Chapter 840: Chapter 748: Unexpected

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France’s northwest, Lille.

Outside the command center of France’s Southern Netherlands Armies.

Joseph raised an Auguste 1790 Hunting Rifle, aimed at a small barrel more than a hundred paces away, held his breath, and pulled the trigger.

With a “bang,” the spinning bullet flew straight toward its target.

In the next instant, fragments of wood scattered as the center of the barrel revealed a palm-sized bullet hole.

Joseph looked at the barrel in the distance with satisfaction, raised the rifle vertically, took the gunpowder pouch from Eman, poured it into the muzzle, then inserted the lead bullet and packed it tightly with a ramrod.

The reloading process was smooth; to outsiders, it appeared as if he were wielding a smoothbore gun.

However, the Auguste 1790 was definitively a rifled gun.

Not only did it boast a terrifying range, its accuracy was also exceptionally high.

According to Bertier, the elite veterans of the Riflemen Corps could hit human-sized targets at distances of 200 paces.

Typically, such distances are reserved for artillery, as ordinary flintlock guns rely purely on faith to hit targets at 70 paces.

Although various nations currently equip their riflemen with rifled guns, their reloading times are at least 50% longer than France’s Auguste 1790, which employs the “Touin-Nan Model.”

Thus, most riflemen are organized at the company level–primarily tasked with seeking opportunities on the battlefield to snipe officers. Given their slower rate of fire, having too many riflemen would actually hinder combat effectiveness.

France’s riflemen, however, were organized at the battalion level, and as arms factory production capacity continued to increase, they would soon expand into rifle corps.

This was due to the Auguste 1790’s high firing speed; French riflemen could also target ordinary enemy soldiers, making a larger number increasingly advantageous.

If one day France’s infantry were all equipped with this rifle, they could almost crush enemy infantry formations from over a hundred paces away!

While Joseph was fitting the percussion cap onto the hunting rifle, preparing to fire again, a military officer quickly approached, tipped his hat in salute, and said, “Your Highness, yesterday morning, large-scale uprisings simultaneously broke out in Wavre and other areas.”

Because the Southern Netherlands territory lacked the Sharp Signal Machine, news from Wavre took over a day to reach the French border, although it was transmitted to Lille in mere minutes afterward.

Joseph skimmed the report, nodded, and said, “Largely consistent with the Intelligence Bureau’s analysis.”

He turned to the officer and asked, “What about the stance of the Walloon Chamber of Commerce?”

“Your Highness, Chairman Shevenemang has already persuaded the Wallon District Committee to follow our suggestions. Five days ago, they shifted the police force’s main contingent south of Brussels. Logistic supplies are stored in Tibizi and will not be affected by the uprisings.”

“Shevenemang has done well.” Joseph turned to signal the Order Officer, “Let General Lefebvre depart.

“Oh, and Count Saigul could head toward Wurttemberg as well.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

General Lefebvre, leading the Royal First Infantry Division and two scattered troops, was still waiting in Artuwa.

This was also why the Prince of Coburg’s intelligence indicated that France had only 12,000 troops along the Southern Netherlands border.

However, Lefebvre’s forces were thoroughly prepared to use wooden railways for transporting soldiers’ belongings. Not only would the soldiers march unencumbered, but they could also rotate riding in carriages. Hence, they could reach Lille from behind Artuwa in just one day.

As for the Prince of Coburg’s claim that “France would need a week to reach Brussels,” that scenario never existed.

With the marching speed of the General Staff Corps, covering 100 kilometers would only take three days!

Count Saigul, meanwhile, would conduct intensive diplomatic activity in the Southern German States, condemning Austria for violating agreements and brazenly dispatching troops to invade the Walloon demilitarized zone.

Unlike the historical lessons where Napoleon disregarded diplomatic finesse and relied solely on brute force, Joseph was determined to avoid such pitfalls.

Often, standing on the moral high ground may seem futile, but it can work subtly like water shaping stone, ultimately altering the political landscape of Europe when the moment arises.

…

North of Wavre.

A dry riverbed suddenly propped up hundreds of tents.

Though no flags surrounded the camp, three to four hundred flintlock-armed individuals patrolled the area at all times.

Bourget took off his hat, glanced at the bright sun overhead, then turned to the round-faced young man leaning against a pile of hay beside him and said, “I heard from Chief Debolei this morning–Landen has also fallen to the rioters.”

The latter furrowed his brows: “Are the Flemish mad? Do they think the Walloon Region belongs to them?

————

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After the Battle of Fleurus, the Anti-France Alliance’s forces were expelled from the Austrian Netherlands. The Austrian Army withdrew from Belgium, while the Dutch Republic was invaded and annexed by French forces in 1795. On June 7, 1795, Jourdan’s forces concluded the Siege of Luxembourg [English: Siege of Luxembourg (1794-1795)]. Though lengthy, this military action was extremely successful. That year, French operations east of the Rhine River were less favorable; though they occupied Manheim, they eventually lost it.

During the 1796 Rhine campaign (English: Rhine campaign of 1796), the French force tasked with advancing into Bavaria had its left flank led by Jourdan’s Sambre-Meuse Army. All French soldiers were ordered to march toward Vienna, with Jourdan’s troops positioned farthest to the left, Jean Victor Marie Moreau’s Army stationed in the Danube River Basin’s central region, and Napoleon’s Army stationed on the right in Italy. The campaign progressed smoothly–Archduke Karl’s Austrian forces were pushed back by Moreau and Jourdan’s armies, retreating almost to the Austrian border. However, Archduke Karl avoided engaging Moreau’s forces and focused entirely on confronting Jourdan’s troops. In August, Jourdan’s army was defeated at the Battle of Amberg (English: Battle of Amberg). Jourdan failed to win back ground at the Battle of Wurzburg (English: Battle of Wurzburg), and after the Battle of Limburg [English: Battle of Limburg (1796)], Jourdan’s forces were forced to withdraw from the Rhine River Basin. The esteemed General Francois Severin Marceau-Desgraviers (French: Francois Severin Marceau-Desgraviers; March 1, 1769-September 21, 1796) was killed in action during this campaign. Moreau then had to retreat as well, leading to the failure of that year’s French military efforts in Germany. The root cause of these failures lay in the government’s imposition of strategic plans on the generals. Jourdan became the scapegoat and left the military for two years. During this hiatus, he emerged as a distinguished politician and authored the famous 1798 Conscription Law, which later became known as the Jourdan Law.