The Crown Prince of France - Chapter 303

Chapter 303: Let Me Show You What It Means to Be Elite

Napoleon immediately recalled several other terrifying routines from the daily training of the Imperial Guard. Yes, those were merely daily routines—he had yet to experience the so-called “hellish” intensive drills.

Among all the daily training programs, he had only passed the minimum standards in marksmanship and cartography.

Especially when it came to tactical coordination. The sheer number of tactical standards in the Imperial Guard bore no resemblance to what he had learned at military school.

It took him an entire week just to memorize those tactics, and who knew how long it would take to engrain them into muscle memory.

Napoleon couldn’t help but reflect on the shocks he had experienced during his more than two months with the Imperial Guard.

From the new Fire Cap Guns to artillery swarm tactics. From deep-penetration theories to officers who spent their entire days mingling with common soldiers. From the refined meals to the free tailoring and mending services...

All of this once made him question whether he had attended a fake military school—so many practical and innovative military theories and techniques, and yet the prestigious Paris Military Academy had never taught them. No, not even a single instructor had ever mentioned them.

He let out a long breath. Still, it was fortunate he had stumbled into the Imperial Guard, allowing him to learn all these military skills. In the future, when he dedicated himself to the great cause of Corsican restoration, this knowledge would prove invaluable!

In fact, he had originally planned to take leave and return to Corsica at the beginning of the month. According to the agreement within the Restoration Organization, members were to hold secret meetings in Ajaccio on the fifth of every even-numbered month.

But his curiosity about this month’s combat-readiness evaluation had led him to skip the gathering. After all, gaining more military expertise was far more important. If they were to restore the nation, Corsica first needed an army strong enough to resist the French.

President Paoli had once made a very serious prediction: that Napoleon would become the greatest general in the Corsican National Army.

Since that day, this had become Napoleon’s life goal.

...

That afternoon, the First Army of the Imperial Guard arrived in Troyes and set up camp less than two kilometers from the Champagne Corps.

After a simple dinner, Napoleon dismissed his orderly and went alone to an open space on the edge of the camp. Following the instructions from the Imperial Guard’s issued Physical Training Manual, he began doing push-ups...

He trained for over forty minutes, and by the time he stopped, darkness had completely fallen and the bugle had sounded for the evening roll call.

Wiping the sweat from his face and aching all over, he ran back to his unit’s camp site.

Despite the exhaustion, he could clearly feel how much his strength and stamina had improved over the past two months of training.

Of course the Training Manual worked—after all, it was a direct copy of modern scientific fitness methods compiled by Joseph himself. Combined with a high-protein diet, it allowed soldiers of the Imperial Guard to build up their physiques in the shortest possible time.

If one were to ignore their height, the sheer build of the Imperial Guard soldiers was enough to qualify them as elite Grenadiers anywhere else【1】.

...

Early the next morning, the officer from the General Staff in charge of the combat-readiness evaluation arrived at the Champagne Corps' base, accompanied by Major Lefebvre and 1,200 soldiers of the First Army of the Imperial Guard.

This evaluation was slightly different from those that had been conducted before. This time, His Highness the Crown Prince himself appeared at the scene, replacing the staff officers to personally oversee the evaluation.

On the eastern side of the drill field of the Champagne Corps, Joseph stepped onto the review platform. After a few opening remarks about “loyalty to the King and upholding the valiant spirit of chivalry,” he announced the start of the evaluation.

Over 7,000 soldiers from the Champagne Corps and its sub-units began forming up in an orderly fashion and, under the direction of the staff officers, started running toward a hill two kilometers away.

They were to loop around the hill and return to the field. The total distance was five kilometers. Those who completed it within 22 minutes would pass the evaluation. Finishing in under 20 minutes was considered excellent.

According to the General Staff's previously released evaluation criteria, soldiers who achieved an “excellent” rating would receive a bonus equal to one month’s pay.

Subordinate officers who achieved an “excellent” score could be promoted by one rank. Of course, the officers' evaluations included several more components and were significantly harder.

...

An hour and twenty minutes later, most of the officers and men from the Champagne Corps had returned to the field.

A short while later, Joseph—now growing a bit bored—received the evaluation results submitted by the assessors. A slight smile curled at his lips.

Just as he had expected—not a single one of them passed the five-kilometer run.

The best time came from the captain of a grenadier company, who finished in 25 minutes. Most common soldiers finished around the 40-minute mark. Another 27 individuals had gotten lost and still hadn’t returned; cavalry from the First Army had already been dispatched to look for them.

Still, in fairness, the Champagne Corps lived up to its reputation as one of the elites among the old-style forces. Just the relatively low number of lost personnel was already enough to outshine many other corps—in previous evaluations, units of only three to four thousand could end up losing over a hundred men to disorientation.

After Joseph had the staff officers announce the results, the exhausted soldiers of the Champagne Corps—slumped on the field like dead dogs—predictably began to grumble.

“There’s no way anyone can finish such a long run in 22 minutes!”

“Captain Lacoste took 25 minutes, and he’s built stronger than a lion! Twenty-two? That’s just a joke…”

“This is clearly the officers from Paris making things hard for us...”

“I’d bet there isn’t a single army in the world that could meet this standard!”

“Shhh—keep your voice down, His Highness the Crown Prince is right there on the platform...”

“Even better if he hears us—maybe he’ll order the General Staff to revise the evaluation standard.”

Joseph exchanged a knowing smile with Lefebvre at his side and raised his hand to signal for silence.

The Champagne Corps officers quickly cracked their horsewhips, barking harsh commands to silence the murmuring troops.

Once the field had quieted down, Joseph turned to Lefebvre and gave a loud order:

“Major Lefebvre, assemble your unit immediately and prepare to demonstrate the five-kilometer cross-country run.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

Then Joseph turned to Baron Dilquin, the commanding officer of the Champagne Corps.

“Please lead your soldiers to the hill on the western side. They’ll have a better view of the Imperial Guard’s demonstration from there.”

“At once, Your Highness,” replied Baron Dilquin, bowing awkwardly, his face still red from his troops’ disappointing results.

【Note 1】 Grenadiers were originally a troop type responsible for throwing hand grenades. Because grenades were heavy, the role required tall and strong soldiers. Even after grenades lost their battlefield value in the 18th century, grenadiers were retained as elite infantry, known for their size and strength and often deployed as shock troops.

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