I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1267 Meeting

Passau is located at the confluence of the Danube, Inn, and Ilz rivers, making it difficult for large armies to deploy.

Meanwhile, Passau's old town is built on a cliff, next to the Roman-era Theoboshaus Castle. Once the Austrian army completes its defenses here, it will be very difficult to breach.

Moro immediately said, "Your Highness, let me go and reinforce General Massena."

His legion returned to Munich from Amberg two days ago to rest and is now only about 80 kilometers from Passau.

Berthier quickly stopped him: "General, your soldiers have just gone through a series of fierce battles and need to rest now."

Moro sighed and lowered his head in silence. The Fifth Army and the Twelfth Division had indeed fought to their limits, and their weapons and ammunition had not yet been replenished.

Berthier turned to Joseph and said, “Your Highness, I suggest that the entire army immediately march to Passau and launch a siege there with overwhelming force.”

Moro immediately waved his hand and said, "The waterways around Passau are crisscrossed, and at most only 20,000 to 30,000 men can be deployed for an attack at a time. Trying to cross the Danube from the lower reaches would make us vulnerable to enemy attacks."

He hesitated for a moment, then looked at Joseph: "Your Highness, we don't actually need to waste our energy fighting the enemy in Passau."

"Leave some troops to keep watch here, while the main force returns home and re-enters Venice from northern Italy, focusing the main attack on the Klagenfurt fortress!"

Berthier disagreed: "Such a large-scale troop movement would be difficult for the Austrians to detect. They only need to send troops to defend Klagenfurt nearby, and our army will return empty-handed."

Joseph gestured to the two generals who were arguing fiercely: "As General Berthier said, now it's not just the Fifth Army, almost all the corps need a good rest."

"Oh, including the Massena Legion. Just let them block the perimeter of Passau. Don't launch a full-scale attack."

The three corps that previously raided Prussia had all marched at breakneck speed, leaving their soldiers extremely exhausted. The defense of Baden was equally brutal. Only the new recruits recently transferred from Paris to the front lines are in relatively good condition.

Moreau and Berthier exchanged a glance, then said anxiously in unison, "Your Highness, now is the best time to completely crush the allied forces!"

"We cannot give the Austrians time to set up their defenses..."

Joseph smiled and raised his hand again, pressing down: "Resting is for better fighting. And now we need to wait for reinforcements to be ready, and then launch a full-scale attack on Austria from the direction of Erzs.

Austria has a very good terrain, with mountains all to the west, leaving only three possible attack points: Passau to the west, Klagenfurt to the south, and Oers to the north.

Of these, Erzgebirge was the least advantageous for France in its campaign.

Ore is in northern Austria, and to attack it, one would have to go around the entire Bohemian mountain range. Starting from Baden, the journey is over 900 kilometers.

Although Prussia can now provide some supplies to the French army, everyone knows that they simply cannot support the logistics of hundreds of thousands of troops, not to mention that they may never have even seen the ammunition used by the French army.

Moro hurriedly said, "Your Highness, if we attack from northern Austria, the logistical pressure will be enormous. In addition, troop movements will be very troublesome."

"Um, are you referring to...Prussia as the reinforcements you mentioned?"

Joseph lightly flicked the reins, urging the horse to quicken its pace, and said without turning his head, "As long as the war can end quickly, logistics will not be a problem."

"As for reinforcements, my special envoy should be working with them to finalize the battle plan right now."

"You need to handle the troop replenishment and logistical arrangements during this time. I'll be returning to Stuttgart tomorrow."

Berthier was completely baffled as to why the Crown Prince was so relaxed, and hurriedly urged his horse to catch up: "Stuttgart? But the front lines still need your command..."

Joseph raised his hand and waved it: "There won't be any fighting for at least a month and a half. I only have one thing to do now, and that's to hold a meeting." ...

1799 3 Month 19 Day.

Stuttgart.

This city has never been as bustling as it is today in hundreds of years.

The streets were crowded with people peering out, and vendors weaved through the crowd, hawking their wares.

Almost every half hour, a band would play music along the roadside, followed by French cavalry escorting a convoy of luxurious carriages.

The citizens of Stuttgart, however, were quite interested in identifying the people inside the vehicles based on the flags displayed on them. "Oh, look, that must be the Archbishop of Mainz, right?"

"His carriage is much more luxurious than the Count of Mecklenburg's."

"Yes, only the Archbishop of Cologne's convoy that arrived this morning can rival him..."

"However, the number of cavalry guarding the Archbishop of Cologne was far less than his."

"When it comes to guards, the Duke of Baden's formation is the most impressive..."

At two o'clock in the afternoon, dozens of carriages were parked haphazardly in the square of the new royal palace in Stuttgart. Flags of various colors and styles fluttered in the spring breeze.

At this moment, in the main hall on the first floor of the palace, almost all the rulers of the North German states were gathered. In addition, Baden, Bavaria, Augsburg, and even the Netherlands were also present.

They huddled together in small groups, talking quietly. Some looked worried, while others were all smiles.

Before long, melodious music rang out from outside the door, and then the tall French grenadiers on both sides stood at attention, and the French crown prince, dressed in hussar uniform, walked into the hall between them.

Everyone immediately stopped talking and looked over in their direction.

Joseph walked to the head of the conference table in the middle of the hall, stood still, and the music immediately stopped.

He smiled, raised his hand to the crowd, and then said loudly, "Thank you all for attending this 'Stuttgart Summit'."

"This will be an important meeting that will bring peace and prosperity to the whole of Germany!"
"As is well known, certain brutal and aggressive countries have instigated evil wars, causing the whole of Europe to wail in the flames of war."

"Thanks to God's protection, the forces of justice prevailed, and the invaders have now been driven out of North Germany."

"To prevent the resurgence of war, we need to forge a new order based on equality and common prosperity with foresight and inclusiveness."

"May this meeting become a turning point in history, so that future generations will remember our efforts for peace on the mainland!"

The people in the hall were stunned for a moment. In the past, it seemed that only the Holy Roman Emperor could make similar remarks in front of them.

No, even the Holy Roman Emperor would probably find it difficult to bring together countries like Prussia and the Netherlands to discuss the so-called "New Order".

However, at present, most of continental Europe west of Saxony-Austria was under the control of the French army, so no one raised any objections at this time.

(End of this chapter)