I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 941: New Trends in Europe

Dutch Prime Minister Schmelpenninck, who was meeting with cabinet members, was so shocked that he stood up from his chair and said, "Tell me the details."

The officer placed the battlefield report on his desk and said, "General Bronckhorst was defeated by the noble rebels west of Utrecht.

"Currently, the rebels have surrounded the Utrecht Fortress. The general requests the parliament to send reinforcements as soon as possible, otherwise... he can only hold out for two months at most."

Utrecht is the southern gateway of Amsterdam. Once it is lost, Amsterdam will be in danger.

Cold sweat broke out on Schmelpenninck's forehead.

As prime minister, he has been facing various crises since he took office, and now even the capital is in danger of being lost. The previous prime minister, Goerlin, was quickly driven out of office after surrendering to the Flemish Republic. The Dutch People's Party led by Schmelpenninck won the election.

However, no sooner had he taken office than the former Dutch regent, William V, summoned the old nobles to launch a rebellion in The Hague.

Well, William V’s own words were “to drive out the rebels.”

This time, the aristocratic army, under the banner of "recovering the territory occupied by foreign invading forces", gained a lot of support and defeated the parliamentary army all the way.

Schmelpenninck subconsciously looked at Valkenar, the head of the Mobilization Committee: "How many soldiers do we have that can be used as reinforcements?"

The latter lowered his head and said, "About 1 people, Your Excellency the Prime Minister."

"This is far from enough," the Dutch Prime Minister shook his head, "Conscript immediately..."

He paused in the middle of his words. Amsterdam had already conducted three rounds of conscriptions, and if it recruited more soldiers, it would probably provoke riots among the people.

There was silence in the room for a while, and Finance Minister Gogel said carefully: "If we can transfer General Dandels's troops to Utrecht, there will be hope of defeating the rebels."

Schmelpenninck glared at him angrily: "You know that's impossible!"

Dandels's corps was stationed along the Waal River to guard against an invasion by the Flemish, who had been heavily stationed at Nijmegen.

Gogel continued: “Perhaps, we can ask France for help.

"The Palace of Versailles has a huge influence on the Flemish people. As long as we can get their guarantee, we don't have to worry about the Flemish people..."

"The French? God, but we just fought them not long ago."

"That was the work of the Patriots," said Gogel, "and they are long gone. We must try."

Seeing that no one else could come up with a better solution, Schmelpenninck sighed and said, "Okay, I'll go to Paris. Now, we have to discuss how to convince the French."

……

Paris.

Palace of Versailles.

Fouché made marks on the map somewhat awkwardly, and reported to Joseph: "Your Highness, according to the latest news we have received, the Prussian army is gathering in large numbers in Silesia.

“The Breslau Fortress has been reinforced to about 4 troops.

"There are also more than 3 troops in Glogow on the northern side.

“In addition, a requisition of grain and horses was started in the Poznan region.

"It can be confirmed that the Prussians are preparing to launch a war near Liegnitz."

Although Joseph was a little surprised, he just nodded:
"Prussia does need war to alleviate its domestic problems. But I thought they would start in Westphalia, but they chose Silesia directly."

Fouché said: "Wilhelm II probably thought that Austria was trapped in domestic rebellion and would choose to retreat."

"How many troops does the Austrian army have at Liegnitz?" Joseph asked. "Not more than 6, Your Highness."

Joseph frowned slightly.

The 6 defenders faced 7 Prussian soldiers and probably wouldn't be able to hold out for even a week.

Austria is already weak enough at the moment. If it suffers another defeat in Silesia, it may completely collapse.

This is not in France's interests.

Because it would very likely cause the Austro-Prussian War, which would occur more than half a century later, to break out earlier.

Historically, after that war, Prussia became the sole overlord in the German region, quickly integrated 21 small states, and laid the foundation for German unification.

Well, then came the Franco-Prussian War. Napoleon III stepped down in disgrace, and France's rapid rise was interrupted.

Judging from the current situation in Europe, maintaining the strategic balance between Prussia and Austria is what France most wants to see.

The two giants fought each other repeatedly, and France took advantage of the chaos to win over the small German states. Until the wave of national awakening passed, it would be difficult for Germany to achieve unification.

When Fouché had finished his talk on Silesia, he bowed and left.

Joseph looked at the map and fell into deep thought.

It is indeed difficult for Austria to mobilize a large number of troops in a short period of time. Does it need France to send troops to help it?

Not to mention that this would waste a huge amount of military expenditure, the French soldiers who had just fought a fierce battle with Austria would probably be very resistant.

This is really a bit troublesome.

He thought for a long time without any result, and suddenly noticed the extremely irregular military symbols drawn on the map. He couldn't help but shake his head, thinking that the level of this person was really not as good as his own.

After all, Fouché had not received formal military training, so it was inevitable that he had deficiencies in military intelligence.

Moreover, as France's sphere of influence in Europe grows, the pressure on intelligence work will also increase. Relying solely on the Intelligence Agency is likely to result in a situation where one thing is neglected while another is focused.

It seems that an agency specifically responsible for military intelligence should be established outside the Intelligence Bureau.

Later, the Intelligence Bureau focused on domestic affairs, while the Military Intelligence Bureau focused on external affairs, just like the division of labor between the FBI and CIA in the United States in later generations.

It was a good opportunity to fulfill the promise made to Count Robert, the head of the secret police, who had been waiting to be promoted to the head of an independent intelligence department.

Afterwards, the secret police was directly integrated into the Intelligence Bureau, which also eliminated the vast majority of the waste in the secret police department.

Count Robert was appointed as the director of the Military Intelligence Bureau, but given his ability, he could only hold the position in name only. A deputy had to be selected to be in charge of the actual affairs.

Speaking of "clear responsibilities and powers", Joseph thought that the current French government institutions are still based on the old "king-minister" system of more than a hundred years ago, and are no longer able to meet the increasingly complex and sophisticated management needs of the industrial age.

For example, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has an assistant and a large group of clerks, secretaries and advisers.

Everyone's specific duties depend entirely on the minister's words, and there is a lot of overlap in the work they are responsible for, but there are many important things that no one cares about.

In later generations, a Ministry of Finance would include fiscal policy management, budget management, debt management, international financial management, accounting management, and even confidentiality and publicity departments.

Responsibilities are clearly divided and management is scientific and efficient.

France has now achieved a relatively stable situation through a war, and the prestige of the royal family is unprecedentedly high. It is the best time to reform government institutions.

(End of this chapter)