He Became Napoleon’S Genius Son [EN]: Chapter 42

(41) Obtaining the Hell Brigade from the Pits of Revolution

Revolution is said to be a cataclysm.

It means overturning everything that existed before.

It sounds good at first.

The world is always changing.

In human society, what doesn’t change is mostly power, old habits, and traditions that suppress change.

But is change really good?

Isn’t there a reason why things haven’t changed until now?

No revolutionary ever asks such questions.

The same was true in the Vendée.

Western France, a region located south of Nantes, the famous port of Brittany.

Unquestioning destruction took place.

Specifically, [the destruction of churches].

There were several reasons, but it was ultimately the final trigger that led to the rebellion in the Vendée.

Just like the burned-down church before my eyes.

“Wow, what happened here? It’s completely burned down?”

Ippolito, riding at the head, looked back in surprise and asked.

The road from southern France, Marseille, to the west should have been prosperous and peaceful.

Even in impoverished times, it is now autumn.

This is especially true in the fertile southwest of France, where granaries are scattered everywhere.

However, when they entered the western region, the scene that Eugene’s special postal unit encountered was ruins.

Eugene frowned as he looked at the burned-down building.

The scenery was much more eerie than he had seen in the records.

Eugene grabbed the reins of the pony he was riding and said.

“They burned down the church.”

“Why? Did the priests and nuns have guns or something?”

“Some of them might. But the real problem is that the rebels are gathering around this church.”

Eugene sighed deeply as he looked at the bloodstains in one corner of the burned-down church building.

“In the end, the church is bound to become the center of the battlefield.”

There must have been fierce battles in this area.

If you search the ruins, you’ll probably find quite a few bodies.

However, Eugene didn’t bother searching for bodies and instead sent a signal.

“Alright, let’s rest here for today!”

“Ugh, I’m going to die!”

“Phew, it’s so hard even riding a horse!”

Mounted infantry.

This is the form in which Eugene’s unit is moving now.

With supply wagons moving along with them, it looks like quite a large unit, even though there are only 100 men.

This is why they have arrived safely in the west, despite the unstable security during the revolutionary period.

Among the soldiers setting up mobile barracks, Eugene approached Sergeant Tournet.

“Tournet, how are the soldiers doing?”

“Well, we’re transporting supplies by wagon right now, so it’s not bad. But we’re starting to run out of food and water.”

“We’ll have to resupply nearby. Let’s go to Bordeaux.”

Eugene gave the simple instruction and licked his lips as he looked at the supply wagon.

Food spoils or runs out faster than expected.

Because of this, Eugene’s unit had to enter cities or rural areas to resupply while marching.

Especially until now, they could still get food if they had money.

But if they enter the Vendée, resupply may become even more difficult.

“Should I make canned goods or something?”

In fact, Napoleon was the one who came up with the idea of sealed food containers, or canned goods.

However, Napoleon only thought of the idea.

The person who actually made and delivered them was a confectioner named Nicolas Appert.

However, being a confectioner, it wasn’t very scientific, so putting them in bottles took too long to produce.

As a result, they couldn’t be used in actual warfare, and all the ‘bottled preserves’ that were made were discarded.

This idea was taken to England by the French inventor Philippe de Girard, and today’s tin cans were born.

All of this can actually be summarized in one situation.

It hasn’t yet been proven that germs, [microorganisms], are the cause of disease and decay.

Even Jenner’s smallpox vaccination is still five years away from being officially announced.

Eugene was just thinking about preparing some canned goods at the munitions factory when Ippolito sat down next to Eugene, handing him a piece of white bread.

“But, is Bordeaux okay? Now that I think about it, our San Maria is there, right?”

“Do you think it’ll still be there? Either way, there was a revolt there too. It was just weak.”

“Really? Wow, it’s a relief that Dumas and Surcouf came to Marseille.”

Bordeaux is the largest port on the Atlantic side of France.

It was the place that Eugene and Ippolito chose as their departure point when they went to Martinique.

However, a rebellion also broke out in this Bordeaux.

It is the result of the chaos sweeping the west, leading to conscription refusal, economic crisis, and church destruction.

In particular, this area is also the core area of the so-called [Girondins] faction.

It’s like the base of the moderate republican faction of the revolution.

Currently in Paris, the radical republican faction, the Montagnards, has seized power earlier than in the original history after the death of the king.

