Descending On France 1780
Chapter 153 - 146 Public Trial of Lafayette

Chapter 153: 146 Public Trial of Lafayette

Just after Anning finished speaking, Lazar Kano grabbed him, whispering in his ear: "Don’t do this. If you punish Lafayette because of this, officers who originally wanted to defect to us might change their minds. We are short of officers!"

Anning thought it through calmly, and it seemed to make sense. However, he immediately recalled a few of the fiercer Marshals in another timeline’s Napoleon.

Massena was Italian, and came from a civilian background.

Moura’s family ran a small inn, civilians.

Surt’s father was a notary, also part of the Bourgeois, civilians.

Nei’s family made beer barrels, naturally, they were also civilians.

Jourdan’s father was a surgeon, he had also traded in fabrics, a small merchant, naturally a civilian...

Counting down this way, it seemed that more than half of Napoleon’s Marshals came from civilian backgrounds, among the nobly born ones a notable figure is Bertier, who is now a prisoner, another was Napoleon, now a supporter of his own.

Then there was Davout, coming from a military family and nobility, but the family had fallen into decline, which actually put him closer to civilians.

It seems, without the nobles, so what? It doesn’t matter, right?

And now with Anning’s high military honors, many nobles flocked to him for his accolades. This battle, Anning hadn’t even deployed his own reserve knights yet.

These people were probably infuriated, watching the civilians earn honors.

In the next battle, they’ll definitely put in double the effort, vying for the dangerous positions.

Having made his decision, Anning responded loudly to Cano, letting everyone hear his words: "That’s right, dealing with Lafayette over a single soldier might drive the officers away from us! But it will also align the entire National Guard of France with us! It will bring all the citizens of France towards us!

"Do you understand, Lazar? This declares to all citizens that in our army, everyone is equal! The officers are not officers because their status is special, but because they have earned the love of ordinary soldiers!

"This is very important! In my army, if officers want to command, they must have prestige among the soldiers, and not resort to torture and terror against soldiers!"

As Anning spoke, the surrounding soldiers all stopped their tasks, listening intently. As soon as Anning finished, they erupted into thunderous applause and cheers.

Davout also listened from the side, an old officer of noble background, his expression was very complex, but after Anning finished speaking, he also joined everyone in clapping and cheering.

Perhaps it was not so easy to shed the influence of one’s background, however, he still chose to agree with Anning’s approach.

Lafayette, seeing this momentum, couldn’t help becoming anxious: "You! Since the Hundred Years’ War between England and France, there has been no precedent of slaughtering already surrendered officers! Even taking me to exchange for ransom would be better!"

Anning laughed: "General Lafayette, perhaps you do not know. Soon, the blood of nobles in France will flow like rivers."

What Anning referred to was the later Terror period of the Jacobin, where beheadings were as common as chopping melons, with nobles, capitalists, and the small Bourgeois guillotined daily in the squares of Paris.

That was true equality for all living beings.

Even the leaders of the Jacobin faction couldn’t escape this equal fate.

However, it was the rule of the Jacobin faction that cleared out all of these legacies, allowing France to enter a whole new era.

Too bad Napoleon later reverted it.

During the battle of the Three Emperors, the Chief of Staff of the Russo-Austrian coalition, Vilotel, once said: "The Republic? Napoleon ruined half of it! Now we need to destroy the remaining half."

Thinking about this, Anning couldn’t help but take another look at Napoleon.

Maybe if he was around, he could make Napoleon destroy less in the future?

Anning deliberately ignored another possibility, constantly comforting himself, a man with such grand ambitions as Napoleon, when it’s time to aspire to be an emperor, would naturally desire it.

Despite Anning’s original intention that the Jacobins would go on a slaughter spree in the future, the people around him did not know the history of the future, so everyone understood it differently: clearly, General Frost intended to let the French nobles’ blood flow like rivers.

Immediately, many soldiers started whispering: "Just watch, the noble lords are in trouble, General used to be known as the Noble Killer! It’s said he dueled fourteen times, killing fourteen clueless nobles!"

"No, no, I heard it’s sixteen times, any noble who looked down on him because he was from a leatherworker background, he’d slap them with a glove, and then kill them in a duel!"

Anning didn’t hear the soldiers whispering; he said to Lazar Kano, "Tie up Lafayette again! Keep a close watch on him! Leave the troops to clean up the battlefield, everyone else rests tonight and will return to Conte tomorrow!"

**

The next day, the entire city of Conte knew of General Frost’s great victory. They flocked to the outskirts of the city, eagerly awaiting Frost’s triumphant return.

The Chairman and Vice-Chairman, along with all the respectable gentlemen of Conte, were waiting outside the city.

Vice-Chairman Duncan stood at the very front of the line, next to Chairman Robo, feeling a bit uneasy.

Previously, he had secretly written to Lafayette, saying that the current council members in the city had reluctantly agreed to land distribution under the coercion of Frost’s tyranny, and that they were still loyal servants of the Republic.

Now, that letter had become evidence of his collusion with the enemy, and he didn’t know how General Frost would deal with him.

If General Frost were enraged, he might lose his life.

As he was feeling anxious, suddenly someone shouted: "The General’s troops are here!"

Everyone looked toward the distance and indeed saw a troop appearing on the horizon, marching toward them.

The troop sang the "Hymn of Rome" as they marched, clearly a force returning from a great victory.

At the welcoming crowd, the band hurriedly played the Hymn of Rome, and all the citizens sang along.

Amidst the singing, the two groups approached each other when suddenly someone exclaimed: "There’s a prisoner cart!"

The citizens who had just been singing the Hymn of Rome immediately started buzzing with discussion.

Duncan gasped, his eyesight being good, he could clearly see that the man on the prisoner cart... was probably Lafayette!

Chairman Robo turned his head and asked, "Is that General Lafayette on the prisoner cart?"

Duncan, as if soulless, replied, "Yes, it should be General Lafayette."

Robo said, "Speaking of which, last night the General sent a team back, and they built a platform in the town square overnight; I wonder if it’s related to this."

Duncan said, "It can’t be... That platform looks just like a flogging stand, surely he isn’t planning to flog General Lafayette? That would tarnish his victory’s glory!"

Indeed, in this era’s common tradition, even if victorious, one wouldn’t kill the opposing commander. In naval battles, the tradition was even more pronounced: the loser would hand over his sword to the victor, but the victor would immediately return the sword, then both would share a drink of wine together on the deck.

Failing to do so would tarnish the victor’s honor and earn him contempt from others.

Because of this tradition, despite so many conflicts in Europe, nobles managed to pass on their legacy generation after generation.

If it were any other general, no one would doubt that General Lafayette would leave with honor.

But Frost was no ordinary general.

At this moment, Frost, leading his officers, came up to the welcoming citizens.

He spoke, "Everyone! You have all gathered here, just in time to witness something! That is, I will publicly trial the mastermind behind the Mars Field massacre, the heinous tyrant who brutally slaughtered unpaid soldiers, Gilbert du Motier (Lafayette’s full name)!"

The citizens were in an uproar!

Anning said, "Take the criminal to the town hall square!"

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