French Empire: But Napoleon IV

Chapter 59: Standing up for the soldiers, going through fire and water!

"But Your Highness, although our ammunition reserves are sufficient, this kind of consumption..."

After Eugene rambled on for a while, Conrobel, who had listened to everything, hesitated. Such a large amount of training could indeed standardize the soldiers faster, but the consumption of energy would also increase.

Twenty live-fire shots a day is no joke; before the Franco-Prussian War, the French army rarely conducted live-fire exercises.

"Ammunition can be produced again when it runs out, but once people are gone, everything is gone."

Knowing that Conrobel was somewhat worried about the consumption of supplies, Eugène interrupted the Marshal directly: "I have already ordered all the ammunition factories in Paris to switch to three shifts, which can produce 16 rounds of rifle ammunition per day, which is enough."

The Vincennes Armory, the core assembly plant for standard ammunition in Paris, alone can supply France with 85,000 rounds of ammunition per day, and that's just the data from July.

Now that Eugene has placed a 10 million franc order, their production speed has already begun to increase in early August.

We've already reached a daily production capacity of 12 rounds, and that's not even the limit yet.

Besides the Vincennes Armory, other major arsenals near Paris included the Meudon Armory and the Montreuil Percussionist Factory, which could produce rifle ammunition.

During the Siege of Paris, the daily production capacity of rifle ammunition remained between 22 and 25 rounds, with peak production reaching more than 30 rounds.

According to the British newspaper Otago Witness, in the early stages of the siege, Paris even experienced a terrifying production of 600 million rounds per week.

Even if each of the hundreds of thousands of people received 20 rounds, the daily production would not be enough. However, Paris is not yet under siege. Various transportation methods, such as the Paris railway network, the Seine River, and the road network, are continuously transporting various supplies to Paris, including a considerable number of weapons and ammunition.

Therefore, the Paris team can withstand the consumption for at most one month.

Just as Conrobel was about to say something to Eugène, a loud argument came from the direction of the cooking camp on the west side.

Eugene frowned, waved to Conrobel, indicating that they could talk about it later, and then turned and led the guards toward the cooking camp.

Upon entering the cooking camp, Eugene saw only a dozen or so new recruits, all shouting and yelling around a fat cook, with several shiny black pieces of bread lying on the ground.

Eugène could tell at a glance that it was absolutely as hard as a rock; the black bread was also mixed with a lot of bran and fine sand.

Perhaps unaware of Eugene's arrival, a recruit who looked only sixteen or seventeen years old blushed, waving half a piece of black bread in his hand, his voice trembling—of course, this trembling was from anger.

"Is this food fit for human consumption? The wheat bran I feed my cattle at home is cleaner than this. We carry guns and run for miles every day, and this is what we're fed?"

"What's all the noise about!"

Even surrounded by a dozen soldiers, the fat cook stood with his hands on his hips, looking impatient.

Whether he had someone backing him or he had a clear conscience, the fat cook wasn't intimidated by the dozen or so soldiers.

"It's wartime now, we're lucky to have anything to eat. This is what the Army Ministry issued. If you're so capable, go talk to His Highness the Crown Prince and the Legion Commander."

"No need to look for me, I'm here."

Knowing it was their turn to appear, Eugène's voice came from outside the crowd. The soldiers, who had been furious because of the fat cook's attitude, fell silent and all turned around to salute.

The fat cook's face turned pale instantly, and he quickly lowered his head, not knowing where to put his hands.

Without watching the fat cook's change of expression, nor immediately responding to the soldiers' salutes, Eugene simply bent down to pick up a piece of black bread from the ground, tried to break it with all his might, but the bread wouldn't budge.

He then scraped the surface of the bread with his military knife, and a layer of yellow sand immediately stuck to the blade. Looking at the slightly muddy soil on his feet, he realized that the sand couldn't have come from the ground.

"Is this military ration issued by the Army?"

He's greedy again. When will he ever be greedy again?

Having truly run out of options, Eugene's voice was icy cold, sending a chill down the spines of everyone present.

Everyone knew that Eugène was angry, but fortunately, the fat cook seemed to have a clear conscience. Although he was still fat, he still managed to stammer out his explanation.

"Yes, Your Highness... This was just delivered from the Army Ministry's supply depot yesterday..."

Temporarily setting aside suspicions about the fat cook, Eugène turned to the guard company commander, Royal, behind him and gave the order.

"Go and summon the major in charge of the 14th Army's supplies. Also, call the military police and have Pierre seal off all the supply depots in Versailles and verify the accounts and the actual supplies."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Royal, who was efficient and no less capable than Pierre, immediately saluted and jogged away.

After finishing everything, Eugene looked at the new recruits in front of him, who were all looking aggrieved. Knowing that this was the best time to win people's hearts, Eugene immediately began to continue his lavish spending spree.

There's no way he can spend it all, he can spend it all here and there, and he still has nearly 5000 million euros left. It will take either half a month or a month for Eugene to spend most of the money, which is quite a challenge.

"Soldiers, I know you've been wronged."

Eugene raised his voice so that everyone could hear him clearly. He didn't need to speak from the main reviewing stand; the soldiers would relay his words.

"I will issue an order shortly, starting tomorrow, to increase the food rations for all soldiers of the Paris Legion to 800 grams of grain per person per day, including 400 grams of refined white flour, 350 grams of fresh meat, 250 grams of vegetables, 40 grams of butter, and wine twice a week."

All food rations will be procured directly by the respective military supply departments, with the military police overseeing the entire process. Anyone who dares to withhold your rations, regardless of who they are, will be court-martialed and executed.

According to the standards of 67, the standard ration for the French army should have been 750 grams of grain, 300 grams of meat, 200 grams of vegetables, 30 grams of butter, one liter of wine per day, as well as sugar, coffee, salt, and other items.

However, due to practical reasons, this situation was not fully implemented in 68 and 69, let alone now.

The requirement of a liter of wine per day to replace water for soldiers was unrealistic. Eugène's proposed treatment was basically to add a little more on top of the treatment he had requested from the government in 67.

Except for the unrealistic daily liter of wine, which Eugène changed to twice a week.

They were still ready to go through fire and water. When Eugène gave his speech before, he mainly addressed the 13th Army. It was also at that time that the benefits were implemented. The soldiers of the 13th Army, who had experienced a psychological gap, were naturally loyal to Eugène.

These newly arrived soldiers received welfare subsidies as soon as they joined, and they had never heard Eugène's speech.

Although Eugène has been seen at distribution points in various districts of Paris, he cannot give a speech every day, so many people are somewhat used to it and do not feel that they should be particularly grateful.

Now, with Eugène's actions, all the new recruits of the 14th Army can say is, "We'll go through fire and water, Your Highness."