I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 745 Total War
Digomier also stood up in astonishment and said, "Yes, Your Highness! But..."

Joseph did not give him a chance to refuse, and turned to Berthier and said, "General Berthier, I appoint you as the combat staff officer of the Rhine Front."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"In addition, please ask the General Staff to issue an order to appoint Lieutenant Colonel Victor de Moreau as the second commander of the Rhine Front Army, and Major Andre Massena as the commander of the right wing of the Rhine Front Army."

Berthier was also quite surprised, but he nodded and said, "Yes, Your Highness. I will inform them immediately."

Joseph sighed inwardly. These talented commanders had not experienced the loss of officers during the Great Revolution, so their current ranks were very low, and they could only let veteran officers like Digomier to support the front. [Note 1]

Moreau was currently the commander of the Army of Tunisia, while Masséna was only second in command of the Army of the Alps.

But Joseph knew that they all had the ability to command front-level battles.

Of course, they also need to fight to gain experience, especially Moreau. The Rhine line will be the main battlefield for France and the Anti-French Alliance, where they can grow fastest.

People like the Duke of Brunswick of Prussia or Wurmser of Austria couldn't even catch sight of Massena and the others.

And even if they made mistakes, they had the support of Berthier, the experienced Chief of Staff, to ensure that nothing went wrong.

Joseph continued:

"The Rhine Front will include the Royal 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Infantry Divisions, the Royal Longsword Grenadiers, and the Royal 1st and 2nd Cavalry Artillery Battalions..."

He listed the numbers of more than a dozen troops in one breath, which were basically all corps directly under the General Staff, that is, the new army, plus the Alpine Corps and the Champagne Corps, two old-style corps with higher quality.

The total number of troops reached 11!

It also includes 80% of the cavalry and all the cavalry artillery in the direct corps, and is definitely the most elite force in France at present.

They will face nearly 20 main forces from Prussia, Austria, Hanover and other countries.

But Joseph believed that the French Rhine Front would crush its opponents in terms of the quality of its soldiers, weapons and equipment, and the ability of its commanders.

So, this will be his "straight punch" to the anti-French alliance!
Joseph then whispered to Berthier, "Let Massena be responsible for the overall deployment, let Moreau be responsible for the main attack, and to break the deadlock when the situation is deadlocked."

"Yes, Your Highness, I will keep your instructions in mind."

In fact, Massena is now 36 years old and has served for more than 20 years. He is a relatively experienced officer.

Joseph knew that this was the most powerful conductor in France after Napoleon. However, he had not been able to fully display his conducting talent due to various reasons in history, but now Joseph gave him this huge stage to display his talent.

Joseph waited for Berthier to finish recording the order, and then pointed to the location of the Southern Netherlands on the map: "And the Southern Netherlands Front will be commanded by me personally."

This was the order that had least surprised the officers so far.

After all, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has participated in many battles from Tunisia to the Southern Netherlands to Silesia.

Although they believed that it would be most appropriate for His Highness to be in charge of overall command at the General Staff, it seemed that His Highness's usual style was to be at the front lines in person, so they did not comment further.

In fact, since all the major strategic points in France were connected by Chap signal machines, it didn't make much difference where the General Staff was located.

It took less than 50 minutes to transmit military information from the easternmost part of France to the westernmost part. The most time-consuming process was the distribution of code books to all signal towers once a week.

Joseph continued with the arrangements he had already thought of: "Colonel François Lefebvre and Lieutenant Colonel Jules will fight with me.

"The Southern Netherlands Front includes: the 4th Royal Infantry Division, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Royal Skirmishers, the 1st and 2nd Royal Infantry Artillery Battalions...

"And the Artois Legion, the Reims Legion, the Rethel Legion..."

After he finished speaking, Berthiemer calculated that the entire Southern Netherlands Front had only more than 2 people, and 40% of them were old-style troops.

He immediately suggested: “Your Highness, although the Southern Netherlands is not the enemy’s main attack direction, it is estimated that there will be more than 6 troops.

"The troops you lead seem to be insufficient..."

Joseph just smiled calmly: "It doesn't matter, I just need to delay the enemy for two months at most, you don't need to worry.

"If the situation is urgent, I will mobilize the Paris Legion or even the Swiss Guard to the north."

The Paris Legion is a troop that guards Paris and has more than 5 soldiers, while the Swiss Guard is responsible for the security of the Palace of Versailles and has nearly 2 soldiers.

The Paris police are Joseph's absolute direct subordinates. Even if all the garrison troops in Paris were emptied out, as long as he gave an order to the police, there would be no problem with the order in Paris.

After that, Joseph looked around at everyone and said, "Next, let's start working out the specific deployment details."

Berthier frowned and reminded in a low voice: "Your Highness, you seem to have forgotten that there is no legion in charge on the Swiss side."

Joseph nodded. "I haven't forgotten, Mr. Chief of the General Staff. Once Major Massena has eliminated the enemy forces on the Rhine line, his corps will become the Swiss Front."

"But……"

"Don't worry. Given Switzerland's terrain and barrenness, the Austrian army may not be ready to enter Switzerland after the battle on the Rhine is over."

……

Napoleon walked out of the General Staff in a daze, but his eyes were shining with joy.

He finally got the opportunity he had always dreamed of - as long as he could win a few battles in Italy, he would be promoted quickly and enter the upper class society of Paris.

He took out his notebook and looked through the officers' assignments of the Italian Front, muttering to himself: "Major Claude Victoire, Major Auguste de Marmont. Your Highness seems to hold them in high esteem.

"Well, La Harp, Augereau, Sérurier, Meunier, Junot... they can all be transferred to Italy. This will make the war much easier."

Most of the latter were his old subordinates. Joseph let him choose his own men, so these officers were able to join the Italian Front.

In fact, Victor and Marmont were also Napoleon's old partners in history, so they would definitely work together smoothly.

[Note 1] During the French Revolution, a large number of officers of aristocratic origin feared that they would be beheaded by the National Convention, so they chose to flee abroad. Their number accounted for more than half of the total number of French officers.

This led to a shortage of French officers at the time, so many junior officers were promoted by exception, and it was not uncommon for them to be promoted three or four levels at a time. Even Napoleon's rapid promotion was due to this factor.

(End of this chapter)