If I say you are, you are-even if you aren't
The sounds of gunfire and the panicked shouts of his Servant constantly tugged at the Marquis of Saint-Viran's nerves. 💚💎 ☝👤
Servant was helping him change into his Military Uniform, while he roared at the disheveled Major Bruen standing to the side, "You're saying that's Berthier's army?"
The latter shouted at the top of his lungs, "It's their flag... and the Paris Police Academy..."
It wasn't because he was confident, but because if he didn't shout, his voice would be drowned out by the gunfire.
"Are you out of your mind?" The Marquis of Saint-Viran glared at him, snatched the Telescope from the servant's hand, and stomped toward the roof, cursing. "So who's attacking me now? Berthier's three regiments, or some ridiculous Police?"
He stepped onto the roof and immediately saw black Powder Smoke billowing all around the Manor, while the Bugle Call became even clearer, indicating that a fierce battle was taking place.
"Who is it?" Marquis of Saint-Viran opened his Telescope and saw a Infantry Line, four or five hundred meters wide, approaching them.
The soldiers were in neat formation, their shooting while marching was extremely skillful, and their steps were steady; it seemed that our firing had no effect on them at all.
Meanwhile, several companies of Skirmishers on the opposite side used the terrain to maneuver along both sides of the line and quickly approached some houses on the outskirts of the Manor.
His eye twitched involuntarily.
The soldiers on their side were holding their positions in the buildings, but were clearly at a disadvantage in the firefight. Two strategically important houses on the south side had already fallen.
Soon, the Skirmishers planted flags on the rooftops and began firing down on the defending troops' lines of soldiers.
As the flags unfurled in the wind, the Marquis of Marquis of Saint-Viran's expression instantly turned as if he had seen a ghost—those were indeed the flags of the Paris Police Academy! Major Bruen had not lied.
Then, amidst the lingering Powder Smoke, he saw the banner of the Berthier Legion.
He immediately realized that only the Royal House could mobilize both forces simultaneously. So, was it the Royal House army attacking him?
Berthier's three regiments and reserve Police attacked the elite Montcalm Legion?!
He tried to dispel the sense of absurdity in his heart, then frowned deeply. The Royal House's actions at this moment were tantamount to provoking a full-scale Civil War —the military would certainly not remain indifferent to what was happening today!
Has that Austrian Bitch gone mad?
Just as his mind was filled with a jumble of thoughts, a muffled thud came from below the Villa, and the entire building shook violently, causing him to stumble and stagger.
The attendant rushed forward to support him, saying urgently, "General, the house has been hit by cannon fire! Please leave here immediately!"
When the Marquis of Saint-Viran realized what had happened, his pupils contracted sharply. The Manor was enormous, exceeding 4 kilometers in both length and width, making it impossible for cannons outside the Manor to reach it.
The fact that the shell hit the house means that the enemy had closed to within six or seven hundred paces!
He shoved the servant aside, peered down into the Villa, and sure enough, saw over a hundred enemy soldiers exchanging fire with his Royal Guards on the west side.
The rooftop door was pushed open. The legionary staff officer stumbled in, shouting, "General, Lieutenant Colonel Bernie has surrendered to the enemy. The western flank has fallen..."
"I saw it." The Marquis of Saint-Viran interrupted him, his face grim. He didn't even have reserves; how could he possibly plug the gap in the defense?
He watched as more reserve Police surged up from the west, while his own Guard were pushed back to the flowerbed in front of the Villa by heavy fire.
After a moment, he sighed deeply, turned to his staff officer, and said, "Order the entire army to cease resistance."
"Yes... General."
40 minutes later.
In the hunting lodge on the east side of the Manor, the Marquis of Saint-Viran turned a sideways glance at the young man in cavalry uniform before him, and said in an icy voice, "Your Crown Prince, I need an explanation for this attack!"
He wasn't worried about his own safety at all. In fact, he thought the Royal House was in big trouble.
"Ah? Explanation?" Joseph smiled. "Rebellion broke out in the Montcalm Legion, and my soldiers bravely crushed Rebellion."
The Marquis of Saint-Viran glared at him angrily and said, "What Rebellion? You're framing me!"
Joseph interrupted him, "No, this was seen by hundreds of reporters, and it will likely be in the papers tonight."
"Hmph, don't you realize that you're instigating Civil War!" Marquis of Saint-Viran still held his head high. "The King is persecuting his army; do you think the other generals will stand idly by?"
"It's just suppressing a rebellion; they won't have any objections."
"Who do you think you can fool with such a trick?!"
Joseph waved his hand. "Whether you Rebellion or not depends not on what actually happened, but on whether the military high command accepts the conclusion that you Rebellion."
"Oh, I'm sure the shrewd generals can guess what's going on here, but they'll only choose to believe you 'Rebellion."
"Because that would separate your situation from theirs."
"Without the support of riots in various provinces and without a reasonable pretext, the military will not openly oppose the Royal House." Joseph gestured towards the battlefield outside the window, "Your army did not even last two hours, which makes them even more aware of the Royal House's fighting strength."
"Now you are the rebels, and they are not. The Royal House will punish the rebels, while they are safe."
Do you think that, under these circumstances, they might try to pull you back into the "non-rebel" camp, thus forcing them to stand on the same side as you?
The Marquis of Saint-Viran turned deathly pale.
He knew that the Crown Prince was right; other military leaders would not need to risk becoming enemies of the Royal House if they simply admitted to Rebellion.
As for the facts? Nobody cares about the facts.
Especially when newspapers influence public opinion, they will simply go with the flow...
The Marquis of Saint-Viran swallowed hard, looking nervously at Joseph: "What... what do you want?"
Joseph stepped forward and helped him brush the dust off his clothes caused by the shelling. "Don't worry, if you cooperate with me, expose your conspiracy and testify against some people, you can be exiled to the Besançon area and may even retain some of your property."
"Or you could choose to keep a secret for someone, and then exile your whole family to Seychelles."
He knew that, according to France tradition, even if the Marquis of Saint-Viran Rebellion, he would at most be sentenced to exile. After all, the Prince of Condé, "Great Condé," had twice joined forces with Spain to launch Rebellion, which made Louis XIV afraid to return to Paris. In the end, he only ended up in exile and even returned to France a few years later.
The Marquis of Saint-Viran nodded almost without hesitation. "Your Highness, please allow me to pledge my allegiance to His Majesty the King once more! Oh, it was all the Duke of Duke of Orléans' doing! Just two months ago, he told us that Famine was coming..."