with the cost, we must break them now, because in a few weeks even with ammunition, they may break us."

******
​

May 16, 1871 4:50 AM


General Auguste exhaled into the cool morning air. President Thiers had ordered a full scale assault from all fronts with the intent of making a breakthrough someplace. He marshaled his thoughts, he thought it madness. He was sure to lose thousands in the first few hours, he had a clear superiority in artillery so he could certainly soften them up before the assaults.

The previous bombardments had not softened up the Communard defenses to the level they had anticipated. He had ten minutes before the guns began opening up. He hoped that on the Western Front, that General Clinchants forces could breakthrough in the Bois de Boulogne; they had had a rough go of it so far and were pinned down in a small area.

In the extreme edge of the Western Front was General Faidherbe's Division. So far, they had not advanced at all. Their mission was to hold the northern edge of the Western Front and prevent a Communard drive into the Western Fronts rear. In ten minutes, General Faidherbe's 16th Division would advance and try to take the area of Levallois-Perret; first of course, they would have to cross over the Ile de la Grande Jatte. It would be hazardous since General Faidherbe's division would be crossing without any artillery support.

The plan being that if the 16th Division could breakthrough, it could take pressure off of General Clinchants 10th & 14th Divisions in the Bois de Boulogne and more importantly, it would enable General Douay's 4th Corps, 23rd & 71st Divisions to breakout of their bridgehead.

General Auguste checked his watch, 4:58. Two minutes to the bombardment. He hoped with all his might that this assault would finally break the Communards. All they needed was one piercing of their defensive lines and then the Communards would begin to crumble. He smiled, he was now looking forward to the assault.

******
​

​

 

[joho6411]

May 16, 1871: The Bois de Boulogne

Time: 7:40 AM


Fishkin peered through the opening in his trench. The artillery to his rear was answering the firing that had come from across the Seine. He had been suddenly awakened as had all of his fellow comrades around 5:00 am by enemy bombardment. There had been limited movement made by the enemy since the first bombardment had ended around 6:30 am.

The enemy had made two assaults on his trenchworks so far this morning. Each assault had petered out after sustaining heavy casualties. Fishkin could see some men writhing around and crawling about. Worse was the moaning of the wounded.

He wondered when they would get the order to advance & drive the reactionaries back over the Seine and perhaps, beyond. He smiled at that thought. He could hear in the distance, both to the North & South, cannon fire as well as small arms fire. He took a small sense of comfort when he heard the sound of a mitrailleuse firing. He hoped it was one of his sides that was doing the firing.

As quick as the artillery firing had begun, it ceased. He prepared himself. He knew, as did all of his comrades that when the artillery stopped, the infantry would come. Fishkin thought it very predictable and so why, should they keep doing it? It was an expected pattern now. Didn't the Reactionaries realize that they were setting up their men for slaughter again?

As soon as he shook his head, he heard a loud cheer go up to his front. Sure enough, the men in blue were advancing towards his trenchworks again. He and his comrades waited for the order, or just until the first shot rang out then they would all begin to fire with or without the order. To his left, a shot rang out and a man in blue cried out in pain. He began firing as did his comrades. The men in blue cried out again.

******
​

Time: 11:45 AM General Augustes Headquarters, Montrouge

"Well General Auguste, how is it progressing?" Asked General Mac Mahon. General Auguste went over to the small map of the Paris Area & showed General Mac Mahon the situation and disposition of the troops. The assault into the 15e Arrondissement was going well. This was due to the heavy bombardment of that area this morning as well as over the past 2-3 days.


The drive and goal of the forces in the 15e Arr. was to get to the Champs de Mars. Meanwhile, General Jean Baptiste-Billots 8th Corps was driving the Communard forces from one building to another. General de Ladmirault's forces were having, it seemed, small gains on their front as well. News from the Western Front would take some time in coming.

General Ducrot's 6th Corps was still fighting house to house in Boulogne-Billancourt and sustaining heavy losses. Both Auguste & Mac Mahon were concerned that if there was a collapse on their part, it could probably start here at the worst possible place. General Ducrot's "front" was in the hinge area between the Western Front & the Southern Front. If it collapsed and the Communards raced into the breech......

******
​

Time: 12:50 PM Levallois-Perret


General Faidherbe's advance had finally halted. His men were now receiving heavy small arms fire as well as cannon fire from the southeasterly direction. They had passed through the Ile de la Grande Jatte over both bridges. After a complete sweep of the area, they had determined that the island was undefended. As his men then advanced into Levallois-Perret they had expected stiff resistance. Up until 9:45 am, they had encountered no resistance. Since then, things had changed.

After taking sporadic small arms fire, from around 11:00 am Communard resistance had increased dramatically. Even worse, for the past half hour they had had incoming artillery bursting on their positions. General Faidherbe sent out his third set of messengers to General Auguste's HQ to let him know of the situation.

Glancing to his right, he thought of General Douay's offensive and hoped that they were not getting bogged down in those infernal trenches that the Communards had constructed. Without those trenches, General Douay could have advanced & opened up all of the Communard right to a flanking and assault to their rear.

