Neither Robespierre nor Cuudon could convince Carnot, but they did get him to agree to send observers to the Institute's prison. (Cano called the residential area of the institute a "military prison") as for the experimental area......

"I'm sorry, but many of the experiments carried out in the test area are military secrets that need to be kept strictly secret. I'm not doubting the loyalty of the observers, it's just the details of some things, and the fewer people who know, the better. In fact, even I only know the purpose of the research, the approximate progress, and as for some of the technical details — you know, it's not that I don't understand them, I'm not uninterested in them — but I try to avoid knowing too many technical details. Because of these things, I saw them, and maybe I was careless, and I accidentally leaked them. And then there will be huge losses for the army. Kano said.

"Even you don't know some of the details, so there's always one person who knows the whole research relatively well, right?" Robespierre asked.

"Joseph Bonaparte was in charge of the whole process. He is a very reliable fighter. For the sake of secrecy, he voluntarily kept himself in semi-captivity. He can't leave the test area casually, and if he does, he must explain where he is going and get my approval; It is necessary to be accompanied by security personnel - such conditions can hardly be endured by anyone if it were not for the love of the Motherland, the belief in the revolution. Kano replied.

Joseph ...... It's not easy. Robespierre sighed. Robespierre's impression of Joseph was actually not bad, at least better than his impression of Carnot. Sometimes he even thinks that it would be nice if Joseph could take Carno's place. But that's just a thought, because Joseph Bonaparte also had a brother who could fight and bring soldiers. So, in any case, he couldn't sit in that position at Kano.

Everyone also admits that you can no longer find anyone who can replace Kano's job except Joseph, and even Joseph may not actually be able to replace Kano. Therefore, Robespierre could only tolerate some of Kano's offenses, as long as it was not too excessive. As for what was too much, Robespierre hadn't had time to figure it out.

Today was the first day that Observer Charles had entered the heavily guarded "Army Technical Laboratory," and he had come to the War Office early in the morning to report. In a small room, he was kept a fairly rigorous record of measurements. This includes a record of palm prints and other physical features. A painter also painted a portrait of him on the front. For some reason, Charles felt that the portrait painted him like a dead man.

"Because of the emphasis above, the person in the portrait must not have any expression." Here's how the painter explains.

After the portrait was drawn, it was already noon. Charles was accompanied by a group of horsemen, got into a four-wheeled carriage and headed for Versailles.

It was almost a four-hour walk from the War Department to Versailles. So by the time they arrived at the "army technical laboratory", it was already time for the sun to set over the mountains.

The army has dug a deep trench in the area where the army laboratory is located. Along the trench, at intervals, a watchtower was also built. Further back, a four-meter-high fence was erected, so that the inside was not visible from the outside—it was really heavily guarded.

The carriage stopped in front of the drawbridge. An officer stepped forward, checked their passes, and then said to Charles in the carriage: "By order, only observers are allowed to enter. Neither the others nor the carriages could pass through the trenches. So you have to get out of the car and hike into the lab. ”

About this, Charles already knew when he set off. So he nodded and said, "Please lead the way." He got out of the carriage, and a soldier from inside followed, and helped him carry his suitcase.

Charles followed the officer into the lab. As he walked, the officer said to him: "Mr. Observer, you are allowed to move around the staff quarters as well as the prisoners' quarters. In the staff living quarters, you are free to move around 24 hours a day, and in the prisoner living quarters, you must inform the guards of your activities first to avoid misunderstandings. You know, secrecy is tight, and any activity that isn't approved and therefore unknown to the guards can lead to unwarned shooting. ”

"I see." Charles said. He actually knew this rule for a long time, but at this time, he still felt a little nervous when he saw the scene of guardtowers lined up here and guards waiting everywhere.

"Boom!" A violent explosion was heard in the distance.

"What is this?" Charles couldn't help but ask.

"Mr. Observer, everything about the test is confidential, anything in the test area, don't ask. Nothing you hear or see can be said to the outside world. The officer did not reply, but reaffirmed the discipline of secrecy.

