Chapter Summaries

During the capture of Cologne, Gérard and his Jäger squad ambushed retreating Austrian troops and killed Lieutenant Colonel Strauss, throwing the defenders into confusion. French infantry charged the northwest fortress entrance, and Gérard followed to suppress its artillery.

• Gérard spotted Felix’s battalion heading north to intercept Austrian troops retreating from the fortress and led his Jägers after them.
• Gérard’s squad fired from cover, scattering the Austrian soldiers and killing an officer who was trying to restore order.
• Gérard and his men shot a senior Austrian officer leading a party toward the retreating troops, then withdrew as more than a hundred Austrians rushed toward them.
• Felix’s battalion arrived and its commander ordered an assault on the northwest fortress while requesting reinforcements from Major Wassel.
• The Austrians inside the fortress panicked when they learned Lieutenant Colonel Strauss had been hit; French infantry charged the entrance, and Gérard’s squad fired at the artillery above.

French forces captured Cologne after the Austrian defenders abandoned the fortress, and Surt received a promotion to colonel. The French command then organized a new northern front and ordered Massena to threaten Bavaria by crossing the Rhine.

• Gérard and two French infantry battalions held the southern entrance under heavy fire until the Royal Dragoons and Horse Artillery arrived and seized the outer embankment.
• Austrian forces retreated from Cologne, and the two thousand soldiers left behind surrendered to the Davout Legion as Kleffat ordered the pontoon bridge burned.
• Berthier announced promotions for officers who had fought along the Southern Netherlands-to-Rhine line, including Surt's promotion from major to colonel.
• Berthier announced that the Southern Netherlands Army and Rhine Army would merge into the Northern Front Army and rest in Cologne for half a month.
• Berthier ordered Massena to lead troops to Alsace, cross the Rhine at Basel with the Moreau Legion, and advance on Freiburg to threaten Bavaria.

After the Iberian-Apennine Summit, Joseph enjoyed a snowball fight before returning to work and reviewing France’s finances during the war. He learned that France’s estimated revenue had continued to grow, while Austria, Prussia, and Britain faced declines.

• Joseph started a snowball fight with his guards and maids after returning from winter fishing at Blue Lake.
• Camellia warmed Joseph’s hands, while Veronique’s attempt to fall into his arms ended with Raymond catching her and an accidental kiss.
• Joseph received notice that Archbishop Brienne and others were waiting, then told François Bena to stop serving extravagant game dishes.
• Brienne, Mirabeau, and Venio presented Joseph with the fiscal report and next year’s spending plan.
• Brienne reported that France’s revenue was expected to reach 770 million Francs, while Joseph considered the different wartime impacts on France, Austria, Prussia, and Britain.

Joseph reviewed France’s wartime finances and examined a proposed budget system intended to control spending and direct funds toward national priorities. He discovered that the 1794 projections devoted far more to military expenditure than he expected, leaving industrial development underfunded.

• Brienne reported that France had spent 650 million francs in the first ten months, projected full-year spending at 800 million francs, and faced a 30-million-franc deficit.
• Joseph said postwar trade and reparations would improve France’s finances and reduce its national debt.
• Brienne presented the Budget Committee’s estimate of 850 million francs in expenditure for 1794.
• Joseph questioned Minister of Industry Earl Mirabeau about the lack of funds for inland waterway shipping and postal communications.
• Mirabeau explained that military needs had pushed industrial development aside, and Joseph discovered military expenditure accounted for 36 percent of the proposed budget.

Joseph rejected the Cabinet’s ambitions to conquer the German Territories and set France’s priorities on securing and integrating the Rhineland, strengthening control of Northern Italy, and exhausting Austria at Mantua. At Mantua, Würmser’s relief force broke the siege, forcing Napoleon’s troops to withdraw.

• Brienne and the other ministers supported advancing as far as the Vistula River, but Joseph warned that occupying the German Territories would overextend France and invite revolt.
• Joseph explained that France’s practical goal was to secure the Rhineland along the Rhine and integrate it into France, while using the campaign in Northern Italy to push Austria out and wear it down at Mantua.
• Beaulieu watched French troops withdraw from Mantua after Würmser’s Corps and other Austrian forces relieved the fortress.
• Würmser divided his forces into three columns, bypassed Verona, and left the French troops there unable to stop the advance.
• Napoleon’s force withdrew from near Mantua under pressure from the much larger Austrian army.

Würmser arrived at Mantua and, believing the French had withdrawn, marched west with a large force to attack their rearguard. Napoleon prepared to strike Kostanovich and draw Würmser into a trap, while Victor’s corps remained behind to encourage the Austrian advance.

