Chapter 132: Thorough Investigation of the French Guards
Marat paused his pen, looking up at Desmoulins. "Camille, you know that rumors about those unscrupulous officers only ever understate their malicious deeds; they are almost never falsely accused."
"Besides, I merely wrote 'perhaps' and 'there are indications.' The officers won't be convicted because of this. The Military Police will certainly conduct a thorough investigation. If concrete evidence is found, wouldn't that be a good thing?"
He resumed writing his denunciation. "What I find most regrettable is that the Office of Fair Investigation lacks the capacity to pursue those scoundrels in the army."
Indeed, upon learning that the Military Police would be responsible for investigating the French Guards, Joseph immediately began his next phase of countermeasures.
First, he had Fouché hand over compromising information about certain French Guards officers to Marat. A large portion of this information had been gathered from the officer named Tirou during the previous investigation into the farmhouse shelling incident.
Given Marat's character, he naturally wouldn't tolerate these villainous officers. He promptly launched an investigation, and, true to form, his journalist contacts unearthed even more scandalous details about the officers—a situation greatly "aided" by the widespread corruption and violence prevalent in the old army, where a quick check invariably revealed a trove of offenses.
Afterward, Joseph had someone "casually" inform Marat that the Minister of Justice and the Military Police were conducting a large-scale investigation into officers, and they might require some leads.
Marat immediately and readily passed on all the information he had gathered about the officers to the Minister of Justice.
At the French Guards barracks, the Military Police department was forced to re-investigate officers who had already been cleared.
The Military Police reluctantly committed more personnel and resources, launching an even larger-scale investigation...
Thus, nearly half a month later, the investigation targeting the first batch of nine officers still hadn't concluded.
The French Guards alone had over two hundred middle and high-ranking officers, and an even greater number—seven or eight hundred—of junior officers.
Currently, all these men were confined to the barracks, anxiously awaiting the impending investigation. However, the more urgent they became, the slower the investigation seemed to proceed.
This sensation of a knife hanging over their heads, yet never falling, was the most agonizing.
Moreover, these officers previously enjoyed at least eight hours of free time daily, able to freely indulge in Parisian city life. Now, stuck in the barracks, they had neither dances nor women, and their meals consisted only of coarse barracks food. To them, it was no different from being imprisoned.
Soon, rumors began to spread throughout the barracks, claiming that the Queen, enraged by the attack on the Crown Prince, was taking her anger out on the French Guards and intended to exile all the officers.
Naturally, this news was also spread by Joseph's agents.
The officers, already living in constant dread, had long lost the ability to calmly distinguish truth from falsehood. Almost no one questioned these rumors, which only grew more exaggerated with each telling.
Thus, the officers began to pull out all the stops, frantically contacting their connections to find solutions. Nearly half of the military aristocracy was stirred into action.
The Duke of Orleans also heard about the situation in the French Guards barracks and had no choice but to seek out Minister of War Saint-Priest again, promising increased "activity funds" if he could ensure the officers' safety—these men were his vital support within the army, after all.
Marquis Saint-Priest, however, dared not accept this "windfall" this time, as he had absolutely no way to deal with the matter.
In recent days, many influential military nobles had contacted him, or sent personal letters, urging him to quickly conclude the French Guards review.
If it were an ordinary case not widely known, he might have been able to privately manipulate things. But the situation with the French Guards had to be reported daily to the Queen, and reporters had somehow obtained letters denouncing officers, leading to widespread reports in major newspapers about the investigation.
With so many eyes watching from all directions, even if he wanted to intervene, he couldn't find an opportunity to act...
That night, in an officer's villa in the southern suburbs of Paris, as Saint-Priest and several high-ranking officials from the Military Police department were racking their brains for a solution, General d'Astou's aide-de-camp from the Military Police nervously knocked on the door and entered, whispering a few words in his ear.
General d'Astou's face instantly registered shock. "Really?!"
The aide-de-camp, grim-faced, handed him a newspaper. "General, it's already published in the papers. Reportedly, the Minister of Justice has also received evidence."
Saint-Priest and the others hastily looked over. "What happened, General d'Astou?"
General d'Astou said with a somber expression, "Have you heard about the farmhouse in the southern suburbs of Paris that was shelled last month, killing two people?"
The others nearby all nodded.
General d'Astou gestured toward the newspaper. "News says this was done by members of the French Guards, who then framed the Paris Police Academy. Breteuil's office seems to have received evidence."
The next morning, hundreds of protesting citizens had gathered outside the French Guards camp, demanding severe punishment for the murderers of the Axel couple.
This was only because the camp was relatively far from the city; otherwise, even more protesters would have shown up.
The previous shelling incident had caused a major uproar but was cleverly defused by Joseph through crisis management. Now, with the boomerang hitting the French Guards, they had no means to respond.
Based on the leads received, Breteuil instructed the Military Police to locate the cannon that the Police Intelligence Bureau had initially identified as the one that shelled the Axel home, and to arrest all the artillerymen responsible for operating it.
After interrogation, the artillerymen, who had been under intense mental strain, quickly confessed without reservation and implicated their officers, eventually leading to Major Théodore, commander of the Second Artillery Battalion of the French Guards.
When the news spread, all of Paris was shaken. People took to the streets, angrily demanding the hanging of Théodore and the other murderers.
At the same time, many people gathered outside the Paris Police Academy, apologizing for having wrongly accused the academy earlier.
The Paris Police Bureau's actions—helping the Axel family repair their home and providing several thousand livres in aid, despite being wrongly accused themselves—were widely publicized. Their reputation soared.
For a time, the Paris Police became virtually the public's model of 'caring for the poor.' Even during patrols, their heads were held higher than usual.
That day, the number of young people applying to the police academy directly exceeded five hundred. Friant, the academy's Director of Academic Affairs, had to temporarily close admissions.
...
Versailles.
Berthier cautiously glanced toward the Crown Prince's chambers, nervously adjusting his appearance repeatedly, feeling quite apprehensive.
Although he had not yet taken office, he was considered a battalion commander of the French Guards. He wondered if the Crown Prince would blame him for the Guards' ineffective protection in this incident.
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