I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1287 Franz II's Cowardice

In the Holy Roman Emperor's palace, all the Austrian high-ranking officials bowed their heads and remained silent.

Everyone knew the situation was hopeless, but no one wanted to be the first to suggest "surrender".

The young man behind Kobutz suddenly poked his head out and asked, "Your Highness, how many troops do we have left?"

Archduke Karl glared at Metternich and said coldly, "With the troops withdrawn from Vienna and the soldiers constantly gathering at the front, we can muster at least 5 men before the French arrive."

Yes, half a month ago, after receiving his warning, Franz did not consider strengthening Vienna's defenses at all, but immediately decided to flee the capital.

Under his orders, Raul led the Vienna garrison in a diversionary attack against the Gerard army that remained to besiege Vienna.

Since Gérard only had 20,000 soldiers, he had to temporarily relax his surveillance of other areas in order to deal with Raúl. Franz II took advantage of this opportunity to successfully escape from the "Forest Wall" northwest of Vienna—a hilly area that was tens of kilometers wide and covered with dense trees.

Metternich immediately retreated behind Kobtzel. He knew that Archduke Karl didn't actually have 5 troops, but that number was small enough.

Sure enough, Franz II's expression became tense. He first looked at his brother, and finally his gaze fell on General Raul: "How confident do you think we are in holding Pressburg?"

The latter lowered his head and after a long while whispered, "If... the Russians are willing to send reinforcements, they can probably... hold out for a few months."

This time, Franz II noticed that none of the commanders of the Anglo-Russian allies had come to Pressburg. Just as he was about to ask, Kobbutzl said, "I will go to St. Petersburg immediately to ask His Majesty the Tsar for help, but the Kutuzov Army is currently heading to Zrenyanin."

Franz II was stunned.

Zrenjanin was located southeast of Pressburg, clearly a retreat towards Russia. By the time Kobczyk returned from St. Petersburg, he would likely have already been driven into Hungary by the French army.

The hall remained silent for a good five or six minutes before Foreign Secretary John Cobbutz finally broke the silence: "Your Majesty, the British Minister sent word this morning that we can use the situation in North America to help us obtain favorable terms for a ceasefire."

Count Spielmann, the Minister of the Interior, quickly added, "We need time to regroup our troops, and before that, we might as well hold armistice negotiations with France..."

The other ministers all expressed their agreement.

Seeing this, Archduke Karl had no choice but to turn away in anger.

……

1799 6 Month 30 Day.

Representatives from France and Austria began armistice negotiations at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna.

Unlike in the past, the guards standing outside Schönbrunn Palace at this time were all French soldiers dressed in white uniforms and carrying 1798 rifles.

“No, you’re mistaken.” Kobbutzl Jr. tried to appear tough as he said to Talleyrand, “Our country has not failed. His Majesty the Emperor will lead 100,000 loyal soldiers to defend Pressburg.”

"France will be mired in a never-ending quagmire of war!"

Talleyrand ignored him, simply tossing the drafted ceasefire agreement in front of him and said calmly, "You know, if it weren't for Her Majesty the Queen's consideration for her relationship with His Majesty Franz II, General Soult would have already surrounded Pressburg."

"Oh, by the way, a friend of mine told me that the army in Pressburg only numbered 4."

Anxiety flickered in young Cobb's eyes, for the French figures were accurate. In reality, Pressburg was not only short-staffed, but even lacked artillery—the Austrian army had abandoned most of its heavy weapons during the previous retreat. Just then, Sir Wickham, the British envoy behind him, called out: "Archbishop Talleyrand, with all due respect, if your country wishes to preserve the Louisiana colony, it will need to withdraw from Austria."

Kobbutz Jr., grasping at a straw, hurriedly added, "War reparations must also be reduced further; our country can only accept a maximum of 20 million florins. Furthermore, reparations cannot be paid to Baden and Venice."

As Talleyrand just mentioned, the second condition for the armistice was that Austria would pay France, Baden, and Venice 7000 million, 600 million, and 900 million florins respectively.

Of course, Venice no longer has a government, and their reparations are collected by France on their behalf.

Yes, that's a total of 8500 million florins, which is 2.1 million francs.

Talleyrand frowned, and following the Crown Prince's instructions, shook his head and said, "Our country has no concern for the safety of the North American colonies. As for the request you just made, my answer is 'impossible'."

Without waiting for the Austrian Foreign Minister to say anything more, he rose and left his seat: "That's it. If an armistice agreement is not signed in three days, General Soult will continue his advance eastward."

……

The Bay of Biscay lies on the eastern side of the Atlantic Ocean.

The sails of the French fourth-class battleship "Hammer" billowed, propelling the ship swiftly through the waves.

It evaded the approaching British fleet several times along the way, and after 66 days, it finally arrived in European waters.

On the foredeck, Baron Leotar, assistant to the governor of St. Louis, felt the refreshing sea breeze and said to the major beside him, "By the way, have you heard? His Highness the Crown Prince sent General Soult to launch a surprise attack on Erzssee, and it is said that he occupied it in just a few days."

The latter smiled knowingly: "Where did you get this information? From my professional perspective, even with an army of hundreds of thousands besieging it, it's impossible to breach the Erzssee fortress within a few days."

“Well, I heard it from a merchant while resupplying in the Azores,” Baron Leotar waved his hand. “But no matter how you look at it, our army still has an overwhelming advantage, doesn’t it?”

“That’s true.” The major nodded, then began to focus on tasting the wine.

Baron Leotar had no choice but to continue the conversation: "You said last time that Lieutenant Colonel Bonaparte originally wanted to annihilate all the American troops?"

“That’s right, I was right next to him at the time.” The officer became more talkative when he mentioned the battle. “Later, it was the governor who sent someone with His Highness the Crown Prince’s order that made the commander order the natives to stop.”

“Ahem,” Leotar coughed lightly, reminding him, “you shouldn’t have used that word.”

"Oh, sorry, it's 'aboriginal'."

The governor's assistant then asked, "Were you confident when the war first began?"

"Confidence?" The major shook his head. "Of course not. Anyone with only two thousand soldiers, nearly half of whom are useless Spaniards, and a few thousand natives, would find it hard to believe they can defeat seven thousand American militia."

He suddenly looked wistful: "But the commander did it. When he ordered the entire army to retreat, we all thought he was a cowardly good-for-nothing..."

Leotar knew he was about to recount his experiences fighting alongside Lieutenant Colonel Bonaparte, but he didn't interrupt him. During his time adrift at sea, all he needed was someone to talk to, even if it was about topics he'd already discussed dozens of times.

(End of this chapter)