Descending On France 1780
Chapter 137 - 130 Topographic Survey

Chapter 137: 130 Topographic Survey

"I refuse," Anning declared resolutely to the Special Commissioner from Paris, "My actions did not violate the constitution! I used Parliament-issued notes to purchase all the land, the denomination of these notes amounting to four hundred million Francs. Do you realize what four hundred million Francs means?"

Anning thought to himself, in Verne’s novel ’Bacon’s Five Hundred Million Francs,’ five hundred million Francs could build two cities, one a paradise-like beautiful city, the other like a super-sized factory.

This city could even produce a cannon capable of launching shells into Earth’s orbit.

In Verne’s fantasy, just five hundred million Francs could achieve that!

So, Anning using four hundred million Francs—in notes—to buy the entire Conte Region’s land, that seems very reasonable!

The Special Commissioner glared at Anning, his beard bristling: "This is robbery!"

"What do you mean?" Anning replied, shocked. "I bought it with money, how could it be robbery?"

"The notes are worthless! You know that!" the Special Commissioner couldn’t hold back and blurted out.

Anning: "What? You’re actually saying the notes are worthless? You’re questioning the policies of the National Assembly! You’re even implying that the National Assembly is robbing people! I don’t think you are any Special Commissioner! Guards! Arrest him!"

The only military officer in the room was Lazar Kano, who currently held the de facto position of Chief of Staff.

Hearing Anning’s command, he swiftly drew his sword and put it to the neck of the Special Commissioner.

Then Napoleon burst through the door, a loaded pistol in his hand: "General! What’s going on?"

Well, Napoleon really got into his role, pretending to know nothing about what was happening in the room.

Anning: "This man, claiming to be a Special Commissioner from the Paris Parliament! But he just made treasonous statements and accused the Parliament of robbing the public. I suspect he’s a rebel! Arrest him and keep him in the dungeon while we verify his identity with Parliament!"

Napoleon: "Understood! Sir, please come this way!"

The Special Commissioner’s face turned ashen: "You... you are rebelling!"

Anning: "I am loyal to the Parliament! I even used my own money to help the peasants redeem their lands and distributed the lands to them for free! I’ve spent four hundred million Francs (in notes)!"

Anning’s face twisted in pain while he spoke, as though the four hundred million Francs were actual gold and silver.

Special Commissioner: "Who do you think you can fool? Once the letters to verify with Parliament are sent, they’ll know you’ve rebelled!"

Anning: "No, I believe the gentlemen of the Parliament will understand my contribution! After all, they are all wise and discerning gentlemen!"

Special Commissioner: "Lafayette will show you! Wait until he comes to deal with you!"

Anning: "We’re all part of the National Guard, can Mr. Lafayette really send troops to fight me?"

Anning decided to play the naive, innocent role.

Lazar Kano looked at Anning complexly, feeling that Anning’s performance was a bit overdone.

But Napoleon was more forceful than Anning: "Enough talk, you traitor! To the prison you go, that’s where you belong!"

The Special Commissioner clenched his teeth and stared at Anning, but after a standoff, he turned and followed Napoleon.

Lazar Kano immediately moved to the window, peering outside before reporting, "It seems like people who accompanied the Special Commissioner have mounted horses and fled."

Anning: "Very well, just as planned. Starting tomorrow, tally the troops’ ammunition and check the gunpowder reserves, and organize the purchase of provisions, be prepared."

Lazar Kano: "Our opponents are Lafayette’s National Guard cavalry? The troop strength ratio might be 2 to 1; this is not going to be an easy battle."

Anning: "I know. That’s why we need the right timing, geographical advantage, and human harmony."

Anning’s speech translator, turning his words into Latin, sounded very profound.

Then Anning went to the map and asked Lazar Kano, "From Paris, on the final night before they reach us, where do you estimate Lafayette will camp?"

Lazar Kano also approached the map: "I can only answer you from pure mathematics and geography. Recently, while helping distribute the fields, I’ve scouted the nearby terrain. I believe, on the last night before the decisive battle, Lafayette might camp here, here, and here."

As he spoke, he marked three circles on the map.

Anning: "Why?"

"It fits the camping doctrine taught at the military academy." Cano shrugged, "I’m a mathematician and military engineer, not a genius with tactical insight; these are just the places I would choose to camp."

Anning: "Wait, are you sure it aligns with what’s taught in the military academy?"

Theoretically, Anning should have also been familiar with the same doctrines, but he had nearly forgotten what he learned at military academy.

After all, these years he hadn’t really aimed to become a great military strategist; he just wanted to latch onto Napoleon.

Lazar Kano nodded confidently: "Absolutely, that’s exactly how the textbooks teach it."

Anning smirked.

Suddenly, he thought about Bertier, a very methodical person bound strictly to rules, with poor adaptability, and thus only fit to be Chief of Staff, executing others’ decisions.

If Bertier were here, he would definitely choose to camp at one of these three spots!

Anning: "Call Lana over, come with me, I want to take him to familiarize himself with the terrain of these places."

Lazar Kano immediately turned and shouted: "Messenger Soldier!"

The door instantly opened, and a lean young man about sixteen or seventeen darted inside, snapping to attention with a salute: "Commander!"

"Go call Captain Jean Lannes and have the stables prepare the horses; we are going out."

"Yes!" The young man turned and sprinted away.

Anning: "A new messenger soldier?"

"With the land distribution, some peasant families’ children have started to join us. I’ve selected a few clever ones to supplement our headquarters’ messenger soldiers."

Anning nodded.

Soon, Jean Lannes arrived.

Anning then led a group of officers, riding out of the monastery serving as the headquarters, straight to the location Lazar Kano had just marked on the map.

After leaving the city, they rode hard for over an hour when suddenly Anning shouted, "Wait a minute!"

He was the first to pull on the reins, slowing his horse down.

The others also pulled back their reins, maintaining their following position close to Anning.

Anning looked around.

He was now standing under a solitary beech tree, which was incredibly large, seemingly over a hundred years old, looking like a giant mushroom had grown on the ground from a distance.

Standing under the tree, Anning looked back in the direction they came from: "Before we got here, were we going uphill the whole time?"

Lazar Kano looked back but did not immediately reply.

But Lana spoke up, "Yes, we’ve been going uphill. And it looks like we’ll be going downhill soon."

Anning clapped his hands vigorously.

This place was a very small hill.

Looking to both the east and west sides, Anning could discern that the ground under his feet had a moderate fold, easy to overlook unless one paid close attention.

Anning turned his head to the other side: Next to the beech, there was a large barn and a lone windmill.

On the top of the small hill, there was a windmill mill, which seemed suitable for utilizing wind power.

Anning stroked his chin.

Napoleon spoke up, "So this is a hill. If we set up cannons here, we could add an extra couple of hundred meters to our range!"

Anning shook his head, "No, no, that’s not quite right. We should not place our cannon on the hill, that’s incorrect. We must position our artillery behind the hill, with the infantry also on the reverse slope. This reverse slope will block the enemy artillery’s firepower."

Then Anning pointed to the barn and windmill nearby: "We’ll use a steadfast troop to hold the barn, letting the enemy know we intend to make our stand here.

"Force the enemy to deploy their formations on the north slope. Once the enemy pushes past the ridge line, our line infantry and skirmishers waiting on the reverse slope, and of course the cannon.

"Lafayette’s artillery only has the cumbersome infantry guns, their movements become quite slow once deployed. Our artillery can fully exploit their advantage, especially the light cavalry troop commanded by Napoleon!"

When Anning purchased cannons, he specifically bought a series of six-pound cavalry guns, which have a smaller caliber and lighter projectiles. They are portable enough to be moved quickly by horses.

Anning remembered, in another time-space in Napoleon’s Life, Napoleon’s favorite command was the mobile cavalry guns, flexibly finding positions to strike the enemy.

Now is the perfect time for Napoleon to return to his old profession.

Anning, excited, gestured, "The enemy is here, once they cross the ridge, they will face our firepower, just think about it!"

Davout: "Let my first brigade take charge of holding the mill and barn."

Lana: "The instruction squad is also willing to undertake this important task!"

Anning: "No no, the instruction squad has their own important task. I will take you to see the terrain shortly. As for the barn and mill, that will be the position for the first brigade. We don’t know how long it will take for Lafayette to arrive, I estimate at least half a month. You can take this time to have your officers familiarize themselves with the terrain around here."

Davout saluted: "Understood."

Anning: "The remaining four brigades, position a thin blue line on the reverse slope, the most suitable formation for deploying firepower. Once the enemy crosses the ridge, keep shooting continuously."

That thin blue line, indeed, Anning was playing the same game that Duke Wellington played at Waterloo.

Positioned on the reverse slope, using the terrain to block French Army’s artillery fire, then a mass of troops spread thinly into red lines on the reverse slope.

When the French cavalry led by Nei committed, the red lines then turned into squares.

It can be said that the French Army lost at Waterloo, besides because of the arrival of Prussian reinforcements, another major reason was that French artillery did not play its part.

If French artillery had hammered at Wellington’s infantry when they all formed squares, perhaps the outcome would have been different.

Wellington was not employing this tactic for the first time; he used this same "thin red line" tactic to heavily defeat the French Army in Spain.

Of course, Wellington was forced into this tactic; French artillery was too damn fierce, after all, Napoleon originated from artillery, so the French artillery was highly valued.

Wellington experienced several French artillery strikes and then devised this tactic.

This tactic could utilize the high morale and discipline of the red-coated army while avoiding the strengths of the French’s artillery.

Now Anning, his artillery might be stronger than Lafayette’s, but that didn’t stop Anning from borrowing this tactic.

After all, if the enemy’s artillery cannot perform, doesn’t the artillery strength ratio change from the original 1 to 1.5 to now 0 to 1.5?