Life of Being a Crown Prince in France-Chapter 558 - 469: Escape by Shedding a Golden Cicada Skin

Under the desperate orders of the high-ranking officers from both France and Austria, the soldiers on both sides dared not use their weapons, but the brawl was savagely fierce nonetheless.

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Ultimately, it wasn’t until the French Guard Corps arrived at the scene that over sixteen hundred men, who were nearly fighting like mad dogs, were finally forcibly separated.

At noon that day, Miss Perna looked at the hundreds of new casualties outside the battlefield hospital and was on the verge of tears.

She had been beaten up for no good reason, and as a result, her workload increased significantly.

She looked up at the sky with panda eyes and drew a cross over her chest, "Jesus, what have I done wrong?"

…

Paris.

Tuileries Palace, second floor.

Joseph was discussing the details of tax reform with Brian, Bailly, and others when he heard Eman knock softly at the door and say, "Your Highness, an urgent report has arrived from Vienna."

Joseph signaled for the messenger to come in, took the report, and quickly read through it, immediately furrowing his brow.

Discipline within the Kellermann Corps was indeed poor, to the point of causing a massive brawl over petty jealousy, and it had even resulted in Miss Perna getting hurt.

Such an army would be a joke if it had strong combat capability.

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He was about to sign the attached list of punishments—it had over six hundred names on it, including twenty-seven officers.

Just as his pen was about to touch the paper, he suddenly thought of something, paused, and narrowed his eyes slightly.

At the moment, because Leopold II was busy with his coronation and the defeated Prussian Army had no intention of taking offensive action, the conflict in Silesia had temporarily come to a halt.

This provided him with a chance to start recalling the French Army back to the country.

But with over forty thousand French soldiers still in Silesia, any carelessness in the withdrawal could potentially provoke dissatisfaction from the Austrian side.

Perhaps the brawl might actually be a good thing, something to be leveraged.

After a bit of reflection, Joseph drew several large crosses on the list of penalties, and then, in the blank space reserved for his signature, he began to write:

As for the act of injuring the doctor at the French battlefield hospital, it is reasonable to deliver a stern lesson to the culprit. The incident showcased the valor of the French warriors and defended the dignity of France. I suggest the cancellation of the punishment. Joseph, March 22, 1790.

Then he wrote a letter each to Chief of Staff Bertier and Baron Alphonse, the Ambassador to Austria, handed over the disciplinary document along with the two letters to the messenger, and gave a few brief instructions.

…

Silesia.

Legnica, Kellermann Corps camp in France; Bertier sternly reprimanded the three battalions and two companies that participated in the last brawl in front of General Willemze and other Austrian officers who had been invited—whether your troops had a few or many individuals involved in the brawl, if any of them went, then the entire unit would be punished.

He then publicly announced the disciplinary decisions for these units, which included demoting officers, docking the soldiers’ pay to the point of confinement, and the involved units to immediately return to France for severe reorganization.

General Wilmze, seeing Bertier’s stern punishment, immediately affirmed his actions and promised to handle the involved Austrian soldiers with no less severity than the French punishment. He vowed to report to His Majesty the Emperor, declaring that the Franco-Austrian friendship was unaffected.

A few days later, nearly four thousand punished soldiers from the French Army began their return to the homeland.

As they entered the vicinity of Strasbourg, France, with their heads hanging low in dejection, the leading officer immediately took out the decree from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and began to read it aloud in front of everyone.

Thousands of French soldiers were so moved when they heard the Crown Prince say they "had spirit" and "defended their dignity" that they immediately became uncontrollably excited, "Long live His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

"I will always be loyal to His Highness!"

"His Highness is not even afraid of offending those damn Austrians, he is the true hero of France!"

Then the officer announced that the Crown Prince had revoked all their punishments, and the deducted wages would be replenished later.

The soldiers’ cheers broke through the skies, and many were even moved to tears, loudly praying for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

At the same time that this detachment of the French Army was withdrawing from Silesia, Baron Alphonse, the Ambassador to Austria, had a cordial conversation with Baron Tugut, the Austrian Foreign Minister.

"Those rascals dared to cause trouble in the camps of the Allies," Baron Alphonse said indignantly, waving his hand, "No punishment could be too severe!

"I’ve heard that the troops involved will be reviewed one by one by the gendarmes in Paris, hmph, they’re in for a bad time."

He looked at Baron Tugut, speaking very sincerely, "His Highness hopes you can convey to His Majesty the Emperor that the Franco-Austrian Alliance is unbreakable."

Baron Tugut nodded repeatedly, "Long live the Franco-Austrian Alliance, I believe His Majesty will certainly understand this matter.

"By the way, isn’t the punishment for the troops a bit too harsh? Especially for those who did not participate in the fight—they are getting caught up in this too…"

"No, military discipline must be strict!" declared Alphonse emphatically, "It is the decision of the General Staff, you need not plead for them."

He then lowered his voice, "However, this time our Crown Prince is very angry. As you know, Miss Perna who was injured, and him… well, they are quite close.

"So, he hopes that your side will also punish those involved in this incident severely."

A solemn expression appeared on Baron Tugut’s face.

He had previously heard that the identity of the woman doctor who was beaten up was not simple, and now he had confirmation from the mouth of the Ambassador to Austria.

He busily nodded, "I assure His Highness that we will give a satisfactory explanation to Miss Perna!"

Meanwhile, Count Kaunitz and the Pro-France Faction of Austria were in complete disarray.

Recently, due to the brawling incident involving troops, the political forces within the country that were dissatisfied with France had started to stir, especially Baron Walter, who was very active.

And the first batch of the Hungarian legions had already arrived in Silesia last week; Walter’s people even went as far as suggesting to His Majesty the Emperor that "the French influence in Austria should be reduced," which was essentially hinting at the withdrawal of the French Army from Silesia.

Fortunately, the French side had imposed severe punishments on the soldiers involved, which gave Count Kaunitz some relief. He hurried to visit Emperor Leopold II, prepared to speak well of France.

However, what he did not know was that the Allied Forces’ camp in Silesia had run into trouble again.

The Austrian Army was filled with resentment because Vienna had issued a strict order, and the troops involved in the brawl had received extremely heavy punishments.

And yet a French artillery battalion captain, with nothing better to do, brought people over to the Austrian Army’s camp to taunt them, insinuating that the Austrians only knew how to hit women. Last time they were confronted by their own men, they didn’t even dare to fight back and even wanted to tattle to the General Staff of France, something even his 5-year-old child would disdain to do.

Since these people didn’t use any dirty words, the Austrians had no way to deal with them.

But the Austrian soldiers could not stand it anymore.

Finally, the angry Austrians, led by a few officers, arranged with the French battalion captain to settle the score three days later at the French Army’s camp.