Descending On France 1780
Chapter 324: Seeking Refuge at 317 Fulton

Chapter 324: Seeking Refuge at 317 Fulton

Afterwards, Talleyrand chatted with Anning about some trivial matters and then stood up to take his leave.

Anning: "I won’t see you out, I’m quite busy these days, and there’s a queue of people waiting to see me."

No sooner had Anning finished speaking than someone knocked on the door.

"Come in!" He called.

The door opened, and a middle-aged man entered.

"Hello, Mr. Frost!" He said in heavily accented French.

Talleyrand had not yet left and interjected: "You should address him as General."

"Oh sorry, General!" The visitor immediately corrected himself, "I apologize, I’m not very familiar with these formalities."

Talleyrand: "You should be grateful that General Frost is not one for formalities; indeed, he’s famously laid-back."

Anning looked at Talleyrand, thinking to himself that this walking flattery machine never missed a chance to butter someone up, and here he was, giving me a couple of pats on the back.

While thinking all this, Anning didn’t leave his guest hanging: "Hello, how should I address you?"

The visitor, somewhat nervous, twiddled his hands: "I... I’m an American, named Robert Fulton, I’m an inventor, I heard you welcome inventors and engineers from all over to develop steam technology, so I came over."

Anning uttered an "Oh", appearing calm on the surface, but was actually anything but.

To those unfamiliar with history, hearing the name Fulton might only bring to mind the comical Fulton recovery device from Metal Gear Solid 5, but Anning happened to know his history well.

This Robert Fulton was the one who invented the steamship, and his most famous story is about offering the steamship to Napoleon after his coronation — and Napoleon failed to recognize its value!

Steamship! If France wanted to beat the Royal Navy, there was only one way: to innovate naval technology and smash the sail warships with ironclads.

The French navy had won against the Royal Navy during the American Revolutionary War, but that was the glory of the past.

Maintaining a massive fleet costs a tremendous amount of money, and the National Assembly was broke.

Anning had money, but it was all tied up in steam engine development, and there was not enough left to build a fleet. Moreover, building a fleet now required quality timber.

There’s a famous story about a country that, after being defeated by the Royal Navy, planted a batch of quality timber, planning to build a fleet for revenge once the trees matured.

After growing for over two hundred years, the trees were ready in the 21st century. Their Minister of Forestry notified the Prime Minister with great ceremony: Our timber is ready! We can now cut it down to build our fleet and get back at the Royal Navy, damn it.

The funniest part is, by that time, if the Royal Navy wanted to defeat sail warships, it would probably have to resort to the old tactic of ramming, because they couldn’t afford ammunition for cannons.

The post-modern design of the Queen Elizabeth seemed quite suitable for ramming sail warships – a very post-modern deed.

Call it art.

After a round of brainstorming, Anning said to Fulton: "I’ve heard of you; you’re the one who built the steamship."

Fulton was delighted: "Yes! You actually know about me! I read your article on the Steam Age in the newspapers and packed up and came straight from the UK. I even brought my good friend and mentor Watt, but he seems to have a prejudice against France."

Anning: "Well, Watt is an Englishman, after all. It’s normal for him to have a bias against France."

After all, the old rivalry between England and France started back in the Hundred Years’ War.

Fulton: "I plan to start building a new steamship in France; give me some time and I should be able to complete it quickly!"

Anning: "No rush, France is still quite chaotic right now, and we probably don’t have enough resources to focus on developing the steamship. I’ll arrange for you to go to the South, it’s more stable there, and there is a large collection of skilled craftsmen.

"The steam engine industry there is also more mature. I’ve just established a factory that produces steam engines; you’ll find all the resources you need there!"

Fulton: "That’s wonderful, I knew you would be extremely interested! I will do my utmost to build a steamship with excellent performance!"

Anning shook his head: "No, no, the focus is not on excellent performance but good reliability. Understand, reliability! If the steam cylinder explodes after a brief operation, such a ship is unacceptable!"

Fulton: "Got it, reliability."

"Alright, go find my aide-de-camp Moura. He’ll arrange for you to go to the Southern region."

Moura, for the time being, had not earned any military merits and thus could not be promoted. Therefore, Anning kept him close as an aide-de-camp.

Because Moura was quite handsome, he quickly became the most popular man among the young ladies of Paris, making Lasalle green with envy.

However, Moura was actually envious of Lasalle for having military merits and the opportunity to lead troops in suppressing rebellions.

After Fulton left, Talleyrand, who had witnessed the entire process, exclaimed, "It seems that not only is it a good era for soldiers, but engineers are also entering a great age."

Anning: "From now on, it will always be a good era for engineers."

——Look no further than Young John’s ’Hardcore Fierce People’ series.

Talleyrand: "When I was planning my own future, I thought being a priest was a surefire way to success. I never anticipated that I would take a misstep."

Anning: "Did you think to emulate Richelieu at that time?"

Talleyrand laughed heartily: "You guessed it! Indeed, Richelieu was someone I greatly admired in my youth."

After a few seconds of silence, Talleyrand then asked Anning: "Do you really believe we can defeat the Royal Navy with steamships?"

Anning: "Merely steamships might not suffice, but once we equip them with iron armor and rear-loading cannons, I believe we might stand a chance."

"Iron armor and rear-loading cannons... My goodness, the Royal Navy is still saying that rear-loading guns will forever leave their fleets short on ammunition," Talleyrand sighed.

Anning immediately showed interest: "Is that what they’re saying?"

"Yes, all the rear-loading technology in the UK is ridiculed, and the evidence they present is you! They say you’re so fond of the new rear-loading technology, yet your troops are still armed with flintlock guns."

Anning: "Damn it, you think I don’t want to use rear-loading guns? I just can’t manufacture enough guns to arm all my troops, otherwise, I would certainly have them all armed with rear-loading rifles."

Talleyrand: "They don’t know you, of course. But there is someone who is very interested in the combat record of your elite sharpshooter unit."

"Who?"

"A young fellow named Arthur Wellesley, a Corgi by the side of a certain lady."

Anning was surprised: "Wellington?"

"What?"

"Uh, I mean, who is this?"

Seeing Anning’s interest, Talleyrand immediately changed his attitude and began to explain in detail: "A young man, still serving as an aide-de-camp to some notable figure, writing sonnets to chase a young and pretty girl, and playing some awful violin.

"When he knew I was French, he found me and inquired curiously about the combat record of your elite sharpshooters. Of course, I boasted about it to him quite a bit!"

While Talleyrand talked eloquently, Anning fell into deep thought: The future Duke of Wellington is interested in my tactics; he bloody might become my formidable opponent just like in the original history, right?

But Anning thought again, why couldn’t Wellington admire me and join me instead?

Collecting just the famous generals of France is no longer satisfying to me. I want to form a European coalition. There’s already one Grand Duke Carl being re-educated in a small cell with my progressive thoughts; why not include Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and even the younger Clausewitz as well!

It just so happens that I’m going to make a move into Germany next year, so it’s perfect timing to start organizing.