I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 651 Sports Meeting (asking for monthly ticket)
Prince Poniatowski immediately raised his head and looked at Sieyès:
"What do you mean?"

"Prussians." The latter raised his hand and pointed at Gdansk, northwest of Poland on the map. "I guarantee that as long as Russia declares war on you, William II will immediately attack here."

"Although I understand your caution, all the signs so far indicate that Prussia has not betrayed the Pop-Prussian Alliance," the prince politely retorted. "In fact, His Majesty William II sent a personal letter a few months ago, expressing his enthusiastic support for our country's new constitution."

Although Joseph had warned the Poles to be wary of Prussia long ago, William II disguised himself so well that it was difficult for the Poles to doubt him.

Just like recently, Polish intelligence agencies also noticed Russia's military movements, so when France warned that Russia would invade, they began to prepare for war without hesitation.

But there was no troop or logistical mobilization on the Prussian side, and it didn't look like they were going to fight a war.

Of course, at this time, Joseph was probably the only one in the world who knew that William II had no intention of launching a large-scale war, but was going to wait until Russia had attracted all of Poland's forces and then launch a sneak attack from behind.

Historically, Prussia did not have any large-scale assembly. It just pulled a few tens of thousands of eastern garrisons and almost went on an armed tour all the way to a place 50 kilometers west of Warsaw.

If it weren't for the fact that Prussia wanted to leave Poland a chance to serve as a buffer zone against Russia, it could have directly destroyed Poland.

Prince Poniatowski continued:
"To be honest, the plan formulated by the Federal Military Committee to deal with the invasion from the east also requires the Prussian army to enter the Livigno area to deal with the Russians."

Sieyès suddenly remembered one of the key points in the plan for assisting Poland's defense that the Dauphin had given him, and asked hurriedly:

"So, there are still Prussian officers serving in the Polish army?"

"That's true. Although I have tried my best to transfer foreign commanders from the army, there are some officers who have made important contributions to Poland and it is difficult for me to let them go."

Sieyès sighed and tried to persuade the prince for a while, but when he saw that the prince was just perfunctory, he gave up the matter and moved on to the next topic:
"So, do you think we can expand the standing army to 100,000 in half a year?"

"This... is indeed difficult to do." The prince said helplessly, "Austria no longer needs our army to help suppress the rebellion, so military expenditures and training have become difficult.

"The Federal Military Council plans to recruit another 2 soldiers by the end of this year."

Sieyès could do nothing but nod, after all, this was Poland's limit.

He continued: "So what about the construction of the defense line on the east side?"

"Comparatively adequate preparations have been made along the line from Minsk to Pinsk to Volyn. The Military Committee intends to build some bastions along the river east of Volyn."

"Pinsker? Volyn?" Sieyès asked in surprise. "Are you saying that you are going to abandon the west bank of the Dnieper River and the entire Podolia region?"

"If a full-scale war breaks out with Russia, this is the only viable defense plan." The prince was obviously also very lonely.

Pinsk is almost in the heart of Poland, which means that Poland is prepared to lose its entire southeastern territory if the war breaks out.

However, the area from Turow to Vinnica in eastern Poland is extremely barren. If we hold on there, we may not even be able to collect logistical supplies locally.

The entire eastern part of Poland, that is, the area from Minsk to Okstaetia, can be defended. Other places are either extremely poor or have been infiltrated by Russia and are not suitable for fighting at all.

An hour later, Sieyès left the Tin Roof Palace with a frown on his face.

As soon as he returned to his residence, he wrote a letter to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to report Poland's poor preparations for war, and at the end of the letter he expressed deep remorse for his "negligence".

In fact, he didn't know that the current situation in Poland is much better than it was in history.

At that time, Poland was not only preparing for war, but was also debating whether Russia would invade. The parliamentarians were busy perfecting the constitution, and the Targowica Confederation was actively buying off the army and preparing to welcome the Tsar's "royal army" into Poland.

More than half a month later. Paris.

In the office on the second floor of the Tuileries Palace, Joseph read Sieyès' letter and rubbed his brows in pain.

When a country is determined to rush towards the abyss, you really can't stop them.

According to the current situation, Poland can only hold out for one or two years longer than in history, but will eventually be divided.

The key point now is how to make Poland completely obey our arrangements.

Joseph thought for a long time, raised his hand and signaled to Emmanuel, "Please notify General Berthier immediately and ask him to recall the military advisory group sent to Poland."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Not long after, Berthier hurried to Joseph's office and saluted, "Your Highness, are we going to adjust our strategic attitude towards Poland?"

"of course not."

"Then recall the advisory group..."

Joseph sighed and said, "Let Prince Poniatowski come to Paris. I must see him.

"It just so happens that the Future and Peace Games will be held here next month. If he comes, it won't attract attention. The Polish officers can also come with him as his entourage."

"I follow your orders, Your Highness."

……

1792 5 Month 15 Day.

Several ordinary-looking black carriages drove through the city of Paris.

In the middle car, Prince Poniatowski stared at the scene outside the window with wide eyes. In his heart, he was filled with shock and envy.

It had only been three years since he last came to Paris, and the place was completely different from what he remembered.

The streets are lined with imposing gas lamps. Vendors set up their stalls under uniform awnings. All the shops are freshly painted and have colorful flags outside that say "Welcome to Paris" or "First Future and Peace Games."

In the middle of the street was a straight wooden track, along which huge horse-drawn buses would occasionally pass.

Every once in a while, you can see cleaners sweeping the streets. The entire street is made of expensive asphalt mixed with gravel, clean and flat, without a trace of mud. Public toilets and trash cans can be seen everywhere, resulting in not even a little garbage on the ground.

Of course, he didn't know that asphalt roads in Paris are not expensive.

In the year or so since Paris's gas street lamps came into use, a rudimentary coal tar processing industry has been established.

In the process of distilling coal to produce coal gas, a large amount of coal tar is produced. After the coal tar is roughly refined, at least one-third of it will become asphalt.

The asphalt is industrial waste, and the cost of paving Paris' roads is negligible compared to shipping asphalt from the Middle East or even the Caribbean.

(End of this chapter)