Chapter 344: Hero of France
Chapter 345 Hero of France
Leo, the commander-in-chief of the Austrian army in the Southern Netherlands, looked even more bitter.
Along with the reinforcements, there was also 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 lead the enemy into the Luxembourg area if necessary.
However, during the time Leo had been in contact with the French army, he knew better than anyone how cunning these French people were.
They encouraged themselves to fight a decisive battle with Blücher all day long, but set up their camps behind the Austrian army and began to build breastworks along the border between Luxembourg and Liege, which was a simple defensive fortification, as if they were ready to defend Luxembourg to the death.
Previously, Leo used the excuse of insufficient troops to delay for nearly half a month. With the arrival of Joseph II's 8,000 reinforcements, he was pushed to the edge of the knife by the emperor and the French.
He looked at Lefebvre again, pleading in his tone: "My dearest friend, when I fight the Prussians, you will definitely reinforce me, right?"
He had seen the combat effectiveness of Lefebvre's regiment, especially in the pursuit battle, when more than 2,000 French troops beat nearly 5,000 people in Altmann's corps and fled in panic. If he had his help, perhaps he could have fought against Blücher's 14,000 troops.
Lefebvre was waiting for this sentence, but he looked very embarrassed: "I am very happy to help you, General. We have forged friendship with blood on the battlefield. But you know that I cannot mobilize the army without authorization. To be honest, I have received orders to garrison along the De Freitier Mountains."
"But..."
Before Leo continued to beg, Lefebvre approached his old friend very intimately and whispered: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is in Clervaux, maybe you can go and ask him. His Royal Highness is warm-hearted and easy to talk to."
...
Clervaux, northern Luxembourg.
The scene on both sides of the road was quite depressed. When the Prussian army retreated from here, they took away all the supplies they could loot. Not only were all kinds of livestock "requisitioned", but even some people's sheets and quilts were taken as bandages.
Joseph looked at the Luxembourg farmers who kept passing by the car window, but he was worried about military expenses.
This morning he received a report from Brian from Paris, which detailed the expenses of the French army in various places during this period of time.
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, the total expenditure has reached tens of millions of livres due to the fierce fighting.
This is without counting the pensions for the wounded and dead soldiers, and the large amount of supplies provided by Joseph II to the French army in Silesia.
If the pensions are included, the military expenditure during this period is about 17 million livres.
It has only been more than a month.
Joseph frowned slightly. He knew very well that in order to achieve his strategic plan for the Southern Netherlands, the war might last for half a year or even a year.
The military expenditure required is definitely more than 100 million livres.
You know, in order to support the American War of Independence, France spent a full 1.3 billion livres in 8 years! And in the first few years, it was just the "volunteer army" fighting small battles. The real large-scale intervention began in 1780 when Count Rochambeau led 6,000 French troops into the United States, and until the independence of the United States in 1783, the annual military expenditure exceeded 300 million livres.
War is a money-eating beast in any era.
Although victory in the war will bring huge dividends, France needs to invest a huge amount of money in advance.
If the operation is not done properly, the French finances, which have just crossed the line of life and death, may fall into the abyss again.
How to raise military funds?
According to the conventional operation of this era, it is generally to borrow from banks or private lenders, or issue war bonds, and increase war taxes.
Joseph couldn't help but sigh lightly, these are all pitfalls.
The first two methods will make the national finances bear a heavy interest burden-this kind of wartime loan with extremely high risks has an interest rate of more than 40%.
And raising taxes is even more harmful. He just tried his best to suppress the enthusiasm of the people in the old district to brush the Bastille copy, but he didn't want to lose all his previous efforts because of the high tax rate. What's more, Louis XV had already increased the military service tax, and it has not been cancelled after the war.
In his mind, he sorted out the means of raising large amounts of funds in the short term in the future.
The first thing he thought of was paper money.
It just so happens that the "banknotes" of the French Reserve Bank have not yet been officially announced as the only common currency in France, so they can be issued in part through this round.
And doing so is beneficial to the current economic situation in France - French industry is in a stage of rapid development. At this time, appropriate inflation can stimulate consumption and is conducive to the sales of goods.
Then he thought of the French Commercial Insurance Company, and the insurance industry in later generations is an important pillar of the financial system.
It's just that at the end of the 18th century, the insurance industry had not yet developed. In addition to marine insurance, there were only fire insurance and house insurance.
The market is too small...
Joseph thought of this, but suddenly laughed and shook his head.
Isn't the thinking rigid?
A small market means a large market gap! If users have no demand, then guide them to have demand.
If the insurance industry can be promoted, then one or two years of military expenditure will not be a problem at all. There will even be surplus funds to invest in industrial construction.
He immediately took out a pen and paper and quickly wrote on the small wooden table in the carriage: health insurance...
Commercial insurance...
Financial insurance...
Soon, Joseph's motorcade stopped near the Guards camp in the north of the town, and a team of soldiers on guard immediately ran over and lined up in front of the Crown Prince's carriage to greet him.
From the soldiers' heads held high and their backs straight, one can see how high their morale is at this moment.
Joseph smiled and nodded to the soldiers, and then asked a major who came to greet him to take him directly to the wounded camp.
A farmhouse in the suburbs has been temporarily rented as a field hospital, and 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, and she heard that the Crown Prince was coming, so she knelt down to Joseph from a distance and was called away by the shouts of the wounded.
A large number of Luxembourg locals were hired to help. Luxembourg is located at the junction of France, Germany and Nepal. The people here are all language masters, and they have basically mastered three foreign languages since childhood, so there is no obstacle to coming to work.
At the same time, they also had no opinion on who would rule the country.
When the wounded saw the Crown Prince coming, they all struggled to stand up and salute, but were stopped by the accompanying officers. Instead, Joseph saluted them earnestly with his hat, and said sincerely: "You are the heroes of France, and France is glorious because of your sacrifice and dedication!"
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