I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1014 Ali’s First Bucket of Gold
McCracken's eyes grew brighter as he listened to the French prince's story.

He could already imagine the scene of countless Irish farmers going crazy with hoes in hand and fighting the British in order to sell their wheat at a higher price.

Before this, when they went to the countryside to give speeches, few people responded except for the minor nobles.

He suddenly felt that there seemed to be some problems with the previous revolutionary strategy...

Joseph continued to plan a "blueprint" for him: "After a large number of people respond, you can start training the army. If you want to stop the British army's encirclement and suppression, you will need at least 100,000 troops."

This number was not just something he said casually. According to the social mobilization capacity of the era, 400 million Irish people could fully recruit 10 soldiers under extreme conditions.

McCracken, however, was somewhat lacking in confidence: “I’m afraid this won’t be easy, Your Highness.

"You know, the British secret police are keeping a close eye on us. Let alone 3 people, as long as our training scale exceeds people, it will immediately arouse their vigilance."

Joseph shook his head helplessly: "Do you know the difference between the rural patrol, the anti-smuggling police, the shooting club, and the army?"

The Irishman said subconsciously: "They are completely different..."

"No, they just have different names." Joseph said, "As long as they can use guns, understand commands, and keep formation, they can be soldiers.

"You have a lot of influence on local administration in Ireland and can set up similar organizations under various names. The British secret police will never care that the Irish anti-smuggling police suddenly have a few hundred more people.

“On this basis, a rotation training model is adopted.

"Each time, we recruit more people than the establishment number for training, and keep half of them. After a year, we find a reason to lay off most of them and recruit a new batch of people, and repeat the cycle.

"Over the years, you will be able to accumulate tens of thousands of trained 'soldiers' through the anti-smuggling police, public security teams and the like.

"Oh, as for training, I can send instructors to help you. At the same time, you should also select some military talents and send them to military academies in Italy or Poland for further training."

McCracken nodded excitedly: "You are absolutely right! I will tell Mr. Thorn about your plan as soon as I get back!"

Joseph finally wanted to give the Irish some visible benefits, so he smiled and said:
"France and Ireland will always be the strongest of allies.

"To show my support for the cause of Irish freedom, I will provide you with 3 flintlock muskets. They will be sent in batches by smuggling ships.

"Of course, you must first hide these weapons properly and wait until the critical moment before taking them out for use."

In the previous war with the anti-French alliance, France seized more than 10 flintlock rifles of various types.

At the same time, as the old French army began to uniformly replace their rifles with percussion cap rifles, there were still 60,000 to 70,000 Charleville flintlock rifles that were retired.

So, although Joseph had been sending guns everywhere, he still had a large stock of flintlocks.

Joseph then summoned Lavalette, deputy director of the Security Service, and asked him to prepare a "guide" for the Irish to operate in Britain.

When Lavalette was choosing a liaison to be sent to Ireland, McCracken insisted on sending Portier to the position.

After a brief conversation with Portier, Lavalette agreed to the request. Portier was indeed quick-witted, responsive, and fluent in English, and was indeed suitable to be the contact person. At the same time, he had already been deeply involved in the affairs of the Irish Resistance Army, so letting him go would save the need to go through the confidentiality procedures again.

Portier was a little resistant at first, but after Lavalette transferred him directly to the Security Bureau and awarded him the rank of second lieutenant, the young man readily accepted it - the salary of the Security Bureau was much higher than that of ordinary officers, and there were bonuses for completing tasks, which was of great help to him in alleviating the difficult financial situation of his family.

It was almost dusk, and the deputy director of the Security Bureau took the two away. Joseph was about to relax and then go to dinner with Alexandra, when he saw Talleyrand hurried over and handed him a "telegram" sent from the Chap signal tower:
"Your Highness, this is the conditions proposed by Constantinople that Baron Dalson just sent back." Joseph quickly glanced through the report and couldn't help but frowned slightly: "The Ottoman Guards are really completely corrupt.

“But it would be a good thing to take this opportunity to get in touch with Muhammad Ali.”

Judging from Ali's wisdom and courage, he was most likely the historical king of Egypt.

The Mamluks are a group of Egyptian local tyrants who are simply uncooperative. If we want to clean them up in the future, we will probably have to rely on the power of Muhammad Ali.

Talleyrand hurriedly asked: "Your Highness, should we agree to his request?"

Joseph thought for a moment, shook his head and said, “The cost of hiring Albanians is very low, it doesn’t even cost a million francs.

"Tell him that I will only give him 35 francs, but that he can increase the number of flintlocks to 8, and eight cannons.

"If the cooperation is pleasant, I will give him other 'business' to do in the future."

"Yes, Your Highness."

……

End of March 1794.

Leş, northern Albania.

Muhammad Ali twirled his beard and smiled as he watched soldiers unload boxes of weapons from the steamer.

The French prince was very good at business, and even the bargaining hit the spot.

He was not actually short of money. In a rich place like Haussmann, as long as he was diligent in embezzling money, it was not difficult to make hundreds of thousands of francs in seven or eight years.

But he knew that money alone was useless. Officials higher than him could always find a reason to take away all his money.

The flintlock rifle is the most reliable!

The French Crown Prince not only sent him the guns he wanted most, but also cannons.

That was the latest European cannon, its accuracy and power far exceeding the standard equipment of the Ottoman army.

Through his network of connections in Albania, he only needed to offer 15 francs in benefits to recruit nearly soldiers, all of whom were the most skilled warriors from various tribes.

Yes, he would never use the troops allocated to him by Constantinius to harass Austria. Those thousands of Guards were accustomed to luxury and debauchery, and were not even as good at fighting as the barbaric Albanians.

He ordered several officers who had followed him for many years to distribute the newly delivered weapons to the Albanian soldiers, and then conducted a week-long simple training - these tribal warriors all knew how to use guns, but had little experience in marching and marching.

Afterwards, he left the Ottoman Guards to continue suppressing the Greek rebels, while he led the Albanian army to southern Serbia.

He continued to attack Serbian tribes along the way, which served as actual combat training for his motley crew, while also allowing him to "collect" a large amount of logistical supplies and military funds.

(End of this chapter)