Baron Tugut immediately said in disbelief, "Your Highness, excuse my boldness, but you aren't joking, are you?"šš³šššš¦š£šÆā“š£š¦š.š¤šš
Joseph gripped his arms firmlyāTugut was not tall, and Joseph, at one meter seventy, was only slightly shorterā and said earnestly, "I believe Her Majesty the Queen will certainly agree with my proposal. France and Austria are the closest of friends and naturally must do everything in their power to help each other through difficult times!"
The eyes of the Austrian Foreign Minister sparked with light, and he nodded excitedly, "Yes, you are absolutely right! The Franco-Austrian alliance is forever the most steadfast of allies!"
"If that's the case, then I shall rush to the Palace of Versailles overnight and request His Majesty for military aid for Luxembourg."
Jospeh saw him preparing to rise and hurriedly stopped him, "We must block BlĆ¼cher's offensive as soon as possible to prevent Luxembourg from falling. Traveling to Paris and back will take too long."
"What do you suggest then?"
Jospeh assumed a thoughtful stance, "In that case, you should return to Vienna immediately. Please implore His Imperial Majesty to issue a decree, commanding the Austrian Army and officials in Luxembourg to fully cooperate with me in sniping the Prussians, whilst recalling the troops planned for reinforcement in the Southern Netherlands to continue attacking Silesia with all their might.
"As for the Palace of Versailles, you can simply send an aide to deliver the state letter to Her Majesty the Queen."
Baron Tugut wanted to nod but hesitated, "Isn't it too disrespectful to have only an aide meet Her Majesty?"
"State affairs are of paramount importance!" Joseph spoke with righteous indignation, "Rest assured, Her Majesty will definitely understand your predicament. Besides, I can send someone to accompany your aide to Paris to explain the situation on your behalf."
"I am truly grateful to you!" Tugut immediately bowed deeply to Joseph, "Austria will forever remember your kindness!"
Vienna.
Schonbrunn Palace.
Joseph II put down Tugut's secret letterāhis Foreign Minister had just arrived in Bavaria; the letter had been brought back by a messenger galloping for three daysāand his pale face finally showed a faint smile as he said to Leopold II:
"Our sister agrees to go snipe at BlĆ¼cher. With this, we can continue to maintain a superior troop strength in Silesia. Oh, tell General Leao to accept the command of the French Army."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Leopold II nodded, but then added in a grave tone, "Your Majesty, could the large entrance of French troops into the Lowlands cause any trouble?"
The Walloon Region of the Southern Netherlands predominantly speaks French and is very close to France. Austria had always been wary of France's influence there.
Joseph II sighed wearily, "General Wilmze failed to properly deploy at Luxembourg and hurried off to Silesia, leaving a gap for the Prussians to exploit...
"What else can we do now, except rely on the French Army? Should we abandon the Silesian front?"
Upon hearing this, Leopold II lowered his head.
Austria had already suffered three defeats in the Silesian Wars, and the people could not bear a fourth. It was a critical time as his brother was alienating the noble class with his vigorous reforms. Another defeat at the front might very well lead to great turmoil internally.
"You need not worry," Joseph II waved his hand dismissively, "The Prussian Army in the Southern Netherlands, along with the rebels, totals over thirty thousand men. Twenty-thousand French soldiers, if they can hold Luxembourg, will have done very well; it is unlikely they will advance into the Southern Netherlands. Enjoy exclusive content from freewebnovel
"And as long as we resolve the battle in Silesia quickly, the Prussians will naturally withdraw from the Southern Netherlands."
Leopold II might have acknowledged his brother's point, but he still felt somewhat reluctant, lamenting, "But Luxembourg..."
Joseph II had expended all his energy and had lain down, "Consider it a trade of interests; giving Luxembourg to the French is also acceptable."
After all, as long as they could take the rich Silesia, everything would be worth it.
Moreover, without the help of the French, Austria would lose not only the Southern Netherlands but also Luxembourg. Trading the small Luxembourg for the Southern Netherlands, which was more than ten times larger, was not too bad a deal.
Leopold II left the Emperor's bedroom, pondering over how to recruit more troops for Silesia, and before he knew it, he had arrived back at his own quarters.
The moment he entered, he heard his wife's angry, shrill scream: "How could she do this?! This is an insult to me, and to Austria as well!" Then came the sound of porcelain crashing heavily to the floor.
Leopold II furrowed his brow and looked towards the guard standing at the door. The guard immediately lowered his head in panic and muttered softly, "Your Majesty, she went into your study..."
