Chapter 90: But Is Everywhere Else Safe? (4)
Chapter 90: But Is Everywhere Else Safe? (4)
Early May 1790.
Holy Roman Empire, Electorate of Cologne, Bonn.
Early morning.
“Gentlemen, did you sleep well last night?”
“““Yes, Colonel!”””
“Good. His Highness the Archduke even treated us to a meal, so we can’t just laze around, can we? Battalion 1 takes the north. Battalion 2 takes Münster Cathedral. Battalion 3 occupies the bridge crossing the Rhine. Battalion commanders will have their assignments perfectly understood. That concludes the briefing. Any questions?”
“““None, Colonel!”””
“Good. Move out immediately.”
The colonel to the battalion commanders.
“From this moment, officers and NCOs will lead each squad and attempt suppression. However, by order of His Highness the Archduke, firing is forbidden, and bayonets are permitted only at each commander’s discretion in emergencies. Finally, all personnel must remember: the Empire’s future depends on the image we show.”
“““Jawohl!”””
The battalion commanders to the company commanders and NCOs.
“Time is life! All companies—fully armed—secure the square in front of city hall. Move! Move!”
“““Jawohl!”””
The company commanders and NCOs to the soldiers.
Under the army’s vertical chain of command, martial law was declared in Bonn.
“Who are you people to do this?!”
In the middle of the square, an elderly gentleman in a black suit shouted at an officer in a white uniform who had snatched the red flag from his hands.
“We are merely following the order of His Highness Archduke Karl, sent by the Kaiser: to declare martial law in Bonn for the time being and root out impure subversives.”
Crack!
The officer pressed the flag against his thigh and snapped it; the sound of wood breaking rang out.
“We citizens were only protesting peacefully!”
“Protesting! How subversive! What are the soldiers doing?! Push those subversives out of the square at once!”
“Jawohl!”
“Y-you bastards! Let go of me!”
“Come on, old man… don’t turn red. Go quietly.”
The old gentleman was seized by sturdy soldiers and dragged out.
“They’re dragging the teacher away!”
“What did we do wrong for you to do this?!”
“Just because you’re the central army, that makes you everything?! Everything?!”
Naturally, jeers and stones began flying at the soldiers from the protesters’ side.
“Captain. The citizens’ resistance is strong—what will you do? Shall we crush them with guns?”
“Didn’t the battalion commander say no guns? Do it peacefully. Peacefully.”
“Yes, understood! All company personnel, batons out! Prepare for close combat!”
“““Into close-combat formation!”””
“From now on, we drive the reactionaries out of the square. Execute!”
“““Waaaaa!”””
“Argh! Aaaagh! That’s bone! You hit my bone!”
“Kyaaah! Those bastards from the capital are beating Bonn people to death!”
“What are the police doing?! The imperial army is oppressing citizens!”
“R-run! Flee across the Rhine!”
With the crack—crack! of bones breaking and screams, the entire square began to turn into a madhouse.
Tweet! Tweet!
Now the soldiers put whistles to their mouths and began chasing fleeing people.
“Suspicious person there! Return to your home at once! If you do not, we will send you back by force!”
“Y-you Kaiser lackeys! Eat this, fuckers!”
“F-firebomb! Scatter! Scatter!”
“Captain, permit bayonet use!”
“Bayonets are authorized against those reactionaries. How dare they lay hands on my soldiers!”
Wherever the soldiers went, scattered street fighting began erupting throughout the city.
“…It doesn’t look bad. Major—what are the reports coming up right now?”
Brigadier General Radetzky, who had been watching all of it through a spyglass from a nearby hill they had seized, spoke to his adjutant.
“Yes. There is continuing scattered resistance near Münster Cathedral, General.”
“Casualties?”
“The reactionaries are using primitive blades or crude firebombs made on the spot, so they don’t seem to be badly injured, but we are still seeing three or four light casualties per hour. Considering our forces will be entering alleys going forward, the damage seems likely to worsen somewhat.”
Radetzky used his baton to push the pegs on the map toward the Rhine.
“Mm. The plan remains unchanged. Push the reactionaries east from Münster Cathedral, toward the Rhine.”
“Yes, General!”
“General Radetzky! What is this supposed to be?! Stop this indiscriminate attack on our citizens at once!”
Then someone entered the command tent—where only Radetzky and his adjutant were—wearing a face full of fury.
“Ah—this is the Chief of Police of Bonn, General,”
the adjutant said, leaning toward Radetzky.
Radetzky nodded as if he roughly understood how things stood, then looked at the police chief.
“I believe you are mistaken, Chief.”
“…What?”
“We were suppressing peacefully using only batons. The ones who escalated it were the subversives who threw firebombs first and caused bloodshed, and only now is our army using bayonets against some reactionaries.”
If anything, the imperial army’s concern for citizens should be obvious just from the fact that it was not shooting the subversives.
In Russia, after all, if serfs caused trouble, they were simply shot dead.
Compared to that, Radetzky’s baton suppression was peaceful beyond measure.
Even so, the police chief bulged veins across his face and raised his voice further.
“Before that, it was you who brought the army into a peaceful square and created chaos!”
“As the army charged with safeguarding the Empire’s stability, we merely dispersed subversives. If you insist on remaining this obstinate, then we have no choice.”
Radetzky looked at his adjutant and gave a nod.
Understanding his intent, the adjutant shouted loudly.
“Gentlemen! The Chief seems very fatigued—escort him safely back to his residence.”
“Yes, Major!”
