Descending On France 1780
Chapter 227 - 220 General Frost inspects Sedan Fortress

Chapter 227: 220 General Frost inspects Sedan Fortress

Although it was only an exile for Louis XVII, it still provoked a fierce reaction from the Royalists.

Of course, the Royalists in Paris were either already dead and exposed on the streets or had gone into hiding; overall, Paris remained tranquil.

However, in the surrounding cities and countryside, the situation was not as stable, and many places saw Royalists rise up and massacre the Patriots.

In response, the Patriots and the National Guard were provoked, leading to mass arrests and trials of Royalists.

The conscription law passed earlier by the National Assembly had a very negative effect at this time, pushing many originally neutral peasants towards the Royalists.

Previously, the Jacobin faction wanted to imitate Anning’s method in the south by distributing land, but the bill was blocked by Louis XVII and not implemented. The peasants still had to buy their land with their own money, and now they were also forced into military service, which drove them to desperation.

The irony was that although it was Louis XVII who blocked the land distribution bill, the old peasants, who could barely recognize a few characters, did not care about that; they believed it was the National Assembly that drove away the King, leading to this terrible situation.

In Paris, new riots were reported every day, and the whole city was in unrest.

During this time, Anning became everyone’s last hope; wherever he went, Parisians would grab his hand and say, "It’s all up to you, we are all counting on you!"

Meanwhile, Anning was continuously preparing for the imminent decisive battle.

The Republic established the Ministry of War, and Lazar Kano, at Anning’s recommendation, took up the post of Minister of War, overseeing the training and organization of the military.

The National Assembly also issued three calls to patriots nationwide to defend Paris, and armies formed by patriots kept arriving from various places.

But as the entire country fell into chaos, the number of troops coming from the northern regions began to decrease sharply, whereas a steady number of troops still arrived from the relatively stable south.

Anning repeatedly emphasized to Robespierre and the others, saying this was the result of land distribution; the peasants, wishing to defend their newly acquired lands, were willing to enlist in the army.

Thus, on March 10th, the Parliament once again passed a bill for the nationwide confiscation of nobles’ lands to be distributed to the peasants.

Many noble members of Parliament voted against it, and then they were branded as enemies of the Republic, traitors, and were quickly tried and executed.

Dan Dong loudly proclaimed in Parliament, "Now that the Republic is in its most dangerous time, only the complete, cold cruelty and terror towards the enemies can save the Republic!"

The guillotine set up in Revolution Square executed the enemies of the Republic with terrifying efficiency, day and night.

In the midst of this terror and bloodshed, news came.

The Prussian-Austrian coalition had finally crossed the French border.

**

When the news arrived, Anning was inspecting the Sedan Fortress.

He didn’t know what the historical Sedan Fortress was like, but in this timeline, the Sedan Fortress was a very standard bastion fortress.

All corners of the fortress were built in diamond shapes, with outward-extending walls filling up the shooting dead angles.

There was also a very deep trench outside the fortress, making the fortress’s defense seem utterly impregnable.

During the inspection, Anning felt that without a multiple superiority in troop numbers, it would be impossible to take down this fortress.

With just this fortress, defending for a year seemed hardly a problem.

After all, this was not a game of "Europa Universalis IV" where you could spend military points equivalent to a general’s to break down the fortress’s defenses.

But when Anning asked the fortress commander and other professional defense officers, they did not seem too optimistic.

Anning carefully inquired and gained a common knowledge from them: The main obstacles for the fortress to hold on are the plague and lack of supplies.

If the attackers launch fierce attacks for a period of time and create sufficient casualties among the fortress garrison, they can then simply continue the siege.

By then, the bodies that the fortress garrison has no spare energy to dispose of will become the best breeding grounds for diseases, and various plagues will soon break out within the fortress.

In the era when catapults were used, Mongolian troops would even catapult bodies into fortified cities to catalyze plagues.

Nowadays, nobody uses catapults anymore, but the casualty rate in wars is much higher than before.

Of course, the fortress has stored various medicines, but the medicines of this era can mainly only provide comfort, and there are not many truly effective ones.

Additionally, merely defending a city does not lead to victory.

To win, one must defeat the enemy in open battle.

The fortress officers, unlike Anning, do not know about Lazar Kano’s capabilities, and naturally do not know that by this July, the Ministry of War will organize a terrifyingly large number of fresh troops.

Thus, the fortress officers hold a pessimistic view about the outcome of the war.

After an inspection, Anning decisively decided to remove the chief officer of the fortress.

Then, he appointed the eagerly determined Napoleon as the acting Commander of Sedan Fortress.

Napoleon is best at commanding artillery; military engineering is typically a secondary subject for artillery officers, and Napoleon excelled in military engineering when he was in school, so Anning confidently entrusted the entire fortress to Napoleon.

Along with the fortress, he also handed over five thousand fresh troops.

"You are only the acting Commander now," Anning said to Napoleon, "once this war ends, I will promote you to a brigadier general!"

Napoleon was overjoyed: "You must stick to your word! Let me command an army by then!"

Anning wanted to laugh: Napoleon telling me, "Let me command an army", compared to another you in a different time, lacks ambition.

Anning: "No problem, by then you will have an army! You might even have a corps! But you need to hold this fortress for me."

Napoleon: "Just me? Isn’t there anyone to coordinate with me?"

"Of course, there will be. Lana’s division will raid the enemy nearby, and Lasalle, I will have his cavalry raid the enemy’s supply lines like the wind."

Napoleon: "Then there’s no problem!"

He paused, and smiled: "I was even looking forward to attending your wedding."

Anning: "My wedding will probably have to wait until this war ends. That is, until we march to Vienna and bring that old witch and the Locksmith back!"

Napoleon: "Just thinking about it gets the blood surging! Say, Andy, you’re just going to bring back that Locksmith and his wife for trial? Don’t you find the Holy Roman Empire an eyesore? We should establish a new Rome!"

Napoleon was very vocal in the National Assembly when deciding the flag and emblem of the Republic.

This Rome enthusiast wanted a flag with a golden emblem on a red background, not a tricolour.

The flag of Rome should have a gold emblem on a red background.

In the end, Anning had no choice but to promise Napoleon that once his troops made a name for themselves, he could choose a Roman Eagle Flag with a gold emblem on a red background for his military flag.

Unexpectedly, Napoleon is now concerned about the "Holy Roman": "This country is too obtrusive, if we march to Vienna, it must be dissolved! Why should the Habsburg wimps have a crown when even France doesn’t!"

Anning thought for a moment and nodded: "Indeed, by then we should expediently deal with the Holy Roman, this illegal organization!"