I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1175 Technological Explosion
"After that, the enemy might choose to cross the Rhine from Strasbourg. Or they might simultaneously send troops to Switzerland, threatening our eastern borders."

Berthier continued, "Another option for the enemy is a full-scale invasion of northern Italy. Venice has almost no fighting capacity. Our army will fight a decisive battle with the Anglo-Austrian forces in the Mantua area. This will be very disadvantageous for our logistical supply."

"At the same time, Prussia will threaten the Lower Rhine region, for example, by attacking Cologne and the Flemish Republic."

"In response to these enemy operational plans, the General Staff has also formulated corresponding countermeasures."

"In the event of a concentrated enemy offensive against Switzerland, the First and Second Armies will defend the western side of the Alps, while the Third Army will be stationed in Strasbourg. Mobile forces will then be used to contain the enemy in the Low Countries..."

"But if the enemy's target is Italy, we can choose to use the First Army plus a division to hold the Mantua fortress. You know, it's very easy to defend. Then we can commit our main force to central Germany, near Bavaria, to threaten Austria..."

Joseph listened to the Chief of the General Staff's highly professional explanation, but couldn't help but frown. Taking advantage of Berthier's pause for breath, he raised his hand to interrupt him and said, "Wait, what does the General Staff consider to be our country's objective in this battle?"

The latter paused for a moment, then said, "It should be that we repelled the enemy's siege, Your Highness."

"No wonder you made such a strategic deployment." Joseph stood up, looked around at the group of senior generals present, and said in a firm voice, "We must use this opportunity to completely eliminate the military threat from countries such as Britain, Prussia, and Austria!"
"Otherwise, there will be another anti-French coalition, and another after that. Our country will forever live in war!"

He waved his hand forcefully: "So, what we need to do is not defend."

"Instead, we must push the battlefield all the way into the heart of Germany and annihilate the enemy at the Danube and in Hanover!"
"After this battle, no country will dare to easily oppose France again!"

The officers present stared wide-eyed, their hearts pounding wildly.

When faced with an overwhelmingly superior coalition force, they instinctively assumed that this could only be a defensive battle.

At this moment, His Highness the Crown Prince clearly told them that they must not fear any enemy.

If we are at odds with France, the battlefield will never be on French or allied soil!

This is exactly the kind of war they want!

This is their Crown Prince!

Berthier immediately took a deep breath, stood at attention, and said, "Yes, Your Highness! The General Staff will immediately revise the battle plan and end the war along the line from Hanover to the Danube!"

Soon it was lunchtime, and Joseph was preparing to head to the banquet hall with the officers when Mirabeau came rushing over excitedly.

The Minister of Industry first glanced at the General Staff officials present, then bowed to Joseph: "Your Highness, I have very important news!"

Joseph gestured for the other officers to leave first, and Mirabo then excitedly said, "Your Highness, the United Steam Engine Company just sent a message that the latest high-pressure steam engine has completed all tests, with a power output of 98 horsepower, and has been running continuously for 40 hours."

Joseph's eyes lit up immediately.

The high-precision milling machine proved to be a significant success, and Murdoch and his team finally achieved a breakthrough.

98 horsepower means that only two engines are needed in parallel to power a standard Tier IV battleship.

Although it was only the smallest type of battleship, its significance far exceeded that of a Tier V cruiser, because it was a capital ship with two gun decks and could be equipped with nearly 50 guns!

This is a weapon capable of carrying nearly 20 32-pound heavy guns, posing a real threat to battleships of level three and above.

After building a large number of fourth-class steam warships, the French Navy will no longer be able to contend with the British fleet in the Mediterranean "bathtub," but will be able to go to the Atlantic and fight!
Mirabeau's good news wasn't finished: "Baron Murdoch also mentioned that, for safety and stability reasons, they haven't fully unleashed the potential of the new steam engine. After testing and optimization, the machine's power could potentially reach 115 horsepower." Joseph smiled.

Two 115-horsepower steam engines would allow a Tier IV ship to reach speeds of over 13 knots.

If there are enough of them, they could even engage in a decisive battle with the British North Sea Fleet.

More importantly, this power is sufficient to drive the train.

Although the speed certainly won't be too fast, I estimate that pulling 20 carriages would allow it to reach 40 kilometers per hour [Note 1].

Even the worst train is still far superior to all horse-drawn carriages!

Twenty carriages can easily carry 80 tons of cargo—a single train can meet the logistical needs of an entire army group.

A speed of 40 kilometers per hour feels like "flying" in this era.

It's not just speed that's the most terrifying thing about trains; their endurance is their ability to withstand long-term damage.

Even if a horse-drawn carriage runs at full speed, it can only travel a maximum of 40 kilometers a day—that would exhaust the horse to death.

As long as there is coal, the train can run 24 hours a day without interruption, which means it can travel more than 800 kilometers a day.

Of course, this increased capacity is also a stimulant for the civilian sector.

With the significant improvement in logistics capabilities, France's economic growth rate will inevitably increase several times or even ten times.

France will thus truly enter the era of the Industrial Revolution!

Joseph tried to bring himself back to reality. Right now, they had the steam engine, but building a train was still a long way off.

The train's various transmission systems, brakes, chassis structure, and even the carriages had to be developed from scratch.

Fortunately, they had already acquired Trevichk beforehand—he was extremely knowledgeable about the development of steam locomotives.

Thinking of this, Joseph hurriedly instructed Mirabeau: "Please inform Mr. Trevichk to come to Paris immediately. Bring all necessary tools and assistants with him."

Although he was not familiar with the structure of the train, he could at least give Trevich some advice on what the wheels and carriages looked like, and where the boiler and driver's cab were located.

He then realized that the steam warships were the most urgent matter, so he changed his words to Mirabeau:

"Forget it, let Mr. Trevich go directly to the Brest shipyard. He is very familiar with steam engine technology and can take the opportunity to guide the shipyard's technicians in the debugging process."

As he was speaking, Emmanuel coughed lightly at the door, reminding him:
"Your Highness, General Berthier and the others are still waiting for you to dine."

The poor generals in the General Staff had been starving for over 40 minutes, starving while looking at the food.

[Note 1] Historically, early trains like the "Rocket" had a nominal speed of 58 km/h, but that was under ideal conditions. In reality, the "Rocket" struggled to climb hills, and most of its carrying capacity was wasted on fuel. It wasn't until the "Planet" that it truly became operationally viable.

(End of this chapter)