Descending On France 1780
Chapter 246 - 239 Seize the throat of destiny

Chapter 246: 239 Seize the throat of destiny

By around five o’clock in the afternoon, both sides had ceased fighting.

Anning always felt that fighting this way was a bit like going to work: you show up, cannons start firing at each other, and once it’s done, you clock off and return to camp.

This was a completely new experience for Anning; before, he’d just go into battle, crush the enemy, and then seize prisoners far and wide.

"How many more days will we need to fight like this?" Anning asked Bertier.

Bertier looked up at the coalition’s camp on the opposite bank of the river and replied, "Judging by the enemy’s troop losses today, if they don’t get reinforcements, they should retreat in about three days."

Anning: "Three days, huh... Is there no way to just crush the enemy completely?"

Bertier: "What, you’re considering a night attack again?"

In fact, Anning hadn’t thought about a night raid, but once Bertier mentioned it, the idea came to him, right, a night raid is also an option...

He turned his head to look at Bertier and smiled slightly: "You know me well."

Bertier raised his eyebrows: "After all, your night raid two years ago set off a chain reaction. Looking back now, if it weren’t for that, Lafayette probably wouldn’t have lost so miserably. But if we want to carry out a night raid on the coalition now, we first need to overcome the obstacle of the Marne River."

Saying this, Bertier looked towards the Marne River that lay before them.

Anning: "Is it possible to consider bypassing it?"

"Are you suggesting we bypass it via the upstream ford? That’s quite far. Our night raid units would have to set out this afternoon. Considering that we can’t follow along the river as it would reveal us to the enemy’s reconnaissance cavalry on the opposite bank, we might even need to advance the departure time."

Anning nodded: "I’ll think about it. Right now, I want to inspect the troops and boost their morale. I’ll leave the rest of the matters to you."

Bertier: "Understood."

After speaking, Anning called over his horseboy Julian, mounted his white horse, and rode off.

Bertier muttered: "Just say you’re going to check on your acquaintances."

**

Anning knew where Beethoven’s unit was positioned.

Bertier had arranged everything, and the unit shouldn’t face a direct assault from the enemy.

In theory, the maestro should’ve spent the day doing nothing much, only inflicting some casualties when the enemy tried to build pontoons.

Riding his horse at a trot along the riverbank, Anning was greeted with shouts of "long live" from the troops he passed.

Anning could only raise one hand and wave to the soldiers in acknowledgment.

He felt he was getting more and more adept at this kind of "leadership charisma."

Arriving at Beethoven’s unit, after the usual cheers of "long live," Anning impatiently waited for the noise to subside and hurriedly asked, "Where is the third squad?"

The Sergeant questioned immediately pointed to a tent not far ahead.

Anning dismounted and headed towards the tent.

The onlooking soldiers formed a circle around him, leaving space nearest to him clear.

Anning had no choice but to tell the soldiers: "Disperse and take a rest."

"We’re not tired, General sir!" came the immediate loud response from a soldier.

—But you’re wearing me out!

Anning couldn’t speak his mind, so he had to say: "Dismiss immediately and rest; this is an order. You still have a battle to fight tomorrow!"

As his words fell, the non-commissioned officers in the ranks started to shout: "Alright, you heard the General’s order. Disband, disband! Return to your tents, eat if you need to eat; if you want to shoot the breeze, then go shoot the breeze!"

Only then did the soldiers reluctantly disperse, heading back to their own tents.

Anning curled his lips; his reputation was a bit daunting now.

Remembering his familiar history of the French Revolution, only one person held a similar level of esteem during that period.

Yes, it was that guy named Bonaparte.

**

Napoleon Bonaparte was enjoying dinner in the fortress when he suddenly yawned, blowing out all the candles on the table.

Napoleon: "Damn it, the commander of the coalition forces opposite must be cursing me!"

**

Anning arrived at Beethoven’s campsite and saw Beethoven sitting by the campfire from a distance.

Only when he got closer did he notice that Beethoven had a bandage wrapped around his head.

"How come, are you wounded?" he asked.

However, Beethoven remained still, continuing to stare blankly at the fire.

Anning frowned: "Ludwig, what’s wrong with you?"

At that moment, the Sergeant spoke up: "The cannon fire has made him deaf; he can only hear if you speak very loudly."

Anning was shocked, what the hell?

Then he remembered, in actual history, Beethoven was partially deaf, which is why he had that famous quote "I will seize fate by the throat," referring to his continuation as a musician despite his deafness.

Beethoven’s hearing was completely normal in this timeline, Anning had forgotten all about that.

The Sergeant continued to speak in a tone of pity: "Poor thing, he’s a musician, and to become deaf like that."

Anning waved his hand, signaling the sergeant to stop talking.

Then he sat next to Beethoven, took out a notepad and pencil.

It was only then that Beethoven noticed Anning had arrived, about to stand up, but Anning pressed him down to keep sitting.

Then Anning wrote on the piece of paper: "Ludwig, don’t let fate mock you, seize it by the throat and conquer it!"

Beethoven looked at the paper with a grave expression.

Anning tore off the note and handed it to Beethoven, then he wrote on a new piece: "Now, I look forward to your music even more, because the music created after conquering fate will surely be extraordinary!"

He tore off the new note as well, handed it to Beethoven, then stood up and said to Beethoven: "Take some time for yourself, after this battle is over, I will be waiting for your return."

He deliberately raised his voice to ensure Beethoven could hear.

Beethoven nodded lightly, then responded in a very loud voice: "I will, Your Excellency!"

After speaking, Beethoven carefully folded the two notes and put them into his pocket.

Anning nodded his head, turned, and left.

He was not worried that Beethoven would be disheartened from now on. After arriving in this timeline, the historical figures Anning encountered, no matter how young they were, would behave in a way that was consistent with their historical selves.

The Maestro should also overcome this hurdle and seize fate by the throat.

So there was no need to worry about him, now Anning just needed to consider how to defeat the enemy in front of him.

A night attack perhaps...

Today, the enemy attempted a fording attack, and it seemed they didn’t swim across but walked directly across the riverbed.

Then the troops for the night attack should also be able to walk straight across.

The remaining problem was how to avoid the enemy’s sentries.

Make some noise on this side of the river to draw the attention of the sentries?

For instance, have the troops sing loudly at night?

Anning walked, pondering these things.

By this time, night had completely fallen, and the Marne River was pitch black, with specks of campfires visible on the opposite shore.

Suddenly, a Sentry shouted: "Look quick, is that a fire over there?"

Anning immediately snapped out of his thoughts and looked towards the opposite bank of the river.

At a corner of the enemy campfires on the far bank, a towering flame had erupted.

Anning: "What the hell?"

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