Instead, the bloody battle between the Girondins and the Montagnards did not take place.

Instead, only regional rebellions are occurring, and even in Bordeaux, a rebellion has broken out, albeit a weak one.

It is more moderate than in the original history, but it is still an armed rebellion.

Blood was shed in the process of rebellion and suppression.

Eugene smiled bitterly as he recalled the situation.

“Yeah. If we had stayed, we might have been caught and killed.”

Instead of the Girondins rebelling, ordinary farmers rebelled.

So, among the merchants who couldn’t escape quickly from Bordeaux, some died.

From the farmers’ point of view, traders are like nobles who easily make money.

Suddenly, Marceau, who had organized the troops, approached Eugene and said.

“Then we need to talk to the commander of the military unit in Bordeaux.”

“Well, there’s no need for that. Our person is here as a dispatched commissioner.”

“Who is it? The current constitutional monarchists, or [Feuillants], are completely suppressed. There’s no way they’d send someone from Paris. And the Girondins wouldn’t send someone either…”

Marceau’s judgment is correct.

The dispatched commissioner is the one who suppresses the rebellion, governs the region, and further spreads the revolution.

In short, local power.

The Montagnards, who seized power in the crisis situation of the king’s suicide and the war, would not give it to just anyone.

However, politicians always change their positions according to the times.

Eugene smiled.

“There’s a hidden former constitutional monarchist who likes to take bribes. Well, he’s close to the successful Montagnards now.”

Originally an appointee of Lafayette, he is now a member of the Assembly attached to Robespierre.

Furthermore, he is currently dispatched to Bordeaux as a commissioner.

More than anything, in the original history, he eventually becomes Napoleon’s confidant.

“Joseph Fouché.”

Fouché is the dispatched commissioner and governor of Bordeaux.

***

Once a mere passenger, Eugene has now returned to Bordeaux with an army.

“Monsieur Bonaparte. It’s been a while. Or should I call you the patron of Banque Boarneh now? Heh heh.”

Fouché, the governor of Bordeaux, is giving such a warm welcome.

Of course, he wouldn’t give such treatment to a mere major.

The son of Major General Alexandre, the owner of Banque Boarneh, and the reputation of a young standard-bearer who made a name for himself in Toulon.

But what is most important to Fouché is something else.

In fact, his patron is Lafayette.

The leader of the opposition party, who could seize power at any time.

Eugene, looking at Fouché, a former constitutional monarchist sensitive to power, sat down and smiled.

“Congratulations on your re-election as a member of the Assembly, Member Fouché.”

“It’s thanks to the financial support from Banque Boarneh. But I heard you’re doing well in Marseille. Why did you come all the way here?”

“It’s General Bonaparte’s order. He told me to go to the Vendée and check the postal system.”

Fouché narrowed his eyes and wore a strange smile.

“Hmm, the rising star of the military is interested in the Vendée?”

Fouché is destined to be remembered in later original history as the head of the intelligence police.

In the first place, Eugene’s first meeting with him was for intelligence work.

Even in the state of being dispatched to Bordeaux, he seems to be constantly gathering news from various places.

Fouché twisted his lips, looking at Eugene with a smiling yet sharp eye.

“Originally, I was going to go to Lyon.”

“You listened to my advice not to go.”

“Member Lafayette also recommended it. Heh heh, I heard that Lyon resisted very stubbornly, unlike here.”

Eugene still smiled brightly like a boy and gave a terrifying answer.

“If you had gone, you would have been called a butcher. Just like Fréron is now.”

Indeed, Fouché was originally dispatched to Lyon.

Lyon was the second largest city in France in this era.

The silk industry was developed, and the economy and population were overflowing.

In the early days, there were many supporters who advocated the revolution.

However, the economic chaos of the revolution turned Lyon, a pro-revolutionary city, into a hotbed of counter-revolutionaries.

Eventually, a rebellion broke out in Lyon, a city near Switzerland.

Originally, Fouché receives orders to destroy this city altogether and faithfully carries them out.

As a result, he massacres more than 2,000 citizens in three months.

He also faces a situation where he is blamed for the crime.

But Eugene knew that fact, so he told Fouché, who was giving him news from Paris, to go somewhere else as a reward.

Originally, he told Fouché, who was from Nantes in western France, to go to Bordeaux, which is also in the west.

