Chapter 369: Garbage Time on the Battlefield

Chapter 370 Garbage Time on the Battlefield

Karl II still looked puzzled: "But, there is no conflict between the French peasants and nobles at the moment."

Marquis Wellesley waved the spoon in his hand at him, as if it was his sword: "Then let's do something to break the peace between them."

"What do you mean?"

"We will promulgate a land redemption policy on behalf of the French government. I will mobilize the channels in Paris to publicize to the nobles that the French government will distribute land to farmers at a very low price."

Marquis Wellesley pointed to Van der Nott and said, "Your people will tell the French peasants that the king has decided to let them pay for the cost of supporting the nobles for hundreds of years.

"When both sides are extremely dissatisfied, you will unite with the French liberals and lead the peasants to revolt. France will surely fall into chaos!"

Van der Nott nodded excitedly, and then hesitated and said: "My Lord Marquis, but the French government will definitely come out to refute the rumors."

Wellesley smiled: "In this case, unless they officially announce the land redemption plan, no one will believe it no matter how they refute the rumors.

"And now any redemption plan is unlikely to satisfy both the peasants and the nobles. We will support whichever side's interests are affected by the plan.

"All France can get is a chaos sweeping the country!"

...

The city of Namur, south of Brussels.

Andre Davout, commander of the Moulins Corps, saw the Crown Prince coming to greet him from afar, jumped off his horse, stepped forward quickly, took off his hat and bowed: "You look really good, Your Highness. Luxembourg is now talking about the battle where you defeated the Hanoverians. You have almost become a legend!"

"Victory belongs to everyone in the Guards Corps." Joseph smiled and nodded in return, and patted his arm again, "I am completely relieved that the Moulins Corps has arrived in Brussels. Let's go, let's go into the city first. You can only rest for three days, and then we will go to the town of Lully for garrison."

"The Moulins Corps is at your service at any time! "Andre said loudly immediately.

Joseph received a report from the Palace of Versailles a few days ago, saying that the British Foreign Secretary will visit Paris in the middle of next month to discuss some important issues between the two countries.

Joseph estimated that the war in India must have hurt the British, and they came to seek peace. This matter is of great importance, and it is definitely not possible to leave it to my mother to deal with, so he decided to return to the country. In addition, he can also communicate with my mother about France's major strategies to prevent the danger of the last time the Russian ambassador tried to conclude a secret agreement.

The confrontation on the Brussels front has entered "garbage time" at present-France is unwilling to launch an attack, and Charles II cannot attack. Both sides casually fire a few shots at each other every day, and then withdraw their troops.

So even if he leaves the Southern Netherlands, there should be no problem here.

However, for the sake of safety, he still transferred two regiments of the Moulin Corps stationed in Luxembourg. Although the combat effectiveness of the Moulin Corps is not as good as the Guards Corps, it is more than enough to deal with the Hanover Army.

"How is the battle situation in Liege? "Joseph looked at Andre who was riding a horse with him.

"It's rather dull, I guess." Andre spread his hands. "Lefebvre complained every day about why he couldn't attack the Prussians. The Prussians built a long and narrow breastwork along the border between Liege and Long, and set up many cannons, but they haven't attacked for a long time. "

After learning that the Hanoverian army had been defeated and the front line had stabilized in the Brussels area, Blücher had lost the will to continue fighting - even if he could defeat Leo's Austrian army, he would be in a standoff with the French army in Brussels. What he wanted was to go to Silesia to make achievements, not to waste time in the Southern Netherlands!

However, some idiots in Prussia, probably Mollendorf and others, kept advising His Majesty the King that they could never accept the "humiliating situation" of being driven out of the Southern Netherlands by Austria.

Finally, he received an order from the King, asking him to repel the Austrian army in Luxembourg and reinforce Brussels as soon as possible.

Blücher's troops had been beaten up by the Guards Corps before, and their morale was low. After trying to attack Leo twice and being repelled, they lost the will to continue the attack.

Leo knew his own weight and was even more reluctant to attack. Lefebvre Received Joseph's order not to annihilate the Prussian army on a large scale.

So the battle in Liege also started "garbage time".

After Joseph got the details of the Liege-Luxembourg line from Andre, he was completely relieved.

The next morning, he took a car back to Paris.

The rail transit from Luxembourg to Verdun has begun to be built. As for Verdun, the wooden track has been built in the previous preparations.

After leaving Verdun, it takes half a day to take a carriage and then continue to the wooden track connecting Reims to Paris.

The whole journey took only a little more than 5 days, and nearly 2 days of it were delayed in the Southern Netherlands. Moreover, the driving on the wooden track was extremely stable. When he arrived in the northern suburbs of Paris, Joseph did not feel the fatigue he had when he went out before, and he could go to the Palace of Versailles to do business immediately.

Since the Palace of Versailles was not notified in advance, there was no ceremonial guard to greet him.

Joseph's motorcade passed through the streets of Paris quickly, and from time to time he could hear passers-by talking about the two great victories of the French army not long ago. Four or five children suddenly rushed out from the corner of the street, holding wooden sticks and making "bang bang" sounds, charging at another group of children.

Eman, who was sitting opposite the carriage, looked out the window and said to Joseph: "Your Highness, it is said that the most popular game among children in Paris recently is this "Prince vs. Prussians". I saw it in a letter from my father. My younger brother is 13 years old and still enjoys playing this."

He suddenly remembered that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was leading police reform when he was 13 years old, and he couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

"Maybe he will become an excellent soldier when he grows up." Joseph smiled, "and truly defeat the Prussian army on the battlefield."

Eman hurriedly said: "Thank you for your encouragement, Your Highness. I will definitely urge him to work hard!"

The car quickly drove into the Palace of Versailles. A court lady saw Joseph from the car window, and hurriedly picked up her skirt and ran to the Petit Trianon Palace, shouting to the queen's maid: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is back!"

Joseph did not wait for the nobles to gather around, and ordered the coachman to go directly to his mother's bedroom.

After Queen Marie continued to ask about his well-being for more than half an hour, and asked the servants to bring the Dutch-style desserts recently developed by the royal chef, Joseph finally found a gap to talk about business.