Napoleon quickly recalled the other terrifying daily training programs of the Guard Corps. Yes, these were just daily routines; there were even more "hellish" intensive drills that he hadn't yet experienced.
Among all the daily training tasks, he had failed to et the passing standards in everything except shooting and map drawing.
Especially when it ca to tactical coordination, the number of tactical standards in the Guard Corps was entirely different from what he had learned in military school.
It had taken him a full week just to morize these tactical procedures, and who knew how long it would take to develop the muscle mory required to execute them.
Napoleon couldn't help but reflect on the many shocks he had experienced during his two months with the Guard Corps.
From the new percussion cap muskets to the massed artillery tactics, from the deep operations theory to the officers who spent their days mingling with the soldiers, from the high-quality als to the benefits of free nding of uniforms.
These made him question whether he had attended a fake military school—so many practical and innovative military theories and techniques that were never taught at the prestigious École Militaire in Paris. Not even ntioned by any of the instructors.
He exhaled deeply, but at least he had unexpectedly found himself in the Guard Corps, where he could learn all this military knowledge. Soday, when he committed himself to the great cause of Corsican independence, this knowledge would undoubtedly prove invaluable!
In fact, he had originally planned to take leave and return to Corsica earlier this month. According to the agreent of the independence organization, mbers were supposed to gather secretly in Ajaccio on the 5th of every even-numbered month.
But he was so curious about this military combat assessnt that he decided to skip this gathering. After all, gaining more military skills was most important. If Corsica were to gain independence, it would first need an army capable of resisting the French.
President Paoli had once seriously predicted that Napoleon would beco the greatest general of the Corsican National Army.
From that mont on, this beca Napoleon's life goal.
That afternoon, the First Guard Corps arrived in Troyes and set up camp in the suburbs less than two kiloters from the Champagne Corps.
Napoleon ate a simple dinner, dismissed his orderly, and headed to an empty field at the edge of the camp. Following the instructions in the Guard Corps' Physical Training Manual, he began doing push-ups…
After training for over 40 minutes, night had completely fallen, and the camp bugle sounded for evening roll call.
Wiping the sweat from his face and with his whole body aching, Napoleon ran back to his company's campsite.
Despite the exhaustion, he could clearly feel that his strength and endurance had greatly improved after two months of training.
Of course, the Training Manual was effective because it was directly copied by Joseph from modern scientific fitness thods. Combined with a protein-rich diet, it allowed the soldiers of the Guard Corps to improve their physical fitness as quickly as possible.
If you ignored the height factor, the solid physiques of the Guard Corps soldiers would make them eligible to serve as elite grenadiers anywhere else[1].
The next morning, the officers from the General Staff in charge of the combat assessnt arrived at the Champagne Corps' base, accompanied by Major Lefebvre and 1,200 soldiers of the First Guard Corps.
Unlike previous assessnts, this ti His Royal Highness the Prince personally attended the event, taking over from the General Staff officers to preside over the assessnt.
On the eastern side of the Champagne Corps' parade ground, Joseph walked up to the review platform and began with the usual opening remarks about "loyalty to the king" and maintaining the "bravery and chivalry of a knight," before announcing the start of the assessnt.
Over 7,000 soldiers from the Champagne Corps and its subordinate units began to form ranks and march out of the parade ground in an orderly fashion, following the General Staff officers' directions toward a small hill two kiloters away.
They were to circle the hill and return to the parade ground. The total distance was 5 kiloters, and those who completed it within 22 minutes would pass the assessnt, while those who finished within 20 minutes would be rated as excellent.
According to the assessnt criteria previously announced by the General Staff, soldiers who achieved an excellent rating would receive a bonus equivalent to one month's salary.
Officers who earned an excellent rating would be promoted by one rank. However, the officers' assessnt was more challenging, with several additional criteria.
An hour and twenty minutes later, most of the officers and soldiers from the Champagne Corps had returned to the parade ground.
After a short while, Joseph, who was beginning to feel a bit bored, received the assessnt results from the officials and smiled.
As expected, none of the soldiers in the entire corps passed the 5-kiloter run.
The fastest was a grenadier captain who completed the course in 25 minutes. Most of the regular soldiers took about 40 minutes to finish. Additionally, 27 soldiers got lost and had yet to return, so the cavalry from the First Guard Corps had been sent to find them.
However, the Champagne Corps still deserved its reputation as an elite unit within the old army. For example, the low number of soldiers who got lost was a point of pride compared to other regints—during previous assessnts, regints of 3,000 to 4,000 soldiers often had over a hundred soldiers get lost.
After Joseph had the General Staff officers announce the results, the exhausted Champagne Corps soldiers predictably began grumbling, "There's no way anyone can run that far in 22 minutes!"
"Captain Lacoste took 25 minutes, and he's as strong as a lion! 22 minutes? That's a joke…"
"This is just those Parisian officers ssing with us…"
"I bet there isn't a single army in the world that can et these standards!"
"Shh—keep your voice down, His Royal Highness is right there on the review platform…"
"If he hears us, maybe he'll order the General Staff to change the assessnt standards."
Joseph exchanged a knowing smile with Lefebvre and raised his hand to signal for silence.
The Champagne Corps officers quickly waved their riding crops, sternly silencing the grumbling soldiers.
Once the parade ground was quiet, Joseph loudly ordered Lefebvre:
"Major Lefebvre, assemble your troops imdiately and prepare to demonstrate the 5-kiloter cross-country run."
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Then Joseph turned to Baron Dirquin, the commander of the Champagne Corps: "Please have your soldiers move to the western hill so they can have a clear view of the Guard Corps' demonstration."
"As you command, Your Highness." Feeling sowhat embarrassed by his unit's poor performance, Baron Dirquin quickly bowed in response.
[1]Grenadiers were originally soldiers tasked with throwing grenades. Since grenades were heavy, they required tall and strong soldiers, which ant grenadiers were typically big and burly. After the 18th century, grenades beca less effective on the battlefield, and grenadiers were usually employed as regular infantry. However, they remained the tallest and strongest soldiers in the army and were often used as elite assault troops.
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