Joseph was woken up by a herald in his bed.

"Lieutenant Colonel Bonaparte, Lieutenant Colonel Bonaparte, General Cano told you to hurry to the War Department, something is wrong, something is wrong in the South."

"What? Something is wrong? Something happened in the South? When Joseph heard this, he jumped out of bed like a spring.

He quickly put his military uniform on his body, buttoned a hat on his head indiscriminately, and hurried out with the herald, mounted his horse, and galloped towards the War Headquarters......

On the way, Joseph kept thinking: "Could it be that something happened to Napoleon?" Could it be that because of his own crossing, the world line changed, and as a result, Napoleon became a martyr? "After all, things on the battlefield often depend on luck. Napoleon liked to play by example or something, in case a cannonball didn't have a long eye......

The more Joseph thought about it, the more frightened he became, and his hands trembled so much that he could hardly grasp the reins of his horse. Fortunately, his residence was not far from the War Department, and in a short time Joseph arrived at the place.

Jumping off his horse, Joseph went straight to Kano's office.

"Lazar, what's wrong?" Joseph asked as soon as he pushed the door open.

"Ange is lost." Kano said.

Joseph let out a long sigh, then widened his eyes and said, "What? Angers lost? So what did Napoleon say? ”

"Napoleon did not send the war report, the news came from the Jacobin club in Angers." Kano said, "I'm sorry to call you out in the middle of the night, but I was just woken up." You catch your breath first, and I'll tell you about some of what I've learned. ”

Kano gave Joseph a general overview of what he knew. The basic situation is as follows:

In the previous few days' battles, the army led by Napoleon had been very successful in holding off the rebels. Just the day before yesterday, Napoleon declared that he had observed that the morale of the enemy army had declined and the intensity of the offensive had decreased, and therefore decided to launch a full-scale counterattack. So Napoleon moved the main forces out of the city and prepared for a counteroffensive.

Who knew that as soon as the main force of the French army was transferred out, the royal party elements in the city immediately launched a rebellion. Part of the National Guard was also infiltrated by the royal party, so the royal party quickly took control of some key positions in the city, and then the rebels, under the leadership of the royal party, quickly captured Angers. Napoleon and his army tried to counterattack, but the counterattack was unsuccessful, so they quickly retreated.

"That's right. If so, it doesn't seem to be the responsibility, at least not all of Napoleon's. Joseph immediately began to use his brains to find a way to throw the blame on Napoleon.

"Joseph, this is also a serious failure, anyway. I reckon that tomorrow — no, as soon as it dawns today, Paris will be in a commotion. Maybe I'll have to be dragged to the council for questioning. But don't worry, in fact, if you take a closer look, although the rebels captured Angers, the whole situation is not much worse. On the council's side, I can withstand it. ”

"General, this is really ......," said Joseph.

"No, I'm still a colonel." Carnot laughed, "I guess I won't be able to become a general again until Napoleon wins." Well, Joseph, let's look at the situation. ”

"Okay." Joseph said, "I don't know when Napoleon, that fool, will send the war report." ”

"Ah, it should be another day." "I just don't know what happened to the losses of his army." ”

……

After daybreak, Cano was called to the council for questioning, and it is said that the fellow named Gorio seized the opportunity to jump around and shout. What to say to suspect Napoleon's treason, what to suspect Carnot and Napoleon of collusion. In the end, Kano couldn't stand it anymore and glared at the guy viciously, and then, the guy suddenly urinated incontinent!

"But Joseph, you know, some people in the council are in a panic. You know how difficult it is to have a rational discussion with these people who have lost their minds. So in the end, they passed a resolution to send a commissioner to Napoleon's troops. ”

This result was also expected by Joseph, who asked, "Who are they going to send?" ”

"At first I was tempted to try to get Councillor St. Just to go. Although he is young, he has courage, and he is willing to learn, and he does not interfere with things he does not understand. He had already carried out such missions several times, and he had cooperated well with the military commander. Unfortunately, though, the form of Paris these days is very delicate, so he can't leave. So we have to choose someone else. ”

"And who do you send in the end?" Joseph asked.

"A guy named Joseph like you, but that guy's surname is Fouché." Kano said.

"Joseph Fouché, the same Fouché who had a good relationship with Robespierre at first, then with Lafayette, then with Brissot, and now with Marat?" Joseph said.

"It's that shameless villain!" Kano said disdainfully, "This guy is now following Marat, and he is dancing more aggressively than Marat." ”

Although Kano was close to the Montagnards, he was very dismissive of the very radical and angry factions of Marat.

