Descending On France 1780
Chapter 235 - 228 I am the most proud student of General.

Chapter 235: 228 I am the most proud student of General.

In the blink of an eye, Napoleon had held Sedan for a week.

After the initial three days of fierce attacks, the coalition found the fortress well-prepared and the morale high, making a quick victory unlikely; hence they began the siege and earthworks.

That morning, just as Napoleon had woken up, the Chief of Staff rushed over to report: "Acting Commander, today an Austrian officer has come to defect to us because he admires the Republic!"

Napoleon was overjoyed: "What? Such a thing happened? No, wait, there might be deceit, I need to meet him!"

Then Napoleon hurriedly went to the Fortress Commander’s office.

Previously, to prevent a night raid by the coalition, Napoleon had been sleeping directly in the command office, lying on the floor. Only in the past couple of days had the attacks subsided, and he had returned to his room and slept comfortably in his campaign bed.

Upon reaching the command office, the surrendered officer was drinking coffee and quickly stood up upon seeing Napoleon enter: "General!"

Napoleon: "How did you know I am the Commander? Is my name already so well known among the coalition?"

"No, it’s because everyone said the commander directing on the city walls these days was quite short, so..."

Napoleon: "Chief of Staff, I think this man is feigning surrender!"

The Chief of Staff thought for a moment and did not speak.

The Austrian opened up: "I have been deeply influenced by Enlightenment thoughts, freely read the works of Voltaire and Rousseau, and I once volunteered to join the liberation war in North America, the Republic established by the people of New Continent inspired me greatly!"

Napoleon: "You don’t need to say so much, whether you truly admire the Republic, I will test you to find out. What is the greatest advantage on which the French Republic currently relies for survival?"

The Austrian thought and replied: "Is it the advanced Republican system? A system in accordance with Social Contract Theory and the doctrine of the separation of powers..."

Napoleon: "Bullshit! It’s the people! In the Republic, everyone is equal, so everyone is a steward. It’s called the spirit of stewardship! This is the magic weapon for our army’s victory!"

The Austrian looked at Napoleon puzzled: "Whose theory is this?"

Napoleon: "The proposer of this theory is currently not famous in academic circles, only those of us who are close know about him. But in the future, many will write about it, just you watch!"

"Ah..." The Austrian seemed to understand, "So it is General Frost’s belief, er, I’m not familiar with the General and don’t know about the General’s..."

Napoleon: "Hmph, someone! Arrest him, keep him jailed until the fortress defense battle is over."

Austrian: "I have brought the latest intelligence!"

"Oh, really? Then tell me, how many people are surrounding the fortress, and who is commanding them."

Due to the previous days’ fierce attacks, the coalition hadn’t managed to climb over the fortress walls after breaking through the trenches, so the French Army captured no prisoners and thus couldn’t interrogate anyone.

The Austrian readily replied: "Facing you are 27,000 men from the Austrian Third Army and 35,000 men from the Prussian Second Army. Judging from the current progress of the earthworks, in a few days you will face a rotational assault by 60,000 coalition forces."

Napoleon: "Then who commands this combined force?"

The Austrian answered: "On the Austrian side, it’s Grand Duke Carl; the Prussian forces are led by General Franz. The north-south axis of the fortress serves as the boundary, with Prussian troops to the west and Austrian troops to the east, with a joint area in the middle. If you need to send messengers out of the city, go through the middle, they should be able to escape under the cover of night."

Napoleon raised his eyebrows and sized up the Austrian again before asking what he considered the most critical question: "How can I trust someone who has betrayed his own country?"

The Austrian shrugged, "There are many French officers in the coalition who have betrayed their country as well, yet haven’t they been reinstated and valued?"

Napoleon paced back and forth in the Commander’s office, hands behind his back, and after several minutes, said to the Chief of Staff, "Still, lock him up. We can’t afford the risk of a Trojan horse. But arrange a better cell for him, and provide provisions according to the standard of an officer."

Chief of Staff: "Standard of an officer? But according to your orders, the officers in the city are already receiving the same provisions as the soldiers."

"Then stick to the original standards for officers," Napoleon waved his hand dismissively.

The Austrian was surprised, "What’s going on? Your officers and soldiers eat the same?"

Napoleon responded with pride, "This is a rule set by General Frost. In the front lines, officers and soldiers eat the same. When General goes to war, he eats hard tack all day, only on the day of the battle, his Maid prepares him fine wine and delicate snacks to enjoy on the battlefield, using the splendid destruction of the enemy as his backdrop."

The Austrian’s mouth gaped open: "This..."

Napoleon: "I assure you, everything I’ve told you is the truth! There’s not even a bit of exaggeration!"

The Austrian was flabbergasted, "I’ve long heard of General Frost’s exploits; I never imagined they were more legendary than the tales."

Is it possible that these legends were simply spun by the close aides of these leading generals right before you?

This possibility was not something the unnamed Austrian defector considered.

Napoleon said, "Lock him up."

"Wait!" the Austrian interjected, "Don’t you want to hear about the coalition’s other troop deployments?"

Napoleon snorted, picked up a pointer next to the map, and while pointing said, "I speculate that the rest of the coalition forces are here, here, and here.

"The reason I make such a guess is that it follows general military principles; spreading the troops adequately protects supply lines.

"You’ll surely want to bypass the fortified fortresses of Sedan and Verdun, taking a more southern route towards Paris."

Napoleon said while drawing an arc on the map.

"But you will not succeed," he continued, "the roads over there cannot support the wear of an army of two hundred thousand, only enough for about one army corps. Your army will be met with resolute sniping here."

Napoleon’s pointer struck forcefully beyond the map.

A few seconds later, the Chief of Staff fetched the corresponding map and attached it beside the main map.

Napoleon’s pointer accurately hit the bend in the Marne River.

"You will be struck hard here! I bet you won’t be able to cross the Marne River! Let alone march directly to Paris along the Marne Canal."

The Austrian, mouth agape in shock: "This...you’ve been surrounded for a week, supposedly completely cut off from the outside information, yet you’ve judged the situation so accurately! You..."

Napoleon: "Hmm, what of it? I am the most proud disciple of General, after all. General must have already made the appropriate judgments and laid out plans!"