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Chapter 602: The Wretch and the Great Victory

Forty minutes remained until the Polish Great Sejm's constitutional vote.

Archbishop Ignacy Massalski, another key member of the future Targowica Confederation, saw from his carriage window that the distant intersection was blocked by dozens of cavalrymen, who were inspecting passing carriages one by one.

A bad feeling surged within him, and he immediately instructed his coachman to turn into a nearby alley.

Before long, he changed into servant's clothes, donned a felt hat, and walked towards the assembly hall alone, while ordering his carriage to drive aimlessly around Warsaw.

Sure enough, along the way, he saw his political allies, Count Branicki, Archbishop Kossakowski, and others, being stopped by soldiers.

However, thanks to his unassuming attire, he successfully blended in and reached the vicinity of the assembly hall.

Seeing the members of parliament passing through the assembly hall's entrance, he suddenly felt emboldened. He removed his hat and strode towards the parliament building, muttering:

"That damned Poniatowski, to think he'd try to stop me with such methods. This idiotic constitution will never pass!"

He didn't believe Prince Poniatowski would dare to have soldiers harass him in front of the parliament members.

"Isn't that the archbishop loyal to the Russians?"

Immediately, others nearby joined in the shouts:

"That's right, it's him!"

"Why is someone like him allowed to participate in the Great Sejm?"

"He should be casting his vote before the Tsar, not here in Poland!"

The speech Stanisław II delivered at the Winter Palace had long since reached Poland through Russian newspapers, and the people were universally outraged by its obsequious tone, causing the king's reputation to plummet.

As for the Polish nobles mentioned in the speech as 'loyal to Russia,' their reputations had soured tenfold—people would instinctively forgive the king and assume it was these very nobles who had misled him into bowing and scraping before Russia.

Two young men, gathering their courage, stood before Archbishop Massalski and demanded why he would act as a servant to the Russians.

He retorted sharply, but this only drew more people to surround him.

Soon, the bell announcing the start of voting rang from the Great Sejm. Archbishop Massalski was only about 50 meters from the assembly hall, but he was blocked by a 'human wall' formed by the citizens, making it seem as distant as the horizon.

In this way, over seventy percent of the pro-Russian members of parliament, as well as most of the leading figures of the extreme Conservatives, were unable to participate in the vote.

Meanwhile, the Royalist, Liberal, Centrist, and moderate Conservative factions had already reached a compromise.

At three in the afternoon, news finally emerged from the Great Sejm that Poland's new constitution had been successfully passed with 268 votes in favor and 31 against.

The thousands of citizens gathered around were instantly ecstatic, leaping and embracing each other wildly, and erupting in thunderous cheers:

"Long live the new constitution!"

"Long live Poland!"

"Thank God, it actually passed..."

"This is a victory for the Sejm, a victory for liberty!"

King Stanisław II had not appeared much during the vote, only now hastily signing the constitution and swearing an oath before Archbishop Feliks Turski to forever uphold it.

Afterward, he quietly departed from the Sejm and rushed to Petersburg without a moment's delay.

The citizens saw the king's motorcade, and many wore expressions of disdain, whispering amongst themselves:

"That wretch, only good for currying favor with the Russians!"

"Ha, he only got his throne by ingratiating himself with Russian women."

"Fortunately, Prince Poniatowski is managing the state's affairs, otherwise, Poland would have long since fallen into the Tsar's hands."

"Exactly, without His Royal Highness's efforts, our constitution would never have come into being!"

"Long live His Royal Highness!"

"I heard His Royal Highness is recruiting troops. Who's coming with me to sign up?"

"I am!"

"Me too..."

As the crowds began to surge towards the Tin-Roofed Palace square to celebrate, Count Branicki, Archbishop Massalski, and others finally regained their freedom.

However, the vote was over, and everything was irreversible. If they wanted to overturn the constitution, they would need the support of over two-thirds of the Great Sejm's members, meaning 260 deputies.

This was clearly an impossible feat.

These men gritted their teeth, cursing Prince Poniatowski and the commoners who dared to block their path, while simultaneously heading, without prior arrangement, to the home of Count Stanisław Potocki.

That evening, the extreme Conservative Polish nobles, led by Count Potocki, gathered together, all shouting with furious expressions.

"The King and his lackeys have deceived us, deceived all of Poland! Today's vote is invalid!"

"Yes! We absolutely cannot accept this outcome!"

"We must find a way to reverse the current situation."

Standing in the very center of the group, Count Potocki waved his hand and declared loudly:

"All Poles should not be blinded by the Prussians and those small royalist factions; it can be reliably stated that only Russia can save our homeland!"

To 'balance' their pro-Russian leanings, the extreme Conservatives slandered the Patriotic Party and the Royalists as being controlled by Prussia—Poland happened to be allied with Prussia at the time.

Interestingly, in the eyes of the Patriotic Party and the lesser nobility, the king was, in fact, aligned with the pro-Russian faction.

Late into the night, Count Potocki announced that he would gather all of Poland's Conservative nobles for a secret meeting in Targowica town in half a month's time to discuss Poland's future.

What Potocki and his associates didn't know, however, was that after Prince Poniatowski received a tip from Joseph, he had instructed the Committee of Liberty and Security to closely monitor these extreme Conservatives.

At this very moment, there were two members of the Bar Confederation disguised as servants in Count Potocki's home, with five more outside. They had heard every detail of the recent conspiracy.

...

Slavonia, a southern province of Austria.

Over two thousand Serbian rebels and several hundred Bulgarian soldiers, enduring heavy fire, and after suffering three to four hundred casualties, finally advanced to the front line of the Austro-Polish coalition forces.

The Serbian commander, witnessing all this through his telescope, was instantly overjoyed. His fierce warriors needed only one charge to send the cowardly Austrians scattering—this was an experience he had gleaned from over a dozen engagements with the Austrian army.

However, just as he was anticipating a great victory, a troop of red-and-white cavalry suddenly surged from behind the eastern hills.

More precisely, the men wore vibrant red uniforms, with two towering white wings affixed to their backs.

As a low bugle call rang out, the cavalry troop quickly formed ranks and charged towards the Serbian army's right flank.

The rebel commander hastily ordered his own cavalry to reinforce, but his poorly trained cavalry were clearly intimidated by the overwhelming aura of the red 'Winged Angels' before them, and only after a long moment did they timidly make their way to the infantry's flank.