Chapter 35 Under the City of Amsterdam
In the middle section of the Champs Elysées, it is 600 meters away from the Tuileries Palace, looking south towards the Louvre Museum.
In front of Joseph was a jewelry store with a shop area of about twenty meters wide. However, the door was ajar at this time, and the signboard of Nagelt Jewelry Store was still there.
According to what Eman has learned, the owner of this store is married to a Spaniard, so he plans to sell the property and move to Spain.
Joseph went into the store and took a look. The store was very new. It had two floors, each floor was about 500 square meters. It had thick oak floors. The corners of the room and the stair handrails were all wrapped in brass. The decoration was very elegant, showing a kind of restraint. and exquisite beauty.
Without much delay, he quickly reached an agreement with the owner's client and bought the store for 36,000 livres.
This price is relatively reasonable for this most prosperous commercial district in Paris.
Emang went to complete the transaction procedures, while Joseph looked around and said to the architect who came with him: "Mr. Alchid, I also need your help to make some adjustments to this store."
Yes, the Crown Prince also has an architect in his exclusive entourage. He usually has nothing to do, but today he finally came into use.
"Please do as you wish, Your Highness."
Joseph pointed to the wall facing the street: "These walls are all replaced with glass. The bigger the better, so that pedestrians can see the store at a glance on the street."
“All these wooden containers were replaced and some one-meter-high glass display cabinets were customized. From now on, the products will be placed directly on them so that customers can touch them at any time.
"The lights also need to be replaced, using the crystal chandeliers in my living room. To ensure absolute lighting, every corner of the store must be brightly lit.
"The exterior walls are all painted in fresh and soft tones..."
Alchid kept recording in his notebook until Joseph turned to him and asked: "That's basically it. How long does it take to complete these changes? How much does it cost?"
The architect hurriedly looked through the records and said hesitantly: "About half a month, it will cost 3,000 livres."
Joseph nodded: "I'll give you 5,000 livres and finish it within a week. Can you do it?"
"Yes, Your Highness, I will try my best to complete it." Alchid thought for a moment and then said, "Your Highness, please excuse me for saying that even if Angel Water is placed in the grocery store in Xinqiao, it will be sold out. And this store is already very good, why do you need to spend so much money to decorate it?”
Joseph smiled and said, "Because in addition to angel water, this store also sells products."
Alchid was a little surprised: "You want to sell this store?"
"No, I'm talking about another form of merchandise. Just treat this store as a sample."
…
Netherlands.
In a military camp 4 kilometers south of Amsterdam.
An old man wearing a long green military uniform with half-white hair and a chin slightly tilted to the left frowned and looked at the map. After a long while, he finally said: "I think we should abandon Amstelveen now and retreat south of Amsterdam to use the river. stop……"
The middle-aged man in a dark white military uniform beside him immediately interrupted him loudly and said in a sarcastic tone: "Colonel Walster, my boys and I have traveled thousands of miles to come to the Netherlands not to see you. The army practices 'evade the enemy' tactics."
Wolster was very vocal in the Dutch army, but facing the soldier with only the rank of captain in front of him, he did not dare to get angry. He just emphasized his tone and said: "Mr. Dubois, the Prussian army's forward is only 15 meters away from Amstelveen." Kilometers, and there is no fortress to defend in the entire town, do we have to wait here to die?"
Amstelveen is a town immediately south of Amsterdam. If this place is lost, Amsterdam will be completely exposed to the Prussian army.
The French captain continued to say sarcastically: "Fortress? Your army can't even defend a fortress as strong as Utrecht. Even if Amstelveen has ten fortresses, I'm afraid it won't be of much help to you."
Walster's face turned red: "What's the use of talking about this? The most important thing now is to decide how to fight the enemy!"
"Offensive," Dubois shouted, "French soldiers have always used offense to crush the enemy!"
A Dutch officer next to him hurriedly said: "Mr. Dubois, including the temporarily recruited soldiers, our total number is only more than 9,000, but the Prussian army opposite has more than 20,000. In this case, attacking is tantamount to suicide. .”
Dubois smiled: "Twenty thousand is the number of Prussian troops, and they certainly don't have that many forwards who can get here.
"More importantly, thanks to the fact that you retreated too quickly, the Prussian army pursued them at high speed for more than ten days. Since the Dutch waterways are dense, most of their artillery cannot keep up with the forward troops.
"And we have more than ten cannons!"
Walster looked at him with wide eyes: "Do you really want to attack the Prussian army?!"
"Why not?" Dubois also looked back at him, "The Prussian army must not have expected that the Dutch army, which had been retreating, would dare to suddenly counterattack and thus neglect to take precautions. This is our opportunity."
Walster felt a little uncomfortable being stared at by him, and lowered his head and said: "No matter how brave your soldiers are, even if they are equipped with cannons, they attack so rashly..."
Dubois shook his head and said: "No, not my soldiers, but yours."
"Me, my people? How can this be done..."
Dubois interrupted him again: "It's your people, and you have to use new soldiers to attack the Prussian forwards. Then let them pretend to be defeated... Oh, they should definitely be defeated."
"And my men and your main force will wait for the Prussians to catch up in the narrow area between the Sibera River and Lake Abcaud. All my artillery will be deployed here."
Several Dutch officers' eyes lit up when they heard this, and the image of the Prussian army being suddenly ambushed and fleeing in a panic appeared in their minds.
They have never won a battle since Prussia intervened in the Netherlands, and they are extremely eager to win at this moment.
Walster frowned and shook his head: "Even if we can really defeat the Prussian forward, it will be useless. Their main force will arrive soon, and we will not be able to hold on by then.
"The task given to me by the Federal Provincial Council must be adhered to for five days."
Dubois corrected him: "Before we can hold on for five days, we need to win a battle to repel the Prussian attack. Otherwise, if you retreat all the way to Holon, you will be able to 'hold' for more than a week."
He said and looked at the young officer with curly hair and a sword-like nose standing aside: "Andre (Note 1), how long do you think it will take for the main Prussian army to arrive in Amsterdam?"
The young officer held his head high and said: "Sir, if we let them march, they will be able to cross Amstelveen before dark tomorrow. But if their logistics supply line can be disturbed, then this time will be greatly delayed. "
"Very good." Dubois cast an approving look, "Then I'll leave this task to you."
"yes!"
Walster was surprised and said: "Second Lieutenant Davout only has more than 60 cavalry, how can he attack the Prussian supply line?"
"No, more than 60 people." Dubois smiled and shook his head, "And your 650 cavalry."
[Note 1: André Davout is a fictional character requested by readers, and is set to be the brother of the famous historical general Louis-Nicolas Davout. 】
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