• Beaulieu welcomed Würmser and told him the French had withdrawn from Mantua without being pursued.
• Würmser grew suspicious and ordered Kostanovich to watch for a French attack, then sent Major Faber to scout west of Lake Garda.
• After scouts reported French troops near Calcinate, Würmser took his central army and the Argentau Legion west to attack them, despite Beaulieu’s warning about Mantua’s defenses.
• Napoleon urged his troops forward near Idro after Grouchy reported the Austrian rearguard north of Limone.
• Napoleon told Augereau that Victor’s corps had stayed behind to give Würmser confidence and draw the Austrian forces apart.

Napoleon revealed that Desaix had secretly maneuvered east of Mantua, while Würmser pursued what he believed was the retreating French rearguard. Napoleon then attacked Kostanovich's Corps near Limone, encircling and routing the Austrians as Würmser's army marched toward Idro.

• Napoleon told Augereau that Desaix had left Verona three days after the Austrians bypassed it and had moved east of Mantua along the Adige River.
• Würmser ordered Bonarroti Corps to pursue the French troops near Idro and redirected his army to help eliminate Victor Corps.
• Napoleon used horse artillery and infantry to assault Kostanovich's Corps southwest of Limone.
• French infantry and cavalry encircled Kostanovich's main force from the north and routed the Austrians.
• Napoleon watched the Austrians flee and asked Constant for coffee and brandy.

Napoleon used a coordinated attack by the Marmont Legion, his main force, and Victor's troops to crush Würmser's right flank and force his army into a hard-fought battle. Würmser planned to retreat toward Mantua, but a messenger revealed that the Ulm Corps had been intercepted and Mantua was surrounded.

• Napoleon defeated Kostanovich's forces in a little over five hours and ordered his troops to rest at Limone before the next day's action.
• Würmser reinforced his attack on Victor at Idro, unaware that more than five thousand men of the Marmont Legion were approaching his right flank from the south.
• The Marmont Legion attacked the Austrian right flank, and Napoleon's main force soon arrived from the north, crushing Alvis's outnumbered troops.
• Würmser sent his Central Route Army to aid Alvis, but Napoleon attacked it while Victor's troops counterattacked the Austrians at Idro.
• Napoleon's forces fought Würmser's Central Route Army until nightfall, and Würmser believed he could still retreat to Mantua with more than nineteen thousand fighting men.
• A messenger from Marshal Beaulieu told Würmser that the Ulm Corps had been intercepted and that more than ten thousand French soldiers had surrounded Mantua.

Napoleon trapped Würmser’s force at the Mincio River while allowing him to reach Mantua, following the Crown Prince’s order to besiege the fortress and destroy Austrian reinforcements rather than capture it immediately. Würmser escaped into Mantua with fewer than 4,000 men, while the French captured the rest of his rear force.

• After Desaix surrounded Mantua, Würmser left Ranieri with 6,000 men and hurried back toward the fortress.
• Napoleon routed Ranieri’s corps, then sent Marmont to intercept Würmser near the Mincio River.
• As Würmser’s troops crossed the river, Napoleon attacked their flank and rear, and French artillery caused heavy losses at the pontoon bridge.
• Napoleon told Grouchy that the Crown Prince had ordered him not to occupy Mantua for six months so Austria would keep sending reinforcements.
• Würmser crossed the river with fewer than 4,000 of his original 30,000 men and slipped into Mantua through a gap in the French lines.
• The French turned back and captured the rear half of Würmser’s force.

As French forces besieged Mantua, Franz II weighed Austria’s worsening military position against pleas for aid from German states and Britain’s offer of financial support. He approved a broad conscription decree and plans to send troops under Marshal Alvinzi to retake Northern Italy.

• Beaulieu and Würmser watched four riders leave Mantua with a plea for aid; French troops shot three, while Napoleon ordered the fourth to escape and reach Vienna.
• Mayer and Maximilian urged Franz II to send reinforcements to Mainz and Bavaria, but Franz left the meeting after receiving Würmser’s report that Mantua was close to falling.
• Lord Grenville offered Franz II an interest-free loan of 1.2 million pounds and claimed Britain would soon strike at France’s finances; Franz promised to consider the offer by the next afternoon.
• Franz II and his ministers approved a new conscription decree requiring German landowners, Hungary, Galicia, and noblemen to provide soldiers.
• Baron Thugut proposed sending Liegnitz’s ten thousand troops to Mantua, as Austria planned to raise eighty thousand soldiers under Marshal Alvinzi to retake Northern Italy.

Adrian Casanova lost his house in a rigged court case, but Hahn rescued him and his grandson Ricardo from Albesio’s men. Hahn told Casanova that a friend in Florence wanted to help restore the Medici Family, whose bloodline Casanova descended from.

