Fox of France

Chapter 106, Toulon (4)

Neither Robespierre nor Couton could persuade Kano, but they managed to get Kano to agree to send observers to the institute's prison. (Kano refers to the institute's residential complex as a "military prison") As for the experimental area...

"Sorry, many experiments in the test area are military secrets that need to be kept strictly confidential. I don't doubt the loyalty of the observers. It's just that the fewer people who know the details of some things, the better. In fact, even I only Know the purpose of the research, the general progress, as for some technical details-you know, I don't understand them, nor am I not interested-but I will try to avoid knowing too many technical details. Because these things, I think When it arrives, maybe if you don’t pay attention, you will leak it unintentionally. Then it will bring huge losses to the army.” Kano said.

"Even you don't know some details, so there must be someone who has a relatively clear understanding of the whole research?" Robespierre asked.

"Joseph Bonaparte is in charge of the entire process. He is a very reliable fighter. For the sake of confidentiality, he voluntarily put himself in a semi-captive state. He cannot leave the test area casually. If he leaves, he must explain his whereabouts and get my Approved; must be accompanied by security personnel - if it is not full of love for the motherland and belief in the revolution, no one can bear such conditions." Kano replied.

"Joseph...it's not easy." Robespierre sighed. Robespierre's impression of Joseph was actually not bad, at least better than that of Kano. Sometimes he even thought that it would be good if Joseph could take Kano's place. But this is just thinking, because Joseph Bonaparte also has a brother who knows how to fight and leads soldiers. So, no matter what, he couldn't sit in Kano's position.

Everyone also admits that apart from Joseph, you will never find anyone who can replace Kano's job, and even Joseph, in fact, may not be able to replace Kano. Therefore, Robespierre can only tolerate some offense from Kano, as long as it is not too much. As for what was too much, Robespierre hadn't had time to figure it out yet.

Today is the first day that observer Charles entered the heavily guarded "Army Technology Laboratory". Early in the morning, he came to the Ministry of War to report. In a small room, he was recorded with fairly rigorous measurements. Including records of palm prints and other physical characteristics. A painter even painted a frontal portrait for him. For some reason, Charles always felt that the portrait painted him like a dead person.

"Because it is emphasized above, the people in the portrait must not have any expression." The painter explained it this way.

After drawing the portrait, it was already noon. Accompanied by a group of cavalry, Charles boarded a carriage and headed for Versailles.

It was almost four hours' walk from the War Office to Versailles. So when they arrived at the "Army Technology Laboratory", it was already sunset on the mountain.

The army has dug a deep trench in the area where the army laboratory is located. Along the trench, at intervals, a watchtower was built. In a place further back, a four-meter-high wall was built, so the situation inside could not be seen from the outside at all—it really looked heavily guarded.

The carriage stopped in front of the drawbridge. An officer came forward, checked their passes, and said to Charles in the carriage: "According to the order, only observers can enter. Other people and carriages cannot pass through the trench. So you must get out of the carriage and enter the laboratory on foot. "

Charles already knew this 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 him and helped him lift his suitcase.

Charles followed the officer into the laboratory. As he walked, the officer said to him: "Mr. Observer, you are allowed to move around in the staff living quarters and the prisoner living quarters. In the staff living quarters, you can move freely 24 hours a day. In the prisoner living quarters, your activities must be Tell the guards first to avoid misunderstandings. You know, the secrecy here is very strict, and any activity that is not authorized and therefore unknown to the guards may result in shooting without warning."

"I see." Charles said. In fact, he already knew this rule, but at this moment, he still felt a little nervous seeing the scene of watchtowers everywhere and guards waiting everywhere.

"Boom!" There was a violent explosion in the distance.

"This is?" Charles couldn't help asking.

"Mr. Observer, everything about the test is confidential. Don't ask about anything about the test area. You can't mention what you hear or see." The officer didn't answer, but reiterated the discipline of secrecy.

At this time, a few people came to the gate, and Charles looked in from the gate, and there was only an alleyway with high walls on both sides, and he still couldn't see anything.

The officer said a few words to the soldier guarding the door, and the door opened, and then a few people walked in. After walking around the alleyway between the high walls for a long time, they finally came to a small door, which was guarded by several people as usual. Soldiers with loaded guns.

After showing their identities, the soldiers opened the small door.

The officer said: "Inside is the staff activity area, and your dormitory is also inside. Please follow me."

Several people walked into the small door, and behind them came the sound of the iron door being closed and locked. A thought suddenly popped up in Charles's head: "Damn it, who is in jail?"

...

On the Toulon front, Pope was in a state of great panic. He launched an attack on Toulon these days, but the effect of the attack was very poor. Although the British have limited interest in going north, they are indeed very serious about defending the port of Toulon. Because as long as Toulon is still in their hands, the French navy will have no foothold in the Mediterranean, and they can do whatever they want in North Africa.

Therefore, the British quickly strengthened the various fortifications of Toulon, and dismantled the cannons on the captured French warships to enrich the defense. Pope's soldiers were brave, but the British hiding behind the fortifications were cunning enough. As a result, his first few attacks were disastrous and made no progress.

Enraged, Pope decided to concentrate his strength, launched a general attack, entered Toulon, and let the invaders and traitors know how powerful France is.

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

They first used their retreat to lure the French to this preset battlefield. Seeing that he had made progress, Pope was immediately excited, and immediately put the main force into the attack. The result... The result was naturally bombarded by the British cannons, and then the British and the Spaniards charged with bayonets, and the French retreated back to today's starting point in one breath. If it weren't for the British being overly conservative, and the number of combat troops invested in the counterattack was too small, I am afraid that Pope would not even be able to keep his own camp.

After this failure, Pope counted and found that in the past few days, he had actually suffered nearly 3,000 casualties, and the morale of the entire army had also plummeted. This makes it almost impossible for him to launch any offense anymore. Pope knew that the guys above were not easy to be fooled. If they failed so miserably, they would be guillotined as a traitor to the motherland.

But now, he has no other choice but to request "tactical guidance" from his superiors. (Tactical guidance is a term for the Japanese army, which is similar to Zhuanjin. It actually means asking the top to send reinforcements to oneself.)

...

Just when Pope wrote to ask for "tactical guidance", Lucien and the others finally landed on Corsica.

In fact, their journey is not bad, the weather in the Mediterranean has been very good these days. But when they went ashore, Lucien went to inquire, only to find that they still strayed a lot. They did not disembark near Calvi as planned, but went further south to Calena. It took another day for them to reach Calvi.

Corsica is a relatively closed place, and a sudden arrival of a foreigner can easily attract the attention of others, so under Lucien's guidance, they sailed the boat into a remote harbor and hid it. Most of the people still stayed on board, only Chrysler and Lucien slipped into Calvi quietly after dark.

Lucien hadn't been back to Calvi for several years, but that didn't bother him at all. Compared to Paris, Calvi seems to be frozen in time, and everything in it is no different from when Lucien left. In the darkness, Lucien led Chrysler through the street familiarly and came to his door.

"Dong dong", Lucien knocked on the door lightly. Based on his past habits, he knew that his mother should not be asleep yet.

Following the knock on the door, there were one or two dog barks from inside the house, but soon, the ferocious dog bark turned into a flattering whine, and then came the sound of footsteps, and a woman's voice asked Said: "Who is it?"

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

The door opened, and the older Letizia appeared in front of Lucien holding a lantern.

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