Louis Philippe had three great generals under his command: Lessert, the Paris police chief; General Sebastiani, commander of the Paris garrison; and Jacqueminot, commander-in-chief of the National Guard. Together, their forces numbered as many as sixty thousand men.
It was precisely because he had such a powerful force that Louis Philippe believed everything was under his control. Of course, General Sebastiani's false reports had helped, too.
The police chief, Lessert, had played a part in this as well. His forces were the smallest, but every man was elite.
At the time, the Paris police were the most elite force in all of Paris. They were selected from among experienced, physically robust soldiers.
They had France's best equipment, the finest training, and the most generous pay, making them exceptionally loyal and disciplined.
That was exactly why Lessert wanted all the credit for himself. He paid no heed to General Sebastiani's garrison troops and instead chose to send cavalry straight into the crowd to scatter it.
That's right! The Paris police had a cavalry unit. As guardians of the dynasty's order and enforcers of the law, they inevitably clashed with ordinary people from time to time.
These long-standing, repeated clashes bred hatred on both sides. And so, some Paris policemen had taken things too far while carrying out their duties.
Some people had several bones broken by the Paris police. Other unlucky souls had fallen in the crush and been trampled to death.
In ordinary times, this might not have amounted to much. But now, the people of Paris were already seething with rage. And those university students and nationalists weren't ordinary folk the Paris police could manhandle at will.
"The Paris police are killing people!"
The Paris police were long used to hearing such accusations. But today, the order had come