• Judge ruled that Adrian Casanova had to surrender his house and its contents to Matthias Albesio, then sentenced Ricardo to three months in prison for contempt of court.
• Albesio’s thugs tried to force Casanova to sign property papers, but Hahn arrived and offered to take him to Florence.
• Hahn and his armed men drove off Albesio’s thugs, and Casanova agreed to leave only after Hahn promised to retrieve Ricardo.
• Hahn reunited Casanova with Ricardo and revealed that his friend wanted to help restore the Medici Family.
• Casanova confirmed that he descended from the illegitimate son of Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici.

Casanova agreed to return to Tuscany with French support, while Napoleon prepared the Mediterranean Security Organization’s campaign against the Papal States. The new Grand Duchy of Tuscany gained approval to join the organization and common market as unrest spread through the Papal States, leaving Pius VI and the Cardinals facing a growing crisis.

• Mr. Hahn persuaded Casanova to return to Tuscany and promised to recover his paintings, then arranged for Albesio to be murdered.
• Napoleon discussed troop deployments with Viscount Durand, who relayed the Crown Prince’s orders and warned that Austria might reinforce Mantua.
• The allied forces attacked Ferrara as Casanova arrived in Modena and gathered more than seven hundred soldiers around him.
• Casanova’s spokesman challenged Ferdinand III’s rule and applied for Tuscany to join the Mediterranean Security Organization and the Iberia-Apennine Common Market.
• Versailles Palace approved Tuscany’s applications, while families and groups across the Papal States rose against the Holy See.
• Pius VI and more than thirty Cardinals gathered at St. Paul’s Cathedral to discuss the crisis.

Pope Pius VI debated how to respond to the French threat and decided to travel to France after learning Muzarelli was likely headed to Paris. Meanwhile, a planned rush to exchange francs for gold disrupted the French Reserve Bank and spread rumors of a financial crisis, leaving Joseph to receive Jacques Laffitte and Brienne at Versailles.

• Pius VI rejected the cardinals’ proposals to fight and sent Archbishop Galdini to offer France the Marche region and one million Ducats in compensation.
• After learning Muzarelli had fled to France and was likely going to Paris, Pius VI decided to go there himself.
• Several customers requested enormous gold exchanges at the French Reserve Bank, prompting Lafont to delay transactions and suspend large exchanges.
• Financial experts and newspapers spread claims that France’s paper money was overissued and the Reserve Bank had run out of gold.
• Brienne and Jacques Laffitte entered Joseph’s room at Versailles as he read a report about the Security Organization’s encirclement of Ferrara.

Joseph learned that a coordinated run on the franc was draining the French Reserve Bank’s gold and ordered measures to bolster confidence by making redemptions easier while betting heavily on the franc. He then tasked Eman with bringing Mr. Fouche to identify the hidden mastermind.

• Laffitte reported that large gold-redemption requests had reached 9.6 million francs in five days, while Brienne described rumors that the bank’s gold was exhausted.
• Joseph learned that the Paris branch held gold worth about seventy million francs and rejected transferring reserves from other regions or restricting redemptions.
• Joseph ordered the bank to reduce the use of the Remote Transfer Clause, deliver gold within fifteen days when possible, and lower the fee for large redemptions.
• Joseph directed the officials to place large trades going long on the franc and short on gold to discourage speculators from joining the attack.
• Joseph said he expected the gold redemptions to stop within half a month and asked Eman to have Mr. Fouche come to investigate the mastermind.

Fouche investigated who was shorting the Franc and traced the funds to British loans made with French paper money to German States. Joseph learned that the United Kingdom had turned most of France’s loans into ammunition for its financial attack.

• Fouche ordered the Intelligence Bureau to investigate illegal organizations and misappropriated funds after it failed to trace eighteen million Francs being exchanged for gold.
• Scott recalled that France had lent paper money to South German States, and Fouche sent Captain Perrier to Württemberg to inspect its accounts.
• Perrier pressured Crown Prince Luciveld Eugen to disclose the loan records, which revealed that a British-recommended timber merchant named Banks had borrowed seven million Francs.
• Joseph rebuked Fouche for threatening Württemberg and other royal courts, then heard that Britain had obtained twenty-eight million Francs in paper money from several German States at high interest rates.
• Joseph realized that the United Kingdom had used more than eighty percent of France’s loans to the German States to short the Franc.

Joseph learned that Britain was waging a financial war against the Franc and devised a plan to make it appear vulnerable while steering British short sellers into costly loans. He outlined ways to protect France’s gold reserves and bolster the Franc, but Fouche asked what would happen if the Italian States refused to help.

