I Am Louis XIV

Even Louis XIV was a little surprised when he saw the latest battle report.

When deciding who to pacify the rebellion, Louis XIV did not use any heavy weapons and even recalled the Viscount Turenne to fight against Versailles. This contemptuous attitude was completely different from the two Fronde rebellions he encountered when he was a teenager. No, but his enemies must also admit that they took advantage of the waves and undercurrents caused by Louis XIV's expedition. There were already signs of weakness when the king defeated the Ottoman Turks - although the kings of Europe They have always been willing to criticize each other, but in fact, the tradition of jihad that has lasted for hundreds of years is still firmly rooted in people's hearts. Even the last emperor of Constantinople, Constantine XI, is still Some people will believe that the angel turned him into a marble statue and buried him in an unknown place. When the time appointed by God comes, he will jump up from the soil, brandishing a sword, wearing a purple robe, and carrying a sword. As the Christians re-entered the Golden Gate and recaptured Constantinople - this was still a loser, but Louis XIV was an out-and-out winner.

If Louis XIV was panicking and sighing, his enemies would be proud, but it's a pity that Louis XIV didn't take them seriously at all - why did the new territories acquired by the European kings always provoke resistance? The craze is related to their stubborn vassal thinking. The king is also a great vassal. If the territory is only obtained through inheritance and marriage, they may be more tolerant, but for the territory gained from war, they will always make the mistake of continuing. Treat the people there as enemies. Will you be gentle, tolerant and kind to your enemies? Of course not, so when they deal with new territories, they always focus on endless exploitation and extortion. If anyone is dissatisfied, they will kill them.

But Louis XIV had considered it from the beginning. Since he first bought Lorraine with a lot of money, and then conquered Flanders and the Netherlands with all his strength, he did not intend to give up the country fifty or a hundred years later. They bear surnames other than Bourbon. He did not treat those unruly people as Frenchmen, nor did he treat them as slaves. In fact, whether it was Flanders, the Netherlands, or Lorraine , as long as the people there are willing to accept the rule of Louis XIV, even if the tax is three times that of the French, the money accumulated in their hands will be enough for them to live and live - of course, if they still have any complaints, then Louis XIV will not Force them to continue to be his people.

Judging from the secret letter sent by Lorraine Alsace, Count Soissons is indeed as promised to the king and as he usually behaves. He is a practical person who works hard, but can also use ruthless means when necessary. The lines of numbers on the letter were his reward to the king - he was not as talented as Viscount Turenne or General Vauban, but he was indeed calm and reliable, but he probably didn't expect that he would first pacify Luo. The person who shined brightly in Lin's rebellion was not himself, nor Louis-Joseph de Bourbon, who had been in the army for several years and had a veteran as his grandfather, but little Eugen Savoy.

This boy, who is barely an adult, seems to be born to appear on the battlefield. If the conspiracy in the village will be discovered by two teenagers, and it is a little unexpected, then he and the mercenaries from Austria and Saxony will Direct confrontation is an unexpected miracle - the secret agent's return is mostly learned from the mouths of prisoners and villagers, with a bit of disarray and exaggeration, so the Count of Soissons' return is with the usual soldier's return. Straightforward style.

The Earl of Soissons said that that day when little Eugen led a ten-man patrol to a field outside King's Town, he was unexpectedly attacked by a group of refugees. They easily defeated and captured them, but some of them A prisoner caught the attention of little Eugen. When he fell, he cursed in Austrian. Because he had long known that the Austrians were bribing, guiding and using the people of Lorraine and Alsace to cause riots, this sentence made him laugh. Little Eugen suddenly returned to the past - when he was sitting on the knee of his mother or King Leopold I, this curse that was almost slang felt very familiar to him.

After carefully examining this man, they found that his hands, feet, facial skin and teeth did not look like they belonged to a refugee. He should be an Austrian mercenary. At the beginning, he was still lying and begging, hoping to use this He escaped death through clumsy means, perhaps because the leader of this patrol was actually a child.

——Do you know the quick method Mr. Eugen used to obtain a confession? The Count of Soissons wrote that the Austrian would die, he said, in the manner of the Crimean Tatars of Camnik.

Seeing this, Louis XIV couldn't help but smile. Before the battle of Camnico, the crown prince Louis also unexpectedly encountered a group of refugees and Crimean Tatars who were investigating military affairs for the Ottomans. They intended to attack The Crown Prince - Louis is not the kind of bloodthirsty and cruel person, but when he is among the beasts, he will be despised if he is not stained with blood. Therefore, under his instruction, the Polish Tatars who took refuge in him used their former The technique of Vlad III, the Archduke of Wallachia, was to impale the prisoner alive on a wooden stake - like a roasted lamb, from bottom to top, through the entire body.

"But that will take a lot of time." Louis XIV murmured.

Of course, little Eugen did not waste so much time - if he did, there would be no big victory later. He directly raised a sleeve musket with the wooden handle buried in the soil and the bayonet upward. Sure enough, such horrific torture made the Austrian sell his companions without hesitation - he was unfortunately separated from his team because he was chased by a giant bear that had just awakened. Thousands and five hundred people are marching towards King's Town.

The former resident of this place knew a road that the French did not know, but he could not tell where it was. Little Eugen fulfilled his promise and gave him a happy death. He immediately reported back to Count Soissons on Pegasus. Count Soissons was not afraid of fighting the Austrians. Moreover, King's Town was said to be a town, but in fact it was a city with walls and walls. A fort, a fortified new city, with 1,500 people, it was almost impossible to defeat them unless they were caught by surprise.

But little Eugen was not content to stick to it. Although the Austrian didn't know where this road was, he and Joseph searched the map for a while and estimated that there might be three or four places where the Lorraine people would visit. They knew the secret passage - but the Count of Soissons did not allow them to leave King's Town, because according to previous estimates, the army should not be far away from them. If the exploring team happened to run into them head-on, they might not be captured. Opportunity.

