Chapter Summaries

Mesmer stirred support for a Holy War against Russia in Austria, helping Poland gain volunteers and Austrian sympathy. At Marecze, Janik prepared to send Kacper to Warsaw as a Polish force arrived to reinforce the town.

• Mesmer rallied Nowy Sącz citizens to support a Holy War and persuaded Bishop Borowski to spread the call across his diocese.
• Mesmer traveled toward Belz as pamphlets and volunteers appeared, and news of Poland’s supposed Crusade reached Vienna, encouraging Austria to side with Poland.
• Janik urged Kacper to leave Marecze for Warsaw to study, and Kacper agreed to return after learning to fire artillery.
• A large Polish force marched toward Marecze, and Janik’s lieutenant identified the Royal 3rd Infantry Division and the Royal 2nd Cavalry Battalion.

Kościuszko led Poland’s finest troops toward Kiev to strike the Russian supply line while Prince Poniatowski continued defending Marecze Town. As the Russians pressed their assault on the town, Morkov learned that Polish forces had attacked a supply depot outside Kiev.

• Kościuszko and Prince Poniatowski agreed that Poniatowski would hold Marecze Town while Kościuszko led the army away.
• Kościuszko told his soldiers they would attack Kiev and disrupt the Russian supply line as the Russians focused on Marecze Town.
• Kościuszko’s troops cheered and vowed to face the dangerous mission with him.
• Morkov ordered the Kiev Grenadier Regiment to capture Marecze Town’s bell tower before noon.
• A Ranger reported to Morkov that Poles had attacked a Russian Supply Depot on Kiev’s northern outskirts.

Morkov redirected Russian forces to contain the Polish army near Kiev while pressing the assault on Mozyr, and Prussia prepared to exploit Russia’s invasion. In Vienna, Franz II rejected Poland’s appeal for aid as Austrian troops gathered near the border.

• Morkov sent General Smirnov’s Ukrainian Legion and six Cossack Cavalry squadrons to join Chaperov in containing the Polish forces near Kiev, while ordering Puldarev to move the cannons into Marecze Town.
• Prince Heinrich told William II that Russia had begun simultaneous offensives from Mozyr and Braslav, and William ordered Prussian troops moved to the border in preparation for seizing Greater Poland and Danzig.
• Prince Heinrich warned William II that Catholics in Kulm, Inowrocław, and Nakło were sympathizing with Poland, and William ordered the Secret Police to suppress the agitation.
• Franz II refused to meet Polish Foreign Minister Count Szczęsny Potocki and asked Baron Thugut about Austria’s troop movements.
• Baron Thugut reported that twenty-four thousand Austrian soldiers had arrived at Nowy Sącz.

Franz II refused to let Austrian nobles frame the war against Poland as a Holy War, while Kościuszko’s Polish force routed Smirnov’s Ukrainian Legion near Kiev. After taking Marecze, Morkov learned that the Ukrainian Legion had come under attack and requested reinforcements.

• Franz II learned Austria would send only about twenty-four thousand troops against Poland because of the Empire’s strained finances.
• Count Schmeitz urged nobles to join a Holy League, but Franz II’s attendant declared that the Holy War was only a Polish rumor and forbade them to discuss it.
• Kościuszko’s Polish troops and Madalinski’s Winged Hussars struck Smirnov’s Ukrainian Legion near Gornostaypol and broke its lines.
• Morkov surveyed the costly Russian capture of Marecze, where Polish skirmishers had destroyed more than thirty cannon.
• Two Rangers told Morkov that the Ukrainian Legion had been attacked and needed reinforcements.

Morkov pursued the Polish Army after it crossed the Dnieper and realized it threatened the empire’s central provinces, while Prince Poniatowski strengthened Mozyr’s defenses. In Paris, Joseph reviewed reports from Poland and recognized the danger of Kościuszko’s advance into Russia.

• Morkov marched toward Kiev, but the Polish Army had already left and crossed the Dnieper at Loyev Ferry.
• Morkov predicted that the Poles would strike Chernihiv and then threaten Kaluga and Moscow, so he warned the cities and sent cavalry to track them.
• Prince Poniatowski brought recruits to Mozyr and reinforced its defenses while the Polish Army recovered from its campaign.
• Perna woke Joseph for the opening ceremony of the Paris Agricultural Products Futures Exchange and helped him prepare for the day.
• Joseph read reports that Kosinski was advancing north toward Riga and that Kościuszko had driven into Russia’s vulnerable interior.