• Joseph rejected Brienne’s proposal to freeze the suspected British funds, warning that it would undermine confidence in the Franc.
• Joseph ordered France to publicly support the Franc while secretly spreading signs that its gold reserves were running low.
• Joseph told Fouche to contact the British short sellers and arrange for French intermediaries to lend them Paper Money at high interest.
• Joseph directed officials to limit domestic conversions of Francs into gold and to slow bank operations so the British would absorb most of the pressure.
• Joseph proposed that the Northern Italian States buy Francs and that the Paris Futures Exchange stop accepting gold coins for Cane Sugar purchases.
• Fouche asked what they would do if the Italian States refused to help.

Joseph planned to use Württemberg and the other South German States’ loan-agreement violations as leverage after France’s financial counterattack. Meanwhile, Lord McGovern’s campaign to drain the French Reserve Bank’s gold faltered, and he sought more funds and a 10-million-Franc loan to revive the bank run.

• Joseph told Fouche that the Mediterranean Security Organization’s cohesion and the Italian States’ dependence on France made it unlikely to fracture, then instructed Brienne to publicize France’s supposed losses from the loan violations.
• Lord McGovern believed his rumors and gold exchanges were undermining the French Reserve Bank as Parisian citizens queued to trade Francs for gold.
• Bruni exposed hollow gold bars at the Reserve Bank, causing withdrawals to surge, but the Paris Business Daily reported that 400,000 ounces of gold had arrived in Paris and eased public fears.
• McGovern spent his final 6 million Francs on gold, but withdrawals soon fell below 1 million Francs per day because the French Government had secretly arranged for many customers to return their gold at night.
• McGovern asked Wilberforce for another 800,000 pounds sterling and urged Bruni to borrow 10 million Francs to keep the bank run going.

McGovern borrowed heavily against his gold and used the funds to buy more francs, hoping to exhaust the French Reserve Bank’s gold reserves and profit when the franc collapsed. The bank continued its exchanges despite mounting pressure, and McGovern doubled down by converting all of Wilberforce’s newly arrived funds into franc paper money.

• Bruni introduced McGovern’s confidant Danny Gray to banker Lemoine, who agreed to lend four million francs within two days against gold collateral at eighteen percent interest.
• Gray secured two more loans of three million and 2.7 million francs from other lenders, bringing McGovern’s total borrowing to 9.7 million francs.
• McGovern ordered Gray to exchange the loan money for gold at the French Reserve Bank, and Bruni reported that the Count of Provence had applied to exchange five million francs’ worth of gold.
• McGovern ordered Bruni to spread the news of the Count’s application and funded reporters from the Netherlands, Prussia, and Saxony to publicize France’s financial trouble.
• After the French Reserve Bank continued exchanging gold for a week, McGovern used Wilberforce’s arriving eight hundred thousand pounds to buy franc paper money, paying private banks a seven-percent commission.

Madame Colamo and other Parisians rushed to exchange their banknotes for gold as Lord McGovern prepared to force the French Reserve Bank to suspend gold exchanges. Parma and Genoa then sent huge quantities of gold to buy Francs, threatening McGovern’s plan and leaving him facing a growing crisis.

• Madame Colamo and Madame Legay joined the long queue at the French Reserve Bank to exchange their banknotes for gold.
• Lord McGovern watched his subordinates bring ten million Francs to the bank and expected its gold reserves to run out.
• Bruni told McGovern that the Parma People had brought gold to buy twelve million Francs’ worth of banknotes.
• McGovern borrowed another ten million Francs at 19% interest to counter Parma’s purchase.
• The next day, Bruni reported that Genoese traders had brought 1.55 million Genovino to exchange for eighteen million Francs.

McGovern ran out of funds to exchange for gold and sought another loan, while Italian states brought large quantities of gold to the French Reserve Bank. Their public exchanges reassured people waiting in line, and police arrested a man spreading rumors about the Franc.

• McGovern discovered that he had no more gold available and sent a letter asking Mr. Wilberforce for another 500,000 pounds.
• Baron Colombo rushed to the French Reserve Bank, where Modena’s carriages arrived first, and worried that Milan might lose favor in the contest over Ferrara Province.
• Colombo learned that Modena had brought 9 million Ducats, then watched Milan publicly unload 138,000 ounces of gold worth about 12 million Francs.
• Madame Colamo and Mr. Durac left the long queue after seeing the Italian gold exchanges, and the French Reserve Bank’s fake queue quickly dwindled.
• Police officers arrested Mr. Philip at Cloud Cafe for spreading rumors and malicious market interference.