Lt. General Marquis Alain de Mylcandonai to
Lt. General Baron Soire de Success
Greetings!
Mon Cher Soire,
Congratulations on your promotion to full Lt.General and glowing mention in
despatches. These, together with those received by Armand, vindicate the
policies I instituted as Adjutant General as nothing else could do - General
de La Rochelle was obviously more than happy with your respective
performances.
It was a great shame to hear about Jacques, of course, despite his being
reported to have died as bravely as he lived. The Second Division seems to
be the shakiest of all by far, which is why I intend to take command of it
personally from July onwards.
As to why I was not commanding the Cavalry Division, as planned, last
month - it's down to those damned bureaucrats at Army HQ again. When I
submitted my Divisional Command appointments I was told that these must be
must be appointed in strict order laid down by precedent. This meant that if
I had appointed myself to the Cavalry Division I would, technically, no
longer have been in a position to appoint yourself to the First or Armand to
the Frontier!!! I did all I could to instill some sense into these
nincompoops - but to no avail. (There are rumours that their intransigence
was encouraged by a Senior Minister with a poor grasp of military realities,
but nothing concrete on this as yet).
As you may imagine, Mon Ami, this left me in something of a quandry. Since I
had no doubt that either Brigadier de Wich or Brigadier d'Armagnac (both
excellent commanders, of course) would step in to take command of the
Cavalry Division if I myself was unable to do so, I thought it best to
forego my own command in the interests of ensuring that all the other
Divisions were equally well-officered. Consequently, I was forced to kick my
heels in Paris all month and it looks as though you will receive your
General's baton long before I do.
Anyway, I now have a commission to command the Second Division duly signed
and sealed by His Majesty - and none of those pettifogging bureacrats dare
argue with _that_! No power on earth will prevent me from joining you at the
front for the final months of the campaign.
Amitiès,
Alain
