Chapter 752: Sufficient Diplomatic Preparations
"Stupid! You didn't make any pre-war preparations and just let the soldiers rush forward randomly?" Count Radeski glared at Lieutenant Colonel Busek, " Then he was defeated by a group of policemen?”
Busek lowered his head and whispered. He argued: "General, the military quality of those policemen is quite high, especially the shooting speed..."
"Shut up!" Count Radeski angrily shouted, "You are simply embarrassing the imperial soldiers!"< br>
No wonder he lost his temper, it was really Busek who underestimated the enemy.
If Busek organized most of the soldiers into a line formation and left only two to three hundred skirmishers in front to harass them, they might still be able to draw a tie when the Walloon police lacked the confidence to fight the regular army.
But he let all the soldiers rush forward in skirmish formation, and under the intensive firepower of the opposite infantry line, they were defeated without any suspense.
Count Radeski glanced at his pocket watch. The hour hand pointed to 4 o'clock in the afternoon. It was definitely impossible to reach Wavre today.
And it will take time to collect the defeated troops of the Busek Army.
He took a deep breath, calmed down, and said to the herald: "Gather the troops. The Croix Legion will be responsible for dealing with those policemen early tomorrow morning.
"In addition, report the situation here to His Royal Highness the Prince of Coburg."
"Yes, General!"
The next day.
Inspired by yesterday's victory, the Walloon police once again stubbornly repelled Croix's first attack - this time the latter did not underestimate the enemy, but invested 3 regiments of troops They formed a line array and engaged in a head-on confrontation with the police. At the same time, they also sent three cavalry squadrons to harass the flanks.
Fortunately, two six-pound guns from the Walloon Police also arrived on the battlefield last night, surprising the Austrians again.
Yes, the Walloon police have artillery police establishment!
However, they also suffered nearly 300 casualties in the previous battle.
When the Austrian army was preparing to launch the second wave of attacks, the Chief Superintendent of Walloon District ordered all police officers to withdraw to Wavre City in accordance with the content of the "Command Science" they had learned before.
No matter how high their training level is, they are still only police officers responsible for public security and lack qualified commanders.
What they faced was the Austrian regular army with tens of thousands of troops, coordinated by cavalry and artillery.
But their previous excellent performance and the appearance of cannons made Count Radeski wary.
He spent another whole day cautiously, ordering the hussars to conduct repeated reconnaissance of Wavre, and only after confirming that there were only more than 3,000 policemen in the city, he decided to launch an attack.
Southwestern Wallonia.
City of Mons.
Chevenement, President of the Walloon Chamber of Commerce, looked around at the chamber of commerce members sitting there, raised the newspaper in his hand, and said angrily: "Everyone must have seen that the Flemish people, together with the Austrian government, want to use The army takes control of Wallonia!
"Our policemen heroically repelled them twice north of Wavre, but there were too many Austrian troops and it was impossible for the police to hold Wavre."
All the committee members had expressions on their faces. He looked at the president solemnly.
Chevenemant slapped the newspaper on the table hard:
"Recently, the riots in Wallonia were also planned by them. Fortunately, I got a warning from the French government and transferred the police Went to Wavre, otherwise even Mons might have been controlled by the Austrian army at this time!”
Yes, the French Intelligence Agency noticed that there were Dutch speakers in the Walloon District a month and a half ago! People are plotting to "make something big happen."
Joseph immediately realized that this was probably Austria preparing to attack Wallonia.
But he did not rashly interfere with the situation in Wallonia. Instead, he proposed at the General Staff meeting that the Walloon Chamber of Commerce ignore the rioters and use all police forces to prepare for Austria to send troops.
Chevenemant also accepted the suggestion of the French Intelligence Agency after weighing it, and this was the scene where the Walloon police sniped at the Austrian army.
Seeing the angry expressions on the faces of the members of the Chamber of Commerce, Chevenement continued to speak loudly:
“Now we have only one choice left, and that is to ask France for help and ask them Send troops to drive away the Austrians!”
The members of the Chamber of Commerce in the hall immediately looked at each other and started whispering at the same time. An old man stood up and said: "Mr. Chevenemant, this will destroy the status of Wallonia's 'demilitarized zone'."
Someone echoed: "Yes, it is easy. Forming a situation of military control of Wallonia by the French army."
"The independence of the Chamber of Commerce may also cease to exist."
The Walloon Chamber of Commerce has great authority here, as well. A small independent government certainly doesn't want anyone to control them.
Chevenement said solemnly: "From the moment the Austrian army entered the Wallonia region, the so-called 'demilitarized zone' no longer existed!"
He looked meaningfully at the objection. Committee members:
“Those Dutch-speaking and German-speaking guys must be aiming at Walloon’s coal mines and factories.
“Please don’t forget, we are all French speaking. ”
The hall that was noisy just now suddenly became quiet.
The members of these chambers of commerce are all major shareholders of coal mines and iron smelting plants in Wallonia.
As the largest shareholder of Wallonia, the French government will definitely safeguard their rights and interests.
The Austrians who came as spoilers have a high probability of taking away their assets!
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Compared with the little "independent administrative power" of the Walloon District, their family background is the most important.
In other words, if there is no money, administrative power will soon be lost.
After more than ten seconds of silence, a member of the Chamber of Commerce raised his hand: "I agree to invite the French army to enter Wallonia."
Some people immediately followed suit: "I also agree. ."
"Let the French do it. When the Austrians governed Wallonia, the situation was far worse than it is now."
"Yes, the Flemish people will not let us do it. Better. Only the French army can change this situation."
There were already a quarter of French people in the Chamber of Commerce, and they responded one after another. For a time, the opposition was completely suppressed.
Chevenemant signaled everyone to be quiet and waved: "Then, let's start voting now. Those who agree to ask the French government for help, please raise your hands."
Of all the 78 committee members in the hall , 75 people raised their hands.
......
At noon that day, Joseph received the news from the Walloon Chamber of Commerce through the Shapp signal machine requesting France to send troops to Wallonia.
Of course, the official documents are still on the way at this time, but this does not affect his mobilization of troops at all.
Only 40 minutes later, the French Southern Netherlands Front stationed in Lille set off and rushed towards Wavre.
At the same time, Artois's Royal 4th Infantry Division entered a state of rapid march, heading north along the wooden track line.
The total strength reached 23,000.
……
Go to Hesse.
Marburg.
Count Segur, assistant to the French Foreign Minister, was scolding Austria in front of hundreds of nobles for tearing up the agreement, sending troops to the Walloon Demilitarized Zone, and causing serious damage there.
Suddenly, his assistant walked quietly behind him and whispered a few words to him.
Segur nodded, turned around, waved vigorously to the Hessian nobles, and said impassionedly:
"The Walloon Chamber of Commerce has officially requested the French army to enter Wallonia three days ago to protect their demilitarized zone status!"
(End of this chapter)