Let Me Show You What Elite Really Means

However, Napoleon immediately recalled several other terrifying daily training programs of the Royal Guard Legion. Well, just daily training; there were also supposedly "hellish" intensive marches, which he had not yet experienced.

In all daily training exercises, except for shooting and drawing, he failed to meet the passing standard.

Especially in terms of tactical coordination. The Royal Guard Legion's tactical standards were so numerous that they were completely different from what he had learned at military academy.

It took him a week just to memorize these tactics; it's unknown how long it will take to achieve muscle memory.

Napoleon couldn't help but recall the shocks he had experienced during the two months he had been with the Royal Guard Legion.

From the new Percussion Cap Gun to artillery cluster tactics. From deep battle theory to officers spending all their time with the soldiers. From excellent food to the benefit of free clothing mending.

These things made him wonder if he had attended a fake military academy—so many practical and innovative Military Theory and skills that the prestigious Paris Military Academy had never taught. No, not even a single Instructor had mentioned them.

He breathed a long sigh of relief. Fortunately, he had unexpectedly come to the Royal Guard Legion and was able to learn this military knowledge. In the future, when he devoted himself to the great cause of the restoration of Corsica, this knowledge would definitely play a huge role!

In fact, he had originally planned to take leave and return to Corsica at the beginning of this month. According to the agreement of the Restoration Organization, the members were to hold a secret meeting in Ajaccio on the 5th of even-numbered months.

However, he was very curious about this military combat capability assessment, so he decided to skip the gathering, since accumulating more military skills was the most important thing. If Corsica wanted to restore its kingdom, it first needed an army that could withstand the France attack.

Speaker Paoli had very seriously predicted that Napoleon would become the greatest general in the Corsican National Guard.

From then on, this became Napoleon's life goal.

That afternoon, the 1st Guards Corps arrived in Troyes and set up camp on the outskirts of the city, less than two kilometers from the Champagne Legion.

After a simple dinner, Napoleon dismissed his orderly and went alone to an open area on the edge of the camp. Following the instructions in the "Physical Training Manual" issued by the Royal Guard Legion, he began to do push-ups...

After practicing for more than 40 minutes, it had gotten completely dark, and the whistle for roll call blew in the camp.

He wiped the sweat from his face and ran back to his company's encampment, his body aching all over.

Although he was very tired, he could clearly feel that after two months of training, both his strength and endurance had greatly improved.

The Training Manual would certainly be effective, as it was directly copied by Joseph from modern scientific fitness methods. Combined with a protein-rich diet, it would allow the soldiers of the Royal Guard Legion to improve their physical fitness at the fastest possible speed.

If we disregard height, the sturdy physiques of the Royal Guard Legion soldiers alone would make them all capable of serving as elite Grenadier elsewhere [Note 1].

The next morning, the officers from the General Staff Headquarters responsible for combat effectiveness assessment arrived at the Champagne Legion's base on time, accompanied by 1,200 soldiers from the 1st Guards Corps led by Lefebvre.

Slightly different from previous assessments, this time His Crown Prince personally attended the assessment, taking over from the officers of the General Staff Headquarters to preside over it.

On the east side of the Champagne Legion's Training Field, Joseph stepped onto the reviewing stand and began with some opening remarks such as "Be loyal to the King and maintain the spirit of chivalry Dreadnought," before announcing the start of the assessment.

More than 7,000 soldiers of the Champagne Legion and its subordinate regiments began to march out of the Training Field in an orderly fashion, and under the command of officers from the General Staff Headquarters, they ran toward a small hill 2 kilometers away.

They will run a loop there and then return to the Training Field. The entire course is 5 kilometers. Those who complete it within 22 minutes will pass the test, and those who complete it within 20 minutes will be considered excellent.

According to the assessment requirements previously announced by the General Staff Headquarters, soldiers who achieve excellent results can receive a bonus equivalent to one month's salary.

Junior officers who achieve excellent performance can be directly promoted one rank. Of course, the assessment for officers includes several more items than that for soldiers, and is much more difficult.

An hour and twenty minutes later, most of the officers and soldiers of the Champagne Legion who participated in the assessment returned to the Training Field.

After a while, Joseph, who had been waiting somewhat bored, took the assessment results submitted by the assessment officer and a smile appeared on his lips.

As expected, the entire legion failed to meet the required standards in the 5km run.

The fastest to return was a Grenadier, who took 25 minutes. Ordinary soldiers generally took around 40 minutes to complete the run. Another 27 men got lost and have not yet returned; the cavalry of the 1st Guards Corps have been dispatched to search for them.

However, to be fair, the Champagne Legion truly deserves its reputation as an elite force among the old-style armies. For example, the number of people who got lost is enough to make them stand out from other legions—in previous assessments, a legion of three or four thousand men could lose a hundred people.

After Joseph had the officers from the General Staff Headquarters announce the assessment results, as expected, murmurs of complaint arose from the exhausted Champagne Legion on the Training Field, who were looking like dead dogs. "Such a distance, there's no way they can run it in 22 minutes!"

"Captain Lacoste took 25 minutes to finish the run; he's stronger than a lion! 22 minutes? That's a joke..."

"This is clearly the Paris military officers making things difficult for us..."

"I bet there isn't a single army in the world that can meet the Performance Standards!"

"Shh—keep your voice down, His Crown Prince is on the reviewing stand..."

"It would be best if he could hear this; perhaps he could even order the General Staff Headquarters to revise the Performance Standards."

Seeing this, Joseph and Lefebvre exchanged a smile and raised their hands to signal everyone to be quiet.

The officers of the Champagne Legion quickly brandished their whips and sternly shouted at the soldiers who were still discussing the matter.

Once the Training Field had quieted down, Joseph loudly ordered Lefebvre:

"Major Lefebvre, assemble your troops immediately and prepare for a 5-kilometer cross-country run demonstration."

"Yes, Your Highness!"

Joseph then turned to Baron Dierkun, commander of the Champagne Legion: "Please lead your soldiers to the hill on the west side so they can better observe the Royal Guard Legion ' demonstration."

"Yes, Your Highness," Baron Dierkun, quite embarrassed by his subordinates' poor performance in the assessment, hurriedly bowed and replied.

[Note 1] Grenadier were originally soldiers responsible for throwing hand grenades. Because hand grenades were very heavy, tall and strong soldiers were needed, which resulted in Grenadier usually being tall and strong. After the 18th century, the role of hand grenades on the battlefield became very small, Grenadier were usually used as Infantry. However, they were still the tallest and strongest soldiers in the army and were usually used as elite assault troops.