I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 750: Warning from the Wallonia Chamber of Commerce

Count Radetzky looked up at the sky, frowned slightly, and said to the staff officer:
"Order to speed up the march. We must enter Wavre before dark."

【Southern Netherlands Map】

The order he received was to take control of Namur, the transportation hub of Wallonia, as quickly as possible.

With the possibility of French intervention in Wallonia, the sooner he arrived there, the more time he would have to prepare for war.

However, just as his order was conveyed, a short horn sounded suddenly from the front of the team. It was a warning that there was a problem in front and the troops behind were notified to stop advancing.

Count Radetzky did not have to wait long before a cavalry captain came over from the front team and saluted him:

"General, there is a group of people blocking the road. Among them appear to be officials from the Wallonia Chamber of Commerce and reporters."

Radesky frowned and sneered:

"Oh, do these idiots think they can stop us like they did the Brussels police?"

Just a day ago, the security team sent by the Flemish government to Wallonia to "quell the riots" was intercepted by the Walloon police and returned to Brussels in disgrace. More than a dozen people were arrested by the Walloon police.

Count Radetzky urged his horse along the road to the front of the queue, and saw dozens of Wallonia officials blocking the road arm in arm, with more than a dozen people who looked like reporters standing on both sides.

He tilted his head to signal to the attendant.

The latter immediately stepped forward and said loudly:

"General Radetzky is here to resolve the chaos in Wallonia following the orders of His Majesty the Emperor. You must get out of the way immediately, otherwise it will be regarded as a provocation to His Majesty the Emperor."

An official who was blocking the road walked up to Count Radetzky's horse, handed a document to the attendant, and said seriously:
"On behalf of the Wallonia Chamber of Commerce, I solemnly protest against the Austrian army's violation of the Wallonia Demilitarized Zone!
"Please leave immediately, otherwise the Chamber of Commerce will authorize the Wallonia police to arrest you."

Count Radetzky looked at the officers beside him and suddenly burst into laughter:
"Haha, did you hear what he said? Arrest?"

"He actually dared to threaten the Emperor's army? This is really hilarious."

"I think there must be something wrong with his brain."

Count Radetzky tore up the document and threw it on the ground, then waved his hand impatiently to the officer beside him, "Disperse them."

"Yes, General!"

The officer quickly issued a series of orders, and hundreds of soldiers gathered around him in an instant, pointing their guns diagonally into the air.

The next moment, a deafening burst of gunfire broke out, shocking the people of the Wallonia Chamber of Commerce and causing them to shrink back.

The officer pointed forward again, and the soldiers behind him leveled their guns and pointed them at the crowd blocking the road.

"Bandits, you bandits!"

"You will be punished!"

The Chamber of Commerce representatives protested angrily and dispersed to make way.

The reporters were excitedly taking notes in their notebooks, preparing to go back and break this huge news.

The Austrian army was then able to continue its advance, and Count Radetzky discussed with several officers whether the Emperor would order an attack on the French mainland after the capture of Namur.

But the Austrian vanguard only advanced less than 5 kilometers before stopping again.

"What happened again?" Count Radetzky looked ahead irritably.

After a while, the cavalry officer came hurriedly, but his expression was not as relaxed as before:

"General, the Hussars have spotted a large number of Walloon police 1500 yards to the south."

Count Radetzky smiled disdainfully. In his subconscious, the police were basically just thugs managed by the government.

"Police? How many of them?"

The captain said, "More than 2 men, General." "That's quite a lot of people." Count Radetzky snorted and turned to look at the staff officer beside him. "Androsch, which unit is responsible for the advance alert?"

The latter thought for a moment and said, "It is Lieutenant Colonel Busek's Derna Skirmishers."

Count Radetzky nodded and ordered, "Tell Buseck to get rid of those annoying guys. He has two hours to complete the task."

"Yes, General!"

A skirmisher regiment has more than 1400 soldiers, which should be more than enough to deal with 2 police officers.

Moreover, the speed of deployment of skirmishers is relatively fast, with minimal impact on the march, making them suitable for carrying out this kind of "bullying" mission.

After one hour.

Lieutenant Colonel Busek looked through his telescope at the neat gray-white infantry line in front of the bushes in the south - to be more precise, it was a police line - and couldn't help frowning slightly.

“Why were those police officers doing line formation training?”

But he soon noticed that the policeman was holding a straight rope in front of him, and he felt relieved.

It is a tool to help recruits stand in line and prevent them from running around.

It was obvious that these policemen were just lining up together to bluff.

He put down the telescope, turned his head and asked the regiment staff officer: "Are you ready?"

"Yes, Master Commander, we can launch an attack at any time."

"So what are you waiting for? Teach these ignorant guys a lesson."

Soon, rhythmic military drum beats rang out all around, and the soldiers of the Derna Skirmish Regiment spread out into a 1.5-kilometer-wide fan-shaped attack surface and began to press southward.

……

Northern suburbs of Wavre.

When Bourget heard the dense drumbeats in the distance, he licked his lips nervously, and sweat kept dripping down his forehead.

Although when he was training at the Paris Police Academy, he heard the instructor say all day long, "You must be prepared at all times to deal with any dangerous situation and defeat any enemy."

But the toughest opponent he had faced before was more than 30 armed gang members.

But what is attacking here now is a complete army!
"Hey, Alois, we're not going to die here, are we?"

The round-faced young policeman on his left wiped the sweat from his palms and gritted his teeth and said:
"Have you forgotten? These guys are going to seize the entire Wallonia region. We must drive them away!"

A soldier with a broad forehead in the back row nodded vigorously:
"I don't want to go back to the life I had three years ago. Damn Austrians."

His words caused the surrounding soldiers to nod in agreement.

That’s right, when Wallonia was under Austrian rule, there were no decent industries at all, and taxes were very heavy, so life was poor.

In the eyes of the Flemish people who owned the port of Antwerp, they were just a group of poor country bumpkins.

It was not until three years ago that France and Austria signed the "Demilitarized Zone Agreement" in Wallonia, and a large number of French businessmen began to flock to Wallonia to explore coal mines and invest in factories, and the region quickly became prosperous.

Even people from the Flemish region came to Wallonia to work.

Most of the family and friends of these policemen relied on the newly built coal mines and ironworks to live a good life.

They knew very well that the Austrians' sudden military deployment was definitely not to help build the Wallonia region.

But to take away everything here!
They must protect this new life for the Walloon people.

(End of this chapter)