Fox of France

After practicing the artillery hard, the newly promoted major Napoleon walked to his tent with a sullen face, and unexpectedly found that Joseph was waiting for him there.

"Joseph, what are you doing here?" The consecutive defeats put Napoleon in a bad mood. Although this defeat was expected by him, the defeat still made Napoleon very sad.

"I need you. Let's go over there." Joseph said.

Napoleon glanced at Joseph and realized what might have happened, so he nodded and said, "Okay, let's go for a walk."

At this time, both of them lived in the barracks. Things like tents can block the sight, but they are not very soundproof. So if there is any secret thing to talk about, it's better not to be inside the tent, otherwise it will be heard outside the tent, and you still don't know anything. Therefore, if there is any secret to discuss, it is better to discuss it outside.

The two of them walked to a small mound over there. Along the way they met many soldiers. These soldiers all raised their hands lazily to salute them—obviously, the current situation made these soldiers unable to lift their spirits. One of the manifestations of low morale is the relaxation of discipline and etiquette in the army. The soldiers were willing to take the initiative to salute Joseph and Napoleon, which was already very good for them. Some officers, the soldiers simply ignored them, and at this time, they did not dare to pursue these etiquette issues of the soldiers.

Although the salutes of the soldiers were feeble, Napoleon and Joseph returned the salutes simply and neatly, which was very standard. Napoleon stretched out his hand from time to time, and patted the shoulder of the soldier facing him: "Pierre, you are a good soldier. You were very brave in the last battle." "Yule, cheer up, we will definitely fight!" victorious."

The two walked to a place where there were fewer people, and Joseph said: "Napoleon, you are really good. I found that you can call almost all the soldiers by name and tell them related things. This is really good, and the soldiers will be willing. I fought for you. I really can't compare to you in this regard."

Napoleon was taken aback, and stared at Joseph with wide-eyed eyes for a long time: "Is this what you can say, Joseph? It's almost like a Cyclops singing a song like a mermaid. Are you mocking me, or are you Is there some conspiracy?"

After hearing this, Joseph smiled triumphantly and said, "Napoleon, you have to know that the strong never hesitate to praise others. For example, we all sincerely praise a child for being smart and cute, and there is absolutely no jealousy or conspiracy in it. "

"You bastard, you make me a child!" said Napoleon.

"Do you still want to say, 'I'm not a kid anymore?'" a villain continued.

"Damn it! Don't talk about these boring things, let's get down to business. What do you want to do with me?" Napoleon crushed the freshly sprouting grass with his feet.

"Okay." Joseph said, "Have you noticed..." He looked around and lowered his voice again, "Have you noticed any unusual behavior from the general?"

"Is there any unusual behavior from the general?" Napoleon was taken aback.

"Yes, all his guards have been replaced by German mercenaries. The former French guards have been sent to other combat units one after another. In addition, have you noticed that he transferred the Duke of Chartres to the Near the headquarters."

After hearing this, Napoleon stopped in his tracks, thought for a while, and said, "Joseph, are you a little allergic? The general is not that stupid, is he? How is that possible? Things that even Lafayette can't do..."

"Who knows? But with the current situation in Paris, how long do you think Paris can continue to tolerate him? It's like we all know that if a goat jumps off a cliff, it will definitely fall to his death. But if a herd of goats is chased by a hunter, If they ran to the edge of the cliff, they might take the risk of jumping off the cliff. What if one jumps first, and the other jumps on the back of the goat, so they can jump over the cliff?"

"Nonsense, if goats have this kind of intelligence and discipline, they can make a Frederick slash, making those hunters think about jumping up and stepping on each other. But... I understand what you mean , you mean the general is desperate?"

"It's not sure if he is desperate, but he has indeed reached the point where he must take risks." Joseph said, "Napoleon, if something happens, will your soldiers obey your orders?"

"It turns out that those from the Red Army can definitely do it. It's just that they are not concentrated in one place. They need to be contacted first. But this is also very easy. Because they should have returned to the Red Army after the war, it is completely normal for us to contact them more. Napoleon said, "there are still more than 300 people in the Red Army, 100 German mercenary cavalry of the general, and 500 volunteers of the Duke of Chartres. But they don't have cannons. If they want to fight, I can easily defeat them!" Napoleon He replied in a low voice, his face full of excitement.

"Cano wrote to me, and he mentioned that you may send some special commissioners to the army to ask the general some questions." Joseph said, "He is worried that this may lead to some accidents. In addition, if the general wants to Looking for you, you must be careful. Everyone knows our relationship with Kano. Therefore, we will be regarded as staunch republicans and mountain factions. If I were a general, I would definitely control the We are the two unstable factors."

