Flowers, Swords and France

As time gets closer to midwinter, the weather gets colder. .The sky is overcast. It's still noon, but it feels like dusk. The cold wind keeps blowing, grabbing every gap to attack those wrapped in thick coats.

The Marquis of Treville in the carriage feels the biting cold more and more as time goes by. Along with this coldness, there is also fatigue. As he gets older, he finds that he can't bear the fatigue more and more.

People really have to admit that they are old, he sighed secretly.

Fortunately, before he felt uncomfortable, the carriage finally stopped.

He opened the carriage and nodded to the old man waiting for him at the door with a smile.

"Auras, I'm here."

…………

According to the scheduled itinerary, the old marquis came to visit Count de La Porta's house today. This trip is not only to visit his old friend, but also to inform him of his latest arrangements.

In the living room of the old marshal, after the servant brought the coffee, the marshal waved his hand to let the servant leave, and then took a sip of the coffee comfortably.

"It's really enjoyable to drink a cup of hot coffee in this weather!"

"Yes." The old marquis also nodded, and then took a sip of the cup himself.

"Brother, what on earth do you want to see me today? Alas, it's a pity that I'm old, otherwise I really want to go out for a walk..." The marshal smiled and shook his head, "Unfortunately, my old bones have been aching recently, I'm afraid there's not much time left for me..."

His bitter smile made the old marquis feel a little sad, because the problems faced by the other party were obviously what he was facing.

But he quickly put this sadness behind his mind.

"Olas, to be honest, we just have something to ask of you now."

The serious expression of the marquis made the old marshal also serious. Under the impetus of a certain tension, he couldn't help but look up and look at his old friend's face.

"Are you going to do it?"

"Not now." The Marquis replied in a low voice, "but soon. So for that day, I think we should act and prepare early."

The old marshal understood what he meant.

After a moment of hesitation, he nodded.

"Victor, don't worry, I will try my best to help."

After hearing this answer, the marquis was relieved.

This kind of old military leader who has been in the army for decades and has experienced several dynasties and generations, even if he has left now, will definitely have a lot of influence among the old subordinates, and the Marquis of Treville and his grandson want to rely on this influence at this time. It's great that he is so easy to talk to this time.

"However, I have been retired for several years now, and I don't know how much I can say in front of them..." The marshal seemed a little worried, "So if it is not as useful as you think, don't blame me..."

His joke made the old marquis laugh.

"You still love to joke like you did back then..."

"You are almost the same as you were back then?" the marshal replied, and then his expression became a little serious again. "By the way, did you know that His Majesty the King was assassinated a few days ago?"

He said "did you know?", but the implicit question was "was it done by your people?"

"Yes, I know." The old marquis nodded simply, "and I also know who did it."

Then he told the old marshal the information he had obtained half-hiddenly.

"So that's it!" After listening to the other party's story, the marshal sighed, and then laughed again, "These supporters of the Bourbon royal family are really unwilling to give up!"

"Of course they won't give up, but they will definitely not succeed." The old marquis replied calmly.

"Victor, I really can't believe you are so loyal to the Emperor." The marshal sighed, and then took another sip of coffee. "It's rare that you are so loyal to the Empire even though your last name is Treville!"

No, I am only loyal to Treville, the Marquis replied coldly in his heart.

Then, he looked at the marshal sincerely.

"Olas, thank you for your help. Don't worry, we will never forget you!"

"Hehe..." After hearing his encouragement, the old marshal couldn't help but smile bitterly again, "Victor, of course I believe in you, but what's the use of your repayment to me? I'm already this old, and I can't say how long I can live. Even if you give me a mountain of gold, how long can I live there? I'm just repaying you. I should say thank you. It's you who made my daughter's death not in vain..." When he said this, he suddenly seemed to remember something again, and tears appeared in his eyes, "My daughter..."

The old marquis was about to comfort him, but the marshal quickly recovered from his grief. After all, he was worthy of being in the mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and his nerves were indeed strong.

"Ah... Sorry, I spoiled your fun again." He smiled at the marquis apologetically.

