I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 370: Garbage Time on the Battlefield

Karl II still looked puzzled: "But, there is no conflict between the peasants and nobles in France right now."

Lord Wellesley waved the spoon in his hand at him, as if it were his sword: "Then let's do something to break the peace between them."

"You mean?"

"We will enact a land redemption policy on behalf of the French government. I will mobilize channels in Paris to spread the word to the nobles that the French government will distribute land to farmers at extremely low prices."

"Your people are going to tell the French peasants that the king has decided to make them pay for the support of the nobles for hundreds of years," said the Marquis of Wellesley, pointing to Van der Nott.

"When both sides are extremely dissatisfied, you will unite with the French liberals and lead the peasants in an uprising. France will surely fall into chaos!"

Van der Nott nodded excitedly, then hesitated and said, "My Lord Marquis, but the French government will definitely come out to refute the rumors."

Wellesley smiled and said, “Under this circumstance, unless they officially announce the land redemption plan, no one will believe it no matter how they refute the rumor.

"And right now, any redemption plan is unlikely to satisfy both the peasants and the nobles. We will support whichever side's interests are affected by the plan.

"All France will get is chaos sweeping across the country!"

……

The city of Namur, south of Brussels.

Andre Davout, the commander of the Moulins Corps, saw the Crown Prince coming to greet him from afar, jumped off his horse, stepped forward quickly, took off his hat and bowed: "You look very good, Your Highness. Luxembourg is now talking about the battle in which you defeated the Hanoverians. You have almost become a legend!"

"Victory belongs to everyone in the Guards." Joseph smiled and nodded in return, then patted his arm. "I am completely relieved now that the Moulins have arrived in Brussels. Let's go into the city first. You can only rest for three days, and then you will go to Luli Town for garrison."

"The Mulan Legion is at your service at any time!" Andre shouted immediately.

Joseph received a report from the Palace of Versailles a few days ago saying that the British Foreign Secretary would visit Paris in the middle of next month to discuss some important issues between the two countries.

Joseph guessed that the war in India had hurt the British, so they came to seek peace. This matter was of great importance, and it would be impossible to leave it to his mother, so he decided to return to the country. In addition, he could also communicate with his mother about France's major strategy to prevent the dangerous situation like the last time when the Russian ambassador tried to conclude a secret agreement.

The confrontation on the Brussels front has now entered "garbage time" - France is unwilling to launch an attack, and Charles II is unable to attack. Both sides fire a few shots at each other every day, and then withdraw their troops.

So even if he leaves the Southern Netherlands, there shouldn't be any problems here.

However, for the sake of safety, he transferred two regiments of the Moulin Corps stationed in Luxembourg. Although the combat effectiveness of the Moulin Corps was not as good as that of the Guards Corps, it was more than enough to deal with the Hanoverian army.

"How's the battle going in Liege?" Joseph looked at Andre who was riding side by side with him.

"It's rather dull, I guess." Andre spread his hands. "Lefebvre complains every day about why he can't attack the Prussians. The Prussians built a long and narrow breastwork along the border between Liège and Long, and set up a lot of cannons, but they haven't attacked for a long time." After learning that the Hanoverian army had been defeated and the front line had stabilized in the Brussels area, Blücher had lost the will to continue fighting - even if he could defeat Leo's Austrian army, he would be in a standoff with the French army in Brussels. What he wanted was to make achievements in Silesia, not to waste time in the Southern Netherlands!

However, some fools in Prussia, probably people like Morendorff, kept telling the King that they could never accept the "humiliating situation" of being driven out of the Southern Netherlands by Austria.

Finally he received an order from the king, requiring him to repel the Austrian army in Luxembourg and reinforce Brussels as soon as possible.

Blücher's troops had been badly beaten by the Guards Corps before, and their morale was low. After being repelled twice in their attempts to attack Leo, they lost the will to continue the attack.

Leo knew his own strength and was unwilling to attack. Lefebvre received an order from Joseph not to annihilate the Prussian army on a large scale.

So the battle in Liege also entered the "garbage time".

After getting the detailed information about the Liege-Luxembourg front from Andre, Joseph was completely relieved.

The next morning, he returned to Paris by car.

Construction of rail transit from Luxembourg to Verdun has begun. As for Verdun, wooden tracks had already been built during the preparations for war.

After leaving Verdun, you can take a half-day carriage ride to the wooden track connecting Reims to Paris.

The entire journey took just over five days, including nearly two days spent in the Southern Netherlands. The wooden track was extremely stable, and when Joseph arrived in the northern suburbs of Paris, he did not feel the fatigue he had felt on previous long trips, and was able to go to the Palace of Versailles to do his business immediately.

Since the Palace of Versailles was not notified in advance, no guard of honor came to greet him.

Joseph's motorcade drove quickly through the streets of Paris, and from time to time he could hear passers-by talking about the two great victories of the French army not long ago. Suddenly, four or five children rushed out from the corner of the street, holding wooden sticks and making "bang bang" sounds, charging at another group of children.

Sitting opposite to him in the carriage, Emmanuel looked out the window and said to Joseph, "Your Highness, it is said that the most popular game among children in Paris these days is the game of 'The Dauphin vs. the Prussians'. I saw it in a letter from my father. My younger brother is already 13 years old and still enjoys playing it."

He suddenly remembered that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was leading police reform when he was 13 years old, and he couldn't help feeling emotional.

"Perhaps he will grow up to be an excellent soldier," Joseph smiled, "and actually defeat the Prussian army on the battlefield."

Aiman ​​hurriedly said: "Thank you for your encouragement, Your Highness. I will definitely urge him to work hard!"

The car soon drove into the Palace of Versailles. A court lady saw Joseph from the car window and hurriedly picked up her skirt and ran to the Petit Trianon Palace, shouting to the queen's maid: "His Royal Highness the Dauphin is back!"

Without waiting for the nobles to gather around, Joseph ordered the coachman to go directly to his mother's bedroom.

After Queen Mary continued to ask about his well-being for more than half an hour and had the servants bring the Dutch-style desserts that the royal chef had recently developed, Joseph finally found a gap to talk about business.

(End of this chapter)