"Our general is a proud man. He has unrealistic judgments about his appeal. I don't think he will do such a thing. But I understand that necessary precautions are necessary At least, you should be careful yourself. After all, I am an artillery officer, and you are a staff officer, so it is more convenient for him to find you." Napoleon thought for a while.

"The special commissioner hasn't arrived yet, so contact the Red Army people first, and be ready to respond at any time." Joseph finally explained.

It is also interesting to say that the actions of the commissioners are much slower than those of the messengers. After Carnot's courier delivered the letter to Joseph, it was two days later that the Paris commissioner arrived in the army.

This is also normal, because the actual dispatch of special commissioners still requires the parliament to complete the process. Before the process is complete, the messengers who deliver the message are already on the road.

After receiving the news that the commissioner had arrived, General Du Mourier immediately ordered some officers in the general to gather to answer the commissioner's inquiries. However, the orderlies sent out to find Joseph and Napoleon failed to find them. It is said that they all left their posts, and their whereabouts are unknown.

This news made General Dumouriez feel a little bad, but it was too late to do anything more at this time, because the commissioner had already arrived at the gate of the barracks. Di Mourier can only go to receive these imperial envoys from Paris first.

Several commissioners arrived at the barracks, and everyone entered the office. Before the commissioners had time to speak, Dumouriez was the first to attack. He first accused Paris of being unfavorable to front-line support. After being refuted by the commissioner, he simply took the lead and declared that the existing government was an illegal rebel government. Both he and his army believed that the 1791 constitution must be restored to allow France was once again a constitutional monarchy.

The commissioners immediately ordered the arrest of Dumouriez in the name of the revolutionary government and the National Assembly. But this is not Paris, and they did not bring a large number of National Guards. Instead, Dimouriez gave an order, and the German mercenaries around him swarmed up, and immediately tied up the five commissioners.

"Traitors! You will not have good results!" A special commissioner cursed.

"Gag them!" ordered Dumouriez.

Several German mercenaries rushed forward and stuffed the prepared towels into their mouths, and they immediately fell silent.

"General, what should we do next?" the Duke of Chartres asked.

"Send them over to the Austrians," said Dumouriez.

A group of German mercenaries dragged the commissioners out of the room.

Dumouriez then supported him against the officers on one side, almost petrified by the sudden turn of events, and followed him to restore order in France.

Under the guns of German mercenaries and the "volunteer army" of the Duke of Chartres, these officers were forced to take a stand. They were asked to sign a plea against the republic and restore the constitutional monarchy. Some officers who refused to sign were immediately imprisoned.

"With the officers under control, we can control the army," Dumouriez said to the Duke of Chartres. "Your Highness, trust me, we will succeed."

After receiving the news that Paris sent a special envoy and was about to arrest himself, Dimouriez and the Duke of Chartres contacted the Austrians on the opposite side. At the beginning, they hoped that the Austrians would accept and support the Duke of Chartres as King of France. But this plan was rejected by the Austrians. They insisted that Louis XVII must inherit the throne. So the future position of the Duke of Chartres changed from king to regent.

"It's just that the Bonaparte brothers are not here, which worries me a little," said the Duke of Chartres.

"We have controlled most of the officers, that's enough," said Dumouriez. "Now let's get the soldiers together."

Several orderlies ran out. But as soon as they were outside, there was a burst of gunfire and shouts in the distance.

"What's the matter?" asked the Duke of Chartres.

"Green, take a few people to see!" Dimouriez issued an order to his captain of the guard.

Green saluted hastily, and rushed out with a few people, and then there was a sound of horseshoes—they got on their horses and headed in the direction of the gunshot.

"Vieira, go ring the bell and gather the soldiers, I want to talk to them!" Di Mourier knew that this was not the time to hesitate, those gunshots came from the road leading to the Austrian army station . Judging from the distance of the voice, it should be that the German mercenaries escorting the commissioners were ambushed. Maybe those commissioners have been rescued, and now, he must control the situation as soon as possible.

Lieutenant Vieira responded and turned to go out.

After a while, there was another sound of horseshoes outside, and then several German mercenaries rushed in, and one of them was injured on his shoulder.

"What's the matter, Fritz?" Dumouriez recognized that the wounded man was a small captain of the German mercenary cavalry, and asked him.

"General we have an ambush," Fritz replied.

"Who attacked you? Where are the commissioners?" Dimouriez asked quickly.

"It was the Red Army, it was the Red Army that ambushed us! Those commissioners were rescued by them!"

After the Red Army responsible for simulating foreign troops was transferred to Dumouriez's army as a whole, they did not prepare ordinary blue or white uniforms (the original uniforms of the Kingdom of France) for them, so they still wore their own red uniforms , which makes it very easy to identify them.

"Red Army? Damn Brother Bonaparte!" Dimouriez gritted his teeth.