Although the suppression of the rebellion was the same, Fouché did not kill as many people here thanks to the weak intensity of the rebellion.

Of course, Fouché, a man who does everything he is told to do from above, only tilted his head.

“What’s wrong with executing counter-revolutionaries?”

“That’s true now, Monsieur Fouché.”

“Are you saying it won’t be later?”

Eugene still smiled and replied to Fouché.

“When the civil war ends, they will start asking about responsibility. You know that, so you listened to my advice and came here. It’s also closer to your hometown.”

That is what Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety will do next.

Until the rebellion is suppressed, the strong measures of the dispatched commissioners were useful.

However, once the situation stabilizes, the citizens, who are the voters, will ask this.

Did you really have to kill that many?

The government needs a scapegoat at times like this.

Fouché, Fréron, Barras.

All of them are originally in danger of becoming scapegoats of the Committee of Public Safety.

Among them, Eugene has saved Fouché.

I don’t know that far, but Fouché, who roughly guessed Eugene’s words, licked his lips and nodded.

“Lyon or Bordeaux. It’s still far from Nantes. Anyway, good. Patron Boarneh. What’s the plan this time? Can you tell me?”

“I think I’ll have to go to the Vendée first to find out. All I know now is that if the Vendée rebellion goes wrong, Paris is in danger.”

“Hmm, if I were you, I wouldn’t go. If you’re just here to gather information or check the situation, just stay in Bordeaux. I can treat you well.”

In a way, as a reward, Fouché told the ‘truth’.

“It’s hell there now. There’s war, famine, and massacre.”

Eugene has already seen a little bit.

Anyway, he saw the church burned down even near Bordeaux, which is still far from the Vendée.

Moreover, he read in his previous life that there was a terrible massacre in the Vendée in the records.

Even so, Eugene has to go.

Even because of Marceau, who is pale next to Eugene right now.

“I’ve heard the story.”

“Hmm, our patron has already experienced war. But you haven’t seen a massacre. Even the stupid Fréron wouldn’t have been able to massacre in front of our patron Boarneh.”

“I was lucky at the Champ de Mars. It’s different now.”

Eugene had already shown his skills to Fouché when he prevented the Champ de Mars massacre.

Conversely, it means that Fouché knows.

That Eugene doesn’t really like massacres.

Besides, in fact, Fouché seems to have already heard the news.

As a master of information gathering, Fouché smiled and showed off his intelligence.

“No, I already know that you stopped it. But the Vendée is different. It’s hard to stop even with the power of the army. Because all the residents there are rebels, and they’re all thinking of killing them.”

At that moment, Marceau, unable to bear it, asked.

“Where are they saying that?”

Fouché, who had a relationship with Marceau, who was the vice president of Banque Boarneh, showed kindness.

“Paris.”

So, he told the truth.

***

However, even knowing all the information, the actual experience is completely different.

“This, I think it wasn’t a joke?”

Ippolito muttered with his mouth wide open.

A soldier was seen roughly hitting a farmer with a musket.

A maiden with her clothes half torn was dragged away before his eyes.

This is not even the center of the Vendée, but the outskirts.

La Rochelle, a port city that was once a stronghold of Protestants in history.

There, the revolutionary army in blue uniforms is suppressing the farmers.

In an extremely bloody way.

Suddenly, a maiden was stabbed with a bayonet and screamed.

“Aaaagh!”

At that moment, Marceau, unable to bear it, jumped out and grabbed the soldier’s bayonet.

“Stop it! They’re unarmed farmers! What did that maiden do wrong!”

“Who are you!”

“Major François Marceau from the Marseille Headquarters! Put down your bayonet right now!”

At that moment, the commander who was directing the soldiers shouted back.

“This is General Rossignol’s order! Shut up if you don’t want to die!”

Jean-Antoine Rossignol.

In fact, Marceau doesn’t know who he is, but Eugene knows who he is.

He is the one who is appointed as the commander in this Vendée and directs the massacre.

He thought he knew it very well because he read it in the records.

However, the scene unfolding before his eyes was completely different.

“Please save me, aaaagh!”

There, naked people are forcibly thrown into the river flowing into the sea in the distance.

-Splash, splash, splash!

A method of execution by the revolutionary army in the Vendée called [Nantes drownings – stripping victims naked and drowning them to dispose of them].

