I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 358 Going around in circles
Joseph knew very well how difficult life was for the lower class people at that time. If he took away their food and livestock without paying them, the whole family would most likely starve to death.

Moreover, local supply is actually much more cost-effective than transporting through narrow supply lines across France. After all, there are no transportation costs and losses, so there is really no need to save the farmers' living expenses.

In addition, paying for supplies would leave a good impression on the people of the Southern Netherlands, making it easier to resupply them on the spot in the future. Maybe some locals would take the initiative to bring supplies to the Guards Corps camp to sell in order to make a profit from the price difference.

At 3 pm, the Guards Corps began to maneuver southwestward, bypassing the south side of Antolf, sticking to the border of Brussels, and heading straight into the province of Ghent.

Joseph continued to ride on the left side of the marching column, waving to the soldiers from time to time to boost morale, and the soldiers responded with excited cheers.

Berthier urged his horse to catch up, bowed slightly and said, "Your Highness, Major Masson sent a message that because the Hanoverian army's formation was relatively compact, he chose not to launch an attack."

Joseph nodded. "He did the right thing. The key to the penetration tactic is not to take advantage of every opportunity, but to prioritize preserving your own manpower and cut through the enemy's formation as completely as possible."

Masson's battalion plus two companies of soldiers, totaling less than a thousand people, served as a mobile force and operated near the Hanoverian army.

Joseph's order to him was to carry out interspersed operations when the enemy was tied down and in chaos, so as to further disrupt the enemy's formation.

At present, there are still too few officers who can take charge of the Guards. Lefebvre was left to help Leo, and the only one left is Berthier. People like Davout and Napoleon are still relatively young, and their ranks are not high enough to lead a corps on their own.

As for Ma Song, he had performed quite cleverly in the previous operation in cooperation with the Wengke exercise, so he became the only mobile force.

If Emperor Napoleon and others could be put to good use, or if Joseph could recruit powerful generals such as Massena, Moreau and Lannes, he would definitely be able to make the Hanoverian army become a sieve.

"Talent is always the most valuable resource..." Joseph sighed secretly. However, he also knew that the training of the army was not a matter of one day or one night. To be honest, the growth rate of the Guards Corps was already very amazing.

I believe that if the Guards Corps can achieve a more brilliant victory in the Southern Netherlands this time, it will be able to attract more talents and usher in the next wave of boom.

At the back of the marching column, Napoleon asked the regiment commander again: "So, our real target is Ghent?"

He didn't wait for Colonel Dumont to say anything, and immediately realized: "No, Ghent has no goal of mobilizing the enemy..."

Colonel Dumont smiled and said, "Yes, there are only more than 8 Southern Netherlands rebels there."

"That's the main force of the rebels." Napoleon's eyes suddenly lit up, "Our target is not Ghent, but Brussels!"

Colonel Dumont looked at the young major in surprise. He had never thought of any connection between Ghent and Brussels when he was in the staff meeting, until His Royal Highness the Crown Prince mentioned it.

But it only took Buwanaba a few seconds to figure it out!
He asked unwillingly, "Oh? Why do you have this inference?"

Napoleon replied very quickly: "It's very simple. If the main force of the rebels in Ghent is eliminated, then Brussels will be an apple that can be picked at any time. The rebel parliament will even surrender to us directly."

"Then why don't we attack Brussels directly?" Colonel Dumont continued to ask.

"That would put our army in danger. If the Hanoverian army quickly returns to support us, and the main force of the Ghent rebels also go to Brussels at the same time, it is likely that our army will be pincered." He ignored the surprised look of the captain and continued: "Even if the enemy is not well coordinated, our attack on Brussels is likely to cause the rebel parliament to flee to Ghent. In that case, even if we occupy that city, we will not gain any strategic advantage, after all, it is just an isolated city deep behind enemy lines."

Colonel Dumont almost blurted out "All right."

He calmed down and coughed dryly: "You are really young and promising. Perhaps in a few years, this regiment will be handed over to you."

Napoleon simply responded with a "thank you for your compliment", but in his heart he was full of admiration for the young prince who came up with this series of tactics. He was less than 16 years old and had only learned military theory at the Paris Police Academy, but he had such incredible command ability!
If Corsica had such an outstanding leader, the road to nation-building would be smooth sailing, he thought to himself.

East of Brussels.

Charles II looked far to the west with a frown on his face.

General Bronckhorst, the Dutch commander, looked at the intelligence in his hand and wondered, "The French just circled around Antolf and left? To the west? Where are they going?"

"Ghent," Charles II uttered a single word, and then reluctantly summoned the herald, "Order the whole army to turn west immediately.

"Send the order, speed up the march, and leave all unnecessary baggage to the rear troops! Speed, I want speed!"

"Yes, Marshal!"

Bronckhorst hesitated and said, "Marshal, if the French want to go to Ghent, we don't have to pay any attention to them."

"And then?" Charles II said in a low voice, "Witt's army is no match for the French."

He also clearly remembered that Witte's 5-strong army was surrounded by more than one regiment, or less than 2 French troops, and was almost annihilated.

"If the main force of the Southern Netherlands Army is gone, those people in Brussels will surrender immediately!"

Bronckhorst paused for a moment, then immediately figured out the connection and hurriedly ordered the Dutch army to turn around quickly.

On the other side, the Southern Netherlands rebels in Ghent also received the news and began to prepare their defensive positions intensively.

However, just as the Hanoverian army had been marching northwest for three days and was about to reach Ghent, Charles II suddenly received a report from the Hussars saying that the French army had turned again and headed southeast.

Charles II hurriedly unfolded the map and marked the movements of the French army on it. Then he was shocked to find that in pursuing the French, he had gone too far north. At this time, the Hanoverian and French armies were almost the same distance away from the scorching sun.

He suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, it turned out that the French had been circling around, and their real target was the Prussian army in Liege!
He hurriedly gave orders and immediately went to Liege for reinforcements.

What he didn't notice was that because of several days of high-speed marching, the Hanoverian army, with better quality soldiers, had left the Dutch behind by seven or eight kilometers.

(End of this chapter)