Toulon (4)

Neither Robespierre nor Couthon could persuade Carnot, but they did manage to get Carnot to agree to send observers to the institute's prison. (Carnot referred to the institute's residential area as a "military prison.") As for the experimental area...

"I'm sorry, but many of the experiments conducted in the test area are highly classified military secrets that require strict confidentiality. I don't doubt the observers' loyalty, but some details are best kept to a minimum. In fact, even I only know the research objectives and the general progress. As for the technical details—you know, it's not that I don't understand them, nor that I'm uninterested—but I try to avoid knowing too many technical details. Because if I see these things, I might inadvertently leak them out, which could cause huge losses to the military," Carnot said.

"If even you don't know some of the details, then surely someone else must have a relatively clear understanding of the entire research?" Robespierre asked.

"Joseph Bonaparte was in charge of the entire process. He was a very reliable fighter. To maintain secrecy, he voluntarily placed himself in a semi-imprisoned state. He could not leave the testing area at will; if he did, he had to state his destination and obtain my approval; he had to be accompanied by security personnel—no one could endure such conditions unless they were filled with love for their country and faith in the revolution," Carnot replied.

"Joseph ...this is truly difficult." Robespierre sighed. Robespierre actually had a fairly good impression of Joseph, at least better than of Carnot. Sometimes he even thought that it wouldn't be bad if Joseph could replace Carnot. But that was just wishful thinking, because Joseph Bonaparte had a brother who was good at fighting and leading troops. So, in any case, he could not take Carnot's place.

Everyone acknowledged that, apart from Joseph, there was no one else who could replace Carnot in his work, and even Joseph might not be a Carnot replacement. Therefore, Robespierre could only tolerate some of Carnot's offenses, as long as they weren't too excessive. As for what constituted "too excessive, "Robespierre hadn't yet figured it out.

Today was the first day that observer Charles entered the heavily guarded "Military Technology Laboratory." Early in the morning, he reported to the Ministry of War. In a small room, he underwent quite rigorous measurements and recording, including his palm prints and other physical characteristics. A painter even painted a portrait of him. For some reason, Charles felt that the portrait made him look like a dead man.

"Because it was emphasized above that the people in the portraits must not have any expression," the painter explained.

By the time the portrait was finished, it was already noon. Charles, accompanied by a group of cavalrymen, boarded a four-wheeled carriage and headed towards Versailles.

It takes about four hours to walk from the Ministry of War to Versailles. So by the time they arrived at the "Military Technology Laboratory," the sun was already setting behind the mountains.

The army had dug a deep trench in the area where the military laboratory was located. Along the trench, a watchtower had been built at intervals. Further back, a four-meter-high wall had been erected, so that nothing could be seen from the outside—it was a truly heavily guarded place.

The carriage stopped in front of the drawbridge. An officer approached, checked their passes, and then said to Charles in the carriage, "By order, only observers are allowed to enter. No one else, including the carriage, is allowed to cross the trench. So you must disembark and proceed on foot to the laboratory."

Charles already knew this when he set off. So he nodded and said, "Please lead the way," and got off the carriage. A soldier came from inside and helped him with his suitcase.

Charles followed the officer into the laboratory. As they walked, the officer said to him, "Sir Observer, you are permitted to move freely in both the staff living quarters and the prisoner living quarters. In the staff living quarters, you are free to move around 24 hours a day. In the prisoner living quarters, you must inform the guards of your activities in advance to avoid misunderstandings. As you know, secrecy here is extremely tight; any unauthorized activity that is unknown to the guards may result in unannounced shooting."

"I understand," Charles said. He had known about the rule for a long time, but looking at the numerous guard towers and the soldiers standing guard everywhere, he still felt a little nervous.

"Boom!" A loud explosion rang out in the distance.

"What is this?" Charles couldn't help but ask.

"Sir observer, everything about the experiment is classified. Don't ask about anything in the test area. You must not mention anything you hear or see to anyone." The officer did not answer, but instead reiterated the secrecy rules once again.