It was happening so blatantly that there was no time to stop it.

Suddenly, Louis Tournet let out a scream next to Eugene.

“W-W-What kind of revolution is this!”

The soldiers behind Eugene also gritted their teeth.

Most of them are soldiers forcibly conscripted from Toulon.

So, most of them are former royalists.

A scene that even ordinary citizens would have antipathy to.

For them, it was almost an extremely infuriating situation.

At that moment, Eugene stepped forward.

-Click.

He loaded the pistol and fired.

-Bang!

The sound of the gunshot rang loudly, and the soldiers who were massacring with bayonets stopped.

Eugene coldly took out another pistol and aimed it at the commander.

The commander, as well as the La Rochelle-based revolutionary army with other bayonets, could not cope.

Why?

The reason is simple.

Because gunpowder is absolutely lacking.

In fact, the reason why they are committing the massacre with bayonets instead of bullets is because of that.

On the other hand, Eugene brought gunpowder by wagon, and in fact, the unit members were armed with air rifles.

Of course, Marceau was only embarrassed and looked at Eugene.

Eugene glared at the commander with a cold gaze and said.

“From this moment on, our Marseille postal unit will take over the command of this La Rochelle.”

“Wait, what are you going to do? Eugene! No, Major Eugene!”

“Marceau, how are you going to save your lover and save people by acting so soft?”

Just as Eugene was about to scold Marceau, the commander let out a scream.

“T-This is General Rossignol’s order! This is insubordination!”

In the military, insubordination is never a light matter.

Even if the revolutionary army’s military discipline is a mess, it is a situation where the dispatched unit commander can be immediately deprived of his position for disobeying the orders of the regional commander.

However, Eugene rather looked back at the commander with an indifferent face and asked.

“Company commander, what’s your name?”

“M-Me? Captain Jean-Baptiste Desmarets. A-And my superior is. C-Colonel Thureau.”

“You seem to be quite old, but you’re a captain? Wait, Thureau?”

Louis Marie Turreau.

The leader of the so-called Hell Brigade.

In the original history, he is the one who literally carries out the massacre in the Vendée.

It is said that he himself was not a very cruel person.

However, it was a tragedy that he was a bureaucrat-type soldier who literally and thoroughly carried out the orders of his superiors.

Fouché was called a mass murderer for killing 2,000 people in the original history.

Turreau kills 300,000.

Eugene smiled coldly.

“Indeed. A friend who is very faithful to orders. Like your superior.”

“W-What do you mean?”

“You mean General Rossignol’s order?”

At that moment, Eugene looked back at Marceau and asked.

“Marceau. Are you prepared to save 300,000 people?”

“What? W-Well, of course. In this situation, they’re even going to annihilate the entire Vendée region. And, Angélique too, probably in that fury!”

“Good. Then.”

Suddenly, silver letters were clearly floating in front of Eugene’s eyes.

[Neglect, safety. Conflict, danger. Decision, successful.]

If you neglect it, you can be safe.

If you simply conflict, you will probably be dragged to jail or be in danger of dying.

However, if you make a decision and rather turn the tables, you may be successful.

Eugene happened to have learned something.

Replacing the commander.

What happened in Toulon.

Eugene glared at the silver letters in front of him and smiled.

“Let’s pull down the commander here first.”

That’s what he learned from Napoleon.

***

La Rochelle, in the 16th century Huguenot War era, was the best port in France.

“It’s a dilapidated port now. In fact, it seems like a smaller port than Pondicherry I saw in India.”

On the outskirts of La Rochelle, at the scene where they were just killing residents, Desmarets was making a fuss.

Originally, Jean-Baptiste Desmarets was a soldier stationed in the Indian colonies.

Although France had been pushed out by England after the Seven Years’ War, it still maintained some ports as colonies.

One of them was Pondicherry, a port in southeastern India.

From Desmarets’ perspective, it was as if the country had been turned upside down by a revolution when he returned from Pondicherry.

A kind of victim swept up in the revolution.

Of course, that doesn’t justify killing civilians.

Eugene put a map on the makeshift table and snorted.

“You seem happier than I expected, Captain Desmarets.”

“It’s not like we enjoy killing people. We’re doing it because it’s an order.”

“Good, Captain. You can make excuses about orders up until now because it’s a time of revolution. But not anymore.”

Desmarets swallowed hard and nodded, and Eugene asked.

