The Choice of Paths

"How could this happen?" Joseph was also a little bewildered.

"Indeed, there's always a reason why someone is pitiful. If this country of Bobo doesn't perish, it would truly be an injustice! Isn't this guy Tang Keqin, a natural mage even worse than the Japanese devils?" Joseph couldn't help but think to himself.

"In fact, many of the people who participated in our uprising this time were nobles, and a big reason why they participated was that they felt that Russia laws were too lenient in their exploitation of serfs." Dąbrowski had simply given up, put it more plainly.

"But Mr. Wybicki didn't say that to me last time," Joseph said.

"Mr. Bonaparte, Wybicki... he's a city man, and he left Poland a long time ago. He spent much more time in France and Italy than in Poland, so there are some things he probably doesn't know."

"It's a miracle that the Poland serfs and the lower classes didn't directly join your enemies to fight you, like the Sardinia peasants! And what kind of people are in your ranks? They don't even know what their own country is like, yet they're part of the leadership. This is just too much like a KFC!" Joseph thought to himself, but said aloud, "If that's the case, then Mr. Dąbrowski, your cause will really be in trouble. Hmm, now let me ask you a question."

"Excuse me, excuse me..." Dąbrowski said quickly.

"Whom do you intend to rely on to restore your country?" Joseph asked. "Will you rely on your landowners and nobles, or on the common people? Which path do you intend to take?"

"What's the difference between these two roads?" Dąbrowski asked.

"If you take the path of relying on the nobility, you can only protect their interests and gain their support. But they are all landowners. You know, priests may have donkeys, but churches don't have legs. And to protect their churches, they must compromise with the invaders. So unless your struggle continues from one victory to the next, as soon as you suffer a slight setback, someone will inevitably collude with the invaders to protect their own church. I imagine there must have been such things in your uprising," Joseph said.

Dąbrowski nodded with a dark expression. That was indeed the case; as soon as the insurgents began to suffer military setbacks, internal problems immediately arose. There were traitors everywhere. Sometimes you would tell a joke to lighten the mood at a military meeting, and the next day that joke would appear verbatim at a military meeting chaired by Suvorov.

"Of course, they won't really sell you out. In fact, they'll occasionally support you in causing trouble, so that the invaders realize that ruling Poland by their own strength is too costly and laborious. It's better to entrust Poland to the Poland nobles. As long as the Poland nobles pay their taxes on time, they can tolerate a certain degree of 'autonomy' in Poland, and perhaps even an 'independent government' that is essentially their agent. Anyway, they know that under the rule of these Poland nobles, Poland will always be a weak country and pose no threat to them."

Clearly, this was not the outcome Dąbrowski desired. So he asked again, "What about relying on the common people?"

"Ah, relying on the common people? That requires a great deal of resolve," Joseph said with a smile. "Have you seen the France Revolution? Compared to yours, our nobles are quite enlightened, yet during the revolution, countless nobles were still slaughtered. If you don't have the same determination as France to send all the feudal nobles to the guillotine, then this path is best left undiscussed."

Dąbrowski remained silent for a long while before speaking, "Isn't there a third way that both sides could compromise on?"

"The Third Way... that term sounds so familiar," Joseph couldn't help but think. "But this kind of wanting everything without giving anything will never end well. Anyway, Big Bobo is just someone I can use. If they don't strive for improvement, what does it have to do with me? Hmm, to quote the Bible: 'I am not guilty of the blood shed.'"

Having thought this through, Joseph said, "I don't know if there's a third way; perhaps you can find it yourselves. The only paths I know are the two I just mentioned. Of course, choosing a path is a major issue. You can go back to your dorms and discuss it together, thinking it over slowly. We can also provide different training for different paths."

The conversation ended there. Dąbrowski returned to his lodgings and conveyed Joseph's message to the hundred-plus people who had come with him, which sparked a major debate among them.

The next day, Dąbrowski told Joseph that they hadn't reached a final conclusion yet and needed more time. Joseph wasn't in a hurry, though, since room and board would be charged daily anyway.

The debate lasted for two full days among the Poland. In the end, the Poland split into two parts: one group, which consisted of more than ninety people, advocated relying on the Poland aristocracy to maintain Poland traditions; the other group of more than ten people believed that the path should be taken by relying on the lower classes.

Interestingly, the former group, the majority, consisted mostly of Poland, while the latter group was primarily composed of students who had studied in France for an extended period. Clearly, they were more influenced by France, but they likely lacked a true understanding of the situation in Poland itself.

It is said that at the moment of the formal split, Wybicki, a representative of the latter faction, shook hands with his former good friend Dąbrowski, who had sided with the "reactionary feudal aristocracy," and said, "Yang, this is the last time we shake hands. We can't talk anymore. See you on the battlefield!"

The Poland came together were then divided into two groups, each learning a different technique.

Strictly speaking, the Dąbrowski faction did not entirely support the reactionary feudal aristocracy. In fact, many of his followers, like him, hoped for a so-called "third way." Joseph did not point out a "third way" to them, so they spent two days conceiving their own so-called "new way."

They primarily studied various assassination techniques because their envisioned "new path" involved continuously increasing the cost of direct rule by Russia, Prussia, and Austria in Poland through such "low-cost" resistance. This would force them to adopt a mandate system, relinquishing some power to the Poland, gradually achieving Poland autonomy, and accumulating strength in case of future upheavals—although Joseph stated that France's peace demands did not include Poland, what if other countries were severely weakened by the time France and its allies achieved peace? Wouldn't Poland then have an opportunity?

Of course, Dąbrowski also knew that if Poland didn't reform, even if it miraculously regained independence, its future would be quite bleak. But once Poland was independent, the nobles weren't entirely unreasonable; they should agree to reforms. For example, the land issue could be resolved through state redemption; and social reforms could be implemented gradually. Didn't Russia, a feudal and backward country, become a powerful nation through the reforms of Peter the Great and Catherine the Great? Therefore, it seemed that the third path was indeed a viable option. The France path, on the other hand...

As for Wybicki and his group, they believed that Dąbrowski's so-called "Third Way" was essentially about protecting the interests of the reactionary feudal aristocracy and their right to oppress and enslave the Poland people. The so-called "future reforms" were nothing but self-deceiving lies. If they couldn't make up their minds to reform now, under the pressure of a nation already destroyed, how could they possibly reform after a miraculous restoration? As for pursuing "autonomy" first, that was colluding with the invaders—a blatant act of treason! Those nobles who would harm the country for their own selfish interests were already traitors to Poland; relying on them was tantamount to being their lackeys! Therefore, Wybicki's faction believed that for the Poland revolution to succeed, not only must the nobles be sent to the guillotine, but also their lackeys.

The Wybicki faction was significantly smaller, but their learning tasks were much heavier. Besides learning various reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance techniques, they also had to study organizational skills and propaganda. Joseph even arranged for them to intern in Italy, assisting Napoleon's Italian Legion in building "democratic autonomous regions" in the controlled areas. Training in combat skills was somewhat relegated to a secondary role. However, Joseph wasn't particularly optimistic about the future of either faction.

"But it doesn't matter, we're all just cannon fodder anyway."

The Poland were thus settled in the training camp, but a serious rift developed among them. As for the subsequent consequences, well, naturally, widespread and profound struggles erupted in Poland. Joseph later famously quoted a line from the AC: "I have not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to sever a man's ties with his father, a daughter with her mother, a daughter-in-law with her mother-in-law. A man's enemies will be the members of his own household." At least, in Poland, he certainly achieved this.