Leopold II immediately thought of something, hurried into the room, and headed straight for the study. There, he saw a group of maids and servants standing in the corner, looking terrified, while several antique porcelain pieces that had been on the table were now shattered on the floor, leaving only a letter on the vast table.
The letter Marie Antoinette wrote to His Majesty the Emperor, which had made no mention of the Crown Prince of France's marriage. However, the Emperor, due to his failing health, had entrusted it to his care. Then war broke out, and he had not had a chance to attend to it.
Unexpectedly, Ludovica had found it.
Leopold II cleared his throat, stepped forward to pick up the letter, and then held his wife's hand, consoling her, "My dear, Clementine is still far too young to bear children, and it's normal for my sister to have such concerns. The Emperor has decided not to bring the matter up again."
"Why shouldn't he bring it up?! Didn't you and your brother both say this matter would certainly be settled?" Ludovica yanked her hand away, her voice filled with anger, "I've already told almost all the noble ladies and celebrities that Clementine would become the Crown Princess of France, and received countless congratulations..."
"Now, you're telling me to drop the matter?!" She pointed at her husband's nose, her voice fierce, "You coward! How can you even call yourself a husband and a father? That woman has insulted us, and you don't dare seek justice for us!"
"Marie Antoinette!" she screamed until her throat was hoarse, "One day, I will make her pay back this humiliation a hundredfold!"
Leopold II tucked the letter into his pocket, shaking his head, "Don't be like this, Ludovica, she is my own sister. And in fact, there never was any talk of engagement from the side of the Palace of Versailles, you spread the news on your own..."
"Sigh, forget about it. We will find Clementine another suitable match, and His Majesty will surely provide her with a generous dowry and ensure her happiness in the future."
"No, how can I forget! You care about family ties, why doesn't she?" Ludovica's chest heaved violently, her eyes full of coldness, "I want that woman to realize the grave mistake she made!"
Leopold II shook his head helplessly, whispering orders to the servants to take good care of the lady of the house, while he turned and headed to the council hall. Austria had a myriad of affairs waiting for his attention, and he couldn't afford to be distracted by such trivial family matters.
ā¦
France, Verdun.
Just as the Austrian Foreign Minister left, Joseph immediately ordered the Guard Corps to move towards Luxembourg.
He knew that Joseph II had no other choice but to rely on France to deal with Blucher.
Upon the spacious and smooth King's Avenue in France, nearly twenty thousand soldiers of the French Army were marching in a column too long to see the end, advancing briskly amidst resounding songs.
In the middle of the troop, the young Napoleon, much like one nestled close to a lover, clung tightly to a tall ammunition wagon, pulled by four horses.
Well, others were sitting on the wagon, but he preferred to walk beside it, so he could admire and touch it from every angle.
It was the latest model of Mounted Artillery produced by Joseph's gemstone carriage company.
Joseph had instructed craftsmen to prototype it over half a year ago, and it was only completed a few months back. The first batch consisted of more than twenty units, all issued to the Guard Corps.
This Mounted Artillery, resembling a long wooden hut in size, was based on Napoleon's later horse-mounted cannons, of course, with some necessary improvements.
The concept of Mounted Artillery was created by Frederick the Great during the Seven Years' War.
Simply put, Mounted Artillery involved providing enough horses for cannons and gunners, enabling full mobility by dragging them along, which significantly increased the movement speed of the cannons and greatly enhanced the flexibility of artillery tactics.
However, early Mounted Artillery had various shortcomings. For example, the process of repeatedly tying and untying the ropes connecting the cannons to the horses led to long preparation times.
The prevailing view of the era held that Mounted Artillery took more than a third longer to get ready to fire compared to regular artillery.
Additionally, Mounted Artillery was not suitable for heavy cannons. Usually, it was very difficult to move cannons weighing more than 6 pounds rapidly with horsesā12-pound cannons required eight horses to drag, and it was already a sign of well-trained soldiers to keep the horses from going astray, let alone trying to move quickly.
Therefore, at the end of the 18th century, most countries primarily equipped regular artillery, supplemented by a small number of Mounted Artillery units.
However, Napoleon, a genius with cannons, pushed the advantages of Mounted Artillery to the extreme, even converting all cannons in certain corps to Mounted Artillery.
He had numerous innovations in the use of Mounted Artillery. For example, Mounted Artillery would use their speed to quickly advance, fire a few volleys in the face of the enemy, and then retreat swiftly. Or he would assign Mounted Artillery to cavalry units, rushing and bombarding alongside the cavalry.
In summary, after him, the importance countries placed on Mounted Artillery increased exponentially.
But at this moment, Napoleon was still a newbie drooling over the Mounted Artillery wagon.
