The Crown Prince of France - Chapter 240

Chapter 240: The Lieutenant of Corsica

Lieutenant Bwanaba’s thoughts were consumed by the orders issued from Paris earlier: he was authorized to quell rebellions without seeking approval from his superior officers.

More importantly, successfully suppressing the insurrection before him could very well secure his promotion.

As the son of a minor noble family on Corsica, Lieutenant Bwanaba understood that, barring extraordinary events, his military career would likely peak at his current rank.

He had to seize this opportunity.

Eyeing the rioters in front of him, he tightened his grip on his sword hilt and thought grimly, If only I had the cannons here.

However, their cannons were still in Valence, and the colonel would never agree to move them to this small town. Given the colonel’s ambiguous attitude toward the uprising, he likely wouldn’t have even approved of Bwanaba’s presence here.

The rioters soon spotted the soldiers. Instead of retreating, they boldly began hurling stones at the small group of men.

Lieutenant Bwanaba tilted his head to dodge a flying rock, only to hear a soldier behind him cry out in pain.

Frowning at the emboldened rioters, he turned and gave low-voiced instructions to the sergeant beside him. The latter immediately darted behind the formation, hugged the walls, and ran toward the opposite side of the street.

Bwanaba, seeing that his troops were now instinctively forming ranks, advanced several paces and raised his hand to issue an order:
“Stop advancing!”

He then had one of his officers step forward and, following protocol, call out warnings to the rioters, ordering them to disperse immediately.

Their only reply was more stones.

The lieutenant strode to the left flank of the formation and shouted a command:
“Prepare!”

“Fire into the air!”

Bang!

The gunfire startled the rioters momentarily, but realizing the shots weren’t aimed at them, they quickly regained their bravado:
“These soldiers won’t shoot us!”

“There are so few of them. Nothing to fear!”

“Drive them away! Let’s head to Baron Loret’s manor!”

“Stone them!”

At that moment, another group of rioters emerged from a street corner, merging with the crowd and swelling their numbers to over 500. They shouted and threw stones as they surged toward the soldiers.

Lieutenant Bwanaba glanced back and noticed his soldiers fumbling nervously, their movements visibly clumsy—understandable, as they were artillerymen unaccustomed to fighting with flintlock muskets. Yet, he remained composed as he directed them:
“Don’t freeze—reload!”

As five soldiers fell to the barrage of stones and the rioters closed to within sixty or seventy paces, the sergeant reappeared on the opposite side of the street. Gasping for breath, he hastily fired a random shot into the air before shouting at the top of his lungs:
“Lieutenant! Colonel Reynald is coming with 1,000 men!”

The sergeant’s booming voice carried clearly, unsettling the rioters, who hesitated and scanned their surroundings in confusion.

Seizing the brief lull, Bwanaba whispered urgently to his troops:
“Reload, quickly!”

The rioters, an unruly mob, continued to search for the non-existent Colonel Reynald. Meanwhile, the fifty artillerymen finally finished reloading their muskets.

Bwanaba raised his sword and pointed it at the rioters:
“Advance five paces!”

“Ready!”

“Aim!”

“Fire!”

At a range of fifty paces, the artillerymen unleashed a coordinated volley. Only six rioters fell, but the deafening gunfire and accompanying screams shook the mob.

Simultaneously, the sergeant fired another shot and bellowed:
“Run! The reinforcements are here!”

“They’ve brought over a thousand soldiers! Run now, or it’s too late!”

Without missing a beat, Bwanaba decisively ordered:
“Fix bayonets!”

“Charge!”

Leading the formation himself, he charged at the rioters in a line. The momentum made the rioters believe reinforcements truly had arrived. Panic spread like wildfire, and they retreated in disarray. By the time the soldiers closed to within twenty paces, the rioters had already turned and fled.

...

While the uprisings in the southern provinces gradually subsided, Paris was gripped by a very different narrative.

The front page of the Paris News consistently carried headlines such as “Rebellion Spreading Across the South” and “Cowardly Garrison Troops Let Rioters Run Rampant.”

Other newspapers followed suit, painting a harrowing picture of devastation in the southern provinces and portraying the army as timid and unwilling to maintain public order.

Any reports deviating from this grim portrayal were intercepted by the News Bureau.

Given the slow pace of information dissemination in this era, even if an investigation were conducted later, it would be difficult to determine that the uprisings had ended more than ten days earlier than reported.

Starting on January 25, the newspapers shifted focus to stories like “Crown Prince Personally Leads Troops South to Quell Rebellion” and “Paris Corps Marches to Western Provinces to Contain Uprisings.”

In truth, the Guard Corps was now only two days away from Montpellier.

The citizens of Paris, tense for weeks, finally saw a glimmer of hope and eagerly awaited good news about the Crown Prince’s efforts to restore peace.

...

In a villa in the Saint-Germain District of Paris, Madame Ébrel hosted a secret salon.

The attendees included influential members of the capital's bourgeoisie and a few enlightened nobles of the old order.

Count Mirabeau delivered an impassioned speech:
“The traditional privileges of the nobility are utterly unsuited to this world! These bloated, greedy, and indolent lords live off their privileges, year after year exploiting poor tenants. All they bring to this country is suffering, backwardness, and disgrace!

“How many families have gone bankrupt, ended up homeless, or even starved or died of illness because of their opulent, meaningless lives? And yet, they waste away at Versailles, drowning in balls and banquets.

“The privileges of the old nobility must be abolished! No one has the right to be a parasite on the nation!”

Jean Sylvain Bailly immediately stood up, raising his arm passionately:
“Abolish the privileges of the old nobility!”

Vénio, Sonet, and Varennes also rose to their feet:
“Even tenants deserve a decent life!”

“Abolish serfdom! Grant freedom to the peasants!”

“Yes! Freedom and the right to live!”

Mirabeau gestured for calm and continued:
“His Highness the Crown Prince has said that the uprisings in the western and southern provinces present us with a rare opportunity! We must unite and launch an offensive against these parasites, to create a hopeful future for France!”

Vénio’s eyes shone with excitement:
“What does His Highness want us to do?”

Mirabeau produced a document from Joseph, and the dozens of attendees crowded around it:
“Abolish all feudal labor obligations for tenant farmers and end all duties owed to landlords.”

“Cancel noble privileges such as hunting, pigeon-breeding, rabbit-keeping, and fishing. Abolish the mill tax, oven tax...”

“Dissolve seigneurial courts; all disputes should be tried in regular courts…”

“Introduce the ‘Agricultural Output’ Act, mandating that estates exceeding 10 hectares meet specified yield standards.”

Bailly frowned at the last point:
“What is the purpose of the Agricultural Output Act?”

“His Highness explained that it lays the foundation for industrial development…”

...

January 27, 1789.
Montpellier.

On a hill six kilometers west of Count Sérurier’s estate, Joseph addressed a gathering of journalists and nobles.

Some of the journalists had followed him from Paris, while others were locals summoned by couriers two days earlier.

Gesturing toward the Guard Corps in the distance, Joseph confidently declared:
“Behold this magnificent army! They will swiftly restore order to the southern provinces.”

Unbeknownst to the gathered crowd, a group of 300 to 400 armed peasants, carrying old flintlock muskets, quietly advanced through the nearby forest toward Count Sérurier’s estate.

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