Chapter 364 The situation Joseph needs
Joseph looked at the report of the seized supplies and couldn't help but smile with satisfaction.
This battle met with almost no decent resistance from the Hanoverians - mainly because the previous roundabouts had messed up their deployment, making it impossible to organize a decent battle - and left nearly half of the logistics behind. The supplies saved at least one million livres for the Guards Corps.
And those British cannons are also treasures. They are very useful when used to assist forces that should not be publicized, such as Poland - they will not make people think of France.
Several Hanoverian officers were also captured, and Joseph calculated whether he could extract a ransom of two to three million livres. Of course, this is his asking price, and those northern German nobles may not be able to afford it.
"Your Highness, good news!" The voice of the staff officer came from behind.
Joseph, Berthier and others turned around together and saw the army staff officer arriving with a messenger with a smile on his face. As he walked, he shouted loudly: "Major Masson unexpectedly encountered the guard of Karl II and successfully captured Karl II." World!"
Everyone immediately let out a burst of admiration and cheers. Only Joseph stood there as if struck by lightning, unable to say a word for a long time.
My dear Battalion Commander Masson, do you want to be so brave...
I tried my best to let Hanover's main force escape, but you captured their commander. Charles II was also the governor of Hanover. In this way, Hanover will probably withdraw from the war in the Southern Netherlands.
The Austrians must be happy - Blücher is alone, and Austrian rule will soon be restored in the Southern Netherlands...
Although Karl II, as the governor of Hanover and the brother-in-law of the British King, the ransom would definitely be sky-high, but after all, Wallonia was more valuable.
Joseph quickly made up his mind, called the guard captain Kesode to his side, and whispered a few instructions.
The latter took half a step back and glanced at the Crown Prince in surprise, but he didn't ask anything. He just leaned forward and said, "Yes, Your Highness!"
…
The camp of Masson's regiment.
Kesode first read out the crown prince's commendation to the entire battalion and the promotion decisions of many meritorious personnel, and then pulled Ma Song into the military tent.
"What did you say? How can this be done!"
Ma Song's exclamation came from the tent. But he calmed down after seeing the personal letter from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and then whispered: "Yes, I understand."
At night, a group of Southern Netherlands rebels from the Walloon region slipped into the camp of Masson's Army. After quietly "killing" more than a dozen French guards, they "accidentally" discovered the imprisoned Karl II. World.
The French-speaking rebels rescued the governor of Hanover and others from the enemy camp, helped them onto the captured war horses, and bravely left behind sniper pursuers.
When Karl II heard the gunfire in the night sky, he couldn't bear to look back. He repeatedly recited the last words of those warriors to him in his heart, "Please help the rebels drive away the Austrians! We are watching you in heaven..." …”
Brussels.
In the hall on the first floor of the Parliament Building of the Southern Netherlands, dozens of MPs sat or stood with numb expressions, as if their souls had been sucked out by the devil, and sighed anxiously from time to time.
Suddenly a soldier pushed open the door and shouted loudly: "Marshal Karl II is back! And General Bronckhorst!"
The eyes of all the congressmen suddenly lit up. Vandernott rushed to the door in a few steps and asked urgently: "Really? Where are they?"
"Just south of the city."
Karl II didn't even change his military uniform, which was torn in many places, and went straight to his army station.
When van der Noort and other congressmen arrived, he was giving an excited speech to the Hanoverian soldiers. "We are not afraid of failure! We want the French and Austrians to know that they just won once by chance..."
"Prussia and Britain will send more reinforcements, and our army will roll over Luxembourg until it enters France!"
Bronckhorst on the side also echoed loudly: "The Netherlands will also increase its troops. The Southern Netherlands will be independent!"
Although the soldiers below were not moved by their impassioned spirit, Van de Noort and others were extremely excited and immediately said that they would recruit more people from the South Netherlands to join the battle.
Immediately, Karl II summoned senior military officers from Hanover, the Netherlands and the Southern Netherlands to deploy the defense of Brussels as quickly as possible.
The French and Austrian coalition forces will definitely take advantage of their victory to attack Brussels. They must hold off this wave.
In the afternoon, more than 13,000 Hanoverian soldiers who had escaped, plus 3,000 Dutch soldiers, and more than 18,000 Southern Netherlands National Guards quickly built several lines of defense in the south of the city and were ready.
However, the French army lazily launched an attack on Brussels three days later, and immediately retreated after being blocked.
In the period that followed, the two sides used the southern suburbs of Brussels as the dividing line and deployed their armies over a seven or eight-kilometer wide area, forming a confrontation.
The French army would fire a burst of artillery at the defenders every day, and sometimes the cavalry would circle a few times from a distance, making the defenders nervous.
…
Brussels front.
Guards Corps camp.
Joseph looked at the movements of Blücher's Army on the map and couldn't help but frown slightly: "The Prussians seem to want to retreat?"
"We think so too, Your Highness." Berthier nodded, "After all, their position in Liege is very unfavorable. If our army abandons Brussels and turns south, it will be able to form a double-team with General Leo against the Prussian army. ”
Joseph immediately pointed to the Meuse River on the north side of Liege and ordered: "Let Lieutenant Colonel Lefebvre stop the Prussians here. They must be kept in Liege, but do not fight with them."
"Yes, Your Highness!"
After the messenger left, Joseph thought for a moment and looked at Berthier: "Do you know who is the most radical among the top leaders of Prussia?"
The latter thought for a while and said: "Your Highness, it should be Molendorf and Driesen."
Joseph nodded and took note, asking his staff to discuss a detailed plan to intercept the Prussian army. He then went to the officers' tent and wrote a letter to the French diplomats in Prussia.
Blücher's army also played an important role, which was to hold back the Austrian army in the Southern Netherlands. Once the Prussians retreat, Rennes will inevitably come to participate in the confrontation in Brussels. In that case, the French army would not be the only one to have a military presence in Wallonia, which would have a very negative impact on Joseph's subsequent strategy.
After handing the letter to the messenger, Joseph took out the half-written letter he had previously sent to Emperor Joseph II of the Holy Roman Empire and began to write:
Dear uncle, you must have heard about the situation in the Southern Netherlands.
The French warriors paid heavy casualties and after an extremely hard battle, finally blocked the rebels in the Brussels area.
You know, including the Hanoverians and the Dutch, more than 35,000 enemy troops gathered in front of our army, which put extremely huge pressure on us.
(End of chapter)