“Let’s start with the operation briefing. What’s the situation in the Vendée region right now?”

Desmarets, who was actively carrying out operations in the area, began to explain the situation.

“Originally, this Vendée War was directly triggered by the conscription of 300,000 men. Currently, various European countries have formed an alliance against our France, and wars are breaking out on the borders. So, the conscription order was issued.”

Pointing to the west of France, north of La Rochelle, Desmarets licked his lips.

“Unfortunately, the residents here in the west revolted. They resisted the most strongly.”

This La Rochelle is not just a declining port but also an outer area far from the rebellion.

As of 1793, the mainstream of the Republicans is urban citizens, and the mainstream of the Royalists is farmers.

In the western part of France, port cities were quite developed, but the outskirts of these port cities were covered with vast rural areas.

And after the revolution, nobles living in Paris returned to their estates in the west.

As expected, farmers with high royal support met noble lords, and the revolutionary government even suppressed the church again.

If the food situation were good, it might be different, but the French economy became more difficult due to the war.

Even the trading port of Pondicherry, where Desmarets was stationed, would probably have been occupied by the British by now.

It was an event that damaged French Indian trade.

In short, it is a situation where farmers’ dissatisfaction, nobles with military experience, suppression of the church that angers devout people, and economic dissatisfaction overlap.

A final blow was struck here.

The conscription of 300,000 men.

The West resisted this selective conscription order.

As a result, a rebellion began throughout the Vendée region in the west.

Desmarets counted on his fingers and said.

“Jacques Cathelineau, Maurice D’Elbée, Charles de Bonchamps. They are the main leaders of the rebellion.”

“Are they alive?”

“They are all dead. They launched a major offensive in Luçon a while ago and died. Of course, the revolutionary army lost the battle. Now, Rochejaquelein, a 21-year-old young noble, is the commander.”

Frowning, Desmarets looked at the burned-down village on the outskirts of La Rochelle.

“Well, that’s why we’re carrying out this reprisal. Because we lost.”

This is the scary aspect of civil war.

All wars kill people.

But civil war has the particular problem of killing its own people.

Because they speak the same language, have the same culture, and know each other, hatred grows even more.

Even though the early leaders of the Vendée rebellion, including Cathelineau, have died, the hatred does not disappear.

Avenge those who killed friends, killed colleagues, and killed comrades.

Desmarets’ soldiers were still bloodshot.

It was only temporarily suppressed by Eugene’s rank and persuasion.

Eugene looked back at the scene and smiled bitterly.

This is probably the predecessor of the infamous [Infernal Column – a military unit known for its brutal scorched-earth tactics].

“So, who’s giving the orders? Commander Rossignol wouldn’t decide on his own, would he?”

“Well, yes. It’s the order of Commissioner Carrier, who came from Paris. Rossignol is just following Commissioner Carrier after all.”

“That’s an excuse. Just like you and Colonel Thurot, Desmarets.”

Of course, Jean-Baptiste Carrier, this commissioner with the same name as Desmarets, is a very notorious slaughterer.

He made a name for himself in Normandy, northern France.

Coming to Vendée, he is carrying out guillotines and executions without trial, and drownings in earnest.

Carrier is also the one leading the scorched-earth tactics.

So, did Carrier decide on the matter alone?

Not at all.

Of course, he would have been pressured from Paris.

Nevertheless, no one demanded drowning or explicitly demanded executions without trial.

Furthermore, Carrier never ordered indiscriminate massacres.

Everyone is doing it on their own.

Thoroughly, bureaucratically, like a machine.

Eugene stared at Desmarets, who was blushing and bowing his head, and suddenly tilted his head.

“But, that’s strange. Who are those guys worshiping as king?”

“Yes? What do you mean?”

“No, they’re royalists. The dead Cathelineau, and Rochejaquelein, the current commander, must be too. Then they should worship the king, but the king is dead, isn’t he? Besides, Louis Charles is…”

Eugene had virtually killed Louis XVI.

At that time, Eugene received a will from King Louis.

Louis Charles, the crown prince, is not the son of Louis XVI.

It was to save Charles, but he might receive some resentment when he grows up later.

Anyway, would the royalists now serve a prince whose bloodline has been denied as king?

Then, as if it were natural, Desmarets replied.

“Well, it’s Louis XVII.”

