Descending On France 1780
Chapter 128: Swamp 122

Chapter 128: Swamp 122

Anning’s troops had just set out when someone came galloping from the direction of Paris.

"Mr. Frost!" The shout came from the newcomer.

Anning sat up straight in the saddle and looked in that direction. He saw Beethoven riding hard along the road.

Anning: "Did you come to see me off? That’s very courteous of you..."

"No, you misunderstand, I am intending to go with you to Conte."

Anning asked in confusion: "What about your opera?"

"I’m just a composer, I have completed all the creative work for the opera, the troupe can continue to perform in Paris without me. As a composer, I need the stimulation and insights from life to produce works, and I have a premonition that accompanying the army this time will bring me a great deal of inspiration!

"General, please allow me to follow your army!"

Anning raised an eyebrow, seeing no problem with taking Beethoven along; it would make having military songs for his own troops simpler in the future.

So he nodded and said: "I permit it. But the distance is very far, and if you are not used to riding a horse, you might chafe your thighs raw, which can be very painful."

Beethoven showed an embarrassed expression: "I indeed do not ride horses often, in fact, my rear end already started hurting from the ride out of Paris."

Beethoven probably rode hard to catch up as soon as he heard the news of Anning’s departure, the galloping horse’s jolting was doubly amplified, especially chafing.

Anning pointed to the baggage train of the troops: "You can sit in the baggage cart, the horse can be left to the cavalry girls to bring along."

In this era, cavalry sometimes brought extra war horses to maintain their charge power.

Beethoven nodded his head and immediately turned to head for the baggage train at the rear of the column.

As he passed through the ranks of soldiers, they were singing ’La Marseillaise’ composed by Beethoven.

**

By the time Beethoven reached the baggage train, he was somewhat exhilarated.

On his way to the baggage train, he happened to see a unique skill of Anning’s new army: song pulling.

This was one of the minor improvements Anning had implemented, drawing from his own military training experience, getting soldiers to compete in singing whenever possible, and not to see who sings better but to compete in volume.

In practice, Anning confirmed one thing: this song-pulling activity indeed greatly enhanced the cohesion of the troops.

During song pulling, each squad formed competitive relationships, and the presence of an "enemy" greatly strengthened the unity within each squad.

Now, this act of song pulling had clearly shocked Beethoven.

He thought very excitedly: "General has turned music into a means of unifying the troops. I see in these soldiers a centripetal force far exceeding that of ordinary units—at least that’s how it seems on the surface.

"I should compose this kind of light and quick music for ’song battles’ as soon as possible!"

Beethoven didn’t know that the behavior Anning taught the troops was called song pulling, so he made up an appropriate term himself.

While he thought this, he sat down on the wooden board of the baggage cart and began to ponder the tune.

As a musical genius, Beethoven didn’t like to use paper to record the beautiful musical phrases that came to his mind at all times; he generally kept them in his head.

So at this moment, Beethoven tapped the wooden board of the baggage cart lightly with his fingertips, setting the beat and starting to weave the tune in his mind.

Just then, the coachman driving the baggage cart turned his head and struck up a conversation with Beethoven: "Excuse me, sir, and who might you be?"

"Ah? I am a musician, the General himself has personally permitted me to seek inspiration in his army."

The coachman wore a serious expression: "What does seeking inspiration mean?"

Beethoven realized he had just used a Latin term and quickly explained: "It means walking around and looking around to inspire my creation."

The coachman raised an eyebrow: "Sounds like something a spy would do."

"I am definitely not a spy!" Beethoven hurriedly clarified, "I am truly a musician, and the ’Arm yourselves, citizens’ that they are singing, I composed it."

The coachman cried out in surprise immediately: "You... You’re the creator of that song? That song, it’s like suddenly everyone in the capital knows how to sing it! I sing it often too."

After saying this, the coachman gave a rendition of the chorus from the "Marseillaise": "March on, march on! With the dirty blood of our enemies, let’s irrigate our fields!"

Beethoven: "Yes, that’s the one."

The coachman exclaimed: "It’s really a great song, you did very well!"

"No," Beethoven said, a little embarrassed, with a smile, "actually, it’s not a composition of mine, I just recorded the tune the General hummed, and then made some embellishments. To be accurate, the song should be considered the General’s work."

The coachan exclaimed in amazement: "It’s actually... the General’s work? That’s astonishing! Why are there such favored individuals, who can repeatedly save the Parliament, lead troops into battle, and discuss future policies with the gentlemen of the National Assembly, and now even compose music!"

"Uh, when you put it that way, indeed, the General seems a bit too talented..."

The coachman: "The General can also speak nine languages!"

Beethoven took a sharp breath: "Nine languages? That’s astounding! I already find it tough to learn three languages, and he can speak nine!"

The coachman: "Yes, the General really is too talented. I’m a Parisian. I’ve only joined the General’s unit as a coachman for a few weeks, and I’ve heard the old soldiers say that the ’National Guard Song’ was also taught to everyone by the General himself. There was no sheet music at first; the General would sing a line and teach a line, and just like that, he managed to teach everyone to sing it."

"Is that so?" Beethoven was so surprised that his mouth hung open, "I thought that a song was just a fluke, but now it seems..."

Right at this moment, the troops walking ahead of the supply train started to sing the "National Guard Song" loudly.

Beethoven listened to the song intently again, then commented: "The melody itself doesn’t have much technicality, you might say it’s quite plain. But the melody is catchy enough that an ordinary person could remember it after just one listen.

"After listening carefully again, I’ve realized this is a very functional piece of music, it’s supposed to be this straightforward on purpose.

"Brilliant, music should also value practicability, beauty should not be the primary standard!"

Beethoven nodded vigorously: "Very good, fantastic! I’ve only just started on this journey, and I’ve already gained very profound insight! I should also write more songs that are easy to sing and remember, providing melodies for the soldiers to battle in song!"

Anning would probably never know, just damn well how his influence had changed Beethoven’s creative inclinations.

**

Meanwhile, at the National Guard Commander’s headquarters in Paris, Lafayette heard Bertier’s words and couldn’t believe his own ears for a moment.

"What? He went to Conte?"

Bertier nodded: "Yes, he went to Conte. I sent cavalry to check the manor, and now there are only some servants who originally belonged to the Duke of Orleans left in the estate, even Mr. Frost’s personal maid is nowhere to be seen.

"There are a lot of footprints and wheel tracks in front of the manor gates, it seems there indeed was a troop that departed from the estate, heading away from Paris."

For a moment, Lafayette seemed a bit lost.

At this time, a Lieutenant called out "Reporting" at the doorway.

Lafayette told him: "Come in."

The Lieutenant walked in, saluted Lafayette and Bertier, and then said: "General of the Self-Defense Army, the Parliament will discuss the candidacy for the National Guard Commander again this afternoon, please make sure to attend."

Lafayette sighed deeply: "The gentlemen of the National Assembly probably don’t know that the person they’re pinning their hopes on has already left Paris, do they?"

The Lieutenant hesitated for a moment, and said: "Uh, to my knowledge, the members of the Parliament are thinking of proposing Justin to replace your position."

Lafayette slammed his hand on the desk and stood up: "What? That guy! I cannot accept this!"

...It seems that the American Founding Father and hero of the War of Independence, Marquis Lafayette, still had many worries to deal with.

One wonders if, one day, when he can take a breath from his busy schedule, he will envy Andy Frost, who has already set off to a distant place.