Joseph reviewed reports on Poland, the Ottoman Empire, and Mediterranean steamship trade before opening the Paris Agricultural Products Futures Exchange, whose sugar supply was poised to influence European prices. The exchange opened amid a rush of merchants eager to trade as Caribbean unrest drove sugar prices sharply higher.

• Joseph read reports that Austria and Prussia were delaying intervention in Poland, giving Poland time to recruit, and that the Ottomans were training new troops and preparing to attack Egypt.
• Joseph learned that the Eastern Mediterranean Trading Company was operating twelve steamships but needed far more ships to reshape Mediterranean trade.
• Joseph traveled to the former Bastille to inaugurate the Paris Agricultural Products Futures Exchange, backed by beet sugar production and sugar purchased in Egypt.
• Joseph declared the exchange open, and merchants surged toward its trading windows, forcing Kexer and the Royal Guards to escort him out.
• News that the exchange would offer six million pounds of cane sugar spread among European merchants as Caribbean conflict drove sugar prices up by more than forty percent.

Sugar futures prices soared as merchants scrambled to buy amid reports of crop failures and the Dutch recognition of Saint-Domingue. After a violent exchange brawl, Joseph moved to accelerate his plan by giving buyers who paid in francs priority trading rights.

• Van Schaik told Wiegel that Caribbean sugar production had collapsed, Egypt's supply was already reserved, and sugar prices would likely climb further.
• Wiegel fought through the crowd and secured a contract as trading grew violent and the Dutch Government announced it recognized the Saint-Domingue Republic.
• The news sent merchants into a frenzy, pushed sugar contracts to 2 francs per pound, and left twenty-seven people seriously injured in the exchange brawl.
• Joseph heard Besançon’s report, reprimanded him, and decided to implement his plan ahead of schedule.
• When the exchange reopened, its supervisor announced that buyers using francs would receive priority trading rights.

Wiegel converted Dutch guilders into francs through the French Reserve Bank and bought cane sugar futures as European prices surged. At a European sugar conference in Frankfurt, Britain blamed France for the crisis, but Bayei produced evidence implicating the Duke of Leeds, and Marquis Lord tried to counter by claiming France had profited from the unrest.

• Wiegel exchanged more than 10,000 Dutch guilders for francs and bought four cane sugar futures contracts, prompting other foreign merchants to rush to the French Reserve Bank.
• The French Reserve Bank took in more than 8,000 ounces of gold as sugar prices continued to rise across Europe.
• Marquis Lord accused France of causing the sugar shortage by supporting uprisings in the Caribbean and demanded that the French Government explain itself.
• Bayei distributed evidence that the Duke of Leeds had funded the Saint-Domingue uprising and plotted to send Booker's men to the United States.
• Marquis Lord objected that France had suffered no losses and had instead gained enormous profits from the Caribbean unrest.

Bayei defended France against British accusations at the European Sugar Special Conference, while France’s sugar profits and Franc Paper Money gained momentum. Back at Versailles, Joseph anticipated war with Britain, and Berthier introduced Claude Shap, whose invention could improve military communications.

• Bayei rebutted Marquis Lord’s accusations, blamed Britain for worsening the Saint-Domingue crisis, and dismissed Marquis’s evidence as slander.
• The European Sugar Special Conference ended without condemning Britain, but France’s Sugar Beet refining drew publicity, futures trading surged, and merchants embraced Franc Paper Money.
• Joseph concluded that Britain would likely prepare for war rather than lower Cane Sugar prices, and considered France’s sugar profits an advantage in the coming conflict.
• Berthier arrived at Versailles with Claude Shap, whose invention offered an advanced version of the Shipowner Communication Mode for military command.

Joseph reviewed Shap’s optical signal tower design and replaced its costly, slow mechanism with a simpler system based on Morse Code. He ordered Berthier to support Shap and begin testing at once, leaving the project poised for rapid development.

• Shap presented Joseph with a blueprint for towers that relayed letters using rotating beams and swinging arms.
• Joseph learned that the original towers would take twenty days and cost about two thousand francs each.
• Joseph proposed using retractable rods to transmit Morse Code dots and dashes, and Shap recognized the design’s advantages.
• Shap estimated that the new towers could be built in about a week, and Joseph ordered Berthier to provide support and expedite testing.

