I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1238 The Busy Armory
Udino said with a bitter face, "Are we just supposed to wait for the Prussians to surrender? I don't want to waste more than ten days in this godforsaken place."

They had previously sent Blücher half a month's worth of food, enough to last him nearly 20 days if he ate sparingly.

Massena frowned, beginning to seriously consider the necessity of a direct assault on the Prussian defenses.

However, it would be equally unwise to sacrifice soldiers' lives just to save a dozen or so days.

Just as he hesitated, a messenger rushed over and shouted, "General, an enemy force has appeared east of Basel."

Massena and the others were immediately delighted. Although they didn't understand why the Allied Forces suddenly wanted to rescue Blücher again, at least they hadn't wasted their time.

"Immediately inform General Séruelis to move towards Basel," Massena said to the messenger. "Order the soldiers to prepare for battle."

Their ambush site was less than 9 kilometers from Basel, meaning the enemy would encounter them as soon as they left the city.

On the other hand, in order to show that he was actively rescuing the Prussian army, Pickton did not allow his troops to stay in Basel for long.

However, once outside the city, he immediately ordered the march to slow down.

He has received orders from the Duke of York to set up a defensive line around Basel to prevent Masséna's army from leaving Switzerland.

As for the location of the defenses, he had already discussed it with his officers and chose a location ten kilometers southeast of Basel.

The area is a narrow strip of land, only three kilometers wide, nestled between the Jura Mountains and the Rhine River. Artillery positions can also be positioned on the Jura Mountains to the side, making it an ideal location for blocking attacks.

Moreover, even if the French army breaks through the defenses despite casualties, he can still retreat to Basel and hold out there for another ten days or so without any problem.

If Massena knew his battle plan, he would surely praise him highly, because he had also chosen the same location.

Pickton consistently believed that the French should be besieging Blücher in Glarus—located in east-central Switzerland—and even if the French were to launch an ambush, it would most likely be in the nearby area between Vollen and Lake Zurich.

After all, Blücher had nearly 6 soldiers, while the French army only had more than 5. In order to prevent the Prussians from breaking out, they certainly dared not go too far.

noon the next day.

Hundreds of Hessian soldiers, with the help of horses, dragged 17 cannons of varying sizes, laboriously moving forward along the muddy path.

The ground here was originally frozen as hard as stone, but the sunny weather that has lasted since the day before yesterday has caused the permafrost to begin to thaw, turning it into muddy ground.

With a splattering sound as horses' hooves kicked up the mud, the artillery commander of the Picton Legion squinted at the hillside ahead and said to his staff officer beside him, "Fersch, that's the designated position, isn't it?"

The latter quickly opened the map, took some measurements, and nodded, saying, "Yes, General."

“It is indeed an excellent…” The officer was only halfway through his sentence when he suddenly saw a flash of fire on the hillside, followed by a deafening roar, and a series of dark figures instantly tore apart dozens of artillerymen beside him.

One six-pounder was even thrown seven or eight meters away, crushing the entire crew until a horse stopped it with its body.

"It's artillery fire! Spread out!" Fershi shouted hoarsely.

……

Charleville, a city in northern France.

In the workshops of the famous Charleville Armory, the rhythmic roar of steam drills and milling machines mingled together.

Dozens of craftsmen were gathered around the machine, intently polishing the parts in their hands, with someone occasionally taking out tools to take measurements. However, it was noticeable that their hands were trembling slightly, and their faces were flushed with excitement.

At that moment, His Highness the Crown Prince was inspecting the workshop.

Viscount Montpellier, the director of the arsenal, gestured solicitously towards the assembly table in front: "Your Highness, all components undergo a second quality inspection before being delivered here, mainly to measure tolerances..."

"Look, these are the craftsmen in charge of final assembly..."

"Currently, the ordnance factory operates on a shift system, which allows it to produce rifles 24 hours a day, except for machine maintenance."

Of course, this was mainly thanks to Charleville laying gas pipelines at the end of last year, which provided the ordnance factory with ample lighting; otherwise, it would have been difficult to process precision equipment at night.

“Last month, we produced 5000 percussion cap guns and 1100 rifled guns. This month, we expect to increase production capacity by about 10%.”

Viscount Montpellier quickened his pace and pointed to the flatbed carts bustling in and out of the workshop: "All the guns will be sent from there to the woodworking workshop to have handguards and stocks installed."

"Then it was tested, packed, and shipped to the front lines."

"Oh, because now that we have the Verdun train station, these guns can be transported to Strasbourg in just four days after they leave the factory..."

As he was speaking, a flatbed truck in the distance suddenly veered to the side and bumped into the calf of a shorter worker in front of him.

The man immediately fell to the ground with a scream: "Ah..."

The two cart pushers who caused the accident rushed over to help "him" up, but instead of apologizing, they mocked him: "Ha, you walk too slowly."

“Kahn, I told you, you’re better suited to staying home and cooking than working here…”

The short man who had been knocked down rubbed his leg and got up, bowing repeatedly to the two men and whispering, "Yes, yes, I'll definitely walk faster next time."

A chubby worker who was carrying guns nearby rushed over when he saw this, bent down to check the short man's leg wound, and shouted, "Kahn, don't blame yourself. I saw it, they pushed you by mistake and that's why you bumped into them."

Upon hearing "his" voice from afar, Viscount Montpellier panicked, cold sweat beading on his forehead. He bowed to Joseph and said, "Your Highness, well, as you know, many young men in the city have gone to the battlefield."

"In order to ensure production, I had to... supplement some, ah, labor."

"Please rest assured, all guns are blessed and sprinkled with holy water by priests before leaving the factory. They have guaranteed that they will never be tainted by misfortune..."

Joseph also looked at the two workers in the distance with some surprise. He could tell from their voices that they were women.

Currently, throughout Europe, women can only engage in a few types of work, such as milking, knitting, laundry, and nursing—the last of which is only available in France and was promoted by Perne—as for working in factories, that is even more impossible.

Especially weapons; many people believe that weapons touched by women will have reduced power or be less accurate.

He interrupted the ordnance factory director and asked:

"How many female workers are there here? Don't be nervous, it's nothing."

The latter lowered his head and stammered:
“There are… there are 120 people, Your Highness.”

(End of this chapter)