"What do you mean?" Kano frowned.

"Lazar, to defeat the enemy, we need to know the enemy. Only by understanding the situation of the enemy can we effectively deal with them. And some of our officers, knowing nothing about the enemy, even about themselves, go to fight with the enemy. Lazar, this is not a battle, this is for the fighters to go to their deaths, and one could even say, a crime against the republic! I have always felt that there should be such a principle in the military, that is, not to fight an unprepared war. Joseph said.

"Your whole principle is good. But the situation is so critical that we can't afford to ignore Vendée. Kano said.

"Lazar, why do you think those peasants of the Vendée rebelled? What made those honest peasants pick up guns? What are the characteristics of the rebels, what are their weaknesses? Joseph asked again.

"Why?" Kano thought for a moment and said, "They must have been encouraged by those priests and co-opted by those nobles. ”

"That's not right." Joseph shook his head, "They didn't react when we cut off Louis XVI's head; At the time we ordered the expulsion of the clergy, their rebellion was limited; But...... But when we ordered conscription, they rebelled en masse. It was nothing else that made them rise up and rebel, but conscription. Only conscription is the thing that really damages their interests and allows them to unite to resist. ”

"However, we can't afford not to conscript, and we can't open up to the Vendée." Kano said.

"Of course." "I'm not saying this to raise any objection to the conscription policy. I am only using this to illustrate one of the characteristics of our enemies, the rebels of the Vendée. Well, Lazar, do you remember that most of the volunteers in Paris were reluctant to leave Paris? ”

"Of course I do...... Joseph, you mean, they and ......" Kano listened, and realized.

"They are actually very similar to our volunteers, they are not willing to leave their homeland, they have the courage to defend their homeland and life, if they fight in the Vendée, they are like Antaeus standing on the earth, almost invincible. If we solve the problem by military means alone, we will not be able to achieve true victory unless we eradicate the entire Vendée land. To accomplish such a job, Lazar, I have to say, the number of troops you have prepared for us is too small. I think it needs to be multiplied by at least a ten. ”

"Hell, Joseph, what am I going to Vendée to do if I have so many troops? Why don't we just go to Vienna? ”

"So, a direct solution militarily is a dream! The affairs of the Vendée must be a two-pronged approach, both military and political! Joseph said.

"Looks like you've had an idea for a long time, Joseph!" "Let's talk about how to do both!" ”

"Let's talk about the military first, political matters are not something we can completely solve." Josephus said, "Militarily, I do not have a complete plan, but can only offer an idea, and that is to find a way to lure Antaeus out of his land. The peasants of the Vendée would certainly not be willing to leave their land, but the nobles who led them, and the English behind them, would not allow them to shrink into the Vendée like this, they would find a way to get them to come out against us, and if we found a way to tempt them, they would come out faster. Then we will find an opportunity on the battlefield outside the Vendée and give them a hard blow to wipe out their elite outside the Vendée. In this way, many things will be easier to do in the future. ”

"Well," Kano nodded, "that's an interesting idea. So, what about the political solution? ”

"Politically...... Joseph slowed down, "political matters, in the final analysis, are the distribution of interests. Lazar, why are the peasants of the Vendée against us? Isn't it just that we are harming their interests? If we can provide them with appropriate, even very cost-effective compensation, we may be able to solve the Vendée problem once and for all. ”

Kano listened, but shook his head in disappointment and said, "Joseph, if we have enough, we can compensate them for their losses." Then why do we still need to recruit soldiers, can't we just recruit them directly? What can we compensate them for? You can't print another batch of coupons for them, can you? They are not fools...... Nowadays, even fools know not to point to coupons. ”

"Lazar, have you read Machiavelli's The Treatise of Kings?" Joseph asked.

"The Italian conspirator?" Kano replied.

"The guy's point of view is really uncomfortable, but some of his tricks are interesting. To be honest, if the king before us had Machiavelli's tricks, France might still be a kingdom today. Joseph said.

