Fox of France

For some time after that, Joseph was so busy that he could barely touch the ground. He and Kano have to worry about the recruitment, organization, equipment, and logistics of the army.

Prior to this, the armies of various countries were recruited. It costs a lot of money to recruit an army, so the scale is naturally quite limited. Until the Thirty Years' War, the size of the armies of European countries was still small. Later, King Frederick II of Prussia began to play with the conscription system, which made little Prussia suddenly become a military power.

Of course, if the recruited soldiers are willing to fight for the king, the king must satisfy those soldiers. Therefore, Frederick II engaged in national education and patriotism, and slowly transformed his subjects into citizens. This also allowed the Prussian soldiers in his hands to bravely fight with almost all military powers in Europe at the same time with the least military pay during the Seven Years War.

But doing so also comes at a price. That is, subjects have no rights and few duties; while citizens have many duties, but at the same time they demand many rights. If you want to turn your citizens into a pack of wolves, there is a prerequisite, that is, you must feed them meat!

When King Frederick II, through a series of victorious wars, Prussia gained a lot of benefits. In other words, he made the cake bigger, so all classes were allocated more than before. Cake, everyone is in harmony. But after the death of King Frederick II, the situation changed. Prussia no longer has a good chef who can keep making cakes bigger and bigger, so the distribution of benefits has become a zero-sum game. Then, the rulers of Prussia discovered that the subjects are much better than the citizens ... So Prussia began to turn back, and as a result, during the Napoleonic Wars, Frederick the Great's wolf pack that made the whole of Europe tremble was finally raised by his descendants to a group of huskies who fought against the scum.

But in France today, there are no worries about turning subjects into citizens. Because in a revolution the "subjects" no longer exist. That being the case, why not change the conscription system to a system of universal compulsory military service. In this way, at least, the number of troops can be greatly increased. Considering the population of France, it is not impossible to have an army of millions if necessary. If so many troops can be mobilized, the whole of Europe can only tremble under the glory of France. Which king would dare to mess with France's affairs?

Of course, it is not enough just to recruit soldiers, there are more things. For example, the conscripts recruited have a limited service time, which means that compared with soldiers from other countries, these soldiers may have a lower level of combat skills.

In addition, the reason why conscription saves money is because soldiers are paid less, which will also affect morale. In order for the soldiers to maintain their morale without much money, in many cases, it is necessary to educate them on patriotism, improve their social status, and supplement them with some other benefits, such as future generations The military salary of Dongda Chiguo is not high, but if you want to join the army, you often have to go through the back door. There are these factors in it.

"There can't be a glass ceiling for civilians in the military," Joseph said. "Even a private, if he performs well, should be able to get promoted. Well, those soldiers who perform well in training and in the execution of missions should be promoted. Opportunities to study at military academies."

"Glass ceiling?" Kano smiled, "This statement is very vivid. Now it is a new era, and such a glass ceiling really shouldn't exist. But if everyone has the opportunity to study in military schools, then the number of military schools and Size just isn't enough."

"We can divide military academies into several levels. The lowest level is set up at the company level of the army. In addition to daily work, the company commander is also responsible for the most basic cultural education of the platoon commanders under him. At least Let them understand military orders - once the conscription system is implemented and the number of troops expands, it is not uncommon for a large number of platoon leaders who cannot even read the letter to appear. Just like the strength of the Roman Legion, to a large extent lies in Just like high-quality low-level officers at the commander-in-chief level, if our platoon leaders are fools and illiterate, their ability to understand and execute orders will not be very good. The combat effectiveness of the entire army will be greatly reduced. Therefore, I think even the first level must have education aimed at cultural literacy.

Of course, this kind of education can rely on the company's own strength and does not require specialized educators. We only need to be responsible for the assessment, and link the result of the assessment with the promotion of the company commander. "

"This is a good idea." Kano smiled, "It's just that those company commanders will scold you in the future."

"No, they will only scold you." Joseph said, "You are the supervisor, and I am just your deputy."

"Then let them scold," Kano said.

"And then there's the military school for the squad leaders who do well at the company and battalion level, we call them junior officer education schools. Teach the basics, and when they're done, we can send them to the company Then there are schools for higher-ranking commanders, and these schools all need teachers. Well, some older officers can be teachers there." Joseph added. He said the word "older" with extra emphasis.