But little Eugen had other ideas. The Sun King had always been kind to his soldiers. Soldiers in the army could eat meat three days a week, eggs and milk on the other two days, and fish on one day and the fasting day. So their eyes would not be like civilians who could not see clearly at night - they asked Count Soissons's attendant. The older attendant also fought for the Austrians. In his memory, It is still difficult for most of the Austrian mercenaries to see things at night, but they do not know whether they are pure mercenaries or mixed with some Austrian officers. Leopold I followed Louis XIV in establishing his own He has had a standing army for some time, and of course he will not be stingy with his officers.

Joseph had a discussion with little Eugen (this was later asked by Count Soissons). They felt that these people should be more mercenaries. After all, Louis XIV had just rescued Leopold I. If When the French caught the Austrians doing such a despicable and shameless thing, Leopold I and the Roman Church as an intermediary would not look too good on their faces, not to mention other allies who could not help but murmur in their hearts.

The Earl of Soissons only had three daughters, and his youngest son was still in his infancy. He did not have many opportunities to deal with such a young man (even if he had, he would never dare to do so), which made him neglectful and he rejected little Eugen. and Joseph, contentedly turned around to do the pre-war arrangements. Who knows, as soon as his eyes left, the two big boys slipped out with a few attendants.

Perhaps fate really favored these two daring children and they really found the secret passage - it can't be said to be a secret passage. It was a narrow valley unknown to the French. It was like a ripped shirt. Looking from the exit to the other side, it looks like a huge date pit, and it is surprisingly close to King's Town - now it is too late to consider whether people in the neighboring villages know about this secret passage. , outside the valley entrance is a slightly undulating dense forest. Beyond the dense forest is a wide, artificially cultivated flat land. There are low protective walls and bunkers on the flat land. Behind them is the city wall of King's Town.

At this time, little Eugen could no longer be said to be bold, but should be said to be fearless. He handed the horse to Joseph and started climbing up with only his attendants. In the dark blue night, he looked like a The lone goat climbed up and down between the cracks in the rocks, almost falling from the cliff several times (this was said by the frightened attendants). Sometimes, even the faint light of the sky disappeared, and they seemed to be Walking in a nightmare.

Fortunately, they finally reached a high place. From here, they could see a few lights. The mercenary leader who was given an important task by Leopold I was not an ordinary person - don't forget that Marshal Schaumberg was also an Austrian. People and mercenary leaders - the leader limited his soldiers to use torches and bonfires to light up, keep warm, and drive away wild animals. More than a thousand people sat and lay together in a very disciplined manner, with only slight snoring and conversation. Little Eugen Seeing that there were carriages in their team, although he could not check the depth of the ruts, he guessed that it should be artillery.

The city walls of King's Town are designed by General Vauban and are built of cement and heavy stone bricks. However, it is still an industrial town after all, not a real military fortress. Its walls may not be able to withstand artillery bombardment.

Little Eugen may have had an idea at this time. When he and Joseph returned to King's Town, they were undoubtedly reprimanded by Count Soissons. According to military law, they had to accept punishment, but Little Eugen Then an idea came up that shocked him.

Little Eugen's thoughts were still the same as before. He was not willing to stay within the city wall and wait for the enemy to attack. They were so close to the enemy, and the enemy had not expected that they had noticed it, so they should use this advantage It's a good use - Little Eugen's original idea was to lead an army in an ambush, but now he has a good idea. The valley is narrow and high, because the peaks on both sides slope towards the middle, so the people below are very It's hard to look up and see what's going on above.

The Count of Savathon wrote: At that time, I asked him what his plan was, and he said, isn't there a lot of black oil in the glass factory?

Of course Louis XIV knew about black oil. Black oil is also a kind of grease extracted by wizards from coal. Its output is not high, but it can have a higher and more stable temperature than coal, and the glass it produces is purer. Now the king The palaces of princes (not limited to France) did not have big and bright glass windows and glass dressing mirrors, but they would be laughed at secretly for a long time. This was also one of Louis XIV's important incomes, and those thugs immediately thought of destroying it. No surprise here.

But when I say the output is not high, I am also talking about coal and steel. There is still at least 2,000 pounds of coal tar in stock here.

Little Eugen didn't need too many manpower. In Count Soisson's army, he could easily carry fifty pounds of weight. Then there were many grenadiers who ran from Paris to Versailles. They used skin bags filled with water to carry them. After buying coal tar, they followed little Eugen and Joseph to climb the unnamed mountain in the dark night. It is said that before they set off, little Eugen tied each soldier's mouth with a cloth strip, so that they could be counted as one of them. It won't scream if it slips and falls.

They didn't even need to climb to the highest point, but it was almost four o'clock at this time, and the things around them were no longer gray, black and white, but like faded tempera paintings. But as long as they arrived at the right place - little Eugen would even be early They made marks with broken branches, and the next work was simple. The grenadiers silently swung the water bladders and threw them from the protruding rocks to the bottom of the valley. Someone discovered them, but it was too late. , such an inward-sloping mountain wall is destined to be difficult for people at the bottom of the valley to climb up.

Several grenadiers dropped their water bags and took off their grenades.

The grenade exploded in the crowd, sending flames, fragments of iron, and projectiles flying in all directions, igniting coal tar.

Although there is not much vegetation on the mountain wall, the valley bottom is definitely covered with vines and lush vegetation. Flames swept through the entire valley. In the thick smoke and fire, it was difficult for the mercenaries to follow the leader's command. They either ran backwards or forwards. Rushing, trampling on each other, wailing and cursing sounds like emanating from hell.

I’ll start adding more tomorrow.