Valmy (1)

Besides taking the Bonaparte brothers with him, Dumouriez also brought the entire Red Army. Although Carnot angrily protested (Carnot believed that transferring Joseph would greatly reduce the efficiency of war preparations in the rear, and sending the "Red Army" to the front was simply killing the goose that lays the golden eggs), Dumouriez knew that his political life depended entirely on this battle at the front. If he lost, what was the point of leaving the goose to the other side? Therefore, Carnot's protest was naturally ignored.

Moreover, Joseph felt that leaving Paris now was a good thing. First, the situation in Paris was becoming increasingly unstable, and a revolution could break out at any moment. Furthermore, Joseph believed that if a revolution broke out this time, the danger would be far greater than the last. It would almost certainly result in a situation where "the palace is reduced to ashes, and the streetlights are filled with the bones of nobles." Staying in Paris was far too dangerous, even more dangerous than going to the front lines. As the saying goes, a wise man does not stand under a crumbling wall; leaving Paris at this time was exactly what Joseph wanted.

As for Lucien and Louis, Louis is alright; he's still young and obedient. But Lucien is increasingly showing the potential to become a troublemaker. He's not quite a child, but he knows a little about everything, yet he doesn't really know anything. He's also very bold. To put it more bluntly, he's in the stage of being a brat.

Unfortunately, in order to cultivate him, Joseph also instilled in him a lot of political knowledge about speaking the truth; while his second brother Napoleon did not play a good role either, but instead instilled a lot of immature ideas in him (what Napoleon taught Lucien can basically be summarized in one sentence. "Don't be a coward, just do it!"); in addition, this guy also learned a lot of artistic temperament outside - well, in general, he was just a brat who had acquired a little something.

Kids are such troublemakers; the more knowledge they have, the more complicated they become. A kid who hasn't studied chemistry might at most play with firecrackers at home. A kid with chemistry knowledge might concoct a thermite solution at home; or give their friend a pill that produces a lot of gas, hoping to make them inflate like a balloon and fly away. (Don't hide, Edison, we're talking about you!)

Lucien was just like that—a knowledgeable brat. Joseph felt that if he didn't keep an eye on him, who knew what kind of trouble he would cause? What if he went to the front lines to fight a battle, only to come back to find this guy leading a group of people, waving flags and shouting "Down with feudalism! Long live the Republic!" in front of the Tuileries Palace?

Therefore, you must entrust him to a reliable person to keep an eye on him.

Of all the people Joseph knew, only Lazar Carnot was truly reliable. Therefore, he solemnly entrusted Lucien and Louis to Carnot for the time being, and bluntly told Carnot, "Lazar, Lucien met some rather active people while studying art. I'm not saying these people are bad. If that were the case, I would never allow Lucien to associate with them. But... you know, Lucien's friends are all passionate young men, the kind who are always ready to sacrifice their lives for lofty ideals—they are all good people. But... Lazar, you know, everyone has their own selfish motives. I personally am very willing to sacrifice for France, as was Napoleon. But... Lucien is still too young; his thinking is not mature enough, so I hope..."

Carnot interrupted him, saying, "I understand what you mean, Joseph. The situation in Paris is very unstable right now; anything could happen at any time. The environment is harsh, and people are different; their actions differ. Some have sided with the Royalist Party, some are fighting, and some are waiting. Lucien is a child; he should wait. To be honest, I am not afraid to sacrifice myself for France. But isn't the reason we are willing to sacrifice ourselves for France so that those children don't have to sacrifice themselves? I will take good care of them."

"That phrase sounds so familiar. I feel like I've heard it in some movie before. It seems a bit ominous." For some reason, this thought popped into Joseph's head. "Perhaps I should entrust Lucien and the others to someone else?"

However, although Joseph knew many people who, in terms of virtue, were "trusted with the care of an orphan" —Armand, Saint-Just, even Robespierre were all perfectly capable—in Joseph's view, they were the ones most in need of isolation from the spread of infection. If Lucien were left to them, well...who knows what might happen.

As for Monsieur Lavoisier, his relationship with Joseph is purely financial, which seems fine, but if Lucien with him, he might be lured away by Armand if things aren't handled carefully. After thinking it over, Carnot seems the only reliable option.

"But Joseph, as you know, I'll be very busy during this time, especially after you leave," Carnot continued. "I suggest you have Lucien and Louis temporarily suspend their studies and stay at my house. I'll have your sister-in-law keep an eye on them and prevent them from going out."

"That's good." Joseph nodded in agreement, then added, "We need to find them something to do. I've prepared some math problems for them, partly to exercise their thinking skills, and partly to burn off their excess energy."

As he spoke, Joseph took a folder from his briefcase and handed it to Carnot.

