I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 364 The Situation Joseph Needs

Joseph couldn't help but smile with satisfaction as he looked at the report on the seized supplies.

The Hanoverians encountered almost no decent resistance in this battle - mainly because their previous detours had disrupted their deployment and made it impossible for them to organize a decent battle - and nearly half of their logistical supplies were left behind, saving the Guards Corps at least more than one million livres in funding.

And those British cannons are also treasures, and they are very useful for supporting those forces that are not suitable for publicity, such as Poland. People will not associate them with France.

In addition, several Hanoverian officers were captured, and Joseph was thinking about whether he could squeeze out a ransom of two or three million livres. Of course, this was his asking price, and those northern German nobles might not be able to afford it.

"Your Highness, good news!" The voice of the staff officer came from behind.

Joseph, Berthier and the others turned around and saw the corps staff officer rushing over with a messenger, smiling and shouting, "Major Masson accidentally encountered the guards of Charles II and successfully captured Charles II!"

Everyone burst into admiration and cheers, but Joseph stood there as if struck by lightning, unable to utter a word for a long time.

My dear battalion commander Masson, are you so brave?

I tried my best to let the main force of Hanover escape, but you captured their commander. Karl II is still the governor of Hanover. In this way, Hanover will most likely withdraw from the war in the Southern Netherlands.

The Austrians must be happy - Blücher can't handle it alone, and the Southern Netherlands will soon return to Austrian rule...

Although Charles II was the Governor of Hanover and the brother-in-law of the King of England, the ransom would certainly be sky-high, but after all, the Wallonia region was more valuable.

Joseph quickly made up his mind, called the captain of the guard, Ksode, to his side, and whispered a few instructions to him.

The latter took a half step back and looked at the crown prince in surprise, but did not ask anything. He just leaned forward and replied, "Yes, Your Highness!"

……

Camp of the Masson Corps.

Cesode first read out the Prince's commendation to the entire camp and the promotion decision of several meritorious personnel, and then pulled Ma Song into the military tent.

"What did you say? How can this be possible!"

Ma Song exclaimed in the tent. But he calmed down after seeing the handwritten letter from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and then whispered, "Yes, I understand."

At night, a group of Southern Netherlands insurgents from Wallonia sneaked into the camp of Masson's Corps. After quietly "killing" more than a dozen French guards, they "accidentally" discovered the imprisoned Charles II.

The French-speaking insurgents rescued the Governor of Hanover and others from the enemy camp, helped them onto the stolen horses, and bravely stayed behind to sniper the pursuers.

When Karl II heard the gunshots in the night sky, he could not bear to look back. He kept repeating in his mind the last words those warriors said to him, "Please help the rebels drive out the Austrians! We are watching you from heaven..."

Brussels.

In the lobby on the first floor of the Southern Netherlands Parliament Building, dozens of parliamentarians sat or stood with wooden expressions, as if their souls had been sucked out by the devil, and they let out anxious sighs from time to time.

Suddenly a soldier pushed the door open and shouted, "Marshal Karl II is back! And General Bronckhorst!"

All the congressmen's eyes suddenly lit up. Vandernot rushed to the door and asked anxiously, "Really? Where are they?"

"It's in the south of the city."

Charles II went straight to his own military base without even changing his torn uniform.

When Van der Nott and other members of parliament arrived, he was giving an excited speech to the Hanoverian soldiers. "We are not afraid of failure! We want to let the French and Austrians know that they only won by luck once..."

"Prussia and Britain will send more reinforcements, and our army will crush Luxembourg and step into France!"

Bronckhorst on the side also echoed loudly: "The Netherlands will also send more troops. The Southern Netherlands will be independent!"

Although the soldiers below were not moved by their enthusiasm, Van der Nott and others were extremely excited and immediately expressed that they would recruit more people from the Southern Netherlands to join the battle.

Immediately, Charles II summoned senior military officers from Hanover, the Netherlands and the Southern Netherlands and made defensive deployments in Brussels as quickly as possible.

The French and Austrian coalition forces will certainly take advantage of their victory to attack Brussels, and they must stop them.

In the afternoon, more than 1 Hanoverian soldiers who escaped, plus 3 Dutch soldiers and more than 3 South Netherlands National Guards quickly built several defense lines in the south of the city and were ready for battle.

However, the French army did not launch a lazily attack on Brussels until three days later, and immediately retreated after being blocked.

For a period of time afterwards, the two sides used the southern suburbs of Brussels as the dividing line, deployed their troops in an area seven or eight kilometers wide, and formed a standoff.

The French army would fire a volley of artillery at the defenders every day, and sometimes the cavalry would circle around from a distance, making the defenders nervous.

……

Brussels Front.

Guards Corps Camp.

Joseph looked at the movement of Blücher's corps on the map and couldn't help but frowning slightly: "The Prussians seem to want to retreat?"

"We think so too, Your Highness." Berthier nodded. "After all, their position in Liege is very unfavorable. If our army abandons Brussels and heads south, we can form a pincer attack on the Prussian army with General Leo."

Joseph immediately pointed to the Meuse River on the north side of Liege and ordered: "Let Lieutenant Colonel Lefebvre stop the Prussians here. They must be kept in Liege, but do not fight them."

"Yes, Your Highness!"

After the messenger left, Joseph thought for a moment and looked at Berthier: "Do you know who is the most radical among the Prussian leaders?"

The latter thought for a moment and said, "Your Highness, it should be Morlendorf and Driesen."

Joseph nodded and took note, and asked his staff to discuss a detailed plan to intercept the Prussian army. He then went to the officers' tent and wrote a letter to the French diplomatic officials in Prussia.

Blücher's army also played an important role, which was to hold back the Austrian army in the Southern Netherlands. Once the Prussians retreated, Rennes would inevitably come to participate in the confrontation in Brussels. In that case, the military presence in Wallonia would not only be the French army, which would have a very negative impact on Joseph's subsequent strategy.

After handing the letter to the messenger, Joseph took out the half-written letter to the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II and continued writing:

My dear uncle, you should have understood the situation in the Southern Netherlands.

After suffering heavy casualties and extremely hard fighting, the French warriors finally stopped the rebels in the Brussels area.

You know, there were more than 3 enemy troops, including the Hanoverians and the Dutch, gathered in front of our army, which put us under extremely great pressure.

(End of this chapter)