However, Napoleon immediately recalled several other terrifying daily training exercises of the Guard Corps. Hmm, those were just routine drills, and it was said that there were also “hellish” intensive marching drills, which he had yet to experience.
Among all the routine exercises, apart from shooting and map drawing, he had not yet met the passing standards.
Especially in tactical coordination. The tactical standards of the Guard Corps were so numerous and completely different from what he learned at the military academy.
Just memorizing the content of these tactics, had taken him a week, and he didn’t know how much longer it would take to reach the level of muscle memory.
Napoleon couldn’t help but recall the shocks he had received during the more than two months since he had arrived at the Guard Corps.
From the new caplock guns to artillery cluster tactics. From the theory of deep operations to officers mingling with soldiers all day. From exquisite food to the welfare of free clothing repairs.
These made him once doubt that the military academy he had attended before was fake—so many practical and innovative military theories and skills, and the prestigious Paris Military Academy had never taught them. No, not even a mention from the instructors.
He took a long breath, but fortunately, he had unexpectedly arrived at the Guard Corps and was able to learn this military knowledge. When he would later devote himself to the great cause of Corsican independence, these skills would surely play a huge role!
In fact, he had planned to ask for leave to return to Corsica at the beginning of this month. According to the arrangements of the Restoration organization, members were to have a secret meeting in Ajaccio on the 5th of every even-numbered month.
But he was very curious about this month’s military combat effectiveness assessment, so he decided to skip the meeting, as accumulating more military skills was the most important thing. To think of independence, Corsica needed first to have an army capable of resisting the French people’s attack.
Speaker Paul had very seriously predicted that he, Napoleon, would certainly become the greatest general in the Corsican National Guard.
Since then, this had become Napoleon’s life goal.
That afternoon, the Guard First Legion reached Troyes, encamping less than two kilometers from the Champagne Corps in the suburbs.
After a simple dinner, Napoleon dismissed the orderlies and came alone to an open space at the edge of the camp area, and started doing push-ups according to the requirements of the “Physical Training Manual” issued by the Guard Corps…
After practicing for a full 40 minutes or so, the sky had already completely darkened, and the camp sounded the evening roll call whistle.
Wiping the sweat from his face, he ran back to his company’s bivouac location with his body aching all over.
Although tired, he could clearly feel that after two months of training, both his strength and endurance had greatly improved.
The “Training Manual” was certainly effective because it was directly copied by Joseph from futuristic scientific fitness methods. Coupled with a protein-rich diet, it enabled the soldiers of the Guard Corps to enhance their physical fitness at the fastest speed.
If you disregard the height factor, just by the robust physique of the Guard Corps soldiers, basically each one could be elite grenadiers elsewhere[Note 1].
Early the next morning, the officers responsible for the combat effectiveness assessment from the General Staff arrived on time at the Champagne Corps’ station, accompanied by 1,200 soldiers of the Guard First Legion led by Major Lefebvre.
Unlike previous assessments, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince actually came to the scene this time, taking over from the General Staff officers, to oversee the assessment.
On the east side of the Champagne Corps’ drill ground, Joseph stepped up to the review platform and started with a preamble about “loyalty to the King and maintaining the spirit of brave knights,” before announcing the start of the assessment.
More than 7,000 soldiers of the Champagne Corps and lower legions began to line up in an orderly fashion and walked out of the drill ground, heading towards a small hill two kilometers away under the command of the General Staff officers.
They were to run a circuit there, then return to the drill ground. The whole distance was 5 kilometers, and to pass the assessment one had to complete it within 22 minutes; finishing within 20 minutes was considered outstanding.
According to the assessment requirements previously announced by the General Staff, if the performance of a soldier reached excellent, he could earn a bonus equivalent to one month’s salary.
And subordinate officers who achieved excellence could be directly promoted by one level. Of course, the assessment content for officers included several more items than for soldiers, and the difficulty was higher.
An hour and twenty minutes later, the officers and soldiers of the Champagne Legion participating in the assessment had mostly returned to the parade ground.
A moment later, growing somewhat bored of waiting, Joseph received the assessment results submitted by the officials, and a smile curled at the corners of his mouth.
As expected, the entire legion’s 5-kilometer run results were all unsatisfactory.
The fastest to return was a Grenadier Company commander, who took 25 minutes. The average soldier generally took about 40 minutes to complete the distance. Additionally, 27 people had gotten lost and had not yet returned. The Guard First Legion’s Cavalry had already set out to find them.
However, it was acknowledged that the Champagne Legion was indeed the elite of the old-fashioned armies. For example, the number of people who got lost was enough to look down on other legions—in previous assessments, an army of three to four thousand could have over a hundred people getting lost.
After Joseph had the General Staff officers announce the assessment results, the Champagne Legion, as exhausted as dead dogs on the parade ground, predictably started to murmur complaints: Experience exclusive tales on empire
“By God, it’s impossible to run such a distance in 22 minutes!”
“Captain Lacoste took 25 minutes to complete it, and he’s stronger than a lion! 22 minutes? That’s a joke…”
“This is definitely those high and mighty officers from Paris giving us a hard time…”
“I bet there’s not a single army in this world that can meet the assessment standards!”
“Shh—keep it down! The Crown Prince is up on the reviewing stand…”
“It’s best if he hears, maybe he’ll order the General Staff to revise the assessment standards.”
Seeing this, Joseph shared a smile with Lefebvre at his side and raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet.
The officers of the Champagne Legion hastily swung their riding crops, sternly silencing the soldiers who were still discussing.
When the parade ground quieted down, Joseph loudly ordered Lefebvre:
“Major Lefebvre, immediately assemble your troops, prepare to perform the 5-kilometer cross-country run demonstration.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
After that, Joseph turned to the Champagne Legion’s Commander, Baron Diercun:
“Please take your soldiers to the western hill so they can clearly see the Guard Corps’ demonstration.”
“At your command, Your Highness,” replied Baron Diercun, who was quite embarrassed by his subordinates’ poor assessment results, as he bowed in response.
[Note 1] Grenadiers were originally soldiers responsible for throwing hand grenades. Since hand grenades were heavy, they required tall and strong soldiers, which is why grenadiers were usually bigger and taller than average. After the 18th century, hand grenades played a very small role in battlefields, and grenadiers were typically used as infantry. However, they remained some of the tallest and strongest soldiers in an army, and were often employed as elite assault troops.