"The order came so suddenly that I didn't have time to prepare more questions for them. Hmm, Lazar, if you have time, you could give them some questions too."

"That's an interesting idea." Carnot nodded. "Don't worry, I'll check their homework every night when I get home."

And so began the dark period that would follow for Lucien and Louis.

Although Dumouriez left Paris, he did not immediately go north to command the counter-offensive. He had completely lost faith in the France army, so he decided that he must rely more on the Volunteer Army to defeat the enemy. Although the Volunteer Army were poorly trained, their morale was high, and they would not inexplicably collapse. At this time, because of the previous defeats, the National Guard also realized that France had to rely on itself to defend itself. Patriots among them joined the Volunteer Army to defend their country. Paris alone provided Dumouriez with tens of thousands of the Volunteer Army in a short period of time.

These Volunteer Army were in high spirits, but their military skills were lacking. So Dumouriez urged Joseph and Napoleon to train them quickly while praying to God to slow down the enemy's movements.

Perhaps it was France's consistent filial piety that moved God, for France's enemies did indeed slow down their actions.

Just as Austria and Prussia were mobilizing for war and continuously transferring troops toward France, the great Empress of Russia, after denouncing the France traitors and expressing her moral support for the military actions of Austria and Prussia, waved her hand lightly, and 100,000 gray beasts of cattle swept across the border in a dense mass.

The Poland army put up a fierce resistance, and they actually fought quite well. However, just as they were putting up a valiant fight, King Stanisław led the way in surrendering. This was truly a case of "We were ready to fight to the death, why did Your Majesty surrender first?" The king's surrender dealt a devastating blow to the morale of the Poland army, and by July, all of Poland had fallen into the hands of the Queen.

The Empress's actions left Austria and Prussia completely dumbfounded. They had expected that the Empress would at least discuss how to divide the meat with them before taking action, but instead, she simply forked the entire piece of Poland and placed it on her plate.

Austria and Prussia immediately approached the Empress, hoping that the three parties could sit down together and discuss how to divide Poland. However, if you don't have troops, why would the Empress talk to you? So Prussia immediately halted its planned troop deployment to France so that it could have a proper discussion with the Russia Empress. In any case, Prussia and France don't share a border, so even if they didn't send troops, the potential consequences would be limited.

Seeing Prussia's stance, the Empress also made a counter-proposal. She proposed holding separate talks with Prussia and Austria to discuss how to divide the spoils.

The Empress's intention was actually quite simple: she wanted to divide and rule. Prussia could provide troops, so she could take a share of the spoils. But Austria? Could they also bring their troops from the France border? Did they dare?

Austria, of course, wouldn't dare, so why should the Empress share the spoils with you?

After a long argument, the Queen ate the meat, the King drank the soup, and the Emperor smelled the aroma of the meat. Time passed slowly amidst this bickering.

It wasn't until July 30th that the Austro-Prussian allied forces set out from Koblenz, advancing into France under the leadership of the Duke of Brunswick. Prior to this, he had issued a declaration in the name of the Emperor and King, threatening to hang all the rebels in Paris from lampposts.

However, the France of this era were still quite militant, and this declaration enraged France. As a result, the France responded with a new revolution; on August 10th, the people of Paris rose up, imprisoned the royal family, and suspended the king's power.

This effectively heralded the beginning of a republic. To defend the republic, Robespierre and the Brissotins (also known as the Girondins) united, a new government was established, and the republicans took the lead, with Danton becoming Minister of Justice. They mobilized the masses to join the Volunteer Army to defend the motherland, and Volunteer Army from all over the country continuously marched to the front lines, causing General Dumouriez's army to rapidly increase in size, soon exceeding 100,000 men. Lafayette, sensing that the situation was hopeless, and unable to persuade the army to follow him back to Paris to defend the monarch, left the army alone, traveling through the Netherlands in an attempt to reach North America. Unfortunately, he encountered Austria troops en route and became their prisoner.

By August 19th, the Prussian-Austrian Allied Forces had crossed the border into France, where they encountered continuous heavy rain. Almost all roads in this era were dirt tracks, and in the downpour, these roads turned into mud pits, making it difficult for vehicles and artillery to move. This gave Dumouriez more time to prepare and made resupply difficult for the allied forces, causing large numbers of troops to fall behind.

Prior to this, following Joseph's advice, Dumouriez had already moved a large number of the French Army artillery units from the Belgium front to the Sedan area, preparing to meet the Allied forces there in a well-rested manner. Taking advantage of the time spent dealing with the two puppet Rome and the Teutonic barbarians, Joseph and Napoleon gave these artillery units a thorough training exercise. The heavy rains during this period made it difficult for the Allied artillery to keep up with the Allied forces' movements, giving the French Army a significant advantage not only in numbers but also in the quantity of artillery.