“What? The crown prince? No, the former king denied that he was his son, didn’t he?”

“No. Of course, that crown prince is not allowed. The Louis that the royalists are serving now is a different Louis.”

Desmarets, a Republican officer in his own way, smiled.

“Louis Stanislas Xavier, Count of Provence.”

He is the first younger brother of Louis XVI.

Eugene only knows his face.

Because Eugene originally only saw him at gambling tables when he was frequently visiting the palace.

Besides, Eugene has a relationship with the Count of Artois, the king’s second younger brother, not the Count of Provence.

However, he remembers what is recorded in history.

Louis XVII, actually recorded as Louis XVIII, persistently demands the throne.

In the end, he is the one who restores the monarchy after Napoleon’s downfall in the original history.

It’s as if he’s destined to have a bad relationship with Eugene.

Smiling bitterly, Eugene said.

“Yes, if it’s that Louis, he’ll be persistent.”

“Oh, wait. Didn’t the Count of Provence flee to England?”

“Yes. Of course, he probably went to Verona or Austria after that. They wouldn’t know that here.”

In response to Hippolyte’s question, Eugene smiled coldly and replied.

“Not Louis Charles, but Louis Xavier. This is a fatal mistake for the royalists.”

“Huh? Why? No, Charles is illegitimate, and he’s young. Isn’t he still 8 years old?”

“Whether he’s a child or an adult doesn’t matter. It’s just a symbol anyway. There’s a bigger problem.”

Eugene pointed to an island on the map.

“They’ve colluded with foreign powers. This is fatal.”

England.

France’s enemy since the Seven Years’ War.

Nevertheless, in reality, trade and commerce were the top priority partners until the revolution.

This is why France’s feelings towards England are bound to be ambivalent.

But now England is at war with France.

Setting up a royal family who colluded with foreign powers as a symbol?

Of course, it will be a fatal blow that will cause division not only among the general public but also within the counter-revolutionary army.

Of course, it is difficult for anyone to use this fatal blow.

“But to use this, we must first change the stupid leadership.”

Marceau, who had been staring intently at the map, raised his head.

“What are you going to do? Major Eugene?”

“It’s simple. Marceau. The key is to move Paris. We need to get Rossignol and Carrier out of here.”

“That’s the problem. It’s different from Toulon. There’s no talent like General Bonaparte here. There’s no ‘star’ who can move the members of the Paris Assembly.”

Marceau was also in Toulon.

He was impressed by Napoleon, who changed the commander and changed the operation.

He came here to save Angelique, but he also knows that things won’t work out just because he’s impatient.

But is it so easy to replace the commander?

But Eugene smiled as if it were easy.

“A commander isn’t always replaced because someone is outstanding, Marceau. Looking at our French history, it’s easier to replace a commander when they’re very incompetent, right? But there’s a prerequisite.”

“What is it?”

“Here, the command of the La Rochelle regiment.”

In fact, even in the original history, the commander of Vendée keeps changing.

However, even without knowing that, it is easy to see that the French military is very unstable right now.

The very fact that generals in their 20s, such as Napoleon and Hoche, are being born is proof of that.

That’s why Eugene came up with a very audacious idea.

“Let’s go seize command of the regiment. Everyone.”

It is the regiment that will later be called the Infernal Column in Vendée.

***

Louis-Marie Thurot wondered to himself who was creating hell.

“Colonel! As you ordered, everyone has been herded into the town hall!”

His adjutant, Lieutenant Colonel Louis Grignon, reported.

This is the center of La Rochelle.

La Rochelle, once the largest port in western France, is now just a declining city.

That’s why only buildings at the level of town halls remain.

Colonel Thurot muttered as he watched the terrified residents being forcibly dragged into the town hall.

“Jacques Cathelineau is dead, and Charles de Bonchamps’ life and death are unknown. Now, the only opponent we have to fight is Henri de la Rochejaquelein, a mere youngster.”

“It’s all thanks to the colonel’s hard work in fighting.”

“But we are still staying in Vendée, and people are pointing guns at us.”

Looking down at the firearms he had just confiscated from the townspeople, Thurot frowned.

“What’s the reason, Lieutenant Colonel Louis Grignon? Is our revolution so wrong?”

His adjutant, Grignon, could not answer.

In fact, he had no choice but to do so.

Because Thurot and Grignon are not simply imprisoning the residents.

