#853 - British people, please watch out

Chapter 849: Englishmen, Watch Closely

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The day after the surrender ceremony, Duke Brunswick, with 400 soldiers—including dozens of cavalry and two cannons to emphasize their "complete establishment"—returned to Prussia under the courteous escort of the French army.

Meanwhile, Joseph also left Diekirch and returned to Paris.

There was nothing more in the Rhineland battle situation that required his attention.

The capture of Cologne Fortress by the French army, under the heavy siege of Masséna, was only a matter of time.

Once Cologne was under control, the entire Rhineland region would be completely cut off from Germany. Geldern, Aachen, Kleve, and other places would have no choice but to surrender without Allied reinforcements.

What Joseph was considering now was how to end the war and then begin to digest the spoils of war.

From Kleve and Cologne in the north to Mannheim in the south, France's gains in this war were enormous.

Including the entire Rhineland, the west bank of the Rhine River was now entirely in French hands.

In other words, France's long-awaited "natural border" had been achieved.

If managed well, France could defend itself based on the Rhine River in the future, and the country's strategic security would be greatly enhanced.

This was a huge achievement that could benefit the descendants of France!

Even if a powerful country emerged around France in the future, it would first have to face the natural barrier of the Rhine River if it wanted to launch an attack on France.

And France would no longer have to spend money and resources on building the Maginot Line.

The enemy shouldn't even think about attacking France by detouring through Belgium—Brussels was now French territory.

Of course, how to truly swallow the west bank of the Rhine River was by no means an easy task...

Just as Joseph was staring out the window in a daze, Lefebvre, who was sitting opposite him in the carriage with a bandage on his forehead, opened his mouth and said, "Your Highness, are you really planning to release those Prussian prisoners of war?"

Lefebvre was injured in the siege of Rhodeshausen—a cannonball overturned his warhorse, and he hit his head on a rock when he fell—so Joseph had him return to France for treatment in his convoy. After all, his "Gem Type XI" was far more comfortable and faster than the army's standard carriage.

Joseph nodded: "If Duke Brunswick can persuade Prussia to withdraw from the anti-French alliance, this is completely acceptable."

"In fact, I originally planned to send Mr. Talleyrand to Potsdam to exchange the release of prisoners for Prussian neutrality."

Lefebvre considered his words: "Your Highness, but if Prussia breaks its promise and puts these troops back into the war against our country..."

Joseph smiled: "You don't need to worry. For Prussia, France is currently just a distant and difficult opponent."

"And Austria is a threat right under their noses."

"If Prussia has only the last bit of usable force left, they will definitely use it to deal with Austria."

"In fact, even if Wilhelm II doesn't want these 40,000 prisoners, I still have to forcibly send them back to him."

Lefebvre was good at fighting, but he was not very good at international politics, and immediately asked doubtfully: "Why is that?"

Joseph said: "Before we completely defeat the British, we must continue to maintain the balance between Prussia and Austria."

"Prussia lost more than half of its domestic forces in Luxembourg, and most of them were elite troops."

"If Austria, in conjunction with Saxony, Bavaria, and other countries, launches a siege against Prussia, Prussia is likely to be devastated. Then Austria will truly control the entire Germany."

Lefebvre clenched his fist and said loudly: "Your Highness, then why don't we just attack Vienna directly? Let Austria forever lose the ability to unify Germany!"

Joseph smiled and shook his head: "Believe me, occupying Austria will not do France any good. On the contrary, it will create a powerful enemy for us."

He knew very well that Napoleon had done what Lefebvre said in history.

The French army swept across the German states, pacified Prussia in the north, and destroyed Austria in the east. It seemed majestic and indeed seized a lot of war dividends in a short period of time.

But what was the result?

In the nineteenth century, when national consciousness was awakening, it was almost a fool's dream to truly annex the vast German regions. The Germans would inevitably unite against the enemy and drive the French out of the German regions.

And in this process, the originally divided German states no longer distinguished whether you were Prussian or Bavarian. Everyone would fight the French occupiers desperately under the banner of the German nation.

In the end, Germany moved towards great integration, and a powerful Germany was born.

Perhaps later there would be an "Iron Chancellor" or a failed art academy student who would launch a challenge against France, causing an entire generation of young French people to be shattered on the battlefield.

Even if France was very lucky and could really suppress the resistance in the German region time and time again, a huge France that stretched from the east coast of the Atlantic to the Balkans would inevitably arouse Russia's vigilance.

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Russia would immediately put aside its grievances with the Ottomans and join hands to "help" the Germans restore their country.

So the international situation that Napoleon faced when he decided to sweep across the German region was already doomed.

Some people always say that Napoleon's attack on Russia was a strategic failure, which ultimately led to complete defeat. If he had stopped when he achieved some gains, consolidated the occupied German territory, and lived in peace with Russia, what would have happened.

But in reality, that was an impossible situation.

Even if Napoleon did not march into Moscow, Russia would definitely send troops to Germany when it recovered—the Russians would never sit idly by and watch the emergence of a France that unified Western and Central Europe.

So for France, the best strategy was to maintain the fragmentation of the German region and increase the discord between the various states.

In their constant infighting, France could use "mediation" to obtain benefits.

Then, concentrate all efforts on dealing with Britain, the troublemaker.

Without Britain's support outside of Europe, France would no longer have any enemies in Europe. After a long period of steady management, it may not be impossible to reproduce the glory of Rome!

This summit was the "starting gun" he used to build his own camp.

Yes, compared to plundering a little wealth in the occupied territories, which is also hateful, this is the best way to obtain war dividends!

Britain can rely on its financial resources and control of maritime trade to pull out the anti-French alliance.

Then France can also use the victory of this war to create an anti-British alliance!