At this moment, the group arrived at the gate. Charles looked inside from the gate and saw only an alleyway with high walls on both sides; he still couldn't see anything.

The officer exchanged a few words with the gatekeeper, and the gate opened. The group went inside and wandered around the alleyways between the high walls for a while before finally reaching a small door. As usual, several heavily armed soldiers guarded the door.

After identifying themselves, the soldiers opened the small door.

The officer said, "The staff activity area is inside, and your dormitory is also in here. Please follow me."

Several people walked through the small door, and behind them came the sound of the iron gate closing and locking. A thought suddenly popped into Charles's head, "Damn it, who's in jail here?"

At the Toulon front, Pope was gripped by immense anxiety. He had launched attacks on Toulon in recent days, but with little success. While the Britain had little interest in advancing north, they were extremely determined to hold the Port of Toulon. As long as Toulon remained in their hands, the French Navy would have no foothold in the Mediterranean Sea, allowing them to act with impunity in North Africa.

Therefore, the Britain quickly reinforced Toulon's defenses, even dismantling cannons from captured France warships to bolster their defenses. Pope's soldiers were very brave, but the Britain hiding behind the fortifications were cunning enough. As a result, his first few attacks suffered heavy casualties and made no progress.

Enraged, Pope resolved to concentrate his forces and launch a full-scale offensive, storming into Toulon to show those invaders and traitors the might of France.

However, they then realized that the Britain had laid an artillery ambush on them. They had anticipated the direction of Pope's attack and had laid a large number of cannons in the same way the France had at Valmy. However, unlike Valmy, they had more cannons, and they were heavier. Even more critically, their cannons were not only laid in ambush on the front but also on the flanks, creating crossfire.

They first lured the France into this pre-arranged battlefield by feigning a retreat. Pope, seeing his progress, became overjoyed and immediately committed his main force to the attack. The result... naturally, was a devastating bombardment by the Britain cannons. Then, a bayonet charge by the Britain and Spain sent the France retreating all the way back to their starting point. If the Britain hadn't been overly conservative and committed too few troops in the counterattack, Pope might not have even been able to hold onto his own camp.

After this defeat, Pope counted his casualties and found that he had lost nearly three thousand men in the past few days, and the morale of the entire legion had plummeted. This made it almost impossible for him to launch any more attacks. Pope knew that the higher-ups were not to be fooled these days; such a crushing defeat could easily lead to him being sent to the guillotine as a traitor to his country.

However, he had no other options at the moment and could only request "tactical guidance" from his superiors. (Tactical guidance was a Japan military term, similar to withdrawal, but it actually meant requesting reinforcements.)

Just as Pope was writing to request "tactical guidance," Lucien and his men finally landed on Corsica.

In fact, their journey went relatively smoothly, with the weather in the Mediterranean Sea remaining fine for the past few days. However, after they disembarked, Lucien inquired and discovered that they had strayed quite a bit off course. They hadn't landed near Calvi as planned, but had instead gone further south to Calenzana. This meant they spent an extra day before finally reaching Calvi.

Corsica was a relatively isolated place, and the sudden arrival of outsiders easily attracted attention. So, guided by Lucien, they steered the ship into a secluded harbor and hid. Most of the people remained on the ship, except for Chrysler and Lucien, who quietly slipped into Calvi after dark.

Lucien hadn't been back to Calvi for several years, but this didn't bother him at all. Compared to Paris, Calvi seemed frozen in time; everything about it was exactly the same as when Lucien left. In the darkness, Lucien led Chrysler familiarly through the streets to his front door.

"Knock knock," Lucien gently knocked on the door. Based on his past habits, he knew that his mother was probably still awake.

At the sound of knocking, a couple of barks came from inside, but the fierce barks quickly turned into whimpering sounds, followed by footsteps, and a woman's voice asked, "Who is it?"

"Mom, it's me, it's Lucien!" Lucien pressed his lips to the door and whispered.

The door opened, and Letizia, who had aged considerably, appeared before Lucien carrying a lantern.