The Second Lieutenant from Corsica (Currently being promoted-please support in every way)
Second Lieutenant Bonaparte's mind was preoccupied only with the orders issued from Paris: he did not need the approval of his superiors to quell the rebellion. 💘☜ 🐨🐤
More importantly, if he could successfully quell the riots in front of him, he would likely be promoted.
He came from Lesser Nobility family on the Corsica, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, Second Lieutenant would likely be the pinnacle of his military career.
We must seize this opportunity!
He glanced at the frenzied rioters, gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, and thought to himself: If only we could bring the cannons here.
But their company's cannons were still in Valence, and the regimental commander certainly wouldn't agree to let him bring the cannons to this town. Given the regimental commander's ambiguous attitude towards the riots, he wouldn't even agree to let him come to quell them.
Soon, the rioters spotted the army, but instead of being afraid, they began hurling stones at the small group of soldiers.
Second Lieutenant Bonaparte dodged a rock by tilting his head, and then heard a soldier behind him scream in pain.
He glanced at the arrogant rioters, frowned slightly, and whispered a few instructions to the Sergeant beside him. The sergeant immediately circled around the back of the group and ran across the street, hugging the wall.
Seeing that the soldiers behind him had already lined up on their own, Bonaparte took a few dozen steps forward and raised his hand to give the order:
"Stop advancing!"
Then he had an Noncommissioned Officers step forward and, as was customary, shouted warnings at the rioters, demanding that they leave immediately.
They were met with even more stones.
The Second Lieutenant walked to the left end of the formation and shouted the order:
"Prepare!"
"Fire a gun into the air!"
"Bang--"
The gunshots startled the rioters, but they quickly realized the shots weren't aimed at them and immediately regained their momentum.
"These soldiers won't dare to fight us!"
"There are only so many of them, don't be afraid!"
"Drive them away and go to Baron Lorette's house."
"Smash them to death!"
Just then, another group of rioters appeared at the street corner, and the two groups merged into one, now numbering over 500, shouting and throwing stones as they surged toward the soldiers.
The Second Lieutenant glanced back and saw the soldiers' tense movements were distorted—they were, after all, Artillery, and not very skilled at using Flintlock Gun against the enemy—yet he calmly directed his men.
"Don't just stand there, load!"
Just as five soldiers were wounded by stones and the rioters were only sixty or seventy paces away, the Sergeant who had spoken earlier finally reached the other side of the street.
Without even catching his breath, he immediately followed the Second Lieutenant's orders and fired a single shot randomly, then shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Second Lieutenant, Commander Reynald has arrived with 1,000 men!"
His voice was loud and clear, and the rioters heard it very clearly, causing them to panic and stop in their tracks, looking around.
Seizing this brief opening, Second Lieutenant Bonaparte turned and urged in a low voice:
"Load it! Hurry!"
The rioters were just a mob, still searching for "Commander Reynald," while the 50 Artillery here finally finished loading their shells.
Bonaparte pointed his sword at the rioters:
"Take five steps forward!"
"Prepare!"
"Aim!"
"Shooting!"
At a distance of about fifty paces, the Artillery fired a salvo, hitting only six people, but the loud gunfire and screams silenced the rioters.
At the same time, the Sergeant on the side of the street fired another shot and shouted:
"Run! There are lots of soldiers coming!"
"Ah, there are at least a thousand people! If we don't run now, it'll be too late!"
Second Lieutenant Bonaparte decisively gave the order:
"Fix bayonets!"
"Charge!"
He took the lead, leading his soldiers in Horizontal Formation towards the rioting crowd.
The sheer force of the attack made the rioters feel as if a large army had truly arrived, causing them to retreat in terror. When the two sides were still about twenty paces apart, they turned and fled...
Just as the riots in the South provinces were gradually subsiding, a completely different propaganda campaign was underway in Paris.
The front page of the Paris Business Daily is filled with headlines like "Riots continue to spread in the South" and "Troops stationed in various places are cowardly and allow rioters to run rampant."
Other newspapers followed suit, describing the South provinces as a terrible mess and the army as cowardly and unwilling to protect local security.
Any news about riots that deviated from this tone was intercepted by the News and Publication Bureau.
Given the speed of information dissemination in this era, even if someone investigates this matter later, it will be difficult to determine whether the riots ended more than ten days earlier than reported in the newspapers.
Starting January 25, major newspapers began to prominently report on "The Crown Prince personally led his army south to quell the riots" and "The Paris Legion marched to the West provinces to deal with the riots."
In fact, the Royal Guard Legion was only two days away from Montpellier at this point.
The Paris Citizens, who had been on edge for so long, finally saw a glimmer of hope and eagerly awaited good news every day about the Crown Prince's suppression of the rebellion.
A secret salon is being held at Lady Able's Villa in the Saint-Germain District of Paris.
The participants were all influential Capitalist Aristocrat of today, as well as a small number of enlightened Old Nobles.
Mirabeau is giving a passionate speech:
"Traditional Nobility privileges are no longer suitable for this world! Those bloated, greedy, and lazy Nobility lords only know how to exploit their privileges to oppress the poor tenant farmers year after year. They have brought only suffering, backwardness, and shame to this country!"
"How many people have gone bankrupt, become homeless, or even starved or died of disease because of their extravagant and worthless lives! And yet they indulge in balls and parties at the Versailles Palace."
"The privileges of the Old Nobles must be abolished! No one should be allowed to become a parasite on the state!"
Bayei immediately stood up and excitedly raised his arm:
"Abolish the privileges of the Old Nobles!"
Venio, Jean Sonnet, Varennes, and others also stood up:
Even tenant farmers have the right to live a good life!
"Abolish Serfs completely! Peasants need freedom!"
"Yes! The right to freedom and the right to life!"
Mirabeau gestured for the agitated crowd to quiet down and continued:
"His Crown Prince said that the riots in the western and the South provinces have presented us with a rare opportunity! We must unite and launch an attack on those parasites! Let's create a hopeful future for France!"
A light gleamed in Venio's eyes:
What does Your Highness want us to do?
Mirabeau took out the documents Joseph had given him, and dozens of people immediately gathered around:
"Abolish all Corvée for tenant farmers and abolish all their obligations to the lord."
"Abolish the Nobility ' privileges of hunting, pigeon breeding, rabbit raising, and fishing. Abolish the Mill Tax and Oven Tax..."
"Abolish the Lord's Court; all disputes should be adjudicated by the courts..."
"A law on 'grain production' will be enacted, stipulating that those owning more than 10 hectares of land must meet a specified yield per acre."
Bayei looked at Mirabeau with a puzzled expression. "What's the deal with this Grain Yield Decree?"
"His Highness said that this is the necessary foundation for developing industrial sectors..."
January 27, 1789.
Montpellier.
On a hill six kilometers west of the Earl of Serulier Manor, Joseph was giving a speech to a group of journalists and Nobility.
Some of these journalists had come from Paris, while others were Montpellier locals who had been summoned by the Orderly Officer two days earlier.
"Look at this magnificent army!" Joseph gestured to the Royal Guard Legion in the distance, his voice firm and confident. "They will quell the riots as quickly as possible and restore order to the South provinces."
Meanwhile, in the distance, near a dense forest, a group of three or four hundred people, who looked like farmers but carried old-fashioned Flintlock Gun, were quietly advancing towards the Earl of Serulier's Manor...