At this time, several people arrived at the gate, and Charles looked inside from the door, and it was only a alley with high walls on both sides, and there was still nothing to see.

The officer had spoken a few words to the soldier guarding the door, and the door opened, and then several men went in, and walked for a long time in the alleyway between the high walls, until at last they came to a small door, at which were guarded as usual by a few soldiers with loaded guns.

After identifying themselves, the soldiers opened the small door.

The officer said, "Inside is the staff activity area, and your dormitory is also in it." Please come with me. ”

Several people entered the small door, and behind them came the sound of the iron door being closed and locked. A thought popped into Charles's head: "Hell, who's in jail here?" ”

……

On the Toulon front, Pope was in a state of great panic. In the past few days he has launched an attack on Toulon, but the effect of the attack is very poor. Although the British had limited interest in going north, they were very serious about holding the port of Toulon. Because as long as Toulon remained in their hands, the French navy had no foothold in the Mediterranean, and they could do whatever they wanted in North Africa.

As a result, the British quickly strengthened the various fortifications of Toulon, and removed the cannons from the captured French warships to strengthen the defenses. Pop's soldiers were very brave, but the British, who hid behind the fortifications, were cunning enough. As a result, his first attacks had suffered heavy casualties and made no progress.

Enraged, Pope was determined to concentrate his forces and launch a general assault on Toulon, so that the invaders and traitors would know how powerful France was.

However, what they thought of was that the British actually played a cannon ambush for him. They had long anticipated the direction of the Pop attack and ambushed a large number of artillery pieces in the manner of the French in Valmy. Unlike Valmy, however, they have more cannons and are heavier. What's even worse is that their artillery is not only ambushed on the front, but also on the side, forming crossfire.

They first used retreat to seduce the French into this predetermined battlefield. And Pope was excited when he saw that he had made progress, and directly put the main force into the attack. Outcome...... Naturally, the result was a bombardment by the British artillery, and then the British and Spaniards charged with a bayonet, and the French retreated to the starting point of the day in one go. If it weren't for the fact that the British were too conservative and the number of combat troops invested in the counterattack was too small, I was afraid that Pope would not even be able to keep his camp.

After this defeat, Pope counted a little and found that in these days, he had actually suffered nearly three thousand casualties, and the morale of the entire army had also fallen to a low point. This made it almost impossible for him to launch any more attacks. Pope knows that the guys above are not easy to fool now, and if they fail so badly and do not do well, they will be guillotined as traitors to the motherland.

But now, he has no more options, and can only ask his superiors for "tactical guidance". (Tactical guidance is a term used in the Japanese army, similar to transfer, which actually means asking for reinforcements from above.) ）

……

Just as Popper was writing to ask for "tactical guidance," Lucien and the others finally landed on Corsica.

In fact, their journey has been quite smooth, and the weather in the Mediterranean has been fine these days. But when they came ashore, Lucien inquired and found that they had strayed a lot. They did not go ashore near Calvi as planned, but moved further south to Galenia. It took them an extra day to get to Calvi.

Corsica was a relatively closed place, and it was easy to attract the attention of others when a stranger suddenly arrived, so under the guidance of Lucien, they sailed into a remote harbor and hid. Most of the people remained on board, except for Chrysler and Lucien who slipped into Calvi quietly after dark.

Lucien hadn't been back to Calvi for several years, but it didn't bother him in any way. Compared to Paris, Calvi is almost frozen in time, and everything in it is no different from when Lucien left. In the darkness, Lucien led Chrysler through the streets to his door.

"Knock knock," Lucien knocked softly on the door, and as he knew from his past habits, his mother should not have slept yet.

There was a knock on the door, and there was first one or two dog barks in the house, but soon the fierce dog barking turned into a flattering whine, followed by footsteps, and a woman's voice asked, "Who is it?" ”

"Mom, it's me, I'm Lucien!" Lucien pressed his mouth to the door and whispered.

The door opened, and Letizia, who had grown older, appeared in front of Lucien with a lantern.