I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 964: The French Situation
But Joseph soon figured out the reason.

The current British government is not as wealthy as it was in history, so it can only choose to sacrifice Portugal’s interests to stabilize Porto’s defense.

This was actually a huge victory for France.

You know, in history, France could send 6 troops, as well as many famous generals such as Massena, Ney, and Junot to participate in the war. It took nearly two years before forcing the Duke of Wellington to implement a scorched earth policy.

Now Junot only brought 5 French troops to Portugal and achieved the same result.

However, faced with a scorched earth situation, the Spanish army's logistics would soon become unsustainable.

Then the original plan would be completely impossible to implement.

Once the Western Army, which had exhausted its logistical supplies, encountered Wellesley's counterattack, it would certainly not be able to retreat in an orderly manner and would be completely disbanded.

In this way, even if Junot launched an ambush at Lagoasa, as long as the Anglo-Portuguese coalition forces were not completely destroyed - Junot's 5 troops could only defeat tens of thousands of enemy troops at most - France would have to bear the consequences of the war in Portugal alone.

What Joseph wanted was for Spain to consume Britain, rather than for France and Britain to consume each other.

Therefore, the top priority is to protect Talavera's 3 troops first.

He immediately said to Berthier: "Let Marquis Talavera withdraw to Almeida Fortress as soon as possible.

"At the same time, order the Juno Legion to abandon the ambush plan and go to Porto to meet the Spanish."

Berthier was surprised and said, "Your Highness, this is equivalent to giving up all the previous achievements."

The Almeida Fortress is located on the border between Spain and Portugal, and it can basically be regarded as a direct retreat back home.

Duke Broy added: "Your Highness, Madrid is making every effort to prepare logistical supplies. They are ensuring that they can sustain the consumption of at least 5 troops."

Joseph shook his head: “That’s what the British wanted.

"Since most of the route is uninhabited, our logistical costs will be several times higher than the enemy's.

"In half a year at most, Spain's finances will be unsustainable."

Duke Broy warned carefully: "Your Highness, the Spanish have invested a lot. If there is no gain, they will definitely complain."

Joseph waved his hand: "The war is not over, but we need to revise the battle plan."

Berthier said: "Your Highness, we can wait until the Portuguese near Porto return to their residence next year, and then launch another attack."

Joseph couldn't help but frown and fell into deep thought.

The reason why the war went so smoothly was largely because Portugal was unprepared.

By next year, they will surely build fortresses everywhere with the help of Britain, and the difficulty of attack will increase exponentially.

Moreover, even if they could reach Porto again, Wellesley could always use the scorched earth tactics again.

Will we retreat then?
As a result, tens of thousands of troops on our side were mobilized back and forth, and were consumed by the British...

He tapped the table lightly and said in a deep voice: "We must avoid having to withdraw from Portugal due to excessive logistical consumption."

At one side, Trade Minister Bai, a military layman, muttered, "In fact, the Portuguese have consumed much more than us. More than one-third of their villages and towns in the northwest have been destroyed..."

Joseph was about to say, "The British don't care about Portugal's losses," but suddenly something happened to him.

Wait, the British don’t care, but the Portuguese must care.

The loss of implementing a scorched earth tactic is extremely tragic. It will take more than ten years for the Porto area to recover. If a similar "scorched earth" tactic is used again, what will the Portuguese think?

Are you here to help me, or to destroy me? The Spanish just wanted to take some food, but you uprooted us!

If public opinion were to be guided at this time, who would cooperate with Britain in carrying out a scorched earth policy?
It's like a person who dares to stab himself once without knowing it, but after suffering severe pain, he certainly wouldn't dare to stab himself a second time.

Joseph signaled Emang to bring the map, and they quickly locked onto Coimbra, a city in central-western Portugal.

This is the fourth largest city in Portugal and it controls the northern gateway to Lisbon. If we capture this city, we can use it as a base to continue attacking Lisbon.

And most importantly, starting from Porto, heading south across the Douro River, you can reach Coimbra with almost no obstacles along the way.

His brows relaxed immediately, and he pointed to the map and said, “Then let the Marquis of Talavera go to Coimbra.

"The Juno Legion still needs to provide cover, and at the same time, send some troops to pretend to withdraw to the Almeida Fortress..."

By the time he had finished outlining the deployment, Berthier had already nodded repeatedly: "This is a brilliant plan, Your Highness. By changing the direction of attack, it will also render ineffective the defense line built by the British outside Porto.

"Oh, by the way, we need to deploy the supply line from Rodrigo to Coimbra in advance."

Joseph nodded: "Please ask the General Staff to prepare a detailed combat plan and submit it to me as soon as possible."

"Yes, Your Highness!"

The cabinet meeting ended at 10:30 in the morning.

In fact, there are still many things to be said, but the Italian army will return to Paris at noon today, and Joseph will go with the king and queen to welcome the triumphant army.

As Joseph walked to the gate of the Palace of Versailles, he saw Count Robert, the director of the "General Office of France" which was under construction, walking quickly from the corridor on the left.

"Your Highness, there is an important matter that needs to be reported to you immediately." Robert saluted sideways.

Joseph gestured to the carriage outside: "Let's talk in the car."

"Okay, Your Highness."

Soon, the luxurious convoy slowly drove out of the marble courtyard.

In a jewel-shaped carriage in the middle, Robert placed a pile of documents in front of the Crown Prince and said, "Your Highness, the Security Bureau discovered some abnormalities during the establishment of its overseas network."

The French General Office was the department that Joseph planned to use to oversee foreign intelligence, on par with the internal intelligence bureau.

Since it is necessary to simultaneously reorganize the secret police and recruit spies and informants, the preparation time will be relatively long and it has not yet officially started.

Unexpectedly, important information was discovered.

In fact, the entire Security Bureau is very enterprising at the moment, as the deputy director of the Security Bureau has not yet been appointed, and there are currently three people who are most likely to get this position.

The three of them then started a fierce competition, trying their best to obtain intelligence.

The results were really rewarding.

Robert pointed to the topmost document and said, "Your Highness, first of all, Mr. Rondale's people discovered that the Intelligence Agency has recently transferred a large number of personnel to Klagenfurt, at least more than 70 people.

"He didn't take it seriously at first, but soon learned from his informant in the intelligence agency that the intelligence agency had also allocated up to 15 francs to the spy in Klagenfurt."

(End of this chapter)