Chapter 94: Crisis (2)
Carnot worked tirelessly, attempting to send more personnel and supplies to the north. However, the northern army did not immediately receive sufficient personnel and provisions. The reason was simple: a massive rebellion had erupted in the Vende region.
Vende was a region full of hills and forests, one of the most traditional, backward, and isolated areas in all of France. The way of life there had changed very little over the centuries.
However, this closed-off and backward Vende was not a stronghold of the monarchy. The peasants there didn't have much affection for the king, which was quite normal. Just like the peasants in the Eastern Great Eats, as sung in the "Rice-Pounding Song": "We work at sunrise, rest at sunset. We dig wells to drink, plow fields to eat. What does the emperor's power matter to us?" So, to the peasants in Vende, what did the king matter to them?
The revolutionary government had beheaded a fellow named Louis XVI, which wasn't a big deal for the peasants in Vende. As long as their crops were growing, what did they care about the king? And as for the nobles who had their heads on the line, the peasants in Vende didn't care about them either. If the nobles were hung from lampposts, it had nothing to do with them. As long as their crops were growing... So, with a constitutional monarchy, Vende was stable; with the king's execution, Vende remained peaceful.
But recently, the peasants in Vende had begun to feel that the current revolutionary government was causing some problems.
The government's first annoying move was their attempt to expel the clergy. After the revolution, the Civil Constitution of the Clergy was passed, which required priests to swear allegiance to the government, leading to a split in the church in France. But in Vende, the priests who had not sworn allegiance to the government continued to operate their churches, perform their religious duties, and hold the keys to heaven for every poor peasant. The French government in Paris couldn't really reach these remote places. So, the impact of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy on Vende was limited.
But after the king was beheaded, the situation changed. Many of the priests who refused to swear allegiance to the government became the backbone of the rebellions in various regions. Therefore, the National Assembly passed a law declaring that all priests who had not sworn allegiance to the government should be expelled from the country.
According to this new law, all priests who had not sworn allegiance to the government had to leave France within a certain time frame. Any priest found in France after the deadline, without having sworn allegiance to the government, would be considered a rebel and could be sentenced to death without trial.
Some priests in Vende initiated some rebellions after the king's execution. Initially, these rebellions seemed no different from those in other regions. Most of the peasants in Vende maintained their "What does the emperor's power matter to us?" attitude and didn't actively participate. So, these rebellions were quickly suppressed.
However, the subsequent action of expelling "unlicensed" priests created significant discontent among the Vende peasants. In the closed-off region of Vende, there were virtually no "licensed" priests. Therefore, the government's actions in Vende were, in a sense, an attempt to eradicate Christianity from Vende.
In fact, just like the urban National Guard troops who were reluctant to leave their hometowns to fight in distant regions, the Vende peasants were similarly unwilling to leave their villages and farmlands. Their attachment to their hometowns even exceeded that of the city dwellers.
Once the urbanites who had forcibly dragged them hundreds of miles away to fight were expelled, the peasants dispersed, each returning to their homes, leaving the nobles and a few cats and dogs behind.
Watching these scattered peasants, whether from the republican side, the Bourbon side, or other foreigners, they were all dumbfounded, feeling like their eyes were playing tricks on them.
So, the northern march to Paris was naturally off the table, and the peasants were just too... too honest, weren't they?
But leaving Vende unattended was not an option either. What if, what if the British army really came from that direction? The British had not sent troops so far, but who could guarantee that they wouldn't send troops in the future? If they were engaged in a heated battle with Austria and Prussia in the north, and the British stabbed them in the back, it would be a disaster...
So, the revolutionary government had no choice but to hope to hold the north, then transfer the troops sent to the north back south to resolve the Vende issue. Fortunately, Austria and Prussia were relatively cooperative, especially Austria. They saw the pressure on the battlefield ease a bit and immediately remembered that the queen had eaten such a big piece of meat but only let them smell its aroma. So, they turned their heads and got entangled in the special interests of the Holy Roman Empire in Poland.
In addition, Austria thought that if they fought too hard in the north now, it would only attract more French troops, and in the end, they would lose all their gains to the British and the Spanish. If it turned out that way, they would be left sniffing the aroma from the other side, wouldn't they?
As for Prussia, they also thought it was better to wait and let the French fight amongst themselves. It would be even better if the French fought the British, and then they could take action to maximize their gains.
As a result, the little schemes of two kings and one emperor created a temporary calm on the decisive northern battlefield. The French were given a rare chance to catch their breath.
During this lull, Carnot quickly recalled Joseph and Napoleon, as well as the Red Army. One of his ideas was to have them deal with the Vende rebellion. However, when he mentioned this to Joseph, Joseph strongly opposed it.
"The situation in Vende is not a military problem but a political one. If political problems have to be solved militarily, Lazar, then I have to say, you have prepared too few troops."