In history, Napoleon's Mounted Artillery had two primary core pieces of equipmentāthe horse-drawn cannon and the ammunition wagon.
The object that Napoleon was currently "cuddling and licking" was the later common "big top wagon" or ammunition wagon.
This device integrated all the logistic support for the cannon, allowing for the rapid deployment of ammunition and gunpowder during combat and quick storage when moving, ready to be dragged away by horses.
This was much more convenient and time-saving than Frederick's Mounted Artillery's use of separate gunpowder wagons, ammunition wagons, and tool wagons, all of which had to be harnessed with horses.
Speed was Mounted Artillery's greatest advantage.
Joseph also integrated the structure of modern trucks into these wagons, adding wheel chocks and designing the gunpowder and cannonball modules with a slide structure. The lids of the boxes were fitted with automatic latchesādesigned by King Louis XVI himself, sturdy and reliable.
With these changes, the preparation time for firing the cannon was reduced by a significant seven or eight seconds compared to the original version in history.
Moreover, Joseph added six seats to the ammunition wagon for the gunners to sit on. Historically, the "big top wagon" didn't allow soldiers to ride; the gunners had to run beside it on foot.
But having a wagon and not riding it is something no one could endure. So the gunners sat on the roof of the ammunition wagon, essentially on the sloping French-style roof. Although their buttocks certainly suffered, they bore it if they wanted to slack off.
Joseph knew it would be exceedingly difficult to enforce the rule of not allowing gunners to ride, so he simply provided seats for them, which at most meant adding another horse. This also increased the mobility speed of the Mounted Artillery considerably.
As for the cannons, Joseph made some improvements there as well, mainly adding a type of coupler between the carriages, like the ones found between modern train cars.
Do not underestimate this modification; when the Mounted Artillery needed to relocate, it greatly reduced the time it took to harness the cannons to the horses, and the operation became more convenient.
Another addition was a winch on the gun carriage.
During cannon fire, horses had to be kept at a distance to prevent them from getting spooked. As such, a lot of time was wasted harnessing horses every time they switched between firing and moving.
Therefore, during Napoleon's era, the Mounted Artillery invented a unique operationāthe ropes connecting the horses to the cannons were left very long, and the harnesses were not removed during firing. That way, when they needed to maneuver, they only needed to tighten the ropes to be immediately on their way.
Joseph took it a step further by eliminating the need to gather the ropes; the horses would simply drag the long ropes and move directly, while the cannoneers slowly reeled in the ropes using the winch on the gun carriage.
This was truly a case of "ready to fight and run"!
Fondly touching the fascinating new Mounted Artillery wagon, Napoleon recalled the tactics of the Mounted Artillery he had trained and felt a surge of excitement within.
If these exquisite tactics and fine weapons could be used to equip the Corsican National Guard, it would greatly enhance their combat effectiveness.
He took a deep breath, thinking that coming to Verdun this time was absolutely the right decision.
The troops would soon reach Luxembourg, where they would battle the Prussians, and he would gain experience in actual combat, growing into a true General!
...
In the central western part of Luxembourg, Winceler.
Blucher, watching through his telescope as a hundred or so Austrians fled the town in a panic, said to the orderly officer without expression:š³šš²ššØššÆššš§šš¹.š°š¼š
"Leave one battalion to garrison, the rest rest in place for 1 hour, then continue south. Before tomorrow afternoon, I want to take Diekirch."
After crushing Leao's main forces, the fighting became extremely easy, to the point of boredom for him.
Just like the recent attack on Winceler, he only ordered a dozen rounds of artillery fire before the defending Austrians ran away.
It was predictable that tomorrow's assault on Diekirch would mostly be the same. And after taking it, the road to Luxembourg City would be unimpeded.
There should still be about 1,600 of Leao's troops left, while he had brought ten times the number of soldiers; taking Luxembourg City was without doubt.
His aide-de-camp suddenly rode over, handing him a document sealed with wax:
"General, from Potsdam, four days ago."
Blucher opened the seal and immediately frowned slightly, looking up at his aide-de-camp:
"The French have entered the war. Although General Delrisen defeated them at Legnica, this is a very dangerous signal." Discover hidden content at freewebnovel
He gave a flick of his reins:
"Order a faster march, we must resolve the situation here as soon as possible and then return to Silesia to reinforce His Grace the Duke."
Just then, two Hussars rode up quickly, shouting towards him:
"General, a large enemy force was spotted 2 miles to the south! Their numbers could be several thousand."
Blucher was startled by the news. Could it be Austrian reinforcements? How could they arrive so quickly?!