Outside, soldiers are preparing to set fire.

Massacre by fire.

This is the punishment that Thurot will show the rebels of La Rochelle as an example today.

Armed soldiers are running around the area, indiscriminately assaulting the suppressed rebels.

Thurot muttered as he looked at his subordinates, lieutenant colonels and colonels, belonging to the regiment.

“François Duval, Jean-Pierre Bouclet, Joseph Crouzat, Jean-Baptiste Moulin. And Étienne François Cordelier. They are all excellent soldiers.”

“It’s all thanks to the colonel’s leadership.”

“Those excellent soldiers have repeatedly lost in battle, and now they are retaliating.”

Thurot sighed as he watched Duval, a handsome young lieutenant colonel, violently strike a resident with a gun.

“Is this really a good thing? Huh?”

Suddenly, an unidentified unit was seen entering from the outskirts of the city.

The soldiers around Thurot took up defensive positions, but the uniforms of the unit members were blue.

It is the official French military uniform set by the revolutionary government, so it is different from the rebels who do not have a set uniform.

While instructing them to take up defensive positions, Thurot asked his adjutant.

“What is that unit?”

At that time, an unfamiliar subordinate at the head of the unit saluted and reported.

“Colonel! It’s Captain Desmarets!”

“What is it, Captain? I told you to suppress the outskirts of La Rochelle.”

“That’s, a special postal unit has been dispatched from Marseille to report to you.”

Only then did Thurot remember a letter that had arrived from Bordeaux a while ago.

“Ah, that toy that the hero of Toulon made? Why did you come?”

Internal military news that Napoleon, the hero of Toulon, created a special postal unit.

He just laughed at why he did such a useless thing, but that unit came to Vendée.

What is the reason?

At that time, Marceau came to Thurot, smiled, and saluted.

“Glory to the Republic! Hello, Colonel Thurot. I’m Major Marceau. I have been dispatched to this area under the command of General Bonaparte.”

Next to Marceau was a boy in a military uniform who looked like a ‘boy soldier’.

The unit members seem to be quite trained elite soldiers rather than postal workers.

Thurot nodded silently.

“Yes, as you can see, there is no one here to send mail or deliver mail.”

“I think that’s wrong.”

“What? What do you mean?”

At that moment, the ‘boy soldier’ next to Marceau, actually Eugene, pointed a pistol.

-Click!

Even if a child points it, a gun is a weapon of murder.

“Let’s stop this massacre in La Rochelle and change the commander. Colonel.”

Rather, the Vendée suppression army, which fought against the rebels, knows the facts better.

Everyone was shocked and stopped for a moment.

In a hurry, Thurot’s adjutant, Lieutenant Colonel Grignon, shouted.

“What is this! Let go of the colonel right now! This is insubordination!”

With Grignon’s shout, the soldiers who were trying to kill the residents rushed in.

At that time, with Marceau’s hand signal, Eugene’s special unit raised their guns.

Ferguson rifles [early breech-loading rifle] and Girandoni rifles [air rifle capable of rapid fire] were aimed at the soldiers.

-Bang! Bang bang! Bang bang bang!

Thurot’s subordinates stopped at the sudden gunfire.

“Wh, what is that! It, it’s a rapid fire!”

“M, my god. If, if they had aimed accurately! W, we’re all dead!”

“What kind of gun is that right now?”

In this era, ordinary guns cannot fire in bursts or quickly.

However, the Ferguson rifle can fire 6 shots per minute, and the Girandoni rifle can fire up to 20 shots in a row.

Suddenly, Eugene smiled and asked the frozen Thurot.

“Are you ready to start a conversation, Colonel?”

There is no one in the world who would refuse to talk in front of a gun.

***

Originally, this unit commanded by Thurot will later become the [Infernal Column].

“What on earth is this! This is an act of treason!”

The Infernal Column, that is, a scorched-earth unit that sweeps through the rebel areas after the Vendée rebels are suppressed.

Scorched-earth tactics kill more people than rebellion or unauthorized executions.

In 1794, something that will happen in the not-yet-reached future.

At that time, at least 300,000 people are said to have died as a result.

But for now, it is a unit that is just fighting the rebels, even the La Rochelle unit on the outskirts.

Eugene looked at Thurot, a tired middle-aged officer who didn’t seem very cruel, and said.

