I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 860 Coup
The Duke of Brunswick frowned and muttered: "7 French troops are besieging Cologne. Once Cologne is lost, they may cross the Rhine and attack Düsseldorf at any time.

"There is no strategic location to defend between Düsseldorf and Brunswick, and behind that is Magdeburg..."

Magdeburg is adjacent to the west of Potsdam. If the French army reaches here, it will basically be impossible to defend Potsdam and Berlin.

Wilhelminnie pressed, “What do you think we should do?”

"Withdraw from the anti-French alliance immediately." The Duke of Brunswick said, "I have talked to the French crown prince, and I can hear that he is still hesitating."

"Why are you hesitating?"

"The main attack direction of France." The thin old man said anxiously, "If we can reach an armistice agreement with the French before the fall of Cologne, then the French army will be transferred to the southern part of the Rhine to threaten Bavaria and Austria.

"In addition, the French promised to return the captured troops as long as we withdrew from the anti-French alliance. We cannot lose those more than 4 veterans, otherwise we will not be able to maintain our leadership in northern Germany."

The Duke of Brunswick quickened his pace: "I have to talk to Prince Heinrich..."

Wilhelmine stood still: "You know, the prince will not agree to surrender, and Baron Friedrich is even less likely to agree."

The Duke of Brunswick turned around and said, "But I have to convince them."

"I am in favor of a ceasefire," Wilhelmine said suddenly, "Your Majesty will definitely listen to me. But this is on the premise that no war advocates make suggestions to Your Majesty."

The Duke of Brunswick looked at the woman in front of him in surprise.

Before he returned to Potsdam, he had heard that in the past six months, His Majesty the King's physical and mental state had deteriorated due to excessive eating and drinking, and that state affairs had been almost entirely handed over to his mistress.

Judging from the woman's tone, the rumor must be true.

He hesitated and asked, "What are you going to do?"

Wilhelmine lowered her voice and said, “If you want to stop the war as soon as possible, you must keep Prince Heinrich and Baron Friedrich away from the center of power.”

The Duke of Brunswick's pupils shrank immediately: "How can this be possible?"

"Sir August and Count Schulenberg will support me."

The thin old man was shocked again.

August von Hardenberg was a rising political figure in Potsdam, highly favored by the King, and managed the Prussian judicial system, while Schulenberg was assistant to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

These two powerful ministers are actually William Minnie’s people!
The king's mistress glanced at the thin old man and said, "If I get your help and the military's help, even Prince Heinrich can't stop me."

Cold sweat broke out on the Duke of Brunswick's forehead.

Prince Henry was the most powerful minister in Prussia, and to overthrow him would almost be a coup.

But he had to broker an armistice. Only by getting back the more than 4 captured soldiers would the losses in the Luxembourg Campaign not be too severe, and his position in the army could be preserved.

He bowed slightly to Wilhelminnie. "I will seriously consider it, ma'am."

The latter added the moment he turned around: "Also, Julie has to leave Wuyou Palace."

The thin old man paused and nodded: "I understand."

Julie von Voss was the third mistress of William II. Although she did not interfere in state affairs, the Voss family was a force that could not be ignored in the Prussian bureaucracy.

Wilhelminnie took this opportunity to deal with her at once. Two days later.

Prussian Foreign Minister Ewald Friedrich was prosecuted for corruption, and foreign affairs were temporarily handed over to the Assistant Foreign Minister.

Subsequently, a large number of wounded soldiers and their families appeared on the streets of Potsdam to protest and demand that the government pay their pensions - Prussia had experienced a series of defeats, its military budget was almost exhausted, and pensions for tens of thousands of disabled soldiers had not yet been paid.

Then, somehow, someone revealed that the failure on the front line was caused by the chaotic logistics and corruption under the charge of Prince Heinrich, which immediately aroused public anger.

Prince Heinrich had no way of defending himself against such a matter.

There was systemic corruption among the Prussian bureaucracy - no old bureaucratic system of that era could avoid this problem - so as long as there was a thorough investigation, a lot of corruption would definitely be uncovered in such large-scale financial transactions in military logistics.

All these accounts would eventually be put on the head of the logistics department. Besides, he really made a fortune from logistics procurement.

The incident caused an uproar in the Sanssouci Palace. Wilhelmine soon issued an order in the name of William II, severely reprimanding Prince Henry and ordering him to reflect on his actions at home.

As the two leading figures of the Prussian war faction lost power, calls for a ceasefire soon filled the Sanssouci Palace.

A few days later, Count Schulenberg was appointed as the armistice negotiator and set off for Paris.

……

Cologne Fortress.

The whole world seemed to be filled with endless cannon roars and the harsh "chirp" sound of shells flying past.

Captain Zimmermann of the Austrian Erzgebirge Corps pointed at the bodies beside the fortress battlements and shouted to the soldiers behind him: "Move them away. You guys, go and bring the shells over. Hurry up!"

Dozens of Austrian soldiers hurriedly dragged away the bodies, collected the artillery equipment scattered around, and pushed the 18-pound gun back to its position.

A soldier at another gun position 30 meters to the left saw them moving back and forth, and anxiously waved his hands and shouted, "Get down!"

"Don't get so close to the battlements!"

"be careful……"

However, the deafening sound of artillery drowned out their voices. The men of Zimmerman's company stopped in confusion and asked loudly, "What are you talking about?"

At this moment, Zimmerman's messenger suddenly groaned and fell to the ground.

When everyone turned around, they saw a plate-sized hole in his chest, with dark red blood gushing out of it.

Zimmerman was furious. He lay on the parapet made of stone slabs and cursed in the distance: "Damn French, I will send you all to hell..."

The rest of his words came to an abrupt end, and his body fell backwards, his entire face smashed by lead bullets, like a clay doll smashed in a shop.

The men in Zimmerman's company could barely hear the men at the nearby gun positions shouting, "Stay away from the battlements" and "Get down."

Before they could react, several more bullets came through the gaps in the parapet and hit them accurately.

The Austrian soldiers looked out in horror. With such a high hit rate, could it be that the main force of the enemy was attacking?
However, they only vaguely saw more than a dozen figures in white military uniforms shuttling back and forth in the dry grass below the fortress.

When those figures quickly finished reloading their guns and fired towards this side, seven or eight of the Austrian soldiers who were still peeking around immediately fell to the ground.

(End of this chapter)