I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 802 An unexpected gain
Sihaik waved to the major officer beside him and said, "Luka, how far is it to Leuven?"

The latter was stunned for a moment, looked around, and said hesitantly: "Six miles... or maybe eight miles?"

Sihaik, an amateur, hadn't even sent out the reconnaissance cavalry, so at this point no one knew where they were.

Sihaik nodded, leaned close to the ear of Luca Sihaik, his nephew, and whispered, "How do you think we can capture Leuven?"

"Occupy?" Luca shrank his neck and glanced at the soldiers beside him. "Just us?"

He was only a lieutenant before, but when his uncle was promoted to brigadier general, he promoted him to major. But the combined command ability of the two of them was not as good as that of a major.

Sihaik followed his gaze and saw several soldiers with tattered uniforms, without even blankets or hats, moving forward listlessly.

These soldiers under his command were from the Austrian army that was defeated by Joseph. They received limited logistical support after surrendering, and some soldiers changed into the clothes of Walloon police, while others still wore their original uniforms.

Luca whispered, "If you really want to fight with Lieutenant Colonel Dezweihe, we may have to surrender again..."

Der Zweiher was the Austrian officer in charge of the garrison in Leuven.

Sihaik glared at his nephew and was about to scold him, but suddenly he thought of something. He glanced at the soldiers in tattered uniforms and said thoughtfully, "You mean surrender? Well, maybe that's a solution..."

Luca waved his hands hurriedly: "No, no, no! This is absolutely not possible! Uncle, let's just go back!"

He knew very well that if his uncle and nephew surrendered to Austria, they would be doomed - their previous act of defecting to France would most likely lead to the Austrian emperor sentencing them to treason.

Besides, my uncle is now a brigadier general and I am also a colonel. If we leave the protection of the French, all this will come to nothing.

Sihaik smiled smugly, “No, I really want to surrender to Dezweih.

"Pick out 300 reliable soldiers for me right now and have them dress up in Austrian uniforms. Go!

"Oh, wait, give them each another 10 florins."

"Ah?" Luca opened his mouth wide, but when he saw his uncle raising the whip, he nodded hurriedly, "Yes, General!"

After his nephew left, Sihak asked someone to call a captain named Vermeer and gave him some detailed instructions.

This Vermeer was the most capable officer among his "surrendered army", but he did not obey him very much, so he was usually unwilling to associate with him.

But this company commander must be used now.

The next day at 5:30 pm.

A group of defeated soldiers of the "Westmale Legion" appeared outside the city of Leuven.

These people claimed to be a force transporting logistical supplies for the Duke of York, but because the coalition forces were defeated by the French in Mechelen, they were driven here.

Lieutenant Colonel De Zweiher had heard some news from Mechelen before. Seeing these soldiers wearing tattered Austrian uniforms, speaking Dutch, and looking in a miserable state, he allowed them to enter the city of Leuven without any doubt and had people send them food and wine.

Several officers among the "ruined soldiers" began to tell the defenders how the coalition forces were defeated and how 6 French troops had pushed the battle line into the Netherlands. The defenders of Leuven were terrified.

A day later, Vermeer led 1 surrendered soldiers wearing Walloon police uniforms and appeared in the west of Leuven - he was just a company commander, and commanding 1 people was already the limit of his ability.

Lieutenant Colonel De Zweiher hurriedly formed his battle array to meet the enemy, but the "Duke of York's defeat" had seriously affected the morale of his troops, and nearly 2 soldiers were being suppressed by the enemy.

In the afternoon, the "ruined soldiers" who sneaked into Leuven set fire to the city's supply warehouses and began to spread the news that "tens of thousands of French troops are about to begin attacking the city."

So, when the Austrian soldiers defending the city saw Schecker's 1 troops in the distance, the last bit of their will to resist began to melt away. Even Lieutenant Colonel De Zweiher believed that what he saw was the vanguard of the " French troops."

After weighing the pros and cons again and again, he finally gave up Leuven and fled to Herrera under the unanimous persuasion of his officers.

It was not until Vermeer sent someone to report to Scherck that Leuven had been taken control that the latter breathed a sigh of relief and rushed to the city from 4 kilometers away from Leuven. He had been prepared to turn around and flee with his nephew if De Zweiher's army won.

But he didn't expect that Leuven could be deceived by him so easily.

After holding a grand entry ceremony, Scheherazade immediately sent someone to deliver the news of the "Great Victory of Louvain" to the French Crown Prince.

Then, he asked his nephew and Vermeer to guard the city, while he and his guards hid in a small village 2 kilometers south of the city, fearing that De Zweihe would bring people back to kill him.

……

Mechelen.

Joseph had just received the news from Gaillard that he had captured Brussels in the morning, and in the afternoon he met with the "Flemish Legion" and learned that even Leuven had been captured.

He was not surprised that the Walloon Defense Force was able to defeat the Dutch - the Defense Force's predecessor, the Walloon Police, was trained at the Paris Police Academy, and its combat effectiveness was definitely no worse than that of the regular armies of Prussia, Austria and other countries.

But he was quite surprised that Sihak was able to capture Leuven.

After Joseph inquired in detail about the details of the Battle of Leuven, he was secretly amazed.

Although Sihak is not good at fighting, he still has some tricks up his sleeve. It seems that in the future in the political arena of the Flemish Republic, Tain may not be his opponent.

Joseph looked at the map on the wall. After accidentally occupying Leuven, he had a certain strategic advantage in the Flemish region.

Leuven controls the eastward access from Brussels.

In other words, if Prussia and Austria want to reinforce the Duke of York now, they can only go through the Netherlands from Shanghai and bypass the north of Antwerp.

The opportunity to counterattack the Anglo-Prussian-Austrian coalition has emerged.

Of course, before that, we must first stabilize our control over Brussels. At the same time, we must also take over the province of Ghent in the west.

By then, only the province of Antwerp would remain in the enemy's hands in the entire Southern Netherlands.

The Netherlands will no longer be safe.

"Your Highness, it's almost two o'clock." Emman appeared at the door and reminded quietly, "You have to attend the General Staff Operations Meeting."

"Okay, I'll go right away."

Joseph walked out of the tent and turned left. 30 meters away was the combat meeting tent - he had been staying on the front line only 3 kilometers away from Mechelen.

Lefebvre and others were talking excitedly, and it was obvious that they had also learned the news from Brussels.

Davout shouted: "From now on, we just need to hold on to Brussels, and the enemy will not be able to gain anything in the Southern Netherlands!"

Lefebvre smiled and nodded: "I just received news that Lieutenant Colonel Massena has made preparations for the general offensive in Diekirch, and the main Prussian force is to his northeast."

Diekirch is an important city in north-central Luxembourg and the site chosen by the French Rhine Front for the decisive battle.

(End of this chapter)