“Colonel, don’t be mistaken. I stopped the illegal activity.”

“What nonsense! Killing civilians? That’s what Paris ordered! It’s the strict order of the Committee of Public Safety!”

“Who said that? Commander Rossignol? Or Commissioner Carrier? Or General Westermann, sent by Danton?”

At Eugene’s point, Thurot paused for a moment.

Commander Rossignol of the Vendée suppression army, dispatched Commissioner Carrier, and General Westermann, a powerful general connected to Paris.

These are the people who are currently leading this Vendée campaign.

Everyone is advocating for the resolute eradication of the rebels.

Thurot is killing the residents of the rebel areas as an example according to that order.

But Eugene’s words are strange.

It’s a feeling that the order was not issued by Paris.

Eugene stared at Thurot and said.

“Let me tell you the exact order from Paris. Eradicate the ‘thieves’ and pacify Vendée.”

“What? Wait, that’s a little strange, isn’t it?”

“No. It’s Robespierre’s exact order. It’s just that you are accepting this [thief] in a very broad sense.”

Thurot’s eyes widened.

He knows that the boy in front of him is no longer just a boy soldier.

The knight of the princess.

The daring gambling prodigy who dared to save the queen against Robespierre’s will.

Besides, he is said to have won the feat of taking the flag of the British Navy in Toulon.

It may be an exaggerated rumor, but if that rumor is even slightly true, this boy is not someone who will just say nonsense.

Because he must have connections directly connected to the power of Paris, the National Convention.

Of course, Eugene is actually just talking about the records of the original history.

“What do you think will happen? As a result of you guys diligently killing ‘thieves’, how will Paris accept it afterwards?”

“W, we just followed orders!”

“Not at all. Paris will evaluate it in the exact opposite way.”

Eugene recited what has always happened in history and will happen in the future.

“That you massacred civilians on your own authority.”

A scapegoat.

In the original history, Paris makes the Infernal Column, Rossignol, and Carrier all scapegoats.

He will even execute Westermann, a friend of Danton, one of the powerful figures.

As a result, Danton loses his position, is involved in the East India Company scandal, and is executed.

That’s what happened in the original history.

Eugene shouted at Thurot, who was trembling.

“Colonel Thurot, do not forget that the French Revolutionary Army is an army that values legality so much that it has a separate military law department!”

At the same time, Eugene looked around at the regimental command, which was aimed at by the guns of the special postal regiment.

“So you are already cornered. Here, Lieutenant Colonel Grignon, as well as Duval, Bouclet, Crouzat, and Lieutenant Colonel Moulin, who are intimidating the entire La Rochelle.”

Until now, the members and commanders of the La Rochelle regiment were listening to the story because they could not overcome the intimidation.

But at this moment, everyone realized.

The civilian killings that took place in the ruined La Rochelle and even in Vendée.

The fact that they will have to take responsibility.

Thurot, who was sitting blankly, opened his mouth.

“What should I do?”

Guilt, anxiety, fear.

These three emotions were intertwined and Thurot collapsed.

Even in the original history, Thurot goes to prison himself to take responsibility for his sins.

However, he is also a person who mechanically carried out orders when they were issued.

Eugene quietly looked down at Thurot and nodded.

“It’s simple. It’s certain that adult men are anxious. Keep the men in the town hall separately. Release the women and children.”

“Hah, but then there’s a risk of desertion!”

“Take the risk. Anyway, the main body of the royalist army will soon collapse. Within this year.”

Surprised, Thurot looked at Eugene.

But there is a reason why Eugene came to Vendée now.

If Eugene’s memory is correct, Marceau’s ‘lover’ has not died yet.

Furthermore, the first war in Vendée ends in December 1793.

With everything speeding up, October is a good time to try to end the war.

Eugene said succinctly.

“The commander will be replaced. Also, the newly appointed commander will dominate this battlefield. If you cooperate with me, I will let you get through it safely.”

Thurot realized.

Whether Eugene’s words are wrong or right, what is clear is that only Eugene can save him.

Because everyone else will pass the responsibility on to Thurot.

“What do I have to do?”

Eugene smiled brightly.

“First of all, let’s make propaganda leaflets. There must be a printing house in La Rochelle, right? I need a lot.”

At this moment, Eugene got his hands on the unit that would later become the Infernal Column.

The commander and his soldiers who can become demons when orders are given.