Descending On France 1780
Chapter 49 - 49 045 Bonding with Cannons

49: 045 Bonding with Cannons 49: 045 Bonding with Cannons After teasing the Priest, Anning returned to his estate with Napoleon, accompanied by Christina.

After a brief midday nap, Christina hosted a literary salon in her garden in the afternoon.

Anning was basically a layman when it came to literature; if he wanted to show off by copying writers, he could only copy the texts required for memorization from middle and high school.

Having Zhu Ziqing’s “Moonlight on the Lotus Pond” in 18th century France would definitely be inappropriate.

It would be even more inappropriate to use Mr.

Lu Xun’s work, as French noble ladies would hardly care about how many ways there are to write “Fennel Bean.”

So, Anning remained silent throughout the salon, silently listening to the country nobles embarrassingly recite tacky poems in front of Christina.

Napoleon, on the other hand, acted as if he were a literary critic, sharply criticizing each noble’s recitation with his heavily accented French.

The nobles criticized by Napoleon would rage, challenging Napoleon to a duel.

But when they saw Anning, who was drinking tea next to Napoleon, they quickly calmed down.

Anning’s renown as the Duel King had become legendary among these country nobles over the past half year, with plenty of embellishments.

Because of Napoleon’s sharp tongue, gradually no one spoke up at the literary salon, turning what was supposed to be a salon into a girls’ chat and tea party.

The gentlemen, bored, went to play tennis in the garden.

Napoleon, being short, was at a disadvantage in tennis, so he sulked and ate pastries instead.

Anning was dragged by Christina to tell stories of duels to the young noble ladies and blended in swimmingly among them.

The afternoon tea quickly transitioned into the evening ball.

Anning couldn’t dance and could only sit and watch at the ball.

Napoleon could dance but didn’t want to, so he sat and chatted with Anning.

However, the two had plenty to talk about, from mathematics to military matters, so it wasn’t boring.

Christmas passed just like that.

Then came New Year’s Day; the last few days of 1780 passed uneventfully.

The next year, Briena military academy continued to drill the cadets on how to march in formation, barely touching more advanced military theories.

Eventually, Anning realized that Briena’s goal was to train cadets to manage troops rather than delve into complex military theories—maximizing their ability to manage soldiers in formation was sufficient, perhaps with a bit of personal combat skills taught.

However, the courses in mathematics and history offered at Briena seemed to benefit Napoleon greatly.

Just like in the biographies of Napoleon he had read, Napoleon adored stories of Rome, a hardcore fan of Rome, and whenever he excitedly came to talk to Anning about Rome, Anning knew he had finished another book on Roman biographies.

Napoleon spent his own money primarily on Roman biographies, while the works of Rousseau and Montesquieu and others were mostly gifts from Anning.

It can be said that Anning nurtured Napoleon’s appreciation for Enlightenment ideas with his own wealth.

At the end of the school year, Briena held an examination for the entire grade; Napoleon ranked first, while Anning was eleventh.

Actually, Anning could have been first since his advantage was too significant; he could rely on “external aids” for French and Latin, and his knowledge in mathematics was advanced.

But Anning purposely made small errors, controlling his score.

He didn’t want his grades to surpass Napoleon’s; as the saying goes, there cannot be two suns in the sky, and in his heart, there was only one sun, Napoleon.

Unexpectedly, after the exam, Napoleon sought out Anning to express his regret: “I always felt that you would score higher than me.”

Anning: “Exams also depend on performance on the spot.

You have a more solid foundation, so you performed better this time.”

Changing the topic, Anning asked, “What are your plans for the holidays?”

Briena Military Academy did not have a summer vacation, but there was a short break when moving up a grade.

Napoleon shrugged: “Not much to do, just continue staying in Briena and reading.”

“Don’t you want to go home and see?”

“What are you talking about?

My home is in Corsica, it takes a long time just to get there.

What about you?

From here to Paris only takes two days, aren’t you planning to go back and see?”

Anning reminded Napoleon: “I’m not from Paris, my home is in Caen, part of the Normandy Region, far from Paris.”

Napoleon reacted with an “oh” and suddenly laughed: “You always talk to me about the Enlightenment ideas from Paris, and tell me interesting stories about Robespierre, Dan Dong, and others; I almost thought you were an old Parisian.”

Anning laughed as well, indeed when he told Napoleon his stories about the future Jacobin leaders, he involuntarily adopted a tone like that of old friends, as if he had known them for many years.

However, in reality, he had only known these significant figures for a few months.

Napoleon continued, “My biggest dissatisfaction during my year at Briena is that I didn’t learn much about the art of war, just how to line up.

Lining up won’t win Corsica’s independence!”

Anning shrugged: “Although you didn’t learn much about the art of war, you did learn mathematics, which is the foundation for artillery usage, and artillery is a decisive force in warfare, even calling it the king of battle wouldn’t be an exaggeration.”

Napoleon disapproved: “Aren’t cannons just large versions of rolling balls?

How much impact can they have?”

Anning raised an eyebrow, clearly the eleven-year-old Napoleon had not yet realized the importance of artillery, totally unlike the artillery general later who masterfully utilized cannons.

Speaking of which, most biographies of Napoleon don’t mention his first encounter with cannons; it seemed as though he instantly became the knowledgeable lieutenant of artillery, deeply fond of artillery.

Anning: “I have been on the battlefield and experienced firsthand the immense psychological pressure cannons impose on soldiers.

Artillery not only efficiently kills enemies but also severely damages morale, especially deadly for armies lacking cohesion.”

Napoleon looked at Anning: “Is that so?

Since you say it, it must be correct.

But I really want to experience this morale-suppressing effect you mentioned; without firsthand experience, it’s hard for me to empathize with your statement.”

Anning shrugged: “I’m afraid that will have to wait until you are on the battlefield; surely the military academy wouldn’t bombard its students with cannons, right?”

However, Anning did not expect that he had spoken too soon.

Just at the start of the second academic year at Briena, the instructors took the cadets to specially prepared bunkers to realistically experience being bombarded by cannons.

This teaching task was handled by an artillery company stationed near Briena, equipped with six twelve-pound infantry guns.

These six cannons were France’s famous artillery model redesigned by Jibowar, with a higher fire projection efficiency than traditional cannons.

As a result, the cadets were pinned down on the spot by the six cannons, unable to do anything but duck their heads and cover them.

After the bombardment ceased, a dirt-covered Napoleon, while brushing off the mud on his hair, said to Anning: “Now I understand what you meant by morale-damaging effects.

Just an artillery company can do this much; I can’t imagine the scenario when several companies fire ten cannons together.”

Anning smirked: “Ten cannons?

No no, artillery should be massed like other weapons to achieve significant results…”

— Wait a minute, isn’t this Napoleonic saying one of his own famous quotes?

Oh my heavens, how did I end up saying that?

Caught up in his slip of the tongue, Napoleon asked: “You think ten cannons are not enough, how many do you plan to mass for use?

Several dozens?”

Anning shook his head: “No no, if possible, we should mass hundreds of cannons together, such ferocious firepower can completely disintegrate the enemy!”

Napoleon gasped: “Concentrating hundreds of cannons, the enemy would indeed be doomed.”

Anning: “Exactly, the enemy will be shattered.”

— Hmm, when Napoleon later concentrates cannons and personally commands them, he will remember it was I who first suggested it, thus cementing my position securely in the First French Empire.

Every victory Napoleon gains, he will remember me.

Perfect!

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