I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1198 Cage
Three elite French army groups would engage the main Allied forces in a decisive battle around Baden, and then quickly advance the front line into Austria—Bavarianity, while outwardly declaring neutrality, had been secretly colluding with France. Once the French army set foot on Bavarian soil, they could immediately proceed to western Austria, while also receiving logistical support from Bavaria.

This is the core operational strategy of France in this battle.

Berthier continued, "Meanwhile, the Low Countries face a threat from the British. The Flemish Republic has not yet decided whether to allow our troops to enter and fight, so the 33rd Infantry Brigade is still in Brussels. The Walloon Regional Army will cooperate with them."

It wasn't that the French General Staff looked down on the British Army; they only assigned 3 directly subordinate corpsmen, less than 7 Walloon local troops to deal with them.

Indeed, the western front was not France's main offensive direction, and even if something unexpected happened, the Third Army stationed in Cologne could quickly move west to reinforce them.

Even if the Marquess of Wellesley were to personally command, the British could not possibly breach the Dutch region of Gflamanga and Wallonia within half a month. That time would be sufficient for reinforcements to arrive from Cologne.

Berthier did not mention the deployment along the Cologne-Koblenz line again, as the Crown Prince had just returned from his inspection there.

Because the Cologne fortress on the right bank of the Rhine was heavily fortified with Prussian troops, and crossing the river was extremely difficult, this was the only area that France did not intend to launch an offensive against.

The carriage drove into the outskirts of Nancy and stopped at the station to change horses. A security officer who had been waiting there immediately reported important intelligence to Lavallet.

The latter hurriedly returned to the Crown Prince's carriage and relayed, "Your Highness, our men in Vienna have noticed something unusual. The Allied officers who met there earlier have been frequently mentioning Switzerland. They are very likely to launch a surprise attack there."

Berthier frowned: "Is Austria's main force going to attack Switzerland? But there's no strategic value there..."

Joseph, however, recalled the historical campaign of Suvorov's attack on Switzerland. At that time, had it not been for Masséna's excellent command, Suvorov's failure to rendezvous with Korsakov's army due to poor communication, and Austria's deliberate sabotage of the Russians, eastern France would have faced a truly perilous situation.

Even so, Suvorov still launched a counterattack in the Muoteng Valley, inflicting tens of thousands of casualties on the French army, before forcibly crossing the Panikles Pass to escape.

Joseph told his chief of staff, "The Allied forces want to cut off our connection with northern Italy and can also threaten the Saran region from Switzerland at any time."

As he was speaking, he and Berthier both smiled at the same time.

"However, Switzerland is mountainous all over."

“Yes, Your Highness, travel is extremely difficult. Moreover, the area is very barren, especially the east, where it is impossible to gather supplies.”

The coalition's battle plan was clearly too overconfident.

In particular, their marching speed was generally much slower than that of the French army, and the Swiss mountains were extremely difficult to traverse. Even if the Swiss offered no resistance, by the time the Allied forces reached Lausanne and sufficient logistical supplies were delivered, the French army would likely have already captured Württemberg.

Even if the Allied forces performed exceptionally well and managed to achieve a stalemate with the French army in the Württemberg area, the French army would still have enough time to mobilize troops and deploy them in eastern Burgundy.

Joseph was about to continue his discussion with the Chief of the General Staff regarding the deployment of Allied forces when a thought suddenly struck him: "Wait, you just mentioned that Switzerland is having difficulty obtaining supplies?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

Joseph pondered for a moment and said, "In that case, Switzerland is indeed an excellent 'cage'."

The roads were impassable, and food supplies were scarce. If the Russian forces had been pre-positioned here and encircled, a decisive battle of annihilation could have been easily won. It's worth noting that historically, had Suvorov not been lucky, and Massena not been unprepared, the Russian army would have been completely wiped out in Switzerland.

Berthier had clearly considered this as well, and immediately nodded, saying, "Yes, Your Highness, I will formulate a corresponding battle plan as soon as possible." He then went on to talk about the situation of the Allied forces: "Madrid sent word last month that the legion they sent to the Rhineland will be reduced to 1 men. As you know, the Portuguese attacked New Granada, and they had to send 8 soldiers to South America."

"This could also affect the attack on Gibraltar."

Joseph didn't seem to care much about this—the Spanish army could only help protect the logistics convoys, and losing a few thousand men wouldn't have a big impact.

He simply ordered, "Let them send 4 men to reinforce Gibraltar; it will be a greater distraction for the British there."

“Yes, Your Highness,” Berthier continued. “Modena, Milan, Florence, and Genoa have sent a total of 14,000 troops. They have all remained near Mantua as you instructed.”

He hesitated for a moment and said, "But isn't it a bit of a waste to use the armies of Sardinia and Parma?"

Sardinia's tens of thousands of Royal Guards remained in Ancona, while another 4 were transferred to Ferrara and Modena for integration. These were all far from the battlefield.

Meanwhile, Parma's 3 troops secretly returned to their home country.

Joseph smiled and shook his head: "The Sardinian matter can be left to the Security Bureau; you'll need to cooperate with them. The Parma army will be used to keep an eye on Sardinia."

In reality, the French engineering corps that was ostensibly "building bridges across the Orona River" near Milan was actually a standard leapfrog corps, reinforced with two companies of cavalry.

Joseph didn't care about the small number of troops in Sardinia and Parma; maintaining stability within northern Italy was the most important thing. If Sardinia made any move, the French "engineers" and the Parma Royal Guard would immediately take action.

Around noon, Joseph's convoy arrived outside the Nancy Industrial Development Zone.

In the distance, dozens of people immediately came forward to greet them, mainly senior executives from the Steam Locomotive Manufacturing Company and the United Steam Engine Company.

Music immediately filled the air, drawing the attention of the crowd gathered around the train.

Someone recognized the Crown Prince's insignia on the carriage and immediately shouted excitedly, "His Highness the Crown Prince has arrived!"

"It really is His Highness's carriage!"

"Long live His Highness the Crown Prince!"

Because it was a public trial run, there were as many as seven or eight hundred people, including reporters and citizens, and Ksorde quickly ordered his personal guards to maintain order.

Joseph got off the train, greeted Trevithick, Murdoch and others, and then quickly climbed onto the dark locomotive, loudly proclaiming to the crowd: "Today, you will witness what may be the most important historical moment in hundreds of years."

He gestured to his feet: "This machine will bring us all a completely new life and immense wealth!"

He got out of the car and waved to Trevichk: "Please begin."

The designer and his assistant climbed into the cab and began shoveling coal into the boiler.

(End of this chapter)