Mutiny (2)

The curse wouldn't solve anything; the most important thing now was to quickly bring the army under control. Just then, the bells rang outside, signaling the mobilization of the soldiers. Dumouriez straightened his cap, adjusted his sword, and then said to Duke of Chartres, "Your Highness, Regent, would you like to come with me to address the soldiers?"

Duke of Chartres hesitated slightly; the recent turn of events had frightened him. Dumouriez glanced at Duke of Chartres' pale face, sighed, and decided not to insist that Duke of Chartres face the soldiers with him—his current appearance would only have a negative effect if the soldiers saw him.

The Duke of Chartres had a number of battle achievements in his previous battle reports, but many of these achievements were actually assigned to him by Dumouriez.

"Your Highness, just keep an eye on these officers who refuse to cooperate... Make sure they don't cause any more trouble." After saying this, Dumouriez led the officers who had signed the papers out.

"At least, with so many officers under my control, I still have a significant advantage," Dumouriez thought.

The soldiers had already gathered in front of the parade ground. Dumouriez ascended the reviewing stand and addressed them. In his speech, he first accused the National Assembly and the government of failing to provide sufficient military pay, then spoke of the extreme corruption of the National Assembly and the brutality of the Paris Commune. He then argued that the republican system was fundamentally unsuitable for France, and that the most suitable system for France, the one that could bring peace and tranquility to everyone, was a constitutional monarchy based on the Constitution of 1791. Therefore, he intended to lead everyone back to Paris to rebuild a stable, peaceful Kingdom of France where everyone could live a good life.

Dumouriez had prepared this speech for a long time. He felt it would move the soldiers; with his prestige and such a brilliant speech, wouldn't the soldiers be eager to follow him to conquer the world?

However, the speech did not achieve the desired effect; instead of cheering, most of the soldiers seemed bewildered.

Dumouriez sighed, about to say something more, when suddenly a voice shouted, "Soldiers, brothers, have you forgotten why we left our beloved homeland to fight the Austria, the Prussia, and all sorts of traitors to our motherland?"

Amidst the shouts, a man leaped onto a cannon positioned beside the parade ground. He waved to everyone and then roared, "We remember how the Brunswick threatened us. They said that if we dared not obediently become slaves to Louis XVI, they would march on Paris, completely destroy Paris, and slaughter all Paris people—our parents, brothers, wives, and children! We are not fighting for anything else, not for pay, not for any great achievement, and certainly not for General Dumouriez. The reason we stand here, the reason we wear uniforms—brothers, tell me, what is it for?"

"To defend Paris!"

"For our families!"

"For my Little Pierre, Little Franz!"

The soldiers shouted.

Dumouriez's face turned ashen. He knew things were completely out of control, especially when that damned guy uttered the name "Brunswick."

"Damn Brunswick! Damn Joseph Bonaparte!" Dumouriez cursed inwardly, then turned to the captain of the guard beside him and asked, "Hankerson, are you confident you can hit him?"

"General, it's too far. It's almost impossible to hit at this distance," Lieutenant Hankerson replied. "Unless you use a rifled shotgun. Besides, I don't think this is a good time to fire."

Dumouriez understood Hankerson's meaning: firing now would likely trigger an immediate counterattack from the entire army, which was far too dangerous. But to admit defeat like this? Absolutely not!

"Soldiers, the Duke of Brunswick has retracted his statement, as long as we can restore the Kingdom of France ..." Dumouriez wanted to try one more time; perhaps he could sway the soldiers? It was like a hopeless sycophant, always prone to illusions like, "She smiled at me," "She might like me," "If I just keep trying, I can...become a father." After all, life is always, and must be, full of illusions; otherwise, how could those poor souls survive?

However, like all sycophants, those words that might move him couldn't touch the goddess at all. Joseph, on the other hand, chuckled and loudly addressed everyone, "Do you all remember what our general said to us in Jemappes? Either he was lying in Jemappes, or he's lying now! Would you believe a liar?"

Do you all remember, in Jemappes, our general said, "Let us follow him and charge against the France enemy?"

"Remember!"

"Remember!"

A burst of laughter erupted from below.

"Does everyone remember when we charged up their lines, braving Austria bullets, the general who declared he would lead the charge was in front of us?"

"No!"

"No!"

"Ahead of us, holding the military flag, is Napoleon!"

"Leading us in the charge are the Bonaparte brothers!"

The soldiers shouted in unison.

"Then tell me, my brothers, would you rather believe in a brother who raises the military flag, brandishes his saber, charges alongside you through enemy fire, and shares life and death with you; or would you believe in a general who has made a fortune but leaves everyone starving?"