******
​

​

Time: 1:25 PM Barricade along the Rue d'Alesia


The dispatcher nodded and left. General Dabrowski stood still for a moment and then resolved to follow Comrade General Pleiseau's order. He was to put into effect phase 1 of the Comrade Generals Defensive-Offensive plan. Dabrowski thought of it more as a gambit rather than a plan. There were serious problems that could develop in the implementation of this plan. The more simple the plan, the less that could go wrong, the more complex the plan, the greater the chance of something going wrong.

This was a slightly complicated plan. One or two mistakes could make the whole plan collapse & if that happened the Commune could be fatally exposed. The way it was now, the Communards were well entrenched, the Republicans were throwing themselves onto the defensive ramparts and essentially throwing the lives of their troops away.

Dabrowski thought it foolish to abandon these defensive positions. But he had agreed to follow Comrade Pleiseau's orders unquestionably. He then began to send out to his Militia leaders to pull back to the next set of barricades. He thought it foolish, but he ordered it anyway.

As he pulled his troops back, Dabrowski kept a small squad at various intervals. On the barricades themselves, there was a platoon left at each to give token resistance before retreating. Along the several streets and avenues he had left a contingent of a total of about 130 soldiers just over a company sized element with an additional platoon.

These forces were only to be used as static forces to just hold back the reactionary units just long enough for the main body to retreat to the next big defensive rampart near the Montparnasse Cemetery. The Republican forces would be tricked into thinking that they had made a breakthrough and were driving the Communards in headlong retreat. In reality, the Republicans were heading right into a trap.

******
​

Time: 7:55 PM President Thiers office in the Palace of Versailles

President Thiers was besides himself in glee. His troops had finally made a breakthrough. The Communard forces had been driven from their barricades in the 13e, 14e, & 15e Arrondissements. The news was good for a change. There had been considerable bombardment before the assault & apparently it had worked.

His forces had taken moderate losses so far but the Communards had taken more so he had been informed. A few die-hards fought on here and there but his forces were driving them now. Further reports had stated that the Communards had set up a defensive line through the Montparnasse Cemetery & were fighting from gravestone to gravestone with Republican forces.

In the 15e Arrondissement, The Communards had halted the advance and were starting to put up a stiffer resistance. Thiers wondered how they could regroup so quickly. This said much about their unit cohesion & even hinted at a developing leadership structure. This could be problematic for his forces if the Communards start to perform like a true military body.

Along the Western Front, Thiers noted that although General Faidherbe's forces had advanced quickly in the morning , they had been halted under heavy artillery fire from The Communard batteries. General Douay's forces had advanced slightly. They had overcome the second set of trenches on their front yet had been driven back.

General Trochu had put in requests for extra ammunition and had said if his troops don't receive ammunition, that their offensive would have to be halted and his troops would then have to retreat. Thiers sent word to General Mac Mahon to send extra ammunition to General Trochu's Corps without delay.

General Clinchants 5th Corps had still not broken out of their bridgehead & were taking heavy losses. The 5th Corps real mission was of course not to breakthrough the bois de Boulogne; its' main mission was to tie down as many Communard forces to keep them from shoring up their defensive lines in Central Paris. Of course, General Clinchant did not know that his command was mainly just a diversionary force. It was best that he along with his staff did not know that.

 

[joho6411]

Chapter 14


May 30, 1871: General Augustes' HQ # 6 Rue Daugerre 14e Arrondissement Paris


Time: 8:00 PM


His offensive had gained much ground in the past few weeks. It looked as though the Communards were breaking under the pressure of constant combat. They still, he noted, did not make any large scale attempt at counter-attacking. As he looked at his reports, General Auguste noted that his ammunition stores were only at a third of normal. He needed more ammo and fast.

He would be receiving General Mac Mahon and his staff in a few minutes to give a briefing of the recent events. He would report that after stiff resistance, particularly in the Montparnasse Cemetery, that the Communards seemed to break contact and retreat further into Paris.

They had captured over 2,000 prisoners so far, nearly all were wounded and unable to escape. They had also captured around 15 cannon, a great prize indeed. The front lines had been established and he would go into detail about them with General Mac Mahon. The news from the Western Front was not as promising.

******
​

Time: 8:15 PM

As General Mac Mahon and his staff were seated around a long table, General Auguste went over the details and situation of the offensive. This briefing would reach President Thiers' desk by early morning. General Auguste began by giving General Mac Mahon a brief description of where the front lines were and a quick description of the progress in each.

"Our front line extends from the east: In the 13e Arr., General Bazaine's 1st Corps had advanced up the Avenue d'Italie as well as adjacent avenues towards the Place d'Italie. They had faced very hard and determined resistance. The Communards in this sector were not only well dug in, but they also had an abundance of cannon as well as mitrailleuse batteries. As a result, the advance had not only stopped but was pulling back several blocks to better defensive positions."

He continued, "General Bazaine reported that his 19th Division was down to only 2100 men fit for duty & his 34th Division was near half of what he head started with, so he now had just under 5,000 men in the 34th. He was requesting reinforcements as well as more ammunition in order to be able to defend his position from any communard assault."

