I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1298 The Tragedy of War
Joseph frowned.

Russia's indifference to the lives of its "gray cattle" is an old tradition, but this has created some problems for its own plans. After all, it would be highly suspicious if France were to voluntarily send prisoners back to someone else.

"I'll have to discuss this with Mr. Lavallet when I get back."

Alexandra nodded, then hesitated, "Also, there are some prisoners who want to fight for you. I think they are loyal enough; do you think we could give them a chance?"

Joseph was not surprised, after all, France had a great cultural influence in Europe at this time, and with the victory in this war, it was not surprising that Russians who were good at France would want to join the French army.

In fact, during Napoleon's time, a large number of foreign legions served him, and some of them were quite capable fighters.

He asked, "How many people?"

"Tens of thousands of people have applied, but only about two thousand are considered reliable."

Joseph nodded: "Okay, I'll have the General Staff organize them. You've really given me a valuable gift."

It's important to understand that even if all these Russian soldiers were to die, it wouldn't have any impact on France, and they wouldn't even need to pay much in compensation. In situations where it's inconvenient for France to directly send troops, sending them could be surprisingly effective.

The Crown Princess smiled happily: "I'm glad I could help you."

Of course, what pleased her most was the trust Joseph showed her.

As the two were talking, the music started up again, and the procession slowly began to move.

Joseph walked for two whole hours, waving to the people until he was exhausted, before finally arriving at Notre Dame Cathedral.

After a series of religious ceremonies presided over by Archbishop Beaumont, Joseph, along with the King and Queen, ascended the wooden platform to deliver his speech, "The Victory of France." He was the one giving the speech, while his parents served as the backdrop.

Joseph was only able to leave after the sun had disappeared from sight, and then he returned to Versailles Palace with his parents and the Dauphinette by steam rail bus.

Just this April, Paris converted the wooden tracks of its city ring road to railway tracks and equipped it with specially designed light steam locomotives for the new city public transport system.

This "light rail" can carry more than 30 people at a time and travels continuously at a speed of 24 kilometers per hour. Not counting the time spent stopping at stations, it can circle the city of Paris in just two hours.

This also brings a huge benefit: people living in various districts of the city, and even the suburbs, can use the public transportation system to go to work in the industrial areas in the northern suburbs of Paris.

This immediately made the factory's labor force abundant. The factory in the Antoine district expanded by more than 30% in less than six months!

The steam-powered bus headed towards the new district of Paris, and the resounding voice of a poet reciting poetry by the roadside drifted in from outside the window: "Where your sword points, kings bow their heads like fallen leaves. Wherever the golden iris appears, no thorns grow..."

As the gas streetlights came on, Paris began a night of revelry, with singing, instrumental music, and laughter never ceasing.

That afternoon, near a small town more than 20 kilometers from Paris, a priest hurried to the golden, luxurious carriage, bowed, and said, "Father, it is said that His Highness the Crown Prince has already entered the city."

Pius VI, sitting in the carriage, immediately slapped his thigh in frustration. He had wanted to wait and see between France and Austria for a while, so he had delayed his requests to both countries as much as possible. However, he did not expect that the French would suddenly win the war, catching him off guard.

To make matters worse, Muzarelli had staked everything on France early on, and his gamble paid off.

Pius VI was immediately gripped by a great sense of crisis, so he rushed to France with lavish gifts to welcome the French Dauphin's triumphant return and try to salvage some goodwill.

Unexpectedly, they encountered heavy rain on the way, which delayed their trip by two days.

"I should have taken one of those trains," he said, shaking his head in frustration.

French officials had previously suggested that he take the train to Lyon, which would save him more than 70 kilometers of travel, but he was skeptical of the enormous machine he had never seen before—he had heard that the boilers of steam engines could explode—so he insisted on continuing to take the carriage, and as a result, he missed the Dauphin's entry into the city.

Pius VI said anxiously to the attendants beside the carriage, "Hurry, we must get to Versailles before dark!"

Meanwhile, after returning to Versailles, Joseph simply had dinner with his parents and wife, skipped the ball, and went straight to his bedroom to sleep.

He had been working tirelessly on the front lines for the past six months, and now he could finally get a good night's sleep on his velvet-covered bed.

The sounds of revelry emanating from downtown Paris became his best lullaby.

The next day.

It was another grand military parade, this time featuring the return of the First and Second Armies to Paris, with the formations even more impressive than yesterday.

Joseph sat on the reviewing stand, watching the ranks of soldiers march down the Champs-Élysées, but his attention was on Berthier's report beside him.

"...That is to say, the total number of casualties was 47,000. Most of the captured soldiers have been exchanged back to their home countries."

Joseph couldn't help but sigh.

Although France achieved a great victory, its losses were equally staggering. The majority of these casualties occurred on the Baden defenses, where the French recruits, with their frenzied bayonet charges, quickly repelled the enemy, but also suffered heavy losses themselves.

Of course, compared to Prussia, Austria, and Russia, France's casualty figures are not that high.

Austrian casualties have not yet been tallied, but conservative estimates put them at over 100,000. Russia alone suffered 50,000 soldiers captured by France.

Even Britain suffered over 3 casualties and prisoners of war in this battle. Keep in mind that they only deployed around 5 troops to continental Europe.

Berthier continued, "According to the General Staff's preliminary estimate, the one-time pension payment will require 8200 million francs. After that, it will require about 1 million francs annually."

(End of this chapter)