"We believe you, Brother Joseph!"

"Of course I believe you!"

I believe in you!

The soldiers' shouts rang out in unison.

Although the situation was already quite hopeless, Dumouriez was still unwilling to give up and wanted to say something more. Like a backup plan, he rushed into the sacred church, desperately trying to win back the goddess he thought had once loved him. However, his captain of the guard, Hankerson, said to him, "General, we must leave immediately. Look over there!"

Dumouriez looked in that direction and saw a troop of cavalrymen in red coats escorting several people dressed as commoners on horseback approaching...

Dumouriez knew that this was the special envoy who had been rescued by the Red Army. If Joseph could only appeal to everyone's fear of the threats posed by Brunswick, then the special envoy from Paris clearly had more legitimate authority.

"The tide has turned!" Dumouriez sighed. Even though he was reluctant, the goddess was already dressed in her white wedding gown, and the handsome and wealthy man was already leading her to the altar, exchanging rings and some kind of digestive enzyme. What hope did he have left? So, he could only take one last, wistful look at the army that had once belonged to him, and then say to those around him, "Let's go!"

The group dismounted from the reviewing stand, mounted their horses, and headed towards the command post.

Joseph let out a long sigh after Dumouriez left, but then his anger flared up again. "Damn Napoleon, why isn't he here yet!"

Dumouriez rushed back to the command post, and as soon as he entered, he saw Duke of Chartres approaching him with a look of anxiety. "General, the situation..."

"The situation is out of control; we must leave immediately and go to Austria," Dumouriez said as he walked, without stopping.

"Oh...ah...how could this be..." Duke of Chartres was stunned.

"Your Highness, tell your men to prepare immediately. Don't take anything with them; we need to leave right away. Otherwise, it will be too late!"

"Good, good..." Duke of Chartres jumped up as if he had suddenly woken up.

"Take all those officers with you!" Dumouriez said—he needed a token of his allegiance to Austria. An army that loses so many officers is practically incapable of fighting, and this gift would be quite substantial for Austria.

Soon, Dumouriez's Germany mercenary cavalry and the Duke of Chartres's Volunteer Army sprang into action. They took the officers with them, regardless of whether they had signed in support of the monarchy, and ran toward the Austria army. Until they encountered a troop of red-clad cavalry led by a short man on the road.

"It's Napoleon Bonaparte and his Red Army cavalry!" The mercenaries slowed their horses, stopping even far from Napoleon — Napoleon was a master at secretly hiding cannons in places no one noticed. He had mastered this trick in Valmy and during the retreats after the two recent defeats, so much so that everyone who saw him couldn't help but look around to see where the cannons might be hidden.

Seeing that the cavalry had stopped, Napoleon said to Beurnonville, who was riding beside him, "Sir, you see, we have stopped that traitor."

Dumouriez also didn't know where Napoleon had hidden the cannons, and he dared not charge directly at them either—it used to be quite amusing to see Napoleon use cannons to ambush others, but now that it was his turn to be ambushed by Napoleon with cannons, it was simply mortal danger!

"General, what should we do? I don't think they have many men. Should we charge in?" Duke of Chartres asked.

"No, that's Napoleon. That guy is full of evil schemes. If we rush in directly, we'll definitely suffer a great loss." Dumouriez shook his head.

"What should we do then?" Duke of Chartres was not unaware that this short man was full of bad intentions, but he simply didn't know what to do at the moment.

"Talk to him. We have hostages. Those officers are our hostages," Dumouriez said.

Who will go and say it?

"Let Hankerson go."

So Hankerson rode up alone, dismounted at a distance, raised his hands to indicate that he was unarmed and posed no threat, and then slowly approached.

"What did that traitor Dumouriez send you here for?" Beurnonville asked through gritted teeth.

"The general told me to tell you that he has hostages. Most of the lower-ranking officers in the army are under our control. He wants you to make way for him; if you do, we'll hand over half of the officers to you."

"You're dreaming! You and your damned traitorous general only have one path left: to rot on a lamppost!" Beurnonville cursed through gritted teeth.

"I cannot let you pass unless all the officers are detained," Napoleon said.

"No, if we..." Hankerson said.

"I have a proposal," Dumouriez said. "You hand over the Duke of Chartres to us, release half of the officers, and we will let you pass. Then we will release the remaining hostages on both sides. If you cannot make this decision, go back and discuss it with Napoleon."

Hankerson heard this and turned back.

"Major Bonaparte, how could you..." Beurnonville said.

"Mr. Beurnonville, if the army loses so many officers at once, it will be unable to fight effectively in the short term. And between the Austria and Paris, there are no other troops besides us. We must consider the safety of Paris."