I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 653 The Result We Want

Prince Poniatowski nodded almost without hesitation: "Of course, Your Highness, in francs, of course."

Poland today is like a family of eight with only half a loaf of black bread left. They will be grateful if others give them something to eat. Will they still mind if there is not enough salt in the rice?

What's more, the franc is very strong now and is widely circulated in Germany and Italy. I heard that the recent steam engine transaction in Upper Hesse was paid with franc banknotes.

That's a million-franc business, which is enough to prove the purchasing power of the franc.

"Then it's settled."

Joseph smiled and pointed to the teacup on the table: "Please try this Wuyi tea that has just been shipped from the Far East.

"Oh, by the way, what about that Prussian officer?"

Prince Poniatowski hesitated for half a second, then smiled and said:
"I will discuss this with them and ask them to transfer to the recruitment office to serve as instructors for new recruits."

On one side was Prussia, which always made promises but failed to deliver, and even kept demanding the management rights of Gdansk; on the other side was France, which invested huge amounts of real money and actively supported Poland in resisting aggression.

Is it even necessary to tell me which side to choose?
As for the few Prussian officers who have made contributions to Poland, just give them high-level treatment as compensation.

As the prince spoke, he picked up the teacup and took a sip. The green tea without milk made him frown slightly, but the special fragrance immediately filled his mouth.

He looked at the clear tea and asked curiously, "'Wuyi'?"

"That's a big mountain in the east, producing top-quality tea. Oh, that's what we often call Bohai."

"No wonder it's so delicious. Thank you for your hospitality. However, this way of drinking is really rare."

"Orientals like to drink it this way. In fact, they don't even add sugar." Joseph also took a sip of tea and continued, "You seemed to have mentioned the training of new soldiers just now? Excuse me, but in fact, the training method of the Prussian army is quite backward.

"Well, maybe I should help you build another military school..."

It took Joseph and Prince Poniatowski a whole morning to finalize almost all of Poland's general plans.

They had a quick lunch at the Royal Ordnance Factory, and in the afternoon they went to the makeshift combat meeting room.

In the hall, officers from the General Staff such as Berthier and several senior Polish generals led by Polish Army Commander-in-Chief Waclaw Rzewski had already been waiting here.

However, Reuski, Kosciuszko and others were all wearing diplomats' or attendant's clothes, and it was obvious that they had come to France in secret.

Without any unnecessary formalities, the officers stood up and saluted, and then the meeting got straight to the point.

As the host of the meeting, Berthier stood up and said:
“At present, everyone should be very clear about the situation on the Eastern Front.

"According to the most optimistic estimates, Poland will face 10 Russian troops.

"What is more likely is that 12 to 15 Russian soldiers will invade the Eastern Front. At the same time, other countries will take advantage of the situation and move in."

He had already learned about the results of the negotiations between His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the Prince of Poland, so he simply did not mention the matter of the Prussian army.

Upon hearing this, Reuski immediately showed a worried look on his face and continued:

"The situation is indeed very serious. At present, we are deploying defenses along the line from Volyn to Minsk. The main defense strategy is to strive for..."

He was just halfway through his speech when he saw the French Crown Prince suddenly stand up and stride over to the map of Eastern Europe hanging on the west wall of the conference room.

"You are..." Then, under the surprised gaze of everyone, Joseph grabbed a pen and drew a thick black vertical line on the map of Poland.

The line runs through Minsk and Volyn, cutting Poland in half like a knife.

He slapped the right side of the vertical line, which was the southeast corner of Poland, and shouted in an angry and suppressed voice:

“Is this the result you wanted to see?

"Behind the Volyn Line, watch the Russians wreak havoc on your land, seize half of Poland, enslave the Polish people west of the Dnieper and Podolia, force them to kneel on the ground and call themselves Russians, and pay tribute to the Tsar with their meager income!

"Is this what you wanted?!"

There was a dead silence in the hall. All the Polish officers, including Prince Poniatowski, lowered their heads, their hands trembling slightly.

"Answer me!" Joseph roared. "You only want half of Poland?!"

"No!" Kosciuszko stood up suddenly, his eyes red, and said, "We don't want to lose an inch of land! Even if I have to exchange my life, I don't want the damned Tsarist Russia to set foot in Poland!"

The other officers also shouted:
"It is our duty to protect Poland. We don't want to lose our territory!"

“I just want full Poland!”

Prince Poniatowski also stood up and was about to say something excitedly, but suddenly paused and became a little depressed:
“Your Highness, please believe that every Pole is unwilling to give up the southeastern territory.

"But Russia is too powerful and we cannot stop them at Ovruch or Mozyr.

"My soldiers and I are not afraid of sacrifice, but we don't want to die in vain... Fighting the Russians on the eastern border will consume our limited military strength, and eventually we will not even be able to defend Warren..."

As one of Poland's best generals, he had a very clear understanding of the strength of the two armies.

Historically, after Russia launched the Second Partition of Poland, the Lithuanian Front on the northern front of Poland was defeated after only 19 days of resistance. The southern front resisted for one month and four days under the command of Prince Poniatowski, and the vanguard of the Russian army had already arrived at the gates of Warsaw.

At present, although Poland's military strength has improved significantly compared with history and has made more adequate preparations, it is still impossible to defeat the Russian army on the barren and difficult to defend eastern border.

Joseph looked around at the angry and depressed Polish officers and said word by word:

"Since we can't hold it, let's try another strategy. We will definitely let the Russians know that Poland is invincible!"

Kosciuszko keenly sensed the meaning of the French prince's words and immediately raised his head:

"You mean, there are other tactics?"

Joseph nodded firmly, stepped aside a few steps, and then gestured to Berthier.

The Chief of General Staff came to the map and began to describe the combat deployment meticulously.

In fact, as early as more than half a month ago, the French General Staff had already developed several combat plans suitable for Poland.

After seeing these plans, Joseph was depressed to find that even the best situation could only resist the Russian army for three or four years, and would eventually end up in the Battle of Warsaw.

But this was not the result he wanted at all!

(End of this chapter)