As Commander Bertier of the Guard Corps announced the start of the joint drill, the military and the police quickly hustled to the center of the training field under their respective commanders’ lead.
The drill sequence had been arranged well in advance, comprising four parts: formations, shooting, marching, and live combat exercises.
The first on the agenda was formation drill.
The Guard Corps, with their many years of military experience, should have held an advantage in this area. However, they had just reorganized. Despite Bertier’s efforts to group soldiers from the same units together, many were still unfamiliar with their new companies, even the drummers and standard-bearers.
The basics like standing at attention, marching in step, turning, and rifle drills were manageable, displaying the professional soldiers’ poise and easily outperforming the police officers, but when it came to switching formations, especially while on the move, several unpracticed companies started to falter.
On the contrary, the police officers, who had only trained for a few months in these drills, coordinated with each other with exceptional understanding.
Particularly with the change from skirmish line to infantry line formation, the speed was so impressive that it left the members of the Guard Corps in awe. The soldiers were unaware that this was necessitated by a new shock tactic proposed by the Crown Prince, which they would also train in later, but for now, they could only accept defeat.
In the end, the officers responsible for scoring gave higher marks to the police officers in the formation drill.
After the initial shock, the soldiers and officers of the Guard Corps felt their pride take a hit — their elite unit had lost to the police!
In the subsequent shooting drill, the military braced themselves intending to give those little cops a demonstration.
Indeed, united in determination, the Guard Corps’ firing line achieved an excellent result with three rounds of shooting in 1 minute and 8 seconds, hitting 75 targets. With only 300 infantrymen participating, this hit rate at a distance of 70 steps was incredibly surprising.
When the soldiers left the field proudly, ready to scoff at the police officers, the latter stunned them once more with their performance: three rounds of shooting in 1 minute and 10 seconds, hitting 66 targets.
It should be noted, even though the police officers lost, such speed and accuracy were commendable in any army. And it was said that these officers had only practiced shooting for a few months.
Of course, such marksmanship had been “fed” by Joseph with bullets at the Paris Police Academy. Each person had to fire three live rounds a day.
Do not think that is a small number; in current Europe, the most elite troops shooting live rounds three times in three days is already quite rare.
After all, the gunpowder and bullets loaded into the guns were money once fired!
Officers were racking their brains to line their pockets; who would willingly let their soldiers shoot away their gold coins?
Having gained confidence from pulling back a point, the Guard Corps were ready to “teach” the police a lesson in the third item, the marching drill.
Little did they know, they were about to suffer an abysmal defeat.
At the Police Academy, they often practiced loaded cross-country marches of 1 furlong, and currently, no armies in Europe bothered with physical training.
As a result, after the police officers finished the 1.5 furlong march and returned to the training field, they waited a full ten minutes before the gasping soldiers and officers of the Guard Corps staggered back.
It was not until the live combat exercise began that the Guard Corps finally showed the mettle of an elite unit, as their combined infantry and cavalry quickly routed the police officers’ defenses.
The final outcome was a draw, two to two. Although the live combat exercise had greater weight in scoring, allowing the Guard Corps to attain a higher total score, the narrow margin with these yet-to-graduate police cadets ensured they would never underestimate them again.
Therefore, when Bertier announced that the Guard Corps would be rotating to train at the Paris Police Academy in the future, not a single soldier objected. Stay updated with m-v l|-NovelFull.net
Some were even looking forward to it after privately inquiring about the food quality at the Police Academy.
As a result, the number of students at a certain police academy suddenly increased by more than two thousand.
…
After Joseph returned to his office in Paris, the first person he saw was Valerna, his assistant at the Industrial Planning Bureau who had been left in Bordeaux to assist Venio.
The latter placed a stack of reports respectfully in front of the Crown Prince and reported, “Your Highness, the spring sowing in the south has basically concluded, and I hurried back to report to you.”
“With your encouragement, this year, more than one-fifth of the cultivated land around Bordeaux was planted with potatoes.”
“Oh? That much?”
Joseph was somewhat surprised, he had originally thought that achieving a 15% sowing rate would be quite good. After all, the yield of potatoes is four times higher than that of grain. Planting 15% potatoes could lead to an increase of 60% in the overall harvest.
Valerna said, “Many minor nobles and tenant farmers, seeing the plantation owners sow large quantities of potatoes, have gained confidence in potatoes and thus have also planted quite a bit.”
Joseph nodded in satisfaction and flipped through the report in front of him, “What about the other regions?”
“Mr. Venio, following your method, convinced many plantation owners in the Burgundy Region and several southern provinces with brewing techniques. The planting area in these places is around 15%.”
Joseph saw the figures in the report: Burgundy 16%, Bayonne 15%, Foix 15%.
He hadn’t expected Venio to work so quickly, even surpassing the target.
And Valerna continued, “Your Highness, in addition, Brittany and the Normandy Region also planted quite a few potatoes, though not as extensively as the south.”
Joseph quickly looked further: Brittany 13%, Normandy 11%. Although not much, it still counted as extra income.
“Did Mr. Venio also go to the west?”
Valerna shook his head, “Mr. Venio moved on from the south to Provence, but he asked a friend named Jean Sone, accompanied by some members of the Brewing Technology Association, to promote it in the west.”
Jean Sone? Joseph felt the name was somewhat familiar, seeming to be one of the core members of the Girondin Party in the future. It appeared he and Venio began collaborating early on.
However, when it came to the business promotion, those from the Girondin Party were indeed very efficient.
He continued to go over the report and saw that the Provence Region and the Dauphine Region also had a potato sowing area of 6%-8%, showing that after Venio had passed through the southern provinces, he immediately went to the southeast.
As Joseph was discussing the potato matters with Valerna, Eman came in with a court official, bowing and saying, “Your Highness, the King has sent someone.”
The official hurriedly came forward to pay his respects, smiling and saying, “Your Highness, the King invites you to return to the Palace of Versailles as soon as possible, he says there is important news to tell you.”
Joseph quickly instructed Eman to help him change his clothes, preparing to go see his father.
Just as they were about to step out the door, a courier rushed in, handing several letters sealed with wax to Eman.
After glancing at the seal on the envelopes, Eman whispered to Joseph, “Your Highness, they’re from your ‘grain merchants’.”