"It doesn't matter," the old marquis shook his head, but he suddenly seemed to think of something again and couldn't help blurting it out.

"Although Fanny has unfortunately passed away, didn't she leave behind two children? Don't worry, I will let Charles take good care of them in the future."

This sentence seemed to have finally reached the Marshal's heart. For this old man, the only thing he can't worry about now is his grandson, the two sons of Duke Praslin.

"Are you serious?" His smile had faded and he looked at his old friend seriously.

"Yes, seriously," the old Marquis replied directly.

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

"Very good...thank you." After a moment of silence, the marshal nodded again, and then smiled happily, "That's great! Victor!"

"Ciel will definitely take good care of them."

"You do have a good grandson!" the marshal sighed, "I have met him once, but he is a very ambitious child."

"Well, he is indeed very ambitious." The Marquis agreed without humility, "I have never seen his kind of ambition in any young man next to me..."

"Oh?" The marshal blinked curiously, "Why don't you tell us?"

"My grandson has been thinking of ways to design a system, a system that can make France ahead of this era." The old Marquis looked up at the marshal, his eyes full of joy, "Think about it, when we were young, who would Have you ever thought about these things?”

"System?" The old marshal sounded a little confused, "What system?"

"He wanted to design a reasonable and extensive railway, as well as a transportation and mobilization system based on this railway. Relying on this system, France will be able to use all its power as quickly as possible when needed, and then use this Even the French themselves have unimaginable power to smash any enemy in front of them."

"Huh? How old is it exactly?" The marshal was completely interested.

"If his ideal system is finally built, within ten to fifteen years, France will be able to mobilize an additional 300,000 people in two weeks in addition to the standing army, and after ten weeks, it will be able to mobilize one million people to form a An army that has never appeared in human history.”

Even though he had been on the battlefield for a long time, these words still surprised the marshal. "One million?!"

The marshal's surprised look satisfied the Marquis because it meant that his grandson was really outstanding. With a hidden sense of relief and joy, he smiled and nodded.

"Yes, one million, or even more. By that time, is there any enemy on the European continent who can resist our full attack for more than three months?" The old Marquis couldn't help but have a hint of passion in his voice, "Before the enemy Before they could stand up completely, we punched them so hard that they could no longer stand up!"

"Good guy!" The marshal couldn't help but sigh.

The system that Charles wanted to design was not something he dreamed up out of thin air alone.

At that time and space, after learning the lessons of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 that resulted in a disastrous failure due to slow action, the top army officials and the General Staff of the Third French Republic had always paid great attention to strengthening the construction of the mobilization system so that they could be in a possible decisive battle between Germany and France in the future. Be one step ahead and invest almost all of your financial, material, and manpower into the war as quickly as possible to avenge the past humiliation.

In 1914, starting from the July Crisis in Europe caused by the assassination of Ferdinand, the French began to mobilize urgently until August 3, when Germany and France declared war. In one month, France increased its army from 800,000 to 800,000. It expanded to nearly 4 million, with a total of 3.2 million people mobilized.

During the entire four-year war, France mobilized 8.1 million people to the front line, and the total population of France at that time was less than 40 million. In other words, in order to win the war, the French sent one-fifth of the total population (that is, almost all men of appropriate age) to the battlefield, and used their own military production to support this huge army. weapons and ammunition.

Although France had various strategic and command problems during World War I, this brilliant mobilization performance cannot be obliterated. If we could do so well, or nearly so well, in 1870, how could such a national disaster happen?

There is no doubt that it was impossible to achieve the terrifying mobilization efficiency of the early 19th century in the middle of the 19th century. However, it was barely possible to achieve the goal of "mobilizing another 300,000 people in two weeks in addition to the standing army, and one million people in ten weeks." ” standards, there is still hope, although it requires efforts that are unimaginable by ordinary people.

"Now, this is just a young man's fantasy. I still need to observe whether it can become a reality." The old Marquis pretended to be humble and smiled, "We'll all wait and see."

"Look, I said before that he is very ambitious." The marshal smiled and patted the Marquis on the shoulder, "My two grandsons will depend on him when the time comes!" (To be continued.)