Descending On France 1780
Chapter 127 - 121 Keep your infighting going, I’m outta here!

Chapter 127: 121 Keep your infighting going, I’m outta here!

After recruiting Davout and Lana, Anning was in a very good mood for several consecutive days.

Davout needs no further mention; born into a military family, he was immersed in the military environment from an early age. Then he entered the formal officer school and was admitted to the Paris Military Academy, so his military upbringing is quite solid.

As for Lana, according to Cano’s observation, this young man has a fiery temper, is a warrior, and learns very quickly. After studying with Cano for a few days, he got the hang of it and started to perform the role expected of an officer.

That is to say, Lana had not become weak due to changes in his circumstances.

However, whether he could become a Grenadier Marshal and the Undying Grenadier like in another timeline would require more training and experience.

Anning suddenly felt like he was playing a nurturing game.

It’s just a pity that this nurturing game doesn’t have a simple and clear interface where one could immediately know which command would develop which attributes.

And this game cannot be saved - if you accidentally ’nurture’ someone to death, then all you can do is find a place to cry.

At such times, the system should really come into play, but the system is silent.

If it weren’t for occasional hints from the system like "XXX admires you even more," Anning would have thought the system took a break.

Now, Anning’s system basically functions as a reputation meter - it pops up a notification whenever someone’s admiration for him increases, and that’s it.

Forget it, maybe this system is just something akin to a newbie tutorial, and it will exit the stage once one gets used to this era.

Anning has indeed adapted to this era. Every morning, he supervises the recruitment and training of troops on his estate, and in the afternoon, he strolls through the various clubs in Paris, occasionally showing his face in the National Assembly to see what legal provisions they are debating over.

Anning is quite at ease with such a life.

How could he not be? There are no mandatory tasks to complete; he pretty much does whatever he wants every day.

Aside from not having video games, air conditioning, and chilled soft drinks, Anning has basically no complaints about this lifestyle.

But Anning is a former wage slave, who before crossing over had a grueling schedule working from 9 to 9 every day, perpetually accompanied by endless coding and bugs to fix, with barely enough time to sleep. Compared to that, his current life is practically heavenly.

Sometimes, Anning could even sit on the terrace, sipping coffee while watching Cano and the others train the troops for a whole day.

Ah, such bliss and contentment!

Anning was at ease, but some people in Paris City were not.

One of them was Lafayette.

Lafayette’s recent parliamentary reputation took a severe hit as he supported the suppression of soldier mutinies by military officers.

Let alone Robespierre, Dan Dong, and other members of the Mountain Faction, and the Girondists who had long opposed the policies of Pei Yang, even within the Pei Yang Faction, many started to challenge Lafayette.

More and more people saw the benefits of toppling Lafayette and started getting restless.

Some even proposed in Parliament to replace Lafayette with Lucena as the General of the National Guard.

Although the motion was rejected, Lafayette still felt like sitting on pins and needles.

At this time, in Lafayette’s opinion, Andy Frost, who received the appointment as the Special Commissioner for the military in the Conte Region but stayed idle in the suburban estate, seemed very much like a schemer actively preparing to take over his position.

And it wasn’t just Lafayette who thought so; many in Parliament shared this view. Many were waiting to see the Mountain Faction take initiative, eliminate Lafayette, and elevate their military genius.

However, the Mountain Faction seemed to show little interest recently, focusing on drafting a better constitution rather than vying for fame and profit.

But Lafayette would not be fooled.

He had already instructed his Chief of Staff Bertier to dispatch many spies to closely monitor the movements in the countryside.

That morning, as usual, Bertier reported to Lafayette the results of the previous day’s surveillance.

"Commander Frost’s actual deputy, Lazar Kano, has just traveled from a distant provincial prison to bring over a Cavalry Lieutenant." Bertier reported.

Lafayette frowned: "Has the background of that Lieutenant been clarified?"

"Yes, he’s from an old noble family, a military household. His performance was outstanding both at the Officer School and Military Academy, ranking at the top, a very excellent officer."

Lafayette: "His father must be very influential in Paris, right?"

Bertier hesitated before replying: "Uh, no, his father died before he entered Officer School, passed away at a young age. The influence of his family has plummeted since then, and now his relatives basically rely on his Military Salary to live."

Lafayette was very surprised: "What? That poor?"

There were quite a few impoverished but high-status and well-born Nobles in the old Paris, but now in Paris, noble titles were no longer appealing, and without money, there would definitely be no power.

Lafayette: "He went all that way to find a pauper?"

Bertier: "Is it possible that he noticed this individual’s military talent during his time teaching at the Military Academy?"

Lafayette hummed: "Now there is no war, the rebellion in Conte has been suppressed, and the mutinies of soldiers all over the country have been quelled. There aren’t any foreseeable wars to fight, so why does he need someone with military talent?"

Bertier was about to speak, but ultimately chose silence.

Lafayette paced back and forth, thought for a while, then shook his head: "Forget it, let’s assume he’s looking for military talent. What else?"

Bertier: "I believe, these past few days General Frost has also employed a dye-shop apprentice, entrusting him with a heavy responsibility."

Lafayette: "Are you serious?"

"Absolutely certain, the spies we sent disguised as recruits have seen this dye-shop apprentice following Lazar Kano around repeatedly, clearly having been appointed as Captain Kano’s assistant."

"This dye-shop apprentice... does he have a reputation among the Sans-culottes of Paris?"

"As far as I know, no. He’s just an ordinary apprentice. I sent people to visit the dye shop he previously worked at, and the apprentices there don’t even remember his name. Moreover, he has no military education and is clueless about all military matters."

Lafayette’s brows twisted into knots: "What the hell? What is he trying to do?"

Bertier: "I don’t know either."

Lafayette paced around the room, then suddenly clapped his hands forcefully: "I understand! It’s a Smoke Bomb! He must have discovered our spies and is using this method to mock us!"

Bertier frowned tightly: "What’s the point of that?"

"The point is to mock us! To make us angry!" Lafayette punched the desk heavily, "I’m furious right now! But I can do nothing about him!"

Bertier: "Ah... oh, indeed. So, all the information brought by our spies is unreliable?"

"Isn’t that obvious? All the information brought by the spies is deliberately leaked by that cunning fox!"

"Is that so, so the news that he’s preparing to leave for Conte at the end of the month, was that released on purpose too?"

"Is he really going to Conte?" Lafayette looked surprised, then shook his head, and began to laugh, "How is that possible! How could he leave Paris at a time like this? I don’t believe he doesn’t want to take my position as the National Guard Commander!"

**

Two days later, Anning mounted his big white horse, glanced back at the large detachment of troops ready to set off, and his gaze swept over the fine generals he had gathered with difficulty, such as Lazar Kano, Jean Lannes, and Louis Nicolas Davout.

In fact, Anning also wanted to pull Bertier over, the very Chief of Staff of Napoleon, a rare choice for Chief of Staff.

But Bertier’s military rank was too high, and he was already serving as Chief of Staff of the Paris National Guard, surely he wouldn’t want to come to such a small, broken unit of mine.

So it had to be given up.

"Destination Conte, all troops march!" Anning waved his hand grandly.

Time to flourish!