"General Ladmirault's 2nd Corps was also advancing as well", stated General Auguste. "They had moved up the Rue St. Jacques & the Rue de la Glaciere towards the Boulevard de Port Royal. Part of their mission was to swing southward towards the Place d'Italie but they too had been stopped by heavy defensive fire."

The 2nd Corps goal was to reach the St. Etienne du Mont Cathedral. They were warned about trying to not inflict any damage upon The Pantheon if at all possible. They were told however to defend themselves if The Communards had placed forces in The Pantheon.

General Mac Mahon then inquired of the dispositions of 8th Corps, 7th Corps, and 3rd Corps. General Auguste replied; "General Billots 8th Corps is still progressing slowly towards their goal of the Champs du Mars. They have taken heavy casualties but are progressing at a steady rate. They are still facing fire from well entrenched defenders all along the Boulevard de Grenelle."

"As for 3rd Corps, General Courtot de Cissey has them in the position of 'spearhead', they are engaged from Rue de Vaurgirard, into the Jardine de Luxembourg, and down Boulevard St. Michel. The front lines as well as our deepest advance are in the Luxembourg Gardens. We have skirmishers scattered throughout the garden as do they. The Communards also seem to have spotters in the Luxembourg Palace so we may, once we can bring up the cannons, have to shell the palace."

"Lastly, General Paladines 7th Corps has had the brutal task of clearing the Montparnasse Train Station of snipers and other entrenched defenders. His 49th Division took a beating completing the mission but they did in fact clear the train station as well as the area around it. His other division, the 63rd, has been clearing the area west of the train station all the way towards where the 8th Corps is deployed; they are now facing northwards along the Boulevard Grenelle. Like the 8th Corps they are facing heavy enemy opposition."

******
​

General Mac Mahon then inquired of the Western Front. "Ah, the Western Front", answered General Auguste. The Western Front is not at all quiet, yet we have not had any breakthroughs as we had hoped, but they are serving their purpose by tying down significant Communard forces especially their artillery. General Faidherbe's 16th Division has of late teamed up with General Douay's 4th Corps and they are progressing slowly eastwards."

"General Faidherbe's division has only advanced a few blocks into Levallois-Perret, meanwhile General Douay has taken limited ground in Neilly-sur-Seine and part of the bois de Boulogne. The Communards have dug several series of trenches and earthworks; these have greatly impeded the 4th Corps movement & has been the cause of much of their casualties."

"To General Douay's right, is General Clinchant's 5th Corps. So far they have been under intense fire from Communard guns as well as infantry. They have made repeated assaults against the Communard forces yet have been unable to dislodge them or take out their guns."

"That brings me to General Ducrot's 6th Corps." General Mac Mahon and his staff members leaned forward, "General Ducrot's 6th Corps is still fighting a brutal house to house, and even some say, room to room close quarter combat fight with the enemy. Their casualties have been, in some cases, extreme. They have gone through much more ammunition than was originally allotted them and still have not made much progress."

"I believe gentlemen that if General Ducrot's Corps is forced to continue, it may be in fact destroyed. His two divisions, the 28th & 80th are down by about some 33% for the former and nearly 45% for the latter. I believe it may be prudent of us to withdraw the 6th Corps back over the Seine to better defensive positions. We can't afford to have 6th Corps be destroyed since it would open our front to a thrust by the rebel forces."

General Mac Mahon then replied; "Those are my thoughts as well General Auguste. Although I would prefer for the 6th Corps to keep fighting it would not be to anyones benefit if they are worn down needlessly. I totally concur with your assessment of the situation. When they withdraw, I strongly suggest that all bridges across the Seine be destroyed, thus lessening the chance for the Communards to easily cross over the river."

"Despite the fact that they have not shown much inclination for the offense as of yet; we cannot take the chance that they may not somehow decide to attack us. It is better then to have the 6th Corps pull back over the Seine and assume a defensive position there. This way they could prevent an offensive move on the part of the Communards."

General Auguste nodded in agreement with General Mac Mahon. General Auguste then added his own observations; "It does seem unusual that they withdrew from their positions on Rue d'Alesia as well as so many others. The positions that they withdrew to were not as strong or well built as the ones on Rue d'Alesia. If they had decided to remain there, it could have taken us months, if not the entire Summer to overcome those defenses. It just makes no sense to retreat from a strong position to a weaker one."

General Mac Mahon nodded and said; "I agree with your observation General, but we must remember that these Communards are not professionals as we are. They do things, according to what I've heard", he chuckled, "They make decisions based on voting!" "Can you imagine! They vote on how to conduct military operations! Preposterous!" "They probably took a vote to decide whether or not to withdraw. This explains why they don't attack....they can't get enough members to vote for it!!" All of the men present then began to laugh long & hard. Although they didn't know it then, they would not be laughing at The Communards, or their tactics for much longer.

 

[Russian Sailor]

Great stuff

The battle of Paris is pretty epic