Descending On France 1780
Chapter 155 - 148 Chaotic Situation

Chapter 155: 148 Chaotic Situation

When news of Lafayette’s failure reached Paris, the whole city was abuzz.

Following the distribution of images depicting Lafayette’s hanging and Frost’s speech in Paris, widespread panic ensued immediately.

Nobles and big merchants still in Paris were so frightened that they dragged their families to the northeastern border, clogging the roads out of the city.

Their obvious target was General Bouillé at the border; the French King Louis XVI and his family were there.

It was said that on the way to escape, many nobles and big merchants tore off the tricolor emblem and donned the iris, the symbol of the Bourbon Royal Family.

The National Assembly didn’t flee; the controlling Girondists elected a new National Guard commander, Lucena, who prepared the troops for combat, determined to defend Paris.

But no sooner had Lucena taken office than the National Guard in Paris mutinied, with soldiers chanting "Long live General Frost" as they poured out of the barracks, mingling with the Sans-culottes of Paris.

With chants from General Frost’s speech such as "Hang the traitors who steal from the revolution" and "Return the state to its citizens," the Sans-culottes were crowding the streets and alleys of Paris.

The combination of the Self-Defense Army and Sans-culottes marched to the seat of the Parliament, storming the viewing stands.

Yes, at this time, the building where the Parliament was situated still had viewing stands as it did at the onset of the Great Revolution; even those not members of the Parliament could come and observe the proceedings.

The Sans-culottes occupied the viewing stands, and whenever a representative began to speak, they would shout "Return the achievements to the citizens", rendering the session chaotic and unable to proceed.

Under these circumstances, Marat took the podium.

"Gentlemen!" When Marat said this, he looked directly at the Sans-culottes and soldiers in the stands, as if he were addressing them.

"Gentlemen! At this time, indeed we should consider whether the resolution to declare General Frost a traitor to the country was correct!"

No sooner had he finished speaking, than a representative shouted, "Of course he’s a traitor; he violated the Constitution’s fundamental spirit - private property is sacred and inviolable!"

Immediately, boos from the audience in the stands drowned out the rebuttal to Marat’s speech.

Once the booing subsided, Marat continued: "General Frost’s speech did indeed highlight a problem, that ordinary citizens gained too little from the revolution!"

Cheers erupted from the spectator stands.

Marat: "Some of you! I very well know! In the two years following the revolution, your wealth has swelled tenfold! Especially you, Angot, as a grain merchant, you’ve had a share in the rising grain prices post-revolution!

"You press down the purchase prices in the countryside, and increase the selling prices in the city! Moreover, you colluded with the Parisian municipal officers and dodged a large amount of market tax!

"Look at yourselves, all plump and paunchy, but the Sans-culottes up in the stands can’t even afford new clothes, because the price of cloth has also gone up!"

Once more, a wave of applause arose from the stands.

Marat’s speech grew increasingly impassioned: "I believe one word used by General Frost is very appropriate, and that is ’theft’! The lives of the people have not improved post-revolution because you all have stolen the fruits of the revolution!

"I believe now is an excellent time for us to confiscate the properties of those fleeing nobles and big merchants and distribute them to the poor of Paris!

"And as for the land in the countryside, because of the insistence that private property is sacred and inviolable, we implemented a redemption policy, yet never considered that the peasants have no money to redeem!

"Frost perceived this precisely because he himself was in the countryside, hence his operation of redemption through bond certificates, and then redistributing the land among the peasants!

"As a result, we voted him a traitor! Where is his treason? Clearly, he was solving our problems!

"I believe at this time we should abandon the notion of treason and, furthermore, in reference to his methods, redistribute land to the peasants throughout France!"

The gentlemen of the National Assembly were in an uproar, but the cheering from the people in the stands drowned out their voices.

As the assembly quieted down, a representative stood up and pointing at Marat’s nose, scolded: "Are you advocating that we abandon the principles upon which the Constitution was established? Private property is inviolable. The fact that..."

The booing arose again, with someone shouting, "Drag him out, hang him on a street lamp!"

Terrified by this remark, the representative quickly took his seat.

Marat: "The Constitution also stipulates that we are a monarchist constitutional country, yet now the Monarch has fled! I say today we should label the King, who colluded with foreign powers, a traitor! And then transition to a Republic!

"Since it is to be a Republic, the Constitution of the Kingdom of France naturally becomes obsolete!"

As the words fell, the stands erupted in cheers again, with the crowd beginning to chant "Long live the Republic."

After the noise settled down once more, Marat threw down his ace card: "If today, we make no changes, what do you think Frost will do to Parliament when he returns to Paris?"

The parliamentarians looked at each other in dismay.

Marat: "Therefore, I propose that we immediately vote to overturn the resolution that Frost is a traitor, and to congratulate him for eliminating Lafayette, the leader of the Monarchist Constitutionalists who has been holding Parliament hostage all this time!

"At the same time, we invite him to return to Paris as soon as possible to deal with the rebellious General Boliue!"

**

While Paris was in chaos, Anning was reorganizing his troops in Conte.

After he executed Lafayette, most of the troops who had previously surrendered to Lafayette expressed their willingness to join him.

Furthermore, some of Lafayette’s forces that had been scattered ceased their flight upon hearing the news and headed back.

Anning entrusted the task of reorganizing these troops to Lazar Kano.

Lazar Kano was quite adept at this task, after all, in real history, he was the one who helped reorganize the Republic’s military, assembling an army of seven hundred thousand strong, and was nicknamed "The Organizer of Victory."

However, even for Lazar Kano, reorganizing these troops was a great challenge.

Because Anning had hanged Lafayette, old noble officers did not dare come to Anning, resulting in a situation where many soldiers joined but the non-commissioned officers ran off.

There were soldiers, but no leaders!

Even Lazar Kano couldn’t magically produce officers capable of commanding the rapidly expanding army.

It takes time to train non-commissioned officers from ordinary soldiers.

Moreover, Anning had previously used the training troops as a raiding party, and after returning from the raid, only about one-third of the original training troops were left. Trying to hastily make them into non-commissioned officers wasn’t feasible due to insufficient numbers.

In short, Anning’s officers were all busy reorganizing these days, not to mention marching on Paris, they were virtually immovable at Conte.

So Anning could be described as passively observing the situation from Conte.

From Austria, very unpleasant news had arrived.

Since Louis XVI had successfully fled Paris, the nobles that had been expelled from France by the Great Revolution were gathering in Austria, traveling through Bavaria to the northeastern border of France.

Now, on the northeast border, General Boliue had assembled a rather formidable Royalist Army.

Then Queen Marie had run back to her native home, and now two substantial Austrian armies were gathered on the border.

One in Italy, led by General Boliue in Milan, was ready at any time to attack Southern France through Nice and Provence.

Another to the east of Bavaria, led by General Von Wumze, was ready to intervene.

In addition, Prussian King Frederick the Great finally died, and the new Prussian King, Frederick William II, was also eager to meddle in the affairs of France.

The Prussian army, led by Duke Carl William Ferdinand of Brunswick, had also moved to the border.

Additionally, the movements of the UK were concerning.

The news from Toulon indicated that the Royal Navy’s cruisers had appeared several times off the coast of Toulon.

Gathering all this information, Anning felt increasingly pessimistic about the situation.

However, as he worried about these issues, a painter traveled thousands of miles from Paris to visit him.