Descending On France 1780
Chapter 229 - 222 Xiao He, where is Han Xin, where is my great general?

Chapter 229: 222 Xiao He, where is Han Xin, where is my great general?

Anning was thrilled to have two more fierce generals, but he frowned when he saw Moura’s military rank.

Moura was only a Captain.

That wasn’t right; Anning remembered that in ’93, Moura had already been a Major, leading several battles and then using his relationship with Robespierre to get promoted to Major General.

As a Major General, he could be dispatched to command divisions and even army-level units, fully utilizing the value of these famous generals.

But now it seemed history had deviated; Moura was still a Captain. Promoting him directly from Captain to General, Anning figured Parliament might have some criticisms.

Although Anning was currently the foremost of the four Jacobin leaders and could forcibly ignore the opinions of Parliament, handling the promotion of his generals, no one would dare say anything.

However, Anning wanted to use the power he held in his hands cautiously.

Anning remembered his past life, though he wasn’t sure if it was Teacher Shen or Teacher Jin who said it, the decline of American hegemony was because they did not use their hegemony cautiously, leading to its excessive depletion.

Anning deeply agreed with this, and so he planned to use the considerable powers he now possessed prudently.

In other words, they shouldn’t be abused.

Could he forcibly promote Moura to Major General? Of course, he could, but it wasn’t urgent, just a matter of leading Moura through a few more battles.

Anning thought for a while and considered having Lasalle command two Cavalry brigades, sending him out for guerrilla warfare since the area the coalition would be passing through was one of the more developed parts of France.

The developed regions have a revolutionary foundation, and Lasalle could certainly gain the local people’s support, allowing a small force to flexibly harass the coalition’s supply lines.

If Lasalle went out, then he needed someone who understood cavalry near him, right? He certainly couldn’t let Madam Oliver lead the charge, could he?

Madam Oliver, as a cavalry officer, was relatively average, skilled at forming beautiful formations from the ceremonial cavalry composed of ladies.

Moura’s arrival filled this gap.

But Anning still severely lacked infantry officers. By the time the July counterattack came, Anning might have 200,000 troops under his command, which would need to be divided into at least three armies to manage effectively.

Assign one army to Lana, but what about the other two? Should he choose some ordinary-looking faces to lead them?

What if they messed it up?

After all, Anning wasn’t playing a game; he couldn’t see the values of these generals to know which ordinary-looking face could fight and which was weak.

If there was really no way, he would have to promote Moura by five ranks abruptly, to make him a Major General to command an army.

As Anning looked at Moura, he thought to himself, "Where the hell are Jourdan, Surt, and Marmon?"

Could it actually be that my luck is not very good, and that the famous generals I’ve drawn are only given after hitting the guaranteed bottom, and over 20 marshals are still swimming in the pool?

Am I still continuing my African lineage even after transmigrating to this era?

Moura had been standing, waiting for Anning to speak. Finally, he couldn’t stand it anymore and asked puzzled, "Um, Your Excellency, why are you just staring at me?"

At this moment, Lazar Kano spoke up: "You’re not yet accustomed to His Excellency’s style; he occasionally falls into deep thought like this."

If Napoleon or Lasalle were here, they would definitely pick up Lazar Kano’s comment and boast, "This is the moment of a genius’s inspiration."

Unfortunately, one was defending the city and the other was leading a cavalry raid on the coalition, neither was at Versailles Palace at the moment.

Moura: "Is that so... then..."

Anning: "Bertier, record this: I now appoint Noachian Moura as the commander of the 12th Cavalry Brigade, serving as the direct guard of the headquarters."

Bertier immediately nodded.

Moura: "With the enemy before us, I wish to charge at them myself..."

Anning: "You will have such an opportunity, I assure you."

Bertier: "Do you think the direct guard troops are just a decorative force to protect His Excellency? No, no, the direct guard is akin to a strike force personally commanded by His Excellency, and you will be employed in pivotal positions."

Moura was overjoyed immediately: "Really? That’s wonderful; I will certainly complete the missions entrusted by Your Excellency!"

Anning nodded: "Go and familiarize yourself with your troops now, build trust with the cavalry, I believe you can do well. Minister of War and I have urgent matters to discuss."

Moura immediately saluted and turned to leave.

Once Moura left, Lazar Kano spoke directly: "The formation of troops is going very smoothly, but the problem remains the same as before, we are in dire need of officers. I had to opt for a new unit formation, called half-brigade, and have former battalion commanders now leading more troops."

Anning nodded, he had long known about the Revolution Army adopting the half-brigade structure instead of the brigade like the Anti-France Alliance.

"That is good," he said.

Kano: "Parliament wants to stuff the petit Bourgeois from the cities into these officer positions because the shortage of officers is so acute that I consented to their method, but the quality of these officers... leaves much to be desired.

"My countermeasure has been to promote some well-performing, literate veterans, but their cultivation barely qualifies them to assume non-commissioned officer roles.

"I’ve mixed these NCOs with petit Bourgeois officers, hoping they won’t disintegrate too quickly in battle."

Anning: "You always have a way. But now, our biggest problem still lies in the lack of senior officers; we need at least seven or eight generals to command the newly-formed troops."

Indeed, Kano, aren’t you taking up Xiao He’s role? Where are my Han Xin? My grand generals? I gave you a list; go find them!

Over twenty marshals, and you’ve only found Moura, and you’re delighted?

Lazar Kano: "I’ve been trying hard to search, but with the situation so chaotic now, trying to locate someone specific from a list is truly difficult, like finding a needle in a haystack."

True, now it’s so chaotic everywhere, with rebellions, daily executions in Paris, and rampant extrajudicial killings, even the "Victory Organizer" has no way out.

Anning could only turn to Bertier: "Looks like we can only rely on the Chief of Staff’s connections in the army now. The Bernadotte you recommended previously was good; I appreciated it! Do you have any other talents to recommend?"

Bertier: "The noble officers I knew have either run away or died; Bernadotte is the only outstanding survivor."

Anning scratched his head, looking at the map: "Seems like, for now, I must directly command the large number of troops myself. Bertier, you will have to bear more burden."

Bertier slightly nodded: "I am duty-bound."

Anning pursed his lips.

In his memory, the last person who liked to micromanage didn’t end up too well!