I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 742: Enlarged Meeting of the General Staff
As for Corsica, although it is relatively poor, it has very important strategic significance to Sardinia.

Sardinia's territory consists of two parts: Savoy and Piedmont on the Apennine Peninsula, and Sardinia in the Mediterranean Sea. The two are separated by Corsica.

This made Turin's rule and trade with Sardinia somewhat awkward.

If Corsica could be acquired, Sardinia would be able to form a complete region in northwestern Italy, making the country more cohesive from political management to military defense.

This condition was definitely very tempting for Amedeo III.

The next day.

The Austrian diplomats' carriage drove out of the Royal Palace in Turin.

In the car, the Austrian ambassador to Sardinia sorted out the diplomatic documents in his hand and looked at Count Rheinfels and said, "Count, perhaps we can be tougher. I believe that Sardinia should be willing to send an army to assist us, rather than just military passage and logistical support."

After repeated considerations with his ministers, Amedeo III finally agreed to allow the Austrian army to pass through Sardinia and provide logistical support for the 3 Austrian troops. After the war, Sardinia will obtain Genoa and Corsica.

Count Rheinfels smiled and said, "These are enough. When the war starts, Sardinia will send out troops on its own without our urging."

Seeing the confused look on the Minister’s face, he took advantage of his good mood to explain to the latter: “First of all, we will not send troops to protect Sardinia’s baggage train;

"Secondly, Marshal Beaulieu could 'inadvertently' open the passage between the French and Chambéry, and the Sardinian army would immediately rush to the front to prevent the French from taking the opportunity to attack Turin.

"And as long as the Sardinian army and the French fight, Marshal Beaulieu will have the final say on what happens next."

……

Southern suburbs of Paris.

A black military carriage was speeding smoothly along the wooden tracks.

In the carriage, Napoleon looked at the young lieutenant opposite him, poked his index finger at the small wooden table and said, "Lucien, you must go to the front with me. You must understand that this war is a very good opportunity. We will use it to get rid of that small place of Corsica."

The young officer was his younger brother, Lucien Bowenaba. Lucien's military school performance was average, but at least he managed to graduate from Brienne Military School.

It happened that Napoleon began to serve as the acting commander of the Corsican Army at this time, so he transferred his brother to his own staff to serve as a herald.

Lucien frowned and retorted: "I think this war will be very dangerous. It is said that Britain, Prussia, Austria and other countries have sent more than 30 troops, while France only has half of that.

"Perhaps the opportunity you mentioned has not come yet, and we have been torn to pieces by artillery shells."

Napoleon's eyes flashed with disdain, and he said in a slightly reprimanding tone: "If you had seen how our Crown Prince fought, you would not say such childish words.

“The quality of the Evil Alliance’s army is far inferior to that of the Crown Prince’s army, and it is difficult to have a unified command.

"Just watch, they will definitely lose this war."

"Also." He pointed to the ground below without waiting for his brother to say anything else, "These wooden tracks are also the guarantee of our victory."

"What does this have to do with wooden tracks?"

"The speed of mobilizing troops and logistics is the most powerful weapon in war, even more important than artillery." Napoleon taught his poor student brother, "In places with wooden tracks, our troops and supplies can be assembled several days earlier than the enemy, making it easy to arrange tactics and formations.

“I think you should know how many wooden tracks have been built in the country over the years, right?”

Lucien curled his lips. He wanted to say "a wooden track has been built from Artois to Strasbourg", but in the end he chose to remain silent because he was worried that his brother would continue the topic and ask him about logistics.

He had almost forgotten his military academy courses.

Napoleon did not make things difficult for him, and instead talked about his own grand ambitions: "It would be best if I could go to the Southern Netherlands to fight this time. You know, I have fought in Namun and Brussels and I am very familiar with the terrain there. The General Staff will most likely transfer me there..."

Two hours later, Napoleon's carriage stopped in front of the General Staff office building southeast of the Palace of Versailles.

Napoleon told his brother to wait outside, and he turned and walked quickly into the General Staff.

Outside the war conference room on the second floor of the building, several guards checked Napoleon's ID, stood at attention and opened the door for him.

This important enlarged meeting of the General Staff had apparently started for quite some time. General Berthier was talking in front of a map. When he saw Napoleon come in, he simply motioned for him to sit down at the far edge on the west side.

Since Napoleon's residence was very far away from Paris, second only to the provinces in North Africa, no one blamed Napoleon for being late.

In fact, he traveled day and night along the way, so he arrived very quickly.

Napoleon looked around the conference room. In addition to the Crown Prince and senior military officials, the Chief Minister, the Foreign Minister, the Chief of Intelligence, and even the Minister of Industry were also present.

Lefebvre, who was standing by, saw his old friend coming and considerately pushed the minutes of the previous meeting in front of him.

"Thank you so much!"

Napoleon whispered a thank you and quickly looked through the documents in front of him.

The previous meeting mainly discussed the allocation of supplies. At this time, the Chief of General Staff was probably talking about the enemy's strategic deployment.

"In addition to the line from Gelden to Verdun, which is likely to be the main battlefield, the southern Netherlands area to the north must also be heavily defended."

Berthier said this, looking at Fouché who was sitting in the second row.

The latter stood up and nodded, saying, "Recently, a large number of suspicious people from the Flemish region have entered the Wallonia region. The Intelligence Bureau has secretly arrested some people. It can be confirmed that they are affiliated with the Austrian intelligence department, but their specific mission has not yet been determined.

"But I guess they are preparing to create chaos in Wallonia."

Flemish is the Dutch-speaking region in the northern part of the Southern Netherlands. Due to the rapid development of the coal and iron industry in Wallonia, which requires a large number of workers, it has become a normal practice for residents of the nearby Flemish region to go south to work.

This also means that it would be very easy for the Austrian government to interfere in Wallonia.

An elderly admiral officer looked at the Crown Prince and said, "Your Highness, perhaps we should send troops to Wallonia in advance to stabilize the situation there."

Joseph thought about it for a moment, but shook his head slightly.

"General Dimaubin, do you know how many French people there are in Wallonia?"

"About 20, Your Highness."

"Yes, that is to say, there are still millions of people in the Southern Netherlands."

(End of this chapter)