Chapter 280: The Young Napoleon
Among these various matters, the first few items proceeded quite smoothly.→
For instance, the Paris Police Academy had already converted most of Joseph's estate into training grounds, purchasing several additional hectares of nearby land, thereby becoming France's largest military and police training base.
Of course, the faculty strength was still far from sufficient.
With the cooperation of the newly appointed Minister of War, Duke of Broglie—this old noble, after aligning himself with the Crown and being promoted, had proven quite dedicated and diligent—many of his former students and subordinates agreed to teach at the Paris Police Academy. However, given the academy's current scale, it was still a drop in the ocean.
According to the Duke of Broglie, the other military nobles still seemed to harbor illusions, believing that the Royal family's military strength was insufficient to handle all their troubles, and that they would eventually have to appeal to them for help. Thus, they continued to adopt a wait-and-see attitude.
Joseph ran his fingers along the armrest of his chair, a slight frown creasing his brow. 'These hereditary officers are truly stubborn,' he thought. 'It seems I'll have to pay more attention to this matter.'
Although his plan involved having the new army he trained shoulder all of France's combat missions, allowing the old army to retire in their garrisons, this didn't mean he would abandon the valuable resources within France's decades-old military.
Especially mid-level officers and cavalry—talents that required vast resources and time to cultivate—they still needed to be absorbed into the Guards Corps as much as possible for his own use.
Historically, due to the French Revolution purging or exiling a large number of nobles from the old army, Napoleon's cavalry largely consisted of commoners who lacked adequate training. Cavalry, as a branch of service, ideally required lifelong practice on horseback to become truly elite, something impoverished commoners couldn't achieve. As a result, his cavalry forces were always rather subpar, only managing to hold their own on the battlefield through the desperate fervor brought about by revolutionary zeal.
Joseph wasn't particularly worried about recruiting talented individuals from the Old Nobility. Soldiers, after all, were passionate and spirited. Or rather, he had no interest in those who lacked such spirit.
Therefore, he needed to find a way to ignite the fighting spirit in these noble officers, to earn their respect, and to make them completely submit to the Guards Corps. Then, they would naturally come begging to offer their service.
After outlining his plan for recruiting noble officers, Joseph finally turned to the last section of the General Staff Headquarters' report.
This was a list of personnel who had distinguished themselves during the suppression of the recent unrest, complete with their personal information and reasons for commendation.
Most of them were from the Guards Corps, with some from the Moulins Legion and the Paris Legion. What piqued Joseph's curiosity most was that there were even a few individuals from the old army on the commendation list.
Captain Marc Dimitri Barbot, who bravely led his men to protect the town hall when rioters in Vendée attempted to set it ablaze...
Second Lieutenant Napoleon Buonaparte, who led 50 men in the town of Amnet against nearly 500 rioters, ultimately dispersing the mob...
Joseph paused, startled, upon reading this. The name Napoleon was quite rare; logically, there shouldn't be two people with it. Yet, this man didn't have the surname "Bonaparte".
He quickly pulled out the accompanying file. It read: Napoleon Buonaparte. Born August 15, 1769, in Ajaccio, Corsica. Father: Carlo Maria de Buonaparte, Corsican noble... Four brothers in the family... Entered the Paris Military School in 1784, graduated early in 1785... Currently assigned to the Raphaël Artillery Regiment in Valence, temporarily serving as commander of the second company
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Joseph's breathing immediately hitched. If it were just the name, it might be a coincidence. But a military academy student with only one year of training, along with the family details and even his father's name matching perfectly, it simply couldn't be a mere coincidence.
This had to be Napoleon himself!
He was immediately puzzled again. 'Why is Napoleon's surname Buonaparte?' he wondered. 'No wonder my search for Napoleon Bonaparte across all of France yielded no results; his surname wasn't even matching.'
Regardless, finally finding Napoleon at a time when France needed to secure more overseas interests was absolutely fantastic news!
With Napoleon at his side, Joseph's confidence in leading France to dominate the European continent instantly doubled!
Once the convoy stopped in Vitrolles, Joseph immediately handed Napoleon's file to Eman, instructing him to send someone to Valence to summon the second lieutenant.
As Eman was instructing the messenger, Joseph suddenly recalled that the General Staff Headquarters seemed to have deployed troops from Montpellier to Tunisia. Since Valence also fell under Montpellier's jurisdiction, it was highly probable that Napoleon was among them.
So, he further instructed Eman to leave a few men waiting at Toulon port to search for Napoleon among the troops bound for Tunisia—as the army would have to cross the Mediterranean Sea, they would inevitably embark in Toulon.
However, to Joseph's surprise, his messenger returned the very next afternoon, reporting that he had encountered the troops dispatched to Tunisia in southern Montpellier, and Second Lieutenant Buonaparte was indeed among them.
Thus, at eight o'clock that evening, the door of the villa where Joseph was temporarily staying was softly knocked. Eman's voice came from outside: "Your Highness, Second Lieutenant Buonaparte requests an audience."
Joseph, instantly excited, declared, "Bring him in at once!"
The door opened, and a young man in an old white military uniform, with a slightly gaunt face, a prominent nose, and anxious blue eyes, swiftly entered. He stood beside Eman, appearing somewhat flustered.
It wasn't until Eman gave a light cough that the young officer hurriedly removed his cap and bowed to Joseph. "It is my immense honor to be summoned by Your Royal Highness, the esteemed Crown Prince..."
Joseph stepped forward and returned a slight bow. "You are a hero who defended against the riots; there's no need to be so formal."
He observed the young Napoleon, who wasn't as plump as depicted in common oil paintings, but his features were strikingly similar.
After a brief pause, Joseph carefully confirmed, "Do you happen to have an elder brother named Joseph, and younger brothers named Lucien and Louis?"
Napoleon was clearly surprised by the Crown Prince's familiarity with his family members. He quickly nodded, then added, "My youngest brother's name is Jérôme, Your Highness."
"That settles it, then." Joseph led Napoleon to sit on the sofa and casually asked, "Is your mother in good health? And the vineyard, I imagine it keeps her quite busy?"
Napoleon instinctively nodded. "Yes, Your Highness, she is well. The vineyard doesn't employ many hands to keep expenses down..."
Joseph gestured towards the teacup on the table, then smiled at the artillery second lieutenant. "I deeply admire your valiant performance in the town of Amnet. In fact, I hope you will join the Royal Guard Legion. Oh, and based on your merits from this incident, you will be promoted to Captain and appointed as an artillery company commander.
"So, what is your answer?"
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