Soldiers who had been guarding outside the tent rushed in at the major’s words, seized the police chief by both arms, and began dragging him out.
“General! This is a blatant infringement of policing authority over a principality! It’s a violation of the Peace of Westphalia! Do you think His Highness Elector Maximilian and our police officers will just sit still?!”
[All police officers of Bonn shall do their utmost for the safety of the citizens. —Maximilian—]
The police officer read the note—reddened by the half-set sun—one more time, then stuffed it into his pocket and spoke.
When he raised his head, dozens of soldiers were advancing in formation straight toward him.
Had the sound of bootsteps always been this unpleasant?
“…Damn it. If I’d known it would be like this, I should’ve just run a fruit shop under my father.”
The officer lightly shook the reins in his hand.
As if answering him, the horse he rode began to move forward slowly.
When the police officer rode out and removed his hat, an officer stepped out from among the soldiers opposite him and removed his own hat in courtesy.
The officer strode forward, halted with disciplined posture, raised his head, and looked up at the mounted policeman.
“Move aside, Inspector.”
“I won’t. And I’m not an inspector—I’m a superintendent, Lieutenant. You should study rank insignia more.”
The lieutenant’s eye twitched.
“…While you policemen act so weak, the rioters keep harming our soldiers. Move aside at once.”
“Listen, Lieutenant. The soldiers you want to protect are also giving our citizens baton ‘treatments’ on the head at this hour.”
“Move.”
“I won’t.”
“Then we’ll break through.”
“Go on, then, Lieutenant. Try it.”
The lieutenant bowed his head once as a final courtesy, returned to the formation, drew his sword, and shouted.
“Company—fix bayonets and form the waiting infantry column!”
“““Fix bayonets! Form the waiting infantry formation!”””
As soldiers drew long blades from their belts and began fitting them onto the muzzle ends, harsh, steely sounds of blades being drawn rose from all around.
The police officer looked behind him.
Dozens of mounted police were lined up behind him.
The police officer put his hat back on, took a deep breath, and shouted.
“Gentlemen—if we get pushed back, the citizens will be beaten to death! Remember that!”
“““Yes, Superintendent!”””
Twilight was falling over the Rhine.
“How is the situation, General?”
“Yes, Your Highness Archduke Karl. Most rioters who continued resisting have been suppressed, and we have finished detaining the police officers who were hostile to the army. The only one left is His Highness Elector Maximilian.”
“Is the classification of the rioters proceeding properly?”
“Yes, Your Highness. As you ordered, we separated republicans, Enlightenment thinkers, and the poor who participated after being swept up in the mood.”
“Ha ha. Not a single flaw. As expected of General Radetzky.”
Archduke Karl patted Radetzky’s shoulder in delight.
“You flatter me, Your Highness. More importantly, how will you handle the rioters?”
“Release all ordinary citizens and the poor. For the Enlightenment thinkers, give them an appropriate warning and release them.”
“And the republicans?”
“How to handle them? Shoot them all.”
Archduke Karl answered casually as he skimmed the report and map with his eyes.
“We need to give the other feudal princes at least the confidence that we will certainly preserve their vested interests, don’t we?”
“Yes, Your Highness. A most rightful statement.”
“More importantly—wasn’t the pig’s trotters we ate yesterday delicious? I’m craving it again today. How about you, General?”
“Since Your Highness says so, I find myself hungry as well. I will tell the cooks to prepare the same meal as yesterday.”
“Ha ha. Thank you, General!”
“Kaspar, Johann. Wake up…!”
“…Ludwig hyung? What’s wrong all of a sudden…?”
The two younger brothers—just on the edge of looking like adolescents—rubbed their messy eyes as they woke and looked at their eldest brother Ludwig’s silhouette.
“No time to explain—pack, quickly! Leave heavy, cheap things behind. Take only expensive things, or things truly precious!”
Ludwig hyung urged the two of them with eyes that looked anxious.
“Now!”
“Huh? O-okay.”
The three brothers spread out a bundle cloth and packed up all the expensive loot.
“Whew. Still, it’s lucky we salvaged it before Father sold it all off for drinking money. You two—did you pack your personal things?”
“Yeah. Like you said, only the valuable stuff.”
“But what about Father…?”
“…Let him figure it out himself. Anyway, let’s go—quickly. We have to leave for France before Bonn gets sealed off.”
“F-France? Why France all of a sud—”
Just as the bewildered second brother Johann started to speak—
Tatatan!
A series of loud booms sounded from outside the house.
“…Was that gunfire just now?”
“…That should be explanation enough. Let’s go. No time.”
Ludwig tucked the bundle under his arm and quietly opened the front door.
“It seems okay right now. Hurry.”
Ludwig went out first, and the two younger brothers followed.
After the three of them ducked low and slipped through the night, crossing two blocks, murmuring voices came from the street one block over.
“Kaspar, Johann. Wait. There’s something up ahead…”
—May the Father and the Holy Spirit and the Son descend…
—Father, is the sacrament finished?
—…It is, Captain.
—Good. Withdraw now. Those men are particularly vicious republicans—if you remain, you may be harmed. Platoon, load!
—Load!
To Ludwig’s ears came the sound of something made of iron striking a tube—thunk, thunk—like a long rod being rammed into a cylinder, probing it all the way in.
—Platoon, aim!
—Aim!
—Platoon, fire!
—Fire!
—Long live the Revolution! Long live the citi—
Tatatan!
“Hngh! H-hngh! Ka-Kaspar. Johann. Let’s go! Hurry! Hurry!”
From that day on, Ludwig van Beethoven ran toward Paris.