Descending On France 1780
Chapter 344 - 337 points general

Chapter 344: 337 points general

In January 1794, Anning moved his main forces from Paris to Sedan.

Due to the large number of reliable troops being divided into rural squads and dispersed across the vast northern France, the field troops that Anning actually mobilized this time were around 200,000.

However, this was also roughly the upper limit of field troops that France could supply during this era. Historically, Napoleon mobilized the power of all of Europe and still only managed to gather an army of 600,000.

Therefore, Anning had no complaints about the strength of 200,000 troops.

His only regret was that his most capable general, Davout, was still in Italy.

Fortunately, Napoleon had already made a name for himself in the civil wars, so Anning assigned the first French Army, the elite of his main forces, to Napoleon’s command.

The core of the first army was essentially the group Anning had brought from the south, and some of the non-commissioned officers had been with Anning since the Conte era.

It could be said that the first army was the keystone in Anning’s hands.

Originally, Anning wanted to name the first army the Guards and keep it as his trump card, transferring the first army’s designation to Bernadotte’s second army.

However, when the decision about the military sequence was made, Lazar Kano explicitly opposed using the term "Guards."

He told Anning at the time: "If you do not plan to declare yourself emperor, it would be best not to use the name ’Guards,’ as it would remind people of the Kingdom Era."

After some thought, Anning decided not to use the "Guards" designation.

He initially wanted to form Napoleon’s army into Grey Knights, but realized there was simply not enough productivity to produce grey uniforms.

All the dye houses in Paris were dyeing blue and red cloth day and night. If Anning truly wanted to turn the entire army into Grey Knights, he would have to switch the grey uniforms to white ones, directly using white cloth for production.

After further thought, Anning felt that purely white uniforms looked too odd, so he gave up on the idea.

It’s worth mentioning that the Grey Knights, a troop entirely composed of old nobles who admired Anning’s military merits, also had quite a few conflicts with the common troops of the French Army, which led Anning to consider disbanding them once.

In addition to Napoleon’s first army, and Bernadotte’s command of the second army, Anning also organized five additional armies.

Lana was appointed as the commander of the third army, Moro led the fourth, and Clay Bell was handed the fifth. Anning gave the sixth army to the Black Devil, and although he wanted to assign the seventh army to Moura, unfortunately, Moura’s merits were insufficient, so in the end, he had to give it to an outstanding individual from the civil war, a man named Andrew.

To address the issue of Moura’s insufficient merits, Anning dismissed him from his guard position and sent him to lead a cavalry brigade.

The day the order was issued, Moura came directly to him.

"General Frost, do you have any complaints against me? If there’s anything inadequate about my guard duties, please point it out!" Moura said to Anning.

Napoleon, who was nearby, immediately laughed: "Oh, why don’t you understand? This is for you to earn merits. The First Governor wants to promote you to a higher office, but he can’t convince everyone without your military achievements."

Moura was stunned: "Oh, is that so?"

Anning, with his hands behind his back, went over and patted Moura’s shoulder: "I am very satisfied, extremely satisfied with your performance in the guard position. That’s why I hope you can perform more on a bigger stage.

"I believe you can become a truly outstanding general."

As soon as Anning finished speaking, Lasalle interjected: "Why can’t I become an outstanding general too?"

Anning replied: "You’re different, you’re most suited to lead a cavalry division."

Lasalle: "Then why don’t you just give me a cavalry division?"

"We are currently short on cavalry, you know that. Wait until the young foals we’re raising have grown up to expand the cavalry, then I will definitely give you a division," Anning declared with a grand gesture.

Lasalle: "You’d better stick to your word then, no turnarounds!"

"Absolutely no change, don’t worry."

After securing Anning’s promises, Lasalle pouted and then looked enviously at Moura, "I just don’t understand, what’s the difference between Noachian and me? Why does Andy think you’re a military genius while I can only lead one division?"

Bertier: "If you could understand this, you wouldn’t just be leading one division."

Lasalle scratched his head, annoyed.

...

After settling Moura’s minor displeasure, the army continued its usual march preparations as the day of attack approached.

On the last day before the whole army set out, Anning paid a visit to Grand Duke Carl, who was under house arrest in the fortress.

After all, part of the goal of this campaign was to sell Grand Duke Carl for a good price, ideally to exchange him for Louis XVI and his wife, so this expedition was not unrelated to him.

Moreover, Anning wanted to see what changes had taken place in Grand Duke Carl after being secluded in the fortress for so long.

**

As soon as Anning entered the Grand Duke’s suite, he saw the Duke standing in full uniform at the center of the hall.

When their eyes met, the Duke immediately saluted Anning: "Greetings to you, First Governor of France."

Anning raised an eyebrow: "You already know that I’ve become the First Governor?"

"I read the newspapers from Paris every day," Grand Duke Carl paused, then added, "I am now very concerned about what’s happening in France, I want to witness firsthand where you can go."

Anning smiled, "It looks like you’ve developed an interest in what we’re doing."

"Yes." Grand Duke Carl nodded, "These past few months have broadened my perspective dramatically. National states, social contracts, people’s self-determination, all these unprecedented concepts have challenged everything I previously learned. I think I understand why your army can achieve such incredible feats."

Anning couldn’t suppress a smile: "Is that so? That’s good. Would you be interested in returning to your homeland to bring these advancements there?"

Grand Duke Carl looked at Anning confusedly: "Bring them to my homeland?"

"Your grandmother adopted the ideas of Enlightenment thinkers in Austria and implemented enlightened reforms. You have Maria Theresa’s blood in you and certainly could make a significant impact."

Grand Duke Carl looked shocked, as if struck by something.

Anning stepped forward, tempting him: "I’m not asking you to oppose your brother. Reform in a national state does not necessarily require revolution. As the Imperial Chancellor, you could implement top-down reforms, couldn’t you?"

Grand Duke Carl’s lips trembled slightly, "Is... is that possible?"

"Of course, all roads lead to Rome. A black cat or a white cat, the one that catches the mouse is the good cat. Any method is worth trying," Anning leaned closer to Grand Duke Carl and whispered in his ear, "For the future of your homeland, you must try, mustn’t you?"

Grand Duke Carl swallowed, then he asked a critical question: "But I’d have to return to my homeland for that, when do you plan to release me?"

"Don’t worry, if my plan is correct, you will be back in Vienna by the end of the year 1794," Anning confidently asserted.