I Am the Crown Prince in France

Chapter 455 Politics and Transactions

On the east side of the Liegnitz front, the Duke of Brunswick looked at the map with a livid face - at this time, more than 40,000 Prussian soldiers and more than 14,000 Saxon soldiers were divided on the west side of the front, and they had already joined forces. He lost contact.

He glanced gratefully at the staff officer on the side - if it hadn't been for the latter's strong advice yesterday, he would have gone to the other side of the defense line to command the troops. In that case, even he, the commander-in-chief, would be trapped there.

After a brief discussion, the Duke of Brunswick raised his eyes and looked around the officers in the tent, and said in a hoarse voice:

"That's it. Gather all the troops that can be mobilized in Lignitz. We must rescue our people."

The strength of the Prussian coalition was originally small. If the more than 50,000 people were eaten by Austria, the subsequent battles would not be fought at all.

After the combat tasks were assigned, the officers hurriedly left to carry out the orders. As soon as the tent door closed, the Duke of Brunswick immediately picked up his cane and slammed it on the table in front of him, and at the same time let out a low roar in his throat:

"Damn the French! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Where did they come from?

"Those two idiots, Andreas and August, had such a superior force, but they were defeated in just half a day!"

Yesterday, he sent a reserve team to try to break the blockade of 10,000 French troops on the Lignitz defense line. However, it only took 2 hours for the French to drive them back.

He knew that Austria would continue to increase its troops to prevent the more than 50,000 people from withdrawing. He must concentrate all his strength to launch a strike to possibly reverse the defeat...

Three days later.

More than 40,000 Prussian troops have gathered at the gap in the Liegnitz line.

The Duke of Brunswick looked at the cannons on the Austrian position in the telescope and felt uneasy in his heart. He knew very well that on the other side of the defense line, Lacy must be arranging to encircle his more than 50,000 people.

If he cannot break through the defenses of the Austrian and French coalition forces in this battle, then the situation in Silesia will be completely out of control.

Just when he was about to make a desperate move and order a general attack, a staff officer hurried over and whispered a few words in his ear without even bothering to salute.

"What?!" The Duke of Brunswick's eyes suddenly widened, "Have you confirmed his identity?"

"Yes, Marshal." The staff officer signaled the guards to step back, and then continued, "The letter he brought has the seal and signature of the French Crown Prince."

"The entire army is on standby!" The Duke of Brunswick waved to the officer next to him, then mounted his horse and followed the staff back to his camp.

In an officers' tent, the Duke of Brunswick saw the envoy of the French Dauphin.

The latter raised his hat in salute and said with a smile:

"Dear Duke, on behalf of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, I salute you."

The Prussian Army Commander nodded in return and said with some hesitation:

"You told my subordinates before that you wanted to avoid further intensification of the situation?"

"This is what Your Highness means." The special envoy glanced to the west and continued, "Currently, the French soldiers are at the gap in the defense line, and your tens of thousands of troops are eagerly preparing to launch an attack there.

"Obviously, after this battle, our army will suffer serious casualties. Of course, the number of casualties on your side will definitely be very shocking. In fact, this is completely unnecessary."

The Duke of Brunswick suddenly narrowed his eyes. It seemed that the French did not want to make too many sacrifices for the Holy Roman Emperor. This was simply a gift from the Lord to Prussia!

He said hurriedly and calmly: "So, what suggestions does your Royal Highness the Crown Prince have?"

The special envoy bowed slightly: "You want to storm the Lignitz defense line in order to rescue the troops blocked on the west side."

The Duke of Brunswick was noncommittal.

The special envoy continued: "If we can do something to help your 56,000 soldiers escape, then this current war can be avoided."

The Duke of Brunswick couldn't stand it any longer and said in surprise: "What will His Royal Highness the Crown Prince do?"

"You know, the current defense of Zare is taken care of by His Highness's three infantry regiments. If the defenders here are suddenly transferred to other places, then your people can go north into the Gwoguf area."

Zare is located on the main road northwest of Lignitz. As long as you can pass here, you can continue northward and enter the Głogów Province in northern Silesia.

The Duke of Brunswick looked at the French envoy in disbelief: "Are you telling the truth?"

"You don't have to doubt His Highness's sincerity." The latter nodded, "But even if your people can pass through Zare, Marshal Lacy will definitely lead his army to pursue them.

"His Highness suggests that if you want them to escape smoothly, you'd better send troops to provide some support on the north side of the defense line, such as pretending to storm the defense line to attract the Austrian army's attention."

"Ah! Thank you very much, Your Highness." The Duke of Brunswick said happily, "I will definitely consider his suggestion seriously."

Joseph knew very well that if the 50,000 Prussian troops that broke into the Austrian-controlled area were eliminated, then the situation in Silesia would be completely in Austria's hands.

And his strategic goal from the beginning was to use the conflict in Silesia to prevent Prussia and Austria from joining forces, rather than to help Austria dominate the German region.

Therefore, the Prussian army must get away in order to maintain the military balance between Prussia and Austria. But he also wanted Austria to achieve a substantial breakthrough in Silesia in order to further escalate the Silesian War.

It's like walking a tightrope. No matter if you lean a little to the left or a little to the right, you will fall.

The Duke of Brunswick said, showing a "businessman" smile again: "So, Your Excellency, Special Envoy, what can I do for His Highness in return?"

"Oh, it's very simple." The envoy smiled, "Your Highness needs a little money, just 2 million florins. This is a great deal in exchange for your army."

The Duke of Brunswick was stunned on the spot for a moment.

He guessed that the French Crown Prince might want Prussia to give up some political interests, or even secretly make some military tacit understanding, but he never expected that he would directly ask for money!

This is too...tacky.

He despised the philistine Frenchman in his heart, nodded and said: "This is indeed very reasonable, so how can I hand over the money to His Highness?"

The Prussian army's pay for next month has just arrived, which is almost enough to allocate this money.

The special envoy said without hesitation: "Send the cavalry to transport the money to the gap in the defense line. After you receive the news that the troops have escaped, you will hand it over to our people."

Of course Joseph also wanted to take this opportunity to exchange for some political benefits, but he knew that Prussia was deeply tied to Britain. Even if they agreed to their political conditions, they would probably default on the British interference later.

So it's better to get some cash. So he asked someone to roughly estimate the Prussians' monthly military pay, and finally came up with a figure of 2 million florins.