I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1174 The Eve of War
"...I will command the secret police to guard outside the Gatchina Palace to prevent Paul from escaping. Count Zubov will lead his officers into the palace at dawn under the pretext of reporting urgent military intelligence. Then they will proceed through a side gate to Paul's bedroom. Rest assured, we have people along the way..."

After Count Palen finished explaining his coup plan, Zubov immediately frowned and said, "Wait, doesn't His Highness the Crown Prince participate in the operation?"

Count Palen smiled. "His Highness is just a frightened young man. He will wait in his room for the abdication edict."

Remembering Alexander's usual subservient manner in front of Paul I, the crowd stopped insisting—letting him lead the coup might cause him to back down in fear.

Immediately, the dozen or so people in the room began to swear an oath to "give up their lives to save the future of Russia."

South side of Gatchina Palace.

Alexander looked out the window at the Royal Guard cavalry patrolling back and forth, his face showing no sign of tension, but rather a cold excitement.

He said to his attendant beside him, "Vladislav, have someone keep an eye on Count Palen; he may be planning something unusual soon."

"As ordered, Your Highness."

Alexander let out a soft sigh and muttered to himself, "May all the best for these ambitious men."

He knew very well that Palen, Zubov, and others had all tried to use him, an "inexperienced and weak young man," to regain power because their careers had been blocked by their fathers.

And wasn't he using them to escape the crisis of his unstable succession?
In a small palace on Nevsky Prospekt in the center of St. Petersburg, a middle-aged man dressed as a merchant placed a routine report in front of Count Bobulinsky: "My lord, recently Count Palen, Count Zubov, and others have been in close contact with some military officers."

Count Bobrinsky frowned: "Is there something amiss at the Gatchina Palace?"

The merchant thought for a moment and said, "It seems that several senior officers of the Imperial Guard Cavalry Regiment were arrested by the secret police on suspicion of having ties with the 'Austrian liberals'."

Count Bobulinsky immediately stood up and said to his attendant, "It seems I must go see His Majesty the Emperor."

Yes, Joseph, concerned for the safety of Paul I, entrusted Count Bobulinsky to remain in St. Petersburg to monitor Zubov and his men.

This illegitimate son of Ye Er was probably the closest person to Paul I in all of Russia.

……

Paris.

Palace of Versailles.

“I’m afraid that’s not enough…” Joseph looked at the numbers on the map in front of him and couldn’t help but shake his head slightly.

Those figures represent the number of troops that countries such as Britain, Prussia, and Austria have recently amassed at the border.

Although war has not yet been declared, Europe is clearly experiencing the last moments of calm before the storm.

According to intelligence gathered by the Security Service, there were at least 14 Prussian troops on the north bank of the Rhine at that time. Nearly 20 Austrian soldiers were stationed to the east of Switzerland.

Although Britain's 5-strong army is currently still on the mainland, given the British Navy's projection capabilities, it could be deployed to the German region in just half a month.

In addition, Britain recruited 60,000 troops in the states of Hesse, Thuringia, and Brunswick, as well as 23,000 troops in Hanover.

Intelligence also suggests that Saxony may be forced to send troops as well.

In other words, the British mobilized a massive army of 47!
Moreover, Joseph knew that Prussia had not sent out all its domestic troops, and Austria had just begun implementing conscription, so it could still mobilize at least 10 soldiers. If Saxony joined the war, it would have around 5 troops.

In an extreme scenario, France could face an attack by more than 60 enemy troops.

Currently, the French Army Corps consists of only four army groups and one independent infantry division, totaling 160,000 men. Even including local garrisons, the total is just over 210,000.

Although the French soldiers were far more capable than the enemy, they still had to be prepared to be overly cautious in terms of troop strength.

After all, France is not like Britain, which can lose and then take a breath and try again.

If France suffered even one defeat in the war, it would face utter ruin.

Of course, France also has its own allies.

Spain and the northern Italian states should be able to provide 60,000 to 70,000 reinforcements, but Joseph knew very well their fighting capacity; they were only good for following behind the French army and doing some minor support.

Moreover, he did not want to rely on other countries to determine his own destiny.

Berthier, standing to the side, nodded and said, "Your Highness, the General Staff also believes that at least another army group should be recruited and the 9th Infantry Division should be expanded to the level of an army group."

Morrow added, "Local forces also need to be reinforced, especially along the Alsace-Switzerland line, so that they can at least delay the enemy from forcibly crossing the Alps."

Following Joseph's implementation of the second military reforms, France completely abolished the private armies of local nobles, and all soldiers were placed under the unified command of the General Staff. "Directly Subordinate Legions" had become the customary term, representing standing field troops.

Therefore, although local garrisons are inferior in terms of equipment and combat capabilities, they have the same training model as directly subordinate corps, only the training intensity is reduced.

These troops can also serve as reserve forces, readily replenishing the directly subordinate corps.

Berthier pulled a stack of documents from the table and handed them to Joseph: "Your Highness, this is the conscription plan formulated by the General Staff. It is estimated that the total troop strength can be increased to about 27 within 3 months."

The French public's enthusiasm for military service is absolutely the highest among European countries. If necessary, mobilizing 35 troops would not be a problem.

Joseph glanced at the plan and nodded, saying, "Then let's proceed accordingly."

"Training must be rigorous. It is better to have slightly fewer troops than to send poorly trained soldiers to the battlefield."

"Oh, and we also need to speed up weapons production. What's the current daily output of Minié rounds?"

Berthier quickly flipped through his notes and said, "For now, we only have 3 rounds, Your Highness. However, the 'precision equipment' from the Engineering Design Institute has arrived, and the Royal Armory will soon be able to mass-produce molds. Mr. Gaman expects that we will be able to reach a daily output of 7 rounds next month."

He was referring to Louis XVI's Christmas gift—a high-precision milling machine, the second of its kind in all of France. However, even someone at Berthier's level didn't know exactly what it was.

With its development, the progress of forging machine development has been significantly accelerated. Small-power forging presses used for die pressing have even begun mass production.

Joseph then looked at Berthier: "So, what tactics does the General Staff believe the enemy will employ this time?"

“There are several possibilities,” the Chief of the General Staff said, approaching the map. “The first is an attack on Baden from Württemberg…”

(End of this chapter)