Chapter 519: Open up and check the accounts for ten years
The army outside Asco was only the strongest of the National Guards. According to reports from the Intelligence Agency, at least four self-defense forces are operating across Corsica.
Although they only have a few hundred soldiers, and the weakest one does not even have a hundred soldiers, they are easier to hide and difficult to completely eliminate.
Napoleon lowered his head and thought, if he could use this battle to make the Corsicans hate the National Guard even more, then the remaining small forces would be able to deal with them without even having to do it themselves.
He looked at the map again - it was a map drawn by the National Guard, very detailed, but at this time, it was used against them - and he quickly made a new battle plan.
"Send an order for Captain Benito to lead three companies to bypass the enemy and set up a defense line at the pass of Mount Roo."
He then pointed at the slope on the north side of Asco City: "Deploy the cannon here, and whenever the enemy approaches, bombard it with all its strength.
“Other infantry moved toward the enemy’s eastern flank.
"Let the quartermaster go to Port Calvi to prepare enough supplies. We may fight here for a long time."
"Yes, Major."
In the next day, with the infantry battalion brought by Napoleon from Marseille as the core, two thousand French troops quickly moved to the preset positions. If you look down from the sky at this time, you can find that the National Guards have been surrounded on the north, east, and south sides, leaving only a gap in the direction of Asco City.
Seshari waited for three days, but did not see an attack from the other side. He suddenly felt that this French army was weaker than the previous ones, so he decided to take the initiative to attack.
In the early morning, nearly 800 soldiers of the National Guard launched a charge towards the French army in the north - the French army there was the smallest in number and should be the weakest.
However, what awaited them was a fierce and thunderous bombardment. Among the battalions Napoleon brought to Corsica, only the artillery was the real elite - the artillery company he commanded when serving in the Guards Corps.
The terrifying firepower density and shooting accuracy immediately stunned Seshari's soldiers.
Then, the French rangers who had been waiting nearby rushed into the chaotic ranks of self-defense troops. Immediately afterwards, the two artillery batteries rushed forward and fired two rounds of grape bullets into the faces of the Self-Defense Forces.
In less than half an hour, Seshali's main force was dispersed and retreated wailing.
At the same time, the main force of French infantry on the east side also began to press forward.
Because Napoleon was very doubtful about the combat effectiveness of this Corsican garrison, he only made a huge noise, but actually had no intention of actually going into battle.
However, Seshari had been beaten to pieces by the cannons and completely lost the courage to fight. He immediately ordered the entire army to march into the city of Asco and prepare to defend the city to death.
After all the National Guards entered the city, Napoleon immediately ordered the pursuit to stop, and then mobilized troops to block the two passages into the city.
For more than half a month, the French army only defended and had no intention of attacking.
However, Seshari was in trouble——
Asko has less than 10,000 inhabitants. This is already quite a small town in Corsica. You know, the capital, Ajaccio, only has 60,000 to 70,000 people.
There are still more than 1,200 troops in his army, and they have already run out of supplies. They can only obtain food, wine and other supplies from the city.
With so many soldiers, the city quickly ran out of food.
How could hungry self-defense soldiers be willing to starve when they have guns in their hands? As a result, the citizens of Asco used all kinds of methods to "dig out" their last remaining grain reserves.
The city was suddenly filled with grief, and violence over food could be seen everywhere. Citizens' attitudes toward the Self-Defense Forces quickly changed from sympathy to hatred. Finally, a month after Napoleon besieged Asco, people from the city's Chamber of Commerce organized citizens and quietly set fire to the warehouses where the Self-Defense Forces stored ammunition.
The next day, after receiving the news, Napoleon led his army into the city. The citizens vigorously cooperated with the French army to clear out the "grain-stealing offal". The battle only lasted for half a day and ended.
Almost all of Cesari's soldiers were wiped out, and at least a hundred of them died at the hands of fierce Corsican citizens.
Napoleon, who brought a large amount of food to Asco, became a great hero among the citizens. The municipal commissioner also held a grand welcome ceremony for him in the square.
The story of people starving to death in the city of Asco due to the Self-Defense Forces robbing food quickly spread throughout Corsica, and now the National Guards completely became the public enemy.
Less than half a month later, two more National Guards were wiped out by Napoleon. For the first time in nearly a century, the island's separatist armed forces have all but disappeared.
…
Second floor of the Tuileries Palace.
Robespierre looked at the Crown Prince with some surprise: "You mean to verify the accounts of tax collectors nationwide?"
"That's right," Joseph nodded, "and we are looking back at the tax accounts for the previous 10 years."
Since those tax collectors chose not to cooperate, he would have no choice but to crack down on them.
He was sure that these guys' tax accounts would definitely not be clean. As long as they could be found out, they could be fined heavily. At that time, it will not be solved by buying some national bonds.
Robespierre was not very familiar with auditing matters. Fulco, the director of the tax bureau on the side, immediately widened his eyes and wondered why: "Your Highness, even though we have obtained the accounting documents of the tax collector, There were tens of millions of tax records that year, and trying to find problems among them was probably more difficult than finding a diamond from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean...
"What's more, it's impossible to figure out whether there is a problem even with the accounts from three years ago, and even more so from 10 years ago..."
Joseph smiled: "You have to change your mind.
“If there is a problem with the tax accounts, who knows best?
“It’s those taxpayers.
“Whenever they were charged an extra sou in tax, even if it happened 10 years ago, they would definitely remember it clearly.
“So we only need to issue an announcement and ask people to go to the tax bureaus in various places to appeal for ‘tax reconsideration’. If you then ask people to find the corresponding accounts for verification based on what they said, the problem will be discovered quickly.
"Oh, by the way, I will ask the major newspapers to cooperate and list the tax regulations over the years in detail for the public to check."
Fulco and Robespierre looked at each other and were quite impressed. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's method was simply brilliant. It would definitely find out a lot of accounting problems.
But he immediately showed a bitter look on his face: "Your Highness, even if it is just a verification, with the current manpower of the tax bureau, I am afraid it will take more than half a year to complete the investigation..."
Joseph nodded: "I can ask Archbishop Brian to transfer the manpower of the financial department to you.
"In addition, you can also invite accounting guilds and students from various universities to help. If you pay them some salary, they should not refuse."
(End of chapter)