Descending On France 1780
Chapter 76 - 76 070 What does it mean to force the duck onto the perch

76: 070 What does it mean to force the duck onto the perch?

76: 070 What does it mean to force the duck onto the perch?

At first, Anning tried to struggle, turning back to address the onlookers: “Everyone!

Stay calm, don’t be impatient.

This morning we will continue to demand the King to withdraw the troops, we cannot give up hope just yet.

I am now rushing to the Versailles Palace to join the discussion, so first…”

De Mulan came up and grabbed Anning: “What’s there to discuss!

Discuss how the King intends to use bayonets to expel representatives?

In times like this, we should take up arms and save the National Assembly!

“Mr.

Frost, please lead us!”

Anning was about to dodge, but the carriage driver he had just stopped whipped his horses and left!

——Don’t go!

I command you to stop in the name of the National Assembly!

Anning let out a cry of despair in his heart.

But the carriage sped away into the distance.

It’s over, now I’ve become the leader.

Anning quickly underwent a change of thought: there was no escaping now, so might as well stand firm in this position and take up the post.

Thereupon, Anning’s expression changed; he pushed De Mulan away and walked straight towards the table where he had been standing before.

Anning climbed onto the table and scanned the entire square.

At that moment, everyone on the entire square held their breath, and suddenly all became silent.

Anning: “His Majesty thinks that by assembling the troops, he can intimidate us!

No, he is mistaken!

United citizens shall never be defeated!

“Take up arms, citizens!”

As soon as Anning finished, someone immediately shouted: “Take up arms!”

“Disarm the Guards!”

Anning spread his hands to calm the noise and continued: “I know there are plenty of weapons in the cellars of Les Invalides!”

How did Anning know that?

Of course, he knew from peeking at the script.

Anyway, no one would come out and seriously question how Anning knew that at this point.

Anning: “Let’s go to Les Invalides!

Arm yourselves!”

At this moment, someone sprinted into the square from the outside and climbed onto a flowerbed by the square, shouting loudly: “Citizens!

The people of the Saint Anthony District have armed themselves; they have taken over the church and discovered a large amount of grain!

“The priests are hoarding grain, trying to starve us to death!”

The attention of the crowd was immediately captured by this sudden news: “What?

Hoarding grain?”

“Not just the priests, but the grain merchants too, they all want to starve us!”

Anning, seeing the people’s anger veering toward the grain merchants and priests, hurriedly called out: “Everyone, why do the First and Second Classes dare to disregard our lives and hoard grain?”

In fact, grain merchants are assuredly of the Third Class, but Anning confused the concept, portraying the grain merchants as of the Second Class.

Anning: “So we must completely change the system of France!

Abolish the privileges of the First and Second Classes!

For this, we must support Parliament!

Down with privilege!

“Only by overthrowing privilege can we truly change our fate!

Citizens, take up arms!

To Les Invalides!”

As Anning’s voice fell, many people started shouting together: “To Les Invalides!”

“Down with privilege!”

The crowd surrounded Anning and began to march towards Les Invalides.

At this point, Anning encountered a problem: he didn’t know how to get to Les Invalides by foot, having lived in Paris for five years and only being familiar with the surroundings of the military academy, which was his usual haunt for classes and meals—thus he knew the area well.

But Les Invalides was outside Anning’s knowledge, as he typically moved around Paris by rented horse-drawn carriage.

He had no clue how to get from the Royal Palace to Les Invalides.

Now, he was just being escorted forward by the crowd, completely unable to decide where to go.

——Everyone should know how to get to Les Invalides, right?

Anning could only think that way.

Wouldn’t it be funny if a group of people got lost in the vast Paris?

At that moment, Anning suddenly saw Vanni step out of her home, she gave Anning a glance, pursed her lips slightly, and then turned to start walking quickly.

It seemed like Vanni planned to lead the way for Anning.

What a big help.

Upon arriving at Les Invalides, the Guards who were defending it looked very tense and faltered a bit as they saw the imposing crowd surging toward them.

At this time, the officer leading the Guards ordered loudly: “All raise your guns!

Don’t panic!”

