I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 743 Right Swing Fist Plan

Joseph looked at Dimopin and said, "Although they speak French and are willing to cooperate with us, if we rashly send troops into the Southern Netherlands, it will easily provoke their resistance."

Wallonia was still nominally Austrian territory and had its own autonomous government. In this era of rising nationalism, forcibly sending troops to control a foreign region was bound to cause all sorts of problems.

At that time, Emperor Napoleon completely ignored the will of the local people and liked to use the army to rule brutally. In the end, the whole of Europe was filled with resentment and stood against France.

Dimobin frowned and said, "Your Highness, are you going to give the Wallonia region to the Austrians?"

"Of course not," Joseph leaned back in his chair calmly, "We have to wait for the Walloon Chamber of Commerce to beg us to send troops. They don't like our army, but they hate the Austrian army even more."

The Wallonia Chamber of Commerce is the local government administration agency.

Mirabeau tilted his head and asked, "You mean, we should wait until the Austrian army invades Wallonia before we take action?"

"You can say that."

Mirabeau said anxiously: "But if we do that, the Austrian army will cause serious damage to our factories there!"

Joseph smiled and shook his head: "You must have confidence in the police in Wallonia."

He looked at Fouché again: "The Intelligence Bureau needs to send someone there to assist the Wallonia Chamber of Commerce in dealing with emergencies. Next, let's discuss the contingency plan for possible situations..."

At around three o'clock in the afternoon, with the collective wisdom of the staff, the combat plan against the Southern Netherlands had taken shape.

Berthier then began to introduce the enemy’s possible strategic deployment in other directions: “Gelden has currently assembled more than 5 enemy troops, mainly Prussians, and some British cavalry.

"Obviously, we will deploy a multi-layered defense line from Luxembourg to Verdun, which will be the main battlefield. Four divisions will be deployed for defense in the early stage.

"In eastern Switzerland, the Austrian army may choose to attack our Strasbourg from the Great St. Bernard Pass or the Simplon Pass, and there is a certain possibility of Saran."

Strasbourg is in the northeast of France, while Saran is in the east-central part, hundreds of kilometers apart.

"So our army must deploy at least three divisions on the eastern front." Berthier said, "After determining the direction of the enemy's attack, we will dispatch the Lorraine Corps and the Lyon Corps to assist in the defense.

“With the help of the Sharp signal machine, the army should be able to arrive in time.

"According to the preliminary plan of the General Staff, a total of 13 troops will be deployed on the northern and eastern fronts. Two divisions will be kept as reserves...

"In addition, the country needs to form at least two new divisions within half a year..."

According to France's current military structure, an infantry division has approximately 1 soldiers.

Berthier basically put all his troops into the defense line, leaving less than 1 people in the rear.

Lieutenant Colonel Napoleon, who was sitting in the back row, couldn't help but frown slightly, always feeling that there was something wrong with this battle plan.

He was about to put forward his own opinion, but saw His Royal Highness the Crown Prince suddenly stood up and interrupted the Chief of Staff: "General Berthier, to be honest, although your plan is relatively sound, it buries the advantages of our army.

"We shouldn't and can't put ourselves in the position of being on the defensive."

The officers in the conference room looked at each other in confusion.

We have 16 troops against their 40. We are lucky to be able to defend ourselves. Do we still want to take the initiative to attack? Only Napoleon looked at the Dauphin in surprise, because he had thought the same thing just now.

Duke Broy hurriedly said: "Your Highness, our country's military strength is at an absolute disadvantage..."

Joseph nodded: "You are right, so we can't fight a defensive battle.

"Defending strategic locations will make our army lose its mobility and force us into a battle of attrition. We cannot outstrip the enemy in terms of manpower or finances."

Napoleon nodded continuously. The defending troops could not abandon the defense zone and leave. The enemy would continue to send troops to entangle them, which was like tying their own legs.

Joseph continued, “We must concentrate our forces to defeat the enemy in one direction, and then use our military’s advantage in mobility to quickly rush to the next point and launch an attack on the enemy there.

“We must try to eliminate the enemy before they fully deploy and besiege our important strategic nodes, or strike at their important supply lines!

"Push the line of defense into the enemy's territory and we will always be safe.

"This is how the French army fights!"

After the officers accepted his idea, Joseph came to the map again and began to talk about the battle plan he had conceived on the way back to Paris from Madrid: "The terrain in Switzerland is rugged and logistical supplies are difficult to transport, so the enemy's attack speed here will not be too fast.

"Our army's first attack point will be in the direction of Gelden..."

He spoke with great confidence because this was roughly the process of the French army's counterattack during the first anti-French alliance in history.

At that time, the French army still had a large number of new recruits, but still fought all the way to the west bank of the Rhine.

Later, due to political struggles within the Directory, chaos broke out in the country. Prussia and Austria seized the opportunity to push back and regained the lost territory.

The current French army has been preparing for many years, and its combat effectiveness is much higher than that of the new recruits during the Great Revolution. Even if the number of people is slightly smaller, it should not be difficult to replicate the historical record.

At this moment, an officer walked in quickly and handed a report to Fouché quietly.

The latter opened it and read it, then stood up and said to Joseph, "Your Highness, Italy just sent us news that Austria may have obtained military access to Sardinia."

When everyone heard this, their expressions suddenly became more serious.

Berthier looked at the map on the table and frowned, "This way the enemy has gained another attack point in the southeast direction."

Lefebvre continued: "And after May, the snow at the Alpine Pass will melt, and it will be very easy to pass through there. The enemy in the south is likely to invade our country before the north."

While the officers were anxiously discussing the new changes in the battle situation, Joseph smiled and said in a voice that only he could hear: "This way, we are even closer."

What he was referring to was naturally the first anti-French alliance in history.

Sardinia finally succumbed to Austria and stood on the opposite side of France. But this was also normal, after all, Austria's control over the Italian peninsula was still very strong at that time.

Joseph glanced meaningfully at Napoleon, who was sitting in the last row, and then pointed at the location of Sardinia on the map with a thin stick: "It seems that we need to adjust the order of battle.

"First, give Austria a right hook."

(End of this chapter)