Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

Then, the key point came.

The military supervisor went to see the Genoa Governor, Abiasso, and had him form a secret “Internal Audit Committee” with the 17 most influential people in the Parliament.

The French military did not interfere with any of the committee’s actions, only requesting a list of traitors from them.

In the end, out of the 230 people arrested, 69 were confirmed by the committee to have committed treason. The committee also added 7 additional people to the list.

What followed was a trial by military tribunal. The result was that all 76 individuals were found guilty without exception, sentenced to exile or execution, with all their assets seized.

The military supervisor personally led soldiers to confiscate the assets of traitors, leaving 40% for military expenses, giving 50% to the Genoa Parliament, and distributing the remaining 10% equally among the Genoese citizens.

However, the confiscations were executed by the French Army, and only the military supervisor knew the specific amounts. Ultimately, the Demobin Army received 70% of the seized assets, while the Genoa Parliament and citizens shared 30%.

Since Genoa had a population of less than 70,000, each citizen could receive more than 30 francs. [Note 1]

The day they collected the money, the entire Genoa erupted in excitement.

Almost everyone was shouting slogans like “Long live His Majesty the King of France,” “Long live General Demobin,” and “France is Genoa’s eternal friend.”

Moreover, the Genoa Parliament not only obtained a large sum of money but, more importantly, seized the opportunity of this “traitor review” to eliminate all enemies and political rivals. Hence, they praised France profusely.

These were the most powerful people in Genoa. As long as they supported France, there was impossible for the Genoese people to have opposing opinions.

Not to mention, the citizens were receiving money, and their attitude was unprecedentedly unified.

When Napoleon heard his brother say, “When the Demobin Army left Genoa, the whole city turned out to bid them farewell, with many moved to tears,” he recalled how he was reviled by everyone in Milan and felt so ashamed he wanted to bury his head in the sand.

When Napoleon was reprimanded by Major General Carnot back then, he felt a bit disgruntled, thinking that extracting money from occupied territories was the inherent right of the army. But now, he felt that His Highness refraining from calling him a “fool” was already very considerate of his dignity.

Joseph had no such saintly sentiments.

The costs of war came from France’s treasury, and the soldiers who died were French. Therefore, not a single profit from the war should be missed.

However, the methods must be sophisticated.

They must not act like Napoleon did historically, extracting only a few million francs and some artworks from Italy, which angered the entire Apennine Peninsula to the point of hatred.

When France faced defeat, the Italian States immediately turned against them.

Thus, Joseph copied some operations of future Western powers and drafted a “Standard Operating Procedure for Collecting Resources in Foreign Countries” for the military supervisor to consult.

Of course, this procedure could only circulate within the French Army, classified with the secret level of “top secret.”

Before the war, Joseph even set a minor goal—to earn a profit of 10 million francs by the end of the war in Northern Italy and to earn the gratitude of the Italian States toward France.

…

In Alexandria.

In the hall on the east side of the City Hall, the Austrian officers ended their argument. Melas finally made the decision to march towards Parma and strive to occupy Lodi, southeast of Milan.

Melas continued, “If the action is not successful, the army will continue eastward into the Mantua Fortress.”

Chervoni immediately raised his voice, “The French only captured Milan through surprise. This time, as long as our army is cautious, we can definitely take Lodi.”

However, other Austrian officers were not as optimistic as he was, all keeping silent.

They had fought against France in Toulon before, and with the current comparison of forces, a head-on confrontation might not necessarily be in their favor.

After a moment, Gen. Argento stood up and said to Melas, “General, I am willing to take on the task of covering the engineers building pontoon bridges.”

There were two bridges over the Bormida River, but they were wooden bridges built by nearby villages, with limited load-bearing capacity. To cross tens of thousands of troops in a short time, a large number of pontoon bridges must be erected.

Melas nodded but suddenly thought of the elusive French Army and immediately changed to shaking his head, “No, judging from previous battles, the French are very cunning.

“The normal advance methods will likely lead to an ambush by them.

“If we want to cross the river smoothly, we must be even more cunning than them.”

The officers immediately looked at him with surprise.

Melas squinted his eyes at Argento, “You will lead people to dismantle the two bridges on the Bormida River by noon tomorrow.”

The latter was shocked, “Huh? You mean dismantle them?”

Melas smiled, “Slow down the engineers. Meanwhile, set up cannons on the shore. If any French cavalry approaches, use cannon fire to drive them away.

“At twilight, reinstall the dismantled parts immediately.”

Argento’s eyes lit up immediately, “This is a brilliant plan! This way, the French will surely think we are going to take the northern Tanaro River.”

“Exactly.” Melas nodded and continued, “The day after tomorrow at dawn, let the engineers set up pontoon bridges on the Bormida River.

“We will concentrate all our forces to quickly defeat the enemy on the eastern bank and then proceed to Parma.”

…

East of the Bormida River, in San Gilliano.

Napoleon raised his hat to salute Joubert, then stepped forward to embrace him with a smile, “Thank God, you arrived a day and a half earlier than I expected.”

“Everyone was very excited to hear you captured Lombardy,” Joubert also smiled broadly, “We marched a full 22 kilometers today.”

“Thank you all for your effort.” Napoleon invited him into the tent and asked, “How many garrison troops did you leave in Genoa?”

Joubert replied, “1,500 men, but also 1,500 newly conscripted Genoa National Army. With General Demobin personally commanding, it’s enough to hold off the Austrians for three or four days.”

Genoa previously had no military; its defense relied entirely on a few hundred Swiss mercenaries.

After this war, on Joseph’s suggestion, they began forming their own army.

Yes, by hiring French instructors for training and purchasing a full set of French-style equipment.

Joubert then asked, “Commander, where do we deploy next?”

Napoleon shook his head, “We still don’t know the enemy’s movements.”

He called out loudly to Lucien outside the tent, “Is Major Garda not back yet?”

Before he finished speaking, the sound of a horse neighing came from outside the tent, followed by Garda’s voice, “Reporting, Commander, the Austrian Army is sabotaging the bridges on the Bormida River.”

[Note 1] Genoa had a population of 120,000 to 150,000 at the end of the 18th century, but many of them were laborers from nearby states and not considered Genoese citizens. The registered citizens numbered only 55,000 in 1780.

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