Joseph discussed Britain’s growing hostility and France’s military readiness with Berthier before Perna warned that Camellia was unwell. In Saint-Domingue, the British expeditionary commander remained stuck in an emptied Port-au-Prince while Auge’s government continued resistance from the Duarte Mountains.

• Joseph and Berthier assessed the threat of a British naval blockade and a possible invasion involving Prussia, Hanover, Saxony, and Austria.
• Berthier reported that France’s New Army had reached seventy-one thousand troops and that the old army had completed standardized training and received Percussion Cap Guns.
• Perna interrupted the discussion to tell Joseph that Camellia’s condition seemed poor.
• Marquis Canning dismissed a press release after spending nearly fifty days in Port-au-Prince without a proper battle.
• Auge’s government had evacuated to the Duarte Mountains with supplies and ammunition, while local whites ignored British recruitment and Black residents sought to attack British soldiers.

Hamilton and the United States Congress pushed back against British seizures of American merchant ships trading with Saint-Domingue, while Toussaint Louverture’s forces joined a successful attack on Cocos Town. Louverture learned that disease had severely weakened the English Army across the island.

• Hamilton called for the United States to defend its Caribbean trade after British forces seized merchant ships seeking Saint-Domingue’s profitable sugar trade.
• The United States Congress unanimously passed the Special Caribbean Trade Act, and three American frigates appeared off Saint-Domingue.
• Toussaint Louverture marched toward Cocos, then hurried to assist a Resistance Army that had attacked the town.
• Louverture’s arrival broke the British defenders’ resistance, and the Resistance Army commander explained that disease had weakened the English Army garrison.
• Battle reports revealed that Yellow Fever, Dysentery, and Brown Urine Disease had devastated British troops throughout Saint-Domingue.

Britain weighed abandoning its costly campaign in Saint-Domingue while planning to fund Prussia and Austria’s partition of Poland and limit France’s influence in the Caribbean. Meanwhile, General Hohen continued Prussia’s swift invasion of Poland, ordering his forces toward Kalisz and Danzig.

• Grenville told Pitt the Younger that English forces in Saint-Domingue were weakened by disease and argued that Britain should abandon the island rather than send reinforcements.
• Pitt and Grenville agreed to propose a 500,000-pound budget to aid Prussia and Austria and discussed handing Caribbean influence to the Americans to counter France.
• General Hohen recalled that Prussia had taken a Polish fortress with little resistance after Britain pressured William II to send troops against Poland.
• Hohen led 35,000 Prussian soldiers through Gniezno and occupied it without a battle.
• At a war council, Hohen ordered General Hoepner to advance toward Kalisz and led the other troops north toward Danzig.

Hohen rushed north toward Danzig to seize Polish merchant goods and ships, while the city’s leaders debated surrendering to the approaching Prussian Army. Romilyov and Schumann pushed them toward resistance, revealing that Baron Lacoste’s manor had been built as a bastion fort, and the chapter left Danzig preparing to defend itself.

• Hohen took the Royal Brandenburg Legion and cavalry on a forced march toward Danzig, leaving the artillery behind.
• Danzig’s Management Committee argued over whether to hand the port to the Prussians, who were expected to arrive soon.
• Romilyov and his Patrol Guards shot the Prussian committee members and urged the remaining officials to defend Danzig.
• Schumann told Kowalczyk that the port’s sailors and dockworkers could join the defense, then showed the committee a fortification blueprint.
• Schumann revealed that Baron Lacoste’s manor was a concealed bastion fort designed to protect the entrance to Strat Peninsula.

Schumann helped Danzig prepare to resist Prussian occupation by distributing weapons, requisitioning ship cannon, and rallying the port’s workers and sailors. Hohen’s forces captured the emptied city but were stopped by the bastion fort, while news of the invasion reached Warsaw.

• Schumann revealed that the Fat Firth carried 3,500 Flintlock Guns and ammunition, then urged the committee to requisition merchant ships for their cannon.
• The Patrol Guards arrested Prussians as Pamphlets called residents to defend Danzig, drawing sailors and dockworkers to Warehouse No.1.
• Four days later, Hohen arrived to find Danzig nearly deserted and ordered his troops to search the port.
• Prussian soldiers suffered heavy losses when they attacked the bastion fort on Strat Peninsula, defended by cannon and gunfire from its walls.
• Hohen called for cannon but had to wait half a month for them to arrive, while news of the invasion reached Warsaw.

