I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 357: Local Supplies and Paper Money (Please give me a monthly ticket on the last day of May)

As the messenger set off to ask for help from the Hanoverian army, Van der Noor, the Speaker of the Parliament of the Southern Netherlands, still felt uneasy. He quickly wrote another letter and gave it to a member of parliament who had a good relationship with Britain, asking him to go to Charles II in person.

He then put forward a temporary motion, requesting that General Witte lead the main force of the Southern Netherlands National Guard to immediately return to Brussels to defend it, and temporarily recruit 6 soldiers.

The Southern Netherlands Parliament was in chaos. On the conservative side, the congressmen were surrounding Onck and questioning him.

"Chairman Unck, you said that we should not interfere in the decisive battle between the French and the Prussian army, but now the French army has suddenly run to our rear?"

"Perhaps you should contact the French again to confirm your secret agreement?"

"It was all your suggestion. Our troops remain in Ghent!"

Weng Ke held his cane with a sullen face, and after a long while, he whispered with trembling lips: "I'll go check it out.

"But the French must have a reason... They might be targeting the Dutch. Antolf is right next to Breda in the Netherlands!"

He must not admit at this time that he was being used by France, otherwise those liberal MPs would beat him to death on the spot.

"Yes, that must be the case!" He seemed to have found the answer, and his voice suddenly became louder. "This time the Netherlands abandoned France and turned to Britain. It's not surprising that the French want to teach them a lesson."

He stood up and said, his eyes sparkling: "In this case, we should cooperate with the French army's actions to take the opportunity to eliminate the Austrian forces in the country, and force the Netherlands to give up the plan of uniting the Southern Netherlands..."

The conservative members of the Southern Netherlands were mainly big capital nobles, as well as a small number of enlightened nobles. They joined the uprising only because Joseph II wanted to increase commercial taxes and weaken their privileges.

As long as they could get rid of the Austrian government's reform policies, they didn't care whether to introduce French forces or to join the British.

As for the "freedom", "human rights" and "independence" advocated by liberals, they have no interest in them at all and are even somewhat resistant to them.

Ongke's words immediately attracted the approval of some conservative MPs, especially those from the south. It was said that France had recently introduced a series of laws that were conducive to the development of industry and commerce, and had opened up the market in southern Germany. They even thought that "it is not impossible to consider merging with France."

……

Southern Netherlands, northern part of the province of Namun.

Charles II dismissed the Southern Netherlands councillors who came to ask for help, and said to the herald with a dark face: "Order the entire army to turn around immediately and return to Antolf!"

General Bronckhorst, the commander of the Dutch army, frowned and said, "The French want to quickly destroy the Southern Netherlands Army and restore Austria's rule here, so that we lose the reason to intervene."

"You are right, General." Karl II turned his horse's head and said in a cold voice, "But they made a fatal mistake!

“Antorf and Brussels are both in the hands of the Southern Netherlands Council. The French army has penetrated too deep into the country and their supply lines can be easily cut off by us.

"And as long as they can't quickly break through Antorf, our army can strike them from behind after returning to rescue them!"

He squeezed his legs hard against the horse's belly: "I will make the French pay for their recklessness!"

Soon, the Han-Dutch coalition stopped advancing and began to turn around under the orders of the officers. However, it was not easy for a 2-man army to change direction in a two-kilometer-long marching column.

It took the officers more than two hours to make every soldier understand Charles II's orders, and then there was chaotic coordination.

The quick legions completed the turn and began to move north, while the slow legions were still forming their teams on the spot and collided head-on with the former, and both sides were suddenly unable to move.

The artillerymen complained even more. Because the cart and the horse were tightly connected, they had to first unhook the cannon weighing several hundred kilograms from the horse, then turn it 180 degrees by manpower, drive the horse to the other side, and then re-harness the cart. The ammunition transport vehicle was similar, but it was more difficult to turn. Sometimes they had to clear a piece of open space for the horse to pull the ammunition vehicle in a big circle before they could turn around.

From noon when the Southern Netherlands Congressman came to ask for help, the army was busy until 5: pm before they finally started marching north again. After walking for an hour, they had to set up camp for the night...

……

Antolf suburb.

Joseph could already vaguely see the outline of the city. He was about to call his staff to discuss the next course of action - if the Hanoverian army was slow to react, he would not mind trying to attack Antolf to provoke Karl II.

At this moment, two dusty hussars came riding up and said in a tired voice: "Report! The Hanoverian and Dutch coalition forces have returned north and entered the Brussels area yesterday afternoon."

Upon hearing this, Joseph and Berthier looked at each other and both smiled.

The enemy was indeed behaving exactly as they had expected, so the strategic initiative fell into the hands of the Guards.

To be honest, Joseph was really afraid that Charles II was a fool and would go to join the Prussian army without thinking about anything else. In that case, he would have to march back to Liege to rescue Leo.

Although it is possible to launch a pincer attack, there are too many uncertainties. For example, if Leo collapses after two days, Luxembourg will be in danger.

Fortunately, the commander of Hanover was a mature and steady general. He did not ignore political factors and decided to return to rescue the rebels in the Southern Netherlands.

Without Joseph's order, Berthier immediately said to the herald: "Send the team collecting supplies back immediately."

The chief of staff glanced at his pocket watch and said, "The rest of you will rest here and set off for Ghent at 3pm sharp."

"Yes, General!"

Soon, the company that was collecting supplies drove its carriages to join the main force of the Guards Corps.

Unlike what Emperor Napoleon did back then, Joseph strictly ordered the supply team to pay the farmers, and the price was slightly higher than the market price.

Of course, the main payment method is banknotes issued by the French Reserve Bank. After nearly half a year of promotion, this kind of paper money has been widely accepted in France. Most people will only exchange their large-denomination banknotes for silver coins or deposit them in banks every two weeks. As for "change" below 5 livres, it is basically completely paper money.

In the Southern Netherlands, which is close to France, French banknotes have also appeared, but they are not very popular yet.

Joseph also took advantage of the opportunity of "local supply" to expand the influence of paper money.

(End of this chapter)