Chapter 304: The Imperial Guard's Grand Versailles Show
On a high ground not far from the Champagne Legion's encampment, thousands of soldiers craned their necks, peering down. The General Staff had even prepared a dozen telescopes for them to use in turns.
Soon, they saw a thin white line of soldiers emerge from the drill ground, running at an unbelievably fast pace. If they were to maintain that speed, most of them would collapse from exhaustion after barely one kilometer.
Yet, the Guards Corps soldiers maintained this high speed almost the entire way.
A Champagne Legion soldier, who had just gotten a turn with a telescope, suddenly exclaimed, "They're still carrying things!"
Others immediately snatched the telescope, then echoed his surprise, "You're right, they all have their muskets, and blankets..."
An officer from the General Staff Headquarters overheard the soldiers' discussions, and with a smile, announced loudly, "They're each carrying eighteen pounds—ahem, we should use standard measurements now—that's nine kilograms of load."
The Champagne Legion soldiers were stunned. They had just completed a five-kilometer run—or, more accurately, most of them had walked it—without carrying anything, and were as exhausted as if they were on the verge of death. How could the Guards Corps soldiers possibly finish in 22 minutes while carrying such a heavy load?
Ten minutes later, the Champagne Legion soldiers watching the demonstration fell silent. From their vantage point, they clearly saw that the runners hadn't slowed down and had already completed the first half, now turning back.
Finally, someone muttered softly, "Are they all monsters?"
As Napoleon rounded the winding mountain path, his legs felt on the verge of losing all sensation. The baggage on his back was like a mountain, pressing down on him, making even breathing incredibly difficult.
He glanced up at the soldiers around him, whose speed remained undiminished, and immediately gritted his teeth, muttering to himself, 'I won't lose to you. It's just running...'
He immediately quickened his pace, overtaking the soldiers in front. 'See, that's not hard,' he thought to himself. 'Come on, just one more!'
After running for an unknown duration, Napoleon finally spotted the main gate of the distant drill ground. Although sharp spasms of pain shot through his chest and abdomen, a smile touched his lips.
He felt that at this pace, he should qualify.
Indeed, the moment he crossed the gate, an officer beside him checked his watch and announced, "21 minutes and 19 seconds."
Napoleon pressed his abdomen, suppressing the urge to vomit after the strenuous exertion. Yet, a powerful surge of joy swelled within him—he had finally passed another assessment.
'This damned Guards Corps,' he thought, 'I've taken another step towards conquering it!'
As the last few Guards Corps soldiers sprinted into the drill ground, the entire five-kilometer cross-country demonstration concluded. The slowest soldier finished in 21 minutes and 52 seconds. Everyone qualified.
On the distant hill, the thousands of Champagne Legion soldiers remained utterly silent.
They had always considered themselves one of France's most elite legions, habitually looking down on other units. But today, they finally understood what true elite meant.
Even the slowest of the Guards Corps soldiers was three minutes faster than their own fastest, Captain Lacoste. And the Guards Corps soldiers had been carrying a nine-kilogram load!
This dealt a devastating blow to their arrogant confidence.
Anyone who had truly experienced battle knew the immense importance of stamina during combat. Wars in this era, due to insufficient firepower, often dragged on for extended periods; fighting from sunrise to sunset was common.
If the enemy's stamina significantly dropped while their own forces still had ample energy, they could launch fierce attacks, while the opponent would only have the strength for passive defense. Furthermore, abundant stamina allowed for extensive maneuvering, enabling flanking movements or encirclements—all crucial factors in determining victory!
However, some Champagne Legion officers still grumbled discontentedly, "It's just running. If we intensify our training, we should be able to achieve the same."
"Exactly! Give me five months—no, three months—and I could finish it in 22 minutes too!"
However, the shooting assessment the next day dealt them another devastating blow.
According to the assessment requirements, only a few dozen of the Champagne Legion's 'hunters'—a troop type similar to modern-day snipers—met the qualifying standard.
As for the Guards Corps, only about twenty soldiers failed to qualify. To be honest, with the smoothbore muskets of that era, accuracy was often a matter of luck. Without rifling, a bullet was prone to Brownian motion after leaving the barrel, making it impossible to guarantee a hit, no matter how precise one's aim.
Those two dozen unfortunate souls were thoroughly teased by their comrades, each one fuming with embarrassment as they went off to practice holding their muskets alone.
Napoleon, unfortunately, was one of those two dozen.
However, he didn't go to practice. As an artilleryman, his shooting score wouldn't count towards his assessment. He also believed that Percussion Cap Musket firing wasn't a mandatory skill to master.
Instead, he was cramming logistics and supply studies in his tent—a topic included in the officer's assessment, and one he was still quite unfamiliar with.
Joseph had no idea that if not for Napoleon's strong resolve, his decision to recruit him into the Guards Corps might have shattered Emperor Napoleon's self-confidence...
In the following days, the Guards Corps continued to "torment" the Champagne Legion with their assessment results.
The latter had grown almost numb to it all. From running to shooting, from drills to combat, they were completely crushed. If they didn't numb themselves to the reality, they would barely be able to live with the humiliation.
Just as the Champagne Legion's officers and soldiers prepared to breathe a sigh of relief, thinking all the assessment items were over, the Guards Corps delivered their most crushing psychological blow with the final day's joint exercise.
What kind of joint exercise was this? It was nothing short of a grand "Versailles" show of superiority.
From the moment the Champagne Legion first had a close-up look at the Guards Corps, tears of envy streamed uncontrollably from the corners of their mouths.
Those impeccably tailored wool uniforms, of superior quality and sharp appearance, were several tiers above the cheap uniforms they themselves wore.
Their uniquely designed Percussion Cap Muskets were said to require three fewer loading steps than the Charleville 1776s in their hands, and had a range more than 20 paces longer.
As for perks like leather boots, leather caps, and free mending services, they no longer even wanted to compare themselves to the Guards Corps...
When lunchtime arrived, the Champagne Legion soldiers finally had their composure completely shattered.
The Guards Corps soldiers were eating beef in gravy. Although it was also salted meat, after cooking, it tasted more than ten times better. There were also boiled eggs, white bread, and vegetable soup. And for drinks, they had quality wine.
This was practically better than their own officers' rations!
The Champagne Legion soldiers gazed at the hard, salted meat, black bread, and sour wine in their hands, barely suppressing the urge to snatch food from the Guards Corps.
However, remembering the Guards Corps' terrifying shooting and combat scores, they silently ate their own "pig slop."
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