"I've read that book before, but I've forgotten a lot of things. Joseph, say whatever you want. ”

"We don't need to compensate them with what we have, as Machiavelli said, a wise ruler is good at being generous to others." Joseph replied.

"Ah, this paragraph, I remember. Well, Alexander the Great, Caesar, and Augustus all had a reputation for generosity, but their generosity was actually the generous distribution of other people's things to their warriors...... Ah, is that what you mean? ”

"Yes, Lazar, think about it, what do those peasants crave the most? Isn't it just land? We first tempted the nobles, took them out of the Vendée, and then extinguished this wave, and then before they had time to recover, we entered the Vendée and killed all the noble landlords of the Vendée, but let their children and grandchildren run some out. Then we confiscated all their land and distributed it to the local peasants, and the best of them to those who were willing to fight for us. If we can do that, Lazar, I don't think the Vendée rebellion is unquellable, and that the Vendée region may even become the most supportive base in the future. Joseph replied.

"That's the idea...... It should be feasible, but such a major decision must be passed in the National Assembly. Kano said with some hesitation, "Now, if such a resolution is to be passed in parliament, it will definitely be opposed by some people." ”

"Why? What does it cost us? Joseph asked.

"Because...... Because the parliament had confiscated the land of the nobles of the Vendée as collateral and issued a note. Kano hesitated for a moment, then replied.

"What? And such an operation? Joseph was stunned.

"But that military advice you gave you earlier is also very good. Joseph, I think it would be good to entrust this matter to you. Once again, Kano wanted Joseph to take on the responsibility.

"I'm really not humble, I'm not unwilling to serve France, as long as it's good for France, even if it's risking my life, I don't care. How can they shirk responsibility because of personal gains and losses? However, designing such a strategy is still very different from improvising the enemy's improvisational command. Don't look at me for what I'm talking about here, but if I really want to command the enemy, maybe I will cause some kind of chaos. Actually, Lazar, I'm closer to you, and we're both better suited to serve in the War Department. Wrong...... I'm still different from you, you're better suited to work in the War Department than I am, and the place that's more suitable for me is actually a laboratory. Damn it, it's been so long, I've been out of the lab for so long. ”

"Actually, I prefer the lab too, really!" Kano patted Joseph on the shoulder and said, "I can understand you." But now we have to work hard for France. Well, if you can't go, how about letting Napoleon go? I think he's pretty good tactically. ”

Joseph did not object to this appointment, but simply made the following point: "If Napoleon were to be given the responsibility, I would not object to it." He is indeed more suitable than me. However, I also have two requests, the first is that you have to help him supplement his mid-level commanders a little stronger, and the second is that if Napoleon has any special moves, I hope that people will trust his command. ”

"I understand." "Although my influence is limited, in the area of military command, I will never let those guys who don't understand interfere." ”

In this way, Napoleon suddenly became the commander-in-chief of the counterinsurgency. Although the counterinsurgency army was limited in number, only one division, it was the beginning of a real self-reliance.

As for Joseph, he returned to Kano's side again and became Kano's deputy. At the same time, he served as the director of a new institution, the "Institute of Tactics". Kano tried to persuade him to come out to serve in the National Salvation Committee, but Joseph politely refused, in short, Joseph became a harmless but very useful man.

As Joseph had predicted, the nobles in the Vendée could not bear to remain in the Vendée in the backwoods with nothing to do. They took out the money accumulated by the family for many generations, and used recruitment to pull up a team of more than 40,000 people. And began to attack to the north. On the opposite side of them were only Napoleon's newly built division, numbering no more than 5,000 men, and the National Guard in some places.

Based on the fighting power shown by the peasant army in the previous battles, the rebel commander, General François Atanas de Sarlet-de la Cotri, believed that they were able to defeat the French army in front of them and approach Paris.

Of course, General Dracotri also knew that such a small number of men and his weak logistics would not be enough to truly capture Paris. But he believed that as long as he won one or two victories and threatened Paris, the northern front would be lively, and the republic, which had suffered from the enemy, would be doomed.