I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1194 The United Alliance

Vienna.

In the long corridors of Schönbrunn Palace, Blücher's gaze swept over the exquisite patterns and carvings on the walls, and he couldn't help but frown: "The Austrians should be sent to Berlin. Look at this place, it's only suitable for a ball, not a war council."

Prussian Chief of the General Staff Scharnhorst, who was standing nearby, didn't respond, but instead said, "Have you heard? Sweden has decided to join the anti-French coalition?"

"Lord Hawkesburg is quite the lobbyist."

“Gustav IV was more concerned with his own security,” Scharnhorst said. “The British promised to facilitate an alliance agreement between them and Russia.”

Blücher curled his lip: "So, the Swedes won't be sending too many troops?"
"By the way, I heard before I left Berlin that His Majesty was planning to accept the Warsaw armistice terms?"

Scharnhorst nodded: "Yes, the Russian army has already reached the south bank of the Pyati River. His Majesty does not want Poland to disappear, as that would create a buffer between us and Russia and Austria. The Austrians share this view."

The Pyati River is located south of Pinsk, meaning that Russia currently occupies a vast territory along the Dnieper River, Volynya, and Podolia, exceeding one-third of Poland's area.

Scharnhorst continued, "Russia has acquired almost all of the Orthodox territories, and should be satisfied."

"The Poles also agreed to almost all the ceasefire conditions, including keeping the army size below 3, trade concessions, and wartime passage rights."

"His Majesty and the General Staff both believe that it is time to turn our attention to the left bank of the Rhine..."

As the two were talking, they heard a roar from the hall ahead: "You can't always think about your own interests. That's what happened last time, which allowed the French to seize the opportunity and defeat the allied forces one by one."

"Clearly, the flat lowlands are more suitable as the main direction of attack. After occupying the Walloon region, we can directly threaten the French mainland, or attack the Verdun fortress from Luxembourg..."

Another southern German accent interrupted him: "What you can think of, the French cannot ignore either."

"They have amassed a large force along the Brussels-Cologne line, waiting to attack us when we cross the Rhine. Moreover, an attack from the west would involve the neutral Netherlands..."

Blücher and Scharnhorst tiptoed into the meeting hall and saw Prince Hohenlohe, the Prussian Commander-in-Chief, leaning on the table, glaring at the Austrian officer opposite them: "The Dutch have betrayed the alliance and deserve to be punished. And you seem to have forgotten about Flemish territory. We can reclaim it before we even attack Wallonia!"

"And if the Allied forces were to be deployed to the northern Italian front, I'm astute enough, the French wouldn't care at all..."

Archduke Ferdinand of Austria immediately exclaimed, "This is precisely our advantage!"
"France certainly wouldn't want to invest too much effort in Italy; occupying this place would provide access to the closest supply source to France."

"The empire has ruled northern Italy for many years, and there are still many forces that obey His Majesty the Emperor's orders."

"The Po Plain is also much easier to deploy troops than the lowlands, thus allowing us to take advantage of our numerical superiority!"

The Duke of Brunswick said calmly, "Your Highness, you seem to have forgotten the Mantua Fortress. The French only need to deploy 50,000 to 60,000 troops along the Mincho River, and it will be very difficult for us to break through in a short time."

Scharnhorst sat down in the back row and whispered to Blücher, "Actually, the western part of Venice is full of waterways, which is not suitable for large-scale troop deployments."

Mantua lies between Lombardy and Venice. Blücher said, "However, Venice has almost no defensive forces and can be easily captured. The allied forces can obtain a large amount of military funds there."

Currently, Venice has a population of less than 200,000, and its army numbers only around 2,000. The strongest force there is the 5,000 French troops stationed in Udine, which are completely vulnerable to the combined forces of hundreds of thousands.

However, tens of millions of Ducat gold coins can be easily found in the banks of Venice.

Just then, Archduke Charles, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up: "The Mantua fortress is not an obstacle. Do you all remember the tactics Napoleon used a few years ago?"

The dozen or so people in the hall were all taken aback. Scharnhorst was the first to react, blurting out, "Through the Alps?"

Archduke Charles nodded to him: “That’s right. We can also cross the Alps, bypass the Mantua fortress, and even return to Italy from the Great St. Bernard Pass.”

The Great St. Bernard Pass is the route Napoleon took when he raided Lombardy.

The Duke of York, the British military representative, had a bright idea: "This is indeed a very bold plan, but it is very feasible. If the Allied forces can reach Lombardy, we can also get strong support there."

The Duke of Brunswick frowned: "But crossing the Alps from Venice will take you into Switzerland."

Austrian Chief of Staff Franz von Weröser said dismissively, "So what? We're not trying to occupy that place, and I'm sure the Swiss Parliament won't object."

In a world of great power rivalry, small countries like Switzerland have no opportunity to voice their opinions.

Scharnhorst interjected, "In that case, I suggest we occupy Switzerland ahead of time. Otherwise, once France discovers the Allied forces' intentions, they might ambush us on the north side of the pass."

Archduke Charles nodded again: "Your concerns are very valid. This necessitates sending another army into Switzerland."

General Verother looked at Prince Hornloe: "Your Highness, if 6 to 7 troops are deployed along the Rhine for defense, your country should be able to spare at least 6 soldiers for Zurich."

Archduke Charles continued, "If the war in Switzerland goes well, we can even head south to Lausanne and launch an attack on the first region of eastern Burgundy in France."

Prince Hornloe was somewhat annoyed; the Austrians were too glib, even convincing him that the Italian plan was superior.

He and the Duke of Brunswick discussed it in hushed tones, and he relented, saying, "I think it depends on the French defenses. If they don't commit heavy troops along the Alps, our army can coordinate an attack on Switzerland."

Archduke Karl continued, “In this way, the Saxon and Thuringian legions that were feigning an attack on Baden can be redeployed to the eastern Rhineland to conduct a diversionary operation. Your army can achieve the same effect by simply suppressing Baden on its way to Switzerland.”

According to the Allied forces' established plan, they were to present a posture of launching a strong attack on Baden and then entering France from Strasbourg, in order to attract the attention of the French army.

"In addition, I suggest that the Western Front plan can still be implemented, but the number of troops involved should be reduced. This will tie down the enemy's forces on a larger scale."

(End of this chapter)