Chapter 650 Sports Meeting (asking for monthly pass)

Chapter 651 Sports Meeting (please vote for me)

Prince Poniatowski immediately raised his head and looked at Sieyès:

"What do you mean?"

"Prussians." The latter raised his hand and pointed at Gdansk in the northwest of Poland on the map. "I guarantee that as soon as Russia declares war on you, William II will attack here immediately."

"Although I understand your caution, all current signs indicate that Prussia has not betrayed the 'Pope Alliance'." The prince retorted politely, "In fact, His Majesty William II sent a letter a few months ago A personal letter expressing enthusiastic support for our country’s new constitution.”

Although Joseph had long warned the Poles to be wary of Prussia, William II was so well disguised that it was difficult for the Poles to become suspicious.

Just like recently, Polish intelligence agencies also noticed Russia's military changes, so when France warned that Russia would invade, they did not hesitate to start actively preparing for war.

But there was no movement of troops or logistics on the Prussian side, and it didn't look like there was going to be a war at all.

Of course, at this time, only Joseph in the world probably knew that William II had no intention of launching a large-scale war, but wanted to wait for Russia to attract all the Polish forces before launching a sneak attack from behind.

Historically, Prussia did not have many large-scale gatherings. It casually gathered tens of thousands of eastern garrison troops and almost went on an armed tour all the way to 50 kilometers west of Warsaw.

If it weren't for the purpose of leaving Poland a breath as a buffer zone against Russia, Prussia could directly destroy Poland at that time.

Prince Poniatowski continued:

"To tell you the truth, the plan formulated by the Federal Military Commission to deal with the eastern invasion also requires the Prussian army to enter the Livino area to deal with the Russians."

Sieyès suddenly remembered one of the key points in the plan to assist Poland's defense that the Crown Prince had given him, and asked hurriedly:

"So there are still Prussian officers serving in the Polish army?"

"That's true. Although I have tried my best to transfer foreign commanders from the army, there are some officers who have made important contributions to Poland and it is difficult for me to let them go."

Sieyès sighed secretly and tried to persuade him for a while. Seeing that the prince was only perfunctory, he gave up the matter and moved on to the next topic:

"So, do you think it will be possible to expand the standing army to 100,000 in half a year?"

"This... is indeed difficult to do." The prince said helplessly, "The Austrian side no longer needs our army to assist in countering the rebellion, so military expenses and training have become very difficult.

"The Federal Military Commission plans to recruit an additional 20,000 soldiers before the end of this year."

Sieyès could do nothing but nod. After all, this was the limit of Poland.

He continued: "What about the construction of the defense line on the east side?"

"Complete preparations have been made along the line from Minsk to Pinsk to Volyn. The Military Commission plans to build some bastions along the river east of Volyn."

"Pinsk? Warren?" Sieyès asked in surprise, "Are you saying that you are ready to abandon the west bank of the Dnieper River and the entire Podolia area?"

"If a full-scale war breaks out with Russia, this is the only feasible defense plan." The prince was obviously very lonely.

Pinsk has almost reached the hinterland of Poland, which means that Poland is prepared to lose its entire southeastern territory if the war begins.

But eastern Poland from Turov to Winnitsa is an extremely barren area. If we hold on there, we may not even be able to collect logistical supplies on the spot.

The entire eastern part of Poland, that is, the area from Minsk to Okstatia, can be held. Other places are either extremely poor or have been infiltrated by Russia into a sieve, which is not suitable for fighting at all.

An hour later, Sieyès left the Tin-Ding Palace with a frown on his face.

When he returned to his residence, he immediately wrote a letter to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince about Poland's poor war preparations. At the end of the letter, he deeply blamed himself for his "dereliction of duty."

In fact, he doesn't know that compared to the situation in Poland in history, it is much better now.

At that time, let alone preparations for war, Poland was still debating whether Russia would invade. Parliamentarians were busy improving the constitution, and the Tagovica Alliance was already actively buying troops and preparing to welcome the Tsar's "King's Army" into Poland.

More than half a month later. Paris.

In the office on the second floor of the Tuileries Palace, Joseph looked at Sieyès' letter and rubbed his eyebrows in pain.

When a country is desperate to run towards the abyss, you really can't hold them back.

According to the current situation, Poland can at most persist for one or two years longer than it has in history, and will eventually be partitioned.

The focus now is how to make Poland completely listen to its own arrangements.

Joseph thought for a long time, raised his hand and signaled to Emang: "Please inform General Berthier immediately and ask him to recall the military advisory group sent to Poland."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Not long after, Berthier hurried to Joseph's office and saluted: "Your Highness, are we going to adjust our strategic attitude towards Poland?"

"Of course not."

"Then recall the advisory group..."

Joseph sighed and said: "Let Prince Poniatowski come to Paris, I have to meet him.

"It happens that the Future and Peace Games will be held here next month. If he comes, he will not attract anyone's attention. Polish officers can also come with him as his entourage."

"I follow your orders, Your Highness."

…

May 15, 1792.

Several ordinary-looking black carriages passed through downtown Paris.

In the middle car, Prince Poniatowski stared at the scene outside the window with wide eyes, and his heart was shocked and envious.

It had only been three years since he last came to Paris, and this place was completely different from what he remembered.

There were magnificent gas street lamps on both sides of the street. Vendors set up stalls under awnings with uniform appearance. All shops were freshly painted, and colorful flags with "Welcome to Paris" or "First Future and Peace Games" were inserted outside.

In the middle of the street was a straight wooden track. From time to time, huge buses and horse-drawn carriages sped along the track.

Every once in a while, you can see cleaners cleaning the street. The entire street is made of expensive asphalt mixed with gravel, clean and flat, without any mud. Public toilets and trash cans can be seen everywhere, resulting in no garbage on the ground.

Of course, he didn't know that the asphalt road in Paris is not expensive.

In the more than one year since the gas street lamps in Paris were put into use, a primary coal tar processing industry has been established.

In the process of distilling coal to produce gas, a large amount of coal tar is produced. After the coal tar is roughly refined, at least one-third will become asphalt.

This asphalt belongs to the category of industrial waste. Compared with transporting asphalt from the Middle East or even the Caribbean to pave the road, the cost of asphalt pavement in Paris is almost negligible.