"Converts are fanatical." "When a betrayer enters a group, he must be more radical than the others in order to gain acceptance. But such a guy, when he is in the army, will he interfere with the command? ”

"I spoke to Fouché and he said that he was only responsible for recording Napoleon's command so that the parliament could determine whether Napoleon had committed malfeasance, and that he would not intervene in matters of military command."

"Let's hope so." Joseph said, "General, Napoleon's war report has arrived, and I think this bad thing may be playing tricks behind our backs......"

……

By the time Joseph Fouché arrived at Napoleon's army with a volunteer army of about 200 men, Napoleon had retreated to the vicinity of Le Mans. Le Mans was famous for racing in later generations, but at this time, there were no cars here, only horse-drawn carriages coming and going.

Le Mans was very advantageous for Napoleon as the location of the decisive battle. First of all, Le Mans has good water and land transportation, and supplies from Paris can be reached directly through the canal between the Seine and the Loire.

Secondly, the defensive conditions of Le Mans itself are quite good. During the Hundred Years' War, Le Mans was a key point of repeated contention between the British and French armies, so Le Mans has very strong walls. In modern times, when artillery is greatly popular, these walls are somewhat outdated, but it is better to have than nothing. Considering the low quality of the enemy army, the role of these walls was even greater. And for General Dracotri, this is the only way to take Le Mans in order to cut off the waterways and really threaten Paris.

"Welcome to my barracks, Mr. Fouché." Napoleon, with his officers, received Fouché, who had been sent here as a commissioner, in the barracks.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Commander Bonaparte." Foucher said, "I have been ordered to come to you to cooperate with your work. ”

"Come here, then, and let me give you a brief introduction to the current military situation." Napoleon said.

"No, it doesn't need to. "Bonaparte," said Fouché, "I do not understand military affairs, and I have no intention of interfering with your command. I came here only for two missions, one was to witness the battle, and for that, I only needed to bring my eyes and ears. As for another task...... I was tasked with cleaning up the hidden rebellion at Le Mans, which, as far as I know, led to the fall of Angers. This kind of thing must not be allowed to happen again at Le Mans. If necessary, Commander Bonaparte, I hope to have the support of your army. ”

"That's not a problem." Napoleon said.

Fouché did not lie, and although he attended many of Napoleon's military meetings, he did not say a word at these meetings. And he spends most of his time running around Le Mans, not knowing what he's up to.

On the last day of May, the revolution broke out again in Paris, and because of dissatisfaction with the economic situation, the sans-culottes revolted again. They decided that there was a group of traitors in parliament to blame for the current crisis. The revolting populace surrounded the National Assembly, demanding that it hand over what they considered "traitors". The parliament backed down again in front of the sans-culottes, and more than two dozen members were arrested. It was from this night that the balance in the council was broken. The mountain faction began to gain a clear advantage in the council, and it was enough to overwhelm their opponents on the matter of the great logarithms.

This was followed by the departure of a large number of plain-minded members from Paris, and when the National Assembly was in session, more than a third of the members were often absent.

In general, during the Revolution, Paris was always one step ahead of the provinces. When Paris began to advocate a constitutional monarchy, the provinces were still expecting the king's mercy; When Paris began to advocate a republican system, most of the provinces were just beginning to accept a constitutional monarchy; And when Paris opted for a more radical Montatria rule, most of the provinces were more supportive of the Brissotes. Thus in the cities of the provinces, the Brissos had the upper hand, and the antagonism between the provinces and Paris deepened.

This also led to a decline in the power of the republicans, and the royal party began to stir up new rebellions elsewhere. As the Vendée rebels approached, rumours began to appear in the city of Le Mans.

The rumor of a higher end is nothing more than that there are thousands of Vendée rebels, and that they are joined by British and Spanish troops, who are well armed and trained. Napoleon, who defended Le Mans, only had only one division under his command, more than 5,000 people, and lost a large number of artillery in the previous retreat, so he was certainly not an opponent.

The reason why this rumor is considered high-end is that it is half-true and half-false, and for those who have a certain amount of judgment, it also has a certain amount of confusion. For example, it is true that Napoleon lost some cannons in his previous retreat. However, those cannons were deliberately left behind by Napoleon to encourage the enemy to continue their march. As for Napoleon, he was not short of cannons, and before that, relying on the eccentric support of his brother, he had already prepared a batch of cannons at Le Mans.

As for the low-end rumors, they are really full of tricks and very interesting, and even the twelve Paladin (the twelve knights of Charlemagne) were resurrected according to the will of God, and came to help the royal army with the thunder of God. This kind of thing, of course, has no effect on people of insight, but it can deceive many low-level illiterates. So in the city of Le Mans, an undercurrent also began to surge.