Stanisław II arranged Poland’s defenses against attacks from Russia, Prussia, and Austria, and decided to sacrifice his standing to buy time for the country. In Poznan, Potocki learned that Danzig was still holding out, changing the prospects for the humiliating ceasefire.

• Małachowski told Stanisław II that Poland was besieged and that the army lacked troops to defend both the Minsk and western fronts.
• Stanisław II ordered the existing five regiments to Kraków to protect the Tarnowskie Góry Silver Mine and promised to buy a month for the Minsk front through his Russian connections.
• Stanisław II accepted the consequences of his plan and urged Parliament to support Joseph, saying he would fight alongside the Polish people.
• Potocki waited in Poznan to deliver the Parliament-approved Ceasefire Agreement, which ceded three provinces and Danzig to Prussia.
• A messenger from Kulm told Potocki that Captain Romilyov and the French Friend were defending Danzig and could hold it for at least three months.
• Potocki crumpled the Ceasefire Agreement after hearing that Danzig had not fallen.

Herbert Schmitz and other Austrian volunteers learned that Austria had declared war on Poland, then turned toward Kraków to help defend it. At Chebinya, Würmser’s Austrian forces faced unexpectedly strong Polish resistance, and the battle intensified.

• Major Charles Troc told the volunteers that Austria had declared war on Poland and that its army was preparing to attack Kraków.
• Herbert Schmitz and more than eight hundred volunteers agreed to help defend Kraków and marched southwest.
• Würmser’s forces broke through the Polish line outside Chebinya, but Polish cavalry ambushed Major Morelet’s troops and routed three squadrons.
• Würmser’s Austrian Army fought a bitter battle against more than 2,800 Polish defenders at Chebinya, including mercenaries, mining patrols, and armed miners.

Old Wicha and the Umyan Mining Company’s miners fought to defend their mine, but Würmser’s Austrian forces drove them from Chebinya Town and cut off their escape routes. Makavsky led the retreating defenders in a charge toward the Ore Washing Pool as Old Wicha tried to protect his son.

• Old Wicha and the miners repelled an initial Austrian advance, but Würmser returned with overwhelming numbers and forced them to retreat from the trough.
• Austrian volleys wounded many miners, and Old Wicha fled with his son as their captain held his ground.
• After five days of fighting, Würmser’s troops drove the defenders out of Chebinya Town, and Old Wicha joined Makavsky’s retreat toward Tarnowskie Góry.
• Makavsky found the route blocked by Austrian forces and directed the defenders east toward the Ore Washing Pool, where they discovered another enemy line.
• Makavsky led the miners in a charge toward the Ore Washing Pool, while Old Wicha pulled his son behind him and advanced under fire.

Old Wicha and the Miners fought through two Austrian defensive lines, winning at great cost before volunteers from Nowy Sącz arrived to reinforce them. The Miners celebrated their rescue, but Major Ficot heard cavalry approaching from the south.

• Old Wicha and Young Wiecha charged with the Miners, and Old Wicha's shot killed an officer, helping trigger the Austrian line's rout.
• Makavsky rallied the survivors to advance around the Ore Washing Pool, where they found another Austrian defensive line ahead.
• The Miners attacked again despite their exhaustion, broke the Austrians' line, and forced the soldiers to surrender.
• Major Ficot and volunteers from Nowy Sącz emerged from the smoke and identified themselves as Crusader warriors.
• Major Ficot heard approaching cavalry from the south as the Miners celebrated with the volunteers.

Major Ficot and eight hundred volunteers held the mountain pass while Makavsky led the exhausted miners into Tarnowskie Góry. As Austrian Hussars threatened to break through the line, Mort Schmitz hesitated to kill his brother Herbert, who was shot before Victor’s men reached the gap.

• Makavsky ordered most of the miners to retreat while Major Ficot and the volunteers stayed to block the Austrian cavalry.
• Old Wicha joined Makavsky’s Patrol after giving his coat to his son, and a captured Austrian artilleryman pointed out a usable cannon.
• Ficot’s volunteers fought repeated Hussar charges, with the cannon’s grapeshot slowing the assault as the eastern flank began to crumble.
• Herbert Schmitz faced his brother Mort among the defenders and called him a traitor, but an Austrian cavalryman shot Herbert before Mort could act.
• Mort charged the shooter, then dropped his Saber, giving Victor time to bring his men and bayonets to the threatened gap.