I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 697 The Useless King

Warsaw.

Royal Castle.

Stanislaw II looked solemnly at the mark of the enemy invasion on the map, and murmured to himself with great self-blame: "Everything is just as His Royal Highness the Crown Prince expected. We should have listened to his advice at the time..."

Royal Minister Malachowski had just analyzed the current situation for him. According to the latest intelligence sent back to Warsaw, Poland was facing enemies on all sides - Russia in the east was attacking Lithuania and the west bank of the Dnieper River at the same time. A week ago, Prussia and Austria also declared war on Poland.

The Speaker of the House of Lords, Stasits, bowed his head and whispered:
"Yes, we trusted the Covenant too much."

If they had deployed some defensive measures in Poznan, the Prussian army would not have been able to capture the three western provinces in just a few days.

What is more serious is that the Lithuanian Army was defeated under the fierce attack of the Russian Army led by General Korezhevsky, and Minsk was showing signs of being undefendable.

After a while, the King of Poland sighed and looked at Malachowski and said, "So, what is the Military Committee's recommendation?"

"Your Majesty, there are five new regiments in Warsaw." The latter said, "General Bilak needs at least four regiments to stabilize the defense line."

Bilak was the commander of the Minsk Defense Battle.

Stasitz frowned. "So, we don't have any troops to send to the Western Front?"

"I'm afraid, this is the case..."

Several Polish officials in the room all looked gloomy. Poland had tried its best, but still could not withstand the siege of the three great powers.

Is surrender the only possible outcome?
Stanislaw II suddenly pointed to Krakow in the southwest of the map and asked, "How many troops are needed to hold back the Austrian army?"

The Royal Minister looked at the officer standing by the gate, the advisor to the Military Council.

The latter thought for a moment and said, "If we defend with all our strength, we will need about 1 men, Your Majesty."

Currently, Warsaw can only mobilize 5 regiments, or 7500 people.

The king looked at Malachowski again and asked: "How long will it take you to form four more regiments?"

"Two months," the latter paused and gritted his teeth, "No, Your Majesty, it will only take 40 days. I can gather four regiments of troops!"

Today, Poland is united in its hatred of the enemy and its morale is very high. Every day, there are huge crowds of people in front of the Military Committee's several enlistment registration points.

No matter they were nobles, merchants, workers or peasants, they all enthusiastically asked to join the Crusade to drive out the invaders for their motherland.

There is no shortage of manpower.

There are at least 5 to new recruits on the military commission's register. This is the result of only young and healthy applicants. If the requirements are relaxed, more than people can be recruited.

But the army is not just a bunch of people gathered together and given some guns.

A minimum level of military training must be completed. Otherwise, you won't be able to form a formation on the battlefield, and won't understand orders. Not only will you be unable to defend against the enemy, but you will also bring chaos to your side.

Fortunately, the Royal Military Academy in Warsaw had been built half a year ago, and there were a large number of ready-made instructors available. This was also the reason why Malachowski was confident that he could pull out four regiments within 40 days.

Of course, such a short time can only ensure that the soldiers can pick up their guns and shoot, and they will not get lost. There is no need to expect combat effectiveness.

"40 days..."

Stanislaw II pressed his hands hard on the map, as if he had made a great decision, and said solemnly to the royal minister: "I can buy you... at least one month in the Minsk direction.

“Please recruit troops as soon as possible.

"And the five existing regiments will all be sent to Krakow. We must not lose the Tarnovskaya Silver Mine."

Currently, silver mines support nearly half of Poland's financial expenditure. If there is a problem there, Poland will collapse almost immediately.

"Your Majesty, what are you going to do?" The King of Poland seemed a little embarrassed, but still said, "I am still a king. And I have some, uh, favors in Russia. These should be able to buy me a month."

Malachowski immediately thought of something and shook his head repeatedly: "Your Majesty, you, you can't do this..."

Stanislaw II smiled and said, "I am not good at politics or military affairs. In fact, I also know that the Tsar pushed me to be the king because he saw that I was useless..."

"No, no, you are not..."

The king was very calm: "My reputation has never been good anyway, this is all I can do for my country.

"Oh, people will definitely be disappointed in me in the future.

"Joseph is more suitable to be king than me, and I hope the parliament will fully support him."

Józef was the name of Prince Poniatowski.

The king then told him his plan.

Several important officials in the room shook their heads at once: "Your Majesty, how can this be possible?"

"Poland needs you!"

"There must be other ways..."

Stanislaw II waved his hand and said, "Let me fight with you all."

……

Western Poland.

The fallen province of Poznan.

Polish Foreign Minister Count Potocki sat in a chair with his head bowed, his fists clenched so tightly that the joints had lost their color.

In his pocket he had the armistice that had been approved by Parliament.

And today, he was going to hand it over to the Prussians here, humiliatingly exchanging the three provinces of Greater Poland and the city of Gdańsk for the Prussian withdrawal.

Yes, Poland no longer has the troops to defend the northwest.

Potocki looked at his watch. He had been waiting here for more than an hour. The Prussians were obviously going to humiliate him further.

At this moment, his attendant quietly walked behind him, leaned over and whispered:

"My Lord, a Prussian tax collector wishes to see you urgently. He is from Kulm."

"Kulm?" Potocki narrowed his eyes. Twenty years ago, Kulm was still part of Poland, and Catholicism is still practiced there.

The Polish Foreign Minister got up and went outside, saying that he couldn't stand the musty smell of the chair.

A short man with half-white hair walked past him as if nothing had happened. When he was closest to him, he suddenly slowed down and whispered in pure Polish:

"Please report to Warsaw that Gdansk has not fallen!
"Captain Romilev and his French friends are holding out there. He said they can hold out for at least three months. His body will be the last obstacle to the enemy."

Potocki's heart immediately started beating wildly. He tried his best to suppress his excitement and confirmed:

"Are you telling the truth?"

"I swear. I rushed from Toruń to see you overnight after receiving the news." The short man made the sign of the cross on his chest. "May God bless Poland!"

Potocki looked straight ahead with tears in his eyes. He nodded in salute, and then crumpled the armistice agreement in his pocket.

(End of this chapter)