The soldiers raised their guns, a row of dark gun barrels pointing at the dense crowd.

Anning shouted, “Hold your fire!”

He pushed through the people in front of him, striding to the front of the line.

An officer stepped forward and said to Anning, “Are you the leader of these people?

Disband them immediately!

Go home!”

Anning pushed the officer away and pointed at a Guards soldier at random, asking, “What does your family do?”

The soldier hesitated, then answered, “A carpenter, sir.”

“Good, you’re a carpenter’s son, what about you?”

He pointed at another soldier beside him.

This time, the soldier immediately replied, “My family are tailors.”

“Tailors, very good!

And you?”

“Mason, sir.”

“Great!

Look at you, sons of carpenters, tailors, and masons, and now you’re pointing your guns at carpenters, tailors, and masons just like you!

All from the Third Class, why would you point your guns at your brethren?

Just because of the orders of a Second Class noble?”

Seeing the situation turning bad, the noble officer immediately commanded, “Don’t be seduced by him!

A soldier’s duty is to obey orders!

Now I order you to fire!

Fire immediately!”

Anning stood firm, facing the Guards’ menacing gun barrels.

Although he knew history, at this moment he couldn’t help but feel a bit faint.

His fearlessness was mostly a show, in reality, he was extremely nervous inside, his adrenal glands secreting so much they almost broke through the constraints of his chest in search of freedom.

At this time, the carpenter-turned-soldier was the first to lay down his gun.

The officer angrily yelled, “What are you doing?

I ordered you to raise your gun!”

The carpenter soldier shook his head, “No, I recognize this gentleman, he is Andy Frost, the Noble Killer, our civilian hero.

I cannot shoot at him.”

Anning thought to himself, you recognize me too?

How am I so famous?

Can I not be so famous?

The other soldiers also began to lower their guns.

The officer, furious to the point of bursting, drew his sword, “I command you to raise your guns!”

“No, I…” The carpenter soldier glanced at his comrades, seemingly drawing courage from them, and then resolutely said, “I refuse!

I can’t shoot my own people!”

The officer, puffing in anger, took a step forward, about to stab the soldier’s armpit with his sword, but Anning stepped forward, grabbing the officer’s sword arm, and disarmed him!

This stirred the crowd into a frenzy, they howled and charged forward, disarming the remaining sergeants.

Soldiers who refused to fire on the crowd were pushed to the side and the crowd surged into the courtyard of the veterans’ home.

Anning shouted loudly, “To the cellar!

The weapons are in the cellar!”

“Over here!” Someone quickly found the way to the cellar, “The door is locked!”

“I’m a locksmith!

I’ll unlock it!” Someone immediately volunteered.

Moments later, the door was opened and the crowd swarmed into the cellar.

A large number of weapons were brought out from the cellar and distributed to everyone.

“We have cannons too!” Someone excitedly called out, “Come on, a few people help us push the cannons out!”

At this point, De Mulan, who initially dragged Anning into this maelstrom, shouted loudly, “Frost is an Artillery Officer!

Let him command the cannons!”

Anning felt like facepalming.

Damn, during the Storming of the Bastille, the cannons were commanded by a laundry shop owner named Yulan, because Yulan did not actually know how to use the cannons, hence the cannons weren’t really effective during the assault on the Bastille.

Now it’s my turn?

In the end, the Bastille was breached when the soldiers defending it mutinied, preventing the Marquis De Launay from igniting the gunpowder in a suicidal last stand.

Before the mutiny, when Marquis De Launay saw that the situation was lost, he had decided to surrender, but it was a conditional surrender, which the people refused.

So the Marquis threatened to ignite the gunpowder.

In short, from start to finish, the people never breached the defenses during the Storming of the Bastille.

But now, with Anning, a professional Artillery Officer commanding the guns, the situation might be different…

After all, the Bastille was not a bastion able to withstand cannon fire, it was an old-style castle with low resistance to artillery…

— Forget it, I don’t want to deal with it, I’m tired, just let it be destroyed, hurry it up.

Resigned to his fate, Anning raised his hand, “Fine!

I’m an Artillery Officer, I’ll command the cannons!”