Kano understood immediately what he meant. He laughed and said, "What's the matter with the elders? Just throw those politically unreliable officers there. This is also a way. Apart from these, do you have any other ideas?"

"I have another idea," said Joseph, "we may also reduce the time that soldiers serve..."

"How is this possible?" Kano's eyes widened, "Mr. Bonaparte, I know what you mean to save money, but the time for conscripts to serve is inherently short, so the time for military training is naturally limited." Insufficient combat skills of the soldiers will be worrying. If the service time is further compressed, how can the military quality be guaranteed? And if the time is continued to be compressed, then we will have to train soldiers continuously, and the cost will be high instead.”

"Mr. Kano, retirement is not the end." Joseph explained, "The names of all retired soldiers will be recorded in the list of the National Self-Defense Forces and become members of the National Revolutionary Army. It consumes too much money to maintain a large army. And those soldiers who have undergone training, we put them in the National Guard, so it doesn't cost the government money, but it can guarantee a certain amount of training and certain skills level. If there is a war, we can recall them from the National Guard back into the army again."

After hearing this, Kano didn't speak immediately, but lowered his head to think for a while, and then said: "Your idea is very creative. But it involves a lot of complicated things, and we have to figure it out, but I think this The method is worth studying..."

Although Joseph was teaching in a military academy, he was really a half-way monk when it came to military affairs. However, some experience in later generations still gave him the opportunity to pretend to be a B in front of real experts. His suggestion, in later generations, is actually very common, but it is just a reserve force. But in this day and age, definitely a great idea.

However, there is still a huge gap between ideas and practical solutions. And to build a bridge over it requires a lot of meticulous work. In these aspects, Joseph is really not very proficient. But Kano's ability in this area is really outstanding. He is not only quick and delicate in thinking, but also has rich experience, so he can handle all kinds of things with ease. Kano can methodically arrange many things that are very difficult for others. Plus Kano is physically strong and energetic. In many cases, he can work close to twenty hours a day.

"This guy's working ability is already strong, and with such efforts, he can be used by at least ten people alone! And there must be ten experts! This guy is completely inhuman!" In a letter to Napoleon , This is how Joseph described his boss.

"Joseph Bonaparte is the most talented man I have ever seen, and his head is a treasure house! I dare say that even the legendary treasure house of Alexander the Great will not be richer than the treasure house in his head No matter what time, no matter what the problem is, as long as you go to him, he can always come up with a magic weapon that can solve the problem from that treasure house. But Joseph Bonaparte is also my favorite and best at it A lazy man. He will seize every opportunity to be lazy if he can.

But when I said he was good at being lazy, I didn't mean it in a derogatory sense. He can always find easier ways to avoid complicated work. For example, he will use mathematical methods to model various tasks and then coordinate them. Thereby greatly improving the efficiency of execution. Then he can spend the time he saves on other things. To be honest, seeing his working state like this, I am envious and jealous at the same time. I have to work more than ten hours a day, and there are still many things that are too late to do, but this guy can work for up to eight hours, and still has time to study mathematics, and even publish a paper or two from time to time!

In addition, Bonaparte has another rare advantage, that is, incorruptibility. You know how much variety can be played with things related to logistics. With another person, in Bonaparte's current position, I still don't know how to make a fortune. But Mr. Bonaparte is quite self-disciplined, and he is even very reluctant to take some of the benefits he deserves according to the gray rules. I dare say, if he is not worried that if he does not take these things, it may cause dissatisfaction with others and bring troubles to work, he may not even take this..."

This is Kano's evaluation of Joseph in the letter he wrote to his teacher Monge. (Of course, Kano misunderstood Joseph on the point of integrity. The first reason why Joseph is "integrity" is that he is cowardly, and the second reason is that he feels that he can use this job to know a lot of inside information. It has already allowed him to make money legally. Just like a certain sheriff of New Yorkshire in the later Citigroup, it is said that he did not even get a salary during his term of office, but his personal assets legally doubled several times during his term of office. ) In short, both Joseph and Kano are very satisfied with their partners. And they did a good job of implementing it. By around May of the following year, a set of plans including conscription, military academy, and reserve service had already begun trial operation in Paris. The Marquis de Lafayette is very pleased with their work and is ready to roll out the model to the rest of the country.