Descending On France 1780
Chapter 152 - 145 Triumphal Song

Chapter 152: 145 Triumphal Song

Mr. Boro, the current Chairman of the Conte Parliament, was anxiously waiting for news from the battlefield.

Vice Chairman Duncan tentatively suggested, "Why not capture that leatherworker left in Conte now, and when General Lafayette’s army marches into the city..."

"What if General Frost wins after we capture him now?" Boro slapped the table, "No! We must not act rashly, let’s wait for the news from the front lines!"

"How could he win? General Lafayette has an army of forty thousand! Forty thousand! That leatherworker only has ten thousand men!"

As soon as these words fell, horseshoe sounds came from outside the door.

Chairman Boro immediately turned around, took three steps to the door, pulled it open, and rushed out, only to see Ludwig von Beethoven, General Frost’s royal musician, dismounting.

Chairman Boro: "Mr. Beethoven! How are things?"

Beethoven looked up and saw the Chairman, then smiled and said, "A complete victory! You weren’t there! I was less than a hundred meters behind the general’s command post, and I saw the general personally leading the charge! General Lafayette’s troops, in front of our troops, were as fragile as cream, instantly swept away!

"The scene struck me so hard, I was instantly seized by inspiration! So I came back, I want to turn this shock into music! I want to compose a song to celebrate the general’s heroic charge!"

After saying this, Beethoven began to hum, and even Chairman Boro, who knew little about music, could tell it was indeed a very grand and joyful song.

The Vice Chairman followed the Chairman and came out, his expression one of disbelief, asking, "Won? You mean, General Frost beat Lafayette’s forty thousand men? How is that possible?"

Beethoven: "Yes, they won! When I left the battlefield, Lafayette was already fleeing, General Frost’s troops were sweeping up the enemy’s remnants like a whirlwind. A messenger soldier should report this soon. Enough said, I need to start composing, I am up for a whole night’s battle with musical scores!"

After saying this, Beethoven excitedly dove into his house opposite the town hall.

The Chairman and Vice Chairman exchanged glances.

Vice Chairman, still in disbelief: "How is that possible! That was forty thousand men!"

Chairman Boro: "Beethoven did not seem to be lying... Prepare for the victory celebration! I know many people were secretly preparing to welcome Lafayette. Now, let’s use the supplies to celebrate General Frost’s triumph instead!"

Vice Chairman shook his head: "No, I can’t believe it! Butler, prepare a horse! I need to see the situation myself on the battlefield!"

**

At the scene, Lazar Kano was reporting casualties to Anning, "Preliminary counts show a reduction of two thousand three hundred men in our army, whether dead or wounded needs further assessment. The rear medical center is now housing seventeen hundred wounded soldiers."

Anning: "Two thousand casualties, that’s completely acceptable. Note it down, for each fallen soldier’s family we will give five Gold Louis and an additional plot of church’s land!"

Surrounding soldiers exclaimed in awe: "Five Gold Louis! And land!"

Anning turned to the yelling soldiers and said, "If you died, your family would get just as much! Do you wish to die?"

The soldier hesitated for a moment, then shook his head: "No, I’d better stay alive."

Davout, with a stern face, said, "Stop slacking here! Get back to work, clear the battlefield!"

The eavesdropping soldiers reluctantly went to work.

Davout turned to Anning and said, "General, this compensation is quite generous, five Gold Louis! It’s a lot, we can only do this because our losses were small this time."

At that moment, Napoleon Bonaparte rode up on a horse and said to Anning, "Andy! Look who’s here!"

Anning looked in the direction Napoleon pointed and saw Lana leading a group of people walking proudly.

He was overjoyed, hurriedly taking a few steps forward to give Lana a hug, "Lana! It’s fantastic, you really survived!"

Lana laughed, "Not only am I alive, but I also brought you a force! Look! These are all Lafayette’s troops, after a chat with them, they decided to join you, General!"

Anning was astonished. Lana had such an ability?

Lana, pulling Anning to a Sergeant, said, "Look, this man was a sergeant in Lafayette’s second division, and those behind him are his brothers. I told them I am your drill team leader, and they all defected!"

The Sergeant saluted Anning: "General Frost! We have long heard of your bravery and skill in battle, and wish to fight under your command!"

Anning: "Good, very good! You are now a warrior under my command!"

Then he turned his head to Lazar Kano and said, "Tell the troops, those captives who are willing to serve me are welcome to join my army!"

Lana approaching Kano, asked, "By the way, Chief of Staff, the members of the night raid team that I took out last night, how many have returned?"

Kano showed a troubled expression: "Well... So far, a total of ten people have returned."

Lana: "Ten? How could it be so few? It must have been chaos last night, they must have hidden! They are elite and loyal warriors, they wouldn’t die so easily!"

Anning patted Lana’s shoulder: "Lana, night raids are inherently high-risk, try to accept it. By the way, I had sent Christina from the Cavalry to look for you, have you seen her?"

Lana shook his head: "No. I have been integrating retreating soldiers on my way here, and I haven’t encountered any cavalry."

Anning: "Then you must have just missed each other."

At this moment, a lookout soldier shouted: "Our cavalry is returning!"

Anning immediately turned her head and saw a large group of cavalry approaching.

They quickly reached her, and Anning could see not only Christina and Clarice were present, but also the Cavalry Regiment’s commander, the old lady Oliver.

Oliver stopped in front of Anning, saluted, and then proudly reported: "General, on behalf of the entire Cavalry, Oliver salutes you!"

Anning also saluted, "My respected lady, where have you been? When only Christina reported to me earlier, I thought I had lost you forever!"

Christina smiled, "She caught you a big fish! Look who this is?"

Following Christina’s pointing, Anning saw a group of captives tied up and mounted on horses.

Anning: "Bertier! And Lafayette!"

Anning had long been thinking of capturing Bertier to make him her Chief of Staff, so when she saw that group of captives, she first shouted Bertier’s name before remembering to call Lafayette, who was after all the overall Commander.

Lafayette fumed with anger: "What do you mean? Frost! You defeated me on the battlefield, stripped me of my honor, and now you want to insult me with your words?"

Anning: "No, no, no, I didn’t mean that. It’s just that I’m deeply impressed by Bertier’s staff work, he organized everything impeccably!"

Bertier with a somber face: "Is that sarcasm?"

Anning then realized it sounded sarcastic.

"I meant no such thing. Someone, release these gentlemen. Even today’s fight, their performance has been remarkable! Especially after their first assault was defeated by me, they regrouped at an impressively fast pace."

Lafayette even more enraged: "What? Are you trying to mock me by saying my command today was useless?"

Anning: "That’s why you lost. Four thousand against ten thousand, I really don’t know how you managed to lose."

Lafayette: "You! If it weren’t for your despicable raid last night!"

"You actually think I only won because of the raid? It seems your understanding of the art of war is lacking, you can’t even comprehend how beautiful the tactics I used today were!" Anning retorted unapologetically.

Ever heard of reverse slope tactics! Wellington’s trademark! Magnificent, isn’t it?

Lafayette, furious, blew his beard.

At this moment, Lana suddenly came up to Anning and whispered, "General, before Lafayette departed, he had killed a soldier who was dissatisfied over military salary. Now the soldier’s brother wants to press charges against him."

Anning: "Is that so?"

She glanced at Lafayette, then raising her voice, said, "I will stand up for that soldier! A blood debt must be repaid with blood!"