Chapter 345 The Hero of France
Leo, the commander-in-chief of the Austrian Army in the Southern Netherlands, looked even more bitter.
Along with the reinforcements came a secret letter from Joseph II to Luxembourg. The letter asked him to try his best to drag the French army into the battle with Prussia and Hanover, and to introduce enemy troops into the Luxembourg area if necessary.
However, through the period of contact with the French army, Leo knew better than anyone else how cunning these French people were.
They encouraged themselves all day long to fight Blücher, but they set up their military camp behind the Austrian army, and began to build breastworks along the border between Luxembourg and Liege, which was a simple fortification, as if they were preparing to defend Luxembourg. .
Previously, Leo delayed for nearly half a month on the excuse of insufficient troops. With Joseph II's 8,000 reinforcements in place, he was forced to the edge of a knife by the emperor and the French.
He looked at Lefebvre again, with a pleading tone in his voice: "My dearest friend, when I fight the Prussians, you will definitely reinforce me, right?"
He had seen the combat effectiveness of the Lefebvre regiment, especially in the pursuit battle, when more than 2,000 French troops defeated nearly 5,000 Altmann troops and fled. If he helps, maybe he can compete with Blücher's 14,000 troops.
Lefebvre was waiting for his words, but he put on a very embarrassed look: "I am very happy to help you, General. We have forged a friendship with blood on the battlefield. But you know, I can't do it without permission." Mobilize the troops. To tell you the truth, my orders are to garrison along Mount De Freitier."
"But……"
Before Leo could continue to beg, Lefebvre approached his old friend very thoughtfully and whispered: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is in the town of Clairvaux. Maybe you can go and beg him. His Highness is warm-hearted and easy to talk to."
…
Northern Luxembourg, town of Clervaux.
The scene on both sides of the road was quite depressing. When the Prussian army retreated from here, they took away all the supplies they could find. Not only were all kinds of livestock "levied", but even some people's sheets and quilts were used as bandages.
Joseph looked at the Luxembourg farmers who kept passing behind the car window, but he was worried about military expenses.
This morning he received a report from Brian from Paris, which detailed the expenditures of the French army in various places during this period.
Among them, the Tunisian army has been stationed for the longest time and has spent 4.5 million livres.
Although the French troops in Silesia and Luxembourg have only been mobilized for a month, due to the fierce fighting, the total expenditure has reached tens of millions of livres.
This is without counting pensions for casualties and the large amount of supplies Joseph II provided to the French army in Silesia.
If pensions are included, the military expenditure during this period is about 17 million livres.
This has only been a little over a month.
Joseph frowned slightly. He knew very well that to achieve his strategic plan for Southern Netherlands, the war might last for half a year or even a year.
The military expenditure required definitely exceeds 100 million livres.
You know, France spent a full 1.3 billion livres in eight years to support the American War of Independence! And in the past few years, it was just the "volunteer army" making small fuss. The real large-scale intervention began in 1780, when Count Rochambeau led 6,000 French troops to enter the United States, and ended in 1783, when the United States became independent. During this period, the annual military expenditure exceeded 300 million livres.
War is a gold-swallowing beast in any era.
Although victory in the war will bring huge dividends, France currently needs to invest massive amounts of money in advance.
If done improperly, France's finances, which have just crossed the line of life and death, may fall into abyss again.
How to raise military spending?
According to the conventional operations of this era, they generally borrowed money from banks or private lenders, or issued war bonds, and increased war taxes. Joseph couldn't help but sigh, these are all pitfalls.
The first two methods will put a heavy interest burden on the national finance - this kind of extremely risky wartime loan, the interest rate can even be as high as 40% or more.
And tax increases are even more harmful. He had just tried his best to suppress the enthusiasm of the people in the old district to clear the Bastille dungeon, but he did not want to waste all his previous efforts due to high tax rates. What's more, Louis XV had already increased the military service tax, which was never abolished after the war.
He mentally reviewed all the methods that future generations would use to raise large amounts of funds in the short term.
The first thing that comes to mind is banknotes.
It just so happens that the "bank notes" of the Reserve Bank of France have not yet been officially announced as France's only common currency, and some additional ones can be issued through this batch.
And doing so is beneficial to France's current economic situation - French industry is in a stage of rapid development. At this time, appropriate inflation can stimulate consumption and be beneficial to the sales of goods.
Then he thought of the French Merchant Insurance Company. The insurance industry in later generations was an important pillar of the financial system.
However, at the end of the 18th century, the insurance industry had not yet developed. In addition to navigation insurance, there were only fire insurance and house insurance.
The market is too small...
When Joseph thought of this, he suddenly laughed and shook his head.
Your thinking is rigid, right?
The market is small, which means there is a big gap in the market! If users don’t have needs, then guide them to generate needs.
If the insurance industry can be boosted, military spending for one or two years will not be a problem at all. There may even be surplus funds invested in industrial construction.
He immediately took out a pen and paper and quickly wrote on the wooden table of the carriage: health insurance...
Business insurance...
Financial insurance...
Not long after, Joseph's motorcade stopped near the Guards camp in the north of the town. A group of soldiers on guard immediately ran over and lined up in front of the Crown Prince's carriage to greet him.
From the soldiers' raised heads and straight backs, we can see how strong their morale is at this time.
Joseph smiled and nodded to the soldiers, and then asked a major who came to greet him to take him directly to the wounded barracks.
A farmhouse in the outskirts of the country has been temporarily rented as a field hospital. Together with the tents set up between the buildings, there are more than 300 wounded soldiers being treated here.
Perna was busy shuttling back and forth with the nurses when the Crown Prince came. She bowed to Joseph from afar and was called away by the shouts of the wounded.
A large number of native Luxembourgers were hired to help. Luxembourg is located at the junction of France, Germany and Nigeria. The people here are all language masters. They have basically mastered three foreign languages since childhood, so there is no obstacle to coming to work.
At the same time, there is not much opinion about who should rule the country.
When the wounded saw the Crown Prince coming, they all struggled to get up and salute, but were stopped by the accompanying officers. Instead, Joseph raised his hat to them and saluted them earnestly, and said sincerely: "You are the heroes of France, and France is glorious because of your sacrifice and dedication!"
(End of chapter)