Chapter 866 Thinking of the Roman era
As the Minister of Finance, Brian looked unwilling to worry about the huge expenditure, but instead seemed quite excited: "Military expenditure is indeed very high, Your Highness, but this is absolutely necessary.
"I talked to Duke Broy, and we all believed that if the war goes well, at most two years, or even one and a half years, we could completely conquer the German region!
"Our army will eventually reach the Vistula River..."
Joseph immediately supported the forehead, and the Vistula River was already on the Polish border. Is your Excellency the Chief Minister ready to swallow Western Europe and Central Europe in one go? !
He looked at Mirapo and Venio with inquiring eyes.
The two nodded immediately and agreed.
Joseph couldn't help but sigh.
He had been with the army before, thinking that this kind of war fanaticism only existed in the military. Now it seems that even the French cabinet was blinded by the previous series of great victories.
Well, France is really a martial country.
From this point of view, Napoleon would have been in trouble in history, and the fight to Moscow should be the result of the joint promotion of the whole country.
But Joseph knew very well that this military-winning theory was a very dangerous concept.
He looked at Brian seriously and said, "Why do we occupy the entire Germany?"
"Why?" Brian was stunned for a moment and said, "Our army is invincible. Your Highness, now is the best opportunity to let the glory of France shine across Europe!"
Joseph shook his head slightly: "Do you think our country's national strength is enough to support us in doing this?"
"Of course..."
Joseph interrupted him: "No, Archbishop Brian, it is far from enough.
"I believe that if the whole country is devoted, our heroic army will have the potential to defeat all the main opponents of the continent until it captures Berlin and Vienna. ”
The eyes of Brian and others suddenly flashed with ecstasy, but they heard the prince’s words change:
“But that is not what we need at the moment.
"Please always remember that in competition between countries, war is only one of the determinants, and politics, economy and culture jointly affect the final victory or defeat. "What we want is real territory, a province that recognizes ourselves as French and is loyal to the French king, rather than a lot of 'problem areas' that are constantly rioting. "Occupy Germany will only cause our country's finances to continue to consume in maintaining public order in the occupied areas. Please don't forget that before that, we had almost exhausted our national strength due to large-scale wars. "There is only one final result, that is, the riots drag down our country's finances, and we eventually had to withdraw from those places. "
Joseph didn't say anything, that is, this kind of occupation will accelerate the national awakening of Germany and eventually promote the great unification of Germany.
History has proved that Germany will become France's nightmare for more than a century, interrupting France's extremely important development opportunities several times.
Brian and Mirapo and others looked at each other, and asked with some confusion and reluctance: "Your Highness, but General Massena's troops are currently rushing to Switzerland and attacking Bavaria from there. "General Bertier's heavy troops gathered in Kobrentz, and they can cross the Rhine and occupy the North Rhine at any time. At the same time, Napoleon's army is also attacking Mantua...
"And these troops are constantly advancing according to your order. Isn't this going to launch a full-scale attack on Germany?"
Joseph couldn't help laughing and waved his hand, "You may have misunderstood my strategic intention."
He motioned Eman to take the map and put it on the table, and moved down the Rhine with his fingers: "Natural borders, gentlemen, this is our most pragmatic goal at present." The so-called "Natural border theory" means that France's most perfect territory should be: no matter which direction it extends, a natural barrier can be found.
To the south is the Pyrenees, to the east is the Alps, and to the west is the long coastline.
To the north is the narrow Rhine River.
The northern side of France is dominated by plains, which is also the reason why historical France has difficulty in effectively defending enemies from the north.
Only by obtaining the west bank of the Rhine can we defend the Rhine River and thus solve the problem of the northern border.
So since more than a hundred years ago, French politicians have believed that the Rhine River is the border given to France by nature.
Milabour continued: "Your Highness, we have obtained the West Bank of Rhine."
"Just just occupied," Joseph corrected him, "not really obtained."
He looked at the important officials in front of him: "In the next few years, the most core task of our country is to integrate the Rhineland region into France.
"The attack on Bavaria and the garrison of Kobrentz are all for the safety of the Rhineland. "Oh, at the cabinet meeting the day after tomorrow, I will discuss this matter with you in detail.
The most new ⊥小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小小"As for the direction of Northern Italy, we mainly increase our control over there and squeeze Austria out completely. "Of course, before that, Mantua will continue to consume Austria's power. ”
Brian still struggled a little: "Your Highness, have we stopped on the west coast of Rhine forever?"
Joseph looked at the continent of Guangrao on the map and smiled: "When the Rhineland can be used as the base for our country, when Italy becomes our backyard, when our country has the entire North Africa, and when our country's national strength is superior to the whole of Europe, we may try it."
A thought suddenly appeared in his mind. If there really is one day, the area controlled by France, except for the Ottoman area, is close to the Roman era...
Northern Italy.
Mantua Fortress.
Bolier watched countless French troops retreat like a tide, and was so excited that he almost burst into tears.
He was surrounded by Napoleon in this ghost place for more than a month. Every day, he could only eat the cured meat stored in the fortress and the sour wine. He endured the uninterrupted roar of the French army's cannons, and almost abandoned the fortress and surrendered several times.
Fortunately, the Wilmze Legion finally broke through the French's layers of obstacles and arrived here.
And that damn Napoleon was also very conscious and did not dare to confront the army at all. The Wilmze army had more than 30,000 people. Later, His Majesty the Emperor allocated 10,000 troops from Switzerland. In addition to the Argentau army retreating to the fortress, and the defeated troops he had successively gathered, the total force had reached as much as 70,000.
Napoleon only brought 50,000 troops and more than 10,000 Sardinian troops with low combat effectiveness, and had to distribute more than half of the troops to Verona on the north side to block the reinforcements sent by the Empire.
However, General Wilmze was very clever to divide his troops into three routes and quickly bypass Verona, making the French army on the north side useless.
The 25,000 French troops near Mantua also quickly retreated